Surviving the Assassin Academy as a Genius Professor - Chapter 78

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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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Chapter 78
EP20 – Kendrick Drake 2.0 (2)

Batalion had been suffering lately.

Day after day, wherever he went, the displeasure in the eyes of those Croitz people washed over him in waves.
Glumi, being an Illusion Magic user whose entire life was built on lies anyway, seemed to brush off their stares without concern.
But Batalion, as a sharpshooter already sensitive to others’ gazes, felt he might develop a nervous breakdown from the constant barrage of eyes.
The better Hiaka fared, the more intense those stares directed at him would become.
And in the midst of all this, an unbelievable report had just come in—a Stigmata had descended again, hadn’t it?

“You call that news?!”

Crash!
Batalion slammed his fist onto the desk. The table, unable to withstand the force, shattered.

“A Stigmata erupted on that damned tree before, and now—who is it this time? What kind of Stigmata is it?!”
“W-well, that’s a Stigmata that even we have difficulty analyzing….”
“Figure it out. Now.”

It was then that Batalion felt a very ominous premonition.

What was a Stigmata?
It was the blessing of the stars.
And as evidenced by the shifts in the Ranking system, it carried extraordinarily intense power.

The Ranking!
That was the problem.

Originally, martial masters of Grandmaster rank or above in each nation shed tears of blood training to raise that single digit, fought monsters, and continued their research.
So if one’s rank rose by ten positions over the course of a year, that was considered quite respectable.
Everyone obsessed over the Ranking like madmen.
He himself had bled and suffered the entire previous year, raising his position from 442 to 415—didn’t his body bear the scars of that effort?
But if one obtained a Stigmata, the Ranking alone would leap up by twenty to thirty positions.
In a single stroke! In an instant!

‘Not once but twice in just two weeks……!!’

It felt like his eyes were about to roll back into his head.
What kind of lucky bastards were these?

‘Damn it!!’

The Hiaka he had cast aside.
Suddenly it was thriving.

‘How could this be happening…….’

But this was no time to sit idle.
Using this situation as a pretext, Hiaka was attempting all manner of schemes, and several of them had already caught the attention of Batalion and the upper echelons of Croitz’s intelligence network.
They had to be stopped.

Batalion urgently sought out someone.
The location was a tavern sprawling with gambling tables.
Alcohol and gambling. A dark pub where vice and excess flowed freely.

“Professor Bakien! Got a minute?”
“Huh? Who… what brings you here?”

A professor who looked like a dissolute scholar smoking a cigarette turned to regard him.
At the same moment, the eyes of those seated at the table snapped toward him.

“Huh? Who the hell is that guy? Is he really…, that person?”
“Batalion… In the flesh he looks just like some nobleman….”

Laughter rippled through the drunken patrons. Guk-guk.
Batalion closed his eyes. These worthless insects daring to—. But even so, there was no one else to entrust with this task.
Bakien, senior professor of Alchemy at Croitz Academy. An expert in explosive manufacture and projectile delivery.

“Hey, all of you—button your lips. He’s the head professor, after all.”

He spoke to his friends with a grin.
Bakien had once been a diplomat-specialist assassin for the White Path in Croitz. In his younger days, when he’d cut a swath across the continent, he’d belonged to the Assassination Unit and maintained broad connections even within the Empire.
Batalion laid out the situation.

“This is precisely why I have no one else to turn to. See it done, if you would.”
“Hmm….”

Bakien smirked and held up three fingers.

“Thirty million? Pull it off successfully, and I’ll give you fifty million!”

Bakien’s eyes widened inside one of the holes in his mask.
Surprised, was he?
Fifty million Hiaka was an astronomical sum.

Judging by the venue, one could tell: Bakien was fundamentally a gambling addict.
He was desperate for money. He was rough by temperament, enjoyed carousing and drinking, loved gambling, and carried substantial debts—but those very vices had earned him a sprawling network of contacts throughout the Empire.

“Fine. Let’s see what you can do. I’ll be back.”

After Bakien left.
Batalion clenched his jaw so hard his teeth nearly cracked.

‘Just let that wretched nation rot, for all I care.’

