The Genius Professor Wants An Easy Life - Chapter 211

And so, the kids succeeded in rescuing the Mermaid Queen, and all hell broke loose.

 

*    *    *

 

“……”

I was left speechless.

I had suspected they wouldn’t stay put, but causing such a major incident was beyond my expectations.

‘To overthrow the Sea Serpent King, rescuing the Mermaid Queen was necessary, but…’

The problem was the danger involved.

‘At this rate, none of them will make it out safely.’

Even with the Mermaid Queen freed, the odds didn’t look good.

Having prepared for this rebellion for a long time, the Sea Serpent King’s forces were stronger than the Mermaid Queen’s.

Especially problematic was the Sea Serpent King himself.

‘He’s a Level 7 Grandmaster. There’s no one among the merfolk who can match him.’

In the Empire, the continent’s strongest nation, Levels 7 and 8 were common, but among the merfolk, a small race, Level 7 or higher was extremely rare.

‘I have to go.’

Of course, even I couldn’t take on a Level 7 Grandmaster, but I had one method worth trying.

The problem was.

“Professor?”

Paaa?

I was at a critical moment in breaking the sacred site’s curse.

If I left Johan alone, he would fail.

‘If he finishes lifting the curse first, it will be too late.’

I was caught in a dilemma.

But then.

“I’ll be fine, so please go.”

“Johan?”

“I can do this alone.”

Johan glanced at the city, which was in utter chaos.

“Those kids, they’re doing this for you, aren’t they? I want to be a help to you. I’ll succeed, so please trust me and go.”

I looked at Johan for a moment.

‘I’m worried.’

However, there was a resolute determination in Johan’s eyes.

He seemed to be pleading for my trust.

I reluctantly nodded.

“Alright. But remember one thing. Johan, what do you think is the most important quality of a saint?”

“Isn’t it a heart that puts others first?”

“That’s correct, but there’s something even more important: self-assurance.”

“!!”

“No matter what doubts arise on the path you take, you must remain steadfast. That is the most important thing.”

In fact, if you look at the great saints who left their mark on history, many were incredibly single-minded.

A fanatical belief.

This is also the most crucial aspect of resolving this hidden piece.

“Self-assurance….”

Johan’s eyes, which had been shining with confidence, became uncertain.

It’s not easy for Johan, who is already full of complexes, to have self-assurance.

Normally, I would be there to support him and keep him steady, but given the circumstances, Johan had to overcome this on his own.

“Understood. I’ll do my best.”

With Johan’s resolute response, I nodded.

It was time to trust him and let him handle it.

 

*    *    *

 

“Hey, can’t you do it properly?!”

“I-I’m doing it. You, make sure you hold them off!”

“Can you guys shut up? It’s distracting.”

“Why am I here? Father, I want to see the winter of the North Sea.”

After successfully freeing the Queen, the kids were now fighting against the Sea Serpent King’s forces.

They had intended to slip away, but the situation was so dire that they had to join the fight.

“Thank you, young human heroes.”

“Never mind the thanks. Do you have any way to deal with him?”

The Queen’s expression darkened.

The Sea Serpent King was breaking through the front lines with overwhelming power.

“His strength is the greatest among our merfolk. Frankly, I have no confidence. If I were in full health, it might be different….”

The Queen was a Level 7 master mage.

However, among Level 7s, she was of an ordinary level, far weaker than the Sea Serpent King, who was an upper grandmaster.

“That’s good enough.”

“Pardon?”

“Just hold on as best you can. Professor Van will handle it. He’ll show up in style and take care of everything.”

The Queen looked bewildered, but the kids’ faces were unwavering.

They believed in Van.

Though not all of the kids shared this confidence.

‘Damn it, why did I get dragged into this mess! Damn it!’

Beril, who had gotten swept up in the moment, cursed inwardly.

And then.

“…….”

Kalvel glared at Libel.

However, this time there was a slightly different meaning behind his gaze.

‘How could he change like that? Even after experiencing such horrible things?’

In truth, saying he had ‘changed’ wasn’t entirely accurate.

Libel was still haunted by memories of the past.

But he was different.

Libel was clearly struggling to move forward.

Unlike Kalvel, who couldn’t even dare to try.

Then, a startling scene unfolded.

“How dare you! Humans!!”

Flash!

A fierce aura surged.

It was the Sea Serpent King.

He was determined to eliminate the children first for causing disruptions.

‘Danger!’

The aura was aimed straight at Libel.

Kalvel instinctively stepped in front of Libel.

Clang!!

A murky energy blocked the aura.

“You?”

“What are you doing?”

Kalvel growled.

“Why aren’t you using your ‘power’? Do you want to die?”

The power Kalvel just used was the ‘power’ he had gained from killing other ‘friends’ at home.

Unlike Kalvel, who was Number 5, Libel was Number 1, the top rank.

He possessed tremendous ‘power.’

“I vowed not to become a monster.”

“!!”

Kalvel felt a sudden weakness.

‘…This must be because of Professor Van.’

He had a sudden thought.

‘…If I met someone like Professor Van, could I change too?’

Kalvel also wanted to shake off his past wounds and move forward.

He felt a deep sense of shame for still being entangled in the past.

“…Don’t die.”

“What?”

“I said, don’t die, you damn bastard!”

Libel widened his eyes and replied hesitantly.

