The Genius Professor Wants An Easy Life - Chapter 245
I pondered.
‘Shouldn’t I avoid it?’
But, I decided to give it a try.
‘That wave of destruction isn’t a real physical wave. Since we’re not the designated targets of annihilation, we won’t be swept away and have our souls immediately extinguished.’
Falling into that wave doesn’t mean drowning.
It means having our souls obliterated by the force of destiny.
While we might suffer damage if we stay exposed, we should be able to escape before the worst happens.
“…But really, how are we supposed to cut through that wave?”
“I don’t know either. I’m not a descendant of the stars. When you face the wave, your soul will instinctively know what to do.”
Even in the scenario, there was no detailed explanation on how the protagonists stopped the wave of destruction.
It simply said, ‘The heroes stopped the wave of destruction.’ and ended with a happy ending.
I hadn’t found it strange, but now, thinking back, I wondered if this was the intention of the Eight Heroes.
‘It’s odd that they just glossed over this part. If they truly wanted to stop the wave of destruction, there would have been detailed methods. Could it be that the Eight Heroes wanted the children to awaken, but didn’t actually want to stop the wave of destruction?’
I shook my head.
It was all just speculation.
The only thing I could guess was.
“You need to embody your destiny in your sword.”
“Embody my destiny in the sword?”
Catherine furrowed her eyebrows.
“Are you talking about reaching Level 5? Like the sword’s intent?”
“No, it’s similar but not quite. If anything, it’s closer to Level 7.”
“!!”
The intent of the sword.
It’s a concept similar to the path of magic for mages.
The path of magic begins with entry (Level 5), then building one’s own path (Level 6), and finally completing one’s magic (Level 7).
The intent of the sword is similar.
First, realizing one’s will (Level 5), then merging the intent of the sword with one’s will to achieve unity (Level 6), and finally embedding the completed will into the sword (Level 7).
Embodying destiny in the sword doesn’t exactly fall within these stages, but it’s most akin to embedding the completed will into the sword at Level 7.
“No, seriously? How am I supposed to do that?”
“You can do it.”
“How?”
“I don’t know. All I know is that if it’s you, you can do it.”
“Ha. Really. It’s always ‘if it’s me, I can do anything.'”
Catherine gritted her teeth and picked up her sword.
“Fine. I’ll give it a try.”
* * *
‘This is madness.’
How can she cut through a wave like that?
Embody destiny in the sword? At Level 7 mastery?
She can’t tell if this is a joke or something serious.
But then.
You can do it.
‘…Why does the professor always say things like that?’
Van had been like this since they first met.
Trusting her without reason or explanation.
Of course, that trust wasn’t misplaced.
Everything Van believed she could do, she had accomplished so far.
But Catherine knew. The only reason she could achieve such feats was because Van believed in her.
Someone’s blind faith had given her the will and strength to create miracles.
‘…Even so, isn’t this a bit much?’
Catherine swallowed hard as she watched the wave of destruction looming closer.
They stood at the edge of the floating island, needing to stop the wave before it swept away the otherworldly beings.
It wasn’t a real wave, but the manifested will of the world or something, which is why it wasn’t moving fast. If it were a real wave, it would have already swept away all the surrounding floating islands.
Thanks to that, Catherine had time to think about various things with the wave right in front of her.
‘Destined to be a hero who saves people?’
If Van hadn’t nodded beside her, she would have snapped, telling him to stop talking nonsense.
She was definitely not hero material.
Didn’t her life at the academy make that clear?
She somehow ended up as the first-year student council president because of Van’s instructions, but she was inherently a private person.
Catherine’s only desire was to show up the magical noble family that had looked down on her; honestly, she didn’t care what happened to others.
Despite this, she didn’t step forward because she suddenly awakened as a hero.
‘…If we don’t save the otherworldly beings, we won’t be able to return to our original world. So, we have to save them.’
And
‘…Professor Van wouldn’t abandon the otherworldly beings if it were me. He would try to help others even if it meant putting himself in danger. That’s just the kind of foolish professor he is.’
From the moment they had a conversation with High Priestess Anastasia, Van showed no intention of abandoning the otherworldly beings and fleeing.
If Catherine had suggested fleeing, he would have ensured her safety first and then returned alone to save the otherworldly beings somehow.
That’s the kind of fool Van the Legend was.
So what choice did she have?
As his student, she had to help her professor, Van.
‘No matter how I think about it, the one destined to be a hero isn’t me, but Professor Van.’
Ah. She didn’t know.
Even with the wave right in front of her, Catherine couldn’t grasp what she was supposed to do.
It was a moment when she seriously considered abandoning everything and fleeing.