He couldn’t bear to see Hiaka flourish. Not even if dirt filled his own eyes.

And yet…….

To do so, he needed to know.
Batalion had to know who ‘Cain’ was—the one who created that tree within the Mirage that Glumi had unfurled in the corner of the office.
That he did not know. It was driving him mad.

‘At that level, it must certainly be Challenger-tier….’

As an assassin, Batalion knew quite a bit about Illusion Magic.
That was Challenger-tier.
Among them, high-grade. Or perhaps beyond.
And someone who wielded something so vast… The name that came to mind was Agion of the Empire’s Hatengraju Academy.

Agion of the Radiant Starlight Seat. Current world ranking: twentieth.
Since Abracadabra faded from sight, he was called the foremost Illusion Magic practitioner in humanity today—a mage and assassin of the Illusion realm—a monster who had transformed an entire capital city into Illusion Magic itself to assassinate a foreign king.
In fact, Agion had recently praised that tree effusively through foreign press, though Batalion knew nothing of it. Who could say? Perhaps he’d created it himself and was singing his own praises.

‘…….’

But what if—by some chance—it was not him?
Otherwise…….

‘…….’

It would mean there really is a monster in Hiaka.
A creature of unknown origin, bearing the name ‘Cain’…….

* * *

Rebecca spoke the moment I sat down beside her.

“Are you always this off-putting?”

Her words said one thing, but her eyes wouldn’t meet mine.
Perhaps she was feeling something slightly ‘different’—a certain discomfort.

“If you do it, I’ll help you once more.”

I laid out a practical proposal.
Rebecca drew a long breath, then let out a sigh as if she’d drawn it from somewhere within her cloak.

“…Very well. I’ll join Grey’s expedition to the Empire. But I have conditions. Two of them.”
“I’m listening.”
“Soon we’ll be conquering Byeolmatchi Mountain, and I need you to lead the expedition team.”
“Byeolmatchi Mountain?”
“Yes. I have a use for some real estate, and that location is suitable as a plot.”
“Is this related to your Curse?”
“…….”

Rebecca slowly raised her slender index finger and pressed it vertically against her lips.
The gesture said: keep quiet about this.

“……From what I hear, there’s some monster in that mountain’s communal cemetery. We just need to drive it out or kill it. The academy has been lukewarm about it, so we’re planning to hire outside personnel. They’re rough types who don’t listen well—someone of your standing needs to keep them in line.”
“Why don’t you do it?”
“I have to maintain appearances in front of others.”

I considered it for a moment.
The creature of unknown origin that might dwell in that massive Error Space.
Lan had described it as ‘something that should have died, yet lives.’
It could be as enormous as Zinksite.
But even if killing it proves difficult, driving it away should be possible.

“I understand for now. What’s the second condition?”
“Earlier, you mentioned you’d be submitting an application for an academic advisor.”

That was true. Just before submitting, I’d left word that I was putting Grey, Elise, and Valmond into the Assassination Unit.
It was a calculated move to drive Rebecca out of the Zamryong Academy.

“Put Kendrick Drake in that Assassination Unit as well.”
“…….”

Now what was this about.

“Kendrick’s been acting strange lately and won’t leave his room.”
“What happened?”
“I’m not entirely sure, but it seems to be related to his family falling apart. He’s become truly odd.”

And then she said it: truly, truly strange.

“Is that something I decide? If Kendrick himself refuses, there’s nothing I can do.”
“…Then there’s nothing for it. Please do try.”
“Understood. I’ll proceed after visiting the studio.”

Rebecca nodded.
The missal fluttered as she moved it.

“So, whose blood is that?”

At my question, Rebecca turned toward the mirror. Searching for the dark smear on her cheek.
Blood.
Someone else’s.

“……The bishop of District 5 Holy Mother Church Temple.”
“Why did you kill him?”
“He said I wasn’t fit to be bishop.”

I paused, considering something.

“Do you want to become a bishop?”
“Bishop is just a waystation.”
“And the final destination?”
“Saint.”
“A saint of the Holy Mother Church. Hasn’t one already existed—that girl from the Empire?”
“She’ll have to die.”
“……Bold words.”

