Surviving the Assassin Academy as a Genius Professor - Chapter 101

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 101
EP24 – Department of Illusion Magic Professors (1)

Ezekiel Hiakium von Hiaka, the Dean of the Magic Department, lifted his teacup with an old-fashioned air and took a sip. It was noon. He savored the subtle fragrance drifting through the crisp weather, hoping this peaceful teatime would stretch on forever.

But he shouldn’t have thought that way.

– The Empire is targeting Professor Dante.

At the voice from beyond the Crystal Orb, he furrowed his brow.
The source of intelligence was a Hiakan assassin of the highest caliber, planted deep within the Imperial Court’s inner circle.
That figured. Those grating Empire bastards.

“…Targeting Professor Dante—you mean they’re attempting a kidnapping?”
– Not a kidnapping. According to what was heard in Imperial Court meetings, they appear to be scheming some form of inducement.
“Inducement? What could they possibly use to lure him?”
– Well…

A hesitant voice came from the other side of the Crystal Orb.

– Apparently… candy.

Ezekiel grew serious.
Of course. Those Empire bastards.
The kind who know exactly what’s needed and where.

Though Professor Dante is really just an Illusion Magic construct of Dante’s making.
But looking at that face,
wouldn’t anyone think he’d follow along if given candy?

“Understood for now.”

After cutting the Communication, Ezekiel sat alone in thought. It seemed he would need to reduce Professor Dante’s public appearances and external exposure for a while.

Not because of the threat of kidnapping or inducement—an illusion could hardly be abducted in the first place.

Rather, there exist in this world those who, the more they come to understand their opponent, gradually lose respect and begin to approach recklessly.

The Empire would continue trying to understand Professor Dante. And the more they understood, the more they would covet.

Ezekiel, however, knew how to handle such delicate interpersonal dynamics.

‘I need to reduce external exposure itself.’

Eliminating it altogether would be ideal, but that wasn’t possible. Still, merely reducing external visibility could make the Empire cautious.

What animal is man most wary of, most afraid of?
A fearsome tiger? Or an enormous bear?
Neither.

‘The animal he doesn’t understand.’

‘I must minimize the eyes watching Professor Dante. Make it so only those professors with genuine interest and urgency can learn from him. What matters is conveying the content—it would be better if the professors who learn share their knowledge with one another.’

With that resolve, he made a call to someone.

“Hey, it’s Ezekiel. I’m going to adjust the content of Professor Dante’s special lecture.”
– How should we adjust it?
“I’ll take the exam.”

⋮

The Department of Illusion Magic professors erupted into chaos.

“What? An exam??”

It was a remark that struck at their pride.
In all the world, none despise the judgment of others more than mages do.

“But wait—why now? You said any Illusion Magic professor could attend whenever they wanted!”
“You there. Did you actually hear what you just said?”
“Y-yes, I…”

The Magic Department administrative assistant was sweating through his robes.

Dante’s special lecture!
The professors of Illusion Magic had long anticipated learning that transcendent art of Illusion Magic, and when they heard all could attend, they’d felt as though they’d received an extraordinary gift.
And now that opportunity was being snatched away?

“Who in the department made this decision!?”
“Th-that would be Dean Ezekiel…”
……

The professors fell silent.
They could not protest further.
When his directive came down, pride counted for nothing—they had to comply.
But if admission to the lecture would be determined by exam results…
From that moment on, the Department of Illusion Magic professors began eyeing one another warily.

……
……

Assassins live by gold.
Warriors live by conviction.
And mages live by pride.

To be precise, this pride is the determination to preserve the sense of one’s own superiority.
And that sense of superiority extends to all things—wealth, renown, conviction, magical prowess, research accomplishments, and more.

I am superior to others.

I am different from these other “inferior” Illusion Magic professors here.

Those worthless mediocrities must owe their positions to luck or raw talent, but my life has been built on far more desperate trials and genuine achievement.

Every professor thought exactly the same.

……
……

Until now, they had maintained an amicable distance, playing the part of cordial colleagues, but circumstances had changed everything.

‘I must be the one to attend Dante’s special lecture. My competitors are such wretches—it should be an easy victory. My ranking is the highest here anyway.’

‘Insects. You lot, with your citation counts below two thousand, have neither the right nor the capability to sit in that great professor’s classroom.’

