WE TRIED TRANSLATIONS

Surviving the Assassin Academy as a Professor

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Chapter 32: Professor Assassination: Illusion Arts (3)

Elize beamed with a bright smile.

Even the sharp-tongued Luine had praised Professor Dante, calling his class “the best.”

She went around asking the other cadets for their opinions.

“Today’s class? Honestly, I’m still shocked. I think it’s the best class I’ve had recently.”

“I didn’t expect Professor Dante to be that good at Illusion Arts. It was amazing.”

“There were rumors before that he was an assassin who specialized in Combat or Magic. But at this level, isn’t he more of an Illusion Arts assassin instead…?”

As all the praise poured in, Elize’s nonexistent tail wagged in glee.

Professor Dante really must have been outstanding.

She had enjoyed the class herself and learned things she’d never even thought of before. But since she usually slept through other lectures, she couldn’t really compare him to other professors.

Still, if everyone’s reactions were this positive…

That night, Elize went to visit Gray in her room.

“Gray. Did you know?”

“Hm?”

“…Um.”

Elize hesitated for a moment before getting to the point. She stood there, fidgeting with an uneasy expression, then suddenly reached down and pressed Gray’s legs together.

“Don’t spread your legs like that when you’re sitting.”

“…That came out of nowhere. You actually care about this stuff?”

“Yeah.”

“I’m surprised. I didn’t think you had any common sense.”

Gray chuckled, her cat-like grin sharp as ever.

“But these are my legs. I can sit however I want.”

“No. What if someone sees your underwear?”

Gray whispered back with mock seriousness. 

“I usually wear undershorts to prevent that... Wait, no—why am I even discussing my sitting posture with you? Why are you here?”

Elize shook her head, looking determined.

“…I won’t tell you until you close your legs.”

Gray stared blankly at her for a moment. Then, with a sigh, she got off her chair, stood up, and spread her feet apart—front to back—slowly lowering herself into a full split.

Her hips touched the floor, legs in a perfect 180-degree angle.

She stayed in that absurdly flexible pose, her expression proud.

Elize clapped in amazement.

“Whoa, you’re really flexible!”

Gray puffed her chest with a smug grin.

“Right? I can even split them a bit more if I want―wait, no! Seriously, why are you here? Speak before I smack you.”

“Uh… I’ll tell you if you close your legs…”

Thwack!

In the end, Elize got smacked on the head.

“There’s a professor who’s incredible at Illusion Arts,” she said, gently rubbing the bump on her head, her eyes glistening.

“Who?”

“Professor Dante.”

“Dante…?”

Gray frowned. She was terrible with names.

“The professor who confiscated your dagger.”

“Oh.”

Now she remembered.

Dante—an interesting and peculiar professor.

He had saved Elize once before.

He’d also had an incredible sense of spatial awareness, casually ignoring Gray’s 『Swift Slash』 right in front of him. In fact, he was the first professor to ever confiscate one of her weapons.

He’s also the first opponent Kaiser ever lost to, isn’t he?

Thinking back on that incident, Gray couldn’t help but chuckle a little.

After his first-ever defeat at the hands of Professor Dante, Kaiser had completely broken down.

Whenever Dante’s name came up, Kaiser would tremble with rage. But sometimes, he’d frantically insist they had to make Dante their supervisor.

That monster of composure—who would probably stay calm and stone-faced even if his entire family were killed in front of him—transformed completely whenever it came to Dante.

He’s a professor I want to assassinate no matter what.

Balmung seemed oddly fond of Dante.

Kendrake weirdly seemed to loathe him.

But whether they liked or hated him, their emotions always swung to the extreme when it came to that man.

A truly unpredictable and strange professor—that was the image of Dante in Gray’s mind.

“…Huh? What did you just say?”

Having finished mulling over her thoughts, Gray blinked as she returned to the present.

“This Dante guy is good at Illusion Arts?” she repeated Elize’s words for confirmation.

“How good?”

Gray realized it was a pointless question as the words left her mouth.

Elize was terrible at explaining things properly.

