The Graduate Student Wants to Assassinate the Professor - Chapter 16
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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 16
I scratched my head vigorously as I began reviewing the incantation for extending the Talking Rabbit’s tail.
“Uh, um, well… I thought the same thing… but…”
Finally, pinpointing a section of the calculation formula, I spoke.
“That’s it! The tail doesn’t grow by the same length each time the magic is cast—it multiplies by powers of ten!”
“What?”
“So the original rabbit’s tail grew tenfold on the first cast, and the length Shebril’s tail grew to now is ten times the length of that first magic!”
“Oh! I’m so sorry! I had no idea that was how it worked.”
Shebril gazed at the rabbit, now possessing a 6-meter tail due to her reckless use of magic, with a troubled expression.
“Why does everything I do turn out like this…”
“Come on, compared to the Chimera incident, this is nothing. We can just cut the tail off. It’s just a long tail, after all.”
As I shrugged, an unfamiliar voice echoed from somewhere.
“Do you truly believe it is merely the tail that has grown, foolish human?”
Shebril and I turned our attention toward the source of the voice. There stood the rabbit with the 6-meter tail.
“This thing can talk?”
At my words, the long-tailed rabbit cleared its throat.
“‘This thing,’ you say. Choose your words more carefully, human.”
“You’re the one calling me human. But more importantly, how did you start talking? Was there a spell mixed in that makes animals speak?”
I dismissed it casually and began examining the incantation again. A spell that grants animals speech wasn’t particularly unusual—it worked fine as long as the conditions aligned properly.
The rabbit, unbothered by my lack of attention, spoke with a self-satisfied tone.
“You ignore me, then? So I am free!”
With that, it bounded forward and crashed through the Window, bolting outside!
And that wasn’t all. The other rabbits followed suit, stampeding after the 6-meter-tailed rabbit in a mass escape.
“Whoa?!”
I let out an involuntary cry and rushed to the Window. Outside, five rabbits—led by the longest-tailed one—were bounding away into the distance.
“W-What do we do, Instructor?!”
While Shebril hopped anxiously in place, I rolled up my sleeves and leaped out the Window.
“What do you mean ‘what do we do’?! We have to catch them all, obviously!”
“Eek! Instructor, this is the third floor…!”
I quickly descended using the tree growing in front of the Window, then took off in full sprint after the rabbits.
“Stop right there!”
I didn’t stop there—I cast a spell on my shoes. My running speed became as swift as a horse’s gallop. Catching up to the rabbits was no difficult feat after that.
“Come on, just let yourselves be caught, won’t you?!”
I reached out toward the rabbit running last. But something smacked my hand with a sharp crack.
It turned out the talking rabbit with the longest tail had struck me with its own tail.
“This thing’s hitting me now?”
More irritated, I pulled out my staff.
“Rootmos!”
The dispel magic struck the Talking Rabbit with the longest tail, but it had no effect. That was because dispel magic cancelled the state of an active spell, not the byproducts of magic itself.
Had it been a temporary transformation, I could have restored him to his original form, but unfortunately Khalid’s spell—the one that made rabbit tails grow long—was designed to create permanent changes.
Just then, chunks of stone came hurtling toward Leoryna. As she dodged them, her eyes widened in shock as she stared at the Talking Rabbit.
The Talking Rabbit with the longest tail clicked his tongue in disapproval. Mana scattered around him.
“Is that thing casting magic?!”
Leoryna blocked the incoming stones with a defensive spell and resumed her pursuit of the Talking Rabbit.
“Wait, an ordinary rabbit can use magic?!”
As Leoryna and the rabbits engaged in their chase through the Academy, students scattered to either side to get out of the way.
Leoryna swung her staff again. Magical formulas materialized around her.
“Luto, Kelsirapps, Pittrop, Zyacraea….”
Multiple spells took form and swirled around Leoryna in a dizzying circle.
“Huh, wait.”
The Talking Rabbit’s eyes widened.
“You’re not planning to use all of them at once, are you?”
“Yep. Gelsibov!”
