Chapter 25
Chapter 25
Episode 25
EP10 - Popular Professor (1)
Professor Hakon threatened assassination.
If that bastard actually came, that day would surely be his memorial day.
Even so, I couldn't relax.
Being targeted for assassination like this made me want to get the witch of the graveyard on my side as soon as possible.
And so, again today.
I was at the graveyard on Star Gazing Mountain.
"...Then I'll be going now."
I thought I was going back empty-handed as usual.
But today was different.
Clang-
It was when I was about to leave after saying goodbye.
Suddenly, Eve turned her head.
She showed interest.
In what?
It seemed to be a sound.
It was the sound of the rifle "Liberator⁺₊⋆" on my back hitting the metal of the stand.
What was it? Did she really react because of this sound?
"I thought you couldn't hear."
She tilted her head, puzzled.
So, just in case.
『 World Fabrication : Shape Fabrication [Bell] 』
I took out a modeling I had made before.
Ting-a-ling!
Then, Eve showed even more interest.
"……?"
I had made many sounds for two weeks, but this was the first sound she reacted to.
Ting-a-ling! Ting-a-ling!
She seemed subtly pleased.
She didn't seem to hear any other sounds at all, but she seemed to hear the sound of metal ringing.
"Do you want it?"
"……."
At this moment, I was slightly moved.
Eve slowly began to approach me. She even slightly tilted back her hood, revealing her face.
Eve, who had come down from the tomb and approached stealthily, carefully reached out to grab the bell.
I pulled it away slightly.
"You can't turn it."
"……?"
"I said you can't turn it. Like this. If you turn it. Do you know that I compensated for you breaking the Scope? You brought such an expensive thing."
I showed her the gesture of disassembling the Scope, spinning it around and around. But Eve still just tilted her head.
Well, it's [Illusion Magic] this time, so it doesn't matter.
I handed it over.
"……."
Thud-
A dull, non-ringing sound came out. It was because Eve grabbed the body of the bell and shook it.
"You have to grab the top and shake it."
"……."
I took it back and demonstrated.
Eve, who was still smarter than a snail, followed me.
Ting….
Finally, a sound came out.
Eve shook the bell, fascinated.
Ting…. Ting….
It was different from when she turned the Scope until it wouldn't turn anymore, and then broke it even after turning it all the way.
The action of shaking the bell was very careful.
Ting…….
Was it thanks to that?
Today, for the first time when saying goodbye, she followed my gesture.
The gesture of saying goodbye.
The movement itself was awkward, but it was the first time she recognized me as a person. Wasn't it a great development?
"Goodbye."
"……."
She still couldn't speak.
* * *
Nightwalker Hall.
The 'Hiaka Academy Assassination Studies White Path Branch' office.
The office was usually quiet.
But today, it was as noisy as if firecrackers had been set off.
"Hakon is dead? That ghost of the Black Path from the Second Assassination War?"
"That's what I'm saying?"
"I can't believe it. That bastard really died...?"
The professors' faces were filled with smiles.
The professors of the White Path remembered. The face of Hakon, who brutally murdered their colleagues during the Assassination War about 10 years ago.
The sight of an Assassination Squad team coughing up blood and dying all at once with 12 curses at his disposal.
They pretended to be nonchalant about it as a memory of the past when they came to the Academy, but he was a bastard they wanted to kill at any time.
"That bastard deserved to die. Hahaha! Serves him right!"
The head of the White Path branch, Head Professor Baekwa, laughed heartily.
"No, but you know. Even if he's been away from the field for a while, he's that Hakon guy who was called the 'Cursed Sword'. Who the hell killed him?"
"Yes, Chairman. It's Professor Dante."
"Dante? Who's that?"
"You know, the new professor. Assassination Studies."
"Didn't you say that guy would be killed by Hakon?"
"But he counter-assassinated him."
"Huh?"
"The more surprising fact is that Professor Dante, who came to work today, was perfectly fine with no injuries."
