Surviving the Assassin Academy as a Genius Professor - Chapter 125

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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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Chapter 125
EP28 – How It Came to Pass (2)

“The 1st Tier transferred Command authority to an outsider?”
“Yes!”
“What do you mean by that?”

The news left Kahlra’s brow creased in bewilderment.
It was the fatal flaw of the Rotational Command Transfer System.
Such a thing was possible precisely because Command authority—an intangible privilege—floated unmoored; but that someone would simply hand it over to an outsider? He’d never imagined it.

“What madman seized Command authority?”
“It—it appears to be Professor Dante Hiakaporta of Hiaka Academy, sir!”
“Who in the blazes is that?”
“A senior professor in the Assassination Studies Department, they say….”

Kahlra let out a hollow laugh.
Not even chief professor rank.
Just a senior lecturer?
With the situation spiraling, every petty absurdity under the sun had begun to manifest.

“I’ll have him removed at once.”

He was the type who could not abide any encroachment upon his authority, and the hemorrhaging of power like this filled him with revulsion.
After all, hadn’t his strategist Carlos assured him that this whole affair was nothing but a Tricks of the Stars—something that would pass in a matter of time?

“Carlos!”
“Yes.”

The red-eyed man turned to face him.

“This suddenly-arrived professor has begun meddling in my territorial forces. Your assessment was sound, wasn’t it?”
“It was, my lord.”

He confirmed once more and felt reassured.
Now all that remained was to eliminate this disruptive Professor Dante.
Then it happened.

“Brother, allow me to handle this.”

Modrio, the count’s younger brother and a minor nobleman, spoke up.

“You?”
“Yes. As I mentioned before, I have gained a powerful ally in this matter. I will see to it that this Professor Dante is eliminated.”
“Ah. You mean by utilizing that unknown ruffian? Hmm….”

The count folded his arms. His typically unreliable younger brother was showing an unusual confidence. It might be worth giving him the opportunity.

“Fine.”
“I ask only for your trust.”

Modrio bowed with a smile.
This situation was an opportunity. With the count’s authority momentarily weakened, it was a perfect chance to expand his own influence.

……Thus, within the Kahlra Household, no one regarded the creature looming in the sky as a true threat.

* * *

The reporter cries out.

“First, I shall speak of the distinguished curriculum vitae of Professor Dante Hiaka, who has become the temporary commandant of the 1st Tier Fortress under the esteemed Kahlra Household!”

As if prepared in advance, he launches into recitation of my publicly disclosed career.
Starting from youngest senior professor, then hero of the Croitz Rebellion, and so forth—even the known accomplishments were quite impressive.

“And so His Excellency has graced us with his support! Everyone, let us offer a round of applause for the Professor’s noble judgment!”

Amid the cascade of applause, I held my composure.
What struck me suddenly was the feeling of being threatened at knifepoint.
Sing Dante’s praises, they demanded.

Clap, clap, clap!

How I’d somehow become commandant of the 1st Tier Fortress under the Kahlra Household.
Was I pleased about it?

‘This is a problem.’

Not pleased in the slightest.
In fact, I was gripped by a sense of crisis.
I cannot exercise command. This isn’t merely a matter of respecting Eimon.
Napoleon fell because of his Russian campaign. One reason the Russian campaign failed was that the command structure was never unified.
In fact, the game itself has a unit condition debuff called Command Confusion, which degrades the overall quality of an entire unit—second only to Morale Loss in its severity.
In other words, I had to actively withdraw from command.

‘…Why am I even here in the first place?’

No matter how much I thought about it, I couldn’t understand, and I couldn’t ask the fortress commandants either.
It would be far too petty a question.
Through several experiences, I had learned one crucial lesson: what I needed to secure above all else at this moment.
Authority.
So I resolved to start by being difficult.

“Fortress Commandants 08-02, come forward.”

At my slow drawl, the two commandants jolt forward in tension.

“F-Fortress Commandant 08…!”
“Fortress Commandant 02…!”

Those were the two who had singled me out for especially harsh treatment at the fortress gate.
Their faces went deathly pale—they knew their crime.

