The Genius Professor Wants An Easy Life - Chapter 208
An overthrow has occurred.
The Sea Serpent King has rebelled against the current Mermaid Queen.
‘Our visit has accelerated the timing.’
I thought with a heavy expression.
The Sea Serpent King’s rebellion was bound to happen anyway.
However, our visit amplified the dissatisfaction among the mermaids who opposed humans, and in the chaotic atmosphere, he took action.
‘Although the Queen is not dead yet.’
Mermaids are half-human, half-demon, so their life force is stronger than humans. Even if their chest is pierced, they don’t die immediately.
After imprisoning her, they plan to execute her formally in front of everyone a few days later.
So, what did I do?
‘…What do you mean what did I do? This is an internal matter of the merfolks, I can’t interfere.’
No matter how great a genius and legendary mage I am, I can’t face the mermaid army alone.
More importantly,
‘If I interfere, I’ll give the merfolk an excuse to kill me.’
The reason mermaids don’t recklessly harm humans is the fear of retaliation.
But if I wrongly involve myself in this matter, it will be seen as meddling in their internal affairs, giving them a justified reason to kill us without any repercussions.
As the instructor leading the children, I can’t take such risks. Of course, my life is precious too.
Therefore, we are now returning to the summer camp.
Step, step.
“……”
“……”
Fortunately, the Sea Serpent King only exiled us without harm. The friendly lesson was, of course, canceled.
All the children looked dispirited.
“A rebellion out of nowhere. What kind of world is this? Truly a disaster magnet.”
“…What do you mean by ‘disaster magnet’?”
“Disaster magnet! Professor, trouble follows you everywhere you go.”
“Stop giving me weird nicknames.”
“Yeah, what’s with ‘disaster magnet’? I like ‘Cute Professor’ the best. ‘Professor Awesome’ sounds cool too.”
“Forget ‘Cute Professor’ and ‘Professor Awesome.’ ‘Fight Dragon’ suits you best. Wait, stop. Professor, you’re not planning to do another ‘Fight Dragon’ stunt, are you?”
“…What nonsense is that all of a sudden?”
“It’s true! You’re secretly planning to go back to the mermaid island to help the Queen we met earlier, aren’t you?”
I frowned.
“Don’t worry. I have no intention of doing something so reckless.”
“Really? Truly? For real?”
“Yes, I’m a professor. Your safety is more important than the internal affairs of the mermaids.”
“I can’t believe it…”
It wasn’t just Catherine. All the children looked at me with suspicion.
…It was the kind of concerned look you give a troublemaker who’s always causing accidents, so I maintained a poker face to earn their trust.
‘It’s really impossible. How can I save the Mermaid Queen by myself?’
Although it would be good to save the Mermaid Queen, considering the chaos the Sea Serpent King would cause in the future, there was nothing I could do.
And then.
It became deep into the night.
When everyone was fast asleep, I quietly opened the door with a creak.
There was a child sleeping soundly in front of the door.
‘No matter how untrustworthy I seem, isn’t posting a guard outside my room too much?’
I used magic to put Wilhelm, the most gullible one, to sleep and slipped out.
When I got up to the deck, there was already someone waiting for me.
“Professor.”
It was Johan!
“Yes, are you ready?”
Indeed.
I planned to return to Mermaid Island.
The children’s worried looks of ‘You’re not causing trouble again, right?’ flashed briefly in my mind, but I shook my head.
I hadn’t lied.
‘Even if I give up on saving the Mermaid Queen, I have to save Johan.’
I’ll safely achieve the hidden piece and come back.
‘Actually, since there’s chaos, it will be easier to sneak into the sanctuary.’
At that moment, Johan’s deer-like eyes were filled with tears again.
“Th-Thank you for taking this risk because of me.”
Seeing that, the children’s words suddenly came to mind.
Oh, Johan, that fake!
Hmm, no matter how I look at it, it doesn’t seem like it.
How could that be an act?
Johan is so kind, it’s caused misunderstandings instead.
“A professor helping a student is only natural, so stop saying unnecessary things and get ready.”
“But how are we going to go? We can’t use a boat since we’ll get caught by the mermaids’ surveillance.”
“I’ve prepared a better means of transportation than a boat.”
“What is it?”
Johan’s eyes widened.
I pointed to something long standing in the corner of the deck.
My trusty steed of the sea, a surfboard!
Whoosh!
After applying all sorts of stealth magic, like reducing visibility and eliminating noise, I got on the surfboard on the water.
Johan climbed on behind me.
“Professor, but why are you taking off your shirt?”
“Didn’t you know? When riding a surfboard, you have to take off your shirt. It’s a sign of respect for the board.”
If it were any of the other kids (especially Catherine), they’d give me a look that said, ‘There he goes again with the nonsense.’ But, of course, the deer-eyed saint Johan was different.
“Ah, as expected! I’m once again moved by your profound intentions, Professor! Should I take off my shirt too?”
“…No, if you do that, the genre will become strange.”
“What do you mean?”
