Villain Takes Over The Academy

[Translator - Helga ]

[Proofreader - Starfall ]

Chapter 41

Devil Villain subdued by Seo Su-kyung alone.

Professor D had declared this in front of everyone on the field training day.

Seo Su-kyung felt like she had been hit on the back of the head. Her mind went blank, and she couldn't say anything.

Meanwhile, everyone accepted his words as fact.

"If it's Seo Su-kyung, then..."

"If she's the Sword Saint, it's only natural!"

Although it seemed ridiculous to say that she had defeated a villain alone, the fact that it was Su-kyung made it plausible enough.

Su-kyung instantly became the biggest highlight of this field training, receiving everyone's envy, jealousy, and praise.

Even the talented Yang Hak-je and the iron fortress Shin A-sol couldn't match Su-kyung's achievement this time.

"...But I didn't do it."

Back in the dormitory, Su-kyung kept muttering this as she sat on the dark living room sofa. She couldn't understand.

Why did Professor D say that?

When she had finally found the Devil Villain in the cave yesterday, Professor D suddenly changed his attitude and kicked Su-kyung out. She thought Professor D was trying to take all the credit for himself.

"But it wasn't like that."

Professor D casually attributed all the credit to Su-kyung. He even lied to do so.

For Su-kyung, who had only resentment and hatred for Professor D, it was a very embarrassing situation.

So she couldn't sleep a wink. She stayed up all night and went to the professor's office as soon as the sun rose to get an answer.

"Why did you do that?"

Professor D saw Su-kyung waiting at the door and said nothing. He passed her and opened the door.

Su-kyung immediately followed and asked again.

"Why did you do that?"

Professor D replied as if he were annoyed.

"When you ask me a question, I'd appreciate it if you used the subject and object clearly. I'm not in the habit of reading minds."

"I'm asking why you lied yesterday. I didn't kill the Devil Villain."

"Unexpected. I didn't know you were so meticulous."

"Don't joke around! Did you think I would be grateful for that? How dare you..."

"You don't have to be grateful. I just did what I had to do."

Su-kyung, who was about to get angry, hesitated as if she didn't understand.

"You just did what you had to do...?"

"I just treated the most outstanding student in my department as she deserved. Just like you said to me when we first met, 'Treat me like a beautiful jewel found in the mud'."

"!!!"

Su-kyung was startled.

The night she first met Professor D.

When they were alone in his office, she made a secret proposal and said that.

'I thought he had completely ignored what I said that day...'

Professor D had completely crushed Su-kyung's proposal then. She never thought he would remember those words.

"I simply gave the most outstanding student in my department the treatment she deserved. So you don't need to feel grateful or guilty. You were just the student who was qualified."

Professor D took a few bright red pills from his bag and popped them into his mouth. Even though they were just pills, Professor D seemed to be in a much better mood.

‘I can't figure out this man,’ Seo Su-kyung thought.

Who was this man really? And what was his goal?

"...What do you want from me? Why did you bring me to the Deconstructionist Department?"

"Didn't I already tell you? Gianluca died, so I needed a replacement."

"Is that really all?"

"What else do you think there could be?"

"Explain to me why I'm Arche's replacement. Very specifically,” Seo Su-kyung said firmly. It was an expression of her determination not to move a single step until she heard an explanation.

After showing a brief annoyance, Professor D finally replied, "I planned to bring Gianluca to the Deconstructionist Department and make her an ace. I was going to raise her as a vanguard to take off the stigma of being the most useless department in the 13 departments and lead it to become a major department."

Seo Su-kyung carefully watched Professor D's expression, trying to find out his hidden intentions.

Suddenly she felt something alien.

Even when talking about Gianluca's death, Professor D showed no signs of regret or anger.

"But now that Gianluca has died like that, you have to take over that role. Is that specific enough?"

It felt inhuman, as if broken equipment could simply be replaced with something else.

Seo Su-kyung realized more and more that the man in front of her was weirder than she thought.

‘...I don't think he's lying, though.’

