WE TRIED TRANSLATIONS

Surviving the Assassin Academy as a Professor

Translator: Touch

Editor: Grass

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Chapter 57: The Bell Rings Over Snow-Covered Ruins (2)

Having lost its core, the Ghoul Lord was destroyed.

“I-It’s dead!”

“The bastard’s dead—!!”

The Disciplinary Enforcers leapt in astonishment.

I had gotten a boss kill. Immediately, a surge of Growth Mana, proportional to my contribution to the fight, soaked into my body.

< [Strength] +10.3 >

< [Agility] +7.4 >

< [Stamina] +5.5 >

< [Mana] +19.5 >

< [Willpower] +7.5 >

People say that to feed one’s soul, one must read books. But it seemed there was another way to make one’s soul feel full.

This sensation… it was definitely filling to the depths of my heart.

I was currently basking in the feeling of my soul overflowing into every inch of my body.

< Overall Combat Power: 157,530 → 159,036 (▲1,506) >

And the numbers looked good. As a player, I was impressed by how much my combat power had increased.

This was exactly why I had specifically chosen the 「Sword of the Colossus○」 among all the national treasures.

At present, it was the only weapon that allowed me to solo a boss despite my current combat capabilities.

With the destruction of the Ghoul Lord’s core, its colossal body broke apart into roughly a thousand-odd ghouls that fell to the ground.

And if this game had any overpowered damage systems that could be exploited, <Fall Damage> was definitely one of them.

“Get back!”

“Move away!”

RUMMMMBLE—!!

As everyone stepped back to create some distance, the ghouls came crashing down like an avalanche, smashing apart as they fell to their deaths.

And if any of them survived the fall, they were crushed beneath the weight of those falling above them.

“Reinforcements are here from the Disciplinary Enforcers and the Warrior Department!”

As the reinforcements arrived, the crisis came to an end. They could handle any leftover ghouls from now on.

“Thank you so much, Professor!”

“If it weren’t for you, the hospital would’ve been destroyed. The hundreds of patients in there would’ve…”

I nodded silently and accepted the enforcers’ thanks.

If there was a miracle to speak of, it was that not a single person died during this battle. Although many people were injured, none were in life-threatening condition either.

But even though the battle was over, there was still one person who had yet to come to their senses.

“What’s wrong with you!?”

“Hold still, damn it!”

The enforcers rushed in to restrain someone.

“Let go of me! I’m going to fight too!”

It was none other than Balmung.

“Your job’s done! The warriors are here!”

“Yeah! Get yourself treated now! Look at your leg!”

As the enforcers held him back, my eyes dropped to Balmung’s leg. His leather greaves were torn, and blood was gushing from his calf.

He must’ve scraped it on some sharp metal protrusion during the fight.

“I told you, I’m fine! I can still move!” Balmung shouted, struggling to break free from their hold.

“Hey! Quit talking nonsense and go to the medics already!”

“Yeah! Seriously, what’s up with you? You’ve been like this for a couple of days now. It’s like you’re possessed by some ghost of war or something. Calm down. You’re not the only one giving it your all here.”

Balmung’s eyes flared up, and he grabbed the enforcer by the collar, even though the enforcer was at least ten years older than him.

“What happens if I just sit back and wait? Will the Disciplinary Enforcers save everyone in the world?”

“What?! You little— Aren’t you part of the Black Path? Why do you care about such a thing?”

“Black Path or not, are you telling me that if I sit still, the enforcers are going to save all the victims?” Balmung snapped.

“You think we’re your friends or something?! Learn some manners, you punk!”

“Yeah! And we can save all the victims!”

“Then what about the first victim you can’t save?!” Balmung shouted, voice raw with fury. “If you save a hundred victims, who’s going to save the hundred and first?! If one more life is saved because of me, then shouldn’t I keep moving right now?!”

As a professor in the Assassin Department, I felt the need to intervene.

“Stand down, Balmung.”

With veins bulging on his jaw, Balmung turned to look at me. Then, he let go of the enforcer’s collar and lowered his head in a respectful bow.

“…Yes, sir.”

【 Whoa, what the hell? 】

【 That easily? 】

The surprise that flickered across the enforcers’ faces—and their textboxes—was understandable.

“Show some respect to the Disciplinary Enforcers.”

“…Yes. I’m sorry, officers. I let my emotions get the better of me.”

Balmung bowed at a perfect 90-degree angle to the enforcers. Though the atmosphere remained somewhat awkward, they accepted his apology.

“Come with me for a moment,” I said to him.

“I apologize for causing a scene, Professor. And thank you for your help. Moreover, it was an honor to witness your attack earlier… it truly was—”

“That’s enough. Just follow me.”