“Just let it slide.”
“Yes, I’ll follow your instructions, Professor!”
Seeing Johan’s kind demeanor, I repeated to myself that there was no way he could be a fake.
“Let’s go. Let’s create a legend of summer.”
Let’s go! Legend of Summer!!
Whoosh!
The surfboard sliced through the night sea.
Back then, I didn’t know.
What kind of miracle the ‘Legend of Summer,’ often mentioned by the Black Dragon, would become.
It was the beginning of the ‘Hold Sword Legend’ that would be passed down among the mermaids for generations.
* * *
Flash.
The children opened their eyes.
“He’s gone, right?”
“Yeah, he’s gone.”
“That Van the Fight Dragon! We told him it was dangerous!”
“Well, we expected this. Still, I like that side of Professor Van. It’s because of his meddling that we are who we are today.”
Catherine closed her mouth.
Yulia was right.
Catherine complained, but she didn’t actually dislike that side of Van.
However,
“He overdoes it every time! Doesn’t he seem super reckless?”
“I agree. It would be nice if he exercised some restraint. He doesn’t consider his opponents.”
“What on earth does he plan to do against the mermaids by himself?!”
In truth, Van had no intention of helping the Mermaid Queen and was just sneaking in to achieve the hidden piece, but the children, unaware of this, were furious.
“He’s not alone. We’re here.”
“…Right.”
“This time, it’s our turn to help Professor Van.”
A determined resolve arose among the children.
“Hurry, let’s go. If those fish hurt the professor… I’ll turn them all into sashimi.”
“Yeah, let’s go. We’ll be the wings of Van the Fight Dragon!”
“W-Wait. What about me? I still haven’t recovered from the professor’s sleep spell, so I can’t go…”
“Wilhelm, do you want to get in trouble? Hurry up and follow us. You’re the son of the Northern Sea Margrave, so if worse comes to worst, you’re valuable enough to be taken as a hostage by the mermaids.”
“Throw me in as a hostage? You’re joking, right, Yulia? We’re friends, aren’t we? Hey? Why aren’t you answering?”
The children, burning with the resolve to save Van (excluding Wilhelm), went up to the deck.
But they immediately faced a challenge.
“I cannot allow you to do this. Go back below deck.”
“…Professor Repel.”
“For the record, this isn’t just my decision. Professor Van specifically asked me to prevent you from doing anything reckless.”
“But Professor Van is in danger…!!”
“Even so, I can’t stand by and let students go into danger.”
The children looked troubled.
They knew from the previous group competition that Professor Repel was a stubborn person who didn’t listen to reason.
‘What should we do?’
Just as Professor Repel was about to lecture them with a stern face again.
Thud!
“??”
Before they knew it, Theren appeared from behind, lightly tapping his scabbard.
“Oops, my hand slipped.”
“Theren, you?”
“Don’t get the wrong idea. It’s not like I’m helping you. And I definitely don’t want to help Professor Van.”
“Then why are you here?”
“Because I can’t stand seeing Professor Van act all high and mighty by himself?”
The kids gave Theren a look that said, ‘Is this guy a cat or something?’
At that moment, an unexpected person joined them.
“Hehe, I’ll come too.”
It was Beril!
For the record, Beril had been in the Beril state continuously for some time now.
“I have a debt to repay to Professor Van.”
And then, another unexpected voice joined in.
“Libel, come over here for a moment. Let’s have a talk.”
It was Kalvel.
Libel hesitated for a moment, then followed Kalvel.
Once they were alone, Kalvel suddenly grabbed Libel by the collar.
“What are you doing? Do you have a death wish?”
“!!”
“Don’t you realize your situation is different from the others? If the mermaids capture you, the others might survive as hostages because of their backgrounds, but you will be killed without a doubt.”
It was a valid point.
Everyone had impressive backgrounds.
Catherine was outwardly the daughter of a prestigious magic family, Wilhelm was the son of the Northern Sea Margrave, and Yulia was the disciple of the Mad Dragon.
The mermaids, who wanted to avoid conflict with humans as much as possible, would hesitate to act rashly against them.
In contrast, Libel had no such background, and he would undoubtedly be killed without hesitation.
“Did you survive by killing your ‘friends’ just to die like this? Have you forgotten the wishes of the ‘friends’ you killed?”
“!!”
Libel’s face turned pale.
However,
“I-I haven’t forgotten. I’m doing this because I want to live too.”
“What?”
“If Professor Van disappears, I won’t be able to go on living.”
“What kind of nonsense is that, like some professor’s pet…?”
However,
Kalvel’s face hardened at Libel’s next words.
“W-When I’m awake, I see hallucinations of the friends I killed, and when I sleep, I have nightmares. Don’t you feel the same?”
“……”
“I-I’ve thought about wanting to die hundreds of times a day, but the one who helped me endure those days was Professor Van. S-So I can’t live without him.”
Slowly.
Kalvel’s grip on Libel’s collar loosened.
Seeing hallucinations of dead friends was something Kalvel experienced as well.