Although his emotional circuits and way of thinking were very different from ordinary people, those words sounded sincere. Having deceived many people, Seo Su-kyung could also see through other people's lies to some extent.

That's why she was even more confused.

‘Making the Deconstructionist Department a major? And with me at the forefront?’

"...That's a ridiculous plan. I only understand the basic theory of the Deconstructionist Department."

"Understanding the basic theory is half the battle in the Deconstructionist Department. There are a lot of people who can't even understand the basics no matter how much you explain."

There was no intention to flatter Seo Su-kyung in Professor D's words. He simply stated the facts he knew calmly.

"So don't worry about your lack of talent. That level of talent is more than enough to be the vanguard of my Deconstructionist Department."

Seo Su-kyung's heart pounded.

This man was serious. He was not saying this out of vanity or bragging, but he sincerely wanted to make the Deconstructionist Department a major.

'Is it really possible?'

Imagination began to stir in her head without her realization. If the Deconstructionist Department becomes a major department and she becomes the vanguard of that change... the status of Sword Saint will be much higher than it is now.

If that happens, she might be able to get really close to the first place in the overall ranking that she has dreamed of so much...

‘...But isn't there going to be a full faculty meeting this time?’@@novelbin@@

While imagining with a thundering heart, Seo Su-kyung suddenly remembered that fact.

According to the information she had obtained, the relationship between Do Jin-hak and Kim Taek-hee was the worst.

“Professor Kim Taek-hee is so stubborn that he is called the Wall Face. It's hard to stay in this academy if you become his enemy.”

Seo Su-kyung, who had been learning under Kim Taek-hee for several years, knew well. As stubborn as a wall, Kim Taek-hee was a thorough person, so he would never hold a full faculty meeting without any preparation.

The fact that he said there would be a full faculty meeting meant that he was ready to drive Do Jin-hak out...

However, for some reason, Professor D doesn't seem to be worried at all.

"Professor Kim is well-prepared. But he's not the only one preparing."

"...?"

What does that mean?

Seo Su-kyung was puzzled, but Professor D didn't seem to want to say any more. Only a faint smile on his lips revealed something.

An unknown evil plot.

* * *

"Then, I will now begin the faculty meeting."

Time passed quickly, and finally, the long-awaited day arrived. I briefly scanned the professors who filled the meeting room.

Not only were all the full professors, associate professors, and assistant professors of the Emission Department present, but also Clementine from the Alchemy Department and Sarah from the Summoning Department.

In addition, the faces of professors from the Defense, Divine, Herbalism, Transformation, and Necromancy Departments, who were difficult to see on a daily basis, were also visible.

'There are about twenty people attending today? They've called a lot of people just to chase me out of this academy.'

Even if you combined all the assistant professors, associate professors, and full professors of the 13 departments, there were less than 30.

In other words, almost all the professors had gathered...

Considering the nature of the Masterclass professors who usually refused to attend under various excuses, it shows how much effort Kim Taek-hee put into this meeting.

"The only agenda for this meeting is the dismissal of Do Jin-hak, the professor of the Deconstructionist Department."

As soon as he announced the start of the meeting, Kim Taek-hee went straight to the point. He displayed a video on the screen.

"First, please pay attention to this video."

The video played a scene of the Garden, the pride of the Masterclass.

The Garden, filled with all sorts of rare herbs...

As the video continued to show the Garden being withered and ruined overnight, sighs of pity flowed among the professors.

"I'm sure you all remember the terrible incident where all the plants in the Garden suddenly died on the first day of the new semester. As a result of our investigation, Professor Alfred found a spirit buried in the Garden."

"A dead spirit?"

The professors murmured, hearing about the spirit for the first time.

Clementine, who suddenly received attention, opened her mouth with a nervous tone.

"Well... the spirit seems to have been responsible for taking care of the Garden until now. But someone killed the spirit and buried it in the ground, and there was a wound from a blood-sucking spell on the spirit's neck."

"Huh, a blood-sucking spell?"

"Who would cast such a terrible spell on a spirit...?"

