WE TRIED TRANSLATIONS

Surviving the Assassin Academy as a Professor

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

Chapter 18: Bones! (5)

My bond with Elize had increased by a whopping 15 points, the highest increase so far. I was satisfied with the result.

Still, even if the mood was good, I couldn’t afford to lower my guard.

【 Black Dragon Division, First-Year, Elize: Hm. The professor smells nice. 】

My instincts told me right away that despite the increase, our bond level was still low. It was nowhere near enough to guarantee my safety from Elize.

I suspected it would need to hit at least 100 before she stopped considering assassinating me. 

With my recent power-ups, I felt confident I wouldn’t be killed by cadets anytime soon.  But still, I had no intention of letting my guard down. 

This world wasn’t designed to be so forgiving.

【 Black Dragon Division, First-Year, Elize: I wonder if his blood smells just as nice. I’m curious now. I wanna assassinate him… 】

See what I mean? This girl has so many screws loose.

I could see this pink retriever’s imaginary tail slowly stop wagging as her gaze turned serious.

【 Black Dragon Division, First-Year, Elize: Assassination… 】

Her eyes shifted, and her ears twitched as she scanned for any presence outside the infirmary room. 

【 Black Dragon Division, First-Year, Elize: No witnesses around us. 】

But before she could try anything crazy, I quickly interrupted her flow.

“Elize Csikos.”

“Yes?” she responded brightly.

“Don’t even think about it.”

【 Black Dragon Division, First-Year, Elize: ……! 】

She flinched, clearly startled by my words.

“W-W-What do you mean…?” she stammered

“You know exactly what I mean.”

“I do…?” She averted her eyes, mumbling. “I… d-don’t know what you mean…”

I smacked her lightly on the head with the file folder in my hand.

Thunk!

“Kyaa—!”

Anyway, that was the end of my visit with Elize.

* * *

“Get some rest.”

“See you later, Professor.”

As Professor Dante left the room, Elize waved her hand goodbye.

Once he left, she flopped back onto the center of her bed, her pink hair spreading out like a fan. 

She stared blankly into emptiness, lost in her own thoughts.

Hm?

Now that she thought about it, something strange had happened.

There have been many moments in her life when her aggression ran rampant and uncontrollable.

Those episodes had continued even after her father’s disappearance. Because of them, she’d lived a rather difficult life.

Hm???

Elize had clearly felt herself slipping into that uncontrollable state again. The nosebleed was proof of it. 

But something was slightly different this time.

Whenever she entered the 『Walkway Through the Oak Forest』 state, Elize moved solely to kill her target—everything else faded away. 

She acted blindly and instinctively. If anything or anyone interfered, she would eliminate the interference first and immediately return to her target.

She might have attempted to kill Professor Dante if things had gone even slightly wrong.

Though... Professor Dante was strong enough that he wouldn’t have died. Probably.

Still, their surroundings would’ve been drenched in blood inside the 『Veil of Darkness』.

Elize would’ve bled from her eyes, then vomited blood before passing out.

That was always how her episodes ended.

That was the only way they ever ended—unless her father stopped her.

That was how it had always been.

But this time, Professor Dante had stopped it. He was the first to do so after her father.

How had he done it?

Elize continued pondering it, but eventually, she forgot what she was thinking about. 

Her eyes wandered up to the ceiling, where they landed on a dumbbell-shaped pattern on the tiles.

Bone…?

It was just another day in Elize's life.

The next day, to no one’s surprise, the same quest message popped up in my vision:

┃ New Objective: [Neutral Professor Forum]

┃ Reward: Star Shard ×5

This was the fourth time now.

I was prepared to never attend another forum if this one got canceled, too.

But to my surprise, there was no announcement of cancellation as I entered the seminar hall.

Instead, a few neutral professors shot me sharp looks. Among them was the one I’d shoved back when I went to help Elize.

Well, too bad for them. I don’t care for manners.

My profession was similar to being a back-alley thug by nature.

After all, I was an assassin. 

Among the three main combatant classes—warrior, mage, and assassin—the latter was often seen as the crudest, most boorish, and lowest of the low.

Still, a professor was a professor. Everyone was doing their best to maintain a sense of dignity.

But I knew all too well just how paper-thin this so-called dignity was among professors of the Assassin Department.

【 Neutral Professor, Gula: Acts as arrogant as he looks. Probably thinks he’s something special. 】

【 Neutral Professor, Badrock: This Professor Dante… He’s still unaware of his position. Heh, I’ve seen guys like that back in my days, too. 】

Pathetic and narrow-minded, all of them.

After a few minutes, an announcement echoed through the hall.

“Please rise and welcome Chief Professor Battalion onto the stage.”

Finally, after four attempts at attending this damned forum, the Chief Professor was actually showing up.

