The Genius Professor Wants An Easy Life - Chapter 95

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

Chapter 95
I’ve said it before, but the highlight of this episode isn’t the Phantom Break.
It’s the catastrophe unfolding at the academy, taking advantage of the city’s chaos.
‘Ordinarily, the protagonists would handle it themselves, but I’m uneasy. I need to be prepared for the worst-case scenario.’
“Understood. I can trust you on this. Then I’ll go hold off the spirits—we’re short-handed.”
I nodded and mounted my horse.
In my haste, I spurred it forward without thinking.
-Young Master Ban, we have an emergency!!
It was a message from Hans and Linden, whom I’d positioned at the academy as a precaution.
-A Bone Golem from the Abyss has appeared at the academy!
“!!”
My face went pale.
It was a Level 7 villain.
On par with Puppet.
No—this was a far more formidable adversary than Puppet had been in his unstable state.
‘Damn it, this is too much! Even if the kids are protagonists, they can’t possibly withstand it! They’ll be slaughtered. I have to hurry!’
Of course, the other professors would’ve heard the news and return to the academy, but I couldn’t simply leave it to them.
A Level 7 force was nothing short of a calamity.
Even with the professors there, the students’ safety couldn’t be guaranteed.
I had to ensure that Katrine, Libel, and the others wouldn’t get caught up in any tragedy.
But before I could reach the academy,
someone blocked my urgent steps.
Swish!
A dark blade erupted from the air.
“Where are you rushing off to in such a hurry?”
A white suit.
Neat features that matched his dapper appearance.
I recognized this face.
A chill ran down my spine.
“Gentleman.”
“Heh, correct.”
A Level 7 master on par with the Abyss’s Bone Golem that had appeared at the academy.
“Why in the world would the Black Tower get involved in this?”
I couldn’t fathom it and asked aloud.
The Cult I could understand—they’re reckless madmen, so it made sense they’d joined in to recruit followers.
But the Black Tower is a rational organization.
They maintain certain principles.
It was strange for them to pull off something this insane.
“We have something we desire.”
“What?”
“You, Ban.”
“…What did you say?”
“As the Black Tower’s emissary, I have a message for you.”
Gentleman spread one arm wide, then folded it, bowing at the waist—an exaggerated gesture of courtesy.
“How would you like to join the Black Tower?”
“!!”
“With your talents, you could even become the Dark Celestial One, I’m sure.”
The rank of the ninth Star Rank among Dark Mages.
I let out a hollow laugh.
“Do I look like someone who’d entertain such nonsense? I refuse.”
“Ah, how sad. A sincere invitation, only to be turned down. Whatever shall I do?”
Gentleman smiled darkly.
“I’m so heartbroken that I don’t know what sort of mischief I might cause. Perhaps I’ll dye the Free City red with blood?”
I understood his implication and my expression hardened.
“Is this blackmail?”
“Heh, take it as a measure of how desperately we desire you. Look here.”
Gentleman snapped his fingers,
Bang!!
An explosion erupted in one corner of the city.
“This time it was an empty plaza, but next time may be different, yes? My bombs have legs, you see—they can go anywhere they please.”
A walking bomb.
A human suicide bomber, to be precise.
They slip low-rank dark mages into the city, then command them to detonate.
There’s no way to counter it.
‘Damn it. What do I do?’
Bringing him down was impossible too.
He was nothing like the Death Knight whose undead comprised his main force.
This one was a Level 7 Master.
An absolute powerhouse.
The same tricks that worked before wouldn’t land on him.
‘If I called in senior professors like Bernstein, we might have a chance, but everyone’s stretched thin. If I move recklessly and he just detonates the bombs anyway, that’s a disaster.’
The Gentleman smiled wickedly.
“Heh heh. Now you understand how desperately the Black Tower desires you, yes? Come now, let us depart for the Black Tower together.”
“No. I refuse.”