The murmur grew louder among the professors. I closely watched their reactions.

'They did a good job investigating.'

When I met her in the Garden before, I thought she was solely focused on the experiment of sprouting seeds on the spirit's corpse...

Now that I look at it, she seems to have done all the investigations she needed to do.

"Anyway, our conclusion is that the Garden was ruined because of the death of the spirit who took care of the plants..."

Overwhelmed by various questions at once, Clementine quickly finished her presentation.

Kim Taek-hee nodded as if to say well done and continued.

"The Garden, which had never been ruined since the academy opened, coincidentally had such an incident on the first day of a professor's appointment. Professor Do Jin-hak."

As soon as he pointed at me, everyone's gaze turned towards me at once.

"Can you tell us where you were and what you were doing on the first night of your appointment?"

Kim Taek-hee, who threw a sharp question as if he were a veteran prosecutor in the courtroom.

To be honest, I was a little surprised.

'I didn't expect him to bring up the Garden incident first.'

As Seo Su-kyung said, he was indeed a thorough teacher when it came to preparation.

"I went back to my office after taking a walk in the evening."

"Who can prove that?"

"If you ask student Seo Su-kyung, you'll know."

"Why were you with a student at that time? You weren't personally acquainted, were you?"

Seeming to have caught a clue, Kim Taek-hee relentlessly pursued.

Then I should give him the answer he wants.

"Student Seo Su-kyung came to see me. She said she was worried about her future."

"About her future?"

"She complained that she couldn't see a vision in the department she was studying at that time... You know better than anyone, since you were her professor at that time, don't you?"

"...!"

"Kim Taek-hee's face, which had been prepared to tear into me, suddenly hardened.

'Why would he ask a question where he can't win?'

No matter how he probed the Garden incident, it would be a loss for Kim Taek-hee. Especially since the one who was with me that day was his favorite student, Seo Su-kyung.

"...Let's call student Seo Su-kyung later to confirm that. Now, my next question."

Hearing the murmurs among the professors, Kim Taek-hee quickly brought up a different topic.

"A terrible murder case occurred at the academy a while ago. The victim was a promising student council member, and unfortunately, Professor Do Jin-hak was a strong suspect in that case as well."

Kim Taek-hee's next attack was the murder of Arche.

When that story came up, Clementine suddenly stood up.

"But... wasn't the professor cleared of any wrongdoing in that case?"

Clementine protested on my behalf, although she seemed uncomfortable with the attention of the other professors.

I was grateful, but Kim Taek-hee shook his head as if it wouldn't work.

"Just because the charges haven't been proven doesn't mean he's innocent. Don't forget that Professor Do Jin-hak is still a suspect in the murder of Arche,” Kim Taek-hee said bluntly.

Technically, what he said wasn't wrong. At the time of the Arche case, I had asked Seo Su-kyung to falsely testify that I was with her around the time of Arche's death.

Thanks to that, I was released from prison because my alibi was proven... but an alibi based on testimony alone is not enough to completely clear the suspicion.

'But why is he bringing that up now? Did he find any new evidence?'

After Arche died, I tried to be as careful as possible. Kim Taek-hee would try to find even the smallest flaw.

As far as I remember, I haven't done anything that could be picked on... but you never know with someone like Kim Taek-hee.

What kind of evidence did he bring this time?

"For the past month, the academy has been conducting an independent investigation into Professor Do Jin-hak. I'll let you know in advance that the investigation was conducted around Professor Do Jin-hak, so it has a high level of credibility."

An investigation was conducted around me?

I suddenly had a bad feeling. At least as far as I knew, Kim Taek-hee hadn't appeared around me for the past month.

'That means...?'

Instead of video footage this time, Kim Taek-hee pointed to the door. It was as if someone was scheduled to enter.

"Then, let's hear a detailed report from the investigator. Come in."

A familiar silhouette vaguely visible through the slowly opening door...

It was the moment my bad feeling came true.

The person who entered the room was none other than Shin A-sol.

[Translator - Helga ]

[Proofreader - Starfall ]