Surviving the Assassin Academy as a Genius Professor - Chapter 104

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

Episode 104
EP25 – Professor Assassination: Why Dante? (1)

The Department of Illusion Magic faculty fell into shock.

They cried out—all of them eliminated? What did that mean? They’d spent thirty minutes in tension, striving hard, and now a single assassin had knocked out every last mage. Their pride was bound to smart. At the end of it, one professor turned to me with a question.

“What exactly is the problem?!”

What was your problem….

*

The truth was, they had no problem at all.
That was the problem.

Right after the exam ended, I found myself genuinely taken aback.

‘…Why are they all so good?’

Ezekiel had asked me to pick only three.
I’d found twenty-seven people I wanted to select personally.
I’d nearly wanted to pick everyone in this place.

They were all meticulous, genuinely skilled, and even beneath their pride, they thought seriously about Illusion Magic. Not a single one was stuck in mere habit, grinding through practice by rote.
Every last one of them was working with genuine heart!

So I sought out Dante, the chief professor.

“Uh… well….”

Dante rubbed his head, then began naming them—pick this one, pick that one…. He wound up mentioning nearly everyone.
This child of a chief professor shared my position entirely.

But there was one exception.
Dante wanted to pick someone even I didn’t care to select.

“Are you saying we should pick Mate as well? Why him? His skill is clearly inferior, and his grasp of Illusion Magic was quite clumsy.”

At that, Dante blinked and answered.

“He’s… trying hard….”
“???”

In any case.
I couldn’t understand it. How had so many of them managed to win my favor so completely?
Here I was, evaluating them with the mindset of a mother-in-law who’d been cooking for three hours alone, and yet—

‘Ah.’

Then it struck me.
They were all faculty members who, even after the Betrayal and Collapse, had not requested retirement and had remained at their posts.
Of course, the assassin professors.
But the mage professors had also submitted mass retirement requests at the time.
Those who stayed, every one of them, must have held a conviction about the work of studying and teaching Illusion Magic.
Conviction.
A thing rare in this age.

‘Besides, Hiaka’s Illusion Magic is a continental laughing stock right now.’

It was only the Christmas tree incident that had shifted the atmosphere; the prevailing assessment was still that Hiaka’s Illusion Magic was pathetic.
Having their life’s work ridiculed made them all the more of an underdog—fierce, hungry, desperate.

You root for the dog that’s been trampled in the arena.
Even if that dog is yourself.

“Hello.”

I called Ezekiel immediately.

– You’re increasing the pass rate to thirty people?
“Yes.”
– No.

His tone was sharp as a blade.

– As I mentioned, the Empire is targeting Dante. At this point, we need to minimize external exposure.

I didn’t mention that, from what I could see, there were no spies present. It would’ve been a foolish thing to say.

– This has to be consistency inherent to Dante’s own conduct—that’s the only way to prevent human error.

Ezekiel had a point.
After thinking it over, I hit on something good.
I’d noticed it while surveying their 【thoughts】 in the exam hall.
‘Pride’—that thought came up again and again.
It made sense. They were mages. Yet they hated losing to the professors around them with particular intensity.
If I couldn’t pass them all, then I had to fail them all.

“Then how about this, sir? We fail everyone. You and the department chair become the whip and the carrot.”
– Whip and carrot?

In other words, I thought they’d all done well, but I was asking Ezekiel to call it a failure.
A provocation rather than a choice—to touch that engine of mages called ‘pride’.
Ezekiel objected.

– Why do I have to be the villain?
“Should I do it instead? I’m an assassin—they’ll resent me anyway.”
– You do it. They won’t listen to me anyway. ‘What does the department chair of Defense Magic know?’ they’ll say.
“Understood.”

And so I delivered the verdict as plainly as possible.
When I left the exam hall, I was disliked a little.

That was fine.

Once Ezekiel stepped in with some gentle reassurance and defended me, their hearts would soften.

That was the end of my first meeting with the Department of Illusion Magic professors.

Or so I thought.

After summoning(?) Dante back
and crossing the hallway with Lan toward the vehicle,
an instructor named Mate stepped into our path.
His posture was slightly bent, his complexion pallid.

“…I’m sorry, Professor Dante. There’s something I really wanted to tell you.”
“I understand.”
“…Please, give me another chance.”

He dropped to his knees on the floor.

“Just one more opportunity. I was far too nervous this time to demonstrate proper Shaping. But I cannot simply abandon your lectures, Professor Dante. I won’t.”
“…….”
“If you grant me one more chance, I swear I’ll show you a proper Shaping and Illusion Magic combination. Please…….”
“…….”

In that moment, I found myself thinking.
When you become someone important, you encounter all manner of things.

I had knelt before others in my life.
But this was the first time someone had knelt before me.

His hands were trembling faintly.
It was painful to watch.

“Rise. You should hear good news from Ezekiel, the department head, shortly.”
“…….”

