Surviving the Assassin Academy as a Genius Professor - Chapter 145

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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 145
EP31 – Betting Table, Marquis League (2) [Illustration]

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└ Nobody knows lol
└ I was shocked when I found out she was pregnant. I didn’t even know she was married
└ Wow, so she decided to go to the Empire in that condition?

└ I took it out but someone put it back in.
└ The dean was furious during the day lol said it was a waste of something precious
└ ?
└ Oh. So he was mad because the donut was wasted?

└ agree
└ agree agree agree
└ ?? What are you agreeing on, you lunatics.
⋮

Normally, Assassination Town was just a forum where pointless drivel was posted, but in its own way it had its merits.
News traveled fast.

⋮

⋮

And then the bulletin board exploded.

The long-awaited triumph of the Dante Assassination Unit!
This was a major issue across the entire Zamryong Academy, as it was the first success report to arrive since the Empire Accord was concluded.

Citizens of a small nation carried an unspoken sense of inferiority before a great power. But the Dante Assassination Unit had broken through that barrier and taken a bold stride forward.

└ Yeah lol when the professor said we’re unexpectedly competitive, I honestly doubted it. But we actually stand a chance?
└ I’m running in the Empire’s Raven Baron’s cadet league next month — do you think I’ll do well?
└ You will.

A cadet clenched his fist. In the end, Empire citizens were people just like them. They didn’t live two hundred years as if it were twenty. They weren’t all geniuses.
Then someone posed a question.

“Ah….”

That was true.
The Empire generally did not welcome foreigners.
Even the territories that received foreigners hoped that foreign warriors would become their stepping stones.
‘Ah! We are the great Empire! How could we possibly concern ourselves with the petty martial artists of some third-rate backwater nation…!’ That was the prevailing sentiment.
And in that atmosphere, the Dante Assassination Unit claimed first place with their very first commission.

└ They’re all active martial artists, but the Dante Assassination Unit are cadets lol
└ And it’s an A-rank dungeon lol;;;
└ The Empire’s definitely keeping them in check right now. They’re so petty about everything.
└ Makes sense.

High-ranking military officers from Hiaka in their younger days had suffered countless indignities at the hands of the Empire. The people of Hiaka remembered every single one.

└ I checked the Administrative Bureau’s schedule, and it’s time for the weekly Marquis reports. Bet Professor Dante is suffering through it right now.
└ What kind of place is that?
└ You know how the Empire distributes adventures to those in power, right? The guild leaders line up before the Marquis’s representative and report on their quest achievements, basically begging “Please, give us another adventure.”
└ So an ‘adventure’ is like a dungeon entry pass or something?
└ Yep.
└ You just ask for one and they give it to you?
└ You have to place a bet.
└ A bet? What’s that?
└ Lol you really don’t know anything lol
└ Yeah…
└ The Empire uses a unit called chips. It’s the name for points representing a guild’s performance. The Dante Assassination Unit got first place in that last A-rank dungeon and earned 100 chips—the maximum.
└ So what’s good about collecting them?
└ They’re universal points. You can exchange them for money or equipment, and you need to accumulate around 2,000 to advance to the Marquis League.
└ Ah, I see.
└ If you place a big bet, you get access to better dungeons, but the bigger the bet, the higher the risk—if you bet 100 chips and your performance crashes, you can end up at minus 500 chips.
└ How many days does it take to earn back 500 chips?
└ Could take years, depending. It’s gambling, after all.
└ Everyone must be on edge then
└ Right—everyone’s staking points they’ve been accumulating for months to get their adventures.
└ Think about it. Your ranking can shift by three or five positions, and suddenly someone loses everything. But then one outsider shows up and bumps everyone down by one position at a time.

“Mmm….”

The cadet imagined it.
That place was an arena of infinite competition.
In that space surrounded entirely by Empire martial artists, Professor Dante Hiakiapo—the sole representative of Hiaka—would be facing enormous jealousy and obstruction.
The Professor was enduring such bitter hardship and conflict.
All for the Kingdom of Hiaka….

└ But wait, does it matter to us? lol If the Professor gets blocked a bit lol

At that moment, someone let out a scoff.

└ ?
└ ??
└ What’s this about?
└ lol you guys are actually funny lol
└ Why would the Professor getting blocked have nothing to do with us?
└ Ugh, you idiots lol Think about it lol Aren’t you worried?

Worried about what?

