Chapter 48
Chapter 48
48
[Main Story] No.1 Treason and Collapse (5)
However, not everyone harbored goodwill towards me.
As if on cue, one of the neutral professors, who had been conspicuously silent, raised his hand.
"May I offer an opinion?"
"Yes. Professor Bedrock… please proceed…"
"Thank you."
It was Bedrock, a senior neutral professor.
A man with an impression as stony as his name.
One of the neutral professors who always criticized me.
"Professor Dante's contributions to this situation are something all the professors gathered here can fully agree on."
Unexpectedly, without a hint of sarcasm, he began with pure praise.
"He played a significant role in the attack on the monster in the sky… and in the operation to eliminate the intruders in Sector 0… Even I, who don't usually have a good relationship with the professor, have to acknowledge this."
“…And?”
"However, I would like to ask Professor Dante: are your requests purely for the sake of attacking the monsters?"
All eyes turned to me.
Was my request for the Colossus Soldier's Sword○ purely for attacking the Jinxite?
Of course not.
Let me clarify something at this point.
I often disparaged assassins as vulgar, but I'm not much different.
I'm a hopeless human being. I have no desire to fight for ideals if it doesn't make money. Nor do I have any intention of sacrificing myself for purity.
Truly an assassin-like fellow.
That's who I am.
However, rather than answering, I waited for him to speak.
“…I, Bedrock, have doubts about Professor Dante, to be honest.”
“About what, may I ask?”
"If he is stronger than we think, more capable than we think… perhaps even a far more overwhelming force than I imagine, Professor Dante might be using this situation for his own gain."
At that, the professors began to murmur.
"What do you mean by that, Senior Professor Bedrock?"
I asked back.
"Professor Dante, I'll be blunt. Did you perhaps assassinate any neutral professors?"
"What?"
"Exactly as I said. Did you assassinate any neutral professors?"
"I don't understand what you're talking about at all. I find this a little offensive."
"I apologize. But I must ask. In the midst of this war, in all this confusion, did you kill several neutral professors who used to criticize you? Can you answer that?"
"I did not."
"Yes… I suppose not… As capable as you are, I wouldn't expect your assassinations to leave any traces."
“……”
It was an absurd statement to me.
But Professor Bedrock's expression was utterly serious.
"Professor Gula is dead. Professor Olivia, and Professor Mark as well… All of them were professors who didn't have a good relationship with Professor Dante, and they died in locations where the Assassination Squad of Kreuz couldn't have reached. We couldn't help but find their bodies."
"And doesn't Professor Dante have a history of killing Professor Hakon recently?"
Was that true?
Neutral professors had been dying unexpectedly?
Bedrock looked at me with a deathly pale expression.
"…Do you have anything to say about this? Professor Dante?"
His words were quite political and put me in a difficult position.
Most of the professors here knew that.
I had been courted and favored by both the Black Path and the White Path.
And conversely, I had been constantly at odds with the neutrals.
"I…"
But what I had to say was already decided.
"May I say something about that?"
At that moment, an unexpected voice rang out.
Everyone's eyes turned to one side.
It was a surprising figure.
"Professor Dante. That man wouldn't do such a thing."
The one who spoke was a neutral professor with bandages wrapped around his abdomen…
Surprisingly, it was Senior Professor Collider.
"C-Collider…?"
Bedrock's expression hardened, and the expressions of many professors shifted. I was also taken aback.
Wasn't Collider the one who hated me the most among the neutrals?
"Senior Professor Collider…? What on earth…?"
"I felt it when we were attacking the Jinxite monster together. I can't say that man is kind, but he's not the kind of trash who would use a war to kill fellow professors."
Come to think of it.
I was the first to signal to Collider just before he was stabbed by Chief Toy and fell.
"Collider…! Are you mistaken? Perhaps you were confused in the heat of the moment!"
"The true nature comes out in desperate situations. Tsk! I never thought the day would come when I would defend that professor, but anyway, that's my opinion."
"That's absurd, Professor Collider. That guy is…!"
Bedrock was about to get more emotional when.
Thump!
The sound of stone hitting a wooden board was heard.
Professor Angela slammed the table with her half-Petrified arm.
"That's enough… Professor Bedrock's suspicions have no basis to begin with… There's no reason to drag this out and embarrass our precious professor…"
"…I apologize, Chief Angela…"
"It's alright… Also, the Dean has just given permission, Professor Dante…"
"Which means."
"Yes. We will grant the loan."
Ah, yes!
I had obtained a national treasure!
"Then, let's end the meeting here… Professor Dante, please follow me."
* * *
There wasn't much time. I immediately followed Chief Angela and a few elder professors to the armory in Sector 0.
There, I obtained the Colossus Soldier's Sword○, National Treasure No. 17.
"Do you know how to use it?"
"I've never actually used it, but I have a rough idea."
"Then, I'll trust you…"
After going through several procedures.
A plain-looking sword was placed in my hand.
Yes!
With this, I had fully borrowed the Colossus Soldier's Sword○.
I barely had time to feel the joy of obtaining such an incredible weapon.
Since the Jinxite would disappear anyway, it wasn't immediately important.
For now, I decided to focus on the mysteries of the current situation.
'Several neutral professors were assassinated?'
That was something that shouldn't have happened.
Professor Gula could have died because she was in the path of the Kreuz Assassination Squad.
But the other professors Bedrock mentioned were, as far as I remembered, all in safe places.
Their common trait was that they were all 'senior professors.'
They were all attacked when they were alone.
And it all happened within the last few hours.
After the meeting, I thoroughly reviewed the status of the neutral professors.
