WE TRIED TRANSLATIONS

Surviving the Assassin Academy as a Professor

Translator: Touch

Editor: Grass

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Chapter 63: The Bell Rings Over Snow-Covered Ruins (8)

“Teeheehee!”

I had spent the entirety of Day 1 listening to Chief Galois’s mockery for nearly nine hours of the 48-hour exam period.

“Bahaha! Teeheeheehee!”

It was all because Gray couldn’t concentrate on the exam at all. She kept failing, again and again, until the very end.

Clang!

Her illusion, nowhere near the correct answer, shattered once more.

Her chest rose and fell with each heavy breath she panted. Eventually, her legs gave out. She collapsed to her butt, a nosebleed trickling down her chin.

“Haa, haa…”

Why couldn’t she focus?

If she just concentrated like she usually did, she would’ve aced the exam.

* * *

Gray lay motionless on the floor, face down.

Similar to how muscles require adenosine triphosphate (ATP) to move, the manipulation of mana demanded the consumption of mental energy.

That mental energy was known as willpower.

When someone overuses their abilities or magic for too long, their willpower and mental fortitude diminish. What follows is an overwhelming lethargy and an oppressive feeling that nothing can be accomplished, that they no longer want to do anything at all.

That’s why mana overexertion often resembles symptoms of depression.

Only a few scattered illusions clung to the starting point, fragments of what should have been a massive tree branch. Most of the points Gray had earned hadn’t come from skillful execution or well-thought-out illusions, but from sheer randomness.

She just couldn’t focus.

In truth, Gray hadn’t been able to concentrate long before the exam began, ever since she had tried and failed to unfurl her giant illusory wings in the backyard of the Black Dragon Dormitory.

A creeping unease had taken root in her mind.

What if those wings that saved the airship… weren’t hers?

She vaguely remembered extending her arm and casting the wings while standing atop the ship, but the memory was murky, like a dream that fades with the morning light. She recalled the sensation of casting the Illusion Art—nothing more. No clear visuals, no sounds, no solid proof.

It felt like taking a book off the shelf and opening it to find something, only to discover that every page was blank.

That emptiness haunted her every day.

What if it wasn’t me?

Then what about all the praise she’d received?

The applause from professors and fellow cadets…

The support fund awarded by the administration…

Even the upcoming photoshoot for the monthly issue of The Assassin Times…

Would it all amount to nothing?

Yet what tormented her the most wasn’t any of that…

It was her own disappointment in herself.

There had been a falling airship. People were on board—people besides her. She had believed she saved them.

When the captain later thanked her, she laughed it off with a joke.

“Ahaha! You’re so lame, Captain~ Can’t even make a soft landing~♡”

But deep down, she was absolutely ecstatic and overjoyed.

That moment felt like the greatest achievement of her life: the first time she saved someone, the first time she did something that mattered.

But if it hadn’t been her…

Then what was she? What did she amount to?

What did I even do…?

She had tried to dispel those concerns by recreating the wings in the dormitory backyard, desperate to confirm her success. But time and again, she failed to replicate the 20-meter wingspan. 10 meters—that was her limit.

Ever since that day, every compliment, every gesture of goodwill, began to sting.

Why?

Because it probably hadn’t been her. Because it wasn’t Gray, the girl who had trained her whole childhood in Illusion Arts, the heir of a prestigious family with everything riding on her future in this field.

Her ability to concentrate crumbled completely.

And so, the first day of the exam ended with what she could only call an abysmal failure.

…241 points. I wonder what the others got.

She wiped the blood from her nose before anyone could notice, then sluggishly made her way out of the Forest of Magic where the exam was held.

Eventually, she spotted Elize among a group of cadets up ahead.

Right, we were taking the same class…

Gray didn’t have the energy to greet her. She planned to walk past and rest somewhere quiet.

Then she heard something that stopped her in her tracks.

“Did you really get 500 points, Elize?”

“Yup, yup.”

“Wow, that’s amazing! I guess geniuses really are different.”

“500? I barely scraped 90. How did you do it?”