‘You are all mired in habit, moving through life on autopilot. You’ve simply repeated the same patterns—did it because it was done, kept doing it because it worked—and arrived here by inertia. You cannot possibly compete with me, recipient of this year’s Hiaka Academic Research and Education Award, in a true test of skill.’

In the wake of such sentiment flowing through the room,
one professor broke into a hearty laugh.

“This won’t be easy, will it? Competing with the other professors. Ha ha.”
“That’s true. Still, we ought to do our best. Ha ha.”
“Please go easy on us. Ha ha ha.”

* * *

It was eleven at night when Adel returned to the Faculty Building residence. She’d had no car either, so she’d walked here for nearly forty minutes.

Once home, she made her way to Lan’s room.

As it happened, when she’d gone to the Empire Capital, she’d left Lan in Ezekiel’s care just in case. Since then, she’d been keeping watch at every turn.

The child was sound asleep in bed. Which was unusual—Lan had always fallen asleep with clockwork precision at midnight, like some Cinderella of habit.

……

She started to turn away, then stopped.

Thinking it over, something struck her as profoundly odd. According to what I’d observed, Lan’s regularity was nearly mechanical. So why would she be asleep at eleven?

What troubled her most was what rested atop Lan’s head: the Cross Band Model.

One of the bands was missing.
So this was no longer a Cross Band Model.
It was now a Dash Band Model.

……

Adel was currently in the Empire Capital preparing for research—gathering research materials for Curse Studies.
She hadn’t gone alone, but had left with teaching assistants conducting similar work. There were six of them.
It was meant to be about a week’s journey.

The disappearance of one band from the Cross Band Model might mean something, or it might mean nothing.

For now, she resolved to speak with Lan once she woke.

⋮

“I think I nearly died.”

The next morning, Lan said this.
For a moment, I didn’t understand what she meant.

“Nearly died, or it seemed like you nearly died?”
“Yes.”
“…Explain. In detail.”

Lan showed me the band model resting on her head.

“This Cross Band Model is an auxiliary device that fully heals any wound I sustain—up to two times.”
“The phrasing is a bit vague. By ‘any wound’…”
“Even if it would kill me, it brings me back.”

So that’s what it does?
I’d thought it merely treated injuries.

“Here is my hypothesis.”

Ran drew a V-shape with his thumb and forefinger, resting it against his chin.
Then he spoke in a flat, lifeless voice.

“One of my two Cross Band Models has vanished, yet I retain no memory of what disappeared. This indicates the storage device was destroyed—which is to say, my head was damaged.”
“……Wait.”
“Yes.”

There were many points I wanted to press.
After gathering my thoughts, I spoke.

“Aren’t you afraid of death?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“Because an ending is simply a new beginning.”
“……Fair enough. Can that band be regenerated?”
“It’s a consumable.”
“But if you’re dead, how do you recover?”
“The wound is treated as if it never occurred.”
“……Understood. Next.”
“At the time the incident occurred, I was in the error zone of Starlight Meeting Mountain. My head couldn’t have been damaged on its own, so I must have been attacked by someone.”
“Who?”
“I’m uncertain. From the circumstances, it could have been the witch of Starlight Meeting Mountain. Or, as you mentioned, it could have been Adel.”

I told Ran everything about Adel.
Since she was sent by Systematicity ⧉, I could trust her.
But how could Adel, who should be in the Empire on the far side of the continent, have attacked Ran?

“Additionally, there are several other matters I should report.”

After that, Ran brought up the subject of the ‘something’ he had witnessed on Starlight Meeting Mountain.

“An arrogant turkey?”
“Yes.”
“Did you win?”
“Yes. I was victorious.”
“Well done.”
“Furthermore, either Vomittekka or Trappycche is making landfall in various nations.”
“What?”
“Yes?”
“No, wait a moment.”

This person is going to drive me mad.
Was that really what you meant to drop on me right after an arrogant turkey?

“Explain in detail.”

As I listened to Ran, my eyes narrowed.
The status window had surfaced in my mind.

It was coming.

「 Incursion 」

This was the term for a demonic offensive.
Separate from the main story—the Demon King’s arrangement to attack humanity purely and simply.

In [Hard difficulty], the final boss—the Professor—subjects the entire academy to indiscriminate terror.
[Hell difficulty] was on a different scale entirely.

‘……Indiscriminate terror against the entire world.’

