WE TRIED TRANSLATIONS

Surviving the Assassin Academy as a Professor

Translator: Touch

Editor: Grass

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

Chapter 35: Professor Assassination: Illusion Arts (6)

It was my first real battle with 「Liberator ⁺₊⋆」. It was as powerful and overwhelming as expected, but it left me in a terrible state.

< [MP] : 43 / 1,258 >

A burning smell emanated from my ears, like the scent of a scorched filament that had resisted a strong electric current. I had overused my mana, and my insides felt twisted, as though turned upside down. Waves of dizziness and nausea crashed over me as I struggled to stay conscious. 

Did I really burn through all my mana in such a short time…?

All I’d done was cast a few illusions of myself with Form Forgery, make them look like they were using advanced Movement Techniques, unleash an ultrasound, and lay down a handful of fake 『Mana Distortion Fields』.

Finally, I had cast a 『Kaleidoscope』 using Spatial Forgery. Even though I had pre-made the polygons and simply duplicated them to create the structure, the range had been too extensive. 

I became painfully aware of my own inadequacy. I still severely lacked, starting with my low mana. However, I was in good enough shape to move for now.

“Krrrk…!!”

A harsh growl caught my attention. I turned my head in the direction it came from. 

Far in the distance, the creature I’d just decimated with that unexpected blow was now trying to get back up. Its wings had been incinerated. Its lower body and left arm were gone. As I approached with 「Liberator⁺₊⋆」 in hand, its face twisted in agony. That expression was gratifying—demons weren’t supposed to feel pain.

The stigma of the Radiant Star ⁺₊⋆ held the power of light, which was just as lethal as divine power to their kind.

The demon squirmed away, using its remaining arm and torso to crawl.

“Why are you running?” I asked calmly. 

No answer. Its jaw and part of its neck had been burned away as well.

“Are you afraid of me?”

Still no response, but I continued to taunt it. It was rather comical, really. 

Life was precious because it was finite. And even a monster born to kill humanity ended up pitifully squirming on death’s door.

That was what made it worth killing.

If life weren’t precious, there’d be no point in taking it away.

I felt a strange sense of gratitude toward the demon. If it hadn’t refused my suggestion to kill itself earlier, I wouldn’t have had the chance to blow its head off myself.

Click— BANG!

Beams of light shot out of the barrel, smashing its head to pulp and tearing through a section of the forest beyond. 

As its upper body crumbled to the ground, a notification popped up in my vision.

┃ Achievement Unlocked: [First Demon Kill]

┃ Reward: Star Shard ×20

An astonishing number of Star Shards were awarded to me.

A sense of satisfaction and elation surged from deep within. 

I had finally killed an enemy of humanity.

My overheated mind slowly began to cool down.

But it wasn’t time to relax yet. 

The demon’s main specialty was Summoning & Taming Arts. Killing the summoner wouldn’t immediately dispel the summoned creatures. I needed to search the demon’s residence and belongings right away.

But first, as a professor, I had a responsibility to fulfill.

I turned to the collapsed cadets.

“Is everyone okay?”

“Y-Yes…,” one of them stammered.

I hoped they weren’t badly injured, but that was wishful thinking. All of them had severe nosebleeds and bloodshot eyes, a result of the overwhelming pressure from the demon’s mana.

There was a real risk of internal damage—even brain trauma.

“Hwaru. Dominic. How about you two?”

“…Ah, yes. I’m… fine,” Hwaru said weakly. 

I couldn’t help but feel a bit more concerned about those two.

Maybe it was because I got attached to them after meeting them on my first day.

Still, they both looked terrible. Especially Dominic. His mana reserves were quite low, and now he was vomiting blood, soaking his once-white cadet uniform in crimson.

“Can you walk?”

“Of course, Professor! I, Dominic, pride myself on my sturdy body. It is my strongest trait!”

But as soon as he finished boasting...

Thud!

Dominic flopped to the ground, unconscious.

And just like that, a new problem appeared: we had to carry a 150kg boy.

I was about as strong as an ordinary athlete. And with my stamina depleted, lugging Dominic two kilometers to the infirmary was not going to be easy.

This is bad.

Even if I called someone, help would take a while to arrive.

Just then, a few names flickered in the textbox. 