I led Balmung to a quiet corner and had him sit down. I leaned over and began patching up his leg injury, just as I had done for Rebecca to win her trust.

“Professor, please… You don’t have to do this. I can go to the medics…”

“Just shut your mouth.”

“Yes, sir.”

Once again, this was all play-pretend. I was only acting like a benevolent professor to raise our bond. That was how selfish I was.

As I dressed his wound, I voiced the question that had been nagging at me.

“Why are you so restless?”

As a sharp-witted Dobermann, Balmung immediately grasped the intent behind my words.

“I don’t really know. Just a few days ago, I was fine at the dorms. But now…” He trailed off, frustration clouding his expression. “I feel like I’m going insane.”

“Tell me more.”

“I just— I can’t sit still anymore. I feel like I have to do something, but I don't even know what to do…”

He covered his face with both hands, exasperated.

The same boy who once took meticulous care of his appearance now looked disheveled and bloodied, like a butcher fresh from his morning shift.

“Things have gone terribly wrong, but I don’t know what to do. The academy, Hiaka—it’s all falling apart… and I don’t know what I’m supposed to do…”

Judging by his behavior, his actions were compulsive. It reminded me of a child trying to be cute and obedient when their parents were on the verge of divorce—actions driven by emotional desperation.

“So I decided I’d at least try saving lives. I asked Kaiser about it, and he said it might make me feel better…”

“And how did it go?”

“Moving around… was a lot easier on my mind than sitting still. But once I started going, I couldn’t stop. If I sat still, I got anxious again… like my mind was spinning out of control. What the fuck am I—ah, I’m sorry… What am I supposed to do now? Hiaka Academy’s already finished!”

His fingertips trembled violently.

As I paused to think, I realized this probably had something to do with Balmung’s family situation as well.

Here was a little-known secret: at the House of Nibelung, only women could become the Great Mother and lead the family as its matriarch.

That’s because 「Pitch-Dark Star⚉」 favors women.

And since the Y chromosome exists only in men, any man who impregnated the Great Mother with a son was seen as having defiled her body, and was executed.

In other words, the moment Balmung was born and identified as a boy, his father became a target for assassination by House Nibelung.

From what I’d learned, he managed to survive and stay hidden until Balmung was about nine years old, before fully disappearing. It wasn’t hard to guess that he’d been killed.

Due to that past experience, Balmung probably found it unbearable to watch the world around him collapse while he remained helpless.

And once he grew older and experienced what it was like to change the world with his own hands, that mindset had likely solidified into a compulsion.

After considering his mental state, I finally spoke.

“The first thing I want to say is, it’s going to be okay.”

Balmung looked up at me, dazed. “...It’s going to be okay?”

“Yes. The situation isn’t as bad as you think.”

“But, Professor…”

“The assassination war is already over. And the ghouls will vanish soon as well. I won’t lie—the academy’s situation has worsened compared to before.”

He remained silent, brow furrowed.

“But imagine a man who once owned ten million hika and now has eight million instead. Do you think he’s unfortunate for having eight million hika?”

“No. Eight million isn’t that bad. He’d still be richer than me…”

“But if you consider the amount he lost, then yes, he’s unfortunate. Strange, isn’t it? It’s the same situation, yet it can be seen as both fortunate and unfortunate. So what is it that makes him unfortunate?”

“…The ones who judge him…?”

“Then let me ask you. Until now, who was judging your world?”

“…I was,” Balmung muttered, barely audible.

“Balmung Nibelung, stop with the excessive overthinking.”

He didn’t answer, but I saw subtle tension in his shoulders. 

“The human brain, once confined to a small room, can only echo its thoughts from within. You’ve been tormenting yourself—distorting and confirming the ideas that you’ve been pushed aside, left out, or are falling behind.”

Still no reply.

“You don’t need to think that far.”

Balmung’s lips slowly parted, then his head drooped.

When people encounter problems in their minds, they attempt to manage them with even more thoughts.

But sometimes, stopping the thinking can simply be enough to take back control of your mental state.

“…Thank you,” Balmung murmured.

“Good.”

I decided to stay with him a little longer before taking my leave.

But then, some cadets from the Black Path who had been smoking in a nearby alley made eye contact with Balmung. They were blankly staring at us, expressionless.

“Hey, you sons of bitches! HEY!!” Balmung suddenly shouted, igniting like wildfire.

“Is this a show to you? What the hell are you staring at?!”

“…Huh? What’s up with you?” one of them asked, caught off guard.

“Don’t you see the professor here? Show some damn respect!”

…What’s up with him?

