Book 14 Chapter 47

Wanted,

Profile Scammer (1)

Unpacking my luggage in the single room (Lysta and Friede ended up sharing a double room), I set out to explore the city.

I unleashed Rudyien to search for sources of magic, but the library, befitting a small town, was quite small, so there were no useful books. The same was true for the peddlers' bundles.

Anyway, it's December, but isn't it too hot? The summer continues; the seasonal anomalies caused by the Deep Abyss (深淵) are truly terrible.

"Lin, over here!"

Thinking I had wasted my time, I was returning to the center when I saw Lysta waving from a roadside stall at the end of the clothing street.

"Why are you calling?"

"I'm going to get my clothes enchanted. If you're going to keep wearing that hanbok, Lin, it would be good to get it done too. Hanbok is winter clothing, so it's incredibly hot, isn't it? The further south we go, the much hotter it will get."

Lysta pointed to a wooden plaque hanging on the shop wall.

[2nd Class Magic Engineer (魔道技能士)].

A Magic Engineer was a professional who couldn't use magic independently but was trained to imbue magical power into clothes, equipment, and the like.

"I think I can just use it whenever I need to."

"Oh, so you're a magician?"

The shop owner, whose hands were busily moving over a workbench filled with various magic tools, said.

Seeing that he wasn't surprised to see a magician, I guess he really is typical of a Southerner.

Since the Empire's best magic university, <Delheiten>, is located in the South, ordinary people frequently encounter magicians.

"Still, wouldn't it be annoying to use it every time? My enchantment easily lasts a month. Just give it a try, even if you think you're being tricked. I've been doing this work here for 20 years. I've dealt with Northerners often too. That means I can handle delicate fabrics like hanbok like a professional."

"Gyoong, Gyoonggyogyoong, Gyogyogyogyogyoong!"

"What, kid. If I do that, your reason for existence will disappear? That sounds like something a useless being would say. Can't I find meaning in existence elsewhere? So, how much is this?"

Although I didn't particularly think I needed it, I became curious about how enchantments, which I had only encountered in books, actually worked.

"Hanbok is 30 silver coins. That swordsman lady's clothes are made of material several times better than hanbok. I'll have to charge 50 silver coins."

"How long will it take?"

"Both are made of expensive fabrics… so I'll need about half a day per item, wouldn't I? I have work right now, so come back in the evening to drop them off. If you come to pick them up two mornings later, I'll have them neatly enchanted."

I stopped by the Imperial Post Office and bought stationery and envelopes.

It was to summarize the beast transformation magic from 『Osarius Vibon』 that I had deciphered so far, and the newly established beast forms, and send them to the Magic Tower.

But Lysta was following me, snickering the whole time.

"Why are you following me?"

"I'm curious what Lin is doing. Are you writing a letter to the Dean?"

"…This isn't exactly a letter to the Dean. I'm just sending information about beast transformation magic."

"Yes, I guess so."

"Don't laugh."

Leaving the post office and turning a corner, something instantly caught my eye. Lysta seemed to have seen it first.

"Huh? What is that? Isn't that Lin?"

It… struck my chest with immense emotion.

My portrait was hanging there.

But its achievement difficulty was high, placing it at the very end of my [Strongest Magician Bucket List], so had I already become this famous?

"Gyoonggyogyoong!"

But Sbal urgently pointed to the text written below the picture.

Wanted.

Reward: 20 Imperial Dragon Gold Coins.

Charge: Profile Fraud.

Eh.

Profile fraud?

What the heck is profile fraud?

"Lin, what have you been up to when I wasn't looking?"

"I really don't know."

"A hero is one who pursues justice… If a comrade is about to fall into evil, there is an obligation to rehabilitate them, even if it requires force. Tell me honestly."

Just then, oppressive footsteps were heard, and a group of thugs armed with swords appeared from ahead.

"Hehehe, we finally found you. The great villain of the world who committed profile fraud."

"?"

"Whoa~ Are you going to pretend you don't know even after seeing this?"

Someone pulled out a torn piece of paper from their pocket and showed it.

That was also me. It was me, right?

Except that my eyes were enormously large like a fairy tale prince, my eyelids extremely long, my nose straight as a blade, and my lips enchantingly plump.

"Th-that's… Lin's erotic painting?! How in the world do you have that?"

Lysta exclaimed in surprise. The thug licked the back of his sword with his tongue.

"We may be trash living in the underworld, but we think we're better than you, who committed profile fraud and sold a bunch of erotic paintings to seek profit! We will judge your evil deeds and, as a reward, leave this underworld and build a happy family in the sunlight!"

I rotated my genius brain at 18 times per second, understanding the situation instantly.

"Hmph, so 'profile fraud' means I'm not the [Strongest Magician] but impersonated the strongest…?"

Lysta's eyes gleamed at my extraordinary interpretation.

"Ah, so that's what it means!"

"That is, those guys are as serious about being the [Strongest] as I am. That's why they can't leave me alone for impersonating it so brazenly, I suppose."

"Gyuu (No, that's not it)…"

But this is also one of the items on the [Strongest Magician Bucket List]. I don't mind convincing them with force.

"Hmph, then why don't you try to check if I'm real or not?"

"That villain, he's laughing in this situation!"

"Attack! Yaaah!"

