The Genius Professor Wants An Easy Life - Chapter 62
‘After causing an accident, they’ll plan to pin it on me, the person in charge. I know exactly what they’re up to.’
I guessed what Yulia was planning.
The accident in the aqueduct was predictable.
‘They’re likely aiming to damage the purifying stone that cleanses the water in the aqueduct. Any accidents that occur during the gathering will ultimately be my responsibility as the person in charge.’
Taking Wilhelm along must have been part of a scheme to shift all the blame onto him.
‘Fat chance. I’ve prepared for everything.’
Only officials of the city are aware, but
The depths of the underground aqueduct are divided into three sections.
The superficial depths, the central depths, and the innermost labyrinth.
The real no-go dungeon starts from the central depths, and the superficial depths where we currently are is relatively safe.
‘Still, in case we take a wrong turn into the central depths, access to even the superficial depths is supposed to be restricted.’
This superficial depth is where the city’s ‘janitors’ periodically clean up monsters and manage the facilities.
Having received prior information from Mariam, the mayor,
‘The purifying stone near here is already broken. It’s scheduled to be replaced next month.’
Meaning, even if Yulia struggles to damage the purifying stone, it would be a wasted effort.
‘She’ll only end up toiling for nothing, especially since this area is swarming with all sorts of troublesome monsters.’
The city organized the underground aqueducts and mapped them out, cleaning up the monsters that appeared.
According to the records, there were no monsters nearby that posed a threat to life. Had there been such monsters, I would never have allowed the two to act on their own.
However, there were plenty of monsters like rock slimes that required a significant amount of effort to deal with.
‘Yulia might boast about capturing a mid-level monster driven by her pride, but she’ll likely get knocked down before getting halfway.’
To prepare for any eventualities, I secretly had Hans and Lindon follow them.
‘It’ll be a good extreme experience. I just need to wait leisurely.’
“Now, we wait here.”
“Here?”
Catherine, Libel, and the Third Imperial Prince’s eyes went wide.
A large tent was set up inside the aqueduct!
‘How can we endure 2 nights and 3 days in this filthy place? We need to stay as comfortable as possible.’
Incidentally, this tent, borrowed from Amanda, perhaps from her clan, offered perfect camouflage from monsters up to the mid-level.
It also maintained the interior in optimal condition, enveloping us in a cozy atmosphere.
“…Did you plan this from the beginning?”
“When did I ever say we were going hunting for monsters? It’s a unity gathering, so of course, we should engage in survival and social activities. Libel, open the baggage I entrusted to you.”
Barbecue equipment appeared from the magic backpack!
It even contained fresh beef bought with the funds for the unity gathering.
Kyu! Kyu! Mitu! Mitu!!”
“…To think there would come a day I’d feel sorry for Yulia.”
“If it bothers you, you’re welcome to suffer alongside her.”
“Are you crazy? Let’s quickly devour Yulia’s portion as well.”
Inside the tent, they cheerfully lit a bonfire and began grilling meat.
It was like a scene from a camping unity gathering.
‘Ah, this is nice. Yulia and Wilhelm must be having a tough time, I feel a bit sorry for them. Both of you, hang in there! Fighting!’
It was while leisurely waiting for the meat to cook.
Flap, the tent’s door opened.
“!!”
I flinched and turned my head, but no one was there.
It was just the wind.
‘That gave me a shock.’
I sighed in relief.
Turning back to the sizzling meat,
“……”
“Why… do you look like that, Professor?”
Libel, the most sensitive among us, noticed the change in my expression.
Mari also tilted her head in confusion.
Kyu? Papa?
“…It’s nothing.”
There wasn’t any particular problem.
Just to be sure, I contacted Hans and Lindon, but there were no issues.
The intuition I usually felt before something went awry was also quiet.
‘It’s fine. I deliberately chose the safest area. If there’s any danger, Hans and Lindon will step in.’
This is a secret, but
There was also a contingency plan in place for situations that even Hans and Lindon might find difficult to handle.
So, there was nothing to worry about, but
‘…Why do I feel so uneasy?’
Then, I realized that Catherine, Libel, and the Third Imperial Prince were looking at me with a strange expression.
“…Why are you looking at me like that?”
“You’ve really changed.”
The Third Imperial Prince said jokingly, yet his voice carried a note of admiration.
“Aren’t you worried about the two students outside?”
“No, that’s not it….”
I started to deny it, then suddenly clamped my mouth shut.
I realized the nature of my current feelings.
I was worried about them.
* * *
“I-Is this really okay?”
“It’s fine. After all, Professor Van, the person in charge, will take all the responsibility.”
“But, still…”
“What’s the problem? You wanted Professor Van gone anyway, right? Come on, hurry up!”
Wilhelm gritted his teeth and swung his sword.
Crack!
The light of the purifying stone went out.
…In reality, as Van had mentioned earlier, the stone had only appeared intact but had lost its functionality; however, the two, with their lower magical aptitude, failed to realize this.
“You can go back now.”
“Go back?”
“Now that we’re done here, get lost. It’s annoying to be around you any longer.”
“!!”
Yulia clicked her tongue and threw a magical device to him as if she were giving alms to a beggar.
“It’s a defensive and concealment magical device. Wear it if you don’t want to be attacked by monsters. You can figure out how to return to Professor Van yourself. If you can’t manage, you received a summoner, so use that to call Professor Van.”
