Surviving the Assassin Academy as a Genius Professor - Chapter 17

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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 17
EP7 – Bones! (4)

Rumors spread like wildfire through the student body that Elise and Marina’s faction had fought bloody and hard.
The news traveled in mere moments.

“Really?”

The students were always fascinated by displays of force between White Tower Academy and Dragon Tower Academy.
They were curious about the skill level of the genius from Dragon Tower Academy as well.

“Who won?”
“Elise—her legs are shattered and blood’s pouring from her nose.”
“Ah, so three-on-one doesn’t work?”
“No, Marina’s people lost their limbs—my friend saw them at the Medical Facility, and they were in the middle of reconstructive surgery.”
“Insane.”
“She fought three-on-one with a Totem and still lost? Genius, my ass—guess there really is a difference….”

Then, at some point, a new question surfaced.

“But how did Marina survive?”

There were stories of the fight itself.
But nothing came after, and curiosity sparked.
A student spoke up.

“I heard the new professor stopped them?”
“Who?”

The name—it was something. Dan….
Oh.

“Professor Dante!”
“Who’s that again?”
“You know, that professor who skipped his first class on his first day?”
“Oh, right!”

The lunatic?

*

Crack!
Marina’s cheek snapped to the side.
Viper, the senior professor of the Black Tower, had struck her across the face.

“Are you truly insane?”
“…….”

Marina kept her head down and her mouth shut.
She was being scolded by the Black Tower professors in turn.
The reason was simple: conflict with the White Tower could spiral into catastrophe the moment it erupted.
The probability was slim, but precedent existed.

“Marina. Raise your head.”
“…….”
“Not only did you do something pointless—if you were going to do it, you should have killed her and been done with it, not come crawling back defeated. Hmm?”

Had she actually killed her, it would have been a disaster.
But that doesn’t make the fact of our loss any easier to accept.

By now, the White Tower must be laughing.
After all, they won.

“If that new professor hadn’t brought things under control, you’d be dead. And we’d never hear the end of this humiliation.”
……

Viper found himself genuinely grateful to the unknown new professor.
The man had prevented a catastrophe of the highest order.
Not that he’d march over and thank him in this atmosphere, but still.

An unforeseen disaster.
Stopped by the hand of an unexpected figure.

“Curten! Where the hell are you?”

Around that time, the White Tower Academy’s faculty advisor—who’d taken a rare vacation—rushed back, and Viper exploded.

“You, Professor Curten! How exactly are you managing these students, huh?”
“…My apologies, Professor Viper.”

After his tirade, Viper stormed out.
The senior professor Curten approached Marina.

“Marina. You finally did it. I told you from the beginning of the semester to kill that inferiority complex.”
……
“Did you perhaps wait until I left?”
“…That’s not it.”
“It’s not? Don’t lie. You know I was on the opposite side of the continent playing with my boyfriend until three hours ago?”
……

Professor Curten unbuckled his belt.
Then he drew it out and held it as one would hold a whip.

“I don’t dislike you. But I think you need a beating. That way, you won’t pull any more of these reckless stunts going forward.”
……

What followed were sharp sounds and shallow groans.
A common sight in the Black Tower.

*

While all this unfolded, the students found themselves wondering.
How strong was the new professor Dante, exactly?

“The Dark Barrier blocked it, so nobody could see, right?”

Yet no one knew how he’d stopped the fight.
Not even the professors who’d witnessed the incident.
Then one student chuckled.

“But Dante’s probably not that strong, is he?”
“Huh? Why?”
“You know my dad belongs to the Systematic Assembly.”
“Your dad? Professor Billemon?”

The Systematic Assembly.
An organization of the White Tower that worships the Systematic Principle—the most information-rich faction among all powers.

“Right. I looked into it without Dad knowing, and there wasn’t a single record of that professor being assassinated. No assassination unit activity records either.”
“Hmm. Did he work for some covert assassination unit at the White Tower?”
“No. If that were the case, they’d usually fabricate records.”
“Ah, true.”
“But this professor—his assassination record, his degree, everything was completely blank. He wasn’t even attached to a single assassination unit.”

