episode_0052

“Wow.”

“What did you say?”

“Shh.”

Chris jabbed my side with her elbow.

“You shouldn’t say things like that so carelessly. No matter who the other person is.”

“No, but even so—”

“Tsk.”

Whether Chris or Cecilia had been through this kind of situation countless times before, of course, I couldn’t help but be surprised. I never expected there’d already be idiots like this roaming the Empire. It felt like stumbling upon an endangered species.

“Ah! Just in case you’re worried, let me say this upfront—I’m not asking for much. I know better than to get too entangled with students from the Academy. Nothing good ever comes of it. So, if you could just take pity on us struggling to get by day after day and spare us a little ‘charity,’ that’d be more than enough, yeah?”

The squint-eyed man curled his lips into a smirk, his voice dripping with honeyed words.

“Charity? Don’t spout nonsense. Let’s just go.”

“No, wait. You’re seriously just going to walk past? It’s obvious this’ll turn into a fight—are you serious?”

“What? Oppa, don’t tell me you don’t trust the two of us right now? If that’s really the case, I’m kinda disappointed.”

“If that were the issue, I wouldn’t have even brought it up.”

I pulled them both close.

“Let’s not invite unnecessary trouble and just handle this peacefully, alright?”

“Peacefully? They’re bandits!”

“That’s exactly my point. You can tell at a glance what kind of people they are.”

The bandits blocking our path weren’t even worth Chris or Cecilia stepping in—any halfway decent Academy student could easily escape this bunch.

If they were involved in something dirtier—say, full-scale robbery or kidnapping—they wouldn’t have come at us with such a small group.

Ahem.

Leaving the two with their worried expressions behind, I took a step forward.

“So, just to confirm—if we give you the money, you’ll let us go?”

“Oh! Of course. Even if we’re trash, we haven’t abandoned basic human decency. But if you refuse to offer us any help and just walk away… well, we might have no choice but to get a little rough. And if we end up getting hurt in the process… who knows what could happen?”

Smooth talker, despite being fully prepared to resort to force. Still, the fact that he hadn’t acted on it yet was commendable.

“Um… how much would be enough? We’d really like to avoid any unnecessary trouble…”

“Eric!”

“Stay still!”

To Cecilia and Chris, my actions must’ve seemed cowardly beyond belief, but within the Academy, this was actually a fairly common tactic. Being an Academy student came with countless privileges—but also burdens just as heavy, if not heavier.

Among them, the most emphasized rule was that Academy students must not harm outsiders. It was a reasonable measure to prevent idiots from flaunting their strength, but over time, some had begun exploiting this rule in reverse.

Rotten things spoil easily.

Now, there were those who targeted ordinary Academy students—not the famous ones from prestigious families or renowned for their combat prowess, but the average ones.

Honestly, I was a little surprised when I first noticed it. Who’d have thought this world had its own scam artists?

Here, such acts were little more than misdemeanors. By the time I caught on, an unspoken rule had already formed between the Academy and the streets to avoid dragging each other into messy situations.

“I… can’t give you everything I have on me, but if you’d be willing to accept this much…?”

Challenging Academy students with just three people was suicide.

Excluding me, who only got in thanks to my family’s influence, even the worst of the worst at Fiend Academy were still students who’d be considered first-rate at any other institution.

The fewer the numbers, the easier it was to claim they were the victims. Normally, Chris or Cecilia could walk alone without anyone daring to pick a fight—but right now, they just looked like ordinary girls you’d find anywhere. Perfect targets.

Still, just in case, I decided to ask.

“Before I hand this over, I have one question—do you know who we are? Is that why you’re doing this?”

“…Huh? No, we’re doing this because we don’t know. If we knew you, would we be pulling this? Haha.”

“Hmm…”

Well, to pull off a shakedown like this in broad daylight, they’d at least have to recognize the Academy’s rising stars. The fact they didn’t know my face meant I wasn’t that famous.

Clink.

Carefully, I pulled a coin pouch from my pocket. It wasn’t much, but for them, it’d be a decent sum.

“Eric!”

“It’s fine. Just trust me.”

Their goal wasn’t to subdue or kill us. They were only after enough to survive, so they’d specialize in that.

Even if we overpowered them here, at best, they’d serve light sentences—or worse, we’d get dragged into something troublesome.

Back in my old world, I’d tried rooting out repeat offenders like this a few times, but I quickly realized it was impossible without narrowing the Empire’s wealth gap or wiping out the underworld entirely. (I never told the Hero Party, though—they’d actually try it.)

I’d rather not see them hanged by the people before they even defeat the Demon King.

“Hehe, we appreciate the cooperation, student. With this, we’ll at least have warm bread tonight.”

If you’re going to say that, at least take off that mithril-fiber coat first.

Rustle.

Before I knew it, the squint-eyed man and the two burly men behind him huddled together to inspect the pouch. Grown men bowing their heads like that was downright comical.

Before I could laugh, I quickly spoke up.

“So… is that enough? We don’t carry much money on us… Sorry.”

Excessively humble, but most bottom-feeders like this were just as devoid of pride as I used to be. Seeing Academy students—whom they assumed were above them—begging not to be involved and handing over money without resistance…

Of course, to Academy students, it was pocket change, and they’d never live where we did.

But that twisted sense of conquest was probably part of their motivation.

Either way, I made sure not to give them any leverage. Now, all that was left was to wait for the result.

Or so it should’ve been.

Sigh…

The squint-eyed man tore his gaze from the pouch and looked at me, his voice now icy compared to his earlier smoothness.

“Are you mocking us right now?”

“Huh?”

“You thought you could trick us with this childish sleight of hand? Fake currency, of all things—the proud name of Fiend Academy must be weeping.”

“What are you talking about—”

I stepped closer to check the pouch. Had they swapped it in that short time? But I didn’t sense any mana fluctuations…

As I peered inside, I saw a pile of gleaming silver coins, a few gold ones mixed in, and—proudly sitting at the very top—a single platinum coin.

“Nothing seems off here…?”

It was more than enough. What was the problem?

The moment I looked up, the burly man on the left shoved me hard in the chest—pouch and all.

“Wha—?”

Losing my balance, I fell flat on my back.

Clatter.

The pouch spilled onto the ground, coins scattering everywhere. The sparse gold amid the sea of silver looked oddly pitiful.

“What the hell is—guh?!”

Before I could finish, the burly man drove his foot into my solar plexus.

Sigh…

“You think you can fool us and get away with it? Know your place. Did you really think we’d fall for a platinum coin? What kind of ordinary Academy student carries that around? Sure, we’d grovel for money, but if you’re going to lie to our faces, that’s a different story.”

No, that’s real money—