Chapter 180

Chapter 180

I Became the Academy Mafia Chapter 180While I was flustered by Father's sudden bombshell statement.

Parnello, who had been standing quietly behind Father until now, approached and carefully whispered to him.

“Don. These days, relationships like that are called female friends. Friends who happen to be women.”

“Hm? Ah, is that so! Perhaps I went too far. Just as the world changes, human relationships change as well.”

Thankfully, with Parnello's support, my relationship with Yuli was corrected.

Parnello winked at me.

But that's also a slightly old-fashioned expression... no. As expected, Partello is the strongest and greatest butler.

“Since you're here, I should ask. Yuli Rodman, is your father still sulking over what happened back then?”

Even I couldn't guess what Father was referring to with his question to Yuli.

Had something happened between Father and Dwich Rodman?

Yuli gave an awkward laugh and scratched her head.

“...

Yes. I think he still is, but judging by how he was speaking with Eugene before I came over, I think he's much better than he was at first.”

“Is that so? Hmm, I should go see that friend myself in a little while.”

“I think Father would probably get over it quickly if the Don came to see him personally.”

Father burst into hearty laughter, apparently pleased by her extremely polite attitude.

“Yes, yes. I've kept you too long when you two were enjoying yourselves. Go and have a pleasant time together.”

“Thank you for your consideration, Don Calione.”

“Then we'll be going, Father.”

Staying by Father's side would be good, but the real reason for coming to a place like this was to build countless connections.

As we left Calione's table behind again and walked toward where the people were gathered, Yuli's cautious voice reached me.

“So that's one of the living legends. Don Calione...!”

“And our father.”

“Now that I've met him in person, I think I understand. My father was merely lucky that day.”

“...

What exactly happened between your family and Father, Senior?”

Dwich had been glaring disapprovingly at Father from the beginning, while Father was saying things like, ‘Is he still sulking?’

Thinking of the recent occasions when Father might have met Dwich Rodman, the only thing that came to mind was his trip to Russia to retrieve my gift... could something have happened then?

“I don't know the details because I've been attending the Academy, but apparently Don Calione and Father had a brief conflict over some item he was looking for. A villain who stole something Don Calione had bought entered our family's territory, and Father apparently took it from him.”

Wait.

“...

Don't tell me. Was that item a handgun?”

“I think I heard that it was?”

I can't believe he went all the way to Romania.

So there was a reason he came back late...

“Senior.”

“Yeah?”

“Tell your father I'm using it well.”

“Using what?”

“There's something like that.”

I occasionally use it at the estate shooting range, and the handling feels incredible.

Handguns really do have a charm all their own.

“Hold it right theeere~!”

At that moment, a cheeky voice rang out from the sky and stopped both of us in our tracks.

Wondering what was happening, I turned my head and saw some black figure flying rapidly toward us.

That's...

“Peak?”

“Ah! Looks like you still remember my name? That's right, you're Eugene Han Calione. And you're Yuli Rodman, right?”

After suddenly stating both our names, she circled around us while looking here and there, then quietly approached.

“Actually, I came rushing over because I have a favor to ask you two. I've been looking for you for a while, but I couldn't find you anywhere, so I was getting worried!”

“A favor, you say?”

Yuli asked, looking puzzled by Peak's words.

“Compared to the people gathered here, we're really nothing special. We're just moderately ordinary Awakened.”

It was funny for the Academy's top-ranked first-year and the student council vice president to call themselves ordinary Awakened, but considering the strength of the people gathered here, perhaps we really were nothing.

But Peak shook her head vigorously as though unable to agree.

“No! I checked everyone, but you two are the only ones!”

“The only ones?”

Peak slowly approached at Yuli's words, checking the surroundings before carefully speaking.

“What I'm about to ask doesn't work on ‘adults.’”

“Doesn't work on adults? What do you── ah?”

At the same time, Yuli's face reddened as though she'd understood.

“W-wait, what does that have to do with this?!”

“Of course it matters! I'm a fairy! Just as there are spells that only work on adults, there are spells that only work on children who haven't become adults!”

Hearing her explanation, it sounded plausible.

In this world, it was common for a race's unique magic to be determined by its origins.

“Before that, shouldn't you tell us what happened and what kind of spell you're planning to cast?”

“Aah~ that?”

At my words, she snapped her fingers and created a translucent dome around us.

“You'll be pretty surprised when you hear it. Are you ready not to be surprised?”

The mischievous smile curling across her lips suited the term Fallen Fairy extremely well.

Only after the two of us nodded did Peak speak.

“──There's one of Plague's rats in here. Catching and killing that rat. That's what we're going to do!”

______________

Doctor Faust.

He sat on the chair placed atop the party venue's platform, stroking his chin as he reflected on the events of the day.

Tonight's Walpurgis Night had been a night filled with quite a few unexpected developments.

It was fairly common for those invited to Walpurgis Night to bring direct family members with them, but when it was Calione, the story was somewhat different.‘I never imagined he would bring his own son without saying anything beforehand.’Eugene Han Calione.

He had heard many stories about him before.

The legitimate son of the Calione family.

