The Genius Professor Wants An Easy Life - Chapter 147
‘It doesn’t make any sense.’
I smirked.
‘This is exactly what I intended.’
The loss in the vote was predetermined.
With Erich’s “abilities,” there was no way I could win the vote against him.
So, why did I insist on a vote battle that I was bound to lose?
To create a situation like this.
“This is weird. Isn’t it rigged?”
“Why did I vote for Professor Erich? Even if I thought he was cool. Wait, why did I think Professor Erich was cool in the first place?”
“Honestly, isn’t Professor Van cooler?”
“No, Professor Van is only cool when he’s quiet. Once he speaks, it’s all pretense and cringeyness.”
“Regardless, Professor Van looks cooler on the surface!”
Doubts murmured everywhere.
It was a crack.
A crack in Erich’s “ability.”
‘His abilities are not invincible.’
brainwashing.
Specifically, mass hypnosis.
That was Erich’s power, powerful enough to be valued in the Abyss.
‘Especially, his hypnosis is so sophisticated that it’s hard to notice the manipulation.’
But it had a weakness.
The disconnect from reality.
‘The bigger the gap between the hypnotic suggestions and reality, the more people start to notice something is off.’
If my event booth had been moderately successful, people might not have noticed anything strange.
‘This is just the beginning.’
Then, Erich smiled again.
“Ha. It seems Professor Van is quite popular. Still, I’m grateful to those who voted for me. I will continue to work hard in response to your support.”
He tried to hypnotize again!
Just as students were about to nod along unconsciously,
“Shut your mouth.”
An unexpected figure intervened.
It was Professor Burnstein!
“I’m not sure what you’re up to, but it’s utterly displeasing.”
Suspicion was already in the air.
A figure of Professor Burnstein’s caliber would inevitably notice something amiss with Erich’s scheming.
Of course, it was all “suspicion,” without any concrete evidence.
Erich’s hypnosis wasn’t a magical ability, making it hard to gather evidence even with suspicions.
“Ha. I’m not sure what you’re implying. I’ve heard that Professor Burnstein is close with Professor Van. Are you accusing me only because of that?”
This was enough stirring of the pot.
It was time to bring out the dishes.
“It’s not slander.”
“!!”
“I saw Professor Erich secretly performing some strange ritual during the play rehearsal.”
Eyes widened in shock.
“What are you saying, Yulia?”
“Well, I… I’m not sure, but it was like a ritual offering to demons.”
“!!”
Shocked expressions all around.
Especially from Erich.
“What nonsense!!”
He looked unjustly accused.
And rightly so.
This was a setup.
Yulia was going with my instructions, lying.
True to her role as a named student villain, her performance was impeccable.
‘What? Do I always have to play fair?’
Right. If we couldn’t find evidence, fabricating false evidence would suffice.
“Yulia, are you making up lies because you’re close with Professor Van?”
“Hmm. Her claim seems to have some merit.”
“Professor Stefan, head of the magic department?”
The second con artist… rather, an actor made his entrance.
Stefan exchanged a glance with me, questioning if we were really going through with this.
To which I replied with a look that said:
Do you want to spend 500 years in jail, or will you follow me?
Stefan, or rather, Prince Graham of the fairy folk, swallowed hard before speaking.
“I can see it. The malevolent aura surrounding Professor Erich.”
“!!”
This, too, was a lie.
It was true Erich had made a pact with a demon.
His hypnotic abilities were granted by a demon.
But someone of Erich’s caliber, who had contracted with a high-ranking demon, could completely conceal his own aura, making it undetectable.
Nonetheless, It was an absurd claim.
“Malevolent aura? I don’t see anything.”
“Are you comparing yourself to him? Professor Stefan is renowned in the academic world. He’s of the 7th rank.”
“There’s even talk that the professor isn’t just a mere level 7, but perhaps a master or even a grandmaster.”
In reality, he was a con artist, but Graham’s reputation made it impossible for people not to believe him.
“How can you say that without any evidence?!”
“Evidence? Let’s reveal the malevolent aura you’ve hidden.”
Graham extended his magic wand.
Though, the wand was a fake.
The real magic came from the ring he wore, a treasure of the Seven Clans of the fairy folk, known for their illusion magic that made their illusions indistinguishable from reality.
Given that Graham posed as a level 7 mage, the sophistication of his illusions needed no explanation.
Whooosh!
A sinister aura burst forth from Erich.
“It’s true, that’s the aura of the demon!”
“Professor Erich is a follower of the demons!”
“No, this isn’t right! It’s all fake!”
Erich shouted as if he was genuinely wronged, but only received cold responses.
Desperately, Erich looked to his fellow new professors, the other spies of the Three Evils.
“You know this is a lie! Speak up for me!”
However, the spies of the Three Evils ignored him.
‘After all, they’re competitors. They wouldn’t uphold loyalty in such a situation.’
Moreover, the other spies were in no position to care about someone else’s troubles.
“This wasn’t just for Erich alone.”
“Are the other new professors in ties with him?”
“Exactly. Some of them have always been sneaking around with Professor Erich.”
