The Assassination Department is like a fish tank.
From the strictly controlled environment to the inability to venture outside for long, and the shallow level of mourning for the dead fish — all of it.
Apparently, the rumors had spread far and wide.
The rumor that Professor Hakon was planning to kill me.
As I walked down the hallway, I could feel the cadets sneaking glances at me, so I activated the 【Script】.
【 First-Year Assassination Department Cadet Bain: "Did you hear that Professor Hakon is going to kill Professor Dante soon?" 】
【 First-Year Assassination Department Cadet Lil: "Yeah. But it's rare for a professor to assassinate another professor, right? Dante must've really pissed him off." 】
【 First-Year Assassination Department Cadet Bain: "I'm kind of looking forward to it." 】
Looking forward to it? You crazy bastards.
That wasn't all.
Perhaps because of the rumor that I was marked by the Black Abyss, the professors affiliated with the White Saber Association started approaching me with concerned expressions.
"Professor Dante. We've met before, haven’t we?"
"Do you need any help with anything?"
But that didn't mean they were offering to accept me into the White Saber Association.
No one wanted to associate themselves with someone who had already stirred up trouble.
Still, since I had taken down Joaquin, whom the White Saber Association found annoying, they were tossing me some pity.
"I don’t need any help. Take care."
Even if they did call me over, I had no intention of going.
Whether it was the White Saber Association or the Black Abyss, joining either side would only lead to unnecessary obligations.
Meanwhile, Adele voiced her concern three separate times.
"...Professor, are you really going to be alright?"
"I’m fine."
"It’s just that we’ve been working together for some time now, so I can’t help but feel worried."
"You don’t need to worry. Hakon can’t possibly kill me."
In any case, amidst all the commotion within the department —
While I was alone in the research lab, fiddling with various models using World Forgery, a message came through on the wrist-mounted Crystal Orb (a circular lens-like device with a holographic display, acting as a smartphone).
It was a difficult question.
Kaiser: Professor, what is assassination?A guy who had been completely silent suddenly asking a question like that? This had to be a cry for help.
Something must have happened.
'What is assassination?'
I had never really thought deeply about it.
Obviously, it wasn’t a good thing. But I couldn’t just tell Kaiser, "Assassination is bad, so don’t do it."
He’s living a life as harsh as mine.
If it’s Kaiser, I feel like I want to be a bit kinder to him.
So, after some serious thought, I finally responded. Dante: Assassination is the power to enforce what is right.The reply came slowly. Kaiser: I’m sorry, Professor. I’m too stupid to understand what you mean. Kaiser: What is righteousness? Kaiser: Is being kind the same as being righteous? Helping the sick? Aiding the poor? Assisting those in hardship?Seeing how rapidly the questions were piling up, he was clearly mentally cornered.
What is righteousness?
That’s a tough question.
I don’t know much about philosophy or complicated stuff like that.
'Hmm.'
But I thought I might know how to ease Kaiser's mind.
Since our situations were similar, all I had to do was insert myself in his shoes.
If I were Kaiser, what would I want to hear? Dante: What you believe to be right is righteousness. Kaiser: If I go insane and decide that everyone must die, would that be righteousness?That was... unnerving.
But it was probably just a metaphor. Dante: It would still be righteousness. Kaiser: ......I was guessing that Kaiser was living a very precarious life, walking a tightrope.
And when someone is standing at the edge of a cliff, they don’t need advice. They need comfort.
I couldn’t change his reality.
No matter what I said, Kaiser would still have to walk that tightrope.
So what he needed was self-affirmation.
