To Ex, plot progression was a kind of causal mechanism.
If there was an A, it led to B. If there was a B, it led to C.
Every novel unfolded through chains of cause and effect like that.
But what happened when A vanished from the very beginning?
‘Obviously, B won’t happen, much less C!’
Fallon was a character created to trigger Leon’s awakening.
And now that character was gone.
He had been erased so completely that it was as if he had never existed at all.
This was far worse than simply losing the event where Leon awakened.
‘Andras, the demon possessing the Imperial Princess, was planning to use this incident as a diversion. It was supposed to draw everyone’s attention while she prepared the Hellgate ritual.’
Fallon’s Demonization had been the centerpiece of that operation.
He had been an irredeemable noble lunatic from the moment he was born, which also made him the easiest possible target for Demonization.
But now that Fallon no longer existed, there was no way to know what had become of the entire incident.
There was only one thing Ex could say for certain.
‘Andras is cautious and meticulous. The original novel even mentioned that she had other plans prepared.’
The problem was that Ex had no idea what those other plans were.
And more important than anything else was this notification.
『Notification. The scenario will undergo extensive revisions.』
That notification, the one informing him that the scenario had been extensively revised.
‘So this kind of thing was possible as long as I had enough points.’
Fallon had been a character with an important role, but Ex had never imagined the system would erase him from existence entirely.
If Fallon had merely died or gone missing, Ex could have at least predicted the consequences that would follow.
Now even that was impossible.
Faced with a situation that had become a complete and utter disaster, Ex had no choice but to think until it felt as though all the hair on his head might fall out.
‘Should I use Editing Points to recreate Fallon?’
He tried it immediately, but the result was anything but encouraging.
『[Add Character: Fallon] Required Points: Impossible』
It did not require an impossibly high number of points.
It was simply listed as ‘Impossible.’
Ex had not been expecting much, but seeing that the option was fundamentally unavailable still filled him with despair.
‘I’m screwed! There’s no fixing this!’
“What are you thinking so hard about? You look like the world just ended.”
While Ex sat there tormenting himself with his thoughts, a sulky voice came from beside him.
It was Lola.
“Commoner, your face is making way too much noise. Everyone’s staring at you.”
Lola was telling the truth.
Evening had already fallen, and the students studying in the library were slowly edging away after seeing Ex’s deeply contorted expression.
“It’s nothing. I just have something troubling me.”
“What, are you having trouble studying? Hmm. Should I teach you? I happen to be an elite noblewoman from a count’s family…”
“My lady, your grades are lower than mine… Besides, the whole reason I’m here is to tutor you…”
“You…!”
Lola immediately snapped and stomped on Ex’s foot, but her feeble attack did not even tickle.
She spent quite some time huffing and stomping on him before finally clearing her throat and speaking again.
“So what are you worried about?”
Naturally, Ex could not tell her.
Even if he did, it was not the kind of problem she could solve.
Still, keeping everything bottled up inside was becoming unbearably frustrating.
Unable to endure it any longer, Ex gave her a deliberately roundabout explanation.
“I need to catch a demon, but there isn’t one.”
“Out of nowhere? Why do you need a demon?”
“Because the world will end if there isn’t one.”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about…”
He had not expected her to understand in the first place, so he simply let it pass.
Naturally, talking about it did nothing to solve his problem.
At least, not until Lola spoke again.
“I don’t know what demon you’re talking about, but… if there isn’t one, why don’t you just make one? Or find another one.”
“A demon isn’t something you can make like a cake or a loaf of bread… Wait. Another one?”
Something flashed through Ex’s mind.
‘Leon didn’t awaken because he fought Fallon. More precisely, he awakened because he fought a ‘demon.’’
There were demons hiding inside this academy.
The most prominent example was Andras, the demon possessing Imperial Princess Beatrice.
She was one of the demonic spies who had infiltrated the academy.
What if Ex could use Andras instead?
‘It’s completely insane, but…’
Ex slowly expanded on the idea.
He considered Andras’s current situation and tried to predict how the demon would act from this point forward.
Since Ex knew the original story and its setting, he had more than enough information to make an educated guess.
A rough draft of the plan came together quickly.
First, he needed to acquire the necessary tools.
“My lady, could you help me with something?”
“Huh? M-Me?”
“I need you to spread a rumor for me.”
***
Three days later, on Thursday, Ex sat in the Arcane Truth Studies classroom and listened carefully to the conversations around him.
