I Got a Fake Job at the Academy
Chapter 449: Roots of Rebellion (1)

"Hey. What's going on here?"

Alex, who was restrained by the elves of the Dentis family, asked Vierano.

He thought it might be betrayal, but Vierano also had the same restraints on his wrists.

The restraints were made by weaving special tree roots that only grow in the elves' forest.

He hadn't expected a warm welcome, but he had expected at least some basic courtesy.

"I don't know either."

Vierano was equally bewildered.

He never imagined his niece Viela would do something like this.

Even now, being dragged like a criminal, he couldn't tell if this was a dream or reality.

"...Still, one thing's certain - something big must have happened while I was away. Though I don't know what it is."

"I think we'll find out once we reach our destination."

Rudger answered.

Even while being escorted as a prisoner, his expression remained unchanged from usual.

In fact, he walked so confidently that it was questionable whether he was really being restrained but no elf pointed this out.

They were all overwhelmed by the charisma emanating from Rudger's confidence.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Rudger. Because of me..."

Vierano apologized to Rudger.

After all, his influence was partly responsible for Rudger's group being escorted like criminals.

Considering their group's ability to fight against Shadewarden's trackers, being restrained so easily didn't make sense.

Yet they allowed themselves to be taken because their captors were elves from the Dentis family that Vierano led.

"Still, the fact that they're not trying to kill us immediately suggests they must have some purpose."

"I suppose so. Viela wasn't that kind of child..."

"By the way, I heard earlier about an uncle - did you have siblings?"

"Yes. I had a younger sibling. Viela is my niece. She's been managing family affairs in my place while I'm away as head of the family."

Viela was sharp and decisive in character.

Moreover, she was intelligent and wise, and didn't show the recklessness typical of other young elves.

Vierano had even been thinking of eventually passing the position of family head to Viela but then this suddenly happened.

Rebellion? Or something else?

This wasn't like the Viela who always followed him around calling "Uncle, uncle."

There were too few clues at the moment to be certain of anything.

Vierano thought, as Rudger said, it wouldn't be too late to judge after reaching their destination but Vierano's thoughts crumbled after arriving at the Dentis family mansion.

The mansion, which could be called the main house of the Dentis family, was made by carving out trees.

Though carved from trees, its scale was by no means small.

The thickness of the trees was in the hundreds of meters.

It was a kind of massive plant cluster formed like a twisted rope, made not from a single tree but hundreds of trees.

This natural creation stood over 15m tall with a thickness exceeding 400m and the Dentis family lived there.

"Damn. It looks like a terrifyingly large mutant broccoli."

Before there was time to be amazed or impressed by this natural wonder, Hans' cheap impression ruined the atmosphere.

Even the Dentis family elves, who hadn't shown much reaction until then, glared at Hans at that moment.

The elves escorting Rudger's group soon pushed them into a reception room.

Vierano's expression hardened when he saw the elves waiting inside.

"Why are you all...?"

Where Vierano was looking, three elves were seated.

They were elves who appeared to be in their 50s or older, each wearing clothing marked with symbols unique to their families.

Those symbols represented Radix, Crown, and Floheim.

They were the three noble families symbolizing the moderate faction.

"Viela. What is the meaning of this?"

Vierano demanded an answer from Viela about why these people were in the Dentis family home but Viela ignored Vierano's gaze.

"I brought them as requested."

"Ho ho. Yes. Well done."

Vierano's expression hardened at the sight of the old elf naturally talking down to Viela.

"What do you think you're doing?"

Vierano's gaze toward the old elder was so cold that anyone who knew him normally would have been shocked.

He was more angered by the fact that an elder from another family dared to talk down to Viela, who would become the next family head, than by his niece having him arrested.

However, the elders of the three noble families sneered dismissively at Vierano's hostile question.

"Vierano Dentis. It seems you still don't understand the current situation. Do you really not know why you were brought here in restraints within this territory?"

"...There seems to be some misunderstanding."