“Hmm? You don’t grasp the situation? Then where shall I detonate next? The slums, perhaps?”
I clenched my fists.
A hopeless position.
I needed a trick.
I dredged up memories from my days as a business tycoon and found my answer.
“Shut your mouth. Second-rate nobodies like you have no claim to drag me anywhere.”
!!
Provocation.
In a spot this disadvantageous, I had to reset the game board on my own terms.
The Gentleman’s expression darkened.
“Second-rate? You dare mock dark magic?”
“No—dark magic is merely one branch of magic. There’s no reason to scorn it. The problem is you, the Black Tower.”
With the Black Flame Dragon’s help, I forced my face into an expression of utter arrogance.
“Calling yourselves the Black Tower when you don’t even know the fundamentals of dark magic? It’s pathetic.”
“Ha ha. Interesting.”
His face went cold, belying his words.
My chest tightened. A flicker of fear.
This man’s pride in the Black Tower ran as deep as the crisp suit he wore.
Before he could lunge for my throat in rage, I pressed forward urgently.
“If you don’t believe me, teach me the Dark Bolt incantation—a 2-Star Rank dark magic spell. I’ll use it to bring you to your knees.”
“What did you just say?”
“And if I win, you’ll swear by the name of whatever demon you’ve made a contract with that you’ll never show your face to me again. If I lose, I’ll follow you willingly.”
“Ha ha! Just as the rumors said.”
He burst into laughter as though the whole thing were absurd.
“Very well. But don’t regret it. You seem to think yourself heaven-high because you once beat the Cruel Witch in a Magic Gunner Battle, but I’m nothing like that caged fool.”
He was right.
My victory over the Cruel Witch, Duchess Bes, had been entirely because she let her guard down.
This man and Duchess Bes were of equal caliber—there was no chance of a second miracle like that.
But still—
“Stop your yammering. You’re starting to look like a scared dog.”
!!
“Now teach me the incantation. My time is worth more than jewels—I’ve no leisure to waste on the likes of you.”
“Ha!! That insane mouth of yours will need a proper lesson someday. Here—the Dark Bolt incantation!”
Whoosh!
Two stars materialized before him.
Stars of a completely different form from anything I’d seen before.
‘But they’re the same. It all comes down to the Star Rank system after all.’
The difference was singular.
Which kind of force a Star Rank practitioner commands.
Dark magic governs the world’s negation—the wrongness of all things.
Malice, murderous intent, jealousy, sin, greed, suffering, and more.
In the end, it’s just another form of magic.
And magic could not escape my Grand Master’s ability.
Flare!
Two stars identical to the ones he’d drawn blazed into existence before me.
“Oh? So the rumors are true. The Five Stars of Heavenly Exile, they say—quite different from Mana Insensitivity. You may prove to be a finer ‘specimen’ than I expected.”
Materials.
A chilling word.
‘From the start, they only meant to use me as a sacrifice for Dark Magic incantations—never as an actual member of the Black Tower.’
For a moment, I recalled the ‘incident’ the Black Tower would later cause, but I shook my head.
That wasn’t something to dwell on now.
“But that’s all there is to it. You’d be mistaken to lump me in with a caged fool like that witch of cruelty. Even your trump card—Chaos Power—won’t work on me.”
A piercing shriek tore through the air.
Six stars blazed into existence before him.
The Lament Barrier.
A Level 6 incantation that accumulated the suffering of others to shield oneself.
‘Using that spell to drive all the phantoms in the Free City into a frenzy drained him—he doesn’t have the energy left for a Level 7 Master Spell.’
But that hardly made it easy.
At my current level, there was no way I could breach such a formidable barrier.
“A reasonably impressive defense, I’ll grant you.”
“Ha. What presumptuous praise. If you knelt now….”
“But do you know what? You’re even more of a fool than the Duchess Bes.”
“What nonsense are you spouting?”
“Just wait a moment.”
I turned my gaze away.