└ That Professor Dante lol

Ah.
Right… If it’s Professor Dante….
The cadet continued to elaborate on the fantasy he’d been weaving.
In the weekly report, he would mention his performance matter-of-factly. And then, when the moment of betting finally arrived—when the Professor would stand before all eyes—
he would speak thus—

“One hundred chips. All in.”

A scoff echoed through the room. Expressions shifted across the crowd. The Script climbed loudly upward. Presumptuous. What confidence. Did he think this world was easy…? That was the thought.
Meanwhile, the bureau chief responded with measured calm.

“Assassination Unit Master, Dante Hiaka. You’re betting all one hundred chips on the next labyrinth. Is that correct?”
“Yes.”
“……That could be an extremely dangerous decision.”

He spoke with genuine gravity.

“The Marquisate treats failed conquests with utmost severity. If a blunder incurs the maximum thirty-fold penalty multiplier, in the worst case a loss of five hundred could calculate to minus fifteen thousand chips.”

If that happened, other martial masters from Hiaka would have to settle the debt in his stead before anyone from the Marquisate could move forward. A staggering fifteen thousand chips.

“I ask again. Your bet?”

My cheeks burned. From the weight of their gazes.
There’s a saying—the more urgent the situation, the slower you should move. But still. Who hasn’t run for a departing train? Sometimes speed is necessary.
I spoke calmly.

“…All in.”

Thanks to that, I walked out with an entry ticket to the next labyrinth graded [A+].
After finishing the weekly report, I stepped outside, and Elise called out to me.

“Professor. Professor.”

I’d planned to go alone. But she insisted on coming along, so I brought her with me.

“I thought I was going to suffocate in there.”
“Did it smell?”
“No? Everyone’s eyes were just like this.”

Elise lifted the mask onto her head, then squinted at me hard. Was that all it was?

“Oh, and Professor. That was cool.”
“What was?”

Elise straightened her expression and lowered her voice.

“All. In.”

…When did I ever.

“Let’s get some food.”
“Sounds good.”

Then someone approached at an angle, positioning himself directly in my path. A man wearing purple metallic shoulder boards. His name was Enrico—a soldier who suddenly extended his hand toward me.

“I’ve heard much of your reputation. Professor Dante.”
“And you are?”
“I’m Enrico Fhirma. Master of a ranked mercenary unit in the Marquisate. A pleasure to meet you.”

I didn’t take his hand.
The man chuckled softly for a moment, then offered his hand to Elise instead.

“So you’re the daughter of Shadowless Starlight Seat.”

Elise had put on her mask, and at first she’d reached out eagerly to take my hand.

“Elise.”
“Hmm?”
“Your hand.”
“…Oh.”

At my words, Elise quietly withdrew her hand.

“Enrico Whitma. Pleased to meet you. Though, assassins don’t shake hands with strangers they’ve only just encountered.”
“Is that how it works in Hiaka? Well, no matter!”
“What brings you here?”
“As you can see, I’m also from a mercenary company out of the Kan Federation.”

Looking closer, it was true. There was a distinctive Kan style to his eye makeup—something all Kan people did, regardless of gender. A reddish line drawn at the corner of the eye.

“The Marquis League here is the same way. Empire people are all exclusive like that. They look down on foreigners like you and me. When you’re alone, you end up experiencing plenty of ugly things.”
“…….”
“What do you say? We’re in the same situation. Shouldn’t we join forces? Let’s resist the Marquis cartel together.”

As he spoke, he handed over a business card. It read “Foreign Adventurer Association”…….
If I’d had a tail, it would have been wagging.

【 Elise : ‘Wow.’ 】
【 Elise : ‘I think he’s asking us to be allies.’ 】
【 Elise : ‘Should we take it, professor?’ 】

No.
Absolutely not.
A Foreign Adventurer Association that stood against the Marquis League cartel—the name sounded plausible enough, but the truth was that the association’s real owner was the Marquis Vincent himself.

“I’ll have to decline.”

At that, the association member’s expression hardened. Not just him—everyone standing around as spectators had gone rigid.

“…What? Professor Dante. Are you taking my words too lightly…”
“I’m not interested.”

Rejection should be decisive. The moment I turned to leave, those who’d been standing around watching began to stir.

“Hey, Professor Dante. Just because you pulled in a high rank, don’t get too full of yourself, will you?”

“Let me give you a word of advice. Do you know how far you can really go alone?”

