Surviving the Assassin Academy as a Genius Professor - Chapter 87

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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 87
[Main Story] No. 2 Betting Table (3)

Moments later, when I brought the cat to the Waiting Room, everyone jumped with delight. Crystal Orbs were thrust in from all directions, and the cat was seized from place to place and relentlessly photographed. Wilhelm seemed to have learned what otaku hearts were from his daughter and was mimicking the gesture in an uncle-like manner, while Grey, grudgingly raising her middle finger to show her dislike of the professors, looked like a bratty child.
Rebecca, who had arrived at some point, looked satisfied before approaching Grey.

“You. Don’t scratch your head. We took all this trouble to style it, and now it’s coming loose.”
“Ah, yes….”
“Come here.”

Rebecca fixed the stray grey hair with a pin by her own hands, then leaned close beside me and whispered.

“This is becoming troublesome, Professor.”
“What is?”
“That child shouldn’t do too well.”

As if I didn’t know.
Even now, Rebecca—that regent of isolation—was fretting, thinking only of her isolationist policies.

“……But she really is beautiful.”

It was genuine admiration, and I nodded silently in agreement.
As for me, I hoped Grey would do as well as she possibly could.

Grey stared blankly at her interview script, reading it again and again. It must have been given to her this morning when she arrived, but it was already worn to rags.

In the midst of the tension, Wilhelm spouted meaningless chatter with an assistant professor—a considerate distraction.

Rebecca, too, went around sightseeing with Leim and Cheongru. Even for her, who had seen only the world’s finest things, the cityscape of the Empire must have been wondrous.

Meanwhile, I stood up briefly.

Since the filming might run long, I stepped outside to use the Restroom, and the grey cat followed me out. It was Grey.

“Didn’t you go when we were on the way to the Waiting Room?”
“Yeah. But I need to again.”
“You shouldn’t drink so much water.”
“I know. What if I have another accident like last time…?”
“…….”

And so we went to the Restroom together.

“Don’t go ahead of me.”
“Understood.”

By the system’s usual order, men finish first, so I came out and waited.
Then I heard some staff members gossiping nearby.

“Isn’t that shameless?”
“Right…. It’s ridiculous.”
“Honestly, it’s funny. When they didn’t need anything from us, they acted like they could care less and pushed us out. Shameless or what.”
“They don’t even appreciate it when you try to help them, do they?”
“I guess not.”

Their voices dripped with contempt.
Who were they talking about?
A superior? Or another department?
My graduate school days overlapped with this scene, and I found myself listening with interest.

“Those Hiaka fools are beneath contempt, tch.”

The words landed like a dagger in my ear.
…So it was about us.

“It’s almost funny. Now they’re opening up the nation, this and that… and all they can do is parade some poor girl around as window dressing.”
“Well, what else can they offer? What does Hiaka have besides people?”

The conversation laid bare Hiaka’s external image and standing in all its naked truth.
An abundance of Rankers relative to population.
But strip that away, and the nation had no viable industries, no resources, no real competitive edge.

“Though that Kainnaum thing is something else, I’ll admit.”
“Yeah, that much is true….”

Recently, one attractive asset had emerged—a tourism draw with genuine appeal. Which was precisely why the Royal Family had been pushing it so hard.

“But you’re saying you actually pity that Hiaka girl?”
“Isn’t it obvious? I heard the Croitz girl studied abroad in the Empire and learned Illusion Magic from Agion herself.”
“I see… but I don’t feel sorry for her just because she’s from Hiaka. Besides, does an assassin even know what filming is? You need talent for that.”
“Ha, true enough… watching her fumble through it on camera would be hilarious.”

With that, they laughed and drifted away.
Harsh words, but they didn’t trouble me. It mattered little to me whether anyone disparaged Hiaka—I had no particular patriotism to offend.
But there was another who felt differently, and she’d been standing silent in the restroom the whole time, listening.

“…go.”

Grey came out pretending she’d heard nothing.
So I played along, pretending the same.

“Let’s go.”

We were nearly at the Waiting Room when—

“Professor, wait a moment….”

She grabbed my hand abruptly and pulled me toward the Emergency Staircase. Ahead of us in the Corridor. Once there, she leaned against the wall and crouched down.

“What’s wrong? You’ll get dust on your skirt.”
“Just… give me a moment. Stay here with me….”

Her head hung low. Her fingers kept reaching for her skirt hem, twisting it distractedly. Grey was tense.
The situation was already fraught, and those Assassination Daily Press employees’ words had only wound her tighter.
I stood beside her in silence.

“…….”
“…….”

Words can resonate in ways beyond language. A single piece of advice can transform someone’s life.
But there are moments when silence becomes someone’s sanctuary. Knowing this, I shared that silence with Grey—our breaths in rhythm.
After some time, her lips parted slowly.

“…What if I mess up?”

The weight of responsibility thick in her voice.
Grey wasn’t seeking a serious answer.
Knowing this, I chose my words with care.

