The Graduate Student Wants to Assassinate the Professor - Chapter 7

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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 7

Leoryna dragged herself into the Professor’s Office, forcing a cheerful demeanor as she yanked the door open.
“Good morning, Professor! What a lovely day!”
Khalid sat at his desk with his face buried in his hands. Leoryna rushed over in alarm.
“Professor, what’s wrong? Are you unwell?”
‘Please don’t let the poison be taking effect now. I’m begging you!’
Khalid muttered in response to Leoryna’s concerned words, which concealed her true thoughts perfectly.
“Damn it, I hate Mondays… I hate teaching…”
You too?
Leoryna suppressed the urge to smack Khalid on the back of the head with a book.
“But Professor, how can you hate teaching?”
“Because all the students hate me. So I don’t want to teach.”
He sounded like a bullied teenager drowning in self-pity.
‘Look at the way you conduct yourself. Is it any wonder they don’t like you?’
Still, she couldn’t voice such thoughts aloud.
“Then what if you took a day off from teaching?”
Leoryna made the suggestion while accommodating Khalid’s mood, but his eyes suddenly widened.
“A day off? That’s unthinkable for me. If I’m going to study, I must do it thoroughly.”
Why did he have to be so conscientious about that particular aspect?
“Then I’m afraid you’ll have no choice but to teach.”
“Ugh… just thinking about facing those monkeys who can’t understand a word I say makes me dizzy.”
Leoryna wanted to refute each of his complaints, but right now, soothing and coaxing him took priority. She had to get him to teach the lecture, after all.
“Your lessons are at your level, which is why they find it difficult. And you give far too many pop quizzes.”
“Without doing that, they won’t actually learn.”
“Even if you don’t push them so hard, the students will manage on their own. Please don’t worry so much.”
“If the students managed on their own, would their test scores be in such a state?”
They’re in that state because you make the material so difficult.
Leoryna pushed down the words she wanted to say into the depths of her mind.
“The Advanced Magic Theory Course is the most fundamental discipline for mages. If you explain it a bit more simply, everyone will understand.”
“I can’t do that.”
Khalid, who had been whining in his state of apathy, suddenly lifted his head with a snap.
“Oh, that’s it!”
He looked at Leoryna with sparkling eyes.
And if there was one thing Leoryna had learned from dealing with Khalid so far, it was that whenever he looked at her with those eyes, disaster always followed.
“You can teach the class instead!”
“Me?”
“Yes! Like you said, any mage who graduated from the University Academy would know the Advanced Magic Theory Course, right? You would too. So it would be better if you taught the introductory class instead of me, who has no talent for it!”
Leoryna had studied magic privately under her mentor after graduating from the High Academy, so she had never actually attended the University Academy. Still, she had received thorough education in the Advanced Magic Theory Course, but now he wanted her to teach it?
“Am I really allowed to do that?”
“Of course, of course. You’re a graduate student under the professor—practically an extension of his limbs. You’re acting as his proxy, his official proxy.”
“Haha, right. Since I’m a graduate student, I can stand in for the professor’s duties. Haha.”
‘Damn it!’
What Leoryna spoke aloud and what she was muttering internally were worlds apart.
‘Hell, why do I have to cater to Khalid’s moods?! Is this really the only way to get closer to that professor bastard?! Isn’t there something easier? Ugh, screw it… I hope he trips walking down the street and breaks his nose. Goddess Petila, I want to go home. Please.’
But Goddess Petila offered no new divine revelation, and Leoryna reluctantly checked how much material she needed to cover.
“Should I cover the material from here to here?”
“Hmm, that much should be about right. Though you could go a bit further if you’d like.”
Leoryna flashed a bright smile and gave Khalid a thumbs up.
“I’ll be going then! Please rest, Professor!”

