I Ended up Doing Too Well as a Professor of the Enemy Nation - Chapter 72

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 72. Dissecting Butterfly (3)

 

Ruin felt dizzy at the Princess’s words.

 

He was someone who had never once mixed personal emotions into his missions. Even when he had to approach targets as their lover.

 

‘But why do they all end up like this every single time.’

 

Right. All of Fire Butterfly’s former lovers who had been betrayed would chase after Fire Butterfly like crazy, which was the problem.

 

Thanks to that, Superior Sasha even issued a strict order saying ‘Fire Butterfly is forbidden from using handsome man strategies.’ So it was unfair. He had never even tried to seduce them in the first place.

 

Anyway. Thanks to his superior’s ban, he could reduce many misunderstandings, but that didn’t mean there were none at all. There were often troublesome cases like this one.

 

But of all people, it had to be the Princess of Pride.

 

‘One wrong move and the Five Evils will have my head. I need to send her back safely.’

 

「That kind of guy was talking about Princess Shield and poison detection and all that crap?」

 

That’s not the same thing at all.

 

‘If the Princess dies here, the Five Evils will invade and war will break out.’

 

While the Union had many war supporters, Ruin’s superior Sasha seemed to think differently. And Ruin felt the same way.

 

Because if war broke out, they would inevitably use the Wish Stone, and then either the Union or Pride would definitely disappear.

 

And as someone who was once human and currently a member of the Demon Race, Ruin didn’t favor either outcome. That’s why he had refused orders directly connected to war.

 

There were probably upper-level officials who looked unfavorably upon this, but Superior Sasha had protected him each time. Of course, there were times when he couldn’t fully maintain his principles as a subordinate.

 

‘In that sense, ‘Fire Butterfly’ should disappear from this world.’

 

Anyway, if he safely returned the Princess, considerable rewards awaited, so maybe he’d let it slide.

 

And above all, the reason he had to safely return the Princess was simple.

 

‘With Princess status, she can enter Pride’s highest decision-making body, the ‘Seven Black Palace.”

 

If the Princess’s identity was revealed through ‘Soul Communication,’ the Hero would mercilessly pluck out the Princess’s eyes to infiltrate the Seven Black Palace. With that, he could break through Pride’s security like iris recognition.

 

And the Dark Gate Pavilion, which was the Seven Black Palace’s archive, contained top secrets, including all of Fire Butterfly’s information.

 

‘The first question the Hero would probably ask would be about the prisoner’s identity.’

 

Because that was the usual interrogation method.

 

And souls cannot lie. In other words, Soul Communication had to be stopped. Yes, exactly what that bastard was doing.

 

Sure enough, the Soul Studies Professor quietly raised his hand.

 

Flash!

 

‘Posthumous Contact (Soul Communication).’

 

A cold and sacred magic circle spread around the corpse. Chilling spirit language was carved into the air, and blue flames danced and swirled around.

 

And at some point, radiance calling forth souls poured down onto the corpse. At this, Ruin’s fingertips trembled very slightly. Because what happened from now on was crucial.

 

‘This magic can distinguish whether the target is alive or dead.’

 

If it actually activated, it would be proof that the corpse was fake. That’s why Ruin had to do two things simultaneously.

 

First, maintain the magic so it would ‘appear’ to work normally.

 

Second, but actually ‘block’ it so it would have no effect.

 

It was an impossible task.

 

But Ruin had a trump card.

 

【3-Minute Copy】

 

Can imitate anything touched or seen for ‘3 minutes.’

 

Ruin scanned the structure of the magic circle with his eyes.

 

Just 3 seconds.

 

Read with his eyes, understand the pattern, and memorize the flow.

 

‘Magic circuit, directional flow of the circle… this should be enough.’

 

While everyone was focused on the light, Ruin’s fingertips moved. Instantly, and almost simultaneously. Another magic circle bloomed like a shadow from inside his pocket.

