Surviving the Assassin Academy as a Genius Professor - Chapter 144

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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 144
EP31 – The Betting Table, the Dukedom League (1)

An accord on academic exchange between the Empire and Hiaka had been established. Cain and I, as the senior professor, were among those who attended a ceremony held in its honor.

From that point forward, it signaled the official opening of the academy to the outside world.

Afterward, countless professors sought to push their assassination teams into the Empire, and I rode that tide as well.

“Hah-hah-hah…! Dante! Come here!”

Shaman, the department head, had offered to arrange something special for me, but I declined. I was confident I could rise without such favors, and I didn’t want to accumulate debts to the department if I could help it.

“Why won’t you accept it!?”
“It’s just my preference, sir.”
“I don’t like your preference! Hmm!? I don’t like it at all!”

The cords of muscle along his jawline tightened visibly. There was no choice in the matter. If I’d accepted such a thing hastily, the interference from my meddling dean would have begun at once.

In any case.

That morning, like every morning, I reported to the assassination team’s training grounds, where I found Professor Leo and Professor Ujin from the White Path deep in serious conversation.
Meanwhile, in all the time I hadn’t seen her, Professor Ujin’s belly had swollen noticeably—she was pregnant.

“Ah, Professor Dante! Here again today?”

Professor Leo waved a hand in greeting.

“What were you two discussing?”
“Nothing much. It’s just that the atmosphere around the Imperial Court lately has been rather strange.”
“How so?”
“Well, we’ve been monitoring the trends in the number of Dungeon openings, you see.”

Professor Ujin, with her boxy glasses and FM-style demeanor, projected a graph into the air using Illusion Magic.
Over the past month alone, both the Dungeon broadcast rights and Imperial sponsorship funds had ballooned explosively—a seven-hundredfold increase.
The Betting Table itself had grown monstrously in size.

“Were you aware of this, Professor Dante?”
“I knew the growth was steep, but I had no idea it had reached seven hundred percent.”
“It’s absolute chaos out there. Now that the Empire—which only knew how to hoard money—has started spending it, the entire world’s eyes have gone wild.”

Professor Ujin spoke with grave seriousness.

“From what we can tell, they seem to be hunting for ‘young prodigies.'”
“Young prodigies.”
“You know the type—those teenage geniuses from Dungeons marked for high-tier competitions, whose origins nobody can trace.”
“…….”

Of course I knew about them.
They were our students.

“…Ah. By the way, I read in the papers not long ago that the Croitz assassination team received two hundred million Hika in prize money.”

Both professors jumped at my words.

“Yes! That dream team of fourth-years from Croitz Academy—they’ve been making waves like crazy in just this past month!”
“They’re getting sponsorship from the academy now, from the Croitz royal house, and even from the Imperial Court! It’s like they’ve sprouted wings on a tiger’s back!

The two of them were in such agony they thought they’d die.
They complained about getting rainwater in useless places.
But I wasn’t the only one whose mouth was itching for more.

【 Grey: ‘…Damn it.’ 】

Far across the training ground, a sharp-eared cat was muttering under her breath.

【 Valmond: ‘The glory that should return to the Professor, why does it go to these other birds…? Damn frustrating.’ 】

The others wore sullen expressions, as if they’d swallowed a whole sweet potato without chewing.

【 Elise: ‘Hmm. Why do they all look like that?’ 】

Then again, some didn’t seem to care.
I was fine with it too.
Now that the accord had been signed, we had grounds to protect the children from the Empire.

“Gather round.”

In any case, what we needed to do was already decided.

“In one week. Our first official Imperial Dungeon expedition has been scheduled.”
“Huh??”
“Really? Is that true?”
“Yes. So from today, we’ll begin specialized training to conquer that Dungeon.”

From here on, you need to understand the Empire’s Five-Rank League System.
All warrior parties—assassination teams, mercenary units, and the like—consist of three to five members.
They operate in the Empire’s Leagues.
They venture into Dungeons, labyrinths, towers, and engage in combat.
These scenes are broadcast to the press and public through the Surveillance Star’s vast transmission network.
In other words, the Empire consumes warriors’ battles as entertainment, as sport. Outstanding warrior parties that begin in the Baron League advance upward through the Count League, Earl League, Duke League, and finally reach the Capital League.
This system is called the Five-Rank League System.