That’s what I told him, at least.
Yet I cannot deny that Mate’s level has slipped.
I paused, studying him carefully.

“Lecturer Mate.”
“…Yes.”
“I know the measure of your ability.”
“…I, I was just nervous this time….”
“Nervousness aside, I can assess precisely what depth lies within your work. You must push harder, Lecturer. And next time, prove that you have.”
“…….”
“Desperation alone changes nothing.”

He had been granted one more chance.
Now it fell to him to prove himself worthy of it.

* * *

The days of the quiet holiday stretched on.

– Adel: Do you need a gift for the professor?
– Me: Just pick up some sweets or something.
– Adel: Should I get something for Lan too?
– Adel: Things are still kind of awkward between us~

“…….”

– Me: That sounds like the right idea.
– Me: If only I got a gift, it’d be even more awkward.
– Adel: lol true.
– Adel: See you the day after tomorrow~

The days of the quiet holiday stretched on.
For now.

In the interim, I had communicated with the department several times.
With Buki Buki, the teaching assistant to department head Shaman.

– Professor Dante!

The Ranker ‘Gyul Gyul’—with the same word repeated in her name—made it easy to guess she was from the Hitahita Kingdom. (By the same logic, Gyul-bu’s ‘Kang Kang’ probably hailed from there too.)

I had indirectly alerted Hiaka that a monster of Jinxxytte caliber was coming,
and Buki Buki brought word that the Nibelung Family was furious. They’d cut off their academy sponsorship as a result.
Fortunately, Grey’s one hundred fifty-seven thousand volumes had opened the department’s airways, and now royal support was being discussed.

So far, everything had gone as expected, and I was grateful for that.
But there was one thing I hadn’t anticipated.

– “An envoy from the Great Mother came and said, ‘Isn’t this betrayal?’ Do you know what the department head answered?”
“What did he say?”

Buki Buki paused for a beat before continuing.

– “I’m good at that,” he said.

He laughed carefully as he spoke.
Ouch—that’s sharp.
Shaman.
On most days he seemed like the sort of portly gentleman who could swallow five donuts in one bite.
Yet he was unmistakably a member of the Croitz royal house.
The fact that he could make light of his own past meant the academy’s position was far more solid than I’d reckoned.
How this would unfold remained to be seen, but for now, I approved.

“Understood.”
– “Yes, I’ll be in touch!”

I ended the call with Buki Buki and checked my schedule.

In a few days, Dante’s assassination unit would be deployed on its first mission. The following week, the assault on Starlight Meeting Mountain would begin. Which meant I still had time.

A day’s solid rest had done wonders for my recovery. (Though it reminded me once more that I was inside a game. In reality, you couldn’t bounce back from exhaustion in a single day.)

With the academy on break, I had the flexibility, but I couldn’t afford to just loaf around. I decided to head outside and train on my own.

* * *

“My name is Joachim Hilabar.”

Joachim muttered the words.

“I will never give up.”

He would not yield.
He would not break.

After the proxy assassination plan failed, he’d been torn apart like a dog by the Black Path. He’d been slapped by his mentor, Professor Ludenbach. He’d been called a “worm” by Marina, the girl he’d always secretly loved. His father had scolded him too. But……
He absolutely, absolutely could not retreat now.

‘Seven falls, eight rises, Joachim.’

He would assassinate Professor Dante, no matter what.

……With that resolve in his heart, months had passed.

With each passing day, as Dante’s fame soared higher and higher without limit, Joachim began to sink deeper into anguish.

‘This makes no sense.’

It was absurd. Dante left a trail of grand accomplishments and heroic deeds wherever he went.
And now, barely half a year after his appointment as professor, he’d already surpassed the senior faculty.
Before and after, legends about Professor Dante circulated constantly.
But at some point, things had crossed into the realm of pure fantasy.

‘What? Professor Dante mentored Grey, and thanks to that she achieved such success that Hiaka’s opening its academy gates?’

As the Empire’s opening drew near, stories of Dante flooded every corner—taverns, academies, streets.

“Professor Dante’s assassination unit has four members from Zamryong Academy alone…”
“Man, I’m jealous. I wish I could join that group…”

The students of Welyoung Academy gossiped endlessly.
Crunch!
The can in his hand crumpled.

At first, Joachim had only felt a dull ache, but by now he was plagued by stomach pain and insomnia. He had to skip rope desperately every night just to tire himself out.
When exhaustion finally let his eyes close, he’d dream of sitting alone in a meeting room with the Assassination Department chair.
And that chair was Dante.

– It’s been twenty years now.
– Student, you should retract your life.

His eyes snapped open.

“…Aaahhh!!”

Gasping, heaving for breath…
Joachim struggled to steady his breathing.

He couldn’t let things go well for him anymore.
He had to be destroyed!
If the man who insulted me succeeds, my gut will twist with envy!!

