Villain Seduces to Rise in Status

Chapter 19: 19 - Scam exposed

The heated argument continued to escalate between the man and the shop owner, voices rising with each accusation and denial exchanged between them.

”The young master’s coughing blood has nothing to do with our food!”

The man’s expression shifted instantly. ”What?”

”Sir, how about I pay for his treatments then? That should be satisfactory. And if you’re tight with money, I can give you something too. Your master won’t even know.”

The man’s gaze suddenly moved to the owner’s daughter standing nervously in the corner. He gave her a long, deliberate stare that made Cale’s stomach turn.

And they call themselves people from big families.

”We’re not robbers. We just want compensation for him.”

The owner’s voice grew smaller. ”Sir... that... no... what can I...?”

The shop door suddenly swung open, and several men entered. One of them wore the uniform of the academy—the senior Cale had seen talking to thugs in the alleyway earlier.

This guy... there’s something going on here.

The senior stepped forward. ”Hold on there.”

Cale watched as the senior and the man exchanged a knowing glance. The understanding passed between them silently, confirming what Cale had already suspected—they knew each other from before.

They were the same men from the alley, now performing what looked like an elaborately scripted play designed to deceive everyone watching.

”Stop staring at me, you’re annoying me.”

”Why are you guys here instead of treating him?”

”We wanted to expose this man who took a bribe and poisoned the young master.”

Cale turned to the owner behind him and spoke quietly. ”Did you offend anyone recently, maybe indirectly?”

The owner shook his head frantically. ”No, I don’t even talk much to customers. This is just a small eatery. What would I do if anyone fought with me?”

What is their goal here? There’s no reputation at stake. What are they really after?

The senior suddenly pulled out his shortsword and walked ahead with theatrical confidence. Cale moved to stop him, but the words caught in his throat.

”Senior, wait... no—”

But the senior attacked forward with his blade drawn. Surprisingly, the guard didn’t react to defend himself. Instead, the young master took a step back with an exaggerated expression of fear and pain.

”Hooo, weren’t you poisoned? You move well despite being poisoned for an hour.”

People crowded outside the shop started to speak up, voices rising in anger at what they perceived as a fraud.

”You fraud! You tried to extort money!”

”He’s a humble shopkeeper! You rich people play dirty tricks!”

Now I understand the game. The sympathy card. They’re playing the hero and the victim simultaneously, damn.

Cale thought through it quickly. But why go through all this trouble? There’s no reputation to gain from this simple act. Unless...

”Who the hell are you kid? Why interfere in our business?”

The senior stepped forward. ”I am Elon Orsted, and I’m from the knights academy.”

The man’s face went pale slightly. ”No wonder you seemed confident. We won’t forget this fight, kid.”

Hahaha, such a beautifully written skit. Even the dialogue is third rate.

The thing Elon was aiming for was an apprenticeship position. It was common knowledge that chivalry and so-called ”good deeds” to commoners could easily secure a place in apprenticeship ceremonies if more people talked about it and it became a small news. Cale couldn’t believe people would go this far just for that.

Cale straightened up as the men started to leave. He couldn’t let this deception continue. Who knew how many others would fall for this scam if he didn’t act?

So he screamed: ”These men shouldn’t be let go so easily!”

His voice carried across the street, and the crowd immediately agreed with him, their voices rising in unison.

”That’s true, we can’t let these posers out easily!”

”Who knows how many more they will scam?”

The two men’s faces went pale. This wasn’t part of their plan.

Cale walked over to the senior with a knowing grin. ”Sir, you said you were performing a good deed. How about we beat them ourselves?”

Elon’s eyes narrowed as he studied Cale. ”What, sir? I don’t even know you.”

”Aren’t we in the same academy? I’m from the knights department too.”

The senior’s composure wavered slightly. ”How about we just let them go?”

So you’re playing hard to get, huh?

Cale raised his voice deliberately, making sure the gathered crowd could hear him clearly.

”Brother, such men should be beaten and sent to the officials. Don’t we carry the responsibility for that too as future brave knights?”

He grinned while speaking, watching the tension mount on the faces of the two fraudulent men.

The senior tried desperately to give a signal to those guys, gesture telling them to run away while they still could.

Hehe, I’ve been doing this for two lives, boy. I know how these games work.

Cale spoke again: ”People, you have to assist us. Just watching like this is what makes things get to this point in the first place.”