…But then, one sentence shattered her expectations.

“Better than you, maybe?”

Elize’s round, innocent eyes blinked with complete sincerity. There wasn’t a trace of malice in her voice.

Still, Gray was offended. Illusion Arts was the one thing she took immense pride in.

“Better than me…?”

“Elize, you see my Illusion Arts every day, don’t you?”

“And you still think he’s better than me? Are you serious?”

“Yep yep.”

Gray was speechless. 

It was absurd. House Habanero was a prestigious clan with generations of expertise in Illusion Arts. And among them all, she was hailed the greatest genius, not just of the main family, but of every branch as well.

Never in her life had anyone told her she was second-best in Illusion Arts.

“…What did that professor even do?”

Still, Gray crossed her arms, half-offended and half-intrigued.

Elize brightened and began explaining what had happened in the recent class.

But it was like listening to someone who couldn’t tell camels and ostriches apart—or shouted “puppy!” whenever she saw a cat on the street and got distracted.

Even so, after enduring the girl’s bumbling explanation, it sounded as though the professor had performed some impressive Illusion Arts.

Still... everything Elize described was something Gray herself could already do.

This pink-haired airhead probably didn’t know her true capabilities.

“So why don’t you join the course and try learning from him? I’ll ask the professor for you.”

Gray furrowed her brows.

A professor could never—

Correction.

A newly appointed professor could never be qualified enough to teach her Illusion Arts.

She might consider it if it were a chief professor, but someone like Dante was…

“No thanks. Don’t bother. He doesn’t even sound like anything special.”

“Hmm?”

“Don’t ‘hmm?’ me. Want me to smack you again? Hmm?”

“No, it’s just… the professor was really good…”

“I can already do everything he did, okay? Enough. If that’s all you came to say, get out.”

Elize was promptly kicked out with a fierce rejection.

What a shame. To think she’d even refuse to take a look at him…

He really was good… Better than Gray…

But, what if—?

Hmm…

If Gray saw his illusions with her own eyes, maybe she would change her mind.

* * *

I had worried a lot about how to prepare for the Illusion Arts classes.

Word had already spread that I was fairly skilled in Illusion Arts, thanks to my use of it during the proxy assassination. So I couldn’t feign incompetence—it wouldn’t match my previous cover story.

And then there was 『World Forgery』.

It was a forbidden skill across the continent, so I had to be cautious.

Only clerics with strong divine power can detect forbidden skills. But if I raise enough suspicion, the academy might bring people from the Church to check…

At this point, I had two options.

I could either teach the cadets properly or deliberately teach them poorly.

It came down to the same dilemma I’d explained to the students: whether to reveal or to vanish when hiding something.

In the end, I chose to reveal.

In fact, I decided to pretend I was capable of expertly casting a wide variety of Illusion Arts.

As I had mentioned before, given my high proficiency in 『World Forgery』, I could be considered one of the best Illusion Arts assassins not just at the academy, but on the entire continent.

So the first lecture ended with great success. For the next few days, everything went smoothly.

But on the fourth afternoon of class, the threat I’d anticipated finally arrived.

【 Assassin Department, First-Year, Derek: “The professor’s here.” 】

It was at the indoor gymnasium on the ground floor of the Battalion Building.

I was planning to squeeze in a quick workout before meeting Adele in 20 minutes, but a few uninvited guests had other plans.

【 Assassin Department, First-Year, John: “Confirmed.” 】

【 Assassin Department, First-Year, Hwaru: “Confirmed!” 】

【 Assassin Department, First-Year, Dominic: « Ah, ah, testing. Confirmed. » 】

…They were planning a post-class review assassination.

Five of them in total, all cadets from my class.

And among them were Dominic and Hwaru—two familiar names I had encountered on my first day at work. 

【 Assassin Department, First-Year, Derek: « Activating telepathy. Everyone remembers the plan, right? » 】

【 Assassin Department, First-Year, John: « Confirmed. » 】

【 Assassin Department, First-Year, Hwaru: « Confirmed! » 】

Five red dots scattered across my minimap, moving into formation. 