“Y-You, don’t die either.”

Hmph, Kalvel scoffed.

Despite the somewhat warming(?) atmosphere between the two, the situation remained dire.

“Ugh!!”

Catherine groaned in pain.

From the start, they weren’t at a level to be true opponents.

Still, the only reason they were holding out this long was because they were the protagonists.

The other mermaid knights defending the Queen were falling one by one, reaching their limit.

“If you lay down your swords now, I’ll spare your lives. However, your families will have to pay a hefty price for interfering with the merfolk’s affairs.”

“Pay? My family disowned me, so they won’t give a single penny.”

Catherine spat on the ground.

“So come at me, fish breath. I’ll turn you into sashimi.”

The Sea Serpent King’s face hardened.

“I showed mercy, but fine. After this, even the Empire won’t be able to protest if I kill you.”

Flash!!!

An overwhelming power surged into his sword.

Catherine’s face turned pale, sensing she couldn’t block it.

But she didn’t back down.

It was her characteristic ‘Indomitable Will.’

More precisely, it was her faith in Van.

She believed Van would perform a miracle.

She just had to hold on until then.

‘So hurry up and get here, Professor! I’ll even say you looked cool!’

Whoosh!

The Sea Serpent King swung his sword.

A strike with all his power.

Not only Catherine, but also Libel, Yulia, and Lindon combined their efforts to fend off the attack, but they couldn’t withstand it.

Eventually, they were all on the verge of collapsing.

“Everyone, thank you for waiting.”

The long-awaited voice resonated.

Even in this dire situation, it was filled with noble elegance.

Van spoke.

“Kneel. You insignificant creature who doesn’t know his place.”

And at that moment,

an unbelievable miracle occurred.

The Sea Serpent King actually fell to his knees.

 

*    *    *

 

“…….”

“…….”

The hall fell silent.

Everyone looked at me with disbelief.

It was natural—they had just witnessed a Level 7 Grandmaster being subdued with a single word.

‘I was lucky.’

Where had I just come from?

The Sacred Ground.

The place where the curse against the merfolk resided.

Thanks to that, I had completely grasped the nature of the curse upon the merfolk.

It was a ‘domination’ type curse.

The hatred towards humans was controlling the minds of the merfolk.

With my Master of Magic abilities, it was easy to manipulate the curse to my advantage.

‘Of course, if the opponent hadn’t shown any openings, manipulating it would have been impossible.’

Luckily, in his attempt to eliminate the children, he had overextended himself, giving me the opportunity.

The Sea Serpent King tried to summon his strength to break free from the curse’s control, but I didn’t let him.

Of course, if given more time, he might have broken free from my manipulation, but I wasn’t alone here.

While he was staggering, the mermaid knights loyal to the Queen quickly subdued him completely, and the tide of the battle turned instantly.

In any rebellion, the fall of the leader means the end.

However, things didn’t wrap up smoothly.

Cornered, the Sea Serpent King incited the merfolk.

“Begging for help from humans? Pathetic. Alliance with humans? Do you truly believe that’s possible?”

“!!”

“Don’t forget! Merfolk and humans can never coexist! The Queen’s policy of approaching humans will lead to our destruction!”

Under normal circumstances, even with the merfolk’s hatred for humans, such incitement wouldn’t have easily taken hold.

But an unexpected variable had arisen.

The atmosphere among the merfolk changed.

‘The curse that makes the merfolk hate humans has intensified!’

There was a reason.

We cannot allow the altar to be violated….

It was the ghost of the Red Mage!

‘It’s okay. Once Johan lifts the curse of the sacred ground, the ghost of the Red Mage won’t be able to cause any more trouble.’

I had left a magical device to monitor Johan’s progress when I left the sacred ground, and fortunately, Johan was doing well.

It seemed my advice to have self-assurance was effective.

 

 

…His way of gaining self-assurance was a bit unsettling, though.

However, the ghost of the Red Mage didn’t stop there.

There is an issue with the altar… We need to offer sacrifices to strengthen the altar… Strengthening the altar requires the lives of 1,000 merfolk….

A chilling statement.

At the same time, I felt a shiver run down my spine.

‘Causality?’

It was a sensation that only I could perceive in this place.

The laws of the world were starting to twist.

‘Could this be?’

I swallowed hard.

‘It’s a Level 9 forbidden spell!’

Rumble.

Suddenly, the ground shook.

An earthquake!

The earth split open, and scarlet lava began to rise.

It was the Red Mage’s legendary Level 9 spell, “Sea of Lava!”

However, its power seemed weaker than what was recorded in the legends.

Just as my forbidden magic doesn’t manifest at full strength, the ghost of the Red Mage seemed similarly limited.

‘Still, if that lava engulfs the city, countless lives will be lost.’

The merfolk could escape to the sea, but young children, the elderly, and the infirm wouldn’t make it.

Some wouldn’t have enough time to flee.

As the ghost had said, at least 1,000 lives would be lost.

The merfolk screamed in terror.

‘Damn, what can I do?’

At that moment, a story flashed in my mind.

 

 

It was the foresight from the monocle.

I didn’t have anything resembling a holy sword, so it had seemed random at the time.

‘…Could it be?’

I didn’t have a holy sword, but I did have a similarly extraordinary blade.

Hehe… Master… Shall we create a summer legend together?

The Demon King’s Sword.

A solution came to mind.