Fueled by this rage, Joachim threw himself into work. Revenge required money, after all.
He attended classes just enough to barely avoid an F. He scraped together reports by copying shamelessly. Days at the gas station, afternoons at bars, and nights using his specialty Concealment to take on Black Path spy jobs as side work.

“Grab that bastard!”
“Aahhh!”

He’d been caught a few times during spy operations and nearly died, but who was he?

‘My name is Joachim Hilabar.’

I never give up.

After all these hard-won efforts finally yielded a substantial sum of money again, Joachim began scheming how to assassinate Professor Dante.

‘I need to find his weakness.’

No one in this world was invincible.
The famous tale of the world’s fifth-ranked “Northern Grand Duke Leviathan” being killed by a coordinated ambush of five Challenger-class assassins proved as much.
If Professor Dante had a weakness, there was a chance.

So Joachim went to the temple of the System Altar.
A congregation of the White Path, worshippers of Systematicity.
The most renowned information organization in the world.
The Black Path’s organization was unusable (Joachim’s public favor was too poor), so he had no choice but to rely on this place instead.

“But aren’t you one of the Black Path?”
“Y-yes… Well, technically….”
“Get out.”
…….

And so he was driven out, beneath a frost of contempt.

It didn’t matter.
All those long hours of scorn and persecution—
he could endure them without end.

His first visit to the System Altar had been a month ago. Since then, Joachim returned every single day. More than once he’d been struck with salt, or had water thrown in his face, the others calling him unlucky.
Even in the depths of winter, when his clothes froze stiff against his skin, Joachim kept bowing his head.

“Please, just help me once!”

Where there is sincerity, the heavens listen.
Had his resolve—to assassinate Professor Dante even if it cost him his own life—reached the ears of heaven itself?

“…Tsk.”

Billemon, a White Path professor and keeper of the System Altar’s shrine, clicked his tongue. He couldn’t believe such a man existed.
In all his life, he had never seen a Black Path operative who kept bowing, taking abuse for a full month without breaking.

“So what is it you’re curious about?”
“Ah…!”

Joachim’s face brightened as he spoke.

“It’s just… um… I… I….”
“You?”
“I…….”

But now that the moment had come, he couldn’t gauge whether it was safe to speak. Billemon was Dante’s friend, after all. True, Joachim was also Dante’s friend, but…….

“…………I want to know Professor Dante’s weaknesses.”

Still, he forced the words out somehow.
Professor Billemon smiled.

“Get out.”

Bang!
The door slammed shut.

…….

Damn it. Rejected again.
But he couldn’t give up like this.
Joachim knew this.
The moment a person surrenders, they stop where they stand, forever unable to move forward.
A human being lives by will alone—the creature that once trembled to step beyond a doorway, if it harbors resolve, will inevitably scale mountains ten thousand meters high.
And he did not wish to stop.
So Joachim pressed his forehead to the floor and prayed.
Please, he begged, help him.
Help him assassinate Professor Dante…….
And then.

Could it be that such desperate longing had finally reached the heavens……?
A shaft of dawn light fell across Joachim’s bowed head.

‘Ah!!!’

Letters flooded his retina.
Not a Stigma—it was a Revelation. A direct attempt at conversation from the star itself.
But which star, he couldn’t say.
Who suddenly reached out to me?
No—there was no time for that now. It said it would share information.

‘Please tell me Professor Dante’s weakness…!’

The first month, first day?
That was nearly a month ago.
But it didn’t matter.

‘Yes!!’

Through this process.
Joachim came to know Professor Dante’s weakness.
A truly shocking weakness.

‘What…… raw physical power was his weakness……?’

Unexpectedly, Dante’s combat ability in bodily engagement was pathetic.
In other words, he was fragile in pure hand-to-hand fighting.
Unbelievable, yet it seemed to be fact.
Thinking about it, Joachim had never seen Dante use his body, and as far as he knew, Dante had never displayed raw physical force with his fists.

‘…Then all those impressive feats I’ve seen were entirely Illusion Magic……?’

Of course, the mysterious star had said that information was from ‘a month ago’…….
Just ‘one month.’
How much stronger could a person become in that span?
He considered telling someone, but then decided not to. Such premium intelligence should not be shared. For Joachim, assassination was becoming increasingly sacred, approaching him like the supreme achievement of his life.

‘……Professor Dante. Now you are finished.’

Joachim closed his eyes briefly and imagined.

―His fist connecting, Professor Dante falling to his knees.
―Face-down, gasping: “Impossible…” “Did my lessons mean nothing to you…?” in shock and disbelief.
―At that moment, Marina appears from nowhere, gazing at him with eyes full of admiration. She speaks: “Joachim, I never knew you were such a strong man….” Her voice wavers with regret.

‘Marina. Just wait….’

Over nearly half a year, running three laps a day, Joachim liquidated his entire savings to purchase ‘equipment.’

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