The Graduate Student Wants to Assassinate the Professor - Chapter 20
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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 20
“….”
Leoryna stared at Khalid with an expression questioning his sanity, but he seemed pleased with his own reasoning.
“The mouth is an intake organ, and the anus is an excretion organ, right? So if we want to leave without harming this creature, exiting through the anus is the most natural way….”
“Are you seriously suggesting we hold hands and exit as feces?”
“It’s fine! My clothes have a cleansing enchantment on them.”
“Mine don’t.”
“I’ll cast it on you too.”
But Leoryna would rather force open that mouth and leave, accepting disciplinary action, than roll around in a cesspool.
That was what her heart wanted….
‘What if they expel me from the Academy for such a serious offense!’
At that thought, if she were expelled, then that bastard with far greater responsibility would surely face expulsion as well.
‘If that happens, he’ll definitely lock himself away at home and never come out. Then how am I supposed to carry out the assassination?’
Leoryna accepted the reality that, as Khalid said, their secret entry into this Greenhouse must not be discovered.
“S-so… how do we even reach the anus…?”
Khalid pointed at the shovel Leoryna had been holding all along.
“If we dig forward with that….”
Then he thrust his thumb upward with a snap.
“Perfect.”
‘What’s perfect about this, you bastard!’
At the prospect of more digging, Leoryna’s face twisted in disgust.
“That part over there must be connected to the intestines. The digestive tract is contracting in that direction.”
Leoryna removed her mage’s cloak and draped it upside down over her head to shield herself from the digestive juices continuously dripping from above.
Khalid likewise covered his head with his outer garment to protect his crown. After casting a cleansing enchantment on Leoryna’s cloak, Khalid declared with vigor.
“Now, let’s go!”
“Ahhhhh!”
Leoryna began scooping out the intestinal contents with her shovel, one scoop after another, pouring all her resentment into each thrust.
* * *
I thought I was going to die.
Leoryna breathed in the fresh air and lay sprawled out, lost in thought.
I had no desire to reminisce about the journey through the anus of some unidentifiable creature. Thanks to the cleansing spell Khalid had cast, my clothes remained pristine, and protected by them, I had escaped safely without being dissolved by digestive fluids.
But that was one thing—my stomach was thoroughly unsettled regardless.
“I think we should head that way.”
Khalid, who had been perched in a tree surveying the surroundings without regard for Leoryna’s condition, descended to sit beside her and pointed in one direction with his hand.
“Professor, can’t we just fly together?”
“And risk being discovered by the Manager inside the Greenhouse? Look over there.”
In the sky Khalid indicated, bat-like automata were patrolling.
“Those things are the security that manages intruders in the Greenhouse. If we take to the air, we’ll be spotted immediately.”
In other words, I shouldn’t even think about using magic shortcuts—I had to walk.
“Come on, let’s go!”
Maybe I should have just died back there.
Leoryna dragged herself up with a groan and followed Khalid once more.
What other dangers lurked ahead? Wait—hold on.
A spark of light suddenly ignited in Leoryna’s mind as she stifled her internal complaints.
This place is teeming with danger, and the Manager’s presence prevents me from using proper magic. So then…
Leoryna gazed at Khalid walking ahead of her and ran her tongue across her lips.
What if I pretended to slip and threw Khalid into a dangerous situation? Could I assassinate him that way?
Earlier, I had worked hard to survive, but if I played my cards right, I might be able to send Khalid to his demise alone.
Leoryna surveyed her surroundings.
The atmosphere was still that of a peaceful walk through the Forest. But what if I drew aggro here?
Leoryna spotted a small Mountain not far away.
Why is there even a Mountain in the Greenhouse? No, wait—what if I use that?
Leoryna cleared her throat and spoke.
“Um, Professor. If we’re going that way, wouldn’t it be faster to cross over the Mountain?”
Khalid turned to look at Leoryna and asked.
“I know that route is faster too, but you…
Khalid looked Leoryna up and down.
“You okay with climbing?”
“Why wouldn’t I be okay with climbing?”
“Well, most so-called mages I know aren’t sturdy enough to climb a Mountain.”
