The Genius Professor Wants An Easy Life - Chapter 175
Ghoooo!
As we approached the seal’s vicinity, the eerie cries of magical beasts echoed around us.
Kansir clicked his tongue.
“To think that such a large habitat of magical beasts exists right within the city.”
“Well, isn’t it fine thanks to the barrier that surrounds the seal site?”
“Enough with the pointless chatter, let’s go.”
Our party, consisting of myself, Kansir, Balas, and Graham, entered the seal site.
I actually wanted to bring Lindon along as well, but he shook his head.
It pricked my conscience to forcibly involve a slave graduate student in potentially dangerous situations.
Such a kind professor I am.
By the way, Mari has been low on energy ever since the ‘Heavenly Fountain’ incident a while ago.
‘I wanted to bring Amanda, but she was nowhere to be found.’
After traveling for a while, we could feel the air becoming increasingly chilly.
“Hold on. Who are you?”
A figure cloaked in a black robe blocked our path.
Without even hearing their introduction, I could guess who it was.
‘The dark mage of the Dark Tower!’
Their level appeared to be around Lv. 6.
But that wasn’t all.
What rats have we here?
Sssss.
The dense shadow of death.
A ‘Cult’ necromancer.
Approximately Lv. 5.
While their level wasn’t particularly high, necromancers were much more difficult to deal with compared to others of the same level due to their undead legions.
We encountered formidable opponents even before reaching our destination.
‘It’s fine. Graham’s The Ring of Jade Illusion is perfect. They’ll never recognize us.’
I glanced briefly at Graham.
Graham, for a moment, sent a ‘why do I have to do this?’ look before clearing his throat and stepping forward.
“W-We are faculty members from the Ruby Academy. We’ve come to observe the development of the seal site under the orders of Duke Volman.”
A slightly nervous voice.
Eyes that seemed almost cringing.
A perfect act, befitting a trickster.
The reason I specifically brought Graham along.
“Hmm. I did hear about it, but it’s problematic. We were just about to start the extraction process.”
What a nuisance. Deal with these guys yourselves, Dark Tower and Abyss. Our cult will just take the by-products as agreed upon beforehand.
“For our part at the Dark Tower, we indeed only need the by-products. But since the Abyss folks are the main players this time, we should ask the ‘person in charge’ from Abyss what to do about these people.”
Dark Tower, the Order, Abyss.
The conversation spilled out terrifying words, making Kansir, Balas, and Graham’s faces pale.
They were half in doubt, but now they realized everything I said was true.
Isn’t the ‘person in charge’ from Abyss currently unreachable?
“Hmm, this is displeasing. It’s as if those from the Abyss consider us mere underlings.”
As their conversation revealed, the ones leading this event were from Abyss, one of the Three Evils.
The Dark Tower and the Order were merely providing support in hopes of a reward.
Though they were cooperating, their relationship did not seem particularly amicable.
This was something I figured could be exploited later.
“Feeling quite unpleasant, shall we just kill them all?”
Is that alright?
“Well, it shouldn’t matter. This is a sealed site, after all. Anything could happen here.”
I’ll lend a hand as well. In exchange, hand their corpses over to me. I’ll ‘convert’ them and have them return to the Order.
The situation I feared unfolded!
‘We can’t fight.’
It’s not out of fear.
With our current party’s strength, we could probably take on these foes, but causing a commotion here would jeopardize our plans.
We had to first secure ‘evidence’ that could expose what these villains were plotting.
“Y-You’re going to kill us? Do you think Duke Volman would just stand by?!”
The trickster Graham cried out, trembling.
Hmm, I can’t tell if that’s an act or genuine fear.
I was about to speak up myself, trying to avoid a fight, when suddenly:
“Stop this at once. What do you think you’re doing?”
“!!”
I was startled.
An unexpected figure appeared.
It was Emily!
‘Why is she here?’
The villains from the Dark Tower and the Order sneered at her.
“Oh look, the puppet chairperson. A puppet should just stay out of this, don’t you think?”
Emily’s eyebrows twitched.
“You two are fired.”
“…What did you say?”
“It seems you’re under some misconception. This place is a business site of the Rapalt Duchy. At best, your Three Evils are merely subcontractors. And you two are just subcontractors of those subcontractors. Do you really think I don’t have the power to dismiss just the two of you? Both of you, get out of here immediately!”
“!!”
The two from the Dark Tower and the Order frowned.
A chilling aura arose.
It was a tense scene, but Emily didn’t back down.
Despite appearances, Emily, who had reached level 5 in magic as a ‘hobby,’ was a genius.
Not someone to be underestimated.
They had bitten off more than they could chew.
“Understood. We’ll follow the chairperson’s orders. But what about these people?”
“As decided by the board, we’ll show them around the area and then send them back. You continue with your work.”
“…Understood.”
Emily led us deeper inside.
A moment later.
You, Van? Are you insane? How dare you crawl into a place like this?! Do you want to die?
I heard Emily’s magic spell.
And you? Why did you take on the chairperson role? Don’t you realize it’s a scheme to pin all the blame on you?
I felt troubled.
Given the situation, Emily could never escape.
She would end up on the gallows alongside Duke Volman.
That doesn’t matter. What? If it means bringing down my father, I don’t care if I’m falsely accused and die!
Veins throbbed in Emily’s eyes.
