The Genius Professor Wants An Easy Life - Chapter 76

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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 76
The demon’s power finally erupted, and the explosion came crashing into the Magic Circle.
The force was far greater than I’d anticipated, forcing me to pour everything I had into containing it.
‘Wait—at this rate, I’m going to hit Mana Exhaustion.’
Though the students had manifested the Magic, I as the core still had to channel Mana through it.
My meager Mana, no larger than a bean, evaporated in an instant, and I fell into Mana Exhaustion.
As a point of reference, the hallmark symptom of Mana Exhaustion is loss of consciousness.
My body grew impossibly heavy, and my vision darkened.
‘No, wait—if I pass out like this, the misunderstanding will only get worse…’
“Professor, you can’t die! Professor! *Sob, sob…*”
“Stop that maudlin talk! Why are you crying?! Who said anything about dying?! Professor Ban, why do you always throw yourself away like this?! If you die, I won’t forgive you, so open your eyes this instant!”
“Come on! Are you just going to die like this? Snap out of it!”
Layers of misunderstanding piled atop one another, but I couldn’t say a word in my defense.
The last thing I saw was the students rushing toward me before consciousness slipped away entirely.
* * *
The miracle that Ban had wrought was extraordinary.
Though the demon’s power had detonated, the incident concluded without a single casualty.
Ban’s declaration that no one would be harmed had come to pass exactly as spoken.
Except for one.
Ban alone, the architect of this miracle, had collapsed unconscious, throwing everything into chaos.
…In truth, it was merely Mana Exhaustion, but people were making a scene, wildly misinterpreting it due to the Self-Sacrifice Spell he’d used moments before.
“Hmm. How dull.”
In the highest seat of the hall.
A young girl wore an expression of profound boredom.
Yet something was decidedly amiss.
She wore a first-year uniform with the academy badge pinned to it, clearly a new student, and though she sat in plain view and hadn’t participated in the competition, no one noticed her presence at all.
“I had such high hopes, and this is what I get? All that effort cooperating with the demon, and it ends so anticlimactically. I was hoping at least fifty would die.”
This incident hadn’t been the demon’s work alone—this girl had played a hand in it as well!
And she’d been hoping fifty people would die?
Madness flickered in the girl’s eyes.
“The academy won’t be entertaining for a while, so I suppose I’ll have to find my amusement elsewhere. Come to think of it, wasn’t there a Dark Auction coming up soon? Maybe I’ll pay it a visit.”
The girl stretched languidly.
“I wonder how many I could kill there? Mm, how exciting~♥”
A cheerful hum that utterly belied the horrific content of her words.
Before leaving, the girl glanced downward.
She could see Ban below, lying collapsed in noble sacrifice for all.
“Come to think of it, wasn’t that professor supposed to be my assigned instructor?”
Contempt flickered across the girl’s eyes.
Such nobility was precisely the sort of person she despised most.
“Revolting.”
Whoosh.
And so.
Operating under the alias ‘Susan’, a chronic absentee from Ban’s Welcome Class and one of sixteen protagonists.
The girl who would one day be known as the Massacre Witch—the worst of villains—vanished, leaving only a chilling echo in her wake.
* * *
Thanks to the Self-Sacrifice Spell, I’d slept soundly for three days straight.
With sleep being nature’s best tonic, I felt my physical condition had improved dramatically.
‘That’s not the problem, though.’
When I woke after three days, the world had transformed.
This time, literally so.
-Professor Ban Reforms! From Trash to True Educator! Sacrifices Himself for His Students! “Even if I must give my life, I will protect you all.”
-Professor Ban Performs Another Miracle! “The source of my miracles is my noble heart devoted to my students.”
-Professor Ban’s Wisdom in the Spotlight Once More. “Call me a star from now on.” “My light will cover the Empire.” “This is only the beginning of my legend.” It’s No Exaggeration!
…Only a tenth-rate gossip columnist would fabricate quotes I’d never even spoken.
While I sat there in shock, someone entered the Hospital Room.
It was Professor Bernstein.
“Our hero’s finally awake, is he?”
“A hero? What are you talking about?”
