The Genius Professor Wants An Easy Life - Chapter 210

Far in the Ancient Past

In the distant ancient times, mighty beings from another world invaded this one.

Just before the world was on the brink of destruction, eight heroes rose up valiantly.

Thanks to their efforts, the world was saved from the crisis of annihilation, and these eight heroes became the saviors of the world, celebrated for generations. This was the legend passed down through the ages.

‘But why do these great legendary heroes keep appearing as ghosts?’

It wasn’t a mistake.

It really was the Red Mage.

Among the eight heroes, she was known for her unparalleled power.

I gulped and carefully opened my mouth.

“Spirit, what brings you here?”

‘!!’

I surprised myself with my own words.

‘Hey, Black Flame Dragon! Be careful who you confront!’

Another title for the legendary Red Mage was ‘Harbringer of Destruction.’

It was a nickname given because only destruction remained in her wake.

With just a flick of her finger, she could kill me and burn down all of Mermaid Island.

Even the Black Flame Dragon seemed a bit intimidated and tried to patch things up.

“I respect the achievements of you eight heroes as well. It’s an honor to meet a fellow hero. Shall we have a sincere conversation, hero to hero?”

…Even the Black Flame Dragon’s attempt to patch things up was characteristic of him.

As I nervously watched the Red Mage’s reaction, something felt off.

…….

Silence.

No response at all.

Then it hit me.

‘This spirit is incomplete. It doesn’t possess a full consciousness.’

Unlike the spirit of the Swift Sword I encountered on the Whirlwind Island, which retained much of its former awareness, it seemed only a fragment of the Red Mage’s vast consciousness remained.

‘Maybe I can ignore it?’

I cautiously stepped into the sacred pond.

Move… away.

“!!”

This place… is an altar sealing the rift. Violate the altar, and disaster will strike.

I frowned.

The warning was clear, but I began to understand why the eight heroes had cursed the merfolk.

“An altar, you say? Did you eight heroes use the merfolk as sacrifices to seal the world’s rift?”

…….

The Red Mage’s ghost didn’t respond, but its vacant expression confirmed my suspicion.

‘It might have been an unavoidable necessity at the time.’

The sacrifice of the few for the sake of the many, in my personal opinion, is wrong, but it’s hard to judge without knowing the circumstances at that time.

Beyond simply turning them into half-human, half-demon beings, cursing the merfolk was probably meant to ensure the rift was sealed even more securely by inflicting lasting pain on them.

‘Such ‘miraculous’ magic that defies the laws of the world often requires such a ‘price’.’

This, too, is difficult for someone like me, from a later generation, to judge.

However, there is a problem.

“The rift in the world has already been completely sealed. There is no need to pay the price of defying causality with this curse any longer.”

That’s right.

Countless ages have passed since then.

All this time, the merfolk have been suffering needlessly.

Violate… the altar… and disaster will strike….

But the ghost of the Red Mage repeated the same words like a puppet.

With its incomplete consciousness, it seemed incapable of any thought or action other than guarding this altar, its initial mission.

“What should we do?”

“What to do.”

I clicked my tongue and moved my mana.

Flash!

Unexpectedly, the ghost of the Red Mage couldn’t withstand my magic and scattered.

Unlike the spirit of the Swift Sword, this ghost was in an incomplete state, weakened over the ages, and couldn’t withstand the passage of time.

“Even if it’s not completely gone, it won’t be able to hinder what we’re about to do. Let’s begin.”

“Yes, understood!”

Johan stood beneath the waterfall.

A sacred aura enveloped his body.

“I’m ready.”

“Alright, just follow my instructions.”

As mentioned earlier, there was a way.

Johan would use his holy power to target the weakened gaps in the curse, and I would support him with my master of magic abilities.

“Remember, we only have one chance. If we fail, the flow of the curse will become twisted, making it difficult to break with your holy power.”

“Yes, I’ll make sure to succeed in one go.”

We began.

Flash!

Johan and I didn’t rush.

As I had just told Johan, it had to be perfect, without any mistakes.

‘Fortunately, thanks to the task I gave Alpha Zero, the merfolk won’t be able to focus on this sacred place.’

I looked down at the city of the merfolk at the base of the mountain.

‘The enraged merfolk must be protesting to the Sea Serpent King. Though they’ll likely be subdued appropriately.’

I thought coldly.

The best outcome here would be to overthrow the Sea Serpent King.

Even if the curse that causes them to hate humans is lifted, as long as the Sea Serpent King remains, there’s a high chance of more turmoil.

Unfortunately, my schemes weren’t enough to overthrow the Sea Serpent King.

A brief commotion was the best I could hope for.

‘Unless the Mermaid Queen is freed and leads the merfolk herself, it’s unlikely.’

But then.

“…What’s that smoke?”

I blinked in surprise.

The city was ablaze in multiple places.

The loud sounds of shouting reached even this far.

Contrary to my expectations, a huge uproar had erupted!

‘This is practically a war. What on earth happened?’

I quickly pulled out my portable magic telescope.

And then.

I let out a dizzying groan.

“How did the Queen escape from prison?”

No, that wasn’t the problem.

‘What are they doing there?’

Catherine, Libel, and the others were fighting alongside the Mermaid Queen.

 

*    *    *

 

Here’s how it happened.

“Look at that chaos. It’s definitely Professor Van’s doing.”

“I agree. There’s no way this could happen out of the blue unless it’s Professor Van.”

The kids were sneaking onto the island, waiting for their chance.

Alpha Zero, following Van’s instructions, stirred up trouble among the merfolk.

