Surviving the Assassin Academy as a Genius Professor - Chapter 64

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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 64
EP18 – Over Snow-Buried Ruins, the Christmas Bell Tolls (9)

“I have a confession to make.”

“To be honest, Illusion Magic does belong to mages.”

“Just because a sparrow spreads its wings, does it become a stork? If you draw a line on a pumpkin, does it become a watermelon? Only noble mages can truly master Illusion Magic, while we assassins merely mimic it clumsily.”

“Yet you might wonder how Grey has advanced so remarkably. Fear not. I understand completely. Why, even I, her professor, am astounded at her achievements, am I not? Dogs follow their masters, and students follow their professors, or so they say. Then surely Grey must have a mage among her professors, yes?”

“And yet something troubles me about the saying that students follow their professors. Does it not? The research facilities of old were so wretched that even Galois praised chamber pots, and if students truly resemble their professors, then Galois’s own mentor must have praised chamber pots as well, and the mentor before that must have conducted research in such squalid conditions—perhaps even in outhouses—and yet to have achieved such continental recognition from such an environment… well, it makes perfect sense that only mages possess such nobility to wield Illusion Magic purely and righteously….”

“The moment I finished speaking, Grey’s ranking rose another two steps. And what of Parhan, trained by the great genius Galois? Alas, he has not gained many points. The gap closes by one point every two minutes. At this rate, the difference will narrow by thirty points per hour—though of course it hardly matters, does it? Grey must have learned Illusion Magic from a magical professor anyway. Because only mages can truly master Illusion Magic, so all the glory belongs to the mages regardless, yes?”

“But you should be nervous, Galois. One Elixir per ten points—by simple calculation, the gap will exceed nine hundred points, will it not? That means at least ninety Elixirs. If Galois’s treasury yields ninety Elixirs, the vault will be emptied, yet a wager is sacred, so what can be done? Surely you don’t wish to withdraw the bet now, do you? No? Of course not. I’ve heard that no matter what crisis befalls Galois, even if lies about plagiarism haunt Hiaka like ghosts, he never backs down—a true man of honor. So this wager cannot be withdrawn, and I’m afraid I must sadly empty Galois’s coffers by claiming ninety Elixirs…. Galois? Galois?”

“Galois. Where are you going? Galois Xicos! How can the examiner flee during the examination! And using Teleport to escape while I’m still talking!?”

“…Draw your sword, Georbyeong…” (whispers)

“Good heavens! What is the meaning of this! Are you hurt, Galois?”

“Indeed, what a Grandmaster-class mage you are, Galois. Unscathed by such a collision! It seems something invisible disrupted the Teleport. Never mind it now, come here. We still have twenty-one hours until the examination ends….”

“Hey! Grab Galois! Collider! Catch that old man fleeing over there!!”

That day, the Forest of Magic echoed with an old man’s screams.

⋮

───
1. Elise 1,012
2. Grey 992
3. Parhan 754
───

Night fell, most students departed, and the second day of the examination ended.
One day remained.

* * *

“Thank you for your hard work.”
“Good effort, all of you.”

The professors and assistants exchanged shifts, breathing out exhausted sighs. As they did, their eyes lingered on the “tree” the students were constructing.
At the edge of Sector Nine. Approximately four thousand meters above ground. A tree was taking shape.
Still buried in white mist, its full form invisible, yet it was truly enormous and staggering.
A tree being built with all their strength by twelve hundred students.
Was this what the World Tree from ancient legends must have felt like? They say humanity endured an ice age when it burned away, and seeing something of such magnitude, the tale finally began to make sense.

“That’s being created seven kilometers away right now, correct…?”
“Roughly, yes? It’s four kilometers high. The distance is about six kilometers, so… seven point two kilometers away.”
“Wow…. It feels unreal….”

The professors clicked their tongues in amazement.

“Just who is this professor called Cain? How could he possibly construct the framework of Illusion Magic on such an incomprehensibly massive scale?”
“That’s right. I’d say even most Challengers wouldn’t stand a chance.”

The professors who didn’t know about Cain could only marvel.
The professors who did know about Cain stole glances at Dante.
Galois in particular, blood still trickling from his ear, did the same.