The student stroked his chin.
So this was what they meant by a professor with no past?

“But how could someone like that even be strong…?”

* * *

This news, naturally, reached the Dragon Tower Academy.

When they visited Elise in the infirmary, she was in better shape than expected. Since they identified more strongly as members of the Dragon Tower Academy than as partisans of either the Black Tower or the White Tower, there was no real conflict.

What did fascinate them, however, was the question of whether Dante was truly strong. They all remembered the arrogant attitude he’d displayed so openly at the Dragon Tower Academy.

And so, now.

“Is Professor Dante still refusing to spar?”

The Sauna on the first floor of the Dragon Tower Academy.
Balmung nodded at the question from the white-haired chatterbox named Quan.

“Yeah.”

The towel-wrapped topknot wobbled as he spoke.

“Heh heh… You don’t think he got scared, do you?”
“Scared?”
“Why not? There’s been talk lately that Professor Dante’s weak.”
“…Wrong, Quan. The fact that he’s a strong one is certain. No question about it.”
“Well, I mean, if it were me, I’d probably just―”

Crack-pop!
Part of the sauna’s wooden wall transformed into a window, which materialized right in front of Balmung’s throat. A high-level application of Alchemy.

“―probably just brush off some annoying bastard who keeps pestering me with challenge requests.”

Quan had been laughing mockingly, but he stopped dead.
Balmung was glowering.

‘Damn it!’

This guy hated stuff like that because he was so rigid about things, didn’t he?

“Get rid of it.”

His voice sharp with irritation.

“Y-yes, sorry…”
“Professor Dante is strong. There’s no need to say something so obvious twice.”

Someone laughed mockingly from the side.

“Got any proof? That Professor Dante’s powerful?”

It was Kendraik.
Balmung’s expression darkened.

“There’s no evidence, but I’m certain of it.”
“How can you be certain without evidence? Are you an idiot?”
“…It’s just a feeling.”

An assassin must conceal three-tenths of their ability. There are facts that remain unspoken because of this.
Balmung remembers Dante’s scent.
That peculiar reek that only emanates from something that has reached an overwhelming realm of mastery.

‘It wasn’t there on the first day, but it was definitely there the last time.’

Balmung had grown up among the Cartel’s strongest from the moment he could walk. He’d moved through dozens of assassination units and met countless masters.

Among them all, only one warrior carried the same scent as Dante—his mother. The Great Mother Nibelung, one of the continent’s mightiest, holder of the Black Twilight Constellation.

He didn’t think Dante had reached a realm comparable to his mother’s. A Constellation was a national strategic weapon, after all. Still, he had to be overwhelmingly stronger than an ordinary professor.
In truth, it was because Dante had invested all his Fragments of Stars into Illusion Arts—but Balmung had no way of knowing that.

“Come on. Going off feelings like that.”

Kendraik laughed mockingly.

“I asked him to spar with me a few times before. That professor just bolted.”
“Is that so?”
“Yeah. You think I’d lie about something like this? Professor Dante’s all hype.”
“Hmm…. Still, if he’s just hype….”
“He is hype. Everyone’s fooled, but he’s actually weak.”

Balmung’s brow furrowed.
He didn’t particularly like Professor Dante.
Yet when a professor he did favor was being beaten down like this, something inside him began to sour.

“Cut it out, Kendraik.”

Kendraik’s expression twisted as well.

“…What’s wrong with you?”
“He probably avoided you because you’re repulsive to fight.”
“And what about you? Did you also avoid him because he’s repulsive to fight?”
“…I wouldn’t know. But he’s a busy man.”
“Jesus, what a coward. Look at you, preemptively scared.”

To Balmung’s mind, it was Kendraik who seemed scared. Wasn’t that the reason he gnashed his teeth and condemned Dante as weak every time his name came up?