Osarius-style Beast Transformation, Operational Abbreviation.

Operational Abbreviation means solving the operational part with the Yorhen type, implying that beast transformation magic only involves solving magic squares and runes.

Pwooooong… With a fierce boom, a dozen thugs were sent flying out of the alley.

"What, just small fries."

As I shook my hand and walked forward, the thug leader grabbed my ankle.

"The world… will pursue you… You will surely pay the price for this evil deed…!"

My chest tingled and echoed.

As the Dean's disciple, I wouldn't cause trouble for the Magic Tower and become a villain, but it was a line I always wanted to hear at least once.

And if I were to hear it, there was also a line I had fantasized about for that moment.

"If that is the path to [Strongest], I will simply walk it with joy."

Of course, I couldn't calm my excited heart when I shouted that line, but as the attacks continued simultaneously and endlessly, I gradually began to get tired.

"I am a bounty hunter renowned in the Kingdom of Dilangos; I even confessed to my beloved to catch you."

"Osarius-style Beast Transformation."

"Ugh… My comrades will pursue you… until the last day the world collapses…!"

Is this truly the path to [Strongest]? It's annoyingly bothersome.

"Ugh, how many times is this already?"

"That makes it the eleventh."

"If you use your vast funds, couldn't you easily solve the bounty problem?"

"This is a bounty spread throughout the underworld… If we don't find the person who issued the bounty, this will keep happening. And the reward is high."

As I ran through the city, avoiding such attacks, I soon encountered my next customer.

"Huh? Are you kidding? Why do cool guys only come out in the evening? I need a cool guy's affection right now. Are you looking down on the Owl-folk?"

Causing a ruckus in front of a bar was… Friede, a witch whose brilliant red hair cascaded from beneath her conical hat.

"Fr-Friede!"

"What are you doing? Why are you running like that?"

"Lin has a bounty on her head!"

Friede followed alongside us, standing on her broomstick.

"Kya ha ha ha ha! What have you been doing behind our backs, you crazy brat?"

"They say it's profile fraud. Everyone's carrying around Lin's erotic paintings, but with only the face part torn out. But it's strange. Why does everyone have Lin's erotic paintings? Didn't Friede burn them all back then?"

At that, Friede tilted her head, hm?, then scratched her head.

"No, I only pretended to burn them, and since it seemed like a pretty good moneymaker, I immediately sold them as soon as I got here."

"?"

"To get comfort from cool guys every time I visit a city, I need that much slush fund. It's easier to think of it as operating funds. A shrine maiden's job stress is indescribable, so this much deviation is fine, isn't it?"

What is this…?

Is this feeling… anger…?

"Are you kidding? H-how could you do that! So this whole mess is all because of Friede, isn't it?"

"Don't get so heated, have a drink. You get to stay in a top-class inn now, don't you? Later, have a glass of expensive Burgundy."

"Have a drink, have a drink, have a drink."

"Look at Lin's expression! She's incredibly angry!"

"Lin, you too, don't get angry, have a drink. Though a little kid like you should probably just stick to milk."

No, this is not anger.

It's the emptiness that comes from realizing that the world until now was all a fabrication, the hollowness that comes from that realization.

"So, this situation now, I… wasn't being pursued because I was the [Strongest]?"

"?"

"And the infinite possibilities of my life haven't unfolded? And the [Strongest Magician Bucket List] can't be completed?"

"?"

"???"

"??????"

"Phew, as expected of someone Lysta brought, he's just a madman. This is true madness. Even the <Forgotten Kings> would yield their thrones if they saw you. Saying their madness was fake madness."

"Crazy, crazy, madman."

It was then that the long alley finally ended and a main street unfolded. But one roadside stall at the end had transformed into a cage.

"Hey there, beautiful lady. You look tired today. If it's alright, shall we listen to whatever story you have?"

Inside the cage, a decadent drinking table was set with fur and cinnamon incense, and four or five handsome young men were seated.

Clearly a trap.

I wondered who would fall for such a trap, but Friede winked and walked right into it.

"How can it be filled only with guys to my taste? An obsessive guy with a worn-out vibe, a timid guy with a cute vibe, even a muscular guy with a gentle vibe… Yes, this is heaven! Let's go, Pipi!"

Immediately, the cage door slammed shut with a bang. As the cinnamon incense smoke scattered from the impact, the handsome young men also vanished. It had been an illusion from the start.

"Aah! No! Guys, where are you going! Don't go! Comfort me!"

"Don't go, don't go, don't go."

Watching Friede desperately try to gather the smoke, anger surged within me.

"That's a shrine maiden? Crazy, it's really the end of the world."

"Unfortunately, it really is the end of the world, Lin."

"Gyuung…"

Not long after, another roadside stall transformed into a cage appeared.

"Hmm?"

This time, a reading stand was set up inside, and the cover of the book placed on it was…

"Lin, where are you going? Lin!"

The title: 『A White Paper for Those Who Dream of Being the Strongest』.

Oh my, I absolutely cannot resist that.

By the time I regained my senses, the cage door was already slamming shut behind me with a bang.

"Ah, it was a trap!"

However, this one didn't seem to be an illusion, as the book and reading stand remained, and I, with an eager heart, could turn the pages.

"Ahahaha! You even received a warning to be careful, but you fell into such a trashy trap?"