Khalid assumed Leoryna’s body had atrophied from spending all her time with books rather than exercise, which was why she appeared so slender. Her physique did look quite lean to the eye.
But he couldn’t possibly know that beneath the surface lay a body honed by intense training—all fat burned away, muscles taut and defined.
“I can handle a Mountain. And that one doesn’t even look that difficult. It’s just a small one.”
Leoryna felt her pride wounded by how Khalid apparently perceived her. Khalid, half-convinced and half-doubtful, changed direction.
“Then follow closely behind me.”
Leoryna began climbing the Mountain after Khalid. It was a Rocky Mountain, and because of that, the terrain featured many Cliffs. Once Leoryna felt they had ventured sufficiently into the Mountain, she brought Khalid to a stop beneath an appropriately positioned Cliff.
“Professor, could we rest for a moment?”
“What? We don’t know when we’ll be discovered, so we need to hurry… No, never mind. Let’s rest a bit.”
Khalid looked at me with an expression that said, “Well, what did you expect?”
Since I’d already been misunderstood, I deliberately quickened my breathing and made a show of wiping sweat from my brow. My pride stung a little, but practicality had to come first right now.
Once Khalid settled at the base of the Cliff, I leaned against a tree some distance away and fingered the staff hidden beneath my cloak. Then, aiming the staff’s tip toward the upper edge of the Cliff, I whispered an incantation.
Crack!
The sound of shattering rock echoed, and a massive boulder detached from the Cliff face, plummeting directly toward Khalid’s head.
“What the—”
Khalid’s head snapped up at the thunderous crash above him, and his eyes went wide as he watched the boulder tumble down.
“Argh!”
Khalid rolled swiftly to the side. The boulder crashed into the spot where he’d been sitting moments before with a deafening boom.
Even with defensive magic woven into his clothes, who would willingly walk around expecting a house-sized boulder to drop on their head?
Khalid clutched his racing heart, his eyes darting frantically between the Cliff’s edge and the fallen stone.
I clicked my tongue when I saw Khalid was unharmed, though I couldn’t help but smile to myself.
‘But that wasn’t the aggro I was actually aiming for.’
The chain reaction from the falling boulder caused the Cliff to collapse with a thunderous roar, and immediately after, the cries of countless beasts erupted.
Caw! Caw!
Screech~ Squawk squawk!
Whoosh~ Whoosh~
Screech~! Screech~!
Startled by the sound of the Cliff crumbling, the creatures all shrieked at once.
“Professor, are you alright?”
I approached Khalid and examined him carefully.
“Of course I’m fine. I’m not dull enough to be crushed by a boulder, and besides, my clothes have defensive magic woven into them—they protect against external attacks and impacts.”
I made a show of catching my breath and clutching my chest as though genuinely worried about him. But inside, my heart was dark with satisfaction.
“More importantly…”
Khalid swallowed hard and glanced around nervously. The various animal cries were growing steadily closer.
‘Perfect!’
The real aggro I’d been targeting was…
“Grrrrr…”
“Roar! Roar!”
Khalid flinched as bestial sounds surrounded him from all directions.
“Um… Professor. I’m starting to think this Greenhouse doesn’t only contain docile animals.”
The aggro I’d been targeting was precisely…!
“It sounds like all manner of creatures are heading this way?!”
Exactly. My true purpose was to draw attention with a loud noise—to announce our presence to every living thing in this Greenhouse.
If this Greenhouse truly was the twisted creation of mages whose research had driven them mad, then they would have released dangerous creatures here too, just like the mysterious thing that had tried to devour Khalid and me earlier.
But what if a bumbling, clueless mage wandered in without knowing what lurked inside? What easier prey could there possibly be?
Snakes slithered across the ground, felines and carnivores prowled through the grass, massive eagles circled overhead, and between the trees, creeping vines of predatory plants slowly climbed.
“R…”
After assessing the situation, Khalid broke into a cold sweat and spoke.
“Run!”
“Ahhhhh!”
Without a second glance behind her, Leoryna bolted forward just as Khalid had instructed.
It wasn’t fear that drove her—she simply wanted to abandon Khalid and escape as quickly as possible.
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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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