“Normally, the convention is to start from the Baron League.”

For reference, in the Empire, even a single Earldom city can be larger than the entire Kingdom of Hiaka.

“We’re starting from the Dukedom League.”

We received bonus points from the accord with the Empire.
It was a benefit the Empire granted upon hearing the name Dante.

“The Dukedom League? All at once?”
“Eh…? Doesn’t it usually take several years to get there…?”

Valmond and Grey questioned me back. It was true. So we’d been lucky from the starting point.

“Precisely because of that, the eyes watching us will be harsh.”
“Mm, why?”
“Why else? We’re nepotistic newcomers drowning in favors. In a place where they give one bone to those who run well, how do you think they’ll look at creatures who show up with three bones in their mouths?”
“Gulp.”

Elise’s expression turned serious.
At the end of that, she fixed me with fierce, unwavering eyes.

“…Let’s see how well this bastard can really run.”
“Right.”

So we have to do this well.

“Let’s warm up first.”

As the leader of the assassination team, as their instructor, and as a coach on the training grounds, I warmed up alongside them.
And as we did, I continued the briefing.

“The name of the dungeon we’ll enter first is Mirror City. It’s a false cavern where the arcane power of a bizarre labyrinth reflects the modern age and mimics a city—and within it, battles with monsters await.”

In short, it was urban warfare.

“The dungeon is A-Rank. In the Dukedom League, the number of participants entering that dungeon is 180. A total of 41 elite warrior parties will compete. And the Dukedom’s population alone exceeds two million—they’ll all become spectators.”

“We need to place at least third there. It’s our first dungeon venture as an outside nation. We have to make top three just to hand over our calling card to the Duke’s house.”

“But remember this well. Not getting injured is the absolute priority. You all possess talents too rare to sustain damage in a place like this. Even if you do get hurt, it should be somewhere worth limping away from.”

After that, I took them through explanations of the dungeon’s layout, the forms and weaknesses of the monsters that would appear, and the Missions arising from the labyrinth’s curses.

Once training ended, I drew from the accumulated funds and began fitting each of them with equipment tailored to their individual needs.

I set their development paths forward with genuine care.

“Grey. Your Illusion Magic still can’t distinguish between allies and enemies, so you need to deploy it in a separate space.”
“Hmm… Separated from the others?”
“That’s right. And you need to practice casting it smaller, shorter, and then recovering it.”

“Elise. Relax. Relax your strength!”
“Huff… huff…”
“Run without tensing. When you swing the sword. When you ambush. You have to let go of your strength! Your shoulders are far too rigid!”
“But… if I want to thrust hard, I need to use force…”
“No. Almost every movement should be at eighty percent of your maximum. That way you only burn twenty percent of your mana and stamina.”
“Eighty percent…”
“You ran out of mana so quickly in your fight against Vomittekka before. You need to learn mana distribution better.”

“Valmond. You’re the most defenseless in this dungeon. Urban warfare puts harsh constraints on a sniper assassin.”
“…Wouldn’t it help to use the highest positions available?”
“Mirror City only looks like sky—in truth, the cavern ceiling is covered in Illusion Magic, so you can’t climb high. Still, conserve your strength for the boss battle. When that comes, there will be a role for you to play.”
“Understood.”

“Ugh.”
“…Uh, ugh.”
“That’s right. Let’s work hard.”
“……….”

After that, we threw ourselves into training suited to each person’s role.

At first, they seemed worried there might not be much to learn outside of Illusion Magic, but those concerns proved unfounded.

It was because I spared no Fragments of Stars in investing Enlightenment in their specialized fields and educated them accordingly.

“Ugh… ugh, ugh…”
“Huff, huff……”
“Ah, I feel like I’m dying……”

Each evening, everyone was catching their breath in exhaustion.
And I spoke.

“As you all know, rising to the Capital League in the Empire’s Five-Rank League System is a world permitted only to warrior parties in the top 0.01%. And normally, people prepare for five to ten years before entering.”

But we must be different.
The Demon King War will begin when we graduate from Zamryong Academy, which means we have three years left until then.
We have no time to waste.

“Six months.”

I spoke the goal in a firm voice.