【 Black Dragon Division, First-Year, Elize: Ow, my eyes hurt. 】

【 Black Dragon Division, First-Year, Gray: …… 】

I had no idea when they had arrived, but it seemed Elize and Gray had been watching us the whole time.

Perfect.

“How long are you planning to just sit there watching?” I asked.

“Pardon?”

“You mean us?” one of the cadets beside me asked, confused, since I wasn’t looking in their direction. 

Moments later, the air shimmered, and two figures slowly emerged.

The cadets around me flinched at their sudden appearance.

Elize appeared with the same cheerful, golden retriever-like smile as always.

“Hello, Professor,” she said.

“I’ll ask why you’re here another time,” I replied. “Elize, could you take these cadets to the infirmary?”

But Elize tilted her head and asked, “Why?”

It was an odd question, but not a surprising one.

Having spent time with her, I was familiar with her personality. She wasn’t being malicious—she genuinely didn’t see the need.

Elize was a kind girl, but her sense of logic was twisted. She could be shockingly indifferent toward those she wasn’t close to.

So I leaned in and whispered quietly into her ear. 

“They don’t have dads either.”

Elize gasped

“Then we have to help them!”

“Exactly.”

Elize then turned around and spoke to emptiness.

“Mung, lend us your back for a sec.”

Mung?

I glanced at the minimap and noticed a marker next to her. It was likely a massive, invisible spiritual beast. Elize scooped up the cadets in a bear hug, hoisted them onto the unseen mount, and disappeared. 

That left me alone with Gray, who stood silently. But something about her demeanor seemed... off. 

What’s up with her?

Unable to figure it out myself, I ended up asking.

“What is it?”

I tried scrutinizing her face and checked the textbox, but nothing showed.

Then she asked me, in a flat voice, “Professor. How much have you mastered Illusion Arts…?”

That question took me by surprise. 

Gray had always struck me as playful during the few times I had seen her. However, now she wore a stern expression. The mischievous fang that usually peeked from her smile had vanished. 

“Why are you asking that now, of all times?”

“Cuz you were… pretty good at it.”

Something about her tone gave me a bad feeling. I didn’t know what was going on, but I did know one thing: Gray was a whimsical girl.

If I wanted to maintain authority here, it was best to avoid pointless chatter.

“If you’ve got nothing else to say,” I said, turning away, “I’ll be going.”

Gray kept watching me with an unreadable expression as I walked away from the scene.

From then on, things got busy.

“Hmm? Professor Dante, what happened to you?”

Thankfully, Shaman, the department dean, hadn’t left for the day yet. He stroked his thick chin in surprise and intrigue, immediately realizing something was wrong. I later found out it was because blood was dripping from my ear.

Regardless, I informed him that Professor Toxin was actually a “strange monster.” The dean’s expression immediately turned stern, and he called several high-ranking disciplinary enforcers for assistance.

And so, accompanied by two senior enforcers and the dean himself, I headed to Professor Toxin’s residence in the faculty quarters.

Just as I had expected, we discovered the corpses of three cadets, previously assumed to be missing or assassinated.

But worse still, Toxin had been using the corpses as biomass.

They were connected by fleshy masses and thick, pulsing veins to thousands of small, disgusting eggs.

“What the hell…?! What is all this?!”

“The eggs appear to belong to some kind of monster…”

The dean and the officers were visibly shaken. But I knew exactly what we were looking at.

They were the eggs of Corpse Hawkmoths, most often used by demons specialized in Curse Arts to spread curses.

But Toxin, the demon I had killed, specialized in Summoning & Taming Arts.

Which could only mean one thing:

Professor Toxin had been cultivating these eggs… for another demon.

…There’s at least one more demon in the academy.

That was the best-case scenario. Worst case? There was already a whole cluster of them. Five, maybe even six demons hiding among us.

But for now, the rest was up to the Disciplinary Enforcers to investigate.

* * *

Later that night, Elize was happily sleeping as usual. But she suddenly woke up to the sharp noise of something shattering.

Mmm…?

It sounded like breaking glass, followed by a flash of light outside her window.

She perked her ears, waiting for another sound… but nothing came.

It was probably just her imagination.

She started dozing off again when…

Shatter!

This time, it was unmistakable.

