The Genius Professor Wants An Easy Life - Chapter 39

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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 39
Everyone’s eyes went wide in shock.
A miracle.
There was no other way to describe the phenomenon unfolding before them.
Whoosh!
“!!”
The spell Balas had unleashed scattered and vanished into thin air.
It had been the magic of a five-star rank Supreme Mage, yet it left not a trace behind.
“What—what just happened?!”
No one understood what had occurred, their faces blank with bewilderment.
‘Could that technique he just displayed be…?’
As Randolph swallowed hard, a voice came from beside him.
“What do you make of it?”
Bernstein asked.
“…Let’s observe a moment longer. I can’t yet be certain whether that’s what I think it is.”
Unable to trust his own eyes, Randolph answered tersely.
But the next instant came.
“This is tedious. Rather than come at me one at a time, all three of you attack together.”
“!!”
Ban was facing three opponents: two newly appointed professors and one tenured professor.
Kansir, a Sword Mage, was four-star rank, while the other two were five-star rank mages.
Yet a one-star rank Mana Insensitivity patient was asking all three to come at him at once?
“You’ll regret those words, boy.”
“…Very well.”
Kansir and Balas, already having taken the brunt of Ban’s onslaught, gritted their teeth, and the tenured professor’s face hardened.
All three unleashed their spells simultaneously.
Rumble.
Roar!!
Crash!!
Magic of earth, flame, and ice attributes manifested.
However, the order in which each reached Ban varied slightly depending on the elemental properties.
First, the blade of ice arrived fastest, striking at the moment it would have severed Ban’s wrist.
Flash!
Something transparent rippled.
“What—what is that?!”
Crystals.
Thin as needles, so fine they were barely visible unless one concentrated intently.
Yet their power was staggering.
Crash!!
The ice spear pierced by the crystals shattered to fragments and fell.
“!!”
Nor was that all.
One miracle followed another, unbelievable.
Next came the flame magic.
Just as a whip of fire lashed forward, needle-like crystals flashed again.
Flash! Flash! Flash!
This time, three of them.
The light-needles struck the head, center, and tail of the whip, and the fire extinguished with a hiss.
“Is—is that what I think it is?”
Only now did some begin to dimly grasp what Ban had done.
Yet their expressions betrayed uncertainty, for what was happening seemed impossible.
Professor Bernstein spoke the thought aloud to Randolph.
“Remarkable. To pierce the core of advanced spells using Satellite Magic through a formation array, intercept them mid-flight… How is such a thing possible?”
Randolph fell silent in acknowledgment.
In the present age, a mage’s defense relies on the concept of the barrier.
One erects a shield to block an opponent’s attack.
But there had been a mage in the past who conceived of a different approach.
-If we were to intercept an opponent’s spell mid-course, couldn’t we defend against even powerful incantations with minimal effort?
Defense by barrier is force against force, leaving one utterly defenseless against attacks exceeding one’s barrier strength.
In other words, a barrier with a defense rating of ten cannot help but crumble against an attack rating above ten.
Therefore, a mage of a lower Star Rank was defenseless against the spells of a mage of higher rank.
But what if the incoming attack were intercepted mid-flight?
Even with far less power, one could defend against a powerful attack.
‘It’s a theory that was abandoned because it’s impossible to apply in actual combat. I found the answer through Satellite Magic.’
Randolph swallowed hard.
Rather than the caster directly, the magic would manifest from pre-designated coordinates—satellites positioned around them.
The moment the opponent’s attack approached a pre-designated satellite, it would intercept.
But this too was absurd, because Satellite Magic itself was difficult to control, and making it precisely intercept an enemy’s spell was a difficulty level that hardly needed explanation.
‘How did they pack such power into a Mana Needle that’s serving as the interceptor? Could they have absorbed the Heart Stone of Frozen Sea? The Heart Stone of Frozen Sea can’t be absorbed until at least the fifth Star Rank, so how could they have absorbed it?’
The more he understood, the more confused he became.
A situation incomprehensible even to his own eyes.
Crack!
Even the final earth-attribute spell had been neutralized, and silence fell over the arena.
Only one person.
Ban alone looked down at everyone with an arrogant gaze.
As if he were the protagonist of this training seminar.
Everyone swallowed hard, staring at Ban.
* * *
‘Phew. Fortunately, it worked.’
It had been touch and go.
Without the Shadow Ice Sword—my new trump card forged by combining the Heart Stone of Frozen Sea and a Spirit Sword—it would have been impossible, no matter who I am.
‘The problem is the grading.’
Fortunately, the worry I’d been harboring didn’t come to pass.
Applause thundered through the arena like thunder itself.
Bernstein exchanged a glance with the raven perched on his shoulder, then stepped forward and spoke.
“To implement the Remote Interception Defense theory that everyone believed no one could achieve—remarkable. If Lord Rangt, who first conceived this theory, could have seen this, he would have risen from his grave in joy. Ban, your performance in this training seminar’s academic evaluation earns you a perfect score.”
No one could dispute Bernstein’s words.
The spectacle I’d displayed was that shocking.
“Haha, sir! I knew I could believe in you!!”
“Uncle, you were incredibly anxious just a moment ago, weren’t you?”