“Wait a minute! We agreed to catch a mid-level monster together…!!”
Their original plan had been this:
To pin the responsibility for breaking the purifying stone on Van.
Of course, the wrongdoing was theirs, but after all, they were only students.
However, even as students, they couldn’t completely avoid disciplinary action. Instead, they planned to catch a mid-level monster together, and use that merit to evade responsibility.
“Together? How dare someone as incompetent as you join me? You don’t even have the courage to swing a sword?”
“……”
“Wear the concealment magical device properly! It would be annoying for me if you got hurt unnecessarily.”
In the end, Wilhelm hung his head low and disappeared back the way he came.
‘I will catch a tarantula.’
It was a Level 4 monster.
For context, Yulia’s level was at Level 2, specifically the upper tier of it.
Considering her age, it was a tremendous achievement, but it was still a stretch against a tarantula.
Yet, Yulia was confident.
‘My talent makes it possible.’
Yulia had often won duels against formal knights of higher achievements.
She could easily defeat such inferior monsters.
‘I am destined to reach the pinnacle. I am different from other inferior commoners.’
Swoosh!
She slashed through the monsters blocking her path.
They were nothing special.
Cutting down the monsters, she felt the stress accumulated from recent troubles with Van beginning to dissipate.
But it wasn’t long before Yulia’s expression hardened.
‘Why are there so many?’
It was natural for there to be a large number of monsters.
However, they were all the kind that required a lot of effort and drained her stamina.
“Ha! Inferior monsters dare to challenge me!”
She gritted her teeth and swung her sword.
Her breath became labored.
Seeing the number of monsters increasing, a sense of dread sank in her heart.
‘…Should I turn back now?’
Then, a voice echoed in her mind.
A lowly creature.
Though Yulia was the adopted daughter of the Bright Dragon and her only apprentice, in truth, she was the daughter of a prostitute.
Thanks to the Bright Dragon keeping it a secret, no one knew.
‘If I show myself to be incompetent, I will be abandoned.’
The Bright Dragon had taken her in as her daughter and apprentice solely because of her talent in swordsmanship.
Even now, Yulia dreamt night after night of being thrown back into the filthy back alleys of the night.
Fear turned into inferiority, and that inferiority twisted into a perverse arrogance, leading her to look down on others.
She had to become the best at all costs.
No matter what.
‘I won’t lose!’
Swoosh!
How much time had passed since then?
Something unbelievable happened.
Kwoong.
A giant spider collapsed in front of her.
Contrary to Van’s expectation that she could never do it, she had really defeated a Level 4 monster, the tarantula!
But Yulia’s expression was far from happy.
‘…I used poison again.’
An unexpected turn of events.
Defeating the tarantula wasn’t due to her skill, but because she had used a hidden poison magical device.
In fact, using poison against monsters wasn’t wrong at all.
The issue was that Yulia had always wrapped her achievements in the guise of being purely due to her swordsmanship.
The future candidate for the next Sword Master.
It was a reputation gained through such deceit.
She had never used poison against people, but honestly, she couldn’t be sure she wouldn’t do so in the future.
What if she encountered an opponent she couldn’t handle?
What if her rival, the heir of a renowned swordsmanship family, became stronger?
And if she could no longer be the best, then what?
“Sigh.”
But at that moment, an unexpected voice was heard.
“Yu-Yulia…”
“?!”
It was Wilhelm!
“What are you doing? Haven’t you gone back to Professor Van yet?”
Just as she furrowed her brow in frustration, something even more baffling occurred.
Swoosh! Clang!!
Wilhelm swung his sword towards her!
“What’s wrong with you, are you crazy?”
She snapped back in anger, but something was odd.
The sword was stronger than she had anticipated.
It was enough to make her hand tingle.
Wilhelm’s gaze was off.
It was empty.
Like that of a doll.
‘…A doll?’
A chilling sense of dread swept across her spine in that instant.
“Ugh!!”
Clang!
Yulia’s sword was knocked away, and Wilhelm’s hand gripped her throat.
Nice to meet you.
“!!”
Wilhelm, or rather, another entity, twisted its lips into a grotesque smile as it looked at her.
I am the Puppeteer. Have you heard of me?
Yulia’s eyes trembled violently.
“You, from the Abyss…! Let go! You demon!!”
Fufu, sorry, but I can’t do that. I’m going to make you my doll.
“!!”
Oh? You know, you are exactly my type? I have a fondness for twisted souls like yours.
Wilhelm, or rather, Puppet, raised a hand to stroke her cheek.
Growing tired of tormenting good children, I’ve found that the naughty ones are much more endearing. I’ll cherish you a lot. For a long, long time, until you’re completely broken. Until you can’t even beg for death.
Hearing that horrendous voice,
Yulia’s vision turned pitch black.
* * *
Ffwwooo. Swwiish
Rustle.
A chilling sound grazed Yulia’s ears, and she woke up with a start.
“Where am I?!”
Clang!
Her arms and legs were bound by chains.
Looking to the side, Wilhelm was also tied up, gagged.
In front of her, a child she had never seen before smirked. His eyes, devoid of any whites, were filled with blood, flashing eerily.
“Awake now?”
“…Are you the Puppeteer?”
“Yes, that’s right. This is my temporary workshop. I set it up in the underground aqueduct for this occasion.”
Magic lights were placed all around.
It was bright and clean, hard to imagine it was an underground aqueduct.