“Hmm, I just dug really hard around the roots, going all takatakatak!” Elize mimed the digging motion with her hands.

“Takatakatak?”

“Yup, yup. Takatakatak.”

Elize then bent over and mimed how she dug all “takatakatak” with her hands.

A sudden flare of irritation surged in Gray’s chest.

It didn’t make sense.

“…500 points?”

The words slipped out before she could stop them.

Elize turned at the sound of her voice and waved.

“Oh? Hi, Gray!”

“Hey. What do you mean by 500 points…?”

“Hm? Oh, I got 500 points. Well, around 510, I think. But is that a good score?” Elize asked, eyes wide with innocent curiosity.

The cadets around her began whispering.

“Isn’t Gray from a famous house of Illusion Arts practitioners?”

“She must’ve scored even higher.”

Their comments grated on Gray’s nerves even more because she actually hadn’t.

“Hey…” she said, pulling Elize aside.

“Hm?”

“Come with me for a sec.”

Once they were alone, Gray asked directly, “Did you really get 500 points?”

“No, be serious. Don’t lie to me.”

“I’m not lying.”

“Come on… be reasonable if you’re gonna lie. You, getting 500 points? That doesn’t make any sense…!”

“Why not~?” Elize tilted her head, puzzled. Then, she gave Gray the sweet, clueless, and naïve smile she always wore.

“Ah! Gray probably got a higher score, right?”

“…”

“How much did you get? If I got 500, then Gray must’ve scored 1,000. Right? You’re so good at Illusions Arts, after all~”

Another surge of annoyance bubbled up in Gray’s chest.

“Why are you lying?” Gray asked.

“Huh? I’m not—”

“Why are you lying to me? I’m not some random stranger to you. Aren’t we friends? So just be honest with me.”

Elize tilted her head slightly. “Hm?”

“’Cause how on earth would you get… a better score than…”

Gray bit down on her lower lip, letting the sentence trail off. But before long, she continued, voice tight.

“Stop messing with me. I’m seriously getting pissed.”

“But I’m not lying,” Elize replied.

Gray’s lip started bleeding as she clenched her jaw harder. In a sudden burst of emotion, she lunged forward and grabbed Elize by the collar. The anger surging through her body made her act on impulse.

But since Gray was much shorter than Elize, their posture looked awkward. She tried to shake her by the collar, but her arms were far too drained to muster any real strength. In the end, it was her own body that wobbled, making the scene look even more ridiculous.

“Ahaha~ What are you doing? You’re shaking me so weakly. You must be pretty tired,” Elize remarked.

That was when Gray’s irritation peaked. Elize had scored 510 points, yet didn’t even show any signs of overexertion.

But that wasn’t the end of it.

“Why are you being so cute today? Mmm~”

Elize suddenly pulled her into a hug, pressing and rubbing her warm cheek against Gray’s forehead. That warmth, created by her body releasing heat from substantial mana consumption, was unmistakable.

Only then did Gray realize the truth.

Elize wasn’t lying.

Her eyes widened slightly. She had been the one acting like an idiot all along.

“…Let go,” she said softly.

“Let go. Please… Just go away.”

As Elize’s arms loosened, Gray pushed her off and turned her back.

Her self-loathing surged uncontrollably inside her.

“Gray…? Did something happen? Did you not do well on the test today?”

“Don’t approach me. I mean it. If you come here, I’ll die… I’ll cut ties with you and leave the Black Dragon Division…”

“?!?!?!”

Gray fled the scene in a panic, her chest tightening with shame and anger.

But for some reason…

“It’s okay, Gray. You’ll do better tomorrow~!”

Elize started shouting after her.

“You can do it! I believe in you!”

Her words only fueled Gray’s irritation further. But even as she ran, those last words echoed in her mind.

“I believe in you.”

Something flickered in Gray’s mind like a sudden electric current.

A blurry vision. A petrified arm. Her body collapsed onto the floor. Her left hand pressed hard against a wound to prevent more blood from spilling.

Then, a soothing voice from behind.

“Try that again. Just one more time.”

“…I can’t.”

“You can. I believe in you.”

