Surviving the Assassin Academy as a Genius Professor - Chapter 93

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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 93
EP23 – Hands (3)

There was a time, once, when Adel and I were alone at the Professor Building residence. She approached me quietly and took my hand, interlacing our fingers.
I was somewhat taken aback, though I made sure not to show it.

“We’re still friends, aren’t we?”

To Adel’s question, I answered based on what she was doing. I had no way of knowing what might happen if I refused, after all.
It was like choosing to leave unopened the box in the refrigerator whose age was unknown, rather than crack it open. “I’ll do better,” she’d said, her eyes crinkling with a smile.

“So you have something on your mind.”
“Yes, well. I was thinking of doing some personal research during winter break, and I was wondering if you might help me?”

She’d transferred from administrative aide to research aide. She must have had little time for personal research.

“Understood.”

Only then did Adel release the interlaced fingers and step back.

But Grey happened to catch the moment. I was turning over explanations in my head when she appeared, yet she asked no questions. She didn’t avoid my gaze either.

She simply stared blankly at my hand for a moment, then raised both of her own, and suddenly interlaced her own fingers. Then she gazed down at her clasped hands as if in prayer, blankly.

“What are you doing?”
“Attempting to hold hands, sir.”
“And why is that?”
“I observed the two of you and developed a question about it.”

I asked what that question was.

“There is a stray cat here at the Professor Building. When I touched its hand, it disliked it. But the two of you seemed natural about it—why would the cat dislike it?”

An oddly tangential and bewildering question.
I was beginning to grow accustomed to them.

“Cats naturally dislike having their paws touched, or so I’ve heard.”
“Why is that, sir?”
“I’m not sure. I’ll ask the cat later and let you know.”
“Thank you.”

‘What about you?’ I asked in return. Grey looked at her own hands with those dark eyes before answering.

“I cannot say. I feel nothing in particular.”
“That’s because they’re your own hands. You’re used to them. It might be different with someone else’s.”
……

Her dark eyes went distant, then gradually widened.

“Ah… I see.”

Grey nodded as if she’d grasped something.

“The hands are rich in sensory nerves. Holding hands, then, is an act where both parties sense each other’s unfamiliarity all at once, in overwhelming quantity. But that which the heart resists is precisely what the senses wish not to perceive.”
……
“Therefore, the hand is the extremity of the body where sincerity reveals itself. And holding hands is fundamentally an act that can only occur when there exists mutual trust between two people.”
……

I listened in silence at that moment.
The way they expressed themselves was peculiar. Still, parts of their message resonated with me.
Their hands spoke sincerely…….
Though it felt like a leap in logic, however slight.
Years ago, I remember hands hastily concealing documents. Those hands came back to me now.

– This? Um… no. It’s my thesis…. My thesis…. I’m researching it together with the professor……. …Why?

……I shook off that memory.

I stepped out of the Research Office.
In any case, it was time to go meet Zamryong Academy now.
I needed to sign contracts with the assassination team members. So far, only Kendrick Drake had signed. Elise, Valmond, and Grey still needed to sign as well.
And while I was at it, I’d schedule the next private lesson with Grey.

* * *

The air grew heavy. At least around Valmond it did. Yet those two didn’t notice what he said in that low voice.

“No, a new era is coming now, so it’s not just talk. Information warfare. That’s why we’ve been looking into things ourselves too.”

Valmond thought to himself.
Was he rushing forward again without thinking?
He needed to calm down first.

“…Yes.”
“But that guy seemed to have some seriously strange luck.”
“…Is that so?”
“They say the Discipline Bureau handled the Joaquin proxy assassination before. That battlefield ghost, what, Hacon? He had no grounds for assassination, but that Dante fellow got it attributed to him anyway. And with this Grey photoshoot, he wasn’t even supposed to be there, but he butted in….”

He wondered what all that had to do with Professor Dante being arrogant or whatever.
But he decided to correct the record first.

“That’s not it, you guys.”
“It’s not?”
“Not at all. Probably you received information through official Academy channels…. But it’s actually the opposite. Joaquin, Hacon, Grey—Professor Dante drove all of that forward strongly.”
“You’re guessing, then?”
“…Yes. It is just speculation, but.”

