The Graduate Student Wants to Assassinate the Professor - Chapter 46
—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————
Chapter 46
It didn’t take long for the two of us to arrive at the Academy.
The Academy’s festival spanned two days, and today the entire campus buzzed with vibrant energy.
Leoryna waved dismissively at Khalid as she spoke.
“I have some business to attend to, so I’ll stop by somewhere else briefly.”
“What business? Didn’t you hear what I said earlier? I told you not to leave the Research Laboratory for a while?”
“I’ll handle it quickly and then do as you say.”
“Then I’ll come with you.”
“It’s personal business, so I’d rather not go with you, Professor.”
Khalid’s expression visibly wounded at her words.
“But it’s dangerous….”
Leoryna crossed her arms and glared at Khalid.
“…Fine.”
Faced with Leoryna’s stubborn resolve, Khalid had no choice but to relent. Instead, he pressed something into her hands.
“What is this?”
“A whistle.”
True to Khalid’s words, it was a silver whistle suspended from a necklace cord.
“If anything happens, blow it. Then I’ll receive the signal immediately.”
“I see….”
Leoryna accepted it half-heartedly and stuffed it carelessly into my pocket.
“Then I’ll take care of my business and head straight back to the Research Laboratory, so please don’t worry too much.”
“Understood. You’ll really come back quickly, right?”
Only after reassuring the still-anxious Khalid multiple times could Leoryna finally head toward the Pharmacy Booth. The Pharmacy Department students recognized her.
“Oh! You’re the one who played the game at our booth yesterday, aren’t you? Did you happen to use the elixir?”
“Unfortunately, I became unable to use that elixir for certain reasons.”
Leoryna’s face showed genuine disappointment as she smacked her lips.
“So I was wondering… could I purchase more of the elixirs you handle?”
The students waved their hands apologetically at Leoryna’s request.
“Those are strictly for the event, so we can’t just give them away.”
“I see? Then….”
Leoryna pulled out her thick wallet and spoke.
“I’ll purchase them officially.”
“?”
“All varieties of the elixirs you handle.”
“?!”
The Pharmacy Students stared at Leoryna with wide eyes.
As they exchanged glances, unsure how to respond, their Department Head suddenly emerged from the back, rubbing both hands together.
“First of all, thank you, customer. We have several types of elixirs we handle—are you really going to purchase all of them?”
“Not all of them—I’ll purchase only what I need. I’ll pay you handsomely for it. First, could you explain what kinds of elixirs you have available?”
“Wait, what are you planning to use those for?”
The Department Head asked cautiously, and Leoryna answered with confidence.
“Well, the psychological elixirs are… I’m planning to give them to my professor when he throws a fit. I’m a graduate student under Professor Huaderica, you see…”
As she made a gesture of wiping away tears, the Department Head and the Pharmacy Students finally understood, their faces lighting up with comprehension.
Khalid’s notorious reputation had spread across the entire campus, so the students were well aware of what kind of treatment Leoryna must be enduring.
“So I’d like to buy nerve stabilizers, or that medicine you gave me yesterday that makes people more forgiving… things like that.”
“Oh my, would you like some antidepressants too?”
The Department Head patted Leoryna’s back sympathetically, and Leoryna nodded delicately.
“And while I’m at it, I’d like to buy some elixirs that help when I’m sick. Since they’re more effective than regular medicine, I want to keep them on hand. Is that possible?”
“Of course.”
The Pharmacy Students, unaware of Leoryna’s true intentions, compassionately swept together various types of elixirs for the poor graduate student being oppressed by the tyrannical professor.
They had no idea that Leoryna was laughing to herself inside.
* * *
After hiding the now-heavy bag inside the cabinet, I retrieved one of the elixirs I’d purchased from the Pharmacy Department.
“Leoryna, has anything unusual happened while I was gone…?”
“Nothing at all. Would you like some tea?”
I cut off Khalid’s words—he’d somehow sensed my arrival at the Research Laboratory and followed me in—and began preparing tea.
Khalid, already accustomed to me brewing various types of tea for him, nodded without suspicion.
In truth, I’d been giving him poisoned tea all this time to test whether he had any immunity to toxins, but Khalid had no way of knowing that.
