The Genius Professor Wants An Easy Life - Chapter 105
“A bet?”
“I will solve one of the thorny problems that have been troubling you. If I succeed, please grant my request.”
“What request do you have in mind?”
“No matter what happens in the future, please don’t forget that we are a family.”
“!!”
Ron slightly frowned.
“What a trivial thing to say. I’ve never forgotten that we’re family, not even for a moment. The reason I pushed Mariam out of the central political scene was to prevent the succession dispute from escalating further.”
Ron wasn’t lying.
At least not now.
“I’m asking you to remember that sentiment in the future.”
“Haha. Alright. You’ve really changed, haven’t you? As your brother I’m proud. But if you lose the bet, you’re joining me.”
“Understood.”
“What problem do you intend to solve? I’ll show you the list of cases.”
By the way, Ron was a professor at the Amethyst Academy’s Humanities department, but that was more of an honorary position, not his main occupation.
Ron’s real position was the Chief Inspector.
A position of absolute authority responsible for overseeing and punishing the corruption and misconduct of capital nobility and provincial lords.
‘The Ecclesia family isn’t renowned for nothing.’
The cases Ron was handling scrolled through a tablet-like magical device.
“What are these cases on the right?”
“Those involve individuals who committed wrongs but are overlooked. Not everyone can be punished.”
Ron pointed to the left side of the tablet device.
“The cases marked with colors are the thorny ones. Those that need to be punished but for which it’s hard to secure enough evidence to convict.”
The colors varied.
“Which color represents the most difficult cases?”
“Red. Practically impossible to gather evidence, so the Inspectorate has given up on prosecuting them.”
“Then, I’ll choose this case.”
Ron looked surprised at the case I pointed to.
“Red? Didn’t I say it was impossible?”
“You extended your hand to me, yet you know nothing about me.”
“What?”
“There’s nothing impossible before my greatness. It’s just a matter of how trivial it is.”
“!!”
‘Because it’s actually an easy task.’
The Paolo Company’s suspected tax evasion case.
It was something I knew about.
One of the minor cases the protagonists handle effortlessly.
Knowing the full story, solving it would be as easy as eating cold porridge.
‘Let’s enjoy the benefits of being a possessed character for once!’
“Have a cup of tea. I’ll have it resolved before your teatime ends.”
* * *
While the Black Flame Dragon’s imitation of Guan Yu from the Three Kingdoms was embarrassingly flamboyant, it wasn’t entirely an exaggeration.
‘One night is more than enough.’
The Paolo Company specialized in perfumes.
However, the perfume manufacturing process was kept under strict secrecy.
Meaning, it was impossible to confirm exactly what ingredients were used.
‘A perfect product for inflating the cost and evading taxes.’
As a result, negotiating taxes within a reasonable range had been the norm.
They would overlook a certain degree of cost inflation, provided that a specified minimum amount was paid.
The Paolo Company had been paying taxes according to these standards.
‘The problem seems to be the extent to which they’ve inflated the costs.’
Normally, the costs are inflated to about twice the actual cost.
But, suspicions had arisen that the Paolo Company inflated their costs by almost ten times.
The bigger issue was,
‘Despite inflating the costs, they are producing top-quality perfumes.’
Inflating costs implies using cheaper materials.
Yet, they satisfy the picky tastes of nobility?
It was astonishingly suspicious.
‘It would turn high society upside down if the ingredients they used were revealed. Not that it’s my business.’
The place I headed to was unexpectedly the back alleys of the capital.
As infamous as the slums of the Free City.
I entered, hooded.
Unfamiliar faces appearing caught sharp, hostile glances.
‘Ugh, it feels even creepier than the Free City. Here, unlike the Dragon Stronghold, there’s no force controlling the slums.’
My heart fluttered a bit, but I steeled myself.
Bringing knights from my family would have been reassuring, but then rumors would quickly spread throughout the slums.
‘I’m now a 2-star mage myself. I won’t be outdone by the riff-raff criminals of the slums!’
However,
“You look quite noble at first glance. I wonder from which family you are. How would such a distinguished person scream? Shall we start by cutting off a finger to find out?”
I encountered a villain who was somewhat difficult to dismiss as mere ‘riff-raff.’
The Executioner.
A criminal wanted for slaughtering indiscriminately on the battlefield with the Seven Kingdoms, not sparing even his own allies.
Once a renowned knight, his level was a formidable Lv. 5.
‘What? Of all people, I had to run into this guy?’
I felt troubled.
As confident as I was, having become stronger as a 2-star mage, I was stronger than before.
I could face up to someone of Lv. 4.
Not just “up to”? Being Lv. 4 meant being recognized as a master anywhere.
Lv. 5 was considered a ‘Supreme’ level, a high-level status. It wasn’t for nothing that the average level of junior academy professors was Lv. 5.
Meaning, this wasn’t someone you’d expect to encounter in the slums, but luck wasn’t on my side.
Bad… guy!! Go Flee! Escape! I’ll… protect you!!
Mari, emerging from my magical pouch, tried to protect me, but it was more cute than effective, providing no real support.
Worried about attracting more attention, I quickly put her back into the pouch.
‘Damn, should I run?’
I could probably escape.
The problem was, causing a commotion would make achieving my goal more difficult.
I need to stay hidden.
‘What to do?’
I decided to try talking my way out of it.