Something that would give him the strength to get through whatever he faced and still say, "I’m okay." Dante: A world where everyone is happy doesn’t exist. Dante: I have ❀ Nоvеlігht ❀ (Don’t copy, read here) to protect myself and the things that are important to me. Dante: And to protect them, I might have to harm others. Dante: If peaceful dialogue could solve everything, why would we need curses? If a curse could solve everything, why would anyone raise a fist? If a fist could solve everything, why would we need laws? And if the law were truly absolute, why would there still be innocent victims? Dante: But in this world, there are so many people that you can’t even count them. Among them, there will always be someone who suffers unfairly. Curses won’t reach them. Fists aren’t strong enough. And the law can’t protect them. At that point, someone is left with two choices. Kaiser: What are they? Dante: If you have no power, you can choose a curse. Because a curse is the only weapon permitted to the powerless.On the other hand — Dante: But if you have even a little power, you can choose something else. Kaiser: Ah. Kaiser: So that’s what ‘assassination’ is...Honestly, I don’t really know.
Is that even a thing? It’s just life.
So I decided to stop pretending to know more than I did. Kaiser: I see... Kaiser: So the reason for assassination is ‘righteousness’...I just hoped that Kaiser, who was in a situation similar to mine, would feel a little better.
That was all. Kaiser: Righteousness...Then, over the next 10, 30 minutes, his monologue kept coming. Kaiser: What is righteousness to me? What is precious to me? I’ve never had time to think about it because I was too busy just surviving.Something felt... a bit off. Kaiser: But now, maybe. Kaiser: Maybe, I’m starting to understand. Kaiser: What is precious. Kaiser: What I should consider precious. Kaiser: What has considered me precious. Kaiser: What ‘preciousness’ means. Kaiser: And what threatens that preciousness. Kaiser: And if I define righteousness as protecting what is precious to me, then how should I use the assassinations assigned to me?"Oh? Why are you acting so scary?"
Elize asked.
'Huh?'
Kaiser was startled inside.
Damn. He almost made a huge mistake.
'Damn it. I was lost in my thoughts...'
Currently, the Dormant Dragon Institute was conducting a Curse of Revelation ritual.
To put it simply, they were extracting information from corpses and inscribing it onto the Inphiji.
Using the blood collected from the dead businessmen and the more recent samples, they were uncovering the treasonous actions linked to them and the assassins associated with those acts.
"I'll finish it up."
Kaiser closed his eyes and began chanting the incantation for the curse. The cadets of Dormant Dragon Institute all poured their mana into the ritual.
In reality, their mana was more than enough to keep the curse running without him. Kaiser was just going through the motions, pretending to chant the incantation.
"...With every leaf soaked in curses, every caterpillar gnaws away at the darkness. And in the end, all things upon the earth will be stained with blood..."
And as he chanted, he thought.
The world was as perilous as the ocean. Life was like a sailboat navigating through it.
The voyage had probably begun from a small coastal dock.
A tiny wooden boat.
A small sail atop it.
And an ordinary oar to row through the sea.
Somehow, he ended up in the middle of a storm.
Somehow, he ended up in the abyssal depths.
Somehow, he ended up leading monsters.
But today, it felt like he had gained a compass.
'Righteousness, huh...'
Since the moment he left the dock, there hadn’t been a single person who genuinely cared about Kaiser.
They only followed the mask he wore, not him.
But now, an exception had appeared in his life.
'.......'
If the sword swung to protect what is precious is called assassination, then who should he wield that sword for?
Slowly, the answer began to settle in Kaiser's heart.
'Professor.'
Just as the professor had saved him and supported him, shouldn’t he also believe in and support the professor?
Wouldn’t that be... righteousness?
At that moment, the curse was completed.
The collected blood evaporated, and new characters began to be written on the Inphiji.
Information about the next target for Dormant Dragon Institute to assassinate.
"Hm. I’d like to take a break for a while. What do you think, Princess?"
For once, even Kendreik, looking exhausted, asked in a weary tone.
The other members also nodded in agreement.
Even Rebecca, the true leader of Dormant Dragon Institute, nodded her head and officially granted them a break.
"Alright. Then let’s... take a break—"
It was then that Kaiser's eyes narrowed.
The compass in his heart suddenly moved, pointing to the Inphiji.
One name, derived from the blood of a Black Abyss faction member.
"What’s wrong?"
"......."
