Surviving the Assassin Academy as a Genius Professor - Chapter 94

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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 94
EP23 – Hand (4)

I met Zamryong Academy in an abandoned parking lot near the academy grounds. Elise wanted to show me her hideout—she mentioned they’d been using it like a doghouse—and called me there.
When I arrived, the maid Lucy was there, and for some reason, Kendrick Drake was with her too.
Lucy was cleaning, and Kendrick, following her instructions, was clearing away abandoned tractors and the like. So much for him not understanding a word—apparently he’d made progress.
Regardless.

“Elise.”
“Yes!”
“From now on, you will enter into a mentorship contract with me. I am the Master of the Assassination Group, and as your instructor, I wish to take you as a member of my group.”
“Yes!”

Ah, this wasn’t quite right.
Taking on an assassin as a member was supposed to be a serious, solemn affair.
But Elise’s expression was far too bright—she looked like someone listening to a guide on how to use an amusement park.

“…I’ll keep this brief, since detailed explanation would only confuse you.”
“Understood.”
“A member is a tool of the Master. So from now on, you become my tool. Even though this is an Assassination Group for educational purposes, the essence remains unchanged. You go where I tell you to go. You die if I tell you to die. Do you understand?”
“Yes!!”
“…Good.”

Then Elise tilted her head with a bright smile.

“But you won’t actually tell me to die, right?”
“What makes you think that?”
“Well, because you’re on my side, Professor?”
“That remains to be seen.”
“Huh? That’s mean….”
“It is mean. Inhumane, even. That’s what an assassin is. So consider carefully before signing this contract. When you graduate from the academy and venture into the continent, you’ll have to make agreements with people who are decidedly not on your side…. Elise.”

But Elise had already bitten her fingertip until it bled and pressed a Blood Seal.

“Mm-mm♪ Yes? Oh, I’m all done.”
……
“Thank you very much…!”

I studied that face for a moment, then issued my command.

“Elise Xicos.”
“Yes?”
“As your Master, I command you.”
“Ah, yes!”
“Die.”

At those words, Lucy beside me startled. She looked back and forth between Elise and me.
Elise’s expression went blank as she repeated my words.

“…Is this an assignment?”
“It is.”
……

Her hesitation was brief. Elise drew an invisible blade from her waist. The sound of its draw—a soft “shing”—told me everything.

In that instant, after some time had passed.
I spoke my final words.

“Stop.”

Elise replied.
Her expression twisted slightly.

“…Yes.”

The hand lowering the sword trembled.
We fell silent for a moment.

⋮
『 World Forgery : Time Forgery [10 seconds / 60 frames] 』
⋮

There was something I needed to pin down with certainty.
It wasn’t something I could learn through thought or mere words.

It was fine for her to play around in front of me. Her bright, innocent smile was pleasant to see. I did like Elise as a person, person to person.

But I knew the obstinacy of a hound called Retriever. And the in-game settings related to that.
If she belonged to the Assassination Group yet planned to disobey my orders, then I had to remove Elise from it even now.

Let me entertain one possibility—extreme and unpleasant.

If.
In an absolute impossibility, if.
If there came a moment where Elise alone had to die for everyone else to live, I would command her to die.
And Elise would have to die.

Of course, such a thing never happens. Because I won’t allow it to happen in the first place. But a leader must always keep the worst-case scenario clearly in mind.
Thus I tested Elise just now, and my mood turned quite sour.
…Why does she obey so readily.

“Hah…….”

Elise, having sheathed her sword, breathed in shallow gasps. Her head raised, eyes closed.
Thanks to that, I gained certainty. Certainty that I could place Elise in my toolbox.
When I explained the situation briefly, she blinked and asked back.

“Um, then I have a question too.”
“Ask it.”
“What if everyone could only live if you had to die?”

It was an excellent question.
I’d wrestled with something similar once before.
I gave an answer.

“I die.”

If I died, this world would probably end.
Thinking it over carefully…I couldn’t find a reason for this world to exist if I sacrificed those close to me just to keep myself alive.
Wouldn’t such a world be better off not existing? And if it does exist, it would be better if I weren’t in it.

To pretend to be virtuous required strength. It was a reason, intensely powerful, for me to become stronger.

Not that I was truly virtuous—it was simply my personality to prefer the Pure White Route if this were a game. Though I hadn’t taken that route.

