The Genius Professor Wants An Easy Life - Chapter 50

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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 50
“I’ll come along as well.”
“Why would you, Commander?”
“The Mayor ordered me to keep an eye on you.”
Security Force Commander Gorden said this with an awkward expression.
‘Surveillance is just the excuse. She’s really trying to back me up.’
I glanced upward discreetly.
On the third floor of City Hall, I could see Mariam looking down at me from the Mayor’s office.
When I gave a small wave, Mariam flinched and yanked the curtain shut rather roughly.
‘Overprotective as always.’
I wondered if she was keeping any photos of me somewhere.
While I was entertaining this idle fantasy, Gorden spoke again.
“You two certainly seem close. Please visit the Mayor often from now on. She tends to push herself too hard, so we worry about her quite a bit.”
“I’ll… think about it.”
I gave an ambiguous answer.
‘In truth, getting too close to Mariam isn’t wise. She’s a critical figure in the Demon Blade’s Character Scenario.’
Scenarios divided into two categories.
First was the Academy’s Main Scenario.
These were incidents all protagonists experienced in common at the Academy.
Second were the Character Scenarios.
Individual storylines tied to each protagonist’s personal circumstances.
‘Among all Character Scenarios, the Demon Blade’s is the worst nightmare. I absolutely cannot get entangled in it.’
An uneasy feeling crept over me.
I still didn’t know who the other two protagonists enrolled at Rubiness were.
‘At this point, I don’t care who else arrives, just please not the Demon Blade or the Slaughter Demon.’
Just then, Gorden spoke from beside me.
“Ha, I’m curious what kind of work you’re planning. I’m sure it’ll be something wonderful for the city?”
“Something similar. The result should benefit the city either way.”
“Oh! What could the Security Force help you with?”
“Please grant me the authority to kidnap, detain, and interrogate.”
“….”
Gorden’s expression turned to one that said, “Did I hear that right?”
But I was deadly serious.
“There’s vermin plaguing the city that I need to catch, but they’ll slither away like an eel if I’m not careful.”
“…You’re still going to do something illegal like that?”
“Why would that be illegal? It’s what the Security Force does.”
“!!”
Kidnapping, detention, interrogation.
When the Security Force does it, it’s lawful.
The only condition was that the target had to be a criminal.
“Do you have evidence?”
“I don’t.”
“Then what—?”
“Evidence can always be produced.”
Gorden flinched again.
He’d caught the meaning behind my choice of the word “produced.”
“…You?”
“Isn’t competent deception better than honest incompetence? Especially when it’s for the city’s peace?”
I spoke like a devil extending temptation.
“It’s all for this Free City, so please cooperate.”
Gorden swallowed hard.
* * *
Fortunately, Gorden didn’t refuse my proposal.
—You’re truly trying to catch criminals who harm the city, aren’t you? I trust you, and I’ll follow your lead.
I went on to meet another person.
“Oh my, what an honor to meet my savior. I wish to express my gratitude for the kindness you showed me on the Lancelle Plateau last time.”
A bewitching beauty, one of the lords of the Four Dragon Fortress in the slums, and a leader of the Rebel Forces—it was Raeran.
“I’ve come on business.”
“Is this about the rats?”
Raeran, perceptive as always.
He had seen through my purpose.
“I will cooperate fully in whatever you undertake, benefactor.”
“I’m grateful.”
“You’re too kind. What you’ve done for us pales in comparison to the grace you’ve shown—saving Yeohun, granting us the blessing of that great dragon, protecting our settlement. I scarcely know how to repay such kindness.”
I didn’t particularly deny it.
I rather enjoyed taking credit when I could.
“But are you certain, benefactor? Behind those rats stands the Witch of Cruelty.”
A Level 7 sorceress who served as mistress of a prominent magical house and once bore a fearsome reputation.
She wouldn’t sit idle.
Still,
“It’s fine.”
“But?”
“Do you think I move merely to purge a handful of rats?”
Raeran’s eyes widened at the implication of my words.
“Ah, I see. How intriguing, benefactor. I’m curious what you intend.”
Raeran lowered her voice.
“Still, be warned. The Witch of Cruelty’s connection to the Abyss is no falsehood.”
Raeran had said not “origin” but “affiliation.”
Meaning the duchess still maintained her ties to the Abyss even now.
It was startling, but it was true.
“I’m aware. I’ll handle that matter myself, so don’t concern yourself.”
I saw to a few additional necessities and turned my steps toward the next destination.
Splash. Splash.
“Ugh! Why did we have to come to this filthy place? Argh! My shoes! What did I step in? I can’t even afford new ones because I’m a credit-ruined beggar!”
“Hold on! You there! Are you trying to slink backward?! Move to the front at once! Young master Ban, I shall have this wretch light our way ahead!”
There was reason for Linden and Hans to make such a fuss.
Pitch-black darkness.
A stench so revolting it turned one’s stomach.
This was the Underground Sewers, the filthiest place in the Free City.
‘Even I’m struggling with this. The work will take some time—how am I supposed to endure it?’
Just then, a baby dragon burst from my robes.
“Mari?”
I had given the baby dragon the name Mari.
I thought it a rather gorgeous name, personally.
“You’re asking me to handle it?”
Mari, the baby dragon, nodded eagerly, then let out a loud belch.
Whoosh!
