The Graduate Student Wants to Assassinate the Professor Chapter 1

Chapter 1: The Professor I Want to Kill

 

Leorina sat between a soot-blackened flask and another crusted with dried purple liquid, vigorously scraping the skin off a withered mandrake root with a plane.

 

“I… I feel such regret and self-loathing. Did I really come here just to end up like this…?” 

 

But the person who should have been listening to Leorina’s lament was not in the room. Only the monotonous sound of trimming mandrakes echoed through the empty laboratory.

 

Scrape, scrape, scrape, scrape…

 

Her light green eyes, which would usually be bright and sparkling, now looked like a rusted bronze mirror, her gaze half-dead. Perhaps it was just her imagination, but it felt like gray dust had piled up on her platinum hair.

 

“Two weeks as of today….” 

 

Murmuring in a voice filled with disillusionment, Leorina chewed on the date and let out a heavy sigh.

 

She had only been here for two weeks, yet she already wanted to go home.

 

Just then, the lab door swung open, and a man trudged in. The moment he saw Leorina, he asked bluntly. 

 

“Results?”

 

“As you can see.”

 

Leorina replied in a listless voice, shaking her head.

 

The man with silver hair, bluish-purple eyes, and smooth chocolate-colored skin—Khalid—tilted his head as he looked at the empty flasks. 

 

“Did they all fail?”

 

“Yes. The reagent explodes no matter what I do. Don’t you think the initial premise was wrong from the start? What do you think about giving up on this experiment and moving on to something else?” 

 

Khalid met Leorina’s desperate gaze and replied nonchalantly.

 

“It can’t be helped. If it doesn’t work, you keep doing it until it does.”

 

“Pardon?”

 

“I believe you just have to do it until it works. Whether it’s 10 times, 100 times, or 1,000 times. If you keep at it, you’re bound to get lucky eventually.” 

 

He nodded to himself and gave Leorina a thumbs up. 

 

“Good luck.”

 

Leorina stared at him blankly with dead, hollow eyes.

 

Regardless of her reaction, Khalid noticed the mandrake in her hand and asked. 

 

“By the way, why are you trimming that?”

 

“Pardon? You told me to trim it because we needed it for the next undergraduate lab.”

 

“Ah, that. The class was canceled, so they’re not needed anymore. Did I not mention that?” 

 

“…No, you didn’t.”

 

“Is that so? My bad.”

 

“…”

 

“I have my next class now, so I’ll be off. Clean the flasks used in the experiment and tidy up. Got it?”

 

Khalid waved his hand dismissively, snatched up only the teaching materials he needed, and left the lab.

 

The door clicked shut. Left alone, Leorina’s hands began to tremble.

 

“I’m going to kill him…”

 

Gritting her teeth, Leorina could no longer hold it in. She turned toward the firmly shut door and roared in a fit of rage.

 

“I’m going to kill you, you f**ing bstard! Aaaagh! XXX! Aaaagh! XX! Aaaaagh!”

 

However, her rage failed to reach Khalid, who had already vanished far down the hallway. 

 

To explain how things turned out like this….

 

* * *

 

The holy state of Jorken held Petilla-ism—the worship of the human god, Petilla—as its state religion, and was ruled by a Pope. 

 

Externally, Jorken pursued world peace.

 

Internally, however, it created a secret organization to condemn those who betrayed the teachings of the Goddess Petilla, who led humanity to paradise. This was the Special Task Force directly under the Pope, abbreviated as the ‘STF.’

 

Leorina was a mage and assassin belonging to that very STF. Under the Pope’s orders, she worked to uproot the things of the shadows before they could emerge into the light. 

 

One day in February, while the air was still biting cold, Leorina was summoned by Pope Veronas. Expecting an assassination mission, she entered his office, only to find several documents laid out before her.

 

“Sit down, read, and listen.” 

 

Following the Pope’s instructions, Leorina sat opposite his desk and began reading the documents as Veronas continued.

 

“Three days ago, Goddess Petilla delivered an oracle through the mouth of the Saint.”

 

“Is that so?”

 

“But the content is a bit serious. No, actually, it’s very serious.” 

 

“What on earth is it about?”

 

At Leorina’s question, Veronas cleared his throat and said. 

 

“A one-horned demon shall one day reign as the Demon King, unifying the demons scattered across the world, which will cause the many lands to be torn asunder.”

 

At those words, Leorina looked up from the documents and stared at Veronas.

 

“It is common knowledge that all demons have two horns. A one-horned demon? And what does it mean that many lands will be torn asunder?”