“Let me out too.”
As I was boiling water, Pongko, who was in the enclosure in one corner of the laboratory, made his request.
I took Pongko out and asked him.
“Pongko, don’t you want to see more of the festival?”
“The festival?”
Pongko’s ears perked up and his eyes gleamed.
“I’m going to be busy today too, so I’ll probably have to let you go alone. Want me to send you out?”
At those words, Pongko nodded eagerly.
“Yes! The festival is so much fun!”
I opened the door and let Pongko out. Unaware of anything, he hopped away cheerfully to enjoy the festival and disappeared.
With the nuisance gone, I laughed to myself.
Today I was adding medicine instead of poison, so I’d deliberately prepared a strongly aromatic tea. The elixir could emit an odd smell after all.
But the moment I handed Khalid the teacup, he furrowed his brow.
“What kind of tea is this? The smell is strange.”
‘How sensitive,’ I thought.
“It’s a tea that’s good for your health. Don’t be like that—just try a sip.”
At my insistence, Khalid drank it without suspicion.
I laughed quietly to myself.
‘Come on, let the medicine take effect.’
For reference, the potion Leoryna had given Khalid was one designed to generate heat within the body.
She had been warned that it was formulated for hypothermia patients, and drinking it in a normal state could instead cause dangerously high fevers—she was explicitly told never to consume it. Yet Leoryna had cleanly ignored the medication instructions.
The reason Leoryna had administered this miraculous potion to Khalid was to strip off his clothes.
That is to say, not for purposes unsuitable for minors, but to remove his outer garment saturated with magical inscriptions and eliminate obstacles to the assassination.
‘If he gets hot enough, he’ll have no choice but to take it off.’
Leoryna feigned indifference while waiting for the potion to work.
After several minutes had passed, Khalid—who had been watching her organize her papers—murmured aloud.
“Isn’t it getting rather warm?”
To his words, Leoryna answered as if she hadn’t heard.
“Are you feeling hot?”
“Yes, it does seem warm. That’s strange. There’s temperature-regulating magic woven into my clothes.”
“I’ll open the window for you.”
As Leoryna opened the window, Khalid moved in front of it to catch the breeze. But the spring weather, mild as it was, could not cool the heat burning through him.
“Hmm… why is my body like this?”
He wiped the sweat trickling down his forehead and fanned himself with his hand.
“The temperature is fine, but this fever means the problem is with my body itself…”
“A problem with your body?”
Leoryna, still playing innocent, placed her hand on Khalid’s forehead.
“Professor, you seem to be running a fever.”
“Really?”
Khalid was now breathing heavily.
“A fever coming on this suddenly?”
“Your condition doesn’t seem good.”
Leoryna offered feigned concern.
“No, aside from the heat, everything else feels fine…”
“Heat is the problem, isn’t it? Then take off that garment first.”
At Leoryna’s suggestion, Khalid instead drew his clothes tighter and shook his head.
“I can’t.”
“What? Why not? You’d feel cooler if you removed your clothes. With your body generating heat, keeping them on isn’t good for you either.”
“That may be true, but I cannot remove these clothes.”
“Taking off those clothes won’t cause any great disaster. Just remove them.”
Leoryna pulled at the hem of his garment, but Khalid stubbornly resisted.
“I can’t! If I take off these clothes, something terrible will happen!”
“So what exactly will happen if you do?”
Leoryna was puzzled, yet she did not stop tugging at his garment. But Khalid was equally obstinate.
“I can’t… don’t touch the clothes…”
Khalid, who had been struggling with Leoryna, suddenly collapsed.
“Professor? Professor? Are you alright?”
Leoryna, alarmed, shook Khalid as he lay crumpled on the floor. Even through his clothes, she could feel his body burning intensely.
‘I never expected the medicine to be this potent.’
Leoryna scratched her head as she looked down at Khalid, who lay before her half-conscious and groaning in distress. But she quickly regained her composure.
‘Most living creatures suffer brain damage from high fevers, which is dangerous. If I leave Khalid like this, the fever will kill him.’
Still, she had to maintain the appearance of caring for him with concern. That way, even if word of this situation reached others, she could avoid suspicion.
—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————