Before long, the voices of the other students naturally reached his ears.
“Is it true? There’s really a dragon inside the academy?”
“Someone said they saw a dragon flying through the night sky. Maybe it’s here enjoying a Dragon’s Amusement.”
“Then who do you think the dragon is? I bet it’s one of the professors.”
A completely unexpected rumor about a dragon had spread among the students.
It was not limited to them, either. Even the professors were buzzing with speculation over whether a dragon truly existed within the academy.
‘This should be enough.’
While Ex gauged how far the rumor had spread, Lola, who was sitting beside him with a sulky expression, asked him a question.
“Why did you make me spread such a ridiculous rumor out of nowhere? I mean, something like that was easy for me, but still…”
“My lady, when you chum the water before you start fishing, the fish bite much more easily.”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about…”
Naturally, Ex was the one who had started the rumor.
The influence Lola possessed as the daughter of a count proved extremely useful at times like this.
“Why did it have to be a dragon, anyway? I know the stories about dragons transforming into humans for their Amusement are famous, but…”
“There are also stories claiming that anyone who uncovers a Dragon’s Amusement receives an unimaginable fortune in exchange for keeping quiet.”
And those stories were true.
Within this world, dragons were the most powerful magical creatures in the Middle Realm, but they were bound by a rule forbidding them from interfering carelessly with the world.
However, dragons were beings who lived for an unfathomably long time.
To prevent them from shriveling up and dying of boredom, they were granted one special exception to that rule.
The ‘Amusement.’
A Dragon’s Amusement, in which a dragon transformed into another species and lived as one of them, was the only form of entertainment dragons were permitted to enjoy.
However, there was one condition.
‘They must never allow anyone to discover that they are a dragon.’
If their true identity was exposed, they had to end their Amusement immediately and spend a considerable amount of time living under the Dragon Lord’s supervision.
According to the setting, ‘It was so mind-numbingly tedious that death would be preferable.’
For that reason, there were stories that anyone who uncovered a Dragon’s Amusement would receive an enormous fortune from the dragon in exchange for their silence.
That was why people reacted so strongly to any rumor claiming that ‘a dragon was hiding among them.’
‘Well, assuming they could actually expose one.’
While Lola continued to sulk, the fish Ex intended to catch entered the classroom.
“Everyone, shall we begin today’s Arcane Truth Studies lesson?”
As always, Maria began the class with a benevolent smile.
However, Ex noticed the slight tremor in her eyes.
‘Just as I thought. The rumor is bothering her.’
Maria seemed to be in worse condition than usual, though the signs were subtle.
She would suddenly trail off in the middle of an explanation or abruptly begin teaching an entirely different topic.
‘Maybe I pushed it a little too far…’
His conscience pricked at him, but there was no other choice.
That was what he told himself.
Considering how she had tormented him for quite some time, this was already an exceptionally merciful response.
Ex repeatedly woke Lola whenever she dozed off against his shoulder and waited for the class to end.
Once the lesson was over, Ex called out to Maria.
“Professor Maria, there’s something I’d like to discuss with you.”
“Student Ex? You want to discuss something?”
Maria’s face immediately brightened as she welcomed him.
“Have you finally decided to become an assistant professor?”
“No, that isn’t it.”
Ex pulled out two white masks with barely enough room cut out for the eyes and showed them to Maria.
“Professor, are you capable of enchantment? Something recently came up that I need to investigate, and I require a magic device.”
“Enchantment? I can do it, but what kind of magic do you want enchanted into them?”
“Perception Inhibition Magic and Disguise Magic.”
“Hmm. Tier 3 and Tier 5 illusion magic. And you want both placed on the same items… I’m afraid I won’t be able to do that cheaply.”
In this world, enchantment genuinely consumed an enormous amount of money.
That was because the process required a considerable quantity of Mana Crystals, jewels, and other expensive materials.
However, Maria’s true identity was that of a dragon.
An ordinary enchantment like this was hardly even work for her.
The only reason she answered that way was because it was the ‘normal response’ expected from a human professor.
Of course, Ex had absolutely no intention of paying her.
He did not have that kind of money in the first place.
That was exactly why he had come to Maria.
“Professor, are you aware of the rumor that has recently been circulating around the academy?”
Maria flinched inwardly.
There was only one rumor Ex could possibly be referring to.
“Well… of course I am. The claim that a dragon is enjoying an Amusement inside the academy. It’s a completely absurd story.”