“Um, Professor, you’ve been cursed.”
“Didn’t take.”
“No, I mean if, Professor. Are you stupid?”
“…….”

Coming from her mouth?

“Well, what if you were cursed by the Curse of Dominion and ordered me to kill you? Would I have to do it?”

It sounded like a question posed on the assumption that I didn’t know the answer.
If she were caught by something like the Curse of Dominion, it could happen.
My answer is the same.

“Kill me.”

Elise closed her mouth.

“…….”

She wiped the smile from her face and looked at me. With those round, rosy eyes of hers.
I know this answer doesn’t resonate with Elise. It’s separate from how she treats assassination like a game of tug-of-war.

“Hmm….”

Elise was troubled.
Within the relationship where Command works. A dog may die for a human, but it cannot kill the human even if it dies itself. Elise’s house, the Xicos, received their count’s rank from the royal family based on that loyalty. The reason is simple.

“Hmm, what do I do….”

Elise spoke with an awkward laugh.
In a melancholic voice I’d never heard from her before.

“If I can’t do it……?”

This is why.
A dog is a human’s friend.

“Then it’s done.”

There was no need to push further here.

“Really?”
“I’ll see to my own death.”
“Truly? Phew~”

…Phew?
Why the relief? I’m the one dying.
In the meantime, the maid Lucy was also letting out a deep sigh. And for some reason, Kendrick Drake was heaving a sigh too—”Ugh…”
Wait, why are those two even here in the first place?
What is this, a reaction robot comedy act?

In any case, that’s settled.
The contract with Elise’s Assassination Group is concluded.

‘All that’s left is Grey and Valmond.’

Grey’s busy, so I’ll get to that later.

“Where’s Valmond?”
“Valmond?”

Elise looks at Lucy. Lucy shook her head. Kendrick did the same.
They tried calling, but he didn’t answer.
Then Lucy made a small sound. “Ah.”

“It’s been recent. Valmond’s been going out constantly.”
“Why?”
“I’m not entirely sure, to be honest. Maybe he’s in a bad mood? Valmond tends to wander when he’s upset.”

Unexpectedly, it was the Enforcement Division who brought me news of Valmond.
Kangkang from the Enforcement Division called me urgently.

— Professor, would you be able to come to the Administrative Bureau right now?

What is it this time?

* * *

From the moment I decided to oversee Zamryong Academy, I made certain arrangements.
One of them involved instructing Kangkang, a delicate young member of the Enforcement Division, to call me immediately if anything related to Zamryong Academy surfaced — regardless of whether it concerned me directly or not.

From what Kangkang told me, it seemed Valmond had attacked the Nibelung Family.
But it wasn’t just a punch or two — there were reports of broken arms and stab wounds.

I’d seen for myself before that Valmond harbored deep-seated aggression.

Still, something about Kangkang’s account seemed off.

If they were truly blood enemies of an old house, he should have killed them — and if he had, an assassination by someone of Valmond’s caliber wouldn’t be easy to expose.
Conversely, if they weren’t enemies, an emotional attack of that severity didn’t add up.

In any case, when I arrived at the Enforcement Division’s Administrative Bureau with these thoughts, the place was crowded.

“Please calm down first. We’d appreciate your cooperation with the Enforcement Division’s authority.”
“No, look here. What Enforcement Division? One of our people is mangled up right now.”

High-ranking Enforcement Division officials and several Nibelung Family executives were lined up, arguing back and forth.

“My apologies. However, within the scope of incident jurisdiction, matters occurring within the Academy fall under Enforcement Division authority.”
“That’s your concern. The victim isn’t Academy personnel, so what does the Enforcement Division have to do with it? You have a family to raise, don’t you? Think about it — if someone else’s kid stabbed my child with my child’s own blade, is it enough to just scold the other parent?”
“Where are the injured parties now? Aren’t they in the Academy medical ward? You’d accept our care while rejecting legal authority?”
“Ugh!”

The Nibelung executive, bursting with irritation, waved his hand dismissively.

“Fine, fine. Forget it all — just hand over that bastard Valmond. While there’s still time to talk.”
“That’s not possible. Please compose yourself and either wait here or leave.”

But the Enforcement Division held firm.
They had reason to.
The Enforcement Division was fundamentally a White Path organization.
The Nibelung Family was Dark Path.
Fundamentally, they were the kind of people who kept their hands on the knives in their pockets whenever they passed on the street.

