The Genius Professor Wants An Easy Life - Chapter 178
The atmosphere in the room turned distinctly chilly.
“Hehe, just kidding, just kidding. Don’t look so stiff; it was a joke.”
The girl continued, still smiling broadly.
“If you look at me like that, I’ll seem like a monster, won’t I?”
“!!”
A chill ran down my spine.
This was a level of eeriness unlike any danger I’d faced before.
It was clear.
This girl was hostile towards me.
“You are…”
“Emel.”
“……”
“Just call me Emel like before, okay? Keep this up, and I might really get upset, you know?”
The doubt I always had whenever I encountered this girl resurfaced.
‘Is this girl really Esmeralda?’
There were several possibilities.
She might indeed be Esmeralda herself.
Or, the Guardian might be ‘imitating’ Esmeralda.
Honestly, her current appearance didn’t seem like a simple ‘imitation,’ but I couldn’t shake off a nagging suspicion.
I knew just how devious the Guardian could be.
‘After all, she’s the final boss behind the “The Resurgence of the Dreamfall” scenario in the third year.’
Nonetheless, this wasn’t the time to be lost in thought.
I managed to control my expression.
My experience as a sales king, always maintaining a smile no matter the situation, came in handy.
“Right, Emel. I’m also glad to see you.”
“Really? Are you truly glad? Your face says otherwise~”
“I was just surprised earlier. It’s good to see you. And thanks for the help.”
“Hehe. I’ll take your word for it. Help, well, it’s not like it’s anything significant.”
Lv. 8.
She was a girl who, after effortlessly killing powerful transcendents considered to be close to ‘Lords’ and named villains from Abyss, wore an expression as if it were nothing significant.
Indeed, for the Guardian, such feats are trivial. The Guardian is among the special Ascendants, second only to the Demon King among the celestials.
The Guardian, excluding the Demon King, was among the strongest Ascendants.
‘Now that I think about it, what happened to the Demon King? By now, she should have reincarnated into another form.’
I briefly shook my head, refocusing on the girl before me.
“So, what brings you here?”
“I wanted to see Van Brother.”
“Couldn’t you have seen me somewhere else? At the family house or the academy?”
I tried to sound casual, but my heart was racing.
The girl’s gaze remained icy cold, unchanging since her arrival.
‘Is she here to kill me?’
I glanced at my monocle.
Flash.
The black hue appeared and disappeared repeatedly.
It seemed to indicate her internal conflict about whether to kill me.
“Hehe, right. Speaking of the family, it reminds me of the cookies we had at the Ecclesia dukedom. They were delicious. When I was being raised as a sacrifice for the Guardian in the royal palace, it was hard to come by such treats.”
“……”
I didn’t know how to respond, so I stayed silent.
“Ah, I miss those times~ It was fun playing with the stoic Leona. Oh, how’s Cal doing? I miss him too. It felt like everyone was so kind back then. Heehee. Haha.”
Her laughter intensified along with the changing colors of the monocle.
It switched between black and clear almost every second.
She was deeply conflicted.
To kill?
Or not to?
To kill?
Or not to?
Eventually,
I swallowed hard. The monocle’s hue settled on black, a color warning of absolute death. The girl, with a deeper smile, began to speak.
“I came to ask for a favor.”
“What favor?”
“Kill me, please.”
“…What?”
As if suggesting a picnic for tomorrow, she repeated her request.
“Please, kill me.”
“!!”
My face froze, and the girl chuckled.
“Why are you looking like that? Isn’t it what you wanted? I know you think of me as a monster inside.”
“…Why would you ask for that?”
“Because I don’t want to become a real monster.”
“!!”
A sadness flickered across her smiling face.
“Do you know what happened to the souls of the royals who became sacrifices to the Guardian? They were consumed by the Guardian, becoming part of its soul.”
“……”
“It’s only a matter of time before I suffer the same fate. My future is nothing but becoming food for the Guardian, a part of the monster.”
She snapped her fingers.
The rare earth elements remaining here and there flew into the machinery, and the factory began to roar.
“This place isn’t just for producing rare earth through human sacrifices. It was meant to annihilate the ‘Great Ones’ captured souls. In ancient times, there were often battles with Great Ones of the other realms.”
I recognized the truth in her words. The complexity of the magic circle now shining was incomparably greater than the one for human sacrifices seen earlier.
With this magic circle, it might indeed be possible to annihilate even the souls of Great Ones.
That meant,
“This place could even annihilate Ascendants. Of course, activating it properly would be immensely difficult, but I believe Van Brother, as the Legend, can do it.”
After a moment of silence, I asked,
“But if we do that, what about you?”
“What do you mean? Obviously, I’d die too.”
“……”
“Please, don’t make that face. I’m fine. Emel is brave! Better to die now than be consumed by the Guardian.”
As if to prove she was okay, the girl let out a spirited cry and spun around on the spot, dancing.
