Surviving the Assassin Academy as a Genius Professor - Chapter 79

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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 79
(One day prior)

“But why the change of heart? You said you weren’t going earlier….”

“If you were going to go anyway, you’d say so upfront. Why play games with Grey?”

“When the professor insists on going together like that, a powerless student has no choice but to reluctantly accept.”

“No, I’m not saying I dislike it…. Why do you have to be so extreme? Really, so what made you change your mind?”

“…Curious about pretty Grey?”

…….

EP20 – Kendrick 2.0 (3)

After sending off Rebecca, I came to see Kendrick.
Just to check on him.

“Good to see you, Professor.”

A maid from the academy named Lucy greeted me.
When I said I wanted to see Kendrick, she led me to his room.
As I opened the door, Kendrick sat in a chair with his head bowed.
A slovenly appearance. Head hung low. Yet the red hair and massive frame—it was definitely him.

“Kendrick. The professor is here.”
…….
“Kendrick?”
…….

Maid Lucy glanced at me, then gestured toward Kendrick. As if to say, this is his state.

“Kendrick.”
…….
“It’s me. Professor Dante. How are you?”
…….
“Why don’t you answer? Can you not speak?”

He showed no movement, no reaction.
What is this?
He’s really lost it.

“He’s been like this sometimes since his condition worsened.”

I remembered—not long ago, when Kendrick spotted me on the street, he approached me with a cigarette between his teeth, chin raised high, saying “Let’s have at it today.” It had happened three or four times. That was all there was to it.

“What’s wrong with him?”

I stepped back out of the room and asked the maid.

“I think it’s because he hasn’t taken his medicine.”
“Medicine?”
“There’s a medication he takes once a year.”

The maid held out an empty paper envelope. A medicine that emanated a faint Demonic Energy.
It wasn’t mana.
It was Demonic Energy.

‘What is this…?’

The moment I checked the information displayed in my status window, I understood the situation entirely.

“I see. The Curse of Submersion, then.”
“A curse?”
“No. Can’t you procure more of this medication?”
“Well, the family used to send it to us, but after that incident a while back when Croix’s terror attack destroyed the company….”

I see.

This medication is Curse Medication number thirty-two — the Curse of Submersion. Just as poison and remedy are separated by a hair’s breadth, there are ways to put curses to positive use. Those born with scattered, unfocused minds can take such medication to gather their wits.
It allows them to hold their consciousness together.

“But I understood Curse Medication to have quite a long duration. Why did its effects suddenly wear off?”
“I don’t know. I’m originally from the Black Path, so I know that one dose lasts a full year. But all of a sudden, it became like this….”
“What about the other students?”
“Even when I went looking, they barely responded to anything.”
“And his hair?”

In the crown of his short, reddish hair sat a pink cord, tied into what looked like an apple-knot.

“Elise tied that with her Bracelet, but he just sat still the whole time she was doing it.”

Ah, so that was it.
I rolled up the cuff of my dress shirt at the wrist.
It was a gift from Elise.
But my Bracelet and Kendrick’s were subtly different — mine had a Bone drawn on it.
I wonder if he even knows I have one.

…….

In any case.
I traced back through recent events.
Looking for anything that might have affected Kendrick.
And then, suddenly, I realized the cause.

‘Ah.’

Of course.
The culprit was the stigma of the Harmony Star.
Its power of Great Restoration had healed the curse inside Kendrick’s body!

It was fascinating.
Did the interactions work so precisely?

“Ever since then, he’s been stuck like that. Though he does eat and use the bathroom fine. As for the details, I’m not really sure myself. It’s a bit… frightening to go near him….”

I sent Lucy away and went back into his room.

“Kendrick.”
…….

Still no answer.

The Curse of Submersion reinforces immersion. But true to its name, the immersion becomes excessive — it’s a curse that destroys one’s daily life.

It meant he was someone whose mind had been so shattered that he needed to take curse medication just to maintain his sense of self.

He needed to focus his attention, however slightly.
I had to give him something to focus on.

“I’m Professor Dante. We should have a match.”

What he’d been asking for every time he clenched his teeth and looked at me.
I wondered if it would actually work.
Surprisingly, there was a reaction.

“…….”

Kendrick slowly lifted his head.
His eyes were hazy and unfocused.

“That’s right. I should have an Assassination Duel with this professor. Shouldn’t I?”

But something was off. His crimson eyes were looking at me, yet they didn’t quite focus.
Like some fool’s mismatched eyes from old cartoons.
Then Kendrick spoke in a hollow voice.

“Uhhh.”

……??

“What does that mean?”
“Uhhh.”
“Have you lost part of your language function? If not, speak like a human being.”
“…….”

What was this? Was he playing some kind of game?
But he couldn’t fake his inner thoughts.
I narrowed my eyes and checked the Script.

【 Kendrick: ‘Uhhh.’ 】

Ah. I see.
I understand now. So it’s come to this…….

This creature was not the Kendrick I knew.
To be precise, this was the real Kendrick.
What I’d known was the cursed version. Now that the curse’s chains had broken, this was the ‘true’ one.
As it happened, this worked out well.

“I hear you’re the silent type.”
“…….”
“Thinking about an Assassination Duel with the professor made you want to speak, didn’t it?”
“Uhhh….”
“That’s fine. I understand. Come walk with me. We need to talk about the Assassination Unit anyway.”
“Uhhh.”
“Good. Follow along.”