“Right now the Empire people are targeting you. If you’re bringing students, not active warriors, you should at least know how to set up a safety net.”

“On your first dungeon run, we took all the pressure that came your way. That’s how your assassination unit got to have an easy time of it. Frankly, when the next labyrinth comes around, will you really avoid all the same pressure coming down on us?”

Advice. Or nagging. Or an effort to dampen the spirit of a promising newcomer drunk on confidence. Whatever it was.

“Professor Dante Hiakiapo. Everyone advances together. There’s no such thing as an adventure party that rises up entirely alone.”

I ignored them and kept walking. But I did spare a glance for one person among the crowd.

● Adventure Group Master Abyeck⁺₊⋆

A human bearing a Constellation Mark—in other words, a direct subordinate of Agion, an assassin.
The Starlight Seats connected to the Marquis League had begun to take notice of me as well.
As our eyes met, Abyeck spoke like an NPC.

“…Let’s see how this unfolds, Professor Dante.”

Fair enough.

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On the way out, Elise’s expression hardened and her voice dropped low.

“I. Will. Not. For. Give. You.”

…When did I ever—

.
.
.
.
.

“――.”

Bolt upright.
Rebecca had pulled herself from bed around three in the morning.
She clutched the blanket to her chest and breathed in quick, shallow gasps.

Nearly a month had passed since she’d committed to living clean and virtuous as a candidate for cardinal of the Holy See.
Dawn prayers began at four, so waking at three was unusually early, yet—
she couldn’t help it. In fact, she’d been waking at this hour almost every day for the past week.

“…….”

It was today.
Today—the thirty days between the breaking of the Eternity∞ Contract and the penalty were up.
The day Professor Dante would die.
Today.
That was why she couldn’t sleep deeply.
And so Rebecca sat in the darkness, thinking.

‘…Why do I have to feel like this?’

Professor Dante wasn’t special.
True, he’d believed in her until the very end, but that hardly made him special.
So why should the death of someone not particularly special matter to her at all?

‘…What’s wrong with dying?’

People die. That’s the natural order.
Many who’d surrounded her had died.
And she herself had killed many.

After all.
Isn’t death a blessing?
The long dead are more blessed than the living.
And more blessed than the dead are those never born—those who never see the wickedness under the sun.
So Dante’s death would be the greatest rest given to him, a blessing, for he would go without suffering.

…Or so she told herself.

“…….”

Rebecca’s feet moved before her mind could catch up.
She burst out of the Holy See Dormitory and into the night.
Barefoot.
To Leim’s lodgings—a place she hadn’t visited alone since becoming a candidate for Cardinal.

“Oh? Your, Your Highness…?”

The door flew open. Leim, attuned to subtleties, scrambled to his feet and greeted her with flustered courtesy.

“It’s been a while. Though I confess, I’m at a loss as to what brings you here at this hour.”
“…….”

Rebecca was skilled at performance—at controlling her expressions, her movements, at calculating precisely how others perceived her.
Which made her barefoot flight out into the night desperately in need of explanation.
Yet her mouth moved of its own accord.

“……Find Dante. The professor. Now.”
“Professor Dante, you say?”
“It’s urgent. Immediately.”

After the dawn prayers concluded,
Leim came sprinting back.

“Your Highness. I found something.”
“……Already?”
“An article. About Professor Dante.”
“…….”

Rebecca’s heart sank.
An article? About him?

“In their second venture, the Dante Assassination Unit entered the A+-ranked labyrinth ‘Ruins of Death’s Authority’ in the Marquis League with an all-in wager of one hundred chips, and secured an overwhelming first place.”
“……?”
“Their Contribution Rate was 51.5%, the highest assassination unit clear rate in the history of the Marquis League. Among thirty-one adventuring parties, the Dante Assassination Unit alone achieved performance equivalent to roughly sixteen parties combined—the greatest record in the history of adventuring companies from Hiaka…….”
“……??”

Accomplishments cascading down like a waterfall.
Rebecca’s brow furrowed.
Leim let out a short laugh.

“Wow. Professor Dante’s really something, isn’t he? Even with Zamryong Academy’s reputation, I never thought he’d earn recognition like this from the Empire……. Much as it galls me to admit it, I have to acknowledge him.”

Rebecca’s face went blank.

“…….”

* Author’s Note
This is Princess Rebecca.
The artwork is by Summer Pocket Allowance (@2sirin).
Thank you.

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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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