“Quiet, you fool! It was all a sign of loyalty!!”
As Hans and Linden chattered, people began approaching one by one.
They were journalists.
“Professor Ban, you’ve shown remarkable performances these past days—would you care to say a few words!!”
I paused to consider.
‘Hmm. What to do. I don’t really need this much media attention.’
The only reason I’d put on an impressive display today was to rank first in the new professor evaluation and avoid being expelled from the academy.
I had no desire to become famous with the public.
‘I’ll just answer smoothly—nothing special, it’s too much praise. Something like that.’
But the Black Flame Dragon pulled an unexpected stunt.
Transcendent Translation unfolded.
“What are you all gawking at? What’s so remarkable about this? Compared to this body’s greatness, it’s nothing worth making a fuss over. Don’t get excited. Your astonishment is only the beginning.”
!
‘Hey, Black Flame Dragon!!’
I was shocked, but it was too late.
That day, articles like these flooded the magical community.
-Ban Makes a Scene!
-Watch and see, all of you. My legend is only beginning.
-Ban, who called himself great. Is it empty boasting and delusion? Or will the duckling deemed worthless truly become a new star of the magical world?
They were articles I’d want to kick at under my blanket more than a few times, but they all shared one thing in common.
No article called me Ban the Failure anymore.
* * *
And.
There were those having such a conversation.
“What did you make of Ban’s performance today?”
……
At Bernstein’s question, the former rector Randolph fell silent, his face heavy with anguish.
“I had been mistaken about Ban the Failure… no, about Professor Ban.”
“Was my assessment not correct?”
“But it is regrettable. No matter how extraordinary a talent Professor Ban possesses, it will amount to nothing more than this.”
A sense of pity.
That was what the former Rector Randolph felt as he observed Ban.
‘Why would heaven bestow upon a single soul both ancient talent and such a terrible curse?’
Ban’s display was extraordinary.
Enough to strain one’s eyes in disbelief.
He had witnessed an extreme feat of technique with mana that appeared to be at the first Star Rank.
Yet this, too, was merely the limit.
‘…There’s no possibility Ban is connected to the Ascendant who appeared during the entrance examination.’
No matter how prodigious Ban’s talent, such an event could not be brought about by mere first Star Rank attainment.
“It truly moves me to lament. In the end, Ban will be nothing more than a half-baked mage.”
A harsh assessment.
In truth, even calling him half-baked was generous.
The best Ban could hope for was a career as a distinguished theorist.
Yet Bernstein spoke up with an unexpected view.
“I beg to differ, sir. I believe Ban will ultimately become a great mage.”
“What basis do you have for such a judgment?”
“None, sir. It is intuition.”
“The intuition of an aging bachelor, no less. How remarkably keen it must be.”
Randolph gave a dismissive shake of his head.
“In any case, we shall see what Ban is truly capable of when the community service begins tomorrow.”
The new professor training seminar spans two days.
The first day: academic training.
The second day: community service.
A schedule in which professors and mages alike provide aid to the surrounding settlement.
If the academic training was a battle of ‘theory,’ community service is ‘practice.’
It is unconditionally disadvantageous for Ban, who suffers from Mana Insensitivity.
Randolph, convinced that Ban could never distinguish himself in community service, stepped through the portal back to the Academy.
It was a regrettable but rational judgment.
* * *
Randolph was not alone in this assessment.
The vast majority, even those who had witnessed the miracle Ban wrought the day before, believed he would accomplish little of note in the service work.
Kansir and Balas and others were already sharpening their blades, itching to teach Ban a lesson through this opportunity.
Yet near the training grounds, there was one who displayed a strange demeanor entirely unrelated to such matters.
It was Amanda, the Black Flame Dragon.
Unlike her reputation on the battlefield, her presence today seemed curiously faint.
In truth, she had no interest in such a training seminar.
Her objective lay elsewhere.
“…I must find the owner of that magic at Rubines Academy, before time runs out.”
A hopeless task.
Even Yak Sun had only learned of this through the divination ability of a ‘seeker’ gazing heavenward; the true identity of the magic’s owner remained unknown.
“I have so little time. Before it’s too late… Ugh!”
Amanda let out a stifled groan.
Her eyes flushed a vivid crimson, and a terrible murderous intent surged toward the world.
“No, not again.”
She clenched her teeth down on the flesh of her mouth.
Pain brought her mind back.
But it was only a temporary fix.
‘The episodes are coming more frequently with each passing moment.’
Amanda drew out the short blade she always carried.
Should the curse consume her entirely, she had resolved to end her own life.
Yet before that, she wanted to find the owner of the magic.
‘I don’t want to die.’
As she clenched her fists tight, a voice she had not anticipated suddenly reached her ear.
-Wretched one, is there something you desire? I shall help you.
‘Who are you?!’
Amanda started violently.
A low voice.
One that continued with a soft, seductive tone.
-I am a supreme being, Ashtat. Speak what you wish. I shall grant any desire of yours.

It was the name of a legendary evil dragon.
And then.
News of Amanda’s disappearance reached the people.

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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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