WE TRIED TRANSLATIONS

Surviving the Assassin Academy as a Professor

Translator: Touch

Editor: Grass

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Chapter 79: Kendrake 2.0 (3)

As Gray sat in her room, she quietly recalled her conversation with Professor Dante the day before.

“But why did you change your mind? You said you wouldn’t go with me earlier…”

“If you were going to come along anyway, you should’ve said so from the get-go. Why would you mess with me like that…?”

“If a professor insists on coming along this intently, a powerless cadet like me can only reluctantly accept.”

“No, I’m not saying I don’t want you to come…! Geez, why are you so quick to misunderstand?”

“…So, why did you change your mind?”

“…You want to see Gray looking super pretty?”

“…”

* * *

After Rebecca left, I decided to go see Kendrake.

Although I told her I’d try to get him to join my assassin squad after returning from the Empire, it wouldn’t hurt to check on him and have a quick talk ahead of time.

“Hello, Professor.”

The dorm maid named Lucy greeted me.

When I said I wanted to see Kendrake, she led me to his room. As she opened the door, I saw Kendrake sitting in a chair at his desk, his back turned to us.

His hair and clothes were disheveled, and his head hung low.

But the red hair and massive build confirmed it was the same guy I knew.

“Kendrake. Professor Dante is here.”

“Kendrake?” she repeated.

Lucy sighed, then turned to me with an exasperated look that seemed to say, This is what I’ve been dealing with lately.

“Kendrake,” I said this time.

“It’s me. Professor Dante. How are you doing?”

Still no reply.

“Why aren’t you answering? Can’t you speak?”

The boy didn’t move or respond. He was completely out of it.

What’s going on here…?

“He’s been acting like this recently,” Lucy commented.

I remembered crossing paths with Kendrake on the street not long ago. He was leaning against a wall, smoking a cigarette. When he noticed me, he raised his head confidently, walked over, and asked for a duel.

These encounters had happened three or four times in the past few weeks. I ignored him each time. That was the extent of our recent interactions.

We stepped outside the room, and I spoke with the maid.

“What’s wrong with him?”

“I think it’s because he didn’t take his medicine,” Lucy explained.

“Medicine?”

“He had this pill he took once a year.”

She handed me an empty paper pouch.

It held a faint trace of demonic energy.

Isn’t this…?

I double-checked using the status window and immediately understood what was going on.

“I see. It’s the Curse of Submersion…” I muttered.

“It’s a curse?”

“No need to worry about it. Can we get more of this medicine?”

“Unfortunately, we cannot. His family used to send it to us, but their company went under after the recent war... because of Kreutz’s terror attack.”

I see.

This medicine was a pill with Curse No. 32: the 『Curse of Submersion』.

Similar to how poisons can become medicines when used properly in the right amount, there are rare ways to use curses in a beneficial way. 

One such method was to use pills containing this curse to help anchor the consciousness of people with fragmented and unfocused minds.

“But curse medicines are supposed to last a long time. Why did it suddenly stop working?” I asked the maid.

“I’m not sure. As far as I know, one pill is supposed to last a whole year. But it suddenly stopped working one day. He’s been like this ever since.”

“What about the other cadets?”

“They’ve come to visit, but he barely responds to them.”

“What’s with his hair?”

On top of Kendrake’s head was a pink string tying his red, short hair into a goofy-looking topknot.

“Elize tied that with a bracelet. And he didn’t resist at all when she did it.”

Ah, so that’s what that is.

I rolled up my sleeve and glanced at my own pink bracelet—Elize’s gift.

Kendrake’s bracelet was slightly different from mine. His didn’t have the little bone drawn on it like mine did.

Does she think I’m a dog, too?

Regardless, I tried to recall recent events that might’ve influenced Kendrake’s condition.

Ah…

Then, it hit me.

The culprit was the stigma of the 「Peaceful Star☮」 on the giant Christmas tree.

The star’s authority and power, 『Greater Restoration』, must have lifted the curse inside Kendrake’s body!

Fascinating. To think the stigma had such an effect…

As I pondered, Lucy continued explaining.

“He’s been like this constantly. At least he still eats and uses the bathroom on his own, but for the rest… I’m not so sure. Honestly, he’s a bit scary now, so I avoid getting too close.”

Having gotten the gist of it, I thanked Lucy and sent her away. Then I stepped back into the room.

“Kendrake.”

Still no answer.

The 『Curse of Submersion』 was a curse that enhanced one’s focus and immersion. But, as its name suggested, the immersion went too far—often destroying the user’s ability to function normally.

In other words, the fact that Kendrake had to take a curse pill that strong every year just to maintain a sense of self… showed how shattered his mind normally was.

I needed to give him something to focus on—something that would capture his attention.

“It’s me, Professor Dante. I’m here for our fight.”

He would always ask for a duel in a growly voice through clenched teeth whenever he saw me.

I wasn’t sure if it would work. But to my surprise, I got a reaction.

Kendrake slowly lifted his head. His eyes were dull and unfocused.

“That’s right. You wanted to have an assassination duel with me, didn’t you?”

Still, something felt off.

His crimson eyes looked in my direction, but not quite at me. His gaze was unfocused, clearly shown by how misaligned his eyes were.

Then, in a dazed voice, Kendrake said,

“Uuuh.”

…Hm?

“What did you say?”

“Have you lost part of your ability to speak? If not, speak properly.”

Is he messing with me?

I decided to check the textbox and see if I could read his thoughts. Thankfully, I could.

Now he wouldn’t be able to fool me even if he wanted to.

But to my surprise...

【 Kendrake: Uuuh. 】

Ah. I see. So that’s how it is…

This wasn’t the Kendrake I knew.

In fact, this was the real Kendrake.

The Kendrake I knew was the boy under the 『Curse of Submersion』.

