WE TRIED TRANSLATIONS

Surviving the Assassin Academy as a Professor

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

Chapter 15: Bones! (2)

In the past, there were two clans of canine beastfolk in Hiaka.

To use an analogy, one resembled Golden Retrievers, while the other resembled Dobermanns.

Oh, speak of the devil. There comes a Dobermann.

● Black Dragon Division, First-Year, Balmung

He was from the Black Path cartel, the Nibelung family, and was a descendant of the Dobermann beastfolk.

“Show yourself.”

At my command, the male student who had been hiding in the bushes appeared.

“Balmung, you’re a creep,” Elize said, frowning.

“Whatever… Hello, Professor.”

He gave a short bow.

Even though the two were both descendants of beastfolk, they gave off very different vibes.

If Elize was like cotton candy, Balmung felt more like metal.

He wore black rectangular glasses and had his hair slicked back with wax. His outfit had also been ironed to sharp precision, contrasting sharply with Elize’s wrinkled white shirt and harness.

“What were you doing, lurking around like that?” I asked.

“…Apologizes,” Balmung said. “I happened to spot you while training and was curious whether you would notice me while I remained concealed, Professor.”

“I do not like it when people try to test me.”

“Once again, I apologize. Still, you saw through it the moment I hid. I’m ashamed of my inadequacy.”

He bowed his head again.

The words symbolizing House Nibelung were obsession, tenacity, and loyalty… 

It appeared he had properly inherited those characteristics through his blood.

“If you have nothing else to do, come and sit.”

“Yes.”

His attitude was truly straightforward, enough to outperform a soldier.

Their personalities and behaviors were on opposite ends of the spectrum.

That was because Elize, the Retriever, came from a hunting dog lineage, while Balmung, the Dobermann, hailed from a military working dog lineage.

“Here, take this.”

I handed Balmung a balloon dog I had made.

He stared at it silently. 

According to the textbox, Balmung was puzzled as to why I was giving it to him. But he kept his stiff poker face on the outside.

“What are you doing? Take it.”

“Ah, yes. Thank you.”

“Balmung, do you want a flower too?” Elize offered.

“No. I’m fine.”

“Take it. The professor made this as well. It’s so pretty~”

Suddenly, Balmung found himself holding a balloon flower, a dog, a sword, and a giraffe in his hands.

But Elize didn’t give him a single bone.

“Here, take this too.”

So I made a new white balloon bone and handed it to him.

Now carrying armfuls of balloons, Balmung looked back and forth between me and the fake bone.

【 Black Dragon Division, First-Year, Balmung: What’s going on…? Why is he suddenly giving me something like that…? 】

He briefly hesitated, his brows furrowing ever so slightly.

Truly, his body and mind were dominated by pride, which wasn’t too surprising, considering he was raised as the son of a crime syndicate boss.

But in the end, he couldn’t overcome his urges...

【 Black Dragon Division, First-Year, Balmung: …Bone. 】

Because Dobermanns were still dogs.

┃ Bond Increased: Balmung [6] (▲6)

┃ Reward: Star Fragment ×6

Nice.

Afterward, I continued making various balloon models and giving them to Balmung. The boy kept accepting them, albeit reluctantly.

Eventually, he started questioning me as though we were in an interrogation.

“Do you often come to the central park on your days off?” he asked.

“It’s my first time here today. It’s nice and spacious. The scenery with the fallen leaves looks great.”

“Do you like nature?”

“It’s alright.”

“Ah, I see. I like it… Oh, um, the waffle stand over there is pretty tasty.”

“It did smell nice when I passed by it earlier.”

“It’s a local specialty. If you’d like, should I buy one for you?”

“No need.”

“I insist. I’ll pay for it.”

“I’ll give you the money, then.”

“No, there’s no need.”

“Take it. A professor shouldn’t make a cadet pay for their food.”

I tossed Balmung a 100 hika silver coin.

Still, I was somewhat confused.

Why were Elize and Balmung being so nice to me?

Maybe word had spread within the Black Dragon Division that they needed to treat me well in order to persuade me to become their supervisor.

After Balmung got off the bench and went to the waffle stand, Elize scooted closer and whispered in my ear.

“He doesn’t have a dad either…”

“Huh? Ah, I see.”

“Do you have one, Professor?”

“Me? I don’t.”

I didn’t. And apparently, Dante didn’t either.