“You fools are stupid enough to fall for it, but I’m different. Professor Dante’s nothing special—just riding on reputation. That’s all.”
“Hmm…. But didn’t he see through Elise’s Stealth? Isn’t that impressive?”
“Then she’s probably hype too. That oh-so-great holder of the Shadowless Constellation probably got himself killed because his Stealth was exposed, didn’t he?”

Growing tired of listening.
Balmung stood up first.
Then he let slip a single remark.

“Kendraik. Be more careful with your words going forward.”
“What?”
“Choose them wisely. Unless you want a hole in your skull.”
…….

A smirk played across the big man’s face.
A fight about to break out.
Kwan started violently, trembling from head to toe.

“…Hell, where the f*** did this bastard come from….”

Both belonged to the Black Tower, but they’d been at odds from the start.
They came from Cartels with comparable backing.

“…Get out. Now. Before I kill you.”
“I was already leaving, you numbskull.”

Damn this bastard…. Balmung muttered under his breath.
As he left the Sauna, a question gnawed at him.
Professor Dante was certainly strong. But just how strong?

‘I need to find out.’

Balmung decided to visit Marina and ask her how Professor Dante had stopped the fight.
That is, before Rebecca caught him.

“Balmung.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
“We have a mission. Let’s go.”
“I’ll prepare at once.”

He grabbed his Sniper Rifle.
He’d have to ask when he returned.

* * *

“Good day, Professor.”

Someone from the academy’s police force—the Discipline Department—came to find me. They bowed their head repeatedly, expressing their gratitude.

“It’s all thanks to you stopping them, sir. None of the four people involved died or sustained permanent injury…… But if someone had died, well. It would’ve been dreadful.”

In combat among martial masters, death or survival is what matters.
Though healing arts are advanced enough that permanent disability is rare, the dead are not easily revived.
To my thinking, it seemed the White Tower and Black Tower had reached an agreement to avoid harsh words with each other.

“But Professor, is that true?”
“Is what true?”
“Marina’s friend Bianca said that Professor Dante was an incredibly powerful warrior….”

The Discipline Department official’s eyes gleamed.
Already, when I entered the classroom, students’ Scripts were filled with that very topic.

“Everyone’s curious about what happened inside the Dark Barrier. But the people directly involved avoid mentioning Professor Dante at all. Their curiosity only grows.”

Why would they avoid mentioning me?
I thought it over, then realized.

‘It’s about their market value.’

Those three hoodlum girls all primarily wielded the Totem Tier among the Twelve Ability Tiers.
Yet hadn’t I used Illusion Arts to bend and neutralize it?
Within the domain of Totem itself.
The Totem ability rendered utterly powerless. And at the hands of a mere new professor.
If word got out, all three would suffer a catastrophic blow to their assassin’s market value. They’d be humiliated.

“I ask your understanding—combat between assassins must remain confidential.”
“Ah, yes, of course. My apologies.”

I sent off the Discipline Department member, who looked genuinely disappointed.
Now it was time to visit Elise.

According to the physician, Elise had damaged various organs due to her clumsy control of magical power. However, there were no serious injuries.

I headed toward the Medical Facility.
The moment I stepped into the private room, Elise waved at me with a bright smile.

“Professor!”

As if she hadn’t just been flailing her limbs about like a madwoman, her expression was far too cheerful.

“How’s your body?”
“It hurts.”

And with that, she showed me her pale leg wrapped in bandages. Her expression remained bright as ever.
I checked the Script just to be sure, but Elise had almost no Thoughts to begin with.

“Eat this. I bought it on the way to visit you.”
“Wow, what is it?”

The get-well gift was a Cream Strawberry Cake. For some reason, perhaps because her hair was that same shade of pink, I’d thought of it.

“Thank you, Professor. I should be the one buying you something…”
“Never mind.”
“But actually, I don’t really like strawberry cake.”
“What?”
“Hehe. Sorry about that. I actually prefer blueberry!”

A minute later, Elise had the cake shoved in her mouth. Chomp-chomp. She ate it so voraciously it was almost unclear whether she was actually chewing at all, but whenever she reached a strawberry, her face lit up with delight. “Mmm…” she’d murmur. It was just like when I’d seen her in the Student Cafeteria before — she really did have an almost greedy way of eating.
I usually got told I looked like I’d already eaten whenever I had a meal, so I found it refreshing.