* * *

‘How am I supposed to teach undergraduates, anyway?’
By the time Leoryna snapped back to reality from her worries about how to instruct the students, she was already standing before the Lecture Platform.
She turned to face the students, who were watching her with curious eyes, and greeted them first.
“Ah, nice to meet you all. I’m Leoryna Yuren, a graduate student under Professor Huaderica. Due to the professor’s personal circumstances today, I’ll be teaching the class in his place. Thank you for your understanding.”
The students stirred at her words.
“So the rumor was true. That a graduate student joined Professor Huaderica’s Research Laboratory.”
“This is insane. I thought it was some madman, but she looks surprisingly normal.”
“Isn’t she going to be sacrificed to dark magic soon?”
“Hey, I can hear all of that.”
Leoryna cleared her throat, and the students’ murmuring ceased. She tapped the desk with her hand and continued.
“Professor Huaderica isn’t that bad of a person. I haven’t been eaten, and I won’t become a sacrifice.”
‘As if I’d let something like that happen to me! But wait… saying he’s not that bad seems off. Didn’t he say he’d become a Demon King and start a war? Doesn’t that make him a villain-in-training?’
While Leoryna was momentarily lost in confusion, someone asked a question.
“Will the teaching assistant continue to teach the class for the professor going forward?”
The students all turned to look at Leoryna at once. Receiving their earnest gazes, she shook her head with an exasperated expression.
“That won’t happen. Today is just a temporary arrangement.”
At Leoryna’s words, the students visibly drooped. Unable to bear it, Leoryna let out a deep sigh and began to lecture them.
“The professor doesn’t want to teach because you students aren’t taking the class seriously. So in retaliation, he gives surprise pop quizzes and has me teach instead. Don’t you think it’s you students who need to do well in this course?”
“Well, I suppose so…”
“This is a required major course anyway. You can’t escape it no matter what. So at the very least, try to butter up the professor. He’ll be pleased right away if you show some interest. Just recently, when I pretended to know about one of his papers, he was so happy…”
Leoryna held back the urge to expose what happened after that and continued speaking.
“In any case, if you want to avoid pop quizzes, you should at least stop being afraid of the professor. And don’t skip class either.”
“Okay…”
The students answered half-heartedly.
Even after giving them advice, their response was lukewarm, and Leoryna clicked her tongue and opened the textbook.
‘I have no idea why I’m rehabilitating Khalid’s image.’

* * *

When Leoryna finally finished her classes and returned, Khalid had scattered something all over the Research Laboratory again. The space had reverted to the pigsty it was before she’d cleaned it.
Leoryna suppressed the mounting headache and approached Khalid with a carefully calculated smile.
“Professor, I’m back from teaching!”
Khalid lifted his head from whatever had captured his attention, and Leoryna planted herself before him with her arms crossed.
“Did I do well?”
“You did.”
“And the students won’t skip your lectures anymore. They promised me. I did well, didn’t I?”
Khalid’s face flooded with disbelief at those words. But Leoryna puffed out her chest and spoke.
“I’m serious.”
“Well, let’s say that’s true.”
Khalid fiddled with his experimental instruments and opened his mouth.
“Anyway, about what I’m experimenting with this time….”
Just then, someone burst through the Research Laboratory door.
“Khalid!”
Leoryna jumped in surprise, her feet leaving the ground.
Though she was an assassin and could normally detect even the faintest presence, this time she’d sensed nothing at all. For Leoryna, it was nothing short of an ambush.
Her hand reflexively moved to the dagger hidden at her waist.
Whether or not he noticed Leoryna’s wariness, the man who appeared in the Research Laboratory approached loudly and without tact.
“I heard all about it! You’ve taken a graduate student?!”
Metal clanged with every movement he made. He strode directly forward and seized Khalid by both shoulders, shaking him back and forth vigorously.
“Why? Why does he get a graduate student when I don’t?! Why! Why don’t I have one?! Only I don’t have a graduate student!”
“Zigzagel….”
Khalid didn’t even resist as the man who’d suddenly attacked him shook him around. Instead, he simply let himself be handled and released a deep sigh.
“You’re on sabbatical.”
“Sabbatical or whatever!”
Zigzagel, who’d retorted petulantly, finally seemed to notice the presence beside Khalid and whipped his head toward Leoryna.
“Is that you? Are you this fellow’s graduate student?!”
He tossed Khalid aside and scrutinized Leoryna from head to toe. Leoryna, in turn, could now examine the man carefully.
Zigzagel had long black hair gathered and tied high on his head, and his skin was pale as jade. His eyes were a vivid crimson—a color that couldn’t naturally occur in humans.
Sure enough, the tips of his ears were pointed. He appeared to be somewhat older than Khalid, though it was difficult to determine his exact age.
Unlike Khalid, he didn’t wear clothes intricately embroidered with magical formulas. Instead, he wore an extraordinary number of ornaments.
It was a wonder his neck hadn’t snapped under the weight of all those necklaces. His long fingers bore several rings each, and he wore earrings, bracelets, a belt, anklets….
Recognizing that all of these were magical artifacts crafted from processed mana stones, Leoryna spoke carefully.
“A dragon…?”

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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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