“You saved the lives of all those students, so calling you a hero is only fitting. From now on, no one at Rubinesse Academy will dare call you Professor Trash anymore.”
The world truly had changed.
“By the way, how’s your body feeling?”
“I’m fine.”
After sleeping straight through for three days, I genuinely felt as though I might float away.
But Bernstein’s expression darkened noticeably.
“You’re still in rough shape, yet you’re forcing yourself to appear strong.”
……
Bernstein exhaled deeply.
“The Rector and I examined your condition, but we couldn’t fathom it. You must have paid a severe price. To go this far for a student…”
I suspected people couldn’t sense my internal state because of my Grand Master of Magic trait.
Thanks to that, the misunderstanding had solidified.
“…I really am fine.”
“Don’t overdo the act. I understand your heart well enough.”
‘No, it seems you don’t understand it at all.’
Speaking further would only dig me deeper into this hole, so I closed my mouth.
“The former Rector Randolph was quite worried about you as well. He wanted to come himself, but since you still need rest, he sent a gift instead.”
I fell silent for a moment, reading the inscription on the package’s surface.
-To Professor Ban, who will become the pillar of Rubinesse. From Randolph, who holds you most dear.
Would it be grandiose to say the carefully written script conveyed a somewhat overwhelming affection?
It had always been there, but this incident had made it irreversible.
‘…Well, it’s probably an expensive Magic Tool anyway, so I should accept it. A gift carries no guilt.’
“I have something to inform you of. In this incident, beyond Baron Aiden, there are signs that another party was involved.”
“…What do you mean?”
“No matter how powerful a demon, it wouldn’t be easy for it alone to exert dominion over entirely unrelated students. Someone at the Academy appears to have assisted the demon’s actions.”
I adopted a serious expression.
I’d preferred not to care, but this wasn’t something I could ignore.
‘Who on earth would commit such a terrible thing?’
Someone at the Academy had orchestrated the deaths of dozens, perhaps hundreds.
‘There are many villains at Rubinesse, but few would perpetrate something this heinous. Wait—could it be?’
I swallowed hard.
One figure came to mind.
‘…No. We don’t even know for certain if the Massacre Witch has come to Rubinesse.’
I shook my head deliberately, yet I couldn’t deny the mounting possibility.
‘…The identity of the Auxiliary Department protagonist who came to Rubinesse still hasn’t been revealed.’
Libel and Katrine from the Magic Department,
Tern from the Knight Department.
Yodo Mikhail from the Liberal Arts Department.
There should be one more from the Auxiliary Department.
‘If the Auxiliary Department protagonist really is the Massacre Witch, what am I supposed to do?’
My chest sank.
As I’ve explained before, the sixteen protagonists fall into different categories.
Four are main, four are sub-main, four are supporting cast.
The remaining four are villain-type.
‘Without some special miracle, they all become terrible evildoers.’
The worst two were the worst.
The Demon Brain and the Massacre Witch.
If people had to choose between the two, they would unanimously pick the Massacre Witch.
‘Unlike the Demon Brain, who might yet change, the Massacre Witch offers no redemption.’
Especially because the Massacre Witch possessed a broken cheat ability that made it nearly impossible to prevent her atrocities.
“Something’s weighing on you.”
……
“Whatever it is, I’ll ask you this one thing. Don’t do something foolish like that again by yourself. You’re not alone. I will always be your strength.”
“…I wasn’t planning to…”
“There you go again. Didn’t I say I understand your heart?”
His expression made it clear he wouldn’t believe anything I said, so I simply kept quiet.
“Then I’ll be on my way now. If I monopolize your time any longer, the students will have my head.”
“??”
Wide.
As Bernstein opened the Hospital Room door, numerous faces peeked in.
“Master, how are you feeling?! This Hans has been so worried about you, I’ve barely eaten or drunk!”
“You’ve been eating three meals a day plus snacks just fine—where are you getting this nonsense? Look at how much your jowls have filled out in just a few days. Professor Ban, you know I’m the only one who truly cares about you, right? Hehe.”
“You fool!! I forced myself to choke down food to have the strength to serve the Master! And what’s your concern?! You were just nattering about how we should take it easy while we had the chance?!”
“No, why are you bringing that up? You were loafing around too, weren’t you?”
