The Genius Professor Wants An Easy Life - Chapter 97
“I’ve always intended to give you this wand.”
Of course, it was a lie.
But Libel, out of his mind, showed a confused reaction.
“R-Really? No, it’s a lie. There’s no way you’d give such a gift to a monster like me…”
“You are not a monster.”
“I AM a monster!!”
Kwaaaaang!!
Explosive energy surged again.
I flinched but didn’t show it.
‘This is a battle of wills.’
I remembered my days as the king of sales.
I had to push with momentum until the other nodded in agreement.
“You say you’re a monster? Then, try to kill me.”
“!!”
Thud.
I walked towards Libel.
“D-Don’t come any closer!!”
“Why hesitate? I won’t defend myself. If you want to kill me, go ahead.”
Truthfully, not casting a shield was because Libel’s energy was so powerful that my pitiful shield would have been utterly ineffective, but I framed it as trusting Libel.
“Didn’t I tell you not to come?!”
Kwaaaang!
This time, it was dangerous.
The explosion or energy swept up right in front of me.
Yet, it ultimately didn’t even touch the hem of my clothes.
I looked at Libel’s hands, trembling violently.
“Are you afraid?”
“!!”
“Afraid of being hated, is that why you’re doing this?”
Libel’s rampage was not meant to harm anyone.
Rather, it was like the desperate struggle of a hedgehog trying not to hurt.
“Y-You don’t understand, Professor. What kind of monster I am. How I was born. No, ‘created’.”
“I know.”
Libel’s eyes widened as if they were about to split.
I wore a bitter expression.
It wasn’t feigned.
I recalled Libel’s ‘past’.
All sixteen protagonists have their own stories, but Libel went too far.
“I am Van Ecclesia. There’s nothing I don’t know. Your past, the pain you’ve endured, how much you’ve suffered, how many tears you’ve shed. I know it all.”
In fact,
Libel was indeed a monster.
Created with intent.
The ‘Heavenshatter Project.’
At the apex of this world exists a Level 9 Ascendants.
Ascendants, being entities above the heavens, usually do not deeply involve themselves in worldly matters, but no one can deny that they are the center of this world.
‘Even the imperial family of the Reinhardt Empire is maintained through the blessing of an Ascendant, the ‘Guardian’.’
There were those who sought to overthrow such an order.
To return the world to its rightful owners, the common people.
This was their goal.
The problem was the method.
‘To create a human weapon capable of killing an Ascendant, they created a place called ‘The House’, where they gathered a thousand children to learn vampiric magic, making them kill each other until only five remained.’
This forbidden magic absorbs the innate life energy of its victims.
The younger the child, the more potent the energy.
Meaning, the energy that Libel harbored was the life energy of the other children.
“Uuuu. Then you know, don’t you? I-I’m a monster. A monster.”
Tears flowed from Libel’s eyes, then suddenly, he took a drastic action.
“I-I don’t deserve to live. I-It would be better to die.”
Suddenly, he turned his energy on himself, attempting to self-destruct!
Given that there’s actually a suicide ending among Libel’s character game overs, this was no bluff.
‘No!’
“Come to your senses. Are you going to betray the friends who died before you?”
“…Betrayal?”
“If you survived, isn’t it your duty to live well for the sake of those who left first?”
Libel’s eyes wavered.
It wasn’t just a throwaway remark.
“Whoever survives, let’s forget everything and be happy. Make ‘real’ friends outside and live a normal life. The dead will bless their surviving friends to be happy.”
It was a promise made by Libel and his ‘friends’ in the hellish cycle of killing and being killed at ‘The House’.
Not to hold grudges.
Instead, for the survivors to be happy on behalf of those who died.
The reason Libel tried so hard to make friends at the academy.
“But, but… A monster like me doesn’t deserve that. I should die now instead….”
Why?
Seeing Libel in pain suddenly made me irritable.
Maybe it reminded me of the times I was denounced by people in my childhood.
“Why do you keep calling yourself a monster? The real monsters are those who made you suffer like this.”
“!!”
“Libel, you entered the sealed area to avoid harming others, didn’t you?”
Libel hesitated, then nodded.
But that wasn’t all.
‘Normally, when he would rampage, a teacher would appear and provoke him into unleashing his murderous intent on those around him.’
It was to ensure Libel had nowhere to return.
However, it seemed he was restraining it by will.
“If anyone calls you a monster, bring them to me. I, against Ecclesia, will not forgive them. Even if that person is you.”
“!!”