“We should start a war. With Croitz.”
“Huh…?”

It was a joke.
Grey blinked and spoke.

“…I think you’ve lost it….”
“Why.”
“No, why — because when you say things like that, it actually sounds like you mean it….”
“I do mean it. I’ll kill them all.”
“Please don’t. You crazy old man….”

Even as she said it, she laughed silently to herself: 【If a war breaks out, my mistakes won’t matter at all…lol;】
It seemed that brief exchange and silence had helped more than expected. Her restless hands settled into ease.

“Let’s go.”
“…Yeah.”

On the way, Grey squeezed my hand again. Didn’t feel right to let go immediately, so I held it for a moment.
We returned to the Waiting Room and after a brief moment, the time came. A staff member gave the signal.

“It’s time. Let’s get moving, your highnesses and highnesses.”

At Wilhelm’s words, we all rose to our feet.
Following the staff toward the Set, the filming crew trailed along with us.

“Please don’t mind us. Just proceed naturally as you would normally.”

They were intent on filming everyone, including Grey. Rebecca pulled down her broad-brimmed hat to shield her face.

“…Would you mind backing away just a bit? I’m rather shy.”
“Ah, of course, Your Highness.”

Tension bloomed as we walked down the Corridor.
The common sense that no madman would commit terrorism in the heart of the Empire—there were plenty of historical examples where that assumption had been shattered.

But then wouldn’t they face imperial punishment? → They did.
Aren’t they crazy? → They were.

Does punishment bring the dead back to life? Law and order merely raised the hurdles of the wild ever so slightly. The rest is up to oneself. One had to stay vigilant.

“…Still, these people show some consideration.”

That’s when Wilhelm spoke to me.

“Consideration, you say.”
“Think about it. If I were orchestrating this, I’d overlap the routes and make sure you walked alongside Croitz.”
“Interesting.”
“Right? I could quit being a professor and work as an assistant director here. What do you think you’d have done, Professor Dante?”
“…I’m not sure.”

His voice was loud. He was speaking for everyone to hear. A reminder of the Assassination Daily News style.

“I’d hand each of them a sword.”

Wilhelm laughed, and Grey’s eyes went wide as she jabbed my arm. Her lips formed the shape: “Are you crazy…?”
Just before we entered the Set, the senior professor reassured everyone one last time.

“No need to second-guess yourselves. These people are media, but who knows—maybe they genuinely scheduled this shoot with pure intentions. Let’s relax, folks. Relax.”

That proved to be nothing more than hot air—a fact revealed the moment we arrived at the Set.
Nearly a dozen staff members clustered about, fussing with cameras and microphones, yet there sat only a single chair in the center. Two of us. One chair.

“…Scratch what I just said.”

Wilhelm’s eyes narrowed. The chair, naturally, looked far too much like a princess’s throne. Clear intention: one of us would be relegated to a subordinate position.
Grey buried herself back in the script. Rebecca vacated the seat along with her attendant. And that was when he sat down to kill time.

“Professor.”

Wilhelm’s foot nudged mine. I turned my head—and found myself looking into a crowd.
At last, the students and faculty from Croitz were making their entrance. A murmur rose from our side; every eye shifted toward them. ‘Ah, that’s…’ one of our instructors said under his breath.
You could identify anyone here without a name tag.
In Croitz, the Church of the Holy Mother is the state religion, and every wellborn child receives the Cross Mark—a tattoo symbol etched onto their face during their coming-of-age ceremony. A Sacred Mark, in other words.
The opposing professors also wore Pearls adorning their collar clasps.
More elaborate than what I’d seen before.
They spotted us shortly after, and heads snapped toward us in unison.
The murmuring died away.

……
……

Ominous stares.
They don’t see themselves as aggressors. They too believe they’re the victims. The very phrase they use—”reclaimed our stolen Illusion Magic”—speaks to that.
The silence spread like infection. The entire Set fell quiet. At last, only gazes remained.
As if blinking first meant defeat, neither side so much as shifted.
An intense tension.
The air of a combat bout hanging in the offing.

“Let’s do good work here.”

It was Wilhelm who broke the silence.
A beat late, the opposing dean’s hand rose in turn.

“You planning to assassinate me?”

He’d lobbed a joke.

“Ha—I’m a Church of the Holy Mother believer myself.”

Wilhelm invoked Croitz’s state religion. The Church of the Holy Mother was everywhere, yes—but he deliberately sidestepped the word assassination. A clever riposte.

“Park, Dominic, Opus.”

The other side answered with a prayer phrase from the Church.
With just a few words exchanged between the two men, the tension between both camps dropped noticeably. This was precisely why Wilhelm had come as our representative.

…For now, perhaps that would suffice.

But there was no reason to lower our guard. An armed robber smiles when he rings the doorbell. How much more reason, then, to stay tense here—in this forged time, standing before Croitz, who had actually planned terrorism.

“Standby!”