‘At such a level of mastery, and he’s only thirty?’

This was no mere final exam problem.
At just thirty years old, he was introducing an entirely new dimension to continental Illusion Magic.

“May I have a word with you, Professor Dante?”
“Of course, Dean.”

Ezekiel, the Dean of the School of Magic, called to Dante then. The two of them withdrew to a quiet place.

“Things have progressed better than I expected.”
“Has the royal house approved it?”
“Nothing’s been finalized yet. But the matter has been forwarded to the highest council of the crown.”

Ezekiel had no intention of letting this new dimension of Illusion Magic end as merely a final exam problem.
It was far too wondrous to be consumed by nothing more than an academy event.
So he meant to expand its scope.

But if the scope were to expand, the half-ruined academy lacked the resources—it needed royal support.

“The highest council convenes tomorrow, as it happens. I’m told there are a few elder statesmen and ministers who oppose it. I’ll need to go and persuade them myself.”
“…I understand. Should circumstances permit, allow me to accompany you.”
“No. That won’t be possible. Cain must never appear at any official proceeding.”
“Even if it is an official proceeding, it’s the royal house.”
“I suspect there are Croitz agents even within the royal palace. Don’t concern yourself overmuch. Leave matters of the crown to the royal family.”
“As you wish.”

If Ezekiel succeeded in persuading the royal house tomorrow, every mage in this kingdom would participate in Dante’s final exam.

‘It would be quite the spectacle….’

Once his thoughts had settled, Ezekiel vanished via Teleport.

As Dante was making his way back to the professors’ quarters, a delicate fragrance brushed against his nostrils.

Dante turned from his path and headed deep into the forest. There stood a mountain lodge he’d never seen before.

He sensed at once that it was an invitation meant for him, and decided to accept.

* * *

Upon opening the lodge door, my research chamber unfolded before me.
It was crafted entirely from Illusion Magic.
As I settled into a chair, the door eased open silently. A student slipped in, moving like a cat with careful steps. Walking on the tips of her toes seemed habitual. Then she met my gaze.

“What business do you have with me?”
“….”

It was Grey Habanero.
The eyes that had been filled with constant unease and trembling were nowhere to be found. Her expression was at ease.

“….”

Grey stirred then, and in a graceful bound hopped atop the desk, walked across it, and settled herself at its edge. She had closed the distance between us to something impossibly intimate.
After a strange silence stretched between us, Grey let out a playful laugh, her buck teeth flashing. Yet her eyes remained distant, dimmed by something unspoken.

“…Are you using my sword well?”

She seemed to be referring to the Dagger of Swift Motion that had been confiscated on my first day of employment.

“I sold it.”
“It was expensive… Did you at least get a good price for it?”
“So-so. What’s this about?”
“What? Do I need a reason to call you over? I could just want to talk about life…”

I cut her off.

“We can do that later. It wouldn’t be appropriate for an examiner to meet privately with a student.”
“Ugh, why are you being so stiff about it…”
“If there’s nothing else, I should go.”

As I rose from my seat, Grey slipped down from the desk and settled onto my lap.
Her featherweight presence pressed down on me, and I found myself sinking back into the chair.
The back of her hand, gripping my garment’s hem, was covered in tattoos.

……

The playfulness had vanished from her expression entirely.

She worked her lips silently.
But no words came.

And so in that subtly flowing silence,
after several seconds had passed,
a hushed voice emerged.

“…Wings.”
“Wings?”

I questioned her back, and she nodded.

“…I did that. It was me.”

Her breathing grew shallow.
Her eyes began to tremble.

……

I paused for a moment, considering what she meant by these words. I didn’t consult the Script — only thought, turning it over in my mind. Then I answered.

“Yes.”

Slowly,
those grey eyes narrowed.

“…Really?”
“Really.”
“…Right? Not the professor. This Grey did it, didn’t she?”
……
“…What?”
……
“…Why? Why won’t you say yes…?”

It meant nothing to me. If it brought peace to someone’s heart, then it was done — what else mattered?

“That’s right. You did it.”
“…….”