I tried to grasp the whole story of the situation and talked to several professors (especially Bedrock). Surprisingly, Bedrock readily told me the details.
Also, perhaps because of the previous assassinations of neutral professors?
Most of the current neutral senior professors were gathered in one place. Only one was isolated.
That was Collider, who had defended me earlier.
He was alone in a private room in the infirmary with a knife wound through his abdomen.
So I went to see Collider.
Pretending to be visiting him.
“…Oh? Professor Dante?”
As soon as he saw me, he frowned.
Defending me was one thing, but he still didn't like me, it seemed.
"What are you doing here? You must be busy. If you've come to thank me, get lost…"
"That's not it. I was grateful earlier, but I have something else to do now."
I used Illusion Magic to hide myself behind the wall.
"Huh… What are you doing? Trying to show off your Illusion Magic in front of me?"
Ah, come to think of it, Collider was a professor of Illusion Magic.
I didn't care.
"I'll be here for a while. Just for three or four hours."
"No, what are you doing? Are you really going around killing the other neutrals? Are you building up to kill me now?"
"That's not it. If you're suspicious, tell your neutral group chat that I'm here."
"So you know about it? That you're disliked? That's why your usual behavior is important…"
While Collider was chattering.
I stood in front of the wall for about two hours.
Blankly looking at all the Scripts nearby.
Finally, I came out.
"You…! Are you finally revealing your true colors…!?"
"Shh."
After silencing Collider, who was talking nonsense.
I left the room, opened the emergency staircase door, and stood in front of it, waiting for two girls to come up.
I finally found them.
The culprit who killed the neutral professors.
“……”
Down the stairs.
Rebecca stopped in her tracks when our eyes met.
Elise, who was following closely behind her, bumped into her back. "Ouch…" Staggering, Elise saw me on the stairs, said "Huh?" and waved with a smile.
But I couldn't greet her with a smile.
"The Saintess of the Palace wouldn't be here to pray, would she?"
“……”
This was the second time I had met Rebecca face to face.
Like our first meeting, she looked up at me with utterly emotionless eyes.
Elise suddenly became tense and looked back and forth between me and Rebecca. She sensed that the atmosphere was unusual.
"Would you please step aside, Professor?"
Her decadent red eyes were those of a cruel tyrant.
Again, Rebecca's Script didn't appear.
"You need to explain to me what you're doing. What you've been doing all this time."
With those words, Rebecca seemed to realize that her crimes had been discovered.
“…I was going to kill him. Senior Professor Collider.”
"I forbid it."
“……”
"Aren't you going to make excuses?"
"No, I'm not. Because I killed them. I felt it before, but you have really good eyes. Professor."
"It's strange. Why would you kill neutral professors who are rejected for treason and are like duck eggs floating on the river?"
"I have to be sure. They might become seeds of treason. It's right to eliminate them now."
She was saying incredibly dangerous things as if it were nothing.
"Not all neutral professors are seeds of treason."
"But the root of the traitors is neutrality."
"There are plenty of exceptions."
"At least not in Sector 0."
"What right do you have?"
"This is the Royal Academy, and I'm a princess. Isn't that enough?"
"Far from enough."
“……”
In this subtle confrontation.
Rebecca took a deep breath and exhaled slowly.
A sigh flowed out almost from her lower abdomen.
At this point, I had to decide how to build my relationship with her, whom I would be seeing for a long time to come.
I realized instinctively that Rebecca was not a Student who could be controlled by being kind.
She was a Student, but she was a tyrant.
A tyrant who wielded the Hidden Dragon Society like a sword.
If I only wanted to save my life, I could live as a sycophant.
But what if it had to be a relationship between a Student and a professor?
At this moment, I thought back to history.
The Roman Emperor Nero, who wielded the state with tyranny, lost power due to the Senate's declaration of public enemy.
Oda Nobunaga, who pursued cruel policies, lost power in the Honno-ji Incident.
Louis XVI, who ignored the people, was deposed by the French Revolution.
The Khmer Rouge, Pol Pot, who committed genocide, had his regime collapse due to rebellion and the invasion of Vietnam.
Leaving aside the fact that most of the endings were suicide.
I only thought about the process.
A tyrant never stops on their own.
They are only stopped by external pressure.
"Rebecca Hiakium."
"Yes, Professor."
So, from now on, I had to become external pressure.
"If you came as a Student, act like a Student."
With that one word.
Elise's shoulders shrank. "……!" She covered her mouth and looked at the princess, meaning that even the clueless Elise knew that this was a crazy statement.
“……”
Rebecca looked at me expressionlessly and opened her mouth.
"Elise."
"Yes, Princess…"
"It's an order. Kill Professor Dante."
“…Ah.”
Elise hesitated and reached for her waist.
Swoosh-
Then she drew her sword. Even though her face was full of confusion. It must be because it was an order.
"Professor, I'm sorry… Do you have to die now…?"
The moment she took a step on the stairs, I said.
In a stern and resolute voice.
"Wait."
Then Elise flinched. She didn't know what to do between me and Rebecca.
"Elise. What are you doing?"
“…Ah, well… I have to kill the professor…”
Her pink eyes turned to me, so I gave the order again.
"Wait."
“…Uh, um. Uhmm…”
A crack began to form in Rebecca's expression.
"What are you doing? Go and kill him. Quickly."
“…T, that’s, yes…”
As she moved again, I commanded.
"Elise. Sit."
“……”
At this, Elise became tearful and, after climbing to the top of the stairs, knelt before me.
As the situation became so bizarre, Rebecca raised her hand and covered her small face.
An annoyed voice flowed out.
“…What is this, right now?”