“Just one last push.”

…And afterward?

Gray frantically opened the blank book on the bookshelf of her mind and flipped through its pages.

What happened next?

What did that person say?

She turned the pages faster, desperate.

And then, one torn-off page fluttered to the floor.

“I’ll help you. Trust me.”

The fog veiling her memory lifted for just a moment, revealing a pair of pink eyes staring straight into her own.

Gray’s ashen eyes widened in shock.

The first day of exams had more or less come to an end.

About thirty-ish professors and teaching assistants—including myself—returned to the accommodations near the Forest of Magic.

Chief Galois’s earlier mischief and arrogance were nowhere to be seen. Now, he strolled around, chatting with the other professors, smiling, and reassuring them. He acted as if our earlier verbal dispute was nothing more than a silly game, as if we were merely teasing one another. In reality, he and I took the implications of the exam seriously, despite our easygoing attitudes earlier. 

As I walked, my thoughts drifted to the month-long research that Galois planned to conduct just to spite me if I lost our bet. At this moment, I was losing pretty badly.

But in truth, Galois had stepped away from research a long time ago—fifteen years, to be exact.

That was when he developed the 9th-level spell 『Land Revival』—a spell meant to infuse life into barren land. The intended use was simple: inject organic matter like food scraps into the earth, convert it into nutrients, and evenly distribute them across the soil. In seconds, infertile lands spanning tens or even hundreds of square kilometers would become fertile again.

It was a spell designed to save lives.

Despite accusations of academic plagiarism years prior, his successful development of this life-saving spell made Galois a celebrity among mages, even earning him a nomination for the Obel Prize.

But then… the spell was leaked by Kreutz.

That leaked knowledge fell into the hands of a crazed mage—someone who twisted it for their own ends.

With a single casting, 30,000 residents of a large domain were swallowed whole into the land—digested into nothingness.

The spell meant to save lives had ended up taking them.

It was a massacre.

Moreover, the victims were citizens of the Kingdom of Hiaka.

Crushed by guilt, Galois resigned from all research and went into seclusion.

So why was he returning now?

I believed it had to do with the events that occurred during 「Main Story 1: Treason and Collapse」. After all, Chief Professor Gloomy—the traitor—used to be Galois’s cherished disciple. And Gloomy had killed another of his top disciples.

In other words, both of us were more serious about what was happening at the academy—and in the world—than anyone else.

“Teeheehee! Professor Dante! I’m here~!”

Hmm. Or maybe not.

“Have you heard the news? Our dearest Farhan has only gotten 441 points so far. It’s a bit lower than expected—rather disappointing, in fact. And what about your Gray? Oh, what was that? 241 points!? Oh dear, what a shame~!”

I stayed silent.

The second day of exams had begun, but there was a problem. Gray hadn’t shown up at the testing grounds.

Meanwhile, the old man had clearly recharged his mouth overnight and was at full power.

“What will you do~? That’s already a 200-point gap. No, seriously, what’ll you do, Professor Dante~? There are still over 24 hours left in the exam, but you already owe me 20 days as my assistant. Our dearest Farhan is just getting warmed up, but Gray hasn’t even shown up! What if the gap just keeps growing? One day per 10-point gap means that if it reaches 500 points, 1,000, 2,000, or even 5,000 points… Oh, wait, how many days do you have left in your teaching career? What if you’re stuck as my assistant professor until retirement, huh?!"

He wouldn’t stop talking. 

“But honestly? I was surprised yesterday. Gray’s got more skill than I thought. I mean, an assassin scoring 241 points is pretty good… Oh, sorry! That wasn’t meant as a jab against assassins. I swear on the just and righteous Spying Star│ㅅㅇ) that it wasn’t meant to offend anyone! Still, Gray really is an assassin, huh? The reason I can’t see her must be because she’s hiding with Stealth Arts, right? Teeheehee!”

Soon after, we noticed a certain gray-haired cadet approaching the exam grounds.

“Oh? Gray’s finally arrived. She could’ve skipped it, though…” Galois remarked.