● Sniping Studies, Chief Professor, Battalion

It was Chief Professor Battalion, the Grandmaster-rated assassin with a global ranking of 415.

A monster of a professor. A reliable pillar not just of the academy, but of the entire Kingdom of Hiaka.

…Doesn’t matter to me, though.

Sure, he was impressive. But he had nothing to do with me.

“…First, allow me to apologize as Chief Professor for the three canceled forums. I am ashamed to have wasted everyone’s time.”

Before the forum got underway, the chief professor began with a few words of apology.

But then, his next words dropped a bombshell no one had expected.

The canceled forums were not just scheduling problems; something more serious was happening.

 “For the past three days, the elite members of my assassin squad, along with the squads of the other neutral chief professors, were targeted and killed.”

The room buzzed in confusion and shock.

“What?”

“Huh??”

Battalion ignored the commotion and continued.

“All three who were attacked held core positions in our squads. And all three are now dead. One of them was from the Battalion Assassin Squad… my top disciple.”

He went on to warn everyone to be careful, noting that only members of the neutral faction were being targeted.

“Huh. What is going on…?”

“So all those canceled forums were because of funerals?”

The other neutral professors clearly hadn’t known a thing about this.

“Who the hell could it be…?”

As they muttered among themselves, I read the thoughts of Chief Professor Battalion through the 【textbox】.

The situation… was far worse than it seemed.

“So, who was the culprit, Chief Professor?”

“Have you caught them yet?”

Questions sprang up from the crowd. But Battalion let out a long sigh.

“We are still in the middle of investigating.”

“Who on earth could it be…?”

That’s a lie.

He knew exactly who it was.

And now, so did I.

Although Princess Rebecca was a cadet of the Black Dragon Division, she wasn’t particularly skilled compared to her peers.

In fact, she was likely the weakest of the Black Dragon cadets, even though she trained herself to exhaustion every day, where no one could see.

Nevertheless, she had one gift that stood overwhelmingly above the rest.

Rebecca could see mana.

For reasons unknown, she had always been able to perceive the gaps in 『Barriers』 since childhood.

『Barrier』 was a defensive spell shaped like a hemisphere, protecting the user from all directions. The mana inside constantly circulated to replenish what was dissipated on the outer shell. 

To make a comparison, it was like a roundabout—cars followed the rules, but at certain points, they would pause and hesitate, trying to read and predict each other’s movements before proceeding.

Rebecca could spot the inevitable collisions between mana particles at those brief junctions in circulation.

It lasted only a fraction of a second, appearing as a single, tiny point in space. 

But all they had to do was aim for the center of that phenomenon.

“Fire.”

Click.

Balmung pulled the trigger of 「Siegfried⚉」, the jet-black Legendary Ⅰ-grade sniper rifle.

The bullet, cloaked in darkness, flew 3,000 meters into the distance in the blink of an eye. It sliced through the blue sky, grazed a bird mid-flight, pierced the window of a building, burst through the other side, and cut through the trees and foliage...

Then it finally slipped through the target’s barrier, exploiting the gap that Rebecca had seen.

Thud!

A middle-aged man collapsed instantly to the floor as the nearby assassins froze in shock. Blood gushed from his forehead.

“Target hit.”

“Confirmed.”

“Let’s move, Your Highness.”

They were both calm and quiet, like any other day.

As they began packing up, Balmung spoke.

“You have… peculiar tastes, Your Highness.”

“What do you mean?”

“Ordering a hit from inside the target’s own home… from his daughter’s bedroom, no less.”

Truly. They were currently inside the traitor's house, specifically, his 12-year-old daughter’s room.

The girl was safe. She was simply at school.

The room was vibrant pink and filled with dolls. Rebecca glanced around without much thought, then spotted a family drawing—presumably drawn by the child.

She approached it. 

It read, “To our darling daughter, we love you so much,” written in the father’s penmanship. 

The same man who had just been shot dead.

The princess stared at the drawing silently, then asked in a low, growling voice, “…Why would he betray us?”

“Pardon?” Balmung looked confused. “Wasn’t it for money? The Kingdom of Kreutz offered the chief professors a fortune, didn’t they?”

“Still.”

“Still?”

“He should’ve protected her if he loved her.”

Balmung had nothing to say. He watched her in silence. 

Rebecca’s eyes fell on the girl in the drawing again. She gazed at it for a moment before murmuring with a sigh, “…Poor child.”

A cold smile crossed her lips.

The princess gently stroked the drawn hair of the little girl, as if she were truly there. 

“He must’ve loved money more than he loved you. Just like…”

Her voice faded, swallowed by silence.

⋮

After clearing away all traces of their presence, Rebecca and Balmung quickly fled the scene.

“So, is it over now?”

“For the time being.”