"Misunderstanding? Can you still call it a misunderstanding even after seeing the humans who came with you?"

"They are my guests."

"Guests, you say. Even after secretly bringing humans into our forest? Well, I suppose there's no need to dwell on such things now. What meaning would that have for someone suspected of treason?"

"Treason?"

Why would such a thing suddenly come up?

Vierano tried to push back the anxiety that was creeping up.

Sneering at such a Vierano, the elder of the three noble families said:

"Vierano Dentis. You knew of the existence of the last blood of the Plante family, yet you concealed it and ultimately took actions to protect them."

"...!"

"Surely you know how terrible the weight of the name Plante is in our elven society. Or do you have some excuse?"

Vierano couldn't give any answer.

How did they figure out that fact?

Could it be that the Lifrey family leaked the information in advance? But how?

"Did you dream of reviving the Dentis family by manipulating the last blood of the Plante family as you wished?"

"Stop slandering me!"

"Whether it's slander or not isn't important. The point is, you knew about the survivor of the Plante family and concealed that fact."

The three noble elders' words were true.

In fact, Vierano had known Sedina's identity as a survivor of the Plante family and overlooked it but using that alone to claim Vierano dreamed of rebellion was excessive speculation.

'We've been had.'

Rudger realized what that old elf was trying to do.

'He's skillfully cornering the opponent using only partial truths.'

There's no way Vierano would try to use Sedina.

But would other elves believe that?

If there were no such schemes, why did he protect the blood of the Plante family, who could be considered criminals?

That fact alone was enough to shake Vierano's position.

"Still, it's a great fortune. The Dentis family nearly became traitors and one of the seven roots almost disappeared, but the young and wise head made the right judgment."

Viela gave no response to those words, she just stared at her uncle Vierano with cold eyes.

"Viela. I..."

Before Vierano could say anything, Viela coldly said:

"Put the criminals in prison."

The Dentis family elves followed that order.

In the end, Vierano and Rudger's group were imprisoned in the underground root prison of the Dentis family.

The underground prison, full of moisture and crawling insects, was gloomy.

"Well, this is quite something. The worst situation has occurred in the most unexpected place."

Despite being imprisoned, Alex laughed casually.

Though it was an attempt to lighten the negative situation, Vierano couldn't lift his head due to feeling too apologetic.

"I was too complacent. I thought we could at least guarantee minimal safety once we reached my family home. To think it had already fallen into the hands of the moderate faction."

"Was the moderate faction's intelligence network more impressive than expected?"

"That's what's strange. The moderate faction doesn't know much about situations outside the forest. Yet they received news quickly."

Vierano shook his head bitterly.

"What use is pondering that now? What's done is done."

"Besides, isn't this too defenseless?"

Alex found it strange that there wasn't a single elf standing guard.

"How do they expect to contain us with such light restraints?"

"These aren't light restraints. This prison is strong enough that no spirit user or magician could break it no matter how much they rampage."

The tough roots imprisoning them weren't ordinary trees.

The roots, flowing with powerful life force, had strength surpassing metal by themselves.

It was practically impossible to break the roots even by releasing aura or magical power.

Alex ran his hand lightly over the root prison and muttered.

"Tch. It's real."

"It's not something that can be broken through physically."

"What if I try hacking?"

Bellaruna cautiously offered her opinion.

"The family has monitors who read information in real-time. The moment Miss Bellaruna tries to access through the roots, a large force will rush in as if they've been waiting."

"They're probably hoping for that."

Rudger agreed with Vierano's opinion.

"The fact that they've only imprisoned us like this means they haven't confirmed the treason yet, only that there are suspicions. But the moment we openly try to break the prison, that's when it becomes confirmed treason rather than just suspicion."

"They'd be giving them proper justification for the immediate execution they so desire."

Hans nodded as if understanding.

"Now what do we do? It seems the plan has gone wrong from the start."

"We'll just have to take a detour."

"But isn't time really tight for taking detours?"

Hans wasn't asking because he didn't know.