“Bow your heads.”

Will this work?

“Bow our heads…!”

…It works.

“Now then! Let us commence the formal briefing!”

From this point on, I focused intently.
A series of reports followed: scouts and various troop types were battering the Isolation Wall but had failed to breach it; an unidentified monster was observed in the sky above; and the House had ordered the 1st Tier Fortress to stand by provisionally.

‘They ordered a provisional standby?’

The response posture was a complete mess. With time slipping away by the second, what was this business about waiting?
Indeed, when I tore through the documents that had come down from the Earl’s household, the Earl was treating this crisis as merely “Tricks of the Stars”—something that would pass if we just waited a little longer.
And the military response system in place reflected that same shortsightedness.
Cut off from outside communication, the household seemed deliberately blind to the chaos spreading through its own lands.
In short: the earldom was acting insane.

‘Is this also Eimon’s strategy?’

It might even be a tactic to deceive our own side.
The thought made me acknowledge it: a true master of war, indeed.
A stagnant fool like me couldn’t even fathom the reason—such was the thoroughness of deceiving even our own forces.

“Additionally, our 1st Tier Common Assassin Unit received a summons from the Earl’s household and has been placed on standby in the 2nd Tier. While the entire domain is currently sealed, since the Earl’s side says there’s no problem, it seems there’s no need to be overly tense at this point……”

I could let other points slide, but not this one.

“Wait.”
“Yes, Professor Dante.”

The moment I spoke, the adjutant stopped. The fortress commanders turned in alarm.

“Didn’t you say beforehand that we had no communication with the Earl’s household?”
“That’s correct. At present, we’re only receiving one-way notifications.”
“Then how are assassins being sent?”
“Yes, sir. It was an urgent summons order specified via hotline by the Earl’s staff headquarters.”

In other words, they were moving spare ammunition upward.

“The number of 1st Tier Common Assassins comes to roughly a hundred, doesn’t it?”
“That’s correct, Professor. One hundred and five.”
……

There was no reason to keep so many on standby in the 2nd Tier; they’d probably be gradually summoned to the earldom itself.
I tilted my head.

‘Is this Eimon’s strategy too?’

Even with the massive monster’s devastating firepower now confirmed, they were concentrating assassins in one place? When they should be scattered across multiple positions.
Seeing such incomprehensible decisions being made—even I couldn’t grasp the logic. Was this what a true master strategist looked like?
I decided to summarize.

‘In a crisis with a colossal monster at the gates, they’re outwardly making no visible war preparations.’

A true master of war.

‘They need real-time contact with subordinate units, yet they lock the door and demand only assassins.’

A true master of war.

‘And they’re even concentrating assassination forces in one location—forces that could be wiped out in a single focused strike.’

A true master of……

……?

Wait.

“…Professor. Something’s wrong.”

Just then, a voice whispered from beside me.

“…Does the state of this operation even make sense? If we proceed as planned, we’re talking about total annihilation.”
“…….”

I shared the same thought.
What had driven Eimon to such a decision?
I gazed out the window. A dim shape moved within the clouds, barely visible. Vomittekka was looking down upon the world.
Demons possessed intelligence. At this moment, Vomittekka was surveying the domain through various means. Recognizing this, the brilliant general Eimon might be deceiving our own forces to this degree precisely to deceive Vomittekka.

“It’s fine.”
“It’s fine?”
“Yes. It’s fine. I have it all thought out.”

Ran still seemed dissatisfied, discontent flickering beneath her expressionless mask.
Then the reporting officer turned to me with a question.

“…Therefore, we wish to deploy our assassination unit. Professor Dante, how do you judge this course of action?”

All eyes converged on me at once.
As interim director, the choice fell to me.

I faced two options here. Join the assassination unit and move closer to the Count. Or refuse this mad operation and maintain command authority.

Everyone was anxious. The 1st Tier assassination unit was like a missile the 1st Tier possessed. Extracting it from the arsenal and handing it to the 2nd Tier was madness.

“Send the assassination unit.”

My decision left everyone troubled.
At the same time, Ran’s eyes widened as she looked at me. ‘…What?’