“We will enter the Capital League within six months, before the end of summer vacation in our second year this year.”

They too nodded, their expressions grave.
For any warrior, it was something to aspire to with all one’s heart.

……
……

To stand at the summit.

* * *

— “Watch out! Danger! Crisis!”

Plink—popcorn tumbles from an Empire citizen’s hand.
The location is the Observation Hall in the Dukedom of the Empire.
A kind of cinema where one watches League broadcasts.

— “The Mirror City mechanical soldiers are charging in! Heading toward the Ludick Mage Corps!”
— “Oh! The Ludick Mage Corps is being overwhelmed without resistance!”
— “The mechanical soldiers move! Next they charge toward the Harin Party!”
— “Ah, this is dangerous, isn’t it? The terrain right now is, well, terribly disadvantageous for mages—”

The faces of the Empire citizens watching the battle in the darkness grow tense. Anxious murmurs spill out.

“Um, um… Are they going to die…?”
“One of the Ludick mages fell…? Wait! A shell—!”

The Reverse Summoning spell cast hastily beforehand detonated, flinging the gravely wounded warrior out of the dungeon.

“Ah, they survived.”

Yet serious injury could not be avoided.

“Those mechanical soldiers are insane. What kind of monster hides its body in a building…?”
“No, but really… why are those mechanical soldiers so strong?”

The watching citizens are bewildered. They were far beyond what should emerge from a typical A-Rank dungeon.
I too narrow my eyes.

— “The mechanical soldiers’ offensive is fiercer than imagination!”
— “Overall, it’s the Curse of Weakness hanging over the dungeon, and the exhaustion from the street fighting with the goblins before. And the Mission itself is related to dullness. Oh! Oh no! As we speak—”
— “Oh! Danger! The Harin Party is also cornered, following the Ludick corps!”
— “Oh!!”
— “Uh—uh—uh!?”
— “What?! The Reverse Summoning isn’t triggering for Harin!”
— “Summoning error!!”
— “A summoning error—here?!”

On the screen, Harin, the popular mage of the Dukedom League, cornered at last, takes a mechanical soldier’s fist straight to her body.
Crack—
An impact that feels unreal. The stone wall shatters, and after her body flies and tumbles across the ground, blood erupts from the female mage’s mouth.

“No! Stop! Harin!!”
“No, no, no! This is insane—!!”
“Wait, wait! Harin’s going to die! God, why won’t the Reverse Summoning work?! You lunatics!!”

The empire’s spectators lurched to their feet in horror. The mage Harin struggled to rise, only to stumble forward and drive her head into the ground. From a distance, she looked like a fly smashed by a swatter. But the monster knew no mercy. The mechanical Georbyeong’s arm extended forward.
At its palm, a crimson aura began to concentrate.

– “That’s Annihilating Light! Harin, get clear!!”

The commentators gasped; the spectators jolted in their seats.

“Dodge it!!”
“No, no, no—!!”

At that instant, a name appeared on the Surveillance Star’s Special Ability status window—one none of them had ever seen before.

『 Dawn Wilderness Walking Path 』

── A figure leaped across five buildings in a single stride, descending like lightning to cleave through the mechanical Georbyeong’s thick forearm with a wet *slice*.

– What—what?!
– No! The arm’s been cut! The mechanical Georbyeong’s arm is severed!! Is it an assassin?!?

The commentators shrieked, jumping from their chairs.

“Ohhhhh!!”
“What—what is happening—?!”
“Harin’s alive! The assassin’s carrying her to safety!!”

In the same breath, the crowd erupted in joy, hands clutched to their hearts.

– Who is it? The mask obscures their face!
– Ah!! It’s Number 71! Number 71…
– Number 71? That’s the Dante Assassination Team from Hiaka Academy!
– Ah! Elise! It’s Elise, the only daughter of the Shadowless Starlight Seat!!

As the commentators cried out, the crowd roared with acclaim.
Without thinking, my hands clenched into fists.
And thus, on their first venture into an A-Rank Dungeon, the Dante Assassination Team claimed first place with overwhelming dominance.

┃ Main Quest [Achievement: 1st Place in A-Rank Dungeon]
┃ Reward: Fragment of Stars × 25

By the next day, the name of the Dante Assassination Team had spread across the entire Dukedom League.

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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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