Then, narrowing his eyes, he tilted his head. 

“Hmm? What’s this? Did Cadet Gray give up on the exam? What’s she doing, suddenly lying on the floor like that? Ohoho… Looks like she fully gave up.”

He kept taunting me relentlessly.

“…I get it. I understand that you’re disappointed by the outcome, Professor Dante. But don’t dwell too much on it. If you do research with me, I’ll even teach you some tips on how to be a good professor. Not that I’m saying you’re a bad professor, of course. But just look at Farhan—clearly, there are more effective teaching methods. You’re still young and bright. If you work hard, I’m sure you can guide your students well too… Oh, and by the way, how many days do you have left in your teaching career again?”

He chuckled at his own joke and continued the torment.

“Just so you know, I never let my assistant professors go home. So when you come to work, bring your toothbrush and a spare pair of underwear. But just one spare pair. Why just one? Because you must wash and reuse them every day, of course! Who said assistant professors get to research in comfort? You think magic research is easy?! Back when I was an assistant professor, if you couldn’t poop during the allocated time, you had to hold it in until the next day! But as a man of principle, I’ll place adult diapers in your office, just in case…”

If there had been any cement nearby, I would’ve stuffed my ears with it. This old man had a god-given talent for driving people insane. His mouth never stopped yapping, horribly and endlessly.

Getting back to the topic at hand, I had no idea what Gray was up to. Why was she lying on the ground, shifting her posture over and over? It had been nearly twenty minutes now.

Just as my sanity verged on snapping—

“Ah…”

Gray let out a quiet exclamation, as if she had figured something out.

Still, her behavior today was incredibly odd. She was kneeling on the floor, had cast an illusory rod, and clutched it with one hand.

【 Gray: Found it… 】

What in the world was she doing…?

As if being unable to focus and ruining my bet with Galois wasn’t enough, what incomprehensible act was she up to now?

【 Gray: …Focus. Focus… 】

My eyes widened in shock. 

Gray had begun petrifying her own arm using an Illusion Art. And at last, I understood what she was up to.

It was the exact same posture from when she was stuck on the falling airship, clinging to a vertical metal pole on the deck, lying flat on the floor.

Gray was now recreating the very moment I had reached out to her, before we cast our illusory wings together.

【 Gray: Focus… 】

With trembling breath and a strong, stony grip on the vertical rod, she shut her eyes.

And then, at last, Gray cast a new illusion.

FWOOOSH─!

An enormous surge of mana swirled around her like a storm. A stunning number of wooden fragments materialized in the air.

In the blank, white illusory subspace, Gray began to fill it with countless fragments of wood.

Piece by piece, they assembled into the form of a massive branch—built precisely with the heartwood at the core, transitioning outward into sapwood, cambium, and then the outer bark, forming the crown of the tree where the phloem would travel. It began to take shape, undeniably and perfectly aligned with the correct answer to her exam question.

Ah.

I marveled at the sight. It was a truly superb illusion. I still didn’t know why she had petrified herself, but one thing was certain—Gray had pulled herself together overnight.

I quickly glanced at the leaderboard. What was her rank?

——

27. Gray – 241

⋮

23. Gray – 275

17. Gray – 311

13. Gray – 349

She did it!

I clenched my fist tightly. Her score was skyrocketing at an absurd speed.

“Eh? Ehhh? EHHHHH?!”

A scream erupted beside me—it was that old, crazy blabbermouth of a mage. He was also watching Gray’s illusory subspace unfold.

“Eh?! What on earth?! How is that kid suddenly—?!”

After everything I’d endured today, no sound in this world could be more satisfying than his dumbfounded, confused noises.

With a beaming smile on my face, I turned to him.

“Curious? I can explain it to you.”

“…Ah, i-it’s fine—”

“No. I refuse your refusal. Also, I don't remember who brought this extra folding chair, but it’s perfect. You and I can sit down and have a long talk about this.

Galois’s face froze like a corpse. He quickly attempted to flee, but I followed closely behind him, the extra folding chair in hand.

Fuck yes. It was my turn now.

Time to attack that old geezer.

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