Surviving the Assassin Academy as a Genius Professor - Chapter 47

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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 47
[Main Story] No. 1 Betrayal and Collapse (4)

A day had passed.
Most of the Kreutz assassins who had infiltrated Sector 0 had been eliminated.
In the course of this effort, there was one man who had distinguished himself greatly: Professor Dante Hiakpo.

He had ascended the Transmission Tower and maintained constant contact with the other professors via the Crystal Sphere, gathering intelligence on the Kreutz Assassination Unit’s movements and capabilities and sharing it with everyone. Even those using Concealment could not escape Professor Dante’s sight.
Not content with that alone, he had tracked down the scattered remnants that had fled and gone into hiding, and throughout this process, his directives had never once proven wrong.

‘How on earth did he find them…?’
‘They said he was strong, incredibly strong, but this exceeds all imagination….’

Everyone pushed their questions about him to the back of their minds. The situation was still too urgent to dwell on such things.
The Assassination Battle between the elite-tier assassins in Sector 2 was still ongoing.
It was because Zinksite’s arms had increased to four.
Cadets and faculty alike trembled at the sight of it.

“It’s grown again…?”
“Damn it… I’m going mad with anxiety….”

Only one arm remained before complete summoning.
Yet no concrete Hotfix schedule had been announced.

And the fourth arm that appeared at that moment possessed a particularly unique curse.
It was not a triggered curse that required the wielder to activate an ability for the curse to take effect, but rather a Totem-type Curse that imposed a debuff on the space itself through its very existence.
And thus, immediately upon manifesting, the curse fell upon all of Sector 0.

『 Curse of Weakness 』

Crunch-crunch-crunch-crunch-crunch….

A vast and ominous curse force pressing down from the heavens upon the entire ground.
It was a curse that weakened the weary, tore open the wounds of the injured, and accelerated the aging of the elderly.

— Beep! Beep! Beep!

“Heart rate is dropping! Nurse! Nurse!!”
“Damn it, the wound is festering…! Increase medication!”

The Medical Corps fell into chaos.

In response, the Faculty hurriedly assembled all professors for an emergency meeting.

— There will be an emergency briefing regarding the subjugation units. All professors currently stationed in Sector 0 are requested to gather at the Assassin Hall.

Over a hundred and fifty professors assembled at the Faculty.

“Let… us… begin… the meeting….”

The meeting was presided over by Angela, the senior professor of the Black Sword Division, whose Petrification had not yet fully worn off, leaving her upper body half-rigid and breathing labored.

That was the problem. This meeting had been called to discuss a strategy to overcome Zinksite, yet every time Angela spoke, her uncomfortable wheezing — wheeze, wheeze… — filled everyone with dread.

Angela, that formidable figure, ranked 700th, as mighty as heaven itself, had been reduced to this state after severing two of Zinksite’s arms.

Who would attempt to capture Zinksite in such circumstances?

“Please… anyone at all… volunteer, I implore you…. We’ll need roughly thirty people….”

Angela, the senior instructor, understood this reality well, and as an elder of the Faculty, she promised those who would join the subjugation unit substantial research funds and the Faculty’s complete support.

“I will volunteer.”
“So will I.”

A few stepped forward.
Dedicated professors, among them Leo and Viper.
Yet their number came to only fifteen.
Out of several hundred, merely fifteen.

“It will be far better than last time…. The Academy’s Armory will be opened….”

“If you would join us…. We can conduct the subjugation much more securely….”

“Just a little more…. A few more volunteers, I beg you…. If fifteen more would step forward from this hall….”

“…Is it truly the case that only these individuals will support us….”

Despite her repeated urging.
No additional hands rose.

Even afterward, Angela continued to encourage the professors.
Yet still, no one answered her call.

“Professors….”

Angela—who appeared to be in her forties but had reached her eighties in years—exhaled a deep sigh.
She understood that her very presence weighed upon them all.
Yet confronted with assassins of this age who thought only of their own survival, she could not refrain from sharp words.

“…This is nothing short of deplorable. Professors….”

Her voice was soft.
Yet it carried a killing intent that pressed down upon the air.

“…Less than seven hours remain until another of that creature’s limbs emerges…. Until the summoning is complete, and yet you…. Professors of Great Hiaka, of the royal institution of renown…. You shrink back from this moment despite the rank you claim…?”

Drawing breath through her discomfort.
Her wrath was absolute.

“What, then, are the cadets to learn from you…?”