Everyone tensed as they watched Kaiser.
On the Inphiji, it was written that a professor from the Black Abyss intended to kill Dante.
The exact name was listed.
Kaiser’s eyes trembled as he hurriedly snatched up his Inphiji, preventing the other cadets from seeing it.
There was no way Professor Dante would be killed. But the very act of pointing a blade at him was infuriating.
It was as if someone had pushed a button, and Kaiser's emotions began to surge uncontrollably.
After the curse ritual concluded —
Kaiser walked toward one of the cadet’s rooms and knocked on the door.
Knock, knock.
Kaiser knew he was the Leader — not the Boss.
Rebecca was the boss.
She had the authority to give orders.
Kaiser did not.
Most of the cadets in Dormant Dragon Institute had strong personalities and often questioned the legitimacy of his orders.
They would demand explanations, asking why they had to kill someone when the ultimate objective was the assassination of the Emperor.
But there was one cadet who never questioned anything.
As long as it was called a mission, she would move.
As long as she was told to kill, she would kill.
For that reason, her trust was invaluable. Once broken, it could be dangerous.
Therefore, she was not to be treated carelessly.
And right now, she was the only one Kaiser could turn to for help.
Knock, knock.
The door swung open, and a girl with a bright expression popped out.
Light pink hair. Light pink eyes.
A pure, innocent smile, unmarred by any shadows.
Elize Xikos smiled as she asked, "Why? What's up, Captain?"
Kaiser felt slightly tense.
It was the first time he was using Dormant Dragon Institute for personal reasons.
'Didn’t they say she’s been getting along well with Professor Dante lately?'
Perfect.
This was the perfect chance to test it.
To test righteousness through her.
"Elize. Sorry to bother you when you’re resting."
"Mmm-hmm."
"Can you go kill someone for me?"
"Is it a mission?"
Kaiser tensed up a bit more.
The moment he said it was a mission, Elize would be granted a license to kill.
"...Yes, it's a mission."
"Okay."
Elize wagged her imaginary tail like a puppy about to go for a walk.
"Who do you want me to kill?"
Kaiser gave the order: Professor Hakon of Black Abyss.
When she asked, "Who’s that?" he let her sniff the blood sample they had extracted.
"Got it."
Elize picked up an invisible blade, her steps light as she floated out of the room.
Just before she left, Kaiser grabbed her arm and added one more instruction.
"Bring the corpse to the backyard of the dormitory."
"Will do," Elize replied, stepping out in her pajamas with feather-light steps.
As soon as the door closed, her body melted into the darkness.
It was a moonlit night.
The rings of the planet overlapped, creating a stunning spectacle in the sky.
Elize stepped into someone's bedroom.
No sound of footsteps, no breathing, no hesitation whatsoever.
"Why...? Why is Dormant Dragon Institute trying to kill me...?"
Only after the blade was driven into his heart did the man realize what was happening.
"Hmm. Who knows...?"
Elize vanished back into the shadows.
"It was a mission."
A blind assassination.
── .
Ten minutes later, Elize returned.
Just as expected, her compatibility had been overwhelming.
Curse-type abilities were particularly weak against someone like Elize, who relied purely on brute strength.
"Woomph. Spit it out."
A transparent wild dog, at least five meters tall, opened its mouth and spat something out.
Hakon’s corpse.
Kaiser was still sitting, gripping his cane.
He had asked Elize to bring the corpse back to confirm it for himself.
And now, even as he stared at the dead body, he felt no discomfort.
Instead, an unusual sensation was blooming within him.
The feeling of having protected something precious.
The thrill of having killed something that deserved to die.
It was the same feeling he’d experienced when he was a child.
Back then, there was a wild dog that lurked in the alley where his elders often walked.
A mangy beast that would snarl and bare its fangs without hesitation.
One day, he had beaten that dog to death with a club.
The catharsis he felt at that moment was now surging back within him.
Now, he was certain.
"Haha..."
An assassination for the professor was a righteous act.