WE TRIED TRANSLATIONS

Surviving the Assassin Academy as a Professor

Translator: Touch

Editor: Grass

Join our discord to check out the official illustrations: https://dsc.gg/wetried

Chapter 70: DLC [Professor in a Heroic Fantasy] – Midpoint Recap (3)

The snow had stopped falling, but the weather was still chilly.

I was heading toward the parking lot with Adele.

Ever since the day I awakened in Dante’s body, we’d walked this path together every day.

Thmp, thmp… 

Adele’s footsteps echoed lightly as she walked, which was unusual for someone in the Assassin Department.

I, on the other hand, hardly made a sound anymore. It had become second nature, a habit ingrained by years of training as an assassin.

So, I had asked her about it once.

“Why do you make noise when you walk?”

In response, she chuckled and began walking briskly—without a sound.

“I do it on purpose. I don’t want to hide.”

“You don’t want to hide? But you’re an assassin.”

“Hmm. That’s true, but… I just don’t like it. It’s not like I became an assassin because I wanted to… Besides, doesn’t it feel more human to make a bit of noise when walking?”

It didn’t make much sense to me at the time, but I let it go and moved on.

Thmp, thmp, thmp, thmp… 

But now, with what I’d come to learn, those footsteps sounded stranger than ever.

As I pondered, my gaze drifted toward the necklace around Adele’s neck.

「 Ω 」

It bore the omega symbol—the mark of the 「Death God StarΩ」.

My only previous encounter with that symbol had been with Chief Angela, who wielded the massive scythe 「Grim ReaperΩ」 in our battle against Jinxsite. That weapon bore the stigma of the Death God Star.

And though I hadn’t met them personally, Adele had informed me that the Death God Society had suddenly declared Kaiser as their boss just the other day. The Death God Society was an organization that revered the 「Death God StarΩ」, at least until Kaiser took over and redirected their allegiance.

I was lost in thought, still looking at the necklace, when Adele noticed and met my gaze.

“What are you looking at?” she asked suspiciously, covering her chest with both hands.

“That’s a pretty necklace.”

“Huh? Oh my.”

She buttoned her shirt up to the top.

“Why are you hiding it?”

“Ah, I’m not really hiding it. I usually stay fully buttoned up. One of the buttons just came undone.”

I stared silently into her eyes.

“...”

“...?”

She simply smiled and blinked at me innocently.

That was the second time I’d seen that necklace.

Come to think of it, I heard there is a fairly major religion in the Empire that worships the 「Death God StarΩ」.

Wasn’t it called the 「Go World」 or something?

I’d once looked into it out of curiosity because its doctrine seemed intriguing.

According to their teachings, there exists a god called 「GoΩ」, and one must refine their heart and soul to reach it.

But originally, in this world’s lore, there weren’t any deities with true personalities or consciousness, aside from the Holy Mother, the incarnation of the 「Cruciform Star†」.

Clearly, the lore and setting related to this 「GoΩ」 deity differ from the original game due to the DLC.

“Do you worship the Death God Star, Adele?”

“Not really? I just bought it because it looked pretty.”

“It is pretty indeed.”

“Right? Want a closer look, Professor?”

Adele took off the necklace and held it out to me.

It really was just a plain piece of jewelry, with nothing unusual about it.

“…”

I examined it for a moment, then handed it back as we resumed walking.

Looking back on our time living together, there were other things about Adele that occasionally nagged at me.

She often behaved oddly in our day-to-day lives.

As we mentioned earlier, we were living together. I stayed on the first floor while Adele lived on the ground floor of the residence. Housekeeping and chores were managed by the department maids who came twice a week, so there were no significant inconveniences.

Still, we occasionally had to do things ourselves. I, for one, preferred to handle my own laundry.

But then there was Adele’s way of doing things.

Let’s say she spilled coffee on her clothes and needed to wear them again soon.

A typical person would wash out the stain. Instead, Adele would throw away the clothes and buy a new outfit.

“Why did you buy that?”

“Oh, this? Well, the other one got dirty.”

“Couldn’t you have just washed it?”

“Geez, it’s just easier to buy another one.”

She also had strange habits when doing the dishes. I once caught her pouring dish soap directly into the dishes instead of on the sponge.

She’d even water plants daily, even when they didn’t need it. (Eventually, our ornamental plants died.)