After all, this villain was just an extra doomed to be eliminated by one of the unspecified protagonists, so there was no need for me to ignite my sense of justice here and now.
“The stench of abhorrence is palpable. I find it repugnant to execute you myself, so kneel and break your own hand. Then, I’ll spare your life for now.”
Typical of our Black Flame Dragon.
By now, his antics were hardly surprising.
In defense of our adorable Black Flame Dragon, whether I did this or that, it’s unlikely the guy would have turned any nicer seeing how excitedly he charged at me like a pervert upon hearing my words.
“Haha! Good. I’m looking forward to seeing how you scream!”
Just as I was about to give up and cause a commotion, a message spell reached my ears.
‘Suddenly?’
It was an unexpected message, but I obediently followed its instructions.
Swish!
I raised my hand and cast a binding spell on him.
“Hehe. Quite sophisticated. But do you think such a low-level binding spell will hold me for long?”
He had a point.
My strength lies in unbelievable precision and creativity, not in brute force.
Of course, I am much stronger than an average 2-star mage, but I still fall short when compared to high levels.
“It doesn’t matter. You’ll be dead soon anyway.”
“Haha. What nonsense are you spouting?”
That was the moment.
He screamed a terrible scream.
“Huuk?! Aaaaaaaahhhhh!!!”
His body melted away.
A horrifying scene.
Blood bubbled and boiled.
Amidst the red blood, a murky drug seemed to taint the liquid.
Turning my head, I saw a familiar face waving at me with a mischievous smile.
“Yap~ Sylphie makes an entrance, Professor♥”
It was the Massacrist Mage, Sylphin.
I was taken aback.
‘Why is she here, of all places?’
Meeting Sylphin in the slums of the capital, not even in the Free City.
I wondered if she had followed me, but Sylphin shook her head.
“I came here for my hobby.”
“What do you mean?”
“The villains from the Free City’s slums are now too cautious to show themselves. It’s bothersome how they keep seeking me out to award me. So, I came on an expedition to find fresh villains~”
Hmm, it seems our dark hero, the Massacrist Mage Sylphin, is set on protecting the back alleys of the capital this time.
‘Is she planning to eradicate all the villains in the empire’s back alleys?’
Sylphin’s eyes sparkled.
“I came with high hopes, but was getting disappointed due to the lack of excitement. But meeting you here, Professor, must mean something fun is about to happen, right?”
I pondered for a moment and then nodded.
It seemed like a good idea to join forces.
“It’s not something grand.”
I spoke calmly.
Because it really wasn’t.
Considering the hidden truths behind this world’s glamour, this was a relatively minor incident.
“I plan to catch those who kidnap humans to turn their bodies into ingredients for their products.”
* * *
Deep in the slums.
We raided the scene immediately.
The culprits were Dark mages.
Not affiliated with the Dark Tower.
Only mages of a certain caliber can join the Dark Tower.
They were mere lowlifes.
‘Ugh.’
Seeing the ‘production site’ where ingredients were made, I had to suppress the urge to vomit.
Despite having experienced various incidents by now, the scene was horrendously hard to stomach.
One relief was that I didn’t need to lift a finger to deal with them.
Sylphin took care of everything.
“To think, such scum existed right in the heart of the capital.”
Ron, who arrived after receiving my message, clicked his tongue.
By the way, after seeing her fill of blood, Sylphin left satisfied before Ron arrived.
“Tax evasion wasn’t the issue. They were making perfume from processed human corpses.”
Then, Ron tilted his head, puzzled.
“How has this not been discovered until now? Even if it’s the slums, this is right at the heart of the capital.”
I also found that odd.
The Free City and the capital are different.
“If it were one or two people, maybe, but there have been many victims. Even in the slums, we would have noticed if there were this many disappearances.”
“Are you suggesting there’s someone bigger behind this?”
“Yes, maybe the Dark Tower. Or perhaps one of the Three Evils.”
It was a plausible suspicion.
But somehow, it didn’t seem like the work of the Three Evils.
‘The Three Evils tend to adhere to their own code, rarely causing trouble in the capital.’
I was lost in thought.
In the original story, the downfall of the Paolo Company marks the end of the episode, and no further details are given, so I also didn’t know if there was a real mastermind behind it.
Then, an investigator who came with Ron shouted.
“Here’s another ledger! It seems there are others who received supplies of materials from these people, not just the Paolo Company!”
“Who are they?”
“Well… it’s secured with a magical cipher… If tampered with incorrectly, the ledger is designed to burn up, making it impossible to access. Even a high-level magical device specialist might find this challenging.”
Everyone sensed it.
This ledger was important.
It might even reveal the true mastermind behind this incident.
“Let me take a look.”
This was where I excelled the most.
Without any mistakes, I easily unlocked the security, and the text became visible.
But there was a problem.
“The Lattice Company? What’s that? Was there a Company with that name in the capital?”
“…It’s not a company based in the capital.”
“Hmm? Do you know about it?”
I swallowed nervously and nodded.
“It was recently selected to supply magical items to our Ruby Academy.”
It was a subsidiary company of the Rapalt Ducal House.
It was news that could turn the empire upside down.
t/n – Guan Yu from the Three Kingdoms lived in the time of the Three Kingdoms and was a famed military general that served under the warlord Liu Bei. (this is a real guy, he prob has the charisma of the Black Flame Dragon)