 

Ruin’s eyes flashed.

 

‘Good. The appearance is perfect. Now I just need to block the magic with misfortune.’

 

‘Soul Communication’ was essentially a cheat-level magic. As such, it required a lot of materials and magic power to activate once, and couldn’t be used twice on the same target. In other words, blocking it just once would thwart the plan.

 

However, there was a small problem here. The Hero. Yes, that damn bastard was present.

 

‘Luck Power.’

 

The power of fortune that forcibly increases success rates. Honestly, he was the most obstructive presence here.

 

Even if he tried to thwart Soul Communication with misfortune, well?

 

‘If that bastard’s luck activates, the interference might not work.’

 

That’s why Ruin raised his right hand and flicked open a button.

 

Click.

 

Like handcuffs being unlocked, the moment the glove’s fastening loosened—

 

The air distorted.

 

Bzzzng—

 

Though nothing had broken, the air in the room twisted. A soundless ripple. A resonance as if someone had torn the fabric of fate itself.

 

At this moment, an aura of misfortune leaked out like waves from Ruin’s black gloves.

 

Swoosh—

 

Though invisible, it touched all of the Soul Studies Professor’s senses. Misfortune wrapped around his entire body, making him forget even knowledge he already possessed and causing cracks in fortune.

 

At that moment—

 

Crack!

 

“Huh?”

 

The trajectory of the magic circle cracked like glass. At the same time, a loud roar echoed.

 

Bang!

 

The Princess’s body shook violently.

 

Thud thud thud thud thud thud!

 

Violent convulsions. Her arms and neck vibrated as if trembling, and her lips quivered. The sight, like a zombie coming back to life, froze the classroom in an instant.

 

“What’s happening right now!”

 

“Did the corpse just move?!”

 

“Is it still alive?!”

 

Some of the professors jumped to their feet. Kalon reflexively gripped his magic wand, and Inora quietly raised her hand.

 

That’s when it happened.

 

Flash!

 

Suddenly the magic circle reactivated and light descended from the sky again. With the dazzling radiance, the Princess’s movement stopped.

 

“!”

 

“Huh? The magic… came back to life?”

 

“Ah, so the magic didn’t fail after all!”

 

“But why did the corpse-”

 

Ruin interrupted.

 

“The corpse’s resistance is due to Fire Butterfly’s residual magic power. Simply put, it’s a reaction.”

 

It was an absurdly shameless answer, but no one paid much attention to it. Because the magic had succeeded. The process didn’t matter.

 

Of course, all of this was Ruin’s doing.

 

【3-Minute Copy】

 

Ruin, who had activated the magic by copying it, sighed.

 

‘2 minutes and 42 seconds remaining.’

 

The Soul Communication had to end within that time.

 

Of course, it wasn’t a real soul speaking.

 

‘I’ve already planted a fake soul.’

 

Right. A ‘Shadow Spirit’.

 

‘Shadows exist everywhere.’

 

He had planted it in the fake Princess’s shadow. If he used this well, he could completely divert the Union’s attention away from himself.

 

That’s when it happened.

 

“Now I can ask questions?”

 

As the Hero approached, Ruin felt inwardly tense. The Soul Studies Professor said.

 

“You can ask up to three questions, so you must choose carefully.”

 

The reason Ruin was nervous was simple. The Hero was always a variable for Pride.

 

‘But any question doesn’t matter.’

 

The content the Union would interrogate was roughly predetermined. So he had injected all those expected questions into the shadow.

 

「You mean those crazy 1,500 Q&As?」

 

‘We need to do that much to handle any unexpected situations.’

 

So it was fine.

 

Soon the Hero’s voice rang out. Yes, that honey-like voice filled with strong Luck Power-

 

“Is Fire Butterfly in Haven?”

 

Thump.

 

Ruin flinched.

 

Son of a bitch. Out of nowhere, that’s your first question?