“Come out.”
“Yep, Silvine’s making an entrance♥”
The future massacre fiend, the mad alchemist Silvine, emerged from the mist with a grin spread across her face.
“A Jewel clan member? What are you doing here?”
“Shut your mouth before I tear it open, you filthy worm♥ Silvi, I’ve got to report on the master’s assignment, don’t I?”
!!
Silvine approached me, her expression entirely unlike her usual self.
She wore a cowed look.
“The task you assigned… it’s not very complete.”
I gazed quietly at the ‘object’ she handed me.
“A failure.”
“…If this fails, the master’s in trouble, right? Should I just melt that perverted suit guy to death?”
Silvine flashed a bright smile.
“I want to see that white suit soaked in blood.”
“Didn’t we agree not to use that power?”
“Tch, this doesn’t seem like a situation for restraint, does it? Without Silvi’s help, you won’t be able to handle it, master♥”
I caught the drift of her true intentions and clicked my tongue.
‘She deliberately sabotaged the object’s completion.’
Why?
On a whim.
To see me struggle.
And to test me at the same time.
Well, it didn’t matter.
“You’ve underestimated your instructor, Silvine. You’re getting points deducted for your attitude.”
A flash of light.
I examined the ‘object’ Silvine had handed me.
I spotted the defects immediately and swiftly mended them with my master’s ability.
“Surely not… that thing?”
The Gentleman let out a startled cry, recognizing what the object was.
Too late.
“Our wager had no clause forbidding the use of magical artifacts, did it?”
!!
“Now do you understand why I called you a fool?”
A horrific scream pierced the air.
The ‘object’ rippled with a murky, whitish-grey light.
This object was called the Negation Accumulator.
A forbidden alchemical artifact that absorbed the negative energies around it and converted them into power.
‘With Phantom Break, negative energies intensify. And especially after he deployed that spell to drive the phantoms into a frenzy—the negative energies only grew stronger.’
The accumulator swelled as if ready to burst.
Simultaneously, I unleashed the Dark Bolt he had taught me.
For the record, my reason for singling out Dark Bolt from among the many Dark Magic spells was simple.
The incantation was simple, but it could condense negation-tinged energy without limit or end.
In other words, this wager was rigged.
Decided in my favor from the very start.
“Since you seem unfamiliar with how the world works, I’ll give you some advice: next time, always read the contract terms carefully.”
Screeeech!
A shaft of darkness tore through the air with a thunderous crack, as if ripping the sky itself asunder.
The force was devastating.
It shredded even his defensive barrier.
“Rraaaagh!!!”
Yet it didn’t kill him.
A Level 7 Master, after all.
Though he’d taken what looked like grievous internal wounds, he survived.
“You bastard!!! Ban Ecclesia!! I won’t let you walk away from this.”
From his tone, it was clear he had no intention of honoring our agreement.
Not that it mattered to me.
I swung back onto the horse in one smooth motion.
“Where do you think you’re going?! Do you really think I’d just let you leave?!”
“Look behind you.”
“What? Hah—”
The Gentleman gasped.
Silvine was there, shaking a vial of poison and grinning with an unsettling delight.
“Now you get to play with me. Oh, and while we’re at it—where are your dark mage underlings hiding? I need to hunt them all down and kill them. This is going to be so much fun♥”
Hmm.
Watching her, I found myself thinking.
Perhaps Silvine really was a dark hero after all.
She guarded the shadows of the Free City.
* * *
In any case, I urged the horse forward with urgency.
I’d wasted too much time.
I contacted Hans and Linden at once.
“What’s the damage at the Academy? Have the other professors returned? No injuries among the students?”
The answer that came back was unexpected.
-The children are all safe.
“Thank goodness—”
-However, a different problem has arisen.
The moment I heard what came next, my stomach lurched.
-Libel… that gloomy man has suddenly gone mad!
The bomb had detonated.

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————