The startled cadets hastily stubbed out their cigarettes and rushed over to bow.

“Ah… Hello, Professor!”

“We apologize for being slow to greet you…!”

I accepted their greetings and let them go, though I was more than a bit taken aback by the situation.

“…What are you doing?” I asked Balmung.

“…Sir?”

“Why are you disciplining the cadets?”

“Oh, I’m sorry… It’s because those punks saw you but didn’t greet you. Isn’t it basic courtesy to acknowledge the professor?”

I stared at him in silence, then let it slide.

Still, it didn’t feel right to leave the boy alone, not when he’d just barely calmed down.

“Walk with me for a bit.”

“Yes, Professor…”

So I took Balmung with me and headed somewhere.

The incident just now… well, that was probably just how people treated each other in the Black Path, amplified by the temperament Balmung inherited from House Nibelung.

But even so, it was clear he was in a highly unstable state. He wasn’t typically this emotional.

Was there anything I could do for him?

I pondered how I might help him, but quickly dismissed the thought. After all, I was a professor whose life, strength, reputation, and kindness were all built on lies.

Still… the reason I could remain calm during these tough times was because I had learned how to be at peace throughout my original life.

And in that sense, I could allow myself to say something to the boy.

* * *

Gray had a very strange dream.

It was about a man.

The strangest part about this was that her dreams almost never had any men in them.

She was the type of girl who’d grab a guy’s hand without hesitation or mischievously flash a tattoo from a suggestive spot if she noticed someone staring. 

She found it funny when they got flustered—messing with people was just her idea of fun.

But truthfully, Gray wasn’t that interested in guys.

That didn’t mean she was only interested in girls, either. To put it simply, she was just way too focused on her Illusion Arts to bother with things like men.

Besides, when she looked around, all she saw were morons (Kendrake), sickos (Kaiser), bores (Balmung), or total weirdos (Kwan) surrounding her.

There wasn’t a single guy around who caught her eye, and she couldn’t understand why so many girls at the academy obsessed over them.

Therefore, the fact that a man appeared in her dream was most definitely something to take notice of.

She didn’t know who he was. She couldn’t remember his face.

But she remembered that he had some… peculiar tastes. He suddenly came up to her and started tying her up.

“I dun wanna…! Why are you doing this to me…?”

Gray resisted. The man didn’t seem hostile, but even so, the situation was incredibly weird. She tried to struggle against him, but strangely enough, she couldn’t put any strength into her arms.

“You won’t understand anything I tell you right now. Just raise your arms. They’re getting in the way.”

Getting in the way of what? She couldn’t quite recall.

“No, stop… Stop it… It hurts…”

It was a seriously weird dream. 

Worse still, she had no control over her body. It was just like that other time she’d dreamed of Elize after arguing with her during the day. In that dream, she tried to punch Elize with all her might, but her fist felt like foam, dealing no damage at all.

Likewise, this time around, Gray could only sit back and watch herself get tied up.

“Why do you keep trying to touch me…? Are you curious about my tattoos…?”

Since he didn’t seem hostile, she tried to hold a civilized conversation. But then, without warning, the man pushed her up against the wall.

Thud!

She was fully pinned against it, unable to move.

After that, the dream blurred. Her memory of what happened next slipped away.

Who was that man?

Well, it was probably just one of those bizarre dreams people had from time to time.

Brushing it off, Gray was about to prepare for the day. It was morning, after all.

“Gray! Gray!”

“…Mm?”

Lucy, a maid of the Black Dragon Dormitory, burst into her room.

“Wake up! Do you know what time it is!?”

“…Why? What time is it?” Gray asked groggily, still lying in bed.

Lucy frowned and pressed her cold, early-winter hand against Gray’s stomach.

“KYAH!”

Gray shot up like a spring.

“What the hell?! Did you soak your fingers in ice water or something?!”

“Hey! This isn’t the time for that! Wake up! Seriously, it’s a huge deal!”

“What’s a huge deal?”

“The Assassin Times is coming to interview you!”

“…Hm??”

Hearing that, Gray simply snorted.

“…Come on, Lucy. You woke up a sickly girl for something like that? Even Elize, our neighborhood’s top idiot, knows that The Assassin Times is trash…”

“You dumbass!” Lucy slapped her own thigh in frustration. “That’s not it! You seriously haven’t heard anything?”

“Heard what?”

“You’ve been scheduled for a monthly cover shoot!”

“Hm… Huh?” Gray looked up, still dazed.

“…Why?”

“Because of the airship incident, why else?! They’re all excited to get you as their cover model!”

Gray’s mouth hung open, her cheeky fang sticking out mischievously.

“…Eh?”

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