* * *

The schedule was divided into three segments.

1. Filming
2. Illusion Magic Combat Exhibition
3. Interview

As for the filming itself, well, that was expected—but scheduling the interview right after the Illusion Magic confrontation was a blatant provocation.

“I’ll be right back….”

And trouble struck immediately. The moment standby ended, Amulet clicked her heels and strode forward quickly, claiming the single empty seat before Grey could reach it.

‘Damn it, that little…!’
‘Grey! You should have gone first…!’

A rueful sigh escaped from our support team.
The meek cat, robbed of her spot at the hearth….

“Grey, would you please come sit in the middle?”

As the camera crew watched without intervening, Croitz’s support team smiled with barely concealed satisfaction.

【 ‘Now what can you do?’ 】
【 ‘Try to be violent. It’ll all be on film.’ 】

They were already celebrating in their hearts.
But then.
At that very moment.
Grey did something extraordinary.
She conjured a chair out of Glassy Butterfly and sat down naturally beside Amulet.

‘Oh! Yes! That’s it! That’s the one!!’
‘Nice! Well done!’
‘Why did we come here? For the Illusion Magic!’

The meek cat, crafting her own seat!
This moment symbolized the relations between two nations and simultaneously proved the power of Illusion Magic. The camera was already rolling, and Grey had opened that door beautifully.

【 ‘…….’ 】
【 ‘…….’ 】

Croitz’s satisfied smile was trampled beneath the cat’s paw.

“Well, look at that. You do know something.”
“Huh?”
“They said you were from some backwater place, so I wasn’t sure. But you’re not completely hopeless, are you?”

Amulet tried to provoke Grey, but Grey merely scratched her ear and seemed not to hear.

“…Sorry? What was that?”
“…….”

A bewildered expression.
The opening flow was going splendidly.

After that, the camera clicked steadily, and the two candidates followed various directions, shifting their expressions and poses as instructed. It seemed the first part of the filming would wrap up without incident.
It was gratifying when everything proceeded exactly as planned.

‘However you look at it, we won.’
‘That’s right.’

Our model achieved an Overwhelming Victory, after all.
……Anyone who says otherwise deserves the sword.
It was then.
Through the indoor window, I caught sight of someone’s nameplate.

“Huh? Professor Dante, where are you going?”
“I’ll be back in a moment.”

From here on, this was Grey’s territory. I had my own work to do.
I slipped out of the set. Then I pursued two men—both staff members, deep in conversation. Using World Forgery, I wrapped myself in a Perception Obscuring Barrier and drew close enough to eavesdrop.

“…Damn it, what a stubborn fool. I told you to just run whatever I give you, didn’t I?”
“But sir… this isn’t right…”
“What do you mean, isn’t right?”
“It’s not even shocking, yet you’re slapping an [SHOCKING!] headline on it… and you’re completely ignoring the assassin’s privacy… these were just people he met briefly for a mission, and if you spin it as him cheating on someone…”
“That’s why I’m telling you to fudge it a little. Who said anything about cheating? Just call it a [Secret Rendezvous Behind Closed Doors] and you’re done.”
“That still implies he cheated! Sir, this is completely wrong! Hiden is a senior professor with a reputation…!”
“Yeah. He has one.”
“…Sorry?”
“Then we should write it honestly. Right?”
“Well, yes, I suppose…?”
“Exactly. So we’re good. Man, it’s amazing the executives didn’t figure out something this simple by the time this building went up, yet a fresh recruit like you already gets it.”
“…Um.”
“Not shocking at all. Respecting his privacy. Being honest. That’s the ticket. So the headline should be—[Not Shocking At All! Senior Professor Hiden Went On A Perfectly Appropriate Mission With Female Colleague Assassin Basian]! Now *that’s* a front page that sells. Isn’t it?”
“…No, wait…”
“Of course it does. You want to buy ten copies, right? You’re so interested you’d hand them out to your whole family and all your relatives and acquaintances? You’re not? You don’t? Really? Really? Really? Really? Really? Really? Really? Really? Really? Really?”
“……”
“Then who pays your salary, you absolute moooooooooooron?”
“……Ahhhhh!”
“Get your head on straight! Are we writing articles to uphold Righteous Writing? We’re here to grab attention and get paid! I’ve never understood you from the start. Why do you waste so much time on correction articles?”
“Are correction articles unnecessary?”
“Of course they are! Who cares about that garbage? What the public cares about isn’t truth, it’s…”

The journalist froze mid-sentence.
His name was Trash Forbtime.
He’d written a garbage piece based on an interview with Professor Toxin, turning me into a laughingstock among neutral faculty.

“So you ignored my correction request too?”

In that instant, he reacted.

“……!”

This man’s reflexes were genuinely insane.
I’d never encountered a human this fast in my life.

Without warning, he drove his head into the ground and kicked his legs up.
A flawless Grand Jeté—something rarely seen in this age.

“Please spare me.”

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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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