Now that the curse was gone, this must be the true him.

Perfect timing.

“They say you barely speak now,” I remarked.

“But I guess the topic of having a duel with your professor made you want to talk, huh?”

“Uuuh…”

“Yes, yes. I get it. Come walk with me. The duel can wait. First, we need to talk about the assassin squad.”

“Good. Follow me.”

Surprisingly, we managed to communicate.

Kendrake stood up and followed me with that massive body of his, and we headed to a park near the dorm.

“Now then. If you want to duel me, you need to seal this contract with your fingerprint.”

“That’s right. Well done. You are now my assassin—an assassin of Senior Professor Dante Hiakapo.”

“You seem happy. But you’re still too weak. You’re not worthy to duel me yet.”

“Uuuuh…”

“You seem sad. But it’s okay. You’ll get stronger with my help. I’ll train you.”

That was a quick, clean, and successful recruitment into the squad.

He could communicate fairly decently—it was just that his sense of self had scattered. Still, even if his mind was fractured, I could still use that massive body and the overwhelming combat skills that outperformed his peers.

But then, something unexpected happened.

┃ Bond Decreased: Kendrake [0] (▼3)

┃ Reward: Star Shard × −3

Our bond dropped, and the system even deducted Star Shards from me…

To be fair, our previous bond was based on his inferiority complex. But now, that no longer applied. Still, that lingering sense of inferiority probably remained somewhere in his fractured mind—enough for him to respond to me.

Nevertheless, the loss of Star Shards stung pretty badly.

“All right, you can head back inside. I’ll come visit again.”

Kendrake lowered his head awkwardly.

Was it a gesture of respect now that he’d joined my squad?

Whatever it was, if that was his way of showing respect, I’d take it.

I bowed my head awkwardly in return.

Then, Kendrake’s eyes twitched ever so slightly.

And at the same time, another system message appeared.

┃ Bond Increased: Kendrake [10] (▲10)

┃ Reward: Star Shards ×10

⋮

If it had been the old Kendrake, I would’ve taken an entire day to scold him thoroughly.

He had previously goaded Joaquin into ordering a proxy assassination on me. Yes, I still hadn’t forgotten about that.

But in his current state, there was no reason to scold him.

In fact, there was now the possibility of building a new relationship between us.

I thought it over on the walk home. And by the time I reached the end of that train of thought, I realized something.

I liked him better this way.

The academy’s administration was gradually moving toward opening up the Assassin Department to work with the Empire in the future.

Thanks to that, cadets who submitted outing requests were now allowed to leave Zone 0.

And the cadet who had submitted the most outing requests so far was…

“Where? Where?”

None other than Elize.

“Woof woof!”

A translucent dog barked as it led the way.

According to Mini-Mini-Mung, some incredible people were visiting the academy, and there was no way Elize would miss out on something like that.

They were professors of Illusion Arts visiting from the Empire.

So she was headed to Zone 9. And once she arrived…

“Is it those people?”

“Woof!”

Some professors got caught up in the touristy vibe and began doing street performances—a tradition called Illusion Busking.

It was an event where they created illusions based on the citizens’ requests.

“You want me to make a flower?”

“Yes!”

A professor conjured an illusory flower.

It was even more beautiful than a real one, glowing softly and swaying gently in the breeze.

“Here you go. A flower for the young lady.”

“Woooow…!”

The child who received the fantastical flower was overjoyed.

Elize’s imaginary tail began wagging gently.

Looks fun!

“All right, next up… Let’s see. You there, the pink-haired young lady.”

“Hmm? Me?”

“Yes, yes. That uniform—you’re a cadet from the Assassin Department, right?”

“Yes.”

Tourists and cadets alike turned to look in amazement.

“The Assassin Department?”

“That girl?”

The imperial professor smiled elegantly and asked, “All right then. What would you like me to make, Cadet?”

“Hmm… A bone! A balloon bone. One that you inflate with your mouth.”

“A balloon bone that I inflate with my mouth?”

“Yes! Oh, and in a way that it doesn’t pop easily.”

“Uh… huh??”

The professor blinked, momentarily flustered.

“So you want me to inflate a long balloon in the shape of a bone, that’s very durable…?”

The professor turned to a colleague, who whispered something quietly.

Then both turned back to Elize, smiling awkwardly.

“How much do you know about illusion arts, Cadet?”

“I just finished taking a class on it. Why?”

“Well… it’s because you’re asking for something extremely difficult right now.”

“Oh, really…?”

“Yes. It’s difficult enough that you’d be testing our skills to the limit. Let me explain. Since you’re in the Assassin Department, I’ll compare it to Stealth Arts. Basically, what you’re asking is something only someone like Elize could pull off…”

Something only Elize could pull off in Stealth Arts?

It must be extremely hard, then.

Wait a second. Aren’t I Elize…?

Oh well, anyway.

“So we can’t fulfill your request right now. Would you like to ask for something else?”

“Okayyy.”

So Elize asked for an actual bone instead of a balloon one.

But as she made her way back to Zone 0 afterward, she couldn’t shake her confusion.

After all, Professor Dante had casually made several balloon bones with illusion arts before.

Hmm… Huh?

The illusory bone she’d received looked and smelled exactly like a real bone. But the moment she bit it…

Clank!

It shattered.

Why did it break so easily? The balloon bone Professor Dante had made for her was still in her room, fully inflated and intact to this day.

……Hmmm??

After that, a lot of thoughts passed through her mind.

But moments later, she forgot what she’d been thinking about.

Only then did she realize that the bone in her hands had vanished.

Hm? Huh? Where did it go…?

No matter how hard she searched for it, it didn’t turn up.

My bone.

This pink-haired airhead was the same as always.

Kendrake 2.0 – END

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