The Graduate Student Wants to Assassinate the Professor - Chapter 4

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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 4

I returned to my Lodging Room—the one Pope Beronas had arranged for me—and hurled my bag aside before making a beeline for the bathroom. After all that mental exertion, my brain felt like it was melting.
After washing up, I wandered through the living room drying my hair when I heard a sharp tapping at the window. I approached and found an intricately crafted raven automaton pecking at the glass with its beak.
“Right, of course.”
I opened the window, and the raven fluttered onto my shoulder with a soft rustle.
This was an automaton—a mechanical device created through magitech engineering by the Special Mission Unit for covert communications. It delivered mission reports and directives, with its form varying by rank. Among them, the raven belonged to the Pope.
“Ah, yes. Just give me a moment. I’ve barely caught my breath—I haven’t written the report yet.”
I immediately sat at my desk and picked up my pen.

[Based on my observations, the target maintains lodgings elsewhere yet spends most of his time at the Academy. Given his monotonous lifestyle, I assess that there are no anomalies or uncontrollable variables in his immediate environment. However….]

I let out a groan and continued writing.

[However, the target appears to lack social grace and possesses a willful nature. A hasty assassination attempt would only heighten his vigilance. Therefore, as a first step toward mission completion, I am actively cultivating a friendship with the target and demonstrating my usefulness to him. For the time being, I intend to maintain the current situation and await an opportune moment.]

After writing that far, I made a pitiful whimpering sound.
“…That’s nonsense. So far, I’ve just been exploited relentlessly.”
Someone save me. I want to go home.
No matter how difficult previous missions had been, I’d always found a way through. But this assignment was unlike anything I’d faced before.
“No matter how much I’m told to be discreet and wait for the right moment, if I keep waiting, I’ll end up earning a doctorate!”
Overcome with frustration, I hastily finished the report, folded it neatly, opened the automaton’s back panel, and inserted it.
I opened the window and released the automaton into the night, then threw myself onto my bed and ground my teeth.
“Tomorrow, I’ll find my chance and finish this.”
With such hopeful thoughts, I fell into an exhausted sleep.

* * *

The next day, Leoryna arrived at work with determination, already scheming how to exploit her target’s weaknesses—only to be met with an unexpected question from Khalid, whose eyes were darkened by an all-nighter.
“Professor, hello!”
“Ah, you’re here. I was just thinking of something and waiting for you to arrive.”
“Yes?”
“What did you like about my research?”
“Y-your research?”
“You must have had a reason for applying to my laboratory. What aspect of it appealed to you enough to come work under me?”
‘I never expected to be asked something like this on the fourth day, not even the first day….’
Flustered, Leoryna’s eyes darted about nervously.
“Well, Professor, your… that is to say….”
After struggling for an answer, Leoryna simply blurted out whatever came to mind.
“I was truly impressed by your paper on how to make rabbit tails grow longer!”
“You… read that?”
“Yes? Yes.”
Before coming here, Leoryna had needed to learn as much as possible about Khalid, so she’d spent nights reading through every paper of his she could obtain.
She’d simply mentioned whichever one came to mind first, but at her words, Khalid’s violet eyes suddenly sparkled with light.
“You really read that? That research no one has ever acknowledged?”
“Yes. I read it.”
As Leoryna nodded, the dark shadows beneath Khalid’s eyes vanished in an instant.
“So, what did you think?”
“What do you mean?”
“What was your impression of that research?”
At Khalid’s eager expression, a lightbulb suddenly illuminated in Leoryna’s mind.
That’s it!
Professors are fundamentally people who beg for interest in their research. So when Leoryna pretended to know about the paper, Khalid had responded to it.
Leoryna tried to recall the paper’s contents, but after reading so many papers, her memory of anything about rabbit tails was hazy. So she simply began spouting generic praise.
“I think it’s excellent research. It’s still in an early stage and needs follow-up studies in some areas, but with proper application, it could have practical value. I believe that once the research is realized, it will find some use somewhere.”
It was the kind of bland statement that could be attached to any paper, yet Khalid seemed entirely satisfied with it.
“Really? Do you think it has potential?”
“Yes!”
“Right? You think so too?”
“Absolutely, absolutely.”
Leoryna rubbed her hands together eagerly, her face the picture of cunning flattery. Unaware that he was being flattered, Khalid chuckled with delight.
Satisfied with her response, Khalid strode purposefully toward the bookshelf and began pulling down books without hesitation.
“I was actually wondering what to assign you. I’ve dealt with the backlog of miscellaneous tasks, and you need to settle on a research topic anyway.”
With a wave of his hand, Khalid levitated the selected books in mid-air, then turned to look at Leoryna with his eyes curved into crescents. At that moment, an inexplicable chill ran down Leoryna’s spine, and goosebumps erupted across her skin.
“Since you found that paper so impressive, this works out perfectly. It should be ideal for this semester’s assignment.”
At Khalid’s gesture, the books floating in the air flew toward Leoryna.
“Find at least three fields where rabbit tail growth methods could be applied, and think about how to adapt them. Use these books as reference material for your research.”
“…Yes?”
“Well, I wasn’t confident I could continue the research alone anyway, so I’m relieved someone appeared to share the workload. Don’t worry—I’ll help out whenever I can, so ask if you run into any difficulties.”
Khalid patted Leoryna’s shoulder with a relieved expression. In contrast, Leoryna asked with a reluctant look on her face.
“Then how long should I work on this?”
“Well, I haven’t really thought about a specific deadline, but having one does help the mind work better. About a month?”
“A, a month?”
“Too short?”
“No, I’ll do it.”
Leoryna nodded, thinking that assassinating Khalid before then would be the end of it all. At her innocent response, Khalid smirked to himself where Leoryna couldn’t see.
“And copy these lecture materials for me.”
“Yes, sir!”
“Once you’re done with that, find and organize the contents I’ve marked in these books from that collection over there. I need them for the undergraduate lectures.”
Leoryna looked at the mountain of books piled in one corner of Khalid’s Professor’s Office.
‘Aren’t those the same books that hit Meryl in the head on my first day?’
She asked in a trembling voice, desperately hoping she’d misheard.
“F, from all of these?”
“Including all the books in the Research Laboratory as well.”
“Ugh….”
As Leoryna let out a groan and narrowed her eyes, Khalid’s expression turned disappointed.
“Can’t you do it?”
“No! I’ll do it. I can do it!”
Leoryna quickly recovered her bright smile and clenched her fists tightly.
“Then I’m off to teach a class.”
“Yes, have a good class!”
As Khalid headed toward the Lecture Hall with Leoryna’s farewell, the corners of his mouth twitched upward.
“This time, I need to make sure this troublemaker doesn’t run away.”
A few undergraduates who caught sight of his face as he passed by flinched and quickened their pace, hurrying past Khalid.
The typically dour professor’s smirk had an unsettling effect on the students’ hearts, though Khalid himself remained oblivious.

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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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