WE TRIED TRANSLATIONS

Surviving the Assassin Academy as a Professor

Translator: Touch

Editor: Grass

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Chapter 78: Kendrake 2.0 (2)

Battalion had been troubled lately.

Day after day, he was showered with the disapproving gazes of those damned Kreutz bastards no matter where he went.

Gloomy, being an illusion mage whose whole life was probably a lie anyway, seemed fine. She ignored their stares.

But Battalion? As a sniper, he was always sensitive to the gazes of others. And these days, he felt like he was on the verge of a nervous breakdown from the constant attention.

The more successful Hiaka became, the stronger those gazes grew. And now, to make things worse, another unbelievable report reached his ears...

Another stigma had descended on Hiaka.

“How is that possible?!”

BANG!

Battalion slammed his desk. The wood, unable to withstand the force, collapsed and shattered beneath his fist.

“First a stigma appears on that damned tree, and now another one is bestowed?! Who is it this time?! What kind of stigma is it?!”

“T-That’s... well, we’re not quite sure... It’s a difficult one to identify…”

“Find that out immediately!!”

Battalion started to feel a very bad premonition rising in his chest.

What were stigmata?

They were blessings from the stars. As shown by the Systematic Star’s ranking changes, they bestowed incredible power.

Yes, the rankings were the issue.

Normally, Grandmaster- or higher-rated combatants from every nation would shed blood, sweat, and tears just to raise their rank by a single number—training relentlessly, fighting dangerous monsters, conducting research every day.

Raising one’s rank by ten in a single year was considered a tremendous achievement, especially since everyone else was fiercely trying to do the same.

Even Battalion had shed his own blood, sweat, and tears to rise from Rank 442 to Rank 415 over the past year.

But if one acquired a stigma, their ranking could jump up by 20 or 30 spots in an instant.

To think something so valuable was given twice at Hiaka in just two weeks…!!

The fury and envy were so strong that his eyes were about to pop out.

Who the hell were these lucky bastards?

Damn it all!!!!!

The Hiaka he had discarded… was suddenly rising to prominence.

How could this happen…?!

But it wasn’t the time to sit back and watch.

Hiaka was using the situation to their advantage and launching all sorts of projects. And a few of those were discovered by Kreutz’s intelligence network—including Battalion.

They had to put a stop to Hiaka.

Battalion moved urgently.

He headed to a dark tavern filled with gambling tables, liquor, and debauchery.

“Professor Bakien! I need a word.”

“Hm? Who dares to distur— Oh. What brings you here, Professor Battalion?”

A professor—lounging like a playboy, puffing a cigarette, and wearing a mask—turned to face him. The others at the table glanced up as well.

“Huh? No way. Is that really him?”

“Battalion… looks like a total nerd in real life...”

Snickers and drunken laughter rippled through the bar.

Battalion closed his eyes.

These insignificant little maggots dare to laugh at me…

But even so, there was no one else he could entrust this task to.

Bakien, Senior Professor of Alchemy Studies at Kreutz Academy, was an expert in crafting and launching explosives.

“Hey, hey. Shut your mouths, all of you. That’s a chief professor you’re talking to,” Bakien said casually.

Despite his words, he wore a smug grin.

Bakien had once been a White Path assassin, specializing in diplomacy for Kreutz. In his younger days, he had belonged to an assassin squad that stirred up the entire continent—and he still had deep connections in the Empire.

Battalion explained the situation.

“There’s no one else I can turn to but you. Please handle it.”

“Hm…”

Bakien smirked and held up three fingers.

“Thirty million? Just get it done, and I’ll pay you fifty.”

Bakien’s eye widened behind the slit of his mask.

Fifty million hika was a staggering sum.

As the location suggested, Bakien was a compulsive gambler at heart. He was desperate for money, rough around the edges, fond of drinking and indulging himself, and drowning in debt due to his love for gambling.

But because of his attitude, habits, and hobbies, his network within the Empire was vast.

“Alright. Sit tight. I’ll be back.”

After Bakien left, Battalion clenched his jaw so hard it felt like his teeth would chip.

Hiaka should just collapse and fall to ruin already! That fucking maggot of a country…

He couldn’t stand to see Hiaka succeed—so much so that he was willing to sacrifice his own funds.