“What would you think… if it were true?”
“If it were true?”
“I know a way to discover who the dragon is.”
Maria scoffed inwardly at his answer.
‘What nonsense… If it were that easy, do you think dragons would ever be able to enjoy their Amusements?’
A Dragon’s ‘Amusement’ was not something that could be uncovered so easily.
Only a mage of comparable power, or another dragon, could see through it.
Of course, Ex had prepared thoroughly.
‘This is the crucial part. This is where I have to play this overgrown lizard perfectly.’
Ex calmly began assembling the con in his mind.
Information only dragons could know, mixed with information no ordinary human should possess.
Then he would add just enough drama to make it convincing.
The key was the ratio of truth to lies.
A carefully constructed story slid into place within Ex’s mind, ready to be fired.
“The truth is…”
The words that followed left Maria utterly stunned.
“I met a dragon a long time ago. ‘She’ was also a dragon enjoying an Amusement.”
The story began with an enormous lie.
When a claim was outrageous enough, determining whether it was true or false became nearly impossible.
That was how stories like this were supposed to begin.
“…Is that really true?”
“Professor, you’ve been wondering where my knowledge comes from, haven’t you? The truth is, I learned it from her. From a dragon.”
At those words, Maria suddenly felt as though everything made sense.
If a dragon had personally passed that knowledge on to Ex, then his unusual ideas were entirely plausible.
Of course, the story still sounded absurd.
“A dragon wouldn’t share its knowledge so easily. Besides, for someone who claims to have been taught by a dragon, your…”
“My magical ability is pathetic. There’s a reason for that.”
Ex put on the saddest, most heartbroken expression he could manage.
He looked like someone still unable to forget a precious bond that had been torn away from him.
“‘Letia’ was both my friend and my teacher. Thanks to her, I was able to understand magic far more quickly than I ever could have on my own.”
Letia was a name Ex had invented a few seconds ago.
Dragons enjoying an Amusement all used false names anyway.
“But when I turned ten, I discovered that Letia was a dragon. I happened to see her make a trip back to the dragons’ homeland.”
When the other person was beginning to doubt the story, that was the time to mix in a small piece of truth.
Dragons really did return periodically to report to the Dragon Lord and confirm that they were still alive.
That one detail transformed Maria’s ‘Could it be?’ into ‘Is this actually real?’
“Since I had discovered that Letia was a dragon, she told me she would take back everything she had taught me in that capacity. As a result, she stripped away most of my magical knowledge and magic power.”
“She didn’t erase your memories? I heard dragons usually pay people to remain silent or simply remove their memories…”
“Letia made me a proposal. Since she had raised me as her disciple, she told me to try finding her again. And she gave me this to do it.”
Sometimes, a story alone was not enough.
At times like that, physical evidence was necessary.
Ex produced the evidence he had prepared beforehand.
“…A needle?”
It was an iron needle.
As far as Maria could tell, it was nothing more than an ordinary needle with no trace of magic power.
And in reality, that was exactly what it was.
However, once the story Ex had just told was layered over it, the needle was no longer ordinary.
“Letia told me this was an ‘artifact’ capable of forcibly dispelling a dragon’s Polymorph Magic if the dragon was pricked with it.”
“…!!”
Maria recoiled before she even realized what she was doing.
It was the unmistakable reaction of someone instinctively trying to avoid the needle.
The moment Ex saw it, he knew.
‘She took the bait.’
Keeping his true thoughts hidden, Ex put on a puzzled expression.
“Oh? Professor Maria, why are you backing away?”
Ex aimed the needle’s point at her and slowly moved it closer.
“If a human gets pricked by this artifact, it only stings a little, so there’s nothing to be afraid of. It only works against a dragon’s Polymorph Magic.”
The needle slowly inched toward Maria’s fingertips.
The chair blocked her retreat, leaving her nowhere else to go.
‘What is this? Is it real? Does an artifact like that actually exist? That’s impossible. But what if it’s real? Why would that dragon give something so dangerous to a human in the first place?!’
Maria’s mind filled with panic and confusion.
To make matters worse, each word Ex spoke seemed to tighten around her heart.
“Professor, you’ve always shown a great deal of interest in strange and unusual things.”
At last, the tip of the needle reached Maria’s fingertip.
“Would you like to try getting pricked?”
The dragon’s mind went completely blank.
–TL Notes–
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Maria best girl