The Professor, as a hero-narrative tale, depicted the confrontation between mankind and the Demon King—a DLC, after all.

Yet according to Ran, there was a pattern to it.
One per nation.
Through the Symbol ⧉, she had perceived the concept of ‘an offensive is coming,’ though the precise timing remained unclear.
She had warned that attacks would erupt simultaneously across all nations.

‘The Demon King’s strategy has two components.’

One: to kill me.
Two: to reduce the number of humans.
To secure victory in the final ‘Demon King War,’ the Demon King would deploy both tactics precisely where they mattered most.

‘Trappycche and Vomittekka—they are individuals possessed of the largest physiques.’

Their threat level was lower than Jinxxytte’s.
Jinxxytte, with all seven arms splayed open, was nothing short of a calamity on the battlefield.
Yet the fact that Jinxxytte’s threat level was grotesque did not mean these two were weak—far from it.

“Should I alert them beforehand?”
“You should. I’ll brief the Department myself.”

Then Ran posed a truly difficult question.

“What about the other nations?”
“…….”

I fell silent.
What to do about the other nations.

Surely it would be good to inform them, wouldn’t it?
When, where, what manner of demon would come.
Wouldn’t it be marvelous to tell them the creature’s traits, weaknesses, strategies for defeat?
They could prepare. Casualties could be kept to a minimum.

‘……But that’s not how it works.’

Absurdly, the moment such information spread, the situation would spiral into chaos beyond control.

The Empire would be to blame.

The current Emperor Hatengrajou had a habit: whenever he laid eyes on a capable individual, he would resort to any measure to bring them into the Empire.
Even warriors of mere [Challenger] rank were bombarded with countless inducements.
But if a prophet of mysterious monsters appeared in their midst?
And if these mysterious monsters grew steadily stronger, eventually rising to the status of a global threat?

The Emperor would dispatch [Starlight Seat]-ranked warriors to abduct me.
The moment I was taken to Hatengrajou, the information would become the Emperor’s property.
He would exploit it to maintain hegemony across the continent.
There was a main story arc related to this—I was certain of it.

‘Unless there were some way to convey that information in complete anonymity…….’

But no such means existed.
The material realm stretches far and wide under the reach of starlight.

Take, for instance, State Treasure Number Four of the Kingdom: the Book of Life.
With that, the Hiaka royal house can find even a Starlight Seat who goes to ground deliberately.
And if Hiaka possesses such an artifact—what of the Empire?

“Still, we can’t simply fold our hands. Before the final confrontation, all humans are allies. Even Croitz.”
“We’ll need to find a way gradually, then.”
“Indeed.”

For now, we watch and wait.

“From here on, you stay as close to me as possible. Don’t go throwing away a life I care about. Keep your band fastened to your head like a pot lid, always.”
“A pot lid, sir?”
“A pot lid means your head.”
“Understood.”

That settles things for now.

Adel matters. The single-horned demon matters too.
But today, something else took precedence.
Ezekiel had made a request of me.

– Ezekiel: I’ve put the Department of Illusion Magic professors on trial. I need you to evaluate them and select three.

Three out of thirty.
A ten-to-one competition.

– Me: Will proud professors accept such a test?

I’d asked with some hesitation. If they grew emotional about it, the whole affair would be exhausting.
I had never shied from conflict, but not because I welcomed it.
When someone wants to fight you, it’s tiresome.

Ezekiel’s answer was remarkably straightforward.

– Ezekiel: If they mouth off, dismiss them.

Ah, so that’s how it works?
The life of a wielder of power was astonishingly simple.

* * *

Yet an hour later, when I entered the District 2 Magician Hall Main Lecture Hall, I realized I wouldn’t need to resort to that.

I’d wager that if we’d summoned graduate students here, the sheer killing intent in this room would have suffocated them dead.

“…….”
“…….”

Some thirty professors from the Department of Illusion Magic sat gathered, their faces twisted into fierce grimaces, radiating murderous aura.

【 ‘Choose me. Not these insect dogs.’ 】
【 ‘Surely the head professor can see through deception. Who is truly superior.’ 】
【 ‘It must be me. It must be me. It must be me. It must be me. It must be me. It must be me…….’ 】
【 ‘To see these mediocre fools compete is shameful for the department. I’m mortified before Professor Dante.’ 】

The Magic Department desired me far more intensely than I had anticipated.

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