 

Veronas, who had been standing until then, slowly sat down.

 

“Demons are currently living scattered throughout the world. They have no nation of their own anywhere. Therefore, they have no central figure to rally around. But…”

 

Veronas’ face looked somewhat troubled.

 

“If a Demon King appears, the story changes.”

 

“A Demon King…”

 

“The power of demons is truly immense compared to that of humans. It is only underestimated because they are scattered. Now, what do you think would happen if a Demon King were to unify such demons?”

 

When Leorina didn’t answer and only blinked her eyes, Veronas let out a deep sigh.

 

“They would start wars against other nations to build their own state.”

 

“Ah, then does ‘lands being torn asunder’ mean…”

 

“It is predicted to mean that many nations will lose their territories to the demons after being defeated in war…”

 

Veronas shook his head, looking as if he didn’t even want to imagine it.

 

“We must prevent that war at all costs. That is why the Goddess Petilla has granted us this oracle.”

 

“But the thing is, Your Holiness.” 

 

Leorina, having finished flipping through the papers, asked in a voice that showed not a hint of seriousness.

 

“What does that have to do with me entering graduate school?”

 

Leorina looked down at the paper titled, ‘Application for Admission to the Master’s Program at Halderion Magic Academy.’

 

“Why is my name written on this document? And what is this letter of recommendation?”

 

“Khaladniel Sigelo Huaderica. He is a professor in the Department of Magic Formula Design at Halderion Magic Academy.”

 

“Yes. His name is written in the preferred professor column of the application. Is this a reference photo? He’s handsome.”

 

Leorina carefully examined the photo of a man with long silver hair falling down, looking straight ahead with bluish-purple eyes. 

 

His face was truly handsome enough to be a waste to kill, but unusually, the horn that was the symbol of a demon was only on his right temple.

 

“That man, Khaladniel, is the target of this mission.”

 

“Aha. So, now that I know his name and face, do I just go and kill him?”

 

At Leorina’s hasty conclusion, Veronas smiled faintly.

 

“If it were that simple, why would that document be necessary?”

 

As Leorina blinked her golden eyes, Veronas spoke slyly, like an ordinary grandfather talking to his granddaughter.

 

“Shall I tell you a scary story? Once upon a time, there was a family called Huaderica. It was a family with a long history, even in the annals of demons. Then one day, the entire house was wiped out overnight. All because of a single demon.” 

 

“Oh. Why?”

 

“People at the time speculated that there might have been an internal conflict. Though we can’t know the reason now.”

 

“But it seems they weren’t all killed. Because this person is alive.”

 

Leorina tapped the photo with her finger. Veronas nodded.

 

“He is the one who wiped out his own family, so he was the only survivor.”

 

“Wow.”

 

Leorina picked up the photo of Khaladniel by the tip of her finger and held it far away from her eyes.

 

“They say he slaughtered no fewer than 108 of his kinsmen. In a single night! And not just ordinary humans, but 108 demons, Leorina. So, do you think this man is someone who can be handled so easily?” 

 

Leorina quietly placed the photo she had been holding with her fingertips back onto the table and pushed it toward Veronas.

 

However, Veronas returned the photo of Khaladniel that Leorina had gone to the trouble of pushing away back to her.

 

“He is dangerous to face head-on, Leorina. You must not think of this as a typical assassination mission. So, give up the idea of completing the mission in a single day.” 

 

“So… surely what this application means is… that….” 

 

Leorina’s voice trailed off as she sensed something ominous, but Veronas gave the order without hesitation.

 

“Enter Professor Khaladniel’s laboratory. Get in as a graduate student and wait for your moment by his side.”

 

“Uh…”

 

“You only graduated from the High Academy and have never attended a graduate course, right? It will be fun.”

 

“Ha, haha…”

 

Leorina wondered if this was really the right way to do things.

 

But what could she do? Verona was the Pope, and Leorina was merely a member of the STF directly under him—in other words, nothing more than the ‘Pope’s lackey.’ 

 

Veronas ignored Leorina’s wavering gaze and gave his instructions.

 

“Admission is in March, so you still have fifteen days to prepare. If there is anything you need while living as a graduate student, do not hesitate to speak up. I will provide as much convenience as possible. Provided, of course, that you succeed in the mission.”

 

“Understood. I will give it a try.”

 

Leorina, barely regaining her composure, gave a sharp salute. However, her insides were in complete turmoil.

 

Graduate school? She had never even thought about such a thing, so what was she supposed to do?

 

But she couldn’t cry.

 

Such was the life of an errand girl.