Elize ran outside the dorm building, only to find Gray standing alone in the backyard.

Shards of glass were raining down around her.

“What are you doing, Gray?”

“…Hm? Why aren’t you asleep?”

“I heard something and came to check. What were you doing?”

“…You don’t need to know. Go away.”

“Okay.”

Elize turned to head back inside... but at the last second, she slipped away to the side and hid behind a tree, peeking out at the scene. 

Gray’s nose was dripping with blood.

What is she…??

But then, Gray instantly spotted her and shot her a sharp glare.

“…Hey. Stop peeking and get lost,” she said, clearly annoyed.

“Mhm.”

Scolded, Elize eventually turned around and left. If she stayed any longer, she might actually get smacked on the head again.

Meanwhile, Gray muttered under her breath.

“Goddammit… Why can’t I do it…?”

Her murmurs reached Elize’s ears, though the words made little sense to her.

In the end, the airhead returned to her room and lay in bed.

What was that about?

Her curiosity was piqued, but not for very long.

“…Zzz.”

Elize quickly drifted back into the dreamland.

In her dream, she was on a walk with Professor Dante for some reason.

“Stay.”

She waited obediently and eventually received three bones as a reward, to her absolute delight.

Yesterday’s assassination of Toxin was a success.

But there was one disappointing outcome.

I needed evidence in order to confiscate an item from a cadet for using it during an illegal Professor Assassination.

Unfortunately, I had no way to seize Derek’s 「Remote-Control Ring」. I had only learned about its existence through the textbox. I hadn’t actually seen him use it.

It was worth hundreds of thousands of hika… and yet, I couldn’t confiscate it.

What a shame…!

I had originally planned to survive the assassination and escape the cadets, then gather or create the evidence afterward. But someone had to come and ruin my plans.

…That fucking demon.

I swallowed the anger rising in my chest. There was no use crying over spilled milk.

Since it was still morning, I visited the infirmary to check on the cadets.

Everyone was recovering well and would probably be discharged tomorrow.

“I’m glad everyone’s safe,” I said.

“Thank you, Professor…”

“I seriously thought we were all gonna die…”

The cadets bowed their heads repeatedly, faces filled with awe.

【 Assassin Department, First-Year, Derek: Even though we were trying to assassinate him, he came back and saved us… 】

In truth, I had only intervened to kill the demon, since it was the perfect opportunity.

But they were all misinterpreting my intentions in the best possible way.

【 Assassin Department, First-Year, Dominic: So they weren’t lying or exaggerating… The rumors are true. Professor Dante is… 】

Even though I was still fairly weak, they now considered me to be some kind of incredible powerhouse.

【 Assassin Department, First-Year, Hwaru: What even was that yesterday? 】

At least one of them was asking herself the right questions. She had some degree of critical thinking.

The disciplinary enforcers had probably ordered them not to spread any rumors about the late Professor Toxin.

Not that anyone would believe the truth anyway.

Things would get messy if this gets out.

And if the rumors spread, people would learn that I was the one who killed Toxin, who turned out to be some kind of strange monster.

The prior rumor that I’d killed Professor Hakon was already damaging enough. In fact, it nearly sparked an assassination war between the Black and White Paths.

So I didn’t want this to get out either.

“Attention.”

I might as well take this opportunity to shut it down directly.

I was still pretty weak. There was no point in letting them spread exaggerated stories about me being a formidable powerhouse.

“Let’s keep everything that happened yesterday between us. Keep it under wraps, especially anything involving me. As assassins, you understand the importance of staying hidden, don’t you?”

The cadets nodded along. Two of them were particularly enthusiastic.

“Sure, you can trust me!” Hwaru declared cheerfully.

“Professor Dante, my belt isn't the only tight thing on my portly body. My lips are equally tight, so there is no need to worry,” Dominic stated.

I trusted these kids.

⋮

A while later.

"Hey, guys, something crazy happened today. Oh, right, the professor told me not to say anything… Hm? I really shouldn’t say, but oh well. The professor went up against an intruder, and—"

“Listen carefully, everyone. You should all steel yourselves. Professor Dante is strong beyond imagination. You’re not really curious? Still, hear me out. Keep this between us, but…”

The next day, the entire academy was in uproar.

Professor Assassination: Illusion Arts - END

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