<607 – Delicious Linked Quest (31)>
Finally finding the Guard, Ishtar charged in like a bull, knocking her down and stealing her clothes.
“Ugh. It stinks.”
“It’s because you’re wearing a man’s clothes!”
“Well, the Female Guard didn’t show up, so what can I do?”
Ishtar wasn’t entirely satisfied with the circumstances, but she possessed the magical ability to improve unsatisfactory situations.
“Clean.”
Using a low-level daily magic, she performed an on-the-spot clothing wash and dry spell!
Her high proficiency meant stubborn stains, old grime, and even soup splotches were completely wiped out.
“Wow. Why is your daily magic proficiency so high?”
“Warriors usually go on adventures, so they’ve camped out a lot.”
“But you also get treated in villages or cities, right?”
“Real hardcore criminals take over the leader’s spot in residential areas and oppress or exploit the farmers. If they’re too compliant and hand over outfits or weapons, they’ll end up broke and caught, and their adventures would’ve ended long ago.”
“You’ve had it rough, Ishtar!”
“…I never thought I’d be understood by someone like you, the Foundation’s Agassi.”
“What’s wrong with me?”
“Your foundation is one of the bad guys desperate to handle the Warrior.”
Oh dear. It seems Ishtar has been left with emotional scars thanks to that awful Chairman of the Foundation. Gotta scold him later!
“Sorry to interrupt your conversation, but can you please let me go now…?”
I tightly gripped the collar I put on Velocasio, who was glancing back nervously.
“Didn’t you explicitly say you wanted to get out of the Great Prison?”
“I asked for points, not to be let out?!”
Sigh, this is what I get for working with newbies. How can I just show them how to catch fish? If they get locked up again, they’ll starve without any points. I need to teach them how to escape too!
“I don’t need that kind of consideration! I’ll live well from now on, so I won’t get locked up again!”
“Huh? If Velocasio and his good behavior means no one will be the Academy’s Contract Scammer, then who will? Even if they’re a newbie sort of villain, not filling the villain allocation is a problem! Please take more pride in your role!”
“What kind of nonsense is this? Why do we even need to fill villain allocations, and why do you care?”
Velocasio flinched in surprise.
“Senior?”
“…Forget it. It’s nothing.”
“Hmmm? You suddenly got compliant?”
“I just realized my place, that’s all.”
“Glad that’s the case!”
The fact that Velocasio was walking without needing the leash was a good sign.
“Now, can we move a bit faster?”
“Sure.”
Thanks for cooperating. I’ve been worried that we’ve been walking too slowly given how busy things are.
I intended to switch from a brisk walk to a run, then to a sprint, but suddenly, a frantic shout came from behind us.
“Dammit, save me!! Stop, stop running fast!”
Sigh. How could a third-year be this slow? Shouldn’t they be faster than juniors? Now I’m here with a junior!
“Let’s take some training sessions with these third years!”
*
Villain. An entity causing disturbance.
Oknodie expressed a desire to implement allocations for such entities.
Velocasio. What exactly did she just call him, the Contract Scammer?
“Even as a rookie villain, you can’t fill the villain allocation like this!”
A rookie villain, she said. As if last year she permitted him to play around as a Contract Scammer.
‘Maintaining villains while balancing the early, mid, and late stages—this sounds like something those in the Foundation would do…?’
Suddenly, a memory from that four-person room flashed in his mind.
“Would you like to join us?”
“No, we prefer the prison.”
“If I give you points, will you leave?”
“Whoa, suddenly a reverse gift? I love it!”
Seeing the seniors, who were bragging about their achievements as former cellmates, approach Oknodie with two hands folded in a respectful manner, he could tell.
Those too scared to let a child who seemed suspicious wander around the Great Prison.
Even fearing retaliation after staying back in that four-person room, it seemed they’d jumped from the frying pan to the fire.
Not just any fire, but a fiery crazy tiger with a noose around its neck!
“Senior. I got a brilliant idea!”
“Huff… huff… I hope that’s a thought considering my stamina.”
