WE TRIED TRANSLATIONS

Surviving the Assassin Academy as a Professor

Translator: Touch

Editor: Grass

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Chapter 76: Glass Butterfly (4)

Adele was a spy—or something quite similar.

No one knew for sure what kind of abilities she had or what her purpose was. All I had confirmed so far was that she had no intention of assassinating me. Yet.

Thankfully, Ezekiel had provided me with a safety net by casting a curse on her.

So, for the time being, I had decided to keep her close and observe her.

But with this new opportunity, I chose to test her reactions using Time Forgery.

To properly follow and understand a human conversation within ten seconds, I needed at least twenty frames, which meant spending far more mana than in my previous tests.

Thus, I consumed nearly all of my remaining mana and tested Adele about thirty times.

With each attempt, I told her some variation of the same line: “I know that you’re hiding your true self—that you’re not who you appear to be.”

And these were the responses I got:

“What are you talking about…?”

“I don’t know why you’d say something like that…”

“A spy? I’m not…”

“Why would you say something like that…? I thought we were friends now…”

“…Professor, I think there’s been a misunderstanding between us. How about we talk it out? Over a drink or something…?”

And unfortunately, Adele refused to answer properly, no matter what I said within those ten seconds. Even if I told her I knew that she had secretly accessed the national treasure, 「Registry⧉」 without royal permission, all I received was silence from her.

She’d spend the remaining ten seconds in complete silence, leaving me with nothing to work with.

She won’t cave so easily, huh?

Still, there was one thing I noticed through our repeated discussions:

Adele never once got angry.

Most people, if their secrets were exposed and they were confronted as directly and aggressively as I had just done, would naturally raise their voice in self-defense or lash out in frustration.

But Adele… sounded scared.

Having spent quite a bit of time living with her, I could tell in her voice.

Adele always tried to speak calmly. But I instinctively sensed that her reactions to my multiple interrogation attempts just now came from fear.

She’s afraid of damaging her relationship with me.

Which meant, though she was probably a “massive threat,” she wasn’t a threat to me yet.

I need to confirm this fact once again, just like the time I had her within striking distance by catching her as she slipped on the snowy street.

I should test her again sometime in the near future.

In any case, that marked the end of my private lesson with Gray.

The clock struck 6 a.m., telling me I had spent the whole night learning illusion arts from her.

“I heard something from Lucy,” Gray said as we were about to part ways in front of the building.

“Oh, Lucy is our dorm maid, by the way…” she added.

“I’m listening.”

“She says Hiaka might start opening up for exchange with the Empire soon.”

I stayed quiet, waiting for her to continue.

“And the day after tomorrow, I’m doing a photoshoot as the cover model for The Assassin Times. If it goes well, she said I might become the face of the assassins of Hiaka… It’s pretty nerve-racking and stressful to hear that, you know…?”

“I see,” I replied bluntly.

But I knew just how important this opportunity was for Gray.

Gray’s dream…

To understand her, we first had to understand the history of House Habanero.

2,000 years ago, House Habanero conceived and created the ancient illusion art 『Glass Butterfly』—an impressive achievement that occurred long before mages invented modern illusion arts.

From that point on, the Habanero bloodline became a treasure of the continent—and a prime target for countless plunderers.

Their bloodline was prized as the greatest entertainment device of its time.

Imagine it:

In an era with barely any form of entertainment, 『Glass Butterfly』 could create immersive illusions from nothing, comparable to a 22nd-century virtual reality game.

Naturally, many coveted the Habanero for entertainment purposes.

Originally, the House of Habanero had resided in the Empire.

But to escape the threats they faced, they eventually drifted all the way to the continent’s edge—to Hiaka.

As Gray had explained, 『Glass Butterfly』 was not easily learned.

It required extraordinary talent, especially for anyone without Habanero blood.

Even monarchs and rulers of old had brought in Habanero beastfolk to tutor their children in hopes of mastering it.

Yet very few ever succeeded.

The beastfolk they invited would age, pass on, and eventually leave no one behind to teach 『Glass Butterfly』 anymore.

By some estimations, only 0.001% of the human population could ever hope to learn it.

But how could anyone identify those 0.001%?