Her daily behavior always had this faint twist to it.

One time, we had gone to the commercial district in Zone 5 to buy teaching materials. As we walked by a claw machine, Adele suddenly went quiet and tensed up, her face stiffening.

“What’s wrong?” I asked her.

“Nothing. Just… in a bad mood.”

Her voice was low, almost growling—unlike her usual self.

Adele despised claw machines for some reason.

She also had an abnormal aversion to anything sexual, especially when it involved revealing outfits. She practically recoiled at the sight. That was why she always kept her shirt buttoned to the top.

If she saw shady flyers on the street, she’d kick them away. When adult scenes came up in movies, she’d grumble and immediately switch the channel.

And then there was an incident I hadn’t thought much about until recently.

In the Assassin Department, there was a place called the Dressing Room.

It was essentially a costume room for disguises used in assassin missions. You could find guard uniforms, janitor outfits, noble attire, ballroom dresses for infiltrating galas, and even formal wear for underground gambling dens.

We were there one day gathering materials when I caught Adele tearing up a revealing dress.

“What do you think you’re doing?” I asked her.

“Ah! Sorry~ I simply bumped into it, but it was so ragged that it fell apart… Honestly, how could the assistants here let a dress get this worn out?”

“Haaa… I’ll pay for it.”

At the time, I hadn’t thought much of it.

But thinking back now, her expression had been different.

It wasn’t one of guilt—it was anger. Genuine anger.

Her clumsy habits. Her hatred of claw machines. Her aversion to anything sexual.

None of that, in and of itself, warranted any suspicion beyond a simple “she’s just an eccentric person.”

But now…

“Oh, Professor, how about a quiet barbecue place?”

“Sounds good.”

“Then let’s go! I know a great spot~”

I silently watched Adele walk ahead and followed her.

* * *

Adele was probably a spy. Perhaps from Kreutz?

I didn’t actually know where she was from, but she was certainly an anomalous presence who shouldn’t have been here.

Until the events of 「Main Story 1: Treason and Collapse」, she had never shown any suspicious thoughts in the textbox.

However, during and after the events of 「Treason and Collapse」, I noticed multiple signs that raised my suspicions.

The first of those was when I visited [Offline].

In the stream of mental messages from the players of other game worlds, a few stood out to me.

< ⧉ Many find it exciting that a massive threat may still be lurking for you! >

< ⧉ Warnings flood in, telling you to be cautious of the person closest to you. >

The person closest to me…

That phrase stuck with me the most.

The one closest to me was Adele.

As I pondered those messages, the food we’d ordered arrived.

“Wow, this looks amazing. Thank you for the meal~”

The second sign had to do with Adele’s disappearance during 「Treason and Collapse」.

We had been together at the cat café when Jinxsite first appeared. After that, she vanished. She didn’t return until everything was over, specifically, when Elize was crouching inside the trash bin in my office.

Curious, I looked into what she’d been doing during those missing days and began a quiet investigation.

But Adele wasn’t seen anywhere.

So then, what had she been doing during that time?

Before answering that question, there was the third and final sign that solidified my suspicion.

As soon as I began suspecting her, the 「Systematic Star⧉」 did something that only made me more certain.

I confirmed it earlier today, while we were touring Zone 9.

“Adele.”

I spoke just as she was about to take a bite of meat.

“Yes?”

“Think of a number in your head. I’ll try to guess it.”

“Oh? What is this about? A magic trick~? Hmmm…”

【 Neutral Professor, Dante: “Adele.” 】

【 Teaching Assistant, Adele: “Yes?” 】

【 Neutral Professor, Dante: “Think of a number in your head. I’ll try to guess it.” 】

【 Teaching Assistant, Adele: “Oh? What is this about? A magic trick~? Hmmm…” 】

After a moment of silence…

“I’ve thought of one. What do you think it is?”

【 Teaching Assistant, Adele: “I’ve thought of one. What do you think it is?” 】

Look. I can’t read her thoughts anymore.

【 Neutral Professor, Dante: Look. I can’t read her thoughts anymore. 】

Even my own thoughts continued appearing in the textbox—but not hers.

“One.”

“Wrong! It was seven~”

Indeed. Her thoughts had vanished from the textbox ever since I started suspecting her.

Since the system was governed by the 「Systematic Star⧉」, it had likely blocked me from reading her mind.