But to truly sabotage Hiaka… he needed to understand one thing above all else.

Who was this “Cain”?

Even now, the 『Mirage』 Gloomy had cast in the corner of his office showed the Cain tree and its surroundings. Battalion was using it to find out who this mysterious chief professor was.

And the fact that he still didn’t know who Cain was drove him mad.

Considering that damned tree, he’s definitely a Challenger…

As an assassin, Battalion had a good grasp of illusion arts. Cain was definitely a Challenger, ranking in the top 200. Maybe an upper-tier one, or possibly even higher.

Someone who could cast a tree that massive… only one name came to mind:

Agion, the 「Radiant Constellation⁺₊⋆」 at the Imperial Hattengraj Academy. Current World Rank: 20.

Since Abraxas’s disappearance, Agion was recognized as the pinnacle illusionist of humanity—a mage-assassin who once turned an enemy nation’s entire capital into an illusion to assassinate its monarch.

Agion had recently praised that tree in a foreign press interview. But who knew? Maybe he was just admiring his own handiwork.

“…”

…But what if it wasn’t him?

That would mean that Hiaka had a real monster hiding among them.

A mysterious monster called “Cain.”

* * *

As soon as I sat down beside her, Rebecca responded.

“Are you going to keep acting creepy like this around me?”

Despite her sharp words, her eyes didn’t meet mine.

She was clearly uncomfortable with my proximity.

“If you help me this time, I’ll return the favor later,” I said, offering a realistic deal.

Rebecca took a deep breath, then exhaled from deep in her chest.

“…Fine. I’ll join Gray on her trip to the Empire. But I have two conditions.”

“Let’s hear them.”

“We’ll be launching an offensive on Mount Stargaze soon. I want you to lead the raid team.”

“Mount Stargaze?”

“Yes. I need some land for a certain project, and that site is ideal.”

“Is it related to your curse?”

Rebecca raised a slender index finger slowly to her lips.

A silent warning: Don’t speak of it, or else.

“…I heard there’s some kind of monster in the cemetery on that mountain. You just need to drive it away or kill it,” Rebecca explained further. “The academy’s been lukewarm on the matter, so I’m thinking of bringing in outside personnel. But the team’s made up of rough, unruly types—they’ll need someone like you to keep them in check.”

“Why don’t you do it yourself?” I suggested.

“I have to act demure in front of others, you see.”

I paused to think.

The mysterious monster in that ultra-massive bugged space… Ran had mentioned before that it was something that was supposed to die, but is still alive.

It could be a monster as terrifying as Jinxsite.

Killing it might be difficult, but driving it away could be doable.

“I understand. What’s the second condition?”

“You said before that you were going to submit your application to become our supervising professor.”

That was true. I had left her a message right before submitting it. I intended to add Gray, Elize, and Balmung to my assassin squad—a move designed to push Rebecca out of the Black Dragon Division.

“Please include Kendrake in that squad as well.”

“…"

That was an unexpected condition.

“Kendrake’s been out of it lately—he won’t even come out of his room,” Rebecca said, starting to explain.

“What happened to him?”

“I’m not sure, but it seems to be related to his family’s downfall. He’s really… changed.”

“But this isn’t something I can decide alone. If Kendrake refuses to join, there’s nothing I can do.”

“...Then there’ll be no helping it. Just give it a try.”

“Alright. I’ll talk to him about it after returning from the photoshoot.”

Rebecca nodded. Her veil swayed lightly in the air.

“…So, whose blood is that?” I asked.

She hadn’t expected the question. Turning to the mirror in my office, she found a dark, dried bloodstain on her cheek.

“…He was a bishop at the Zone 5 Church of the Holy Mother.”

“Why did you kill him?”

“He said I wasn’t fit to be a bishop.”

I paused to digest her reply.

“Do you want to become one?”

“A bishop is just a means to an end.”

“So what’s the end destination?”

“Saintess.”

“Becoming the Church of the Holy Mother’s actual Saintess? But isn’t there already one? The girl from the Empire?”

“I’ll have to kill her.”

“…That’s a bold thing to say.”

A tense silence settled between us.

Eventually, Rebecca spoke again.

“Have I ever told you my dream, Professor?”

“You haven’t.”

