The Graduate Student Wants to Assassinate the Professor - Chapter 24

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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 24

“Ah, now that I think about it, I did see in the family records that he had a younger sister. But that person is dead, isn’t she?”
Leoryna recalled the contents written in the personnel file she had first reviewed after taking on this assignment—Khalid’s biographical information.

[‘Nifra Brinack Huaderica’
Younger sister with a 64-year age gap from Caladniel.
Known to have died 124 years ago when caught in Caladniel’s massacre of the clan.
Age at death: 165 years old.]

As if to aid in recalling the memory, Nifra’s brief biographical information materialized above the mirror’s surface.
Zeles nodded slightly.
“She’s reported dead, at least.”
“If she died alongside Khalid during the clan massacre, then she didn’t die from illness.”
“Right. But she could have died at any time, really.”
“Why?”
“She had no horns.”
Zeles added an explanation and displayed the next words on the mirror’s surface.

[Born congenitally without both horns.]

“What? A Demon Race member can survive without horns? I thought the Demon Race’s horns were vital organs for sustaining life.”
Leoryna’s understanding was correct.
The horns of the Demon Race were a type of mana circulation organ. Therefore, a Demon Race member without both horns could not utilize mana, and naturally mana would flow abnormally through their body. When that happened, the mana would consume the body from within, ultimately leading to death.
Because of this, a Demon Race member without horns typically could not survive more than a few years.
In Khalid’s case, he could survive because his right horn remained even though his left horn was gone.
“As you said, the Demon Race’s horns are organs directly tied to their life, so Nifra too could have died at any time after birth. But she survived.”
“How?”
“With the help of Learuaje.”
“Zigzagel’s mother, right? I think she was briefly mentioned in the information I received before.”
“That’s right. That dragon possessed deep knowledge of magical pharmaceuticals. It wasn’t a cure, but she created a medicine that aided the flow of mana. Thanks to it, keeping her alive was possible, but her health was poor. As I said, it wasn’t a cure—it was merely a temporary mana circulation auxiliary medicine.”
Zeles hurriedly finished displaying the words on the mirror as he spoke.

[She had a frail body her entire life.]

“That’s all the information we have on Nif.”
“Either way, the ‘person who was ill’ that Khalid and Zigzagel mentioned is probably this person, right?”
“I didn’t hear the context directly, so I can’t say for certain. We have no confirmation, but according to our investigation, this is the only person who could be described as having been ill.”
“Hmm, what? There’s nothing useful here? I thought something worthwhile might come up.”
“They weren’t that important a figure. Besides, how much impact could a dead person have on this mission? What would we have done if this person were still alive?”
“If someone was skilled enough at caregiving to make it their specialty, they must have been someone precious. So if they were alive, I thought we could take them hostage and neutralize Khalid. Tell him to die quietly if he doesn’t want to see his hostage perish.”
“Wow, you’re vicious.”
Zeles mocked him with a laugh, questioning whether that was a method befitting someone on the side of justice, but Leoryna simply picked at her ear.
“More importantly, if they got caught up in the clan assassination, did Khalid kill them?”
Leoryna’s brow furrowed without her realizing it.
His own younger sister? After she’d cared for him so devotedly?
Zeles shrugged and opened his mouth.
“Actually, Caladniel once said directly that he killed Nif himself….”
“He really killed his own sister? The man’s a heartless, tearless madman.”
“Hear me out. We’re not entirely certain whether Caladniel actually killed her.”
“Why?”
“No body was ever found. So whether Caladniel really killed her, or whether she’s even definitely dead—it’s unclear. But as you know, we only trust information we have evidence for. There’s still an unsolved mystery surrounding Nif’s death.”
“Hmm….”
Leoryna crossed her arms and fell into thought.
“You think she might still be alive?”
“It’s a possibility we could consider, but… could she have survived all this time? She has no horns. Well, if she’s still in contact with Learuaje, she could be alive with medicine, but when we investigated Zigzagel’s surroundings and looked into Learuaje’s whereabouts, there were no signs of that.”
“So we should assume she’s dead? Ugh, this is a headache.”
“What’s bothering you so much?”
“No, it’s just. I’m curious whether Khalid is really the kind of person who could kill his own sister.”
“He killed his own clan, didn’t he? What’s strange about killing his sister too?”
Zeles looked at her with eyes questioning what the problem was.
“That’s….”
Leoryna recalled how Khalid had protected her yesterday by shielding her from the Manager’s attack with his own body.
‘If he were really as heartless and tearless as the rumors suggest, wouldn’t he have just picked his nose while I died?’
This was a question that aligned with what she’d asked Pope Beronas.
Was Khalid really someone with such a lust for power that he’d massacre his entire clan for authority, committing such atrocities? Was someone like that really the Demon King who started a war?
Could someone like that have killed his own sister with his own hands, after caring for her so devotedly for so long?
But Leoryna had already been warned once, so she couldn’t bring herself to ask it aloud, and she simply smacked her lips.
“No. It’s just… how do I put it? The more I experience, the more the image I had at first keeps changing. When I watch him from the side, he doesn’t seem like that kind of person.”
“You can know ten fathoms of water but never one fathom of the human heart, Leoryna. People have many facets. Even if Caladniel treats you well now, he might suddenly change someday.”
“Let’s be honest. That bastard has barely ever treated me well.”
At Leoryna’s serious tone, Zeles burst into laughter.
“Regardless, Leoryna. Don’t forget that he’s someone who committed atrocities. That’ll be better for you too.”
“I agree with that.”
“Don’t dwell too deeply on useless thoughts. You are Petila’s blade. And a blade does not think for itself.”
Zeles reiterated the maxim that the Special Mission Unit must always keep in mind, and I nodded obediently.
“Your Majesty’s will is my will. I understand.”
“Good. Is there anything else you need to say?”
“No. Thank you, Zeles.”
“Then let’s end the transmission here! If anything else comes up, send an automaton.”
Once I confirmed that Zeles’s image had vanished from the mirror, I picked up my fork again and finished the breakfast I’d abandoned.
“I don’t know whether Khalid will start a war or not, but if Your Majesty says so, then that’s how it must be. Besides, he probably didn’t share the full contents of the oracle with a small fry like me. There must be something I don’t know about. More importantly, I should probably start planning the next assassination… ”
I let out a small groan of frustration.
“Whatever! I’ll figure it out when I meet Khalid!”
I shoved the half-eaten sausage into my mouth. But the thought of receiving that warning made my appetite vanish entirely.
‘All I did was ask one question.’
A spark of defiance toward Pope Beronas suddenly flared up inside me.
‘Where could you find a lackey as obedient as me?’
Until now, I’d believed whatever Beronas said—even if he called a deer a deer, I’d accept it as truth, and if he ordered me to die, I’d at least go through the motions. But for some reason, this time my personal curiosity was bubbling up uncontrollably.
“This is all because I’m spending too much time with the target! If I just infiltrated secretly like usual and lopped off his head—snip!—wouldn’t that be perfect? There’d be no interaction, so I wouldn’t need to care about circumstances, and how much easier would that be?!”
I couldn’t shake the feeling that Pope Beronas had chosen the wrong person for this mission.
I should never have taken on this graduate student nonsense in the first place.

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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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