Surprisingly, communication worked.
Kendrick hauled his massive frame upright and followed after me.
Together, we headed toward the Park near the Academy.

“Now then, Kendrick. To face an Assassination Duel with this professor, you’ll need to sign this Contract.”
“Uhhh.”
“Good. Well done. From now on, you are an assassin under Senior Professor Dante.”
“Uh-huh.”
“You seem pleased. But you’re still too weak to face me in an Assassination Duel.”
“Ugh…”
“Sad, I see. No matter. If you grow stronger alongside Professor Dante here, wouldn’t that solve it? I’ll teach you myself.”
“Uh-huh.”

Recruitment into the Assassination Unit: success.
It had been quick and clean.
Surprisingly, we seemed to communicate well enough—it was just that his sense of self had scattered. That was good. His mind might be fractured, but that massive frame and the overwhelming physical dominance he held over his peers would remain intact.
That was when it happened.
A status window appeared that I hadn’t anticipated.

┃ Relationship Status Decreased: Kendrick [0] (▼3)
┃ Reward: Star Fragment × -3

His relationship status had dropped.
And it was taking Star Fragments along with it.
The previous direction of our relationship had been rooted in inferiority, it seemed. That no longer applied.
Only the hazy inferiority from those days lingered like a phantom, which was why he’d reacted to my words.
Still, I regretted losing those Star Fragments.

“Right then. I’ll be going. I’ll stop by again.”
“……”

That was when Kendrick lowered his head. Awkwardly.
What could it be?
A reaction to becoming members of the same Assassination Unit?

Whatever it was, it didn’t matter. If it was how he showed respect.
I lowered my head in return, equally awkward.

“……”

At that, Kendrick’s eyes flickered.
At the same moment, a status window appeared.

┃ Relationship Status Increased: Kendrick [10] (▲10)
┃ Reward: Star Fragment × 10

⋮

If this were the old Kendrick, I’d have been planning to pick a day and beat some sense into him.
He had once goaded Joaquin into pushing me toward taking a proxy assassination contract, and I’d marked that fact well.
But with Kendrick in this state, there was no reason for that—and it seemed we could forge an entirely new relationship.
On my way home.
I thought it over carefully.
And my conclusion was simple: I preferred things this way now.
So I redefined him like this.

EP20

Kendrick 2.0

AND……

Zone 0 had been opened to limited access.
This was the Academy’s buildup toward opening the Empire. As a result, cadets who filed for leave could now venture beyond Zone 0.
And the cadet who had filed for the most leaves in history was none other than…….

“Where? Where?”

Elise.

“Mung, mung!”

According to Mini Mini Mung, a massive crowd had arrived, so there was no way Elise could miss it. Something about Illusion Magic professors from the Empire?

So she headed to Zone 9, and that’s where she found them.

‘Those people?’
‘Mung!’

Some of the professors, caught up in the festive atmosphere of the tourist district, were performing an Illusion Magic busking act—crafting whatever the citizens requested.

“Make a flower?”
“Yes!”

The professor then conjured an illusory flower. It was more beautiful than the real thing, glowing softly, and swaying gently as if caught in a breeze.

“Here you are, little miss. A flower for you.”
“Wow……!”

The child who received the fantastical flower was absolutely delighted.
Elise’s tail began to wag quietly.
It looked fun.

“All right. Next is……. Yes. You there with the pink hair.”
“Huh? Me?”
“That’s right. That uniform—you’re from the Assassination Studies Department, aren’t you?”
“Yes.”

Curious gazes from tourists and cadets alike converged on her. ‘Assassination Studies?’ ‘Her?’ The Empire professor smiled charmingly and asked.

“So, cadet, what shall I make for you?”
“Um. A bone! As a balloon! By blowing it up with your mouth.”
“A bone? As a balloon, blown up with my mouth?”
“Yes. Oh, and. Make sure it doesn’t break for a long time.”
“Eh……??”

The Empire professor paused, momentarily flustered.

“A long balloon, blown up with your mouth, shaped like a bone, and it won’t break for a long time……?”
“Yes.”
……

The professor glanced at another professor, who said something to him.
Soon after, both of them laughed somewhat awkwardly.

“Pink-haired cadet. Do you happen to know anything about Illusion Magic?”
“I’ve only attended the lectures. Why?”
“Because what you’re asking for right now is incredibly difficult, that’s why.”
“Oh, is it……?”
“Yes. It’s difficult enough that you’re practically testing us. Since you’re from the Assassination Studies Department, if I compare it to Concealment—well, it’s like, you know, the kind of Concealment only someone like Elise can pull off…….”

Only Elise?
It must be incredibly difficult.
Wait. Where’s Elise?
Anyway.

“So I can’t do that right now, but would you mind asking for something else?”
“Of course.”

For now I asked for something else and received an actual Bone instead of a balloon Bone.
But throughout the journey back to Zone 0, I found it strange—Professor Dante had made several balloon Bones without any apparent effort.

‘Hmm. What’s going on?’

The real Bone looked exactly like a bone. Same shape, same smell. But the moment I bit into it, it shattered with a sharp crack.
The balloon Bone that Professor Dante had made was still sitting plump and full in her room.

‘……??’

After that, Elise thought about many things, but soon enough she forgot what she’d been thinking about. All she knew was that the Bone she’d brought back had vanished.

‘What? What? Where did it go…?’

She searched hard, but it didn’t turn up.

‘My Bone.’

It was always like this.

END

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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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