Seeing this, the kids became certain of Van’s intentions.

Yulia spoke up.

“Just as I thought, Professor Van plans to help the Mermaid Queen and get rid of the rebels.”

“Ha! Such meddling!”

“Catherine, don’t you know Professor Van by now? He can’t stand injustice. He’d dive into fire if it meant helping someone else.”

“Really.”

“So, do you dislike Professor Van?”

“I didn’t say that!”

“Then stop whining and shut up. I’m going to help him.”

Catherine frowned but kept silent, while the sharp-minded Yulia continued analyzing the situation.

“Even with the commotion among the merfolk, it’s not enough. We need to help.”

Yulia said determinedly.

“We’re going to create the situation where Professor Van can work his miracle.”

“Hey, guys? Calm down, will you? You’re just first-year students.”

Hans and Lindon, who had been dragged along, tried to calm the kids with pale faces.

But,

“Hoho, it’s fine. Precisely because we’re students, there’s something we can do.”

“What?! The moment you try something foolish, you’ll all be captured immediately!”

“That’s right. And that’s exactly our plan.”

“What?”

Yulia chuckled softly.

“No matter that we’re human; as mere first-year students, they won’t kill us easily. They’ll take us as prisoners.”

“Do you know what kind of treatment you’ll receive as prisoners?!”

“We won’t be treated well, just like the Mermaid Queen, who’s imprisoned.”

“!!”

Lindon flinched.

Even Lindon, with his cunning mind, realized something from Yulia’s words.

“Did you know? Mermaid Island has only one prison. If we become prisoners, we’ll be placed in the same prison as the Mermaid Queen.”

“You, surely that’s not why? I must have misunderstood, right? Right?”

“Oh, whine, whine. So noisy. Yulia, why do you have to explain it in such a roundabout way? You mean we’re going to get imprisoned and rescue the Mermaid Queen, right? With the help of Hans and Lindon here.”

“Doing that will surely get us killed!”

“You fools! The neck of Hans, who is to become a full professor, is precious!”

Lindon and Hans screamed, but they had no choice in the matter.

Yulia had poisoned them with a hair-loss toxin and used the antidote as leverage to blackmail them (yes, she actually poisoned them). 

Swallowing their tears, they agreed to the plan.

The operation was split into two teams.

Team 1 consisted of Catherine, Yulia, Wilhelm, and Hans.

Their role was to cause a ruckus and get themselves imprisoned.

All three students were from high-ranking families, so the merfolk wouldn’t kill them easily.

“Who am I? Where am I? Father? Ahhh, I miss the winter of the North Sea.”

“Waaah! I’m about to become a full professor soon. Waaah, mommy!”

“Don’t worry, Assistant Hans. The merfolk regard baldness as noble, so they won’t kill you.”

This was actually a lie, but Hans was the type who could survive even in hell, so they included him without worry.

“Once Assistant Hans, who specializes in magical tools, disables the prison’s security locks, Team 2 will come to rescue us.”

Thus, the operation began.

Team 1 successfully got themselves captured and thrown into prison as planned, while Team 2 waited for the signal.

Team 2 consisted of Libel, Kalvel, Beril, and Lindon.

They awkwardly avoided eye contact with each other.

Lindon, being the most socially adept, tried to break the ice.

“H-Haha, Young Bern? I’m Lindon. I-It’s an honor to meet you. I’ve always admired the House of Darkness….”

“Shut up.”

“Yes, sir.”

Lindon obediently fell silent.

Beril was more irritated than usual.

‘Why am I here to help Professor Van?’

It had been an impulsive decision.

Being dragged into this mess felt unpleasant.

The problem was figuring out ‘why’ he got involved in the first place.

What did it matter to him what happened to that Professor Van?

‘Could it be gratitude?’

Beril vehemently denied it.

‘Absolutely not. There’s no way. I just want to put that annoying professor in his place.’

Meanwhile, there was someone else feeling uneasy because of Van.

It was Kalvel.

‘Damn it.’

Kalvel glared at Libel.

However, Libel’s reaction was unexpected.

He didn’t cower but looked straight back at him.

Different from the Libel he used to know.

‘Is it because of Professor Van?’

You and Libel are both victims. Don’t harbor unnecessary resentment towards each other.

Professor Van’s words echoed in his mind, making him grit his teeth.

‘What does he know?’

How many of his dear friends from ‘home’ had died at Libel’s hands?

One of them was his ‘older brother.’

He couldn’t possibly forgive that.

But,

When my eyes are open, I see hallucinations of the friends I killed.

‘Damn it.’

Kalvel squeezed his eyes shut.

He knew the truth.

He knew it wasn’t Libel’s fault.

But he felt like he was going insane.

If he didn’t blame someone, he wouldn’t be able to hold on, so he blamed Libel.

“You graduated at the top of the class, yet you follow the professor around like a chick following its mother. Pathetic.”

He hid his complex feelings with a sneer.

“I-It’s not pathetic.”

“What?”

“P-Professor Van is creating a legend. Of course, I follow him regardless of that… but being by such a great professor’s side isn’t pathetic. It’s a privilege and an honor I get as his disciple.”

Kalvel’s mouth dropped open in surprise, but then the signal came from Team 1 inside the prison.

It was time for Team 2 to act.

Libel’s demeanor shifted. The clumsiness disappeared, replaced by the confidence he had as ‘Number 1’ from home.

“You, you better watch closely too. The legend the professor is making.”

And so.

Just as Libel said, another of Van’s legends began to unfold.

…Although, this time, it wasn’t exactly part of Van’s plan.