As he spoke, Valmond hoped inwardly that these men wouldn’t look down on Professor Dante.
There was a saying about geographic ties, blood ties, and school ties for a reason.
If people from the same organization could come to blows over nothing, wasn’t it better to prevent that if possible?

“No. You’ve got it wrong.”

But then.
The words that followed hit the back of Valmond’s head like a hammer.

“Saw him just now, and he was completely full of himself.”

Valmond’s mouth closed. At the same time, his gaze began to sink.

…….

At that moment, the organization members thought Valmond had been out of the fold so long that information reached him slowly.
They even felt they should enlighten him.

“Why. You really didn’t know? Just came back from seeing him for a bit. He was so scared he couldn’t even get words out. Asked me to connect him with Chief Cain and Grey, but that bastard just stiffly kept saying ‘I don’t know. No. That’s not it.’ Acting like this is some kind of joke.”

The organization member beside him laughed.

“That’s right. We’ve been getting rejected all day, so we’re already frustrated. But then this bastard’s eyes completely lost it, and we cursed him out. He couldn’t say a word.”
“There are always guys like that, aren’t there? All looks, but hollow inside—empty shells with impossible luck. Haha… ha…….”

It was then that the two organization members, who had been droning on, turned to look at Valmond.
Something about his expression was off.

“What’s wrong with you?”
“……Nothing.”
“What? Did that professor do something to you?”
“……No, it’s not that. Could you please just leave? And as for the Grey matter—let’s forget it happened.”
“What? What do you mean?”

When Valmond abruptly pointed toward the door, the two men furrowed their brows in surprise.

“Hey. You bastard. What’s gotten into you? Did we do something wrong?”
“……Please go.”
“Why are you being like this? You must’ve had something happen with Professor Dante. That’s it, isn’t it? You’re scared, that’s what this is.”
“……Please leave.”
“Why are you acting like such a coward? Seriously?”

At that moment, Valmond didn’t quite understand what he was feeling. There was only the refusal—the need to send both of them out of here. It was his nature. He lived by instinct, acting and speaking as his heart commanded.

“Should we assassinate him for you?”

But the moment he heard those words, he understood.

“……Excuse me??”

At Valmond’s reaction, color drained from both their faces.
So the coward was deeply afraid after all.

“Besides, that bastard’s been acting way too comfortable. Like he’s somebody, when he’s nothing.”
“…….”
“We’ll go take care of it for you. Don’t worry too much.”

The sensation of his entire body being drained into a swamp. Valmond’s blood ran cold.
These two were sent by the organization to deal with the Academy. They would keep coming here.
In that instant, he thought it through. This wasn’t just about venting anger. If they were going to keep coming here, they had to respect Professor Dante.
In the end, Valmond lifted his eyes and spoke to them directly.

“Show respect to Professor Dante.”

Valmond spoke quietly.
His voice carried a faint edge of killing intent.
The two organization members tensed as well.

“…What did you say?”
“Don’t speak carelessly. Show respect. If you’ve been rude, go apologize.”

But by now, the organization members were annoyed.
This young, timid boy—was he really talking back to them now?

“Who do you think you are?”

The organization member’s voice dropped.
A rift opened between them. Another member, unable to stand it, stepped in between.

“Stop, both of you. And Valmond—is that how you talk to your seniors?”
“No, Mammon. Let him speak.”

But the furious member’s anger came boiling to the surface.

“Who the hell do you think you are, giving me orders? Do you still think you’re the Nibelung Family heir?”
“Whether I’m the heir or not doesn’t matter to me at all. I’m giving you one last chance. Go apologize to Professor Dante.”
“If I refuse.”
……
“If I refuse, you little bastard.”
……
“Damn it, you’re insane. Why? Did Dante do something for you?”

Valmond Nibelung fell silent.
Blood sucked into a swamp began to flow backward—that was the sensation now rising in him. His body temperature climbed. His breathing grew hot enough to feel suffocating.

Yet he had to endure it.