Leoryna grinned and swung her staff, sending all the spells flying at the rabbits in unison.
Boom! Boom boom!
The rabbits, battered by the magical onslaught, lost consciousness and collapsed one after another.
“No! No!”
The one with the longest tail—the one who could speak—tried to flee to the end, but Leoryna’s magic caught up with him in an instant. The Talking Rabbit didn’t even squeak before he hit the ground.
“Phew… all this trouble over something so trivial.”
As Leoryna wiped the sweat from her brow and lifted the Talking Rabbit with the six-meter tail by the scruff of his neck, a familiar presence appeared beside her.
“Hmm, how intriguing.”
Khalid had arrived without a sound and was now examining the Talking Rabbit beside Leoryna.
“Ahhhhh!”
Leoryna jumped back involuntarily.
‘Did he see? Did he see my magic? I only used fourth-circle spells and below, right?’
Leoryna retraced her memories, worried that she might have unconsciously cast higher-circle magic. Fortunately, that didn’t seem to be the case, and besides, Khalid’s interest appeared to be focused solely on the Talking Rabbit.
“Well, you see, Professor, you asked me to research the spell that makes rabbit tails grow long, so I conducted some experiments on my own….”
As Leoryna briefly explained what had happened, Khalid spoke while pondering something intently.
“Typically, the breed of rabbit used for experiments is the one most sensitive to magical resonance, but this rabbit… or rather, the one with the longest tail—he’s been hit by the same spell twice, so his intelligence seems to have increased somewhat… and besides, this spell hasn’t been verified for stability yet. No one’s researched what side effects might occur.”
“So you’re saying even Professor Khalid doesn’t know what’s happening?”
“In any case, this is fascinating.”
Khalid lifted the Talking Rabbit upside down as he spoke.
“Why don’t we research the side effects further? A rabbit whose intelligence increases the longer its tail grows. One that can speak and cast magic too.”
His eyes gleamed with the fervor of a researcher consumed by curiosity as he gazed at the rabbits with undisguised avarice. Leoryna felt a chill of unease wash over her.
And an hour later.
“I beg your forgiveness for my foolish ignorance of the greatness of Professor Khalid.”
In the center of the Research Laboratory, now packed with tails, a single Talking Rabbit hung suspended from the ceiling, bowing his head. Having been subjected to one additional experimental spell, he now possessed a tail that stretched sixty meters long.
“Would it be possible for you to release me?”
The Talking Rabbit pleaded, but Khalid posed a question to him instead.
“How do you use magic?”
“It’s something inscribed in my instincts from birth, so I use it unconsciously… Please, sir.”
“Show me a circle you can use.”
“I only have one.”
“Really?”
The Talking Rabbit manipulated his magical power and drew a single circle upon his chest.
“This is all I have.”
Khalid’s expression suggested he would dissect the Talking Rabbit’s brain on the spot if given the chance.
Sensing this with the keen instincts of a herbivore, the Talking Rabbit trembled and desperately tried to appease Khalid.
“Hmm, neither a demonic beast nor a familiar, yet an animal capable of using a magic circle… Truly suspicious. It seems I’ll need to conduct additional experiments.”
Shebril argued about the Talking Rabbit’s animal rights, but Khalid dismissed her with his authority as a professor. As for Leoryna, she found this far more entertaining than the headache she’d been nursing, so she let it be.
Since a new research subject had been decided without her having to think, there was no reason to stop him.
Khalid retrieved a large pair of scissors and snapped the blades together menacingly.
“Now let’s try cutting off the tail. I want to see if magic and intelligence are maintained even after severing it.”
“Eeeek!”
“Let’s start by cutting about fifty meters and observe whether intelligence diminishes proportionally to the length lost….”
“Eeeeeek!”
The Talking Rabbit shrieked piercingly, but Khalid didn’t bat an eye. It was the moment he snapped the scissors shut and seized the tip of the Talking Rabbit’s tail.
“Why are you all having fun without me!”
Zigzagel burst through the door and stormed into the Research Laboratory.
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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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