And yet, despite the smaller population and limited means of sharing knowledge during those ancient times, 『Glass Butterfly』 managed to be passed down by the thinnest of threads through each generation of House Habanero, barely surviving the test of time.

What came next, however, was the Habanero Incident.

It nearly erased the illusion art from existence.

Now, only Gray remained who could wield 『Glass Butterfly』.

Within her mind and blood ran a powerful sense of duty—to preserve their 2,000-year-old legacy and revive their illusion art.

If she manages to gain recognition in the Empire…

Gray would receive countless work opportunities—each one becoming a major step toward her dream.

But the risks were just as great.

According to Hiaka’s Public Security Bureau, there were suspicions that the Empire had been behind the Habanero Incident.

That was likely why Gray supported Rebecca—and her goal of assassinating the Emperor.

Still, leaving all that aside...

“That’s great,” I said.

“…Huh?”

“If you become famous as the model for The Assassin Times, it’ll be a great opportunity to spread awareness of 『Glass Butterfly』.”

Her shoulders flinched. She realized I had seen through her dream.

“…You knew?”

“A little.”

“…Creep,” she muttered, eyes falling to the ground.

“You must be nervous,” I said knowingly, ignoring her cheeky insult directed at me.

“…Yeah.”

“I would be, too.”

“…Right?”

Her voice conveyed both excitement and anxiety, which was understandable. Opportunities like this were rare in a lifetime.

“You’ll do well,” I said gently. “Don’t forget, you’ve already spread such incredible wings before.”

“Oh, right…”

She gave me a small smile.

This would be a good opportunity for her to get used to such high-pressure, high-reward situations. There would be more of them to come during 「Betting Table」.

“What about you, Professor?” she asked. “Do you know anything about the potential exchanges with the Empire?”

“Not really. Exchanges with the Empire, huh… Would be nice if it happened.”

“Yeah. Our academy’s about to go under, so it’d be good to expand into the Empire… But I’m also worried. I heard people in other countries look down on Hiaka…”

I nodded.

It was true.

“Still, you’ll do great,” I told her.

Gray gave a slow nod in return.

That marked the end of our first lesson. It was a strange one, though, as the professor was the one being tutored by his student.

Yet, in the grand scheme of things, it was a proper step forward toward working together harmoniously as professor and cadet.

“But when will I get to learn from you, Professor?” Gray asked cheekily.

“From today’s lesson alone, I gained a lot of insight into your family’s illusion art. I’ll need some time to analyze, research, and apply it before I can safely teach you other styles of illusion arts.”

“So, maybe two lessons from now?”

“That should work,” I agreed.

Gray nodded, then tilted her head with another question.

“By the way, you said you weren’t busy the day after tomorrow, right…?”

“Indeed. I plan to rest that day.”

“Hm… Then, want to come with me to the studio of The Assassin Times when I do the cover shoot? I’ll be all dressed up, so it’ll be your chance to see a super pretty Gray…”

I pondered her suggestion for a moment.

What should I do?

The studio was located in the Hattengraj Empire, which made sense, since The Assassin Times belonged to the Empire.

Needless to say, Gray wouldn’t be going alone. A chief professor would be assigned to escort her safely.

Since the academy hadn’t instructed me to accompany her, deciding to go on my own risked offending that professor. Even if only a few professors still held any dislike toward me, the higher I flew, the harder the fall.

So, it was probably better to stay back this time.

Besides, I wanted to continue training 『World Forgery』 over the weekend, now that it had finally reached 90% proficiency.

“Not sure if I will. Since I haven't received any information from the academy, it would be difficult for me to accompany you independently.”

“Ah…”

Gray’s gaze dropped after being turned down.

“…Yeah. I understand.”

“But you’ll have a chief professor escorting you, so everything will be okay.”

“It’s not that I was worried or anything… Just thought you’d miss out on a really good chance… I’m gonna look so damn pretty…”

“I’ll buy the magazine when it’s released and see it then.”

“But Gray looks best in person… Ah, never mind. It’s not like I wanted you to come with me or anything…” she grumbled to herself and started to walk off.

“I’ll walk you back to the dorm,” I offered.

“…Why?”

“It’s late.”

“I’m fine. It’s right around the corner…” she waved dismissively. “…See you.”

She smiled and walked away.