Still, to receive such treatment from what they thought would be the most sympathetic place in this forest.

"Who knows how long we'll be stuck in these broccoli roots, and even if we get out, there's no clear way forward."

"Um. No matter what, calling them broccoli roots is a bit..."

Being the family head, Vierano gently chided Hans but everything else he said wasn't wrong at all.

In reality, there wasn't a single place they could trust and rely on.

It probably wouldn't feel this hopeless even if they were stranded alone on a desert island.

At that moment, footsteps were heard from beyond the darkness of the underground prison.

Someone was coming.

The person showed themselves proudly, as if they had no intention of hiding their approach.

"Viela."

Vierano called that name with a voice full of complexity as he saw his niece Viela.

Looking at such a Vierano, Viela spoke in a cold voice.

"Uncle. You are suspected of treason. If you, as the family head, received such suspicions, that would be the end of the Dentis family's life. I couldn't just stand by and watch that."

"...I'm sorry."

"I received a promise that the Dentis family has no connection to treason in exchange for handing you over to the moderate faction. Uncle. Only your sacrifice is needed."

"It's not just one person though."

Rudger cut in.

However, Viela lightly ignored Rudger.

"There will be a banquet. Beyond celebrating the new family head, it's a banquet rejoicing that the moderate faction has gained new allies. Probably around midnight, everyone will be drunk and distracted. Of course, the elders of the three noble families will gather in one place, noisily talking. Celebrating their victory."

"...Viela?"

"Tomorrow morning when the sun rises, uncle will be taken to the royal palace. Suspicions or whatever, the moment that happens, it will be confirmed that you're a traitor. So use your remaining time well."

Viela left the underground prison after leaving those words and a heavy silence lingered in the room.

"W-what should we do?"

Bellaruna was the first to speak.

Viela's words were essentially a death sentence.

How could one accept being told they would be dragged to the execution grounds tomorrow morning?

But the expressions of the other four weren't so dark.

Rather, their eyes gleamed as if they had received an unexpected gift.

"Mr. Vierano."

"Yes, Mr. Rudger."

"Your niece is truly wise."

"...It seems so."

Vierano's expression was full of pride toward Viela as he spoke with a slight smile.

"Uh, huh? What do you mean by that?"

Only Bellaruna failed to understand the situation.

"She came to tell us."

"W-what did she tell us?"

"Midnight."

Hans recalled what Viela had said earlier.

"At midnight they'll be drunk and distracted, gathered in one place talking. It would be harder not to understand with such obvious hints."

"Ah! Does that mean..."

"It seems the Dentis family will completely split from the three noble families."

Hans muttered this while looking at Vierano.

"It's truly regrettable. While I was away, how much must my niece have worried about protecting the people of this family? I ended up passing on what I should have done as an adult."

"Mr. Vierano. Are you ready?"

Rudger asked as he stood up.

"From now on, we'll really become traitors."

"We must. We can't do nothing."

"W-wait a moment! But how are we going to escape from this prison?"

Bellaruna pointed out the most important part first.

They can't break out by force, and if they try to access the root network, the other side will notice.

Then isn't there no suitable method?

"They seem to be hoping we'll make a big commotion."

The fact that Viela left such words without teaching them how to escape meant that she actually wanted them to draw the three noble families' attention.

"While we draw their attention, Viela will personally lead the family's elves to strike at the three noble families. She's saying she'll take on the dirty work herself."

"T-that..."

"She doesn't want to pass the family's affairs onto others."

Rudger said this and asked Vierano:

"Are you going to just watch?"

"No. I can't leave everything to my niece. This is something that I, as an adult, must do."

"Then let's get out."

That voice came from right in front of Vierano.

Somehow Rudger had already escaped from the root prison that confined him.

There were no traces of breaking through by force, and not even any signs beforehand.

It was like seeing a ghost in broad daylight but Vierano didn't look surprised and nodded with a slight smile.

It was too late to be surprised now, after everything Rudger had shown so far.

"Yes. Let's go and become traitors."

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