“Thank you for your work these past few days.”

The two had recently assassinated multiple traitors—monsters who planned to abandon the nation and betray Hiaka Academy.

“But even if they were supposedly the core members of the rebellion, was that really enough?”

“Why? Would you prefer we went after the chief professors? We're not capable of killing them. We’ve done our best to tie up loose ends and prevent as much trouble.”

“Ah, that’s true.”

A vehicle approached from a distance.

The princess’s elderly knight and shadow operative waited inside.

“Your Highness!” Sir Cheng-ru exclaimed.

“Please get in!” Dame Reim added.

With that, Rebecca and Balmung’s safety was secured. These two escorts could be trusted.

But the boy in glasses wasn’t satisfied.

Hm… It was a bit dull. How disappointing.

The assassinations had been far too easy, despite their targets being Tier 2 combatants, ranging from Emerald to Diamond-rated individuals. In other words, they were in the top 4% to 1% of combatants worldwide.

…I thought it’d be different this time.

Each assassination ought to offer a lesson. But after four recent kills, Balmung had learned nothing.

Assassinating weak targets is such a letdown. But if I go after the strong ones, I’ll probably die.

That was why he needed assassination spars and a professor who could guide him...

And once again, the question resurfaced in his mind. 

Just how strong is Professor Dante?

Having returned to Zone 0, Balmung hurried toward the Moon Shadow Dormitory.

“Huh? Isn’t that Balmung…?”

“What’s he doing here…?”

The cadets inside were stunned. All eyes turned toward him. 

He was an elite cadet of the Black Dragon Division, the realm they all dreamed of reaching.

Furthermore, he was the son of the Nibelung Family, the top organization within Hiaka’s Black Path faction.

And yet, strangely, he looked like a fallen angel—stripped of everything, cast down from those lofty heights to roam among them in the Moon Shadow Dormitory.

Ignoring the stares, Balmung headed straight for Marina’s room.

“Marina.”

She was holed up in her private quarters, covered in wounds. Upon seeing Balmung, she scoffed.

“…What’s this? You never even glanced at me during all those years I followed you around. And now you come looking for me?”

“It’s been a while. How are you doing?”

“I got stabbed in the gut—how do you think I’m doing? So, why are you here? Did you come to mock or scold me, too?”

“No. Your fight with Elize doesn’t concern me. I’m here because I’m curious about something.”

“…What is it?”

“How did Professor Dante stop your fight?”

The question had been on his mind for a while now, and it was one shared by many first-year cadets.

“Of course, you’d also ask me that. Why do you wanna know?”

“Because I’m curious.”

“…What if I don’t want to tell you?”

“Please.”

Marina sighed.

“…Nope. Not telling you.”

In the end, she kept her thoughts to herself.

But the moment Dante was brought up, she grew restless and visibly uncomfortable, changing the subject again and again. The scent of fear she exuded was intense.

And that was enough to convince Balmung.

He must be incredibly powerful.

It was proof that his instincts were correct. In fact, Kaiser was also right.

Only then did Balmung’s heart and mind settle.

But his question still hadn’t been answered. He still didn’t know how strong Dante truly was.

He couldn’t stand it anymore. He had to find out for himself.

Soon afterward, Balmung picked up 「Siegfried⚉」 and climbed the clock tower in Zone 0 to find Professor Dante.

After checking the professors’ schedules on his crystal ball watch, he spotted Dante exiting the seminar building, roughly 3,500 meters away.

He raised his rifle, peeked through the scope, and aimed the barrel at the professor.

To Balmung, the “trigger” was a button of trust—a button that, when pulled, would always result in the death of the person in the crosshairs.

The targets he’d taken down in the past few days flashed through his mind.

Maybe this man will also die if I pull it now…

But he decided to keep watching for the time being. 

Then Dante suddenly approached another professor and began asking something.

Ah, isn’t that…?

It was the neutral chief professor, Battalion. A top-class powerhouse even among the chief professors.

Balmung had requested to spar with him several times, and each time, he’d been refused with lazy disinterest. 

Moreover, Balmung had recently killed that man’s protégé and top disciple.

…Should I take them both out?

It was nothing more than a fleeting thought.

He zoomed in further to get a better look at Dante and Battalion.

But to his bewilderment, the professor turned his head toward the clock tower just as the scope reached maximum zoom.

Their eyes met.

……!!

Balmung flinched and tore his gaze away.

3,500 meters—that was how far away he was. A distance where even houses looked like specks of dust.

It was farther than any distance he'd ever sniped from.

And yet, Professor Dante had sensed his faint killing intent from that range.

What was even more shocking was that Battalion, the chief professor, noticed him only half a beat later.

The great chief professor reacted more slowly than Professor Dante.

…Hah!