But ironically, that act sealed my conviction.

The 「Systematic Star⧉」 existed to enhance the player’s experience. 

So my theory was simple: it determined that the game would be more enjoyable if I couldn’t read Adele’s thoughts.

“This time, you try thinking of a number, Professor.”

I didn’t answer right away. 

Based on those three signs, I had come to a conclusion.

Adele was a spy—or something quite similar.

Most of all, I ultimately discovered what she had been doing during her absence—thanks to Ezekiel’s thoughts in the textbox earlier today.

She had accessed a national treasure.

Hiaka’s National Treasure No. 4: 「Registry⧉」.

This was a Legend Ⅲ-grade book—an artifact highly sought after not only by the Empire but by the entire world.

By inputting specific criteria, it could locate any individual with precision.

When the recent crisis erupted, Ezekiel had urgently borrowed it from the royal palace to counter the enemy.

Thanks to his actions, our assassins successfully retaliated, dismantling Kreutz’s infrastructure and assassinating some key figures. That was the role that the 「Registry⧉」 had played in Hiaka’s counterattack against Kreutz.

But Ezekiel noticed something strange.

Why are there nine extra uses recorded for the 「Registry⧉」?

Ezekiel had used the 「Registry⧉」 exactly 212 times. 

However, the actual count recorded in the book was 221. Ezekiel, a genius among geniuses, would never overlook a discrepancy like that.

Using that clue, he immediately asked the 「Registry⧉」 who else had accessed it.

Other user, ‘Adele’…?

While she was missing, Adele had somehow used the national treasure without being detected.

She had used it to locate someone before returning to my side, pretending to be the usual cheerful assistant.

And here I was... casually sharing a meal alone with this supposedly dangerous person.

“Did you think of a number?” Adele asked.

“Yes.”

“Hmm... let’s see. Seven...!”

“Wrong.”

“Dang it. What was it?”

“Three thousand, two hundred thirty-nine.”

“Whaaat?! I didn’t know you could go higher than ten…! You cheater!”

Adele chuckled cheerfully as she popped another slice of meat into her mouth. 

From that point on, I had no way of knowing for sure if she was lying to me, because I could no longer read her thoughts. 

I would have to gather information from her by relying solely on myself and not the textbox system.

With that in mind, I asked her a question.

“Do you know Go?”

Her eyes widened slightly.

“…What? That came out of nowhere.”

“It just popped into my mind because of your necklace.”

“Ah, you mean Go World? Not at all. Like I said earlier, I just bought the necklace because it looked pretty. I’m not really interested in Go World. How about you, Professor?”

“I find it interesting. The Church of the Holy Mother relies too heavily on their deity. But Go World teaches inner focus and self-cultivation, doesn’t it?”

“Maybe it interests you because you have high self-esteem, Professor?”

“No. On the contrary—as a weakling, I need the Holy Mother.”

“Eeeh?? Really? Hmm... Then maybe it’s because it feels new and fresh? I heard the Empire has seen a huge increase in Go World believers lately.”

“Doesn’t that cause friction with the Church of the Holy Mother?”

“Hmmm... I don’t really know. I don’t care enough to keep up with the news...”

Just then, Adele noticed something on the menu.

“Oh, by the way, Professor. Would it be okay if I had a drink?”

So far, our conversation had yielded nothing.

But perhaps alcohol would change that.

“Let’s have a drink together. It’s the weekend, after all.”

“Nice~ This’ll be our first time drinking together!”

Drinking with the enemy...

Fortunately, this situation didn’t feel particularly uncomfortable for me. Perhaps it was because Dante was already an assassin before I possessed him?

After all, this was what assassins normally did— deceive and be deceived, uncovering truth in a web of lies. 

I was now deeply intrigued.

Adele... who are you, really?

What is the “massive threat” that lurks with you?

Should I… kill you?

Two hours later, Adele was caressing my cheek while nestled in my arms.

“What kind of friends act like this with each other?” I asked.

Adele whispered softly, with a smile.

“…They say some do, especially when they’re drunk.”

If you're enjoying the novel, please consider leaving a 5-star rating and a review on NovelUpdates~

If you wish to read ahead, there are 10 advanced chapters available right now!

Join our Discord for the official illustrations and the fastest updates on releases! https://dsc.gg/wetried