Grey bowed her body then, and abruptly buried her forehead against my chest.
The weight of that small head pressed against me.
It was an easy target for misunderstanding if anyone saw us like this, which made me uncomfortable. But from the head nestled in my clothes came a nod, and a voice spilled out. An “…mm.” And in that brief murmur, several unspoken languages passed between her and me—we both knew it.
After that, she rose and settled herself back on the desk.

“You asked what I needed earlier? I have something to tell you.”
“I’m listening.”
“Our Habanero family. We’re a house of Illusion Magic masters.”
“I know.”
“We rank in the top three across the continent. Long ago, the Empire and Croitz tried to recruit us with enormous sums from here and there.”
“So it was. It’s history I know as well.”
“Right. But now, they’re mostly all dead, the techniques are nearly lost. The family decided to pour everything they had left into one prodigy. Selection and focus. That’s what it is.”

I know that.

“…so if you teach someone like that, it would be quite an honor, wouldn’t it…?”

She tested the waters with a sidelong glance.

“Is that so?”
“Of course it is~ Throughout your entire career, she’d be your finest student, right? You could go anywhere and say you taught her, ate meals together, fought together, did everything. You could brag about it. Wow, that’s a privilege. Right…?”
“…….”

When I didn’t answer, Grey glanced at me again.

“…do you understand what I’m saying?”
“I don’t follow.”
“You don’t follow? …I mean, you should understand that this is an honor for you. If you teach me, I’ll be your greatest student ever.”

So, circling back, she was asking me to teach her Illusion Magic. I paused for a moment before answering.

“If you want to learn from me, take first place and then apply.”

Grey’s brow furrowed.

“No, I can obviously get first place…. But that’s just teaching one technique, right….”
“Isn’t that enough?”
“It’s not ‘enough,’ it’s that it’s unnecessary…. Ah, what I’m trying to say is, don’t you want to teach me? Grey.”
“I don’t know.”
“Why are you like this, really…? You know everything….”
“I don’t.”

A torrent of “I don’t knows” poured out one after another.
At this barrage, Grey bit her lip.

“……say it again. Carefully.”
“What?”

She drew a blade and pointed it at my throat.

“Say it. You want to teach. You don’t want to teach.”

I knew that was Illusion Magic.
Clang—!
I used Interference with my fingertips to shatter it. Grey’s shoulders tensed in surprise.

“I don’t know.”

She scrunches her face at my words again.

“No, seriously, what is this? I just explained Habanero’s glorious past history and who the genius was that carried it forward, and you still don’t understand what I’m trying to say…?”
“I don’t know.”
“Why…? Why don’t you know, why…?? Are you an idiot, Professor? Did you go stupid from researching Illusion Magic all the time…? Why can’t you understand?”
“I don’t.”

Her mouth twists in exasperation.

“…Fine, then…. I don’t know either. …I don’t!”
“…….”
“I’m not the type to cling to things pathetically. I have no intention of learning from someone who doesn’t want me, you know…? This is ridiculous, seriously…. There are so many people who say Grey is wonderful, and here you are, acting like you don’t even know how precious I am―”

Her voice grows longer, rambling on.
Truth is, I was teasing her because her reactions were entertaining.

I need Grey for the Betting Table.
So I decided to stop the joke here.

“I was joking.”
“You got my hopes up for nothing, ruining my mood……, …huh??”

Surprised eyes turn back to me.

“…What?”
“I was joking. I want to be your advisor too.”
“…….”

Her shoulders curl inward again.
Then slowly she turns her head away.

“…I don’t like you.”

But her buck teeth jut out slightly.
She doesn’t like me?

“Then I’ll stop.”

Her head whips back around.

“Huh? No, why is your answer like that…??”
“You rejected me. What else is there to do?”
“…When I said I don’t like you, that wasn’t a rejection…. But hey, why do you have no persistence now that you’re a man? You should at least hold on once even if I say I don’t like you……??”
“Why should I?”
“Professor!”

Grey’s frown deepens sharply.

“You’ve got no experience with women, do you? You just always worry about your image, but actually you’re totally inexperienced, a complete dud, someone who gets shaky hands when talking to a girl……”

⋮

Anyway, in this strange push and pull.
We reached a certain conclusion.
Now it was time to part.

“…I’ll come back first.”

Grey shook her hand with a cautious expression.

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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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