—Thump! Thump! Thump!
It wasn’t just the two of them and Mary.
Libel was sniffling, Katrine had furrowed her brow, Julia stood with her arms crossed looking down at me with dignified indifference, and even Wilhelm seemed to have been dragged along against his will.
Professor Bernstein let out a soft chuckle.
“Do you know how much these students worried about you?”
“…….”
It was strange, truly.
Just moments ago I’d been regretting everything I’d done at the Academy, but seeing the faces of those who were worried about me, I found myself thinking differently.
Perhaps there were good things about it too.
‘…Though getting any closer would be inconvenient, of course.’
“I’m tired. Everyone should go home.”
“Surely you’re not embarrassed, are you?”
“…No. I’m genuinely exhausted.”
“A professsor who’s embarrassed… how adorable.”
“Why do you have to be so cute when you’re clearly rotten inside? Well, not that I was worried or anything.”
I could let Libel and Katrine slide, but…
“Heh heh, an unexpected side to your charm, even. I like you more now.”
“Professor, you’re so cute! So that means I won’t be sent to prison, right?”
“…I said everyone should go.”
Even after that, visitors continued to arrive at my bedside.
‘Hmm. The world really has changed.’
It wasn’t mere exaggeration.
The caliber of visitors paying their respects was extraordinary.
“Professor Han, I’m the Student Council President.”
“The Student Council President? What for?”
“I’ve come to offer our thanks on behalf of all the students for saving them.”
A third-year Student Council President I’d never met before approached and bowed deeply in gratitude.
“I must also apologize. The truth is, all this time I heard students call you a failure and spread slander, yet I simply looked the other way and did nothing.”
“…….”
“Going forward, if any student engages in such unbecoming behavior toward you, the Student Council will put a stop to it.”
But that wasn’t all.
“Professor Han, are you feeling better? I’m Raiton, from the Knight Department. Though you’re a mage, the sacrifice you displayed this time is truly a model of knightly virtue!”
“I’m Adon from the Liberal Arts Department. Your dedication to the students moved me deeply. I apologize for the misunderstandings I’ve harbored about you and for speaking ill of you during my lectures.”
Professors came to visit,
“Professor Han, my master has sent this invitation. We would be honored if you would visit at your convenience.”
“Our family is hosting a banquet, and we would be delighted if you would attend.”
Other influential figures from the Free City reached out, seeking to establish connections with me.
‘Of course, such cases weren’t common—only a handful—but still, this was something.’
Just weeks ago I’d been a failure, yet now I’d undergone a remarkable social ascent.
For the record, the most touching greeting was this:
“…Professor, thanks to you, our child was able to live. You are our child’s savior.”
“I, I’m also grateful.”
Those who’d fallen victim to the demon’s schemes came to express their thanks.
Some students came with their parents, and all of them bowed with gratitude so profound it made me uncomfortable.
Though I’d suffered at the time, now I felt that it had been worthwhile.
Chancellor Karak visited as well.
Fortunately, he didn’t seem to harbor any resentment over what I’d said earlier.
However,
—Oho, Professor Han, this incident was truly impressive. You’ll continue working hard for the Academy going forward, won’t you?
By “the Academy,” he meant loyalty to himself as Chancellor.
I naturally nodded in agreement, but
—Heh heh, I understand. I look forward to great things.
‘…Don’t give me that look of utter disbelief. Suspicious old man.’
Chancellor Karak seemed only to grow more wary of me.
Yet he did give me one gift: a week of sick leave combined with a commendation vacation.
‘Vacation is the best!’
What had my dream always been?
Wasn’t it a life of leisure?
‘Finally, my first real break since becoming a second-year student!’
I headed home, my heart brimming with anticipation.
“At last I’m going home. Mary, aren’t you homesick too?”
-Chirp-chirp! Squawk!
“I can’t decide what to do for a whole week off. I suppose the best thing is to just sprawl around the house without moving an inch, right?”
Even with the stress of noise complaints from upstairs and downstairs, there was no place like home.
But then—
“…What is this?”
-…Chirp?
My house was gone.
The plot where it had clearly stood was now an empty lot.
More precisely, it had been reduced to ashes.

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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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