Balmung quickly ducked behind the wall.

And with that, a certainty bloomed within his mind.

Professor Dante exists in a realm beyond that of even the chief professors…!

If he had a tail, it would’ve been wagging uncontrollably. Balmung was ecstatic. 

He couldn’t help but chuckle aloud.

“Haha…! You think he’s weak, huh?” he muttered mockingly. “You really don’t know shit, Kendrake… You birdbrained jackass.”

┃ Bond Increased: Balmung [14] (▲8)

┃ Reward: Star Shards ×8

Huh?

My bond with Balmung had suddenly spiked.

A few seconds ago, someone’s hostile intentions had appeared in my【textbox】.

I checked the minimap to find their location, but since it was too far away, I could only gauge the general direction and distance.

Then, just as suddenly, the hostile intent vanished. 

Immediately afterward, Professor Battalion tilted his head. 

“…Hmm? There was a sniper just now. Did you notice?”

“I’m not sure.”

“Hmm. Well, we are in Zone 0 after all… So, what was it you wanted to ask me?”

Back to the main topic.

“It’s about the ones who attacked the neutral chief professors’ assassin squads.”

“Ah, yes.”

“Could they be affiliated with the Kingdom of Kreutz?”

“Hm? Why do you think that?”

The Kingdom of Kreutz, Hiaka’s rival nation.

“Well…”

I casually revealed some insider knowledge I knew as a seasoned player and brought up the decline of Hiaka’s Assassin Department.

Professor Battalion’s eyes gradually narrowed.

【 Neutral Chief Professor, Battalion: Impressive insight. 】

But as I went on...

【 Neutral Chief Professor, Battalion: Wait, how does he know so much…? 】

He began to grow more serious.

【 Neutral Chief Professor, Battalion: Does he know something special? Or does he simply have a sharp instinct…? 】

I stopped talking before his suspicion could grow further.

Then, Professor Battalion smiled brightly behind his monocle.

“My apologies, Professor Dante. Your theory sounds plausible, but I don’t know anything for certain.”

“By that, you mean…”

“Exactly that. I do not know. However, I doubt Kreutz was behind the attack. Personally, I suspect it was an inside job.”

He spoke vaguely, but my【textbox】told a different story.

【 Neutral Chief Professor, Battalion: It was probably Princess Rebecca, that filthy wench. 】

“Don’t worry too much about it. Now then, I shall take my leave.”

As I watched the chief professor walk away, my gaze narrowed.

【 Neutral Chief Professor, Battalion: I should make sure everyone stays quiet. The dean may already be aware if even a new professor is starting to figure things out. Not that it matters now. 】

No matter how cunning someone was, they couldn’t deceive themselves. And those who couldn’t deceive themselves… 

【 Neutral Chief Professor, Battalion: I’ve already made all the preparations to leave Hiaka… Just a couple of months left to endure. Can’t wait to finally leave this filthy country. 】

Could never deceive me.

Well, my 【textbox】, to be precise.

After seeing the chief professor off, I returned home as well.

My thoughts were a tangled mess.

The chief professors are betraying Hiaka. And having discovered this, Rebecca is assassinating the traitors.

This was a turning point.

The game Hiaka Academy: The Assassin Department comprised seven to thirteen main storylines before the final chapter.

And as I had previously anticipated, the most difficult early-game storyline was beginning to unfold in this world.

…Of course, the first trial just happens to be the hardest one.

Once ranked fifth on the continent, our academy had been in steep decline over the past few years.

This upcoming event would mark the final blow in its downfall—the collective betrayal and defection of the chief professors.

The name of this storyline was:

「Main Story 1: Treason and Collapse」

What made it so hard was that, in contrast to other arcs that build toward an ending, this one began after the conclusion of a story.

To put it another way, Battalion had already smuggled out the money, gear, tech, and assassins to another country.

The traitors were just waiting for the right day to strike. 

So even if I acted now, it would only accelerate the fall of the academy.

Moreover, accompanying this first main story was the appearance of demons, enemies of both the player and all humanity.

The difficulty’s high, but it’s not that bad.

As long as I didn’t die, I was confident that I could revive the academy using the same genius kids who were designed to kill me.

In fact, I was confident I could turn this world on its head and shake it to its core.

I was a veteran of the game, after all.

Though... I will have to be very cautious about the demons.

In any case, being aware of this upcoming crisis in advance was more than enough for me.

The dean probably knew of it, and the chief professors knew the dean knew.

As for me, there was nothing I could do to change them.

I would simply keep living as I had been—obtaining Star Shards, increasing my bonds, and getting stronger.

I simply had to live my life as a professor.

┃ Objective Completed: [Neutral Professor Forum]

┃ Reward: Star Shards ×5

< Star Shards in Possession: 62 >

Bones! – END

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