Perhaps because she was the offspring of a great celestial dragon,
The baby dragon’s belch miraculously purified the foul stench of the Underground Sewers!
Coo-yoo! Coo-yoo!
It was a cry seeking praise, so I stroked her head.
“Well done. Tonight you’ll have a special sandwich.”
Coo-yoo.
“…Fine. Sirloin it is.”
Coo-yoo!
An excited sound.
For a newborn, Mari had quite the palate—she knew quality when it came to sirloin.
The two men gazed at her in wonder and asked,
“Young master, but why have we come to the Underground Sewers?”
“There’s something I need to do. Do you know that all the refuse of the Free City flows into these sewers?”
“Well, of course, doesn’t it? Obviously the waste flows into the sewers. That’s what they were built for.”
“That’s not what I mean. Look.”
I unleashed Light Magic in a burst.
And then a sight beneath the water came into view that I hadn’t expected.
Bodies.
‘…Startling. I knew it existed, but seeing it directly is far more unsettling.’
My heart raced, but the black-flamed dragon maintained an air of superiority before the two men.
“All the refuse of every illegal act committed in the Free City is discarded here in the Underground Sewers.”
“Then—you’ve come to find evidence of Count Konrad’s crimes?”
Linden tilted his head in confusion.
“But how do we find evidence in the Underground Sewers? A few steps in and you’re already lost.”
The Underground Sewers were vast.
The place where she and Catrine and Riebell had hunted monsters not long ago was merely the outer reaches; the deeper sections were places even city authorities wouldn’t dare approach.
‘It’s not for nothing that the deep sewers are classified as an inaccessible dungeon. Once you go in, there’s no coming back.’
“Don’t worry. There’s a way.”
Linden and Hans started fussing again.
“You’re actually going down there? Aaaah! I can’t go that deep! No, I won’t! I’m dropping out of grad school right now!”
“Now, now, Linden! A true graduate student should be prepared to sacrifice even his life! I myself am arranging a rescue protocol in case Master should become lost!”
I sighed.
“…Who said anyone was going down? We’re not going in.”
“What? Then how will we find evidence?”
“We’ll make it here.”
“…Make it? You don’t mean—”
Both of them blinked.
I nodded, confirming their suspicion.
“That’s right. You two, it’s finally time to earn your keep. Especially you, Hans—your role is crucial.”
“…Me?”
I looked at Hans’s bewildered face.
He looked like some bald, unkempt old man, but his true identity was none other than a 5-star Supreme Mage.
Even his skill surpassed most junior professors at the academy.
His specialty was Magical Item Crafting and manipulation.
“Here, use your magic to fabricate false evidence that will ensnare Konrad and his gang.”
“B-but even if I’m a skilled craftsman, I can’t just forge evidence—”
It was obvious enough: fabricating evidence through magic was no simple task.
Methods to detect false evidence had become quite sophisticated.
The Mage Tower even had a specialized institution for validating magical evidence.
But.
“What are you worried about? Have you already forgotten who I am?”
!!
I raised the corners of my mouth.
“Where you fall short, I, Ban Ecclesia, will make up for it. So don’t worry about the Mage Tower or anything else.”
* * *
Just then, a commotion erupted from the Security Force’s temporary prison.
“How dare you! Kidnapping me while I slept and throwing me in this place? Don’t you know who I am?! I am Baron Konrad, brother of Duchess Bes, mistress of a prestigious magical house!”
Security Chief Gorden wore an expression of exhaustion.
‘They really did abduct Baron Konrad and his gang into the Security Force’s prison.’
When he arrived for his morning shift, Baron Konrad’s gang was already in the cells—spirited away without a trace.
The work of Amanda, the assassin from the Black Bird clan.
“You dare treat an innocent man this way. I trust you’re prepared to lose your head, Gorden?”
“Indeed, Baron. We must make those responsible pay dearly for this treatment of you.”
“Every last member of his family should be cast into the gutter.”
Gorden’s eyebrow twitched.
The reason he hadn’t refused Ban’s outlandish request was that Baron Konrad and his gang were notorious parasites of the city.
Nothing like the mere laughingstock that was Ban; these were truly festering vermin eating away at the city itself.
Notably, every student who had picked a fight with Riebell belonged to this gang’s circle.
“Illegal refinement of Magical Stones.”
At Gorden’s words, Baron Konrad’s gang stiffened.
Refining Magical Stones produced several hazardous byproducts.
Imperial law demanded strict disposal, but they, trusting Duchess Bes’s backing, had ignored it.
“…Nonsense. Do you have proof?”
Baron Konrad’s gang snickered.
The byproducts from their illegal processing had been dumped in the Underground Sewers, where no one could find them.
But.
“I have evidence right here.”
!!
Turning in surprise, they saw a figure radiating commanding presence looking down at Baron Konrad’s gang with an arrogant expression.
“…Professor Ban, what do you mean, evidence?”
“Denial is pointless. The Mage Tower has already verified it.”
It was genuine.
“Moreover, I’ve secured witnesses who can testify to your gang’s illegal activities. You used the poor from Four Dragon Fortress to dispose of the byproducts.”
Konrad’s expression hardened, but a moment later a thin smile crossed his face.
“So what? You’re saying you’ll do something to me over such a ‘trivial’ matter? Surely you know who I am, Rebel?”

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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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