The Graduate Student Wants to Assassinate the Professor - Chapter 105

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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 105

Since there appeared to be no immediate danger, the group began walking with Khalid at the fore. The walls were carved with bas-relief sculptures, and a six-pointed star pattern appeared in scattered places. Seeing it, Leoryna cried out.
“It’s Halgrok’s symbol! This must be Halgrok’s Temple!”
But Khalid shook his head.
“We can’t jump to conclusions yet. I haven’t sensed any divine power. Let’s go deeper first.”
They walked through the stale scent of mold and earth.
Fortunately, a hall appeared not far ahead. Unlike the corridor, the ceiling soared to a tremendous height. When Leoryna shot flames upward, the entire hall came into view—its walls were covered with murals of a completely different caliber than the carvings in the corridor.
Leoryna gazed upon a figure with the head of a black lion and a massive pair of horns sprouting from its temples.
It held a staff adorned with six-pointed star decorations in its hand.
“A depiction of Halgrok.”
“That’s not conclusive evidence either. Sacred paintings like that are found in ordinary homes too. What would serve as real proof is if we find sacred relics or artifacts…”
Khalid gestured to the group.
“So let’s keep going deeper.”
That was when it happened.
A door on the opposite side of the corridor they’d entered through creaked open. Seeing this, Zigzagel and Leoryna pushed Khalid forward.
“Ugh. Why is it always me?”
Khalid grumbled as he approached the open door and read the inscription written above it.
“Room of Faith.”
“Faith… faith in what, I wonder?”
At Leoryna’s words, Zigzagel tilted his head and spoke.
“It seems like a chamber to test whether one possesses sincere faith in Halgrok.”
“Ugh…”
Khalid made his displeasure plainly evident.
“If that’s the case, the inner sanctum of this temple is probably beyond that door.”
As Zigzagel stroked his chin thoughtfully, Pongko gestured eagerly.
“Then let’s go check it out!”
Once again, Zigzagel and Leoryna pushed Khalid to go first, so he had no choice but to enter the room ahead of everyone else.
In the center of the room lay a stone tablet inscribed with text, and beneath it was a handprint marking.
“Faithful one, prove thy faith.”
As Khalid read the inscription on the tablet, Leoryna tilted her head in confusion.
“Do we place our hand here? There’s something similar in the Temple of Yorken.”
“You’ve been to Yorken before?”
“Oh, when I was young! My devout parents took me on a pilgrimage there, and I tagged along! Haha!”
“There’s another door on the far side. It seems only those who prove their faith here can pass through that door.”
As Leoryna spoke her fabrication, Pongko smoothly redirected the conversation. At his words, Khalid placed his palm on the stone tablet.
“Like this?”
But the door didn’t budge.
“Is it simply broken, or is my faith in Halgrok insufficient?”
Zigzagel was tilting his head in confusion when Pongko, who had been contentedly nestled in my arms until now, suddenly leaped onto the stone slab.
“I’m picking up a scent here—it’s different from mana. It’s something else entirely.”
“That must be divine mana. If this door operates on divine mana, then only someone who possesses divine mana can approach it?”
Khalid scratched his head in frustration when suddenly the opposite door swung open.
“Huh?”
Everyone stared at the door in bewilderment and turned to Pongko with a question.
“Pongko, what did you do?”
“I didn’t do anything?”
Pongko was equally baffled, but Khalid spoke as if everything had worked out perfectly.
“Well, the door’s open now, so let’s go in and check it out.”
Everyone rushed toward the door and tried to enter, but only Pongko passed through. The rest of us bounced backward all at once as if we’d struck an invisible wall.
“What?”
We stood there bewildered when the door behind Pongko quietly closed. Zigzagel turned back around.
“It seems only one person can enter at a time.”
He placed his hand on the stone slab. But the door remained shut.
“Hmm? That’s not it?”
This time Khalid pressed his palm against the slab. Again, the stone slab showed no reaction. He tilted his head and asked me a question.
“Um, Leoryna? In the Temple of Petila, what happens if someone without faith tries to enter?”
“Petila’s temple allows anyone to enter, actually.”
“From what I know, Halgrok is different. He only permits those who believe in him to have an audience with him.”
“Oh, what a narrow-minded deity.”
“And as I mentioned earlier… I don’t believe in Halgrok, so…”
Khalid trailed off when Pongko’s voice called out.
“Why aren’t you all coming in?”
The door opened, and Pongko bounded out. Visibly excited, he stood on his hind legs and gestured eagerly.
“The inside is so magnificent and grand! You all need to come see it right away! This is definitely the temple! There’s an enormous stone statue of Halgrok and everything…!”
At his urging, Khalid waved his hand and explained the fact that we couldn’t pass through the door. Pongko’s expression grew troubled.
“Then what do we do?”
“I can’t leave you alone in a place where we don’t even know what mechanisms are at work… There’s no choice. We’ll move together. We can find an alternate route.”
At Khalid’s words, Pongko nodded in agreement.
Khalid took the lead and began walking along the wall, and we all followed behind him.
“Now that I think about it, there are quite a lot of rooms here.”
At my observation, Khalid, who had been detecting magical formulas as we walked, nodded.
“Right. They all seem to be rooms that require divine mana to open. Hm?”
Khalid stopped in front of one of the doors.
“What’s wrong, Professor?”
“The magical formula here seems a bit odd.”
Khalid tilted his head. Zigzagel glanced at the security magic on the door and asked.
“It’s a bit archaic, but it looks like some kind of security magic. Is there something strange about it?”
“The formula itself isn’t strange. But this is magic that operates on ordinary mana, not divine mana.”
At Khalid’s words, I examined the magic seal on the door once more. It was indeed a magical formula that operated on ordinary mana.
“Why is there a mana-based spell only on this door?”
“I’m not sure what it is, but let’s open it. It might be an alternate passage.”
Khalid drew his great sword without giving me a chance to protest, and began reverse-engineering the magical formula.
The magic sealed on the door couldn’t withstand Khalid’s mana. The formula slowly unraveled, and soon the door swung open with a metallic clang.
“Good, let’s see what’s inside.”
As Khalid opened the door, a long, dark corridor stretched out beyond it. To the eye, there seemed to be nothing inside.
“There doesn’t seem to be anything special…?”
I shone my light around, but nothing appeared remarkable.
“Ugh, I had a feeling there’d be something interesting.”
Khalid clicked his tongue in disappointment—and that’s when it happened.
Drip.
A viscous liquid fell onto Zigzagel’s head.
“What is this?”
Zigzagel wiped away the sticky substance and looked up at the ceiling. The rest of us followed his gaze upward and froze simultaneously.
“Screeeee!”
The entire ceiling was covered with enormous bat-like Demon Beasts clinging densely together.
“Kyaaaah!”
As Pongko shrieked, the Demon Beasts spread their wings wide and took flight.
“Those are Diluems. They typically prefer to inhabit abandoned buildings like this where no one has lived for ages.”
Zigzagel explained calmly to me.
“I don’t care about the creature’s name—just do something about them!”
Khalid slashed at the leading Dileum with his great sword, then quickly pushed me behind him.
“Ugh, these things are annoying with all their fluttering!”
Khalid was about to cast a wide-area spell when Zigzagel quickly stopped him.
“Khalid, this is a Ruins—a Ruins! You can’t just destroy everything!”
“So you want me to fight all of them one by one?!”
Khalid grumbled while methodically slashing down the Diluems that rushed at him.

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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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