 

The students all murmured in unison, and the professors exchanged glances saying it wasn’t different from their expectations. That made sense, since Haven was an impregnable iron fortress where not a single demon could enter.

 

“Chairman, what kind of question is that-”

 

“Don’t tell me you think one snuck into Haven?”

 

Ruin snorted.

 

‘It’s fine. It’s a question I expected.’

 

There was only one thing the Shadow Spirit would say in response to that question.

 

Yes…

 

‘Fire Butterfly is in Kerenbeden.’

 

[Fire Butterfly is in the place you least want to see.]

 

…Huh?

 

What the hell! Why are the words different!

 

Ruin realized his mistake.

 

‘It’s because of the Luck Power.’

 

The Hero’s luck power had twisted Ruin’s plan.

 

But his misfortune curse power was equally high, so rather confusing answers came out.

 

‘Then that’s actually better.’

 

A completely false “no” answer would be good too, but if it was the Hero’s intuition, it could arouse suspicion until the end.

 

And when lying, mixing in truth is effective, so for the Hero, an answer mixing truth and lies would be best.

 

Moreover, this answer actually creates several possibilities to think about.

 

Sure enough.

 

“The place you least want to see? Does that mean they’re in Haven, or not?”

 

The professors were also bewildered.

 

Someone thought of the safest place from surveillance, someone thought of the Magic Tower, someone thought of an informant, someone thought of beside their daughter.

 

“It could mean they’re hiding in the Imperial Palace or Military.”

 

At those words, Ruin annoyingly interjected.

 

“It could be Aegis.”

 

“…!”

 

Sure enough, the students and observers stirred greatly. The answers each person offered were too diverse.

 

In that confusion, the professors and Hero furrowed their brows.

 

“This will only add to the confusion, so let’s quickly move to the second question….”

 

“Let’s do that.”

 

Ruin also nodded. He didn’t know how much information they could find out from the next question, but it was fine.

 

Soon the Hero asked.

 

“Is Fire Butterfly a student? Or faculty?”

 

Not bad.

 

「Kugh, haven’t the questions been somewhat threatening to you since earlier?」

 

‘No. It’s ten million times better than questions asking about the Princess’s identity.’

 

He’d been through worse interrogations than this before. Rather, this was proof that misfortune and fortune were fighting evenly.

 

However, the professors gulped.

 

‘Chairman, are you really suspecting inside Haven?’

 

But with this, they could narrow down the range of the first question somewhat.

 

If it was neither, they just needed to investigate outside Haven. If it was one of them, then they were inside Haven, so they could investigate that side.

 

At that moment when everyone’s hopes were focused, the shadow answered.

 

[Every person is both a learner and a teaching existence.]

 

At that answer, sighs poured from the mouths of those who had been expecting.

 

“That’s not an answer at all!”

 

The Hero also rarely confronted the Soul Studies Professor.

 

“Why have the answers been like this since earlier? Isn’t something wrong?”

 

“Well, that’s… communication with spirits always has room for interpretation. But the content is always truthful.”

 

“Tsk.”

 

Well, since his intuition was saying it was true, it probably wasn’t wrong. In the end, the Hero reluctantly pondered the third question.

 

Seeing the Hero rarely struggling with thought, Ruin secretly clenched his fist in victory.

 

‘Good. Now there’s only one question left.’

 

He just needed to dodge one well. Then it would be his victory.

 

The professors looked at the Hero with tense faces. Expressions saying they couldn’t make a mistake.

 

“Since it’s the last question, please choose well.”

 

Actually, having come this far, the question the Hero as commander should and could ask was decided. Exactly….

 

‘What is Fire Butterfly’s purpose.’

 

Because that would be an important question to determine the future direction of investigation.

 

And Ruin had already prepared an answer for that too.

 

Finally, the Hero who finished pondering asked. With a voice filled with powerful luck power.

 

“Is Ruins Wayne Fire Butterfly?”

 

“….”

 

What the hell, you bastard?

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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