I turned to head home as well, but then something caught my eye.

A butterfly?

It was one of my butterflies that had flown away earlier, disappearing somewhere else. How and why it came back to me now was a mystery. 

It fluttered toward me and landed on my shoulder.

Then suddenly—

< [MP]: 45 / 1,751 (▼150) >

My mana was drained by a significant amount.

『 World Forgery: Time Forgery [150,000 seconds / 1 frame] 』

Huh?

Why was Time Forgery activating on its own…?

And 150,000 seconds? That was nearly two full days.

But then, something slyly peeked out from the edge of the status window.

…00 seconds / 1 frame] 』)

…00 seconds / 1 frame] 』ㅇ)

…00 seconds / 1 frame] 』ㅅㅇ)

This little creep…

Far in the distance, Gray turned around, then suddenly shouted while flipping me off.

“Dumbass! Buttface! Hope your legs cramp up while you slack off this weekend…!”

She spun back around and ran off.

…Geez.

I chuckled at her childish insults and made my way home.

After washing up, I drifted off to sleep, still thinking about the new formulas I had just learned.

* * *

The next day passed quietly at the residence.

But the next day—Sunday night—I received a frantic call.

“Profess…! …Urgent…!”

“What is it?”

“I’m sor… calling so late… but Cadet Gray… in…”

“What? Speak clearly.”

“…In the Emp… assassination… critically injur…”

The next moment, I was already getting dressed and running outside.

I arrived at the Hiaka Warp Station and found twenty people gathered there. I spoke with the Disciplinary Enforcers, and the mood was grim.

“Professor… the perpetrator was…”

“Who was it?!”

“…Apolog… couldn’t identi…”

They handed me several photos and an investigation report, supposedly transmitted by the Empire’s Bureau of Public Security.

“…was a bomb attack…”

Having heard everything I needed, I rushed to the hospital.

Chief Professor Wilhelm, her escort, was in critical condition.

In the room next door was Gray, just out of emergency surgery.

As I approached, she slowly opened her eyes.

“Professor…”

I spoke a bit, and Gray responded normally.

She said she’d been caught in a huge explosion just before the shoot.

“I’ll be able… to do the shoot again… right?”

“What?”

“I mean… I only… hurt my legs… right…?”

I opened my mouth but said nothing.

Because it wasn’t just her legs.

Half of Gray’s face was covered in bandages—severely burned.

There was no way she could be a cover model for The Assassin Times in this condition.

And more importantly, she had just survived an assassination attempt. Who in their right mind would send her back to the Empire so soon, just to be on a magazine cover?

I stood there, stunned.

And I made a mistake.

The silence stretched on for too long.

“…Why… Why aren’t you…?”

Her one visible eye slowly crinkled.

Her lips trembled.

And down her cheek, a tear rolled—

“…So I can’t… anymore…?”

Weeks flew by after that. 

I saw scenes of Gray sitting alone in her hospital room, watching the world go by.

Somewhere in the background, I heard someone mention that the monthly issue of The Assassin Times had been a massive hit.

But Gray wasn’t the featured cover model. Someone else had taken her place.

“…”

Then, in the final frame, my eyes stayed locked on Gray’s back—her frail, hunched shoulders.

Immediately after, the world surrounding us...

Collapsed and shattered.

I stood in the street, outside the Cain Building.

In the distance, I could still see the gray-haired girl walking away slowly.

Then, she suddenly turned around and flipped me off.

It felt like I’d been struck on the back of the head with a hammer.

Whatever just happened was not a normal Time Forgery.

It was a special formula—purposefully triggered by the stigma of the Spying Star│ㅅㅇ).

That creepy bastard had retrieved a specific forged timeline barreling toward a certain conclusion... and shown it to me for some reason.

Soon enough, Gray turned back around, just like she had in the forged timeline. She was about to run home.

“Gray Habanero!”

I raised my voice in haste.

“Whaaat? Don’t talk to me~ I hate you, Buttface…!”

“I’ll go!”

“What~?!”

“I’ll go to the shoot with you!”

Gray froze in her tracks, then slowly turned to face me.

She walked up quietly, step by step.

Once she stood in front of me, she spoke again, her voice softer now.

“…Really?”

│ㅅㅇ)

Glass Butterfly – END

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