“Hm. That means none of us have dads.”

For some reason, Elize started giggling innocently. Maybe she was a bit crazy in the head?

Soon, Balmung returned and handed me a waffle along with the change from the 100 hika. Wait, actually… he gave me back the silver coin I had given him. It seemed he had bought it with his own money.

Confused, a question mark popped over Elize’s head as she asked the boy, “Where’s mine?”

“You don’t have one.”

“So mean. Then where’s yours?”

“Don’t have one. I bought this for the professor. Why would I buy one for you and me?”

“You’re so mean. And creepy. And annoying.”

“Elize... Didn’t you sneak up on me, too?” I asked her, insinuating that she was the pot calling the kettle black.

“Not really. I knew I’d get caught anyway~ He’s creepy, but I was being cautious~”

The conversation had become chaotic and illegible.

I split my waffle into pieces and shared it with them both.

They quietly accepted it and ate with me.

This tastes good.

“Professor…”

That was when Balmung cautiously spoke again.

Perhaps he choked up a bit because he cleared his throat before continuing.

“Ahem, excuse me. Professor, what kind of training do you do?”

I was training right now, but I knew that wasn’t his question.

“Why do you ask?”

“Because you seem very strong for someone your age. I also want to become stronger.”

“Aren’t you plenty strong already? In fact, you all are.”

“That’s what they say. Kaiser even said that we’re probably at the top level for our age group across the whole continent.”

That was a clear fact.

But in a world where the average lifespan of high-rankers was 140 years, being young was a serious disadvantage.

“Everyone has their own methods. You specialize in Sniping, correct?”

“Yes, and a little in Magic, too.”

“When it comes to training those two ability types, your knowledge and mine differ greatly.”

And as of right now, it was better for a prodigy like him to learn on his own than for me to teach him.

“Ah, I see…”

The sun was starting to set.

“Well then, I’ll be heading back now.”

Since their very existence posed an assassination threat to me, I tried to get up and leave first. 

But then, Balmung also stood up.

“Professor, would you happen to be free tomorrow?” he asked.

“What for?”

“If it doesn’t bother you, may I request an assassination spar?” 

Balmung’s expression remained stiff.

An assassination spar was, as the name implied, the sparring version of an assassination duel.

“I really want to have a spar against you, Professor.”

“The reason?”

Balmung hesitated for a moment before answering. “Truth is, Kaiser said that if I ever sparred with you, Professor Dante, I’d have a major breakthrough.”

What a dumb thing to say… Kaiser had gotten the wrong idea about me being some kind of incredible assassin.

Furthermore, Balmung wasn’t just your ordinary cadet. If this prodigy came at me with full force, there was a real chance I’d die.

“I don’t partake in one-sided and meaningless fights,” I replied.

The corner of Balmung’s eye twitched, his pride as a prodigy clearly wounded.

“…I don’t believe it would be one-sided. I heard you were disappointed by the low-effort, insincere assassinations of the other cadets. But I swear I won’t let you down.”

The textbox showed his earnest desperation. He genuinely wanted to grow stronger.

But that still wasn’t enough reason for me to risk my life.

“That’s enough. We’ll talk another time.”

“…Yes. I apologize for my selfish request. Please take care, Professor. I’ll ask again next time.”

As I turned to leave, Elize joined me by my side and tagged along.

“You’re really just gonna go?” she asked.

“You should, too. It’s getting dark.”

“But it’s a shame.”

“What is?”

“I was gonna ask you for a spar too if you agreed to Balmung’s request.”

“No thanks.”

“Wow, how can you say that to your fellow fatherless people?”

I continued walking silently, ignoring her comment.

But it wasn’t like I couldn’t understand her point.

Fatherless folk ought to stick together.

Elize eventually waved goodbye after following me all the way back to the faculty building.

“See you again, Professor!”

Honestly, it felt like I had taken a walk with a very energetic puppy.

It felt quite strange considering this “puppy” was a human, but she was a nice girl.

* * *

“Bones~♪ Bones~♪”

Elize hugged her five balloon bones close, skipping her way back to the Black Dragon Dormitory.

A few girls from the Black Path were smoking cigarettes under the shade of a tree, frowning as they watched her.

“Look at her being all happy. Fucking bitch.”

The next day, another forum was canceled.