"Really? Wow, that guy is something else...?"
Branch Manager Baekwa stroked his pure white beard and smiled.
How interesting!
"We need to completely change the evaluation."
"What evaluation?"
"Don't you know? There were rumors that he was strong when he stopped the Marina Elise fight before. And when he stopped the Joaquin proxy assassination, there were rumors that he used time magic. The Chairman said it was nonsense, right?"
"That's right! What kind of time magic!"
"But, if he can assassinate Professor Hakon like it's nothing, then maybe we don't know?"
"……."
Baekwa stroked his beard with a serious face and said.
"No. Still, time magic doesn't make sense. Isn't it common for kids to get scared and see things?"
But, apart from that.
"That Dante guy. How strong is he?"
"We don't really know either."
Interest is piqued.
A professor with no past.
The Chairman brought him in.
The royal family's crazy Chairman, who likes to pretend to be mysterious and doesn't communicate with the undergraduates, always picks up strange assassins from somewhere. So you can't know anything from that.
So when I checked his records and identity, nothing came up separately.
Place of birth unknown. Family relations unknown. Martial arts rank unknown.
What is certain is. He assassinated the war ghost Professor Hakon. And he is strong enough to be unharmed himself.
Anyway, if Professor Dante was such a strong person. The stance that the White Alliance should take is obvious.
"Professor Dante, should we bring him to the White Alliance?"
At the professor's question, the Chairman frowned.
"Hey, Professor Kwangsun. Why are your questions like that?"
"Yes? Should we not bring him?"
"Bringing him is something we should definitely do. You should ask, 'What should we offer him!' You idiot!"
If he's that strong, we must bring him.
To our White Alliance.
* * *
"Hakon is dead."
Hiaka Black Path Branch. The Black Blade Society professors quietly said, smelling incense in the dark office.
"A pathetic death. Did he survive the Assassination War panting like that just to die like that?"
"Watch your mouth, Professor Vaiper."
"What watch my mouth. I told that idiot Hakon three times. Don't attack a professor whose power has not been identified. Why did he get involved in the first place? The higher-ups must have told him not to get involved."
"Professor Hakon tried to bring a guy named Dante to the Black Path. But Dante was rude."
"Don't talk about being rude... He's a professor, not a Student, and he's swayed by emotions, tsk. The White Path guys must be having a festival."
Professor Vaiper, who resembled a viper, couldn't hide his annoyance.
"Haa... The Marina incident last time too. What is all this? When I saw it, Hakon must have become emotional because of the Joaquin incident."
"What do you mean?"
"Joaquin is a kid he used to teach, so he was caught up in sentimentality! If the kid did something stupid, he should have scolded him. Why did he die unnecessarily trying to protect him?"
It was then.
"Maybe you should be quiet and offer a silent prayer."
At the words of the man who opened the door and entered, Professor Vaiper, who was raising his voice, hurriedly lowered his head.
"......You've arrived, Branch Manager."
Hiaka Academy Black Path Branch Manager. Head Professor Betelgeuse.
A large build. A decadent impression. He leaned back on the sofa in a stylish pose, put a cigarette in his mouth, and received a light.
"We're sad too. Professor Vaiper. But is there any need to raise your voice unnecessarily?"
"I'm sorry. I overstepped my bounds."
Branch Manager Betelgeuse slowly exhaled smoke and fell into thought.
Hakon was a useful professor.
In terms of force. In terms of influence.
After all, he was the ghost of war.
There were uncontrollable aspects, so it was a double-edged sword to use him in major situations, but he was still an excellent professor.
That kind of person died.
"The body?"
"We couldn't find it."
"So, you don't know the assassination method or the cause of death either."
"Yes."
"Are you sure that professor did it?"
"It seems so. Professor Dante is the only professor who has had friction with him recently."
"There's no evidence for that... What did Hakon prepare?"
"He prepared Traps, doping drugs, and a whole set of cursed weapons."
"The ones he used in the war?"
"Yes."