The professors’ heads bowed. The weight of her gaze was unbearable.
Angela felt the full measure of her despair.
This was why.
This Academy.
Had produced its defectors with such dull inevitability.
Somewhere along the way, it had forgotten its edge. Now it pursued only immediate gain, self-preservation, material advantage——and even in a military institution, even in an academy, this rot had set in. For all that assassins might justify it as their nature.
That degradation now lay bare before the crisis, naked as sin.

“…This is why the Crown, our enemies, the continent itself holds us in contempt.”

What of Kreutz?
Though an enemy nation, the assassins there had thrown themselves into the breach, all willing to die for the cause, come to Hiaka—and the contrast could not have been starker.

“…Let us abandon such talk. I shall take the field myself….”
“Y-Yes, Chief Professor.”
“…There’s no need. And once this crisis ends, I think it best that I resign from the Academy as well….”

Bang!

That was when it happened.
The conference room door swung open violently, and a man stepped into view.
Every faculty member’s gaze fixed upon him.

“Who just walks into an emergency meeting late like this…!”

One of the senior professors who had been about to reprimand him fell silent instead.

It was Professor Dante Hiakpo.

“My apologies for the delay, Chief Angela.”

He too bore the full weight of the Curse of Weakness—his appearance was haggard, worn.
Indeed, he’d been running non-stop since the initial reconnaissance of Zinksite, all the way through the subjugation of the Sector 0 assassination unit, without so much as a moment’s sleep.

“It’s all right…. Please, sit….”

Angela, who had been pouring her anger on everyone else, offered him alone a warm smile. Yet Dante remained standing.

“I wish to join the conquest team as well.”

Angela’s eye widened—the one eye that hadn’t been affected by Petrification—round with surprise.

“…You mean a professor…?”

At that same moment, every professor’s eyes twitched in unison.

* * *

I had no intention of attending that meeting. From the moment the Curse of Weakness detonated, sensation had been steadily draining from my eyes—I had a perfect excuse to sit this one out. I’d done my part. The work was finished. So I deserved to rest now, guilt-free.
Then, just now. A new notice dropped.

⧉ Hotfix Schedule Announcement

The hotfix schedule has been confirmed, and we’re posting this notice.

Thank you.
───

9:00 PM meant five hours from now.
Zinksite’s estimated summoning completion time was 11:00 PM.
Which meant…

The main story will come to a stable end!
I had already secured what amounted to a guarantee of a peaceful resolution to this crisis.

And yet.
My mind began turning like a millstone.
I alone knew precisely when the great monster everyone longed to see vanish would disappear. Only I.
Wasn’t this information far too valuable to simply let slip away?
It seemed I could use it somehow. But how should I proceed?
As a player rather than a professor, what choice should I make now?

‘Ah!’

Lightning flashed through my mind.

And so I dragged my aching body into the Assassin Hall professor’s conference room.
And spoke before the gaze of everyone.

“Yes. I too shall participate in the strategy operation.”
“…We are grateful, but even so, we are still short on numbers. We should have at least thirty people….”
“No. Thirty people are not necessary.”
“Then…?”

It was then that I noticed the professors standing to one side.
These seemed to be those who had agreed to participate in the strategy.
But there were quite a few injured among them.

“With all due respect, those fifteen over there are not necessary either. Please entrust this strategy operation to me.”
“That would mean…. Surely not….”

Angela’s eyes narrowed.
And at the same moment, the other professors held their breath, trying to ascertain my intention.
What I had conceived, what I had to do in this situation.
It was only one thing.

“I shall kill Zinksite alone and return.”

It was nothing short of a bombshell declaration.
The ripples spread not only through Angela but through the assembled professors.

“…You yourself, directly…?”
“Yes.”

Among the two hundred-odd professors, a murmur began to rise.

“Can you manage it…?”
“Yes. As you know from the strategy operations we undertook together, I have gained a high level of understanding regarding Zinksite. In my current condition, defeating that monster in a one-on-one engagement would be difficult, but with the Faculty’s support, I can manage it perfectly. Without any sacrifice from the other professors.”

The murmur grows somewhat louder.
Have I lost some favor?
At first, I thought I was overstepping, and to my own mind it sounded absurd, so I expected some grumbling from those around me.
But looking at the 【Script】, that didn’t seem to be the case.

【 White Sword Division Professor Hodrigu : ‘Professor Dante. This man really….’ 】
【 White Sword Division Professor Ujin : ‘Why go this far? That person’s body must still be in poor condition….’ 】
【 Black Sword Division Professor Curten : ‘This is maddening, this man.’ 】

What are these thoughts?
And so I examined the Script a bit further.