Do you know what makes me the angriest about my father? Trying to use me as a discard? No. It’s that he turned the Rapalt Duchy into such a terrible thing just for his own greed. ……. Regardless of my birth, I am the legitimate daughter of the Rapalt Duchy. It’s my duty to bring down the Rapalt Duchy that has turned into a monster.
A firm resolve.
Persuasion would be futile.
So, you go back. No, I can’t do that. Now that it’s come to this, we should cooperate. Aren’t we business partners? It’s dangerous! Can you alone stop what’s about to happen?
Emily clamped her mouth shut.
Indeed.
I didn’t come just to secure evidence.
I had to prevent the horrific disaster that was about to unfold.
Fortunately, there was still time before the full moon rose completely.
Don’t get me wrong. I have no intention of dying over something like this. I plan to return alive and well, to live a good life.
Emily shook her head in disbelief.
Alright. Then follow me. But, just in case, I’ve already identified an escape route inside, so if anything goes wrong, run in that direction immediately.
Thanks to Emily, we managed to reach the entrance of the ruins without any obstacles.
This place? Yes. This is the entrance to Sector A9.
Though referred to collectively as a seal site, it’s divided into numerous individual sectors.
Each sector hides its own mysteries and secrets.
In the case of Sector A9.
Don’t be surprised once we’re inside.
Krrrrung.
As the party entered the ruins, everyone’s eyes widened in shock.
A vast underground space unfolded before us, revealing an incredible sight.
Countless metal machines.
Dense arrays of magic circles.
It was a ‘factory’.
Created by ancient magical engineering.
“What kind of factory is this?”
“Their audacity is astounding.”
The interior of the factory was like a maze.
It was impossible to grasp its true nature at a glance.
However, the eerie energy filling the air suggested that this factory was not intended for good purposes.
“Hold on, Van. Look at this. Could these ores piled up here possibly be rare earth elements? And not just any, but Nemantium that enhances mana conductivity!”
“Not just Nemantium. There’s also Laomium that boosts the power of elemental attributes and types that reduce mana consumption? To think there are so many rare earth elements piled up here?”
“Could this place be a factory for refining rare earth elements?”
The realization of the factory’s ‘identity’ made Kansir, Balas, and Graham’s faces turn pale.
Rare earth elements.
Rare earth elements refer to minerals that exist rarely in nature.
Similar yet different from Earth, where rare earth elements enhance the performance of electronic devices, such as improving their magnetism or strength, making them essential for advanced machinery.
Here, the rare earth elements had a similar function.
They dramatically improved the performance of magical devices.
However, there was a significant problem with these elements; on Earth, the mining process releases toxic substances, causing severe environmental pollution.
Here, the issue was different.
Mining was relatively easy compared to Earth, but the ‘refining’ process was problematic.
“The refining of rare earth elements takes place inside here. I haven’t been able to enter myself due to a lack of access rights.”
I looked at the door protected by a complex spell.
It was time to open Pandora’s box.
Fwoosh!
The lock on the door was released, revealing the true nature of the Shangri-La Academy project.
Aaaaarrghhh!
Hehehehe.
More. More. Need more sacrifices. This is terrific…!
Chilling screams echoed from within a giant crystal sphere at the center.
It was as if a demon, waiting for its prey, was crouching inside.
Indeed.
This was the problem with ‘refining’ rare earth elements in this world.
People’s ‘pain’ and ‘sins’ were offered as sacrifices to demons, undergoing a forbidden process.
‘It’s possible to refine without using the forbidden methods, but then the extraction rate drops drastically. Compared to the forbidden methods, it’s hard to even retain 0.1%.’
This was the secret behind the rapid growth of the Rapalt Duchy in recent times.
Duke Volman had joined forces with the Three Evils to secretly refine large amounts of rare earth elements through forbidden methods, dominating the premium magical device market.
‘Still, there’s room for some leniency here. Duke Volman himself didn’t directly commit these terrible acts.’
After all, the sins committed by the Three Evils alone were enough to offer as sacrifices to demons.
But what was about to happen here was different.
“Please, save us!!”
“Please, I beg you!!”
“At least save the child!!”
People were trapped inside with us.
I sighed and looked at the magic circle placed in the center.
It was a magic circle for human sacrifices.
Indeed.
This ‘factory’ was a place where people’s lives were used as sacrifices to complete the rare earth elements.
Since it involved directly sacrificing lives, it could refine far more high-quality rare earth elements than ever before.
‘Luckily, it’s not too late.’
“What are you waiting for? We need to save these people quickly.”
Click.
After opening our door to release the people,
“Thought we had some rats sneaking in, but it’s just the trash Van.”
Chill.
A shiver ran down my spine.
Turning my head, I saw a man shrouded in shadows sending a cold gaze our way.
“Never thought you’d actually come. Guess you really do have a death wish.”
It was someone I knew.
The ‘Ghostface’ of Abyss.
A Level 7 Master-class powerhouse.
“This is bad…!”
The faces of Kansir, Balas, and the rest of our party went pale.
It was a natural reaction.
As I’ve said time and again, Level 7 is a realm entirely different from the ones below.
While we weren’t exactly weak, we stood no chance against such a foe.
But then.
“Kansir, Balas, you take the people and escape first through the route Emily showed us. I’ll handle this guy.”
“Van? Are you insane? How could you possibly hope to stand against a Level 7 Master?!”
“Stand against? When did I ever say I’d stand against him?”
I corrected them.
“I’ll eliminate this guy quickly and then follow you immediately.”
It was time to use my power.
