The Graduate Student Wants to Assassinate the Professor - Chapter 9

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

Chapter 9

‘To assassinate Khalid, I’ll need to deceive Zigzagel as well.’
As I mixed the extracted lizard saliva into the reagent, I reached this conclusion alone and nodded to myself.
Cackle, cackle.
Zigzagel was laughing heartily with Khalid over something, his shoulders shaking with mirth.
Listening to their laughter while they claimed to be conducting joint research yet accomplished nothing but idle chatter, irritation gnawed at me. Dragon or not, I wanted to kill him on the spot.
The fact that I couldn’t was truly lamentable.
‘Zigzagel is also covered head to toe in magical artifacts. They say friends resemble each other—these two truly have no openings.’
Despite his casual demeanor, Khalid was quite attentive to his own safety.
‘When I first met him, I thought he was just a thoughtless, antisocial shut-in….’
After working with him for several weeks, I now understood he wrapped himself entirely in unique magical formulas and talismans. Though I still hadn’t identified the nature of those formulas, the mere memory of my failed poisoning attempt made it clear this would be no simple task.
So I needed to build intimacy with him to lower his guard, disarm him, and then strike at his throat when the opportunity arose—and now there was also the dragon to contend with. My head was already pounding.
I scratched my head vigorously.
‘Now it’s not enough to just deal with Khalid—I have to win Zigzagel’s favor too. Only then will they both let their guard down! Goddess Petila, isn’t this asking too much?’
At least Zigzagel seemed like a good person and was less reserved than Khalid.
‘If he’s close enough to be Khalid’s friend, that says everything.’
I mentally clicked my tongue and devised a new strategy.
If I needed to get close to two people, Zigzagel should be my priority. Once I became friendly with him, Khalid would naturally fall into place.
While I was deliberating alone, I suddenly realized Zigzagel was crouching right in front of my face, resting his chin on his hands.
“Aaah!”
Encountering an unexpected person in an unexpected position, I screamed involuntarily and toppled backward along with my chair.
‘This bastard! Is he messing with me now?’
I rubbed the spot where I’d hit the floor and looked at him questioningly, but Zigzagel paid no mind and asked with a grin.
“Does our graduate student drink alcohol?”
At this unexpected question, my eyebrows rose slightly.
“I can drink, but I don’t particularly enjoy it.”
“Is that so? Then starting today, let’s change that.”
Before I could even ask what he meant, Zigzagel grabbed the back of my neck and dragged me along.
“Come on. Since we’ve received our scale collection fees, I’ll treat.”
“Oh my, Professor Zigzagel is opening his wallet!”
Khalid followed behind Zigzagel like a puppy, his demeanor unusually cheerful compared to his normal self.

* * *

“Ugh, is this what living is supposed to be like?”
I woke from my bed, clutching my pounding head from the hangover, and immediately searched for water the moment I opened my eyes.
I had always prided myself on having decent alcohol tolerance. But this… this was a different problem entirely.

‘Come on, come on! Drink up! When an adult buys you a drink, you’re supposed to enjoy it!’
‘Well done, Leoryna. Drain Zigzagel’s wallet dry!’
‘Mmph, nngh!’

I couldn’t even remember how much alcohol Zigzagel had poured down my throat last night.
Just then, something rippled across the full-length mirror in Leoryna’s House. The moment I noticed it, the wavering form solidified into a person.
Standing in the mirror was a figure in priestly robes, their face concealed behind a mask.
“Leoryna, Leoryna.”
I forgot all about my hangover and bounded toward the mirror with a skip in my step.
“Oh, Zeles! It’s so good to see you like this!”
“Why, why are you so excessively happy to see me? We were never that close.”
The person called Zeles grimaced, but I embraced the mirror and rubbed my cheek against it, tears streaming down my face.
“It’s just that seeing someone who’s truly on my side after so long makes me so happy, that’s all.”
“Fine, fine. Just step back a bit so we can talk.”
I grumbled and took a step backward before asking.
“So what’s this about?”
“As you requested, I’ve brought information on Zigzagel. Even if he did take a sabbatical for ten years, the fact that our department had gaps in his records was our oversight, so I pulled some strings.”
“Oh, that was quick!”
As I stepped further back from the mirror, text began to materialize across its surface.