“Thought you didn’t like it.”
“Me?”
“You.”
“Hmm? I wonder why I said that…? It’s delicious. Would you like some, Professor?”

I looked at the cake, now completely decimated, and shook my head.

“Well, at least you didn’t get seriously hurt.”
“Mmmph.”
“You can answer once you’ve swallowed. Either way, I hope you recover well. You’re free to contact me if you need anything.”

And so I stood to leave.
Then came a gulping sound.
Elise suddenly opened her mouth.

“Um, well…”

I turned back.
Her expression had grown more serious.

“Thank you…”
“Don’t mention it.”
“No, I mean… back there… They gave me quite the scolding. The Discipline Department said I almost got expelled.”
“True. If you were really an assassin, you should’ve killed them where no one could see.”
“P-pardon…?”
“What.”

Elise blinked.

“Killing is wrong, Professor.”

It was true enough.
But you’re saying that to me…?
I was about to feel a little irritated.

“Though, well….”

After a moment’s hesitation.
Elise asked carefully.

“Why… did you help me…?”

Strange how a small resonance seemed to fill the hospital room.

“What kind of question is that?”
“…Pardon?”
“Why must there be a reason for helping someone?”
“Well, but the other White Tower professors asked. They wanted to know why you helped me. And I… I didn’t have an answer….”

I paused to think. Setting aside Elise’s intent, what I heard was a question heavy with implication.
Not even from the White Tower itself. All the other neutral professors had stood aside. There had been risk involved. So why had I stepped in?
Obviously, it was to raise the Relationship Gauge.
That’s why I came here thinking the same thing. Even buying the most expensive cake. To obtain a Fragment of Stars.

“Who knows.”

But I couldn’t voice that sordid motive. Better to wrap it neatly.
You’re a student in my class, after all….
It’s a professor’s duty…. That sort of thing.

Even as this hypocrisy lay prepared on my tongue, for some reason, words simply rolled there without taking shape.

Because I had grown curious myself.
Why I had stepped in.

“Yeah. Why did I?”

Things had gone as intended, and there was no danger—but looking back, it had been threatening enough. I’d known it at the time. And yet I had still stepped in.
Mere irritation? No.
Then a thought occurred to me. Perhaps the Relationship Gauge system added in this DLC might be slightly different from the Affinity we already knew….
A relationship isn’t something you build alone, after all.

Following that line of reasoning, my thoughts converged on a single point.

“…You have to help and live, don’t you?”
“Pardon?”

Elise tilted her head, but conviction began settling softly within me.
Sharing meaningless conversation.
Giving her scraps to cherish.
Watching her smile with happiness.
In that moment when Elise’s Relationship Gauge toward me rose by five.
Perhaps my own Relationship Gauge toward her had also risen by five.

“You have to help and live. We orphans, after all.”

A faint smile bloomed across her face as she spoke.
It was absurd, really.

“…….”

Her mouth stayed closed, as if the meaning hadn’t quite reached her yet.

Then, very slowly―
Elise’s eyes grew wide and round.

“Oh.”

Like recalling a conversation from days before.
Her gaze drifted, losing focus.

“Oh, I see.”

The words came out dreamy, cotton-soft.
Her lips, smudged with cream, began to curve upward like a bow.

“…That’s right, we… without a father….”

It was different from her usual bright expression.
Something indefinable—a quiet satisfaction—lived beneath the surface.

“…….”

Then Elise spoke brightly.

“Oh, then how about this.”
“Hmm.”
“We could start a club. You know, for people without fathers.”
“What?”
“We’d invite Balmung and Grey. And Kendraik too—he has a father, but it’s like he doesn’t….”
“…….”

‘She’s not quite right in the head sometimes, is she.’
Still, it wasn’t terrible.

┃ Relationship Gauge increased: Elise [20] (▲15)
┃ Reward: Fragment of Stars × 15

This too.

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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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