I thought she was going to talk about her goal of assassinating the Emperor—but I was wrong.

Rebecca’s dream went far beyond that.

“I’m going to turn Hiaka into an empire.”

“The current Hattengraj Empire must fall, and Hiaka will take its place. And I will become the Empress.”

Her words sounded completely detached from reality. Yet there wasn’t a single hint of doubt or hesitation in Rebecca’s crimson eyes.

As I remained silent, she asked, “Why are you just looking at me like that? Do I seem like a crazy woman chasing the clouds to you, too, Professor?”

“I don’t judge people’s dreams. But I am curious—why do you dream of something like that?”

“Because I want to become the sky.”

“And why is that?”

“...Who knows. You sure ask all sorts of things, don’t you, Professor?”

It felt like a roundabout way of saying: How dare you question me?

Then again, who but a king would dare to ask a princess the reasons for her dreams?

Still, Rebecca pondered the question for a moment before answering.

“…I don’t know. I wonder why. I’ve always dreamed of it since I was young. Maybe because the sky was all I could see from the bottom of the well.”

She waved a hand, as if to dismiss the foolish words leaving her mouth, then stood and prepared to leave.

“I shall get going now. I have plans this evening.”

“All right.”

“And one more thing. Since we were talking about our instincts earlier—should I kill that woman for you?”

Rebecca’s gaze landed on a photo atop a desk.

Adele’s desk.

“…I appreciate the offer, but no, thank you.”

“Be careful. She’s more ominous than you imagine.”

As always, I just couldn’t bring myself to like Rebecca.

It wasn’t because of her ambitions.

To me, Rebecca wasn’t a cadet. She wasn’t a child.

She was a demon wearing the mask of a young girl.

She had killed a bishop simply because he displeased her. She planned to kill the current Saintess. She even offered to kill someone she hadn’t properly spoken to.

She was no Saintess of the Palace, as people liked to call her…

She was the Witch of the Palace in my eyes. The title “witch” genuinely suited her, unlike that other witch.

…The other witch?

Who am I thinking about?

It was then—

“Professor. We’re on the same side, right?” Rebecca suddenly asked, interrupting my thoughts.

“Of course.”

“Why do you ask?”

“It’s nothing. Forget it.”

I brushed away the train of thought and focused on the situation again.

I had to deceive her properly.

“Something’s clearly bothering you,” I said.

“No, I’m really not bothered.”

No, she clearly is.

Maybe it was that famed instinct of hers.

“There’s no need to doubt.”

I needed to earn her trust. But honestly, I didn’t know how to appear trustworthy to others.

Still, there was one faint lead I could follow.

Not long ago, when Rebecca stumbled on her way out of my residence, I caught her in my arms.

And for the first time, I noticed she avoided my gaze.

Why had this lunatic of a witch reacted that way?

At the time, Rebecca had said—

“Don’t touch me.”

When I attempted to let go and apologize, she softly whispered to herself:

“…Because it makes me want to trust you.”

In other words, physical contact equated to trust for Rebecca.

That was the conclusion I’d reached. That was also why I had sat beside her earlier.

And now…

“You can trust me.”

I reached out my hand toward Rebecca. Slowly, I guided it to her cheek, toward the bloodstain.

“We boarded the same boat that day.”

“I used my power to influence Hiaka’s deals with the Empire to chain you to me. You chained me with the offer of a hundred million hika. Now, we’re mutually bound to each other.”

Rebecca subtly tried to turn her head away, but my hand followed. After a brief pursuit, my fingertips reached her cheek.

But she didn’t pull away.

“I’ll always be on your side.”

She remained expressionless, but her eyes clearly avoided mine.

Slowly, I pressed my nail into the dried bloodstain and scraped it away.

There are certain things in life you can only see from up close. In this case, it was the cross-shaped earring dangling from Rebecca’s ear.

It was the symbol of the Holy Mother’s star, the 「Cruciform Star†」.

“…Next time, please just tell me about it instead of touching me,” Rebecca said.

My future plans were simple.

I would take advantage of Rebecca’s heart and our contract.

And when the time came, I’d discard her without hesitation.

“Understood.”

In my eyes, the cruciform earring looked like a wooden stake. How fitting.

After all, witches are often seen being burned at the stake.

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