“Since we’re training the third years anyway, how about we get all the third years in the Great Prison out to train with you?”
“What? What crazy thing are you up to now?”
“It’s nothing much. I think someone just entered through a hole poked in the Great Prison above us. I feel like we’re being tracked right now?”
“Are you insane? We’re at risk of getting caught the moment we start escaping?”
“So, wouldn’t it be better to gather the other seniors and reinforce our forces?”
Not long ago, Velocasio was trembling in fear from Oknodie’s Dark Princess act, but realizing it was a ticking clock until the escape was exposed, an unfair feeling bubbled up.
Why should only I be the bad guy when there are worse humans than me out there?
“That’s an amazing idea. Why not free all visible prisoners?”
“Wow! You thought the same, Senior? I’m so glad you’re the one I saved, Velocasio! I never expected you to be so proactive!”
When it’s just an escape attempt that lands one alone, you become resentful and wish to die, but when it’s a group attempt, a sense of belonging fills you up, and you feel oddly proud.
The sense of relief that comes from not being the only one who’s unfortunate swells within Velocasio!
“Alright, Senior. Please write a contract for the other prisoners we’ll release! The contract states that if we free you from jail, you won’t resist and will do your best to resist for a day and will gratefully open the jail door!”
“Sure. Just give me some paper and a pen, and I’ll write as much as I want.”
Velocasio immediately drafted the contract.
However, the prisoners were less than enthusiastic about it.
“We’re not idiots; why would we sign such a contract?”
“Your life’s already a mess on your own.”
“If you had the skills to escape jail, you wouldn’t have gotten caught by the Student Council in the first place.”
They were cleverly dodging the offer and spouting sensible words while backing off!
Sigh. “Go ahead and run. I’ll sneak in some snacks for you today.”
As he tossed in some black bread, the seniors tossed it aside.
The contract hiding in the crack of the split bread peeked out like a fortune cookie.
“I knew it.”
“No one trying to escape lives by good intentions.”
“Come on! Let’s live on hard mode together, okay?”
“Absolutely not.”
“Never going out!”
“Then try and dodge this!”
Velocasio threw several paper airplanes with escape spells inscribed on them, crumpling them into a mess.
A few who were hit by the contract bombs screamed and joined as escapees, but the upperclassmen didn’t just follow suit.
[Hide in Darkness]
[Cut Through Space]
[Magic Missile Launch]
Even with their abilities reduced due to control handcuffs, these competent individuals easily handled the paper contracts!
As Velocasio’s persuasions and contract signings dragged on, Oknodie suddenly flicked his wrist at the iron bars, deftly unlocking the mechanism with a clink.
“Are you serious about not going out?”
“Gasp. If you unlock it, we’ll become escapees under joint responsibility! You little brat!”
“But what good will coming out do? What are you planning to do as escapees from the Academy?”
With a disappointed expression, Oknodie licked his lips.
“Che. You don’t want to? Then goodbye.”
Despite the polite farewell, a beam shot from Oknodie’s wand, slamming a prisoner against the wall.
Prisoners confused by the sudden change in situation began to bumble around while getting blasted, hitting the wall and bleeding as they fell.
“Stop! Why are you attacking us all of a sudden?!”
“Why would I keep a newbie who refused the favor of a veteran? I know how many of us there are and what they do.”
It was a clear message: come along or get dunked!
“Sniff You little brat.”
“I’ll follow… Isn’t that enough?”
With that, the prisoners, realizing the situation, signed Velocasio’s contract and emerged from the cell.
Velocasio’s expression began shifting from his usual gloomy demeanor once he noticed they were all similarly forlorn.
‘Wait? But isn’t this a basic standard contract? The ones who signed must listen to me, obey me, and pay tributes!’
Welcoming current criminals as subordinates was a whole new level compared to the sloppy underlings he had before getting locked in the Great Prison.
He laid the groundwork for expansion, which couldn’t have been more fulfilling for a villain.
He went from a local ruffian to unexpectedly becoming a national villain leader!