“Today’s forum of neutral faculty members will be canceled due to Chief Professor Battalion's urgent matters.”

It was because a chief professor wasn’t attending again.

Although it was a different chief professor from yesterday who couldn’t make it, the result was the same.

┃ Objective Canceled: [Neutral Professor Forum]

Another day, another canceled forum, another five Star Shards reduced to atoms…

The sheer passivity of these neutral professors was frustrating.

But not a single one of them voiced any real complaints.

“Yaaawn…”

“Shall we head out?”

They just yawned and left the forum room.

In contrast, Balmung’s obsession, deeply coded in his Dobermann lineage, was beginning to show.

“Professor.”

After I rejected his sparring request in the park, Balmung continued showing up repeatedly to make the same request.

“May I request an assassination spar?”

“I refuse.”

“Understood. Apologies for the bother.”

But even with my refusals, the requests kept pouring in throughout the day.

Sometimes in the hallways.

Other times in my office.

Out on the street too...

Eventually, I couldn’t handle it anymore and scowled.

“Balmung. Can you not? Go away.”

“Understood. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“No, no. I mean go away. Don’t come back next time.”

“Understood. I’m sorry.”

Just as I thought I’d finally shaken him off…

The next morning, there was a handwritten letter on my desk, written in a slanted, awkward penmanship.

‘Dear Respected Professor, I humbly request, as an assassin, to be taught just one time and—’

He was really pulling out all the stops.

Still, I regretfully turned him down again.

┃ New Objective: [Neutral Professor Forum]

┃ Reward: Star Shards ×5

Eventually, the forum was scheduled again.

Aaand canceled again.

“…Apologies, Professors. Today’s neutral professor forum is canceled due to a chief professor’s absence.”

This makes three in a row now. This is getting ridiculous, honestly.

I was getting annoyed by how spineless these neutral professors were.

“Jeez. This is a bit much. Three cancellations in a row…?”

“Well, what can you do?”

The herd of sheep—I mean, the group of professors—shuffled out of the seminar building.

However, just as we were leaving, we heard a loud commotion outside the building.

“Hey, bitch! You think you’re all that, huh?”

Huh. What’s going on?

What was up with this fuss in the middle of the damn day?

At the small plaza about 25 meters ahead of where the professors had gathered, a few female cadets were duking it out.

And they were even using their abilities.

“Come on, do it! Try me! Try me already!!”

On one side was a girl I recognized—Marina, an elite cadet from the Moon Shadow Division. She was from the Black Path, and I always saw her trailing behind Kendrake.

On the other side… Huh?

I frowned.

“…Stop this, alright? Please.”

It was Elize.

She was bleeding from the leg, caught in some sort of trap.

“C’mon, try me! Or did you piss your pants in terror? Can’t do anything other than yap like a bitch? Do it already!!”

They were ganging up on her, three-on-one, obviously bullying the girl.

What pissed me off more than that, though, was that the professors were simply standing there, watching and doing nothing at all.

Why aren’t they stepping in? This isn’t some assassination duel or anything, so it’s against the rules.

Then, I overheard the professors up front.

“Should we stop this? It’s getting serious…”

“Leave it.”

“Oh right, Professor Wiering is new to the academy. Marina is from the Black Path, while Elize is from the White Path. So why should we intervene? We are neutral after all.”

“Still… What if one of them dies…?”

“Surely they won’t go that far.”

“Let’s just see how it plays out. They’re probably just fighting over a love triangle or something.”

Once again, their lack of motivation and drive was the problem.

Unbelievable. So damn frustrating.

Three consecutive canceled forums. These professors’ idiotic nonchalance. Everything was just pissing me off today.

But what really set me off was that Elize was looking in our direction.

She was looking for help.

Yet not a single one of them moved. They just kept watching. Soon enough, the girls actually started fighting.

That’s it.

I stepped forward, shoving my way through the herd of sheep.

“Hey, what are you doing? Don’t push.”

One of them tried to shove me back, but my temper snapped.

“Out of my way. What, is this a show to you?”

“What did you just say?”

“I said, is this a show to you? You maggot.”

Stunned by my words, the neutral professor stared back dumbfounded, blinking like an idiot.

I glared at him and didn’t bother filtering my words.

“A child is bleeding, you moron.”

The other professors then froze.

I decided not to entertain them any longer and shoved past everyone down the steps, walking directly into the brawl.

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