There were several reasons. Rebecca’s words still echoed in his ears. The Princess had instructed him to avoid contact with outsiders and to create as little conflict as possible.

Moreover, he was someone who had fled the Nibelung Family—he could become their target at any moment. He was not ignorant of the fact that his present precarious standing was only possible because the Family was choosing to overlook him.

……

That silence gave the members confidence.

“Since our senior brothers are talking to you with a smile, you think you can act tough, don’t you? Wake up. You cowardly bastard still haven’t learned your place.”
……
“That’s why the Nibelung Family cast you out. Your father runs off, and you pull a blade on the Matriarch herself. Because you can’t tell your superiors from inferiors, that’s why the Family had to throw you away.”
……

Something clawed at his throat, struggling to break free.
But he held it back.
Valmond thought to himself—he was enduring well.
Now he should just ask them to leave.

“…So that’s why you’re stuck at this age, clinging to worthless garbage like this.”

But then, one of the members grabbed the balloon on the bed and burst it.

Pop—!!

It was the Bone Balloon that Professor Dante had given him.
In that instant, everything Valmond had been holding back came apart.
His vision went white.

……

When awareness returned, Valmond was already lunging at the member, fist raised high.

Crack!! Boom-crash—!!

His neck wrenched around with the force of impact. The member’s jaw shattered under the blow, and he flew backward, demolishing the bookshelf and slamming into the wall. Valmond felt it through his knuckles—the jawbone had fractured in a single strike.
The struck man convulsed with pain and drew his blade.

“Hey!! Are you insane!?”

At the same moment, another member drew his weapon and rushed forward. But since entering Zamryong Academy, Valmond’s personal combat strength had risen to rival that of most professors.
His primary skill was Sniper Techniques, his secondary Magic System, and even so, simple hand-to-hand combat was hardly something he’d struggle against a handful of low-level organization members.

Crack!

He sidestepped the blade and rotated his hips. Power born from his firmly planted feet traveled up through his lower body, amplified through the twist of his waist, amplified again through the muscles of his shoulder, then amplified once more through his bent elbow—whip-like in its arc—before channeling into his palm.

Slash!

The sweep of his hand across the organization member’s face split it open. His eardrum burst, blood pouring out; the flesh of his cheek tore, painting the colorless room crimson.
The first man he’d struck let out a roar.

“I’ll kill you, you bastard!!”

Thud!
He spun and drove his heel forward, shattering the ribs of the man who’d charged at him.
Then Valmond rushed toward the one with the torn face, lowered himself, and reached for the man’s blade.

“Give me the sword.”
“Ugh! No, no you bastard!!”
“Give it!!”

When the man still refused, Valmond wedged his elbow between his own two arms and twisted with all his strength—bending it at an angle no human arm was meant to bend.

“Aaahhh!!”

The organization member held on desperately. But Valmond added more force, driving with his weight as well, and finally came the sickening crack—the man’s grip went slack.
Good news.
He’d gotten the blade.
Sword in hand, Valmond turned back toward the men who’d first insulted Professor Dante.

“You, you bastard…! Are you out of your mind, Valmond!?”

Panicked by the sudden turn of events, the man didn’t forget what his real weapon was.

“Hey you bastard!! You think you can make an enemy of the Nibelung Family and walk away!? We have more members here! We’re meeting with Betelgeuse, our division director, right now!!”

But none of it reached Valmond’s ears. Complex things—he didn’t understand them well.
What he’d asked for was one thing, and it was simple.

“I told you to go apologize. To the professor.”

Valmond tightened his grip on the blade.

“But why did you ignore me?”

His mind melted with fury.

“I told you to apologize and show respect, so why do you ignore it like a dog? Why won’t you show respect?”
“You, you you bastard…! Nibelung, the Nibelung Family…!!”
“Does the Nibelung Family not feel a blade in their gut?”

Valmond took a step. Then his mind went white again.

Still, the complex things—he didn’t understand them.

What remained was simple.

First, he’d bite down on that neck. He’d shake his head until death claimed him, and he’d wring out the man’s last breath.

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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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