【 Black Sword Division Professor Ludenbach : ‘No matter how strong one is, there’s no way to defeat alone a monster that has shaken off two senior professors. And yet to venture alone…what is the intention behind this….’ 】

What kind of noble principle is that supposed to be?
I’m just making the game bigger for my own amusement.

【 Black Sword Division Professor Ludenbach : ‘…A true sense of duty, it seems.’ 】

What?

【 Black Sword Division Professor Ludenbach : ‘Even a neutral professor who moves only for money shows such dedication… I feel ashamed of myself….’ 】
【 White Sword Division Professor Ujin : ‘So that’s what a real professor looks like…. I applied to become a professor because I wanted to be someone like that….’ 】

I was in a bind.
Not because of any lofty sense of duty—far from it.
It was the sudden shift in atmosphere that troubled me.

【 White Sword Division Professor Ujin : ‘I should apply too.’ 】
【 Black Sword Division Professor Curten : ‘Tsk…. Still, as a professor, I should do what I can.’ 】

This wouldn’t do.
Things were getting worse.
I hadn’t swayed them at all—so why were they getting swayed?
They could misunderstand as they pleased, but I needed to reduce the number of Faculty-backed professors lending their support.

“Professors, I ask that you remain composed.”

I rose and took a deliberate step forward.
Then I turned to face the professors and spoke.

“It seems you all misunderstand me. You think I’ve come forward driven by pure ideals, by patriotism or some professor’s sense of duty to protect the school. That is not the case.”
“…Then?”
“As an assassin, I have coldly calculated every angle and stepped forward for one reason alone. I will personally and flawlessly breach Zinksite. In return, the Faculty must give me their full support.”
“…If there are no problems with the breach… of course. We’ll support you without question. What is it that you want, Professor…?”

I raised a finger.

“Give me the Hiaka Kingdom-designated National Treasure Number Seventeen.”

Another bombshell declaration.
For a moment, the conference room fell silent—then erupted into chaos.

“What?!”
“…National Treasure Seventeen?”
“Hah…! Professor Dante!”
“How could you dare demand a national treasure…!”

This time, the backlash was severe.

Kingdom-designated National Treasure Number Seventeen.
The Colossus Soldier’s Sword—a longsword eighty centimeters in length.
A weapon of staggering value, rated at Legend-grade Tier II, a national strategic instrument.
It could not be traded. No amount of money could purchase it—a weapon adorning the threshold between the mortal and the divine.

It was held here at the Academy, and its use was permitted only during wartime. And now, we were at war.
Unlike the stiff image most people held—that national treasures and heirlooms belonged exclusively to the state—the truth in this world was far different: roughly half of all treasures were actually loaned to individuals or organizations.

I intended to become one of those borrowers.

What others wielded and what I wielded were not the same. I alone knew the weapon’s hidden secrets and its true application.

“…Professor Dante. That is….”

But this time, even Angela herself drew her brow together.
Moments before, she’d regarded me as a beloved grandson—now she looked at me as if I were a grandson demanding the deed to the family house. The request had crossed a line.

“…Do you understand what you’re asking for…?”
“Of course, Angela. I am fully aware of Kingdom-designated National Treasure Number Seventeen. To face Zinksite alone, I absolutely require the Colossus Soldier’s Sword.”

Some professor burst out.

“Professor Dante. Given the circumstances, isn’t this demand excessive? There are already numerous casualties from the Assassination Battle!”

Then blood began trickling steadily from my left eye, drop by drop.
Most of the assembly, comparatively unscathed, fell abruptly silent.

“My apologies. What were you saying?”
“Ah, no….”

The one who’d been speaking closed his mouth the moment our eyes met.

Right then.
I’d pushed twice. Hard.
It was time to yield on one front.
I wiped the blood from my eye and spoke.

“Of course, I’m not asking for ownership. I understand I cannot presume to such a thing.”
“…Then what?”
“I am asking only to borrow it for two years under the pretext of research support. I require no other assistance whatsoever.”

At that, the murmuring subsided somewhat.
Angela’s expression softened as well.

But this was no loss for me either—
all things considered, two years with the Colossus Soldier’s Sword would be more than enough time to obtain a weapon of the next tier.

“I ask again for your favorable consideration. If I kill Zinksite alone, there will be no reason for any professor here to shed blood.”
“…….”

The expressions of Angela and the Faculty elders grew grave. They would now have to make a difficult choice.
Meanwhile, an uncomfortable thought crossed my mind.

【 Black Sword Division Professor Ludenbach: ‘That’s right. A sense of duty…!!’ 】

No. That’s not it.

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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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