A strange silence fell between us.
When it ended, Rebecca spoke.

“Have I ever told you about my dream, Professor?”
“No.”

I guessed it might concern the Emperor’s assassination.
I was wrong.
Rebecca’s dream reached far beyond that.

“I’m going to make Hiaka into an empire.”
“…….”
“The current Hatengraju Empire will fall. Hiaka must take its place. And I will become the Emperor.”

It was utterly detached from reality, the way she said it.
Yet in Rebecca’s red eyes, there was neither doubt nor delusion.

“…….”

When I remained silent, Rebecca asked.

“Why that look? Do I seem like some mad girl chasing clouds to you, Professor?”
“I don’t judge people’s dreams. Only—I’m curious. How did you come to hold such a dream?”
“Because I want to become the sky.”
“How so?”
“……I don’t know. You really do ask me the strangest things, Professor.”

There was a touch of how-dare-you in her tone.
And truly, what king would question a princess about the grounds of her ambition?

“……I suppose…I’m not sure why. Since I was small, I’ve simply wanted it. Maybe because from the bottom of a well, you can only ever see the sky…….”

Rebecca waved her hand, as though dismissing her own words as nonsense.

“I’ll take my leave. I have an engagement this evening.”
“Understood.”
“And about what you mentioned earlier—that woman with the premonition. Shall I kill her for you?”

Rebecca’s gaze settled on the photograph atop Adel’s desk.

“…I appreciate the offer, but that won’t be necessary.”
“Be careful. She’s far more ominous than she appears.”
……

A person who never goes where I want her to go.
For all her talk of dreams and premonitions, she shows no real interest.
To me, Rebecca is neither student nor child. She’s a demon wearing the mask of a girl.

She kills a bishop because it displeases her.
Tries to kill a saint.
Asks me to kill someone we’ve never even spoken to.
Yes.
She’s the witch of the palace.

…She’s the witch of the palace?
What am I thinking?
It was then.

“…Professor. We’re on the same side, aren’t we?”

Rebecca posed this question suddenly, out of nowhere.

“Of course.”
……
“Why do you ask?”
“It’s nothing. Never mind.”

I pushed the thought away.
I had to deceive her properly.

“It seems something troubles you.”
“Not at all.”

No—clearly something was weighing on her.
Perhaps it was that remarkable premonition of hers.

“There’s no need for suspicion.”
……

I needed to give her trust. Honestly, I’ve never really known how to trust another person.
But there was one faint thread I could follow.

Not long ago, when Rebecca’s legs gave out and she stumbled, I caught her as she fell.
Somehow we ended up with her in my arms, and for the first time I sensed her averting her gaze from me.
Why would this psychopathic, deranged witch show such a reaction?
Rebecca had spoken then.

‘Don’t touch my body.’

I had started to pull away, apologizing.

‘…Because then I’d be tempted to believe in you.’

Wasn’t that what she had whispered?
In other words, Rebecca believed that physical contact bred trust. She had completed the coding in her brain that way. The reason I had sat beside her moments ago followed the same logic.
And so, now.

“You can trust me.”

I reached out my hand to Rebecca. Then slowly, I directed it toward her cheek. Toward the trace of blood.

“We were on the same boat that day.”
“…….”
“I bound you with my influence as a shackle, and you bound me with one hundred million Hika as a shackle. We chained each other.”

Rebecca turned her head away slowly, but my hand pursued. After that brief chase, my fingertips touched her cheek. She did not flinch.
I raised my nails. Rebecca did not flinch.

“I will always be on your side.”
“…….”

Her face remained expressionless, though her gaze was plainly averted from mine.
Slowly, I brushed away the trace of blood with my nails, wiping it clean.

“…….”

Some things can only be seen up close. The cross pendant hanging from Rebecca’s ear was one such thing.
That was the symbol of the Holy Mother’s star, the Cross Star.
Strange, isn’t it? She looked like a wooden post to me. At least, that was how I saw her.

“…In the future, would you speak it instead? Please don’t touch me.”

The plan from this point forward was simple. I would use the contract with Rebecca—use her heart. When the time came, I would discard her without hesitation.

“Understood.”

A cross suits a witch well.

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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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