The crowd didn’t need much encouragement. They surrounded the two men and beat them to a pulp. It wasn’t even a decent crime like stealing or murder—the scam hadn’t even started yet and they were already flat on the ground, gasping for breath through broken teeth.

The senior looked tense, realizing his plan had backfired. ”Fuck, what have I done?”

One of the beaten men tried desperately to call out to Elon for help as blood dripped from his face. ”Elon! Help us! Please!”

Elon immediately distanced himself. ”You lowlife, I don’t even know you.”

Hehe.

The man got up with a bleeding nose, rage and betrayal burning in his eyes. ”You treacherous bastard! We trusted your plan! We came here to make you some hero for five hundred gold, and now you abandon us after finding a friend?”

Elon panicked visibly. ”Liars, who even are you people? I just came here...I... I was shopping.”

The injured man turned to the crowd, desperation and anger fueling his words. ”People, listen! We are just some stragglers, not people who do anything like this on our own. He wanted to do some false information spreading and paid each of us to play our parts.”

Aaaand he got roasted in his own plan.

”A bunch of lies! You shouldn’t trust these thugs.”

The shop owner stepped forward with his face flushed with anger. ”You despicable brat! How dare you deceive us in the name of good?”

He pointed directly at Cale. ”This man here was actually trying to help us, unaware of the fact that you instigated this entire scheme.”

Elon turned to Cale ”You, who are you?”

”Why don’t you guess?”

Elon looked at the star emblem on Cale’s pocket, marking him as a trial apprentice—the lowest rank.

”Seeing the star on your pocket, you’re not even a proper disciple yet. I will find you, and I will make your life hell for this.”

He turned and shoved his way through the gathered crowd. ”Move aside, just you wait.”

The two injured men slipped away in the commotion, disappearing into the crowds of the capital streets.

The shop owner approached Cale, gratitude evident in every movement. ”Thank you, kid. You’ve been a help to us.”

Cale shook his head. ”No, no, I didn’t even do anything. It was a scheme all along.”

”But it seems he is planning revenge on you now.”

”Don’t worry, sir. I will manage.”

Cale assured him with confidence, though he knew this would complicate things at the academy.

The owner placed a firm hand on his shoulder. ”Be careful. You can come to us anytime, and we won’t take money for food.”

”Oh, thank you.”

He left the shop not long after, unexpectedly having gained a free eating place in the process. No more bread and soup from the academy kitchens. The owner was generous enough to give him some fruits and grain wrapped carefully for transport. Despite being a noble, his previous life’s experiences had taught him how to cook even in deserts with minimal ingredients.

Back in his dorm room, Cale lay down on his bed with a satisfied sigh. The weight of worry about food points lifted from his shoulders instantly.

”Now I won’t have to worry about points on food for this month. Just a month more and that’s it. The portal will open.”

He muttered to himself while thinking about his eventual escape from the academy.

I thought he would ambush me on the way back.

But the rules of the weekly duels didn’t forbid ”unexpected” deaths, which meant Elon might try to use that loophole to exact revenge. It was the kind of thing nobody would attempt unless they had a grudge.

”Huh, that just means I need to train more.”

He resolved firmly, pushing the worry aside for now.

The next few days blurred together into a routine of training and completing his classes and assigned tasks. Both his aura and cultivation had solidified considerably as he pushed his limits every single session.

He even used the training academy’s practice dummies, treating them as opponents in real combat scenarios. The progression was noticeable even to weakass him.

”Huff, now that I’ve merged about eighty-four percent with the skeleton, the regimen of the academy feels completely worthless. While the technique I’m learning from the memories is so hard that one hour takes everything out of me.”

He spoke during a brief break, breathing heavily as sweat dripped down his face.

He knew he needed to grow much faster. He couldn’t spend his entire month giving only one hour to training each day. He needed to reach at least Knight Rank One by the time the month was over,which was a massive jump from his current Novice Rank Three.

After training sessions, he always took a shower to wash away the accumulated sweat and grime from the day. Then he would sit at his table and think about optimization.

”Should I try something like woodcutting or maybe weight carrying as tasks? My physique will improve gradually.”

After much thought and consideration, he finally decided it was time. The rune skills from the previous owners’ memories needed to be learned now that his body was becoming adept to all the physical techniques. Not perfectly, but at least sufficiently well enough to attempt the next level of training.

The foundation was set. Now came the real test.