The underworld's delinquent.

A brat who relied on his father's name.

Then, at some point, the information about him began to change little by little.

Calione's Enforcer.

The rising Dark Star.

The Crown Prince of the Underworld.

At first, he had thought it was merely false information spread by Vito Calione, who cherished his son, to change the boy's reputation.

But the information he heard through informants in the Republic of Korea exceeded his expectations.

Though weakened by drugs at the time, he executed Carlo Blunty, once an executive of Calione.

He eliminated the villains Blanca and Jackal, who had infiltrated Korea.

He solidified his position by successfully stopping Plague's attack against Calione.

And... after seeing Eugene here today, Faust could be certain that the information he'd heard until now had not been false.‘I thought he merely took after his father in strength, but the boy possesses cunning on par with the Consiglière.’From the very beginning, he had used none other than Faust himself to flaunt what kind of existence he was.

And then the way he smoothly slipped out afterward...

Rather than becoming angry at the astonishing move, Faust had been impressed enough to feel as though he'd been dealt a proper blow.

And that wasn't all.‘The boy knew information even his father didn't. He's absolutely no ordinary child.’In other words, Calione had built a private intelligence network.

Put another way, he might already have created his own Family, one with an enormous intelligence organization whose reach extended overseas.‘Even while appearing merely to stand still, he never lowered his guard against his surroundings and remained sharpened as though ready to attack at any moment.’Faust could sense it instinctively.

This boy was someone who would one day bring enormous upheaval to Awakened society.

That was why he had asked.

The mercenary he had hired and an executive of the Villain Alliance. ‘Fallen Fairy’ Peak.

He had asked whether they should use the boy as the star of this Walpurgis Night to catch the rat that had infiltrated this sacred gathering.

She had shouted, ‘Perfect! I happen to have just the spell!’ without a moment's hesitation and flown off.

That had been what happened just moments ago.

Leaning fully against the backrest, he stared at the dome Peak had created in the distance and groaned.

“She'd better do this properly.”

Doctor Faust.

The person he was most worried about wasn't Eugene Han Calione or Yuli Rodman beside him.

It was ‘Peak’ herself.

______________

“All right! The spell's cast. How is it? Does anything feel different?”

What she had done to us wasn't much.

She had merely flown in circles over our heads while enthusiastically sprinkling black powder.

The sight reminded me of a moth shedding powder, so it wasn't particularly pleasant, but she said it wouldn't cause any major abnormalities in our bodies, so I wasn't too worried.

“...

Hmm. My eyes feel a little itchy.”

Yuli said while blinking.

Just as she'd said, I could also feel a foreign sensation similar to wearing contact lenses.

“Then I think it worked properly. The spell I cast on you is called ‘Eyes of the Prankster.’ They're sort of fairy eyes that let you identify people here who are full of thoughts about playing pranks. There's usually no reason to use them... but at a place like this, there's no spell better than this one.”

Peak spoke excitedly while dancing through the air.

“Huh?!”

At that moment, Yuli suddenly pointed at me from beside me.

“J-Junior! Horns on your head! Horns!”

“Pardon? Horns?

Why are you suddenly talking about horns?

I felt around my head, but there was no sensation of anything there.

“...

There's nothing.”

“Huh? That's strange? I can definitely see them?”

Yuli approached and slowly placed her hand above my head.

“Hm? What is this? They're really... not tangible?”

Behind her as she diligently moved her hand around, trying to touch horns that I couldn't even see, I noticed a yellow star pattern inside her usual red eyes.

So that's the magic she cast on us... certainly, it was subtle enough that you wouldn't notice unless you looked carefully.

Pat

- pat

- pat

- pat

-Hmm...

“Um, Senior.”

“Yeah?”

“You're ruining my hair.”

“Ah. S-sorry!”

At my words, she hurriedly pulled her hand away, stepped back, and blushed.

“Wahahahaha~! Hahahahaha! What are you two doing?! Hahahahaha! This is killing me! Seriously!”

And Peak was rolling around in midair clutching her stomach while watching us.

After laughing so hard that tears gathered around her eyes, she wiped them away, slowly caught her breath, and spoke.

“That's the core of this spell. The size of the horns you see changes according to how mischievous a prankster is.”

“So we just need to find the person with the biggest horns among everyone gathered here?”

“Correct. I'd like to use it myself, but... I'm already an adult, so I can't use it anymore~ Of course, I'm still amazing at identifying pranksters.”

Saying that, Peak flew in front of me.

“For example, Eugene Han Calione. Like how I realized you're normally an enormous prankster.”

“...

What is that supposed to be? Physiognomy?”

“No, more like intuition from experience? Hehe.”

That's harsh.

Who could possibly be more serious than me?

Peak spun around as she moved away, and the dome covering the surroundings disappeared.

“All right! Then it's time to work! And for reference, if you really do find the bastard, I've prepared an incredible gift for you, so you should look forward to it. Fairy gifts are reeeaaally precious.”

Peak spoke as though telling us to get excited, then turned toward the banquet hall spread out before us.

“Now! Shall we go find the rat that's trying to ruin this whole thing?”