Aaaaargh!!!
I don’t want to die!
Horrible screams echoed around her.
They weren’t real screams.
‘Those are hallucinations from the wave!’
Catherine swallowed hard.
She was a Dual Knight, trained in both magic and swordsmanship.
She could guess what this phenomenon was.
The pain and death of those who had been swept away by the wave were etched into it and transmitted to her.
Her mind snapped into focus.
‘If I fail, the otherworldly beings behind me will end up like that.’
However, nothing changed.
She was still an ordinary student; she didn’t suddenly transform into a hero in an instant.
‘Why didn’t Professor Van ever tell me that I was destined for this?’
Catherine paused for a moment.
Thinking about it, it was strange.
Why hadn’t Van mentioned anything about it?
If she were Van, she would have pushed herself hard to awaken as a hero long ago.
‘…There must have been some deep reason. It’s Professor Van the Legend, after all.’
Catherine gritted her teeth and focused, trying to awaken her destiny as a hero.
Of course, she wanted to save the otherworldly beings.
As a human, it was natural not to want to see countless lives lost.
But that was the extent of it.
‘I’m no hero.’
She felt utterly drained.
At that moment, Van approached her.
“Is it not working out?”
“…It’s impossible.”
Catherine bit her lip hard.
“This time, it’s really impossible. Me, a hero? That’s nonsense. Do you know what I’m thinking right now? If I stop that wave of destruction and gain fame, I can finally show up the magical noble family. I’m having these selfish thoughts.”
“I see.”
“‘I see’? What do you mean, ‘I see’? A hero is someone like you, Professor. Someone selfish like me…”
“I’m just as selfish.”
Van interrupted her.
“My efforts and actions are all for my own desires.”
“Hah, what a ridiculous lie. You’re the world’s biggest fool, always putting others before yourself.”
“It’s true. And is being selfish such a bad thing?”
“!!”
“All humans are inherently selfish. Heroes are no exception.”
Van looked at her intently.
“How many truly noble saints do you think exist in this world? In reality, all the heroes of the world became heroes because of their own desires. Catherine, what is it that you truly want?”
Catherine swallowed hard.
What she wanted.
As she had said before, she wanted to put her father and the magical noble family in their place.
Becoming a hero would certainly be enough to humble her father.
“…Are you saying it’s okay to have such selfish reasons?”
“Didn’t I just tell you? I’m doing all this because of my own desires too.”
Catherine let out a small laugh.
She didn’t believe him.
He was probably saying this to put her at ease.
Regardless, she was not a fool like the noble Van.
She was just an ordinary person.
‘Even so, I want to save them. Whatever the reason.’
At that moment, she felt something within her change.
As if a key had turned in a lock.
Something in her soul shifted.
Softly.
An invisible will imbued itself into her sword.
It was the will to save others.
Although that will might not have been pure, it fully contained her sincerity.
Catherine didn’t realize it, but her current enlightenment closely resembled the completed sword intent of Level 7 knights.
A completed sword intent is achieved by fully facing oneself and accepting every aspect of one’s being.
And in that moment.
The dormant power of the stars within her soul resonated with her will.
Paaaahhhh!!!
A brilliant light exploded outward.
“This, this is…”
“It’s the power of the stars,”
Van said, with a look of proud admiration.
“Congratulations on awakening as the Sacred Hero of Light.”
* * *
Catherine’s sword split the sky. A pillar of light illuminated the world, and people praised her as such. The Light’s Hero, ‘Del El paso.’
Catherine’s awakening was one of the most iconic moments in the scenario.
‘Of course, it’s not as impactful now as it was then.’
In the original scenario, Catherine’s ‘Sword of Light’ was truly powerful enough to split the sky.
Now, it was relatively modest.
It couldn’t be helped.
In the original scenario, Catherine’s awakening happened after reaching Level 7. She had endured countless trials, and her mental maturity was incomparable to what it was now.
Still, even if it was modest, it was the Sword of Light.
“That light is the power of the stars. It can cut through the wave of destruction.”
“…Can it really cut through it?”
“Probably.”
“…Probably?”
“…There’s slightly less than a fifty percent chance.”
I trailed off at the end.
The truth was, the success rate was even lower than that.
‘The problem is that it’s only Catherine.’
Originally, the wave of destruction was stopped by the combined efforts of four main protagonists.
In hard mode, even the sub-main protagonists joined in, making it a total of eight.
While the wave of destruction crashing into the floating island now was much smaller than the one that would descend on our world at the end of the scenario, it was still uncertain if Catherine could handle it alone.
Then, unexpectedly, a voice was heard.
“…Wait. I’m here too.”
It was Sylphine.
