The Graduate Student Wants to Assassinate the Professor - Chapter 30

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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 30

“Do you think this will be alright, Instructor?”
Shebril’s half-vacant question drew a shameless shrug from Leoryna.
“We haven’t had any problems so far, have we? All that matters is coming in first.”
She opened the lunch box and gasped in admiration.
“Wow! This looks absolutely delicious! Did the Students really make this?”
“Yes, they’re all working so hard that we couldn’t just feed them anything.”
The lunch box was filled with appetizing fare—fried chicken, lamb skewers, roasted potatoes, fresh salad, cheese, and more.
Shebril and several other Students had borrowed the Dormitory Kitchen and spent the night preparing it. The Students who received their portions eagerly stuffed the food into their mouths with anticipation gleaming in their eyes.
But then.
“…?”
“?”
The expressions of the Students chewing their food grew peculiar.
Wait… was this right…? Something felt off…?
“How is it, everyone? Tasty?”
The Students tilted their heads uncertainly at Shebril’s hopeful face, choosing their words with care.
“Um, yeah… it’s delicious.”
Several Students, unwilling to diminish the effort others had poured into the meal, forced smiles and nodded. But Leoryna cut through that awkward silence.
“Did you taste for seasoning while you were making this?”
“Seasoning?”
One of the Students who had prepared the food with Shebril popped a skewer into her mouth and immediately furrowed her brow.
“This has no seasoning at all!”
“What? Really?”
At Shebril’s question, the Students eating from the lunch boxes all nodded in unison.
“It’s not just the skewers—this fried chicken is also a bit….”
“The roasted potatoes are bland too.”
“How is it even possible for the salad dressing to be bland?”
“This cheese has no saltiness—it smells strange.”
“Huh? What?”
The Students who had prepared the food looked flustered.
“We definitely tasted it as we went along, didn’t we?”
“Right. We checked it throughout the cooking!”
“When we ate it while making it, it didn’t taste like this. It was delicious!”
“So why is everything bland?”
The Students couldn’t understand why their masterpiece had turned out this way and felt considerably wronged.
“It’s as if we didn’t add any salt at all!”

As if not a single grain of salt had been added!
As if not a single grain of salt had been added!
As if not a single grain of salt had been added!

The words echoed through Leoryna’s mind, and she choked and gagged as she swallowed the bland potato.
So the salt that had been in the food… had vanished?
When Leoryna glanced sideways, Pongko—who was eating his portion of grass—seemed to have reached the same conclusion, his eyes meeting hers.
Leoryna and Pongko set down their lunch boxes and immediately bolted toward Khalid’s Research Office.

* * *

“Professor!”
Greeting Leoryna as she burst through the laboratory door was an extraordinarily excited Khalid.
“Leoryna! Look at this! Salt wasn’t detected in any of the samples! The soil has returned to its original state!”
Then he and Zigzagel bounced up and down with glee.
“Success! We’ve succeeded!”
“Congratulations, Khalid!”
Even Zigzagel beamed, but Leoryna carefully opened her mouth.
“Professors, regarding that… there’s one problem.”
“What is it?”
“It seems the range of our magic… may have included the Student Dormitory as well.”
“…?”
Khalid tilted his head to the side. Leoryna explained that the food prepared in the dormitory had no salt seasoning, cold sweat trickling down her face.
“If the dormitory was within the magic’s range, then the Research Building, which is even closer in that direction…”
That’s when it happened.
“Ahhhhh! My reagents!”
A scream erupted from outside. Leoryna, Khalid, and Zigzagel slowly turned their heads toward the sound, then exchanged glances with one another.
In magical research, salt is such a vital substance that it’s used in its literal sense—light and salt. Many types of magical reagents contain salt, there are magical circles drawn with salt, and there are spells that use salt as a catalyst.
In short, the disappearance of salt from the Research Building meant something far more serious than merely underseasoned food.
All the magical formulas, magical potions, and magical materials in this building that contained salt had been ruined.
“Kyaaaaaaah! Why is this happening?!”
“Argh! It exploded! Who stopped adding materials?!”
“Who touched the magical circle drawn here? There’s an error and everything’s floating in the air!”
Different voices from somewhere else screamed in despair.
Pongko perked up his ears and spoke with perfect calm.
“My, it seems everyone’s in quite a predicament now that the salt has disappeared.”
“Mm.”
Khalid narrowed his eyes and wiped his face with his hand. Then he smiled brightly and said.
“We know nothing about this.”
Leoryna raised one eyebrow.
“Professor Khalid?”
“I didn’t do anything.”
“….”
“Understood?”
I pressed down the corners of my trembling lips and stared at Zigzagel. But he widened his eyes and asked.
“What happened?”
‘Ah, these people really!’
I ground my teeth. Seeing my eyes blaze, Khalid gripped my shoulders.
“No! You can’t tell anyone! We’re already in the same boat!”
“Ugh…! To use it like that…!”
“If what I did comes to light, I won’t just face discipline! I might be expelled from the Academy! And I’d have to pay massive compensation!”
‘Right, that’s a problem. If Khalid loses his professorship, what excuse will I use to stay by his side?’
I suppressed the murderous intent boiling up inside me and took several deep breaths. I had no choice but to force a smile.
“I know nothing, hehe. What experiment was our professor conducting?”
“Yes! That’s the attitude! Pongko, you too! Unless you want to be dissected…!”
“Why should I concern myself with others’ affairs?”
“Good, good!”
Khalid finally nodded in satisfaction. I felt guilty hearing desperate screams echoing from all around, but I let it all go.
‘I really don’t know. Why should I care? My mission is to assassinate Khalid, so I don’t need to worry about the surrounding situation. But still… no matter what, this is too much! Petila, please send me home.’
Today too, I pleaded with Petila, but whether my prayers truly reached her was something neither Pope Beronas nor the saint could possibly know.

* * *

I trudged back to the Sports Field just as the afternoon events of the Athletic Competition were beginning.
‘Following Khalid’s advice and playing dumb seems like the best option for now… Ah, forget it.’
I squeezed my eyes shut and rubbed my temples.
For an undercover infiltration meant for assassination, the collateral stress was far too great. But I soon tried to dismiss it all as others’ business, just as Pongko had suggested.
That bastard really didn’t seem unlikely to become a Demon Lord and start a war. If he did become one, other nations would probably declare war on him without him even needing to start it, simply infuriated by his antics.
‘I really want to kill him already….’
“Assistant, are you alright?”
As I collapsed into my seat, Shebril asked worriedly. My troubled state seemed to be written plainly across my face.
For someone whose expression management was second nature, I quickly put on an unbothered smile.
“I’m fine, really. I just got a bit tired from cheering so enthusiastically.”
I looked at the scoreboard displaying the match scores so far. Seven matches had been held in total, and the Department of Magic Theory’s record was first place in four matches, second place in two, and third place in one.
When the Department of Magic Theory’s combined score appeared at the top of the rankings, I licked my lips and grinned with satisfaction.
“Good, good. All top rankings.”
“Assistant, the next match is a Familiar battle.”
“Perfect timing. Pongko, let’s go slaughter them all!”
I needed an outlet for the stress Khalid had given me. So I eagerly headed toward the Stadium with Pongko.

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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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