“Yes! Understood!”
“Furthermore, I will entrust the position of interim director of command here in the 1st Tier to Chief Professor Gula.”

At my next words, Gula was visibly startled into silence.
The moment I referred to him as chief professor, the fortress commanders’ expressions hardened. They all seemed to think, ‘Was he ranked above Dante…!?’

“…Then what will you do now, Professor Dante?”
“I will join the Common Assassin Unit of the 1st Tier alongside my assistant Ran, and we will head to the Count’s domain together. All communication and command directives will follow Chief Professor Gula here.”
“Ah, understood!”

Done.
The situation had been set right.

1. Transfer command authority to Gula (Gula is crude-mouthed but obedient, so he’ll follow Eimon’s directives well)
2. I’m now part of the assassination unit (reclaiming my role as the missile)
The flow that had gone strangely awry was back on track.

Then Gula was startled once more. A pre-opened communication channel crackled to life.

The crude-mouthed one showed unexpected concern for me. Perhaps because we both came from the same cellar.
I replied simply that it was fine.
Then Ran interjected.

“Professor, no matter how I look at this, it doesn’t seem right.”
“Don’t worry so much.”
“Of course you must have a plan, but even so, giving up command authority itself doesn’t make logical sense.”

Lan, too, wore a rare look of regret.
There was only one thing I could say.

“It’s fine.”

Yet Lan continued muttering under his breath. ‘There’s no way this is fine,’ he seemed to say.

…But what on earth was happening?

Half a day later, when I led some hundred assassins from the 1st Tier toward the 2nd Tier.
For the first time, fortress commanders of the 2nd Tier I’d never seen before lowered their heads to me.

“Welcome, Professor Dante. We heard you’ve been granted authority as the provisional commander of the 2nd Tier fortresses.”

…What?

“We can’t tell you how fortunate we are to have someone of your caliber. Everyone has been suffering under the previous fortress commander, Boya, for so long.”

…Who is that?

“Please, follow me. I’ll show you inside.”

Wait? Am I dreaming right now?
As I followed in a daze, I heard a voice say, ‘This can’t be…’ It was Lan. That mechanical instructor was trembling, his fists clenched in awe.

“…Just as I thought, you had a plan all along, Professor.”
“…….”
“…I didn’t know, and I dared to doubt you. How ashamed I am of myself.”
“…….”

I couldn’t say a word.
Because there was no such plan.

“??,,,”

Unable to make sense of the current situation at all.
The status window erupted into view once again.

⋮

┃ [Incursion] Progress Advanced [Stage 2]
┃ Reward: Star Fragment × 48 (Base 8 × 6 fortresses)

⋮

I stared at the status window with a vacant expression.

“…….”

Something was going terribly wrong.

* * *

But the situation did not end there—a unit of enemies had surged into the 2nd Tier bearing weapons.

“Where is Dante Hiaka?”

It was what I’d expected. The Count had begun to sense something amiss and was coming to seize command authority. That much was certain.
The fortress commander and soldiers of the 2nd Tier stood tense.

“The Vice-Count Modrio wishes to see you! You, a foreigner, have dared to dishonor the Kahlra Household’s forces! You shall face the Count’s lawful judgment!”

The fortress commanders stood frozen in that awkward middle ground, unsure what to do. I did not retreat.
The situation had simply spiraled into abnormality, and I had become commander once more. I had known it would come to this.

“Let them in.”

I called to them from the high seat, my legs crossed.
What would unfold from here was simple. I meant to hand command authority over to Modrio and return to being an assassin.
Or so I thought.
But something was wrong about the crowd that filed in between the guards.

“So it’s you! The madman behind all this!”

Vice-Count Modrio, the Count’s brother, was walking forward—but my gaze did not settle on him.
My eyes fixed on the figure beside him.
Limp.
Limp.
Limp….
A long-haired man with vertically slit pupils, walking in with an uneven gait, leaning on a Cane.
The moment our eyes met, the expression of the man with the Cane hardened in a way only I could recognize.
It was Kaiser Truman.

…….
…….

What are you doing here…?

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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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