This wasn’t just a spontaneous assassination... It was a thoroughly prepared and coordinated operation.

…What a headache.

Unlike the other professors, I couldn’t just brute-force my way through assassination attempts. I lacked the raw power for that. 

There was always a chance I could die.

Still, I didn’t want to hurt these kids unnecessarily—or worse, traumatize them.

If I intended to continue working in the Assassin Department, this was something I had to be ready for. 

——

– Dante: There’s an assassination attempt. I’ll see you later.

– Adele: Again?

– Adele: Professor, people try to kill you way too often lmao

– Adele: (laugh-crying squirrel emoji)

First things first, I let Adele know that I’d be late. 

Now, time to escape from these kids. 

【 Assassin Department, First-Year, Derek: « The professor’s moving. Team John, tail him. » 】

The operation began.

Crackle!

As I stepped into the gymnasium, sparks of mana danced along the back wall. Within seconds, the door at the center vanished.

They had overlaid a fake wall using Illusion Arts, an attempt to conceal the exit.

But I knew better.

If I approached the area where the sparks had crackled, I would find the door handle behind the illusion. 

Still, I didn’t reach for it. 

According to the minimap, two red dots were stationed just beyond that door, waiting to ambush me in the hallway. 

A two-stage trap.

【 Assassin Department, First-Year, John: « What’s the situation inside? Is the professor coming? » 】

【 Assassin Department, First-Year, Derek: « Not yet! He isn’t moving! » 】

First, I needed to disrupt their sight. 

『 World Forgery: Phenomenon Forgery [Smokescreen] 』

Fwoosh!

Thick, dark-gray smoke filled the gymnasium, curling all the way to the ceiling and cloaking the entire space in shadow.

【 Assassin Department, First-Year, Derek: « Ugh! Our vision’s compromised! » 】

As the cadets fell into disarray, I opened the hidden door behind the fake wall.

【 Assassin Department, First-Year, John: « He’s coming! Charge—! » 】

『 World Forgery: Spatial Forgery [Wall] 』

Just as the cadets in the hallway sprang forward, they stumbled to a stop. 

I had created a visual wall in front of the door they were waiting at. 

【 Assassin Department, First-Year, John: « …W-What the hell? Our path is blocked! » 】

Panicking, they activated Stealth and tried to fade away into the shadows, hoping to wait me out.

But then, footsteps echoed above.

Derek dropped down from the steel beams lining the gymnasium’s ceiling and crept toward the exit.

【 Assassin Department, First-Year, Derek: « Get a grip! That wall is an illusion too! » 】

【 Assassin Department, First-Year, John: « Damn it, you’re right! When did he…?! » 】

The two cadets in the hallway charged through the illusion and burst into the gymnasium.

They scoured the smoke-filled space, shouting, “Where is he?!”

But there was a reason I had used Spatial Forgery instead of Form Forgery.

The wall wasn’t physical. It was a manipulation of space—an intangible illusion.

So when they stormed into the gym, they ran right past me. I was standing inside the illusory wall, completely still. 

Having slipped through their ambush, I quietly walked down the hallway.

【 Assassin Department, First-Year, John: « Where the hell did the professor go?! » 】

【 Assassin Department, First-Year, Derek: « Calm down! It’s okay. I’ll track him with the 「Remote-Control Ring」. » 】

But it seemed they had more tricks up their sleeves. 

Just like the name suggested, the 「Remote-Control Ring」 was a Rare-grade magic tool that allowed the remote manipulation of mana. 

…They actually brought something that expensive?

Regardless, my priority was surviving this assassination attempt. 

If I face them head-on, there’s still a chance I could die…

The odds were less than 0.5%, but there was still a chance. 

Even if I threw every 『World Forgery』 trick I had at them, I wasn’t taking that risk.

Do you realize how often a 0.5% probability triggers when playing video games?

If it’s not a guaranteed 0% or 100%, then it’s 50%. It either happens or it doesn’t.

It was all a matter of luck. 

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