“They were all appointed through suspicious means, weren’t they?”
“I heard they were criminals hiding their identities.”
“Isn’t all of this true?”
Balas and Kansir played a significant role in this.
Provoked by my previous taunt, they diligently slandered the other new professors.
Additionally, I had Amanda sprinkle a bit of seasoning on the rumors to secure they were indeed villains.
“Absurd!”
“We have nothing to do with that man!”
Their frantic denials were futile, especially with Erich being blatantly caught in the act. Suspicion deepened among everyone, and I delivered the final blow.
“It so happens that an anonymous tip came into the counseling center, where I serve as director.”
“What?”
“The tip alleges that the new professors are colluding with a dreadful group of evil. Head Diego?”
The Head of the Swordsmanship department often also oversees campus security.
Head Diego’s unexpected intervention startled Duke Volman.
“Head Diego? What is this? Treachery?”
“Not treachery, I apologize for not informing you earlier, Your Grace.”
The director, Head Diego bowed first to Duke Volman.
“If it’s true they’ve deceived Your Grace, I deemed it unforgivable and conducted an investigation on my own.”
It seemed a fitting response from Head Diego.
Though he owed allegiance to Duke Volman, he wasn’t a puppet, choosing to cooperate with me even if it went against the duke’s wishes, if it was for his own benefit.
“Using my authority as director and head of campus security, I inspected the new professors’ quarters and discovered something astonishing.”
“…What is it?”
“The Demon King’s sword.”
“!!”
The shock that rippled through the crowd was incomparable to before.
‘The Demon King, more feared than demons.’
In truth, the demon race and the Demon King aren’t inherently evil, quite distinct.
Though not evil, they’re the empire’s adversaries, tarnished partly by extremist forces within the demon race.
‘Some of the groups are as bad as demons (different from the demon race/ demonic beings), or in league with them.’
“T-That sword just happened to be in our quarters, so…!”
“To pick up the Demon King’s sword and call it an excuse?”
The other spies of the Three Evils seemed on the verge of exploding in outrage, having merely found a treasure dropped in their quarters.
“I can’t just stand by any longer. They will be arrested and interrogated at the city level,”
Mayor Mariam, who had attended for the closing ceremony, declared. Although we hadn’t arranged our stories in advance, she took the necessary actions.
“Do you have anything else to say, Your Grace?”
“…No. I know nothing about this,”
The Duke Volman said, his face pale. It was his own appointees, after all, bringing him unprecedented shame.
Yet, I wondered.
‘Did the Duke Volman truly not know?’
My thoughts drifted to the Duke’s ultimate plan, the ‘Shangri-La Academy Project.’ Despite its silly name, the project was anything but silly.
It might be speculation, but.
‘Perhaps the Duke Volman was aware that they were agents of the Three Evils.’
However, it was when the city’s knights began to arrest the new professors that a chilling premonition struck me.
Warning! Warning! Sudden danger detected!
A message popped up in my monocle.
Simultaneously, a purple warning of a 50% fatality rate flashed.
‘Could it be?’
At that moment, a terrible event unfolded.
Bang! Thud! Boom!
“Aarrghhh!”
“Aaahhhhhh!”
The heads of the Three Evils’ agents, who were being arrested, exploded!
But that wasn’t the end.
Blood splattered into the air began to wriggle and formed the shape of a gigantic monster.
‘Blood magic.’
I swallowed hard.
It was of a tremendous level.
‘At least a Level 7 master, if not a level 7 grandmaster, maybe even higher.’
If that blood were to be shot directly at the people, it would result in a horrific catastrophe.
Fortunately, such an event didn’t immediately occur.
Instead.
Interesting, Van Ecclesia.
“!!”
A message spell only I could hear.
All the effort put into this, and you’ve thwarted it like this. Truly amusing.
“…….”
I’ll give you a choice. Come to me alone, or watch this place drenched in blood.
It was a threat!
Something I absolutely shouldn’t comply with.
But…
‘If I follow your command, will you spare the people here?’
Yes. You are of interest to me.
‘Fine. Tell me where to meet.’
My composed agreement seemed to surprise him.
Kuku. Impressive. Just as the rumors say. Come here this evening. I’m curious to see if you’ll maintain that attitude in front of me.
A location flowed into my mind. It was sent to my consciousness.
Flash!
He kept his promise and dissolved the blood magic.
“Are you alright, Van?”
As I turned pale, a few people rushed over.
I shook my head.
Though startled, I was okay.
In fact, what just happened.
Was somewhat expected.
Precisely, ‘intended’.
‘I had suspected the ‘guy’ who just appeared was in charge of the three evil spies. I just didn’t expect him to show up so soon.’
I said to one of the people who had come over.
“It’s done.”
“What?”
“The target took the bait.”
“!!”
Upon hearing my words, Diego, the head of the department, visibly shook.
Yes.
My compliance wasn’t merely out of concern for others.
The identity of that guy was the Blood Wolf Demon,
An officer of the Abyss.
The one who turned Diego’s son into a vampire.
Yes.
It was time to catch him.