Though she tried to appear upbeat, like she wouldn’t cry even if it rained, I felt a sinking feeling in my heart.
I spoke words I might regret.
“You’re lying.”
“!!”
“There’s no way you’re really fine.”
The smile vanished from the girl’s face.
“What are you going to do about it? There’s no other way.”
“……”
“In fact, what I’m about to do is something you also desire, isn’t it?”
The girl twisted her lips into a smile.
A different kind of smile than before.
One that seemed mocking.
“Don’t you agree? The Guardian is a being with a dark heart. It ruined Brother Mikhail’s life with false prophecies, all for its own dark schemes. Dying here with the Guardian is for the good of everyone.”
She was right.
Especially since I knew what would happen in the future, what terrible things the Guardian would do.
If it can be killed, then it must be killed.
But
‘…It’s strange. Can the Guardian really be killed this easily?’
Putting aside any personal feelings towards ‘Emel,’ I thought it over.
It didn’t add up.
‘Could this be a trap set by the Guardian?’
My intuition was sounding alarms.
I shouldn’t follow the girl’s words.
Above all,
‘Those eyes looking at me.’
The girl’s gaze seemed endlessly cold towards me.
But that wasn’t all.
There was another emotion hidden deep within.
‘Resentment.’
‘…It is Emel.’
I still couldn’t determine exactly what the girl was.
Whether she was ‘Emel,’ the ‘Guardian,’ or ‘both.’
What was clear was that this ‘resentment’ was purely Emel’s emotion.
Even if the Guardian could mimic Emel, it couldn’t fabricate such feelings.
At that moment, a peculiar thing happened.
A memory surfaced vividly.
Van Brother, can’t you run away with me?
It was ‘Van’s’ memory, but it felt like ‘mine.’
A scene where a timid girl hesitantly asked.
Then, ‘I,’ no, ‘Van’…
No, is this memory ‘mine’ or ‘Van’s’?
Am ‘I’ ‘Van’? Is ‘Van’ ‘me’?
‘What? A mix-up of memories?’
I was confused.
The turmoil didn’t settle easily.
‘I’ recalled as if ‘I’ was ‘Van.’
So,
‘I'(‘Van’) then said to Emel,
I’m sorry. I can’t go.
I withdrew my hand ruthlessly.
Throb.
A pain ached in my chest.
Because of the mix-up of memories, I couldn’t tell if this pain was ‘Van’s’ or ‘mine.’
One thing was certain.
‘I'(‘Van’) regretted what had happened then.
That’s why I said it.
“I can’t abandon you a second time.”
“……”
The girl, ‘Emel,’ had her expression fade away.
The coldness, the mockery, the subtle hostility—all vanished.
Only one thing remained.
Resentment, filled to the brim.
“Ha… Haha.”
Drip.
A tear fell from ‘Emel’s’ eyes.
“Isn’t this too much?”
“…Emel.”
“Too much, don’t you think?!!!”
Kwaaaaaaaaang!!!!
With an incredible force, the machinery in the factory exploded.
A chilling surge of malevolence rose with her tears.
“How much I wished back then you would take my hand!! Even if it were a lie! We were friends, weren’t we? Couldn’t you have done just that much?!”
I remained silent.
Because she was right.
Of course, ‘Van’ had his reasons too.
What could a kid have done? The fear must have been unspeakable.
But ‘Van’ deeply regretted that moment.
He believed he was at fault.
So, ‘I’ too quietly endured her rage.
“I’ll kill you!! I’ll kill you!! I will kill you!!!”
Bloodshot anger filled ‘Emel’s’ eyes.
It wasn’t a threat.
An overwhelming force rushed at me.
‘Emel’ gritted her teeth and shouted.
“This is your last chance. Kill me now, or I’ll kill you!!”
“…I can’t do that.”
“Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhh!!!!!!”
Bleeghgt
Blood spurted from my mouth.
My vision blurred.
‘Is this how I die?’
It was impossible to counter the power of a Level 9 Ascendant.
But then, a soft voice reached my ears.
Stop there.
At the same moment, the crushing pressure that enveloped me vanished.
I opened my eyes wide.
I recognized the voice.
“…You?”
Yes.
Fwoosh.
A blurry figure materialized in front of me.
A little girl.
I had seen her only once, but she was unforgettable.
‘The Demon King?’
I couldn’t grasp the situation.
The Demon King was dead.
By my own hands, no less.
And yet, here she was?
If you have questions, ask them later.
The little girl, the Demon King, gave ‘Emel’ a cool smile.
I don’t know what business you have with this one, but I won’t allow it any further.
“!!”
You haven’t forgotten our ‘agreement,’ have you? If you don’t want to die, leave.
‘Emel’ scowled fiercely but didn’t escalate further.
Instead, she bit her lip hard and glared at me intensely.
“Van Brother, you’ll regret not killing me today. I promise you that.”