[Zigzagel. 433 years old. Eldest son of the Dark Dragon Learuaje. Has served as a professor at Halderion Academy for 47 years. Contact with Caladniel estimated to have begun 289 years ago.]

I was rapidly reading through the basic biographical information about Zigzagel when I stopped at a particular passage.

[124 years ago, suspected of involvement in Caladniel’s massacre of the 108-clan incident.]

“Hmm. He’s far more terrifying than I expected.”
I furrowed my brow and crossed my arms.
I had always assumed that Khalid slaughtering all 108 clan members alone was somewhat exaggerated. But if Zigzagel was involved, the story became far more plausible.
And this confirmed something crucial: Zigzagel was a man without hesitation when it came to taking lives.
Dragons and the Demon Race weren’t inherently without qualms about harming life. Typically, they shared the same moral resistance as humans—an aversion to needlessly taking life.
The rumors circulating about the Demon Race being cruel were clearly nothing but prejudice. Their hearts were not so different from those of humans.
Dragons were the same. Among them, there were certainly those who viewed humans as inferior. But that didn’t mean they treated human lives as casually as they would insects.
Yet Khalid and Zigzagel had overcome their moral resistance to murder and killed 108 people. Regardless of their reasons, no sane being would commit such an act.
I let out a groan and collapsed weakly.
“If I’m discovered, I’m dead too. To them, an assassin like me would be worth less than a worm.”
“Oh, poor Leoryna.”
Zeles clicked his tongue from within the mirror. I wrinkled my chin and whined.
“Zeles. If you pity me, won’t you swap assignments with me?”
“What nonsense are you spouting? I’m with the Information Department—how am I supposed to commit assassination? Stop talking foolishly and give me a report on your progress instead.”
“Sigh….”
I exhaled a deep breath.
“I have no idea how to make Khalid let his guard down. Beyond his personality, there are these enchantments woven into his clothes that prevent me from acting carelessly. There are even types of magic I’ve never seen before!”
“Then just strip them off. If you want to get closer to him, seduce him in a more suggestive way, no?”
As Zeles snapped his fingers and spoke, I regarded him with a contemptuous gaze.
“I don’t work that way!”
“True, you have no talent for that sort of thing.”
“Why does it hurt my pride when you say it like that?”
I scratched my head vigorously.
“In any case, this will take more time. And to deceive even Zigzagel, I need to embed my identity as a graduate student so deeply that even I can’t distinguish whether I’m acting or have truly become one.”
Having thought that far, I muttered again in a gloomy voice.
“Is there perhaps a simpler method?”
“The Papal Church’s position on this matter is firm. The plan to deceive and assassinate Caladniel remains unchanged. Get close to the target. Make him careless enough that he won’t wear those enchantment-laden clothes in front of you. What other method could there possibly be?”
“And when exactly am I supposed to carry out the assassination?”
“Who knows. It seemed His Holiness wasn’t eager to rush this matter. Besides, the oracle concerns a future event with some time remaining. He asked me to tell you he understands it may take a while.”
“You’re telling me to do this for months?!”
“Depending on circumstances, it could be. Just endure it well.”
Zeles clenched both his fists.
“We should end this communication here. If you need support from the Papal Church during your mission, send an automata.”
“Farewell, Zeles. If I die, come collect my body. By the way, I’d prefer to be buried on a hill overlooking a river.”
I spoke in a listless voice, but Zeles seemed to take it as a joke, laughing as he vanished from the mirror.
Left alone again, I slapped my own cheeks repeatedly.
“Right, get yourself together! Go to the Academy! Raise Khalid’s affection! And Zigzagel’s too, for good measure!”
Once more, I headed toward the Academy with spirited determination.

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————