“This guy’s really testing my patience.”

In the meantime, I studied Valmond, locked behind bars.
He was a mess. Bandages wrapped his hands, and his head was pinned to the floor, bound by a chain around his neck.
This was the work of someone who knew how to restrain Valmond. A dog held by the throat becomes docile.
Thick restraints encircled his hands as well, blood seeping from the joints — signs of a struggle.
He didn’t know I was here.

‘Hmm.’

What to do about this…. First, I needed to find a basis for judgment.
If I was going to overturn it, I needed a reason to overturn it.
If I was going to let it slide, I needed a reason to let it slide.

Both sides were substantial figures in their own right.
The Enforcement Division official was the Director of the Hiaka Academy Administrative Bureau.
The Nibelung official was the Personnel Manager at the cartel headquarters.
Both were seasoned Master-level martial artists.

Then the Nibelung official shouted.

“Hey, you bastard Valmond! Aren’t you coming out!?”

The Enforcement Division Director stepped forward.

“Sir, if you continue like this, you and your men may face detention as well.”
“Try it, you son of a bitch. Just because you play around with kids at school, you think Nibelung is a child’s game? Try it. Huh? Try it!”

Thud, thud.

Even as he struck the Director’s jaw with his forehead.

Crack—

The Director shoved the gangster back.
The Nibelung Personnel Manager stumbled backward, caught off-guard.

Scrape-scrape-scrape-click!!

At the same moment, both sides drew their Gun and Blades. The weapons gleamed with that cold, sinister blue light—genuine instruments of death.
Those watching scrambled to their feet and hurried away.
It was a moment on the knife’s edge.

“This is where it must end, gentlemen. Any further and this becomes a conflict between the Academy and Nibelung. Please, calm yourselves. I’m begging you.”

Yet the Enforcement Division Director was prudent, and bowed respectfully to contain the escalation.

“…Team Leader. Isn’t there a directive from the Madam?”

The Nibelung side also moved to de-escalate.

In truth, I could see no other way forward. Even if I forcibly pulled these men apart right now, it would only be striking a match to light an even larger fire.

“…I’ll be back in two hours.”

The gangster turned toward the door to leave.
And I was standing right in front of it.
With my height and build, I must have looked like a wall.

“Hey there, Professor.”
……
“Don’t you get it? Move aside!”

His subordinate gestured irritably.
At that moment, I was too busy combing through their Script logs to respond quickly.
I needed to read them because I had to decide my stance.
For now I was just observing. But what about later?
This place was Hell Difficulty, and this was a hard problem.
The Sub-Quest came to mind as proof of it.

┃ Sub-Quest [Nibelung Family]

First, I was undeniably a party to this situation. The Cain they were hunting was me. Valmond, with whom they had conflicted, and Grey, whom they sought to claim—both were, in effect, mine.

Currently, the Nibelung Family was a significant patron of the Academy. A single professor could not decide to sever or establish such ties.
But I was different. I could exert considerable influence over the decision.
In exchange, if I was to decide, I would have to bear the responsibility.
That was why I was uncertain.

What should I choose?

To keep the Nibelung Family at my side, continuing to let them meddle and press their claims?

Or to make an enemy of the Dark Starlight Seat⚉—the greatest dark-path organization in the Hiaka Kingdom and ninth-ranked in the world?

‘……This is difficult.’

This too was part of the Betting Table.
This world, designed to kill me, was demanding a hard choice.

“Hey. Drag him out.”
“Yes…! Hey, Professor!”
“…….”
“Can’t you hear? Get out of the way. Or do you need me to spell it out for you?”

Thus, while scanning through the Script, I found a certain thought in the Personnel Manager’s log right before my eyes—

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【 Nibelung Family Personnel Manager Hitahil: ‘These Hiaka Academy bastards are so pleased now that they’ve got a foothold. Running an orphanage or something.’ 】
【 ‘I need to put them in their place once and for all. And there’s a perfect excuse for it too. I should mention it to the Matriarch.’ 】
⋮

My mind, which had been vacant even when an organization member approached to flick my cheek just now—

⋮
【 ‘While we’re at it, I’ll have Valmond killed.’ 】
⋮

—tilted sharply in that instant.
I checked their ●name tags one by one.

“…….”

I would have to kill them all.

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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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