Heavily armed....... He was determined to kill Dante.
Killing Hakon in that state is a huge incident.
Smoke scatters thickly.
"......It's hard to get revenge like this."
The saying that murder is legal if you don't get caught.
Specifies that the importance is in 'secrecy' rather than 'murder'.
The assassination of 'someone' was very excellent in its fundamental value.
So it's hard to get revenge. There's no justification.
"Do we need justification or anything?"
"Just give the order. I'll go and tear off his neck bone and boil it into bear soup when he's taking a dump."
Betelgeuse didn't answer. He just slowly exhaled smoke.
After the Second Assassination War. The Black Path and the White Path were maintaining peace quite well.
Of course. With tensions high between countries, why would people from the same country fight each other?
But recently, the number of mysterious professor assassinations has been increasing.
"……."
The neutral guys haven't been able to become great people enough to do that, even though their recent trends are unusual.
The White Path guys, who are the owners of the Discipline Department, are denying it, saying that it seems to be an assassination by the Hidden Dragon Society.
Well. Is that really an assassination that can happen at the Student level? It's too high level to say that.
Moreover, now a Black Path professor, a skilled professor, has been assassinated by a random neutral professor.......
Perhaps an era of chaos may come.
Betelgeuse sensed it. Then what should he choose?
"If Professor Dante killed Hakon without belonging to anyone, we have no justification to take revenge at the point where we can't find evidence."
Rather, it's something to praise. It means that he has proven his outstanding ability as a professor.
"But if Professor Dante is revealed to be a member of the White Alliance pretending to be neutral, the story may change a little."
Whoosh―
As the smoke spread thickly, Betelgeuse said quietly.
"......We've been too peaceful for too long, haven't we?"
If Dante was a member of the White Path.
The Black Path would have to choose the Black Path's way.
* * *
"Professor. By any chance last night......"
It was night. Adele, who had returned to the mansion, suddenly asked me a question.
"Did you happen to meet Professor Hakon?"
What is this about again?
How can I meet Hakon if he's not coming to assassinate me?
"……."
I didn't know what to say, so I stayed still, and Adele wrapped her arms around her as if she had goosebumps.
"So the rumor was true...?"
"What rumor."
"What else could it be! The rumor that you assassinated Professor Hakon...!"
It was an absurd statement.
I assassinated Professor Hakon?
In other words, does that mean Professor Hakon is dead? Suddenly?
"The rumor has spread throughout the department! When did you go out and kill him? Oh my god......!"
Adele's words were true.
So when I searched the community [Assassin Town] with the crystal ball, articles about Professor Hakon being assassinated last night and even his body not being found and going missing popped up.
"Professor. It's Kang Kang."
30 minutes later. Someone from the Discipline Department came to visit. It was Kang Kang, a handsome male self-defense force member. He said to come with him to the management office for a while.
"...I don't know anything about it."
"Yes. We know."
Kang Kang smiled brightly and winked.
Then he whispered.
"...The Discipline Department and the Black Blade Society kept searching, but they couldn't find any evidence...! You're really a professor...!"
No.
I really don't know anything about it.
"Your skills are amazing. Yes."
Kang Kang was happy because he was a member who liked me, but I was embarrassed.
Of course, I was going to kill Professor Hakon if he came to visit me at night, but I didn't do it anyway, did I?
"But you have to go through the procedure, so let's go!"
"……."
It seemed that the rumor that had spread throughout the department was true.
When I went outside the lab, every Student I met at night was startled. Then, thoughts filled with shock, horror, and fear popped up in a row.
【 Assassination Studies 1st year Kill : 'It's Professor Dante Hiacapo...!' 】
【 Assassination Studies 1st year Pehilia : 'To assassinate the war ghost Professor Hakon without a trace...' 】
【 Assassination Studies 1st year Orn : 'How strong is he? What did that person do in the past?' 】
It wasn't just the Students I met on the street.
I realized it while going back and forth to the Discipline Department until the next day.
The whole department was in an uproar.