Catherine, who was nearby, also stepped in.
“For an 8th grade syndrome sicko like you to be called a monster is just ridiculous. Keep spouting nonsense and see if you don’t get a spanking from me, your sis? You haven’t even paid back the 5 pena you owe me, and you talk about dying? Pay back the money first. With interest, that’s 10,000 penas.”
“I… I… hate you. I won’t be friends with you.”
“Ha! As if you’re one to talk! I was just pitying you and hanging out!”
“D-Don’t get it twisted. I was the one pitying you and hanging out.”
After a brief childish argument.
“Euhuhuhuhung.”
Libel burst into tears.
It seemed like all the pent-up sorrow had exploded.
Catherine and I exchanged glances, then approached Libel.
And as we reached out to hug him…
Swoosh!
We cast a sealing spell.
“!!”
Libel was startled and opened his eyes wide, but it was too late.
“Catherine!”
“I was just waiting for that word! Here comes the love tap from your sis!”
Thwack!
Catherine struck Libel’s head with the sheath of her sword, and Libel collapsed.
‘Phew, that’s a relief. If we didn’t do this, Libel would have rampaged again regardless of his intentions.’
I looked beyond the darkness.
Swoosh!
The sound of someone disappearing was heard.
It was the ‘teacher’ who had been manipulating Libel’s rampage from behind.
‘No use chasing them. They’re too cunning.’
‘The House’.
More precisely, the ‘backers’ behind it never reveal their identities.
‘First, let’s seal Libel’s energy so he doesn’t rampage again.’
This energy is now fully assimilated with Libel, so removing it is impossible.
For the time being, there shouldn’t be any reach from ‘The House’, so this should be enough.
Then, belatedly, Hans and Lindon arrived.
“Master! Are you okay?! I, Hans, have rushed here risking my life for you!”
“Drop the escape scroll you’re holding before you talk, old man. Hehe, actually, it was my idea to come. Ah, no need to be too touched. But instead, there’s this… good investment opportunity… Ah! Just hear me out!”
Yulia and Wilhelm were there too.
They had been dealing with the ghosts haunting the academy, but it seemed they rushed here upon hearing the news.
“Hmm, something doesn’t feel right. The main hero assisting the Professor should be Yulia.”
“I, I… just want to go back to the dorm…! I’m scared!”
Pa! Pa!
Hearing that noisy commotion somehow eased the tension away.
‘Is everything sorted out?’
The schemes of the Order and the Black Tower were thwarted, and the Abyssal Bones of the Abyss was dealt with.
Thanks to the phantom armor I had asked the guards to prepare in advance, Phase 4 will also conclude smoothly.
‘Fortunately, the last contingency plan I prepared wasn’t needed. The erased night episode ends like this….’
However,
I suddenly stiffened my face.
Chills ran down my spine.
It was the instinctive alarm I always felt just before a crisis.
‘What? What else could go wrong here?’
The problem was that the sense of impending doom was much more intense than anything I had felt before.
‘Was everything up to now not the real crisis?’
And then,
I realized the nature of the ominous feeling.
Click, click.
“Ah, Professor Against, I’ve been watching your performance today. The meticulous preparation against the three evils, the miracles you wrought yourself, and finally, the touching drama with your student! It was perfect.”
A smug voice.
“Professor Rune?”
He was a fellow competitor, a temporary professor.
The least noticeable presence, but someone who had always been on my mind.
“What brings you here all of a sudden?”
“Haha. Perhaps I should reintroduce myself.”
Everyone’s eyes widened as if they were about to tear apart at the scene that unfolded next.
Swish.
Black wings spread out from behind Rune.
They were not real wings.
They were shadows.
Specifically, black wings, or ‘Dark Winged Shadows’.
A symbol of a high-ranking demon.
‘Rune was a demon? How has he hidden his demonic energy all this time?? Ordinary demons can’t hide their demonic energy.’
No one, not even I, had noticed Rune’s true identity.
But the reason was simple.
Rune was no ordinary demon.
“Allow me to introduce myself again. I am Count Runevelt of the Demon Realm. I serve as an advisor to Archduke Roshran.”
“!!”
A high-ranking demon of count level!
But that wasn’t all.
I felt dizzy at the mention of ‘Archduke Roshran’.
‘With the Demon King in hiding, he’s practically one of the titans that divide and rule the Demon Realm.’
If Rune is an advisor to such a being, it means Rune is also a powerholder in the Demon Realm.
A figure among the top-tier high-ranking demons.
