Professor Bronze dropped the pretense of politeness that didn’t suit her, throwing aside the time spent in artificial courtesy to take a good swing at the back of other professors’ heads.
‘Professor Mahabharata just gathered trash, leaving no room for worry.’
Having spent a long time digging into the Foundation’s secrets, Professor Bronze thought this way as soon as she saw goblins of all attributes.
This was nothing less than a huge crisis, a complete compendium of all the dimensional knowledge the Foundation possessed.
With such a crisis looming, what was a teaching assistant doing?
Was it meant to be a graduation project for the fourth-years every year?
The sense of crisis had definitely exceeded reasonable limits.
‘Let’s blame your recklessness.’
She would block goblins that were likely to have developed and multiplied to the point where dealing with them could become troublesome due to those rubbish professors.
With this, the Foundation’s middle realm ambush using the Goblin World dimensional gate would be stopped.
Replacing the non-fair flight’s power source with the mana vein and supplementing mana with the magic stones accumulated in the Goblin Empire, she could open a door with a magic circle saved for when professors returned to the Academy and leisurely return alone.
“So industrious, you are.”
“Popular women are sought after in many places, you know.”
Looking at the ‘Maid Jang’ that appeared before Professor Bronze, she offered a wry smile.
“I’m surprised. I never expected someone from the Foundation, not even a professor from the Academy, would be able to read my actions.”
“If you thought the assassins in charge of the Foundation’s intelligence network wouldn’t catch on to the fact you had been digging into the Foundation, that’s a huge mistake.”
“When and where did you catch me?”
“The Foundation is an evil organization, so they wouldn’t recruit ordinary people with good intentions. There are indeed general public recipients of the Foundation’s support, acquired through such perceptions.”
“From the very beginning, you were just waiting for me to move, huh? It’s nauseating to think of a foreign woman stalking a man after having his seed with a secret date.”
Maid Jang raised a dusting tool like a baton in a somewhat ridiculous manner.
“Power sources, magic stones, magic circles. Thank you for your preparations. Now please surrender those nicely to us and step aside. We won’t harm your life.”
“Would you have the gathered loot served up to the Thief, if you were them?”
“We’re not thieves. We are betrayers who have decided to leave the Foundation.”
“Oh…? That’s an unexpected answer. How intriguing. What made you come to such a decision?”
Assassin maids.
Their existence had become a significant risk present in everyday life to the powerful across the continent.
How could stories about noble families in the Empire, worried about assassin maids, opting for secretaries instead only to be done in by assassin secretaries, spread wide to the Academy, saying assassination was an unavoidable fate, and they would prefer to have maids by their side until death?
Such a betrayal declaration from those who had fervently acted for the Foundation, establishing the perception of the assassin maids as being synonymous with the Foundation, was not a simple story to tell.
“The Foundation is an organization that secures, isolates, and manages all elements that threaten humanity from the shadows. We believed without a doubt that all the evil deeds carried out by the Foundation would someday grant humanity true freedom, which is why we willingly dirtied our hands and hearts.”
“Did that belief shatter?”
“The goblins of the Goblin World posed a significant threat to the order of the entire Middle Realm. This is an act of betrayal that was not included in the future blueprint for humanity shown by the Director when he contracted with our assassination squad.”
“Oh.”
“Even if this plan crashes the existing rulers of the Middle Realm and the Foundation establishes a new order, the Middle Realm will be devastated and turn to ash. The Director, having already broken a promise once, could not be trusted to build a future for humanity that resembled the one we were promised from the ruins.”
The direct subordinate of the Foundation’s Director.
Maid Jang’s declaration of betrayal felt sincere.
“Then why not leave together? Why are you trying to leave first while leaving the main building behind?”
Maid Jang cast a cold gaze at Professor Bronze.
“If you leave here, Professor Bronze, you will return to the Academy, report what happened in the Goblin World, and strive to prepare against the Foundation’s attack on an academy that has drastically reduced its teaching power. Am I right?”
“Precisely.”
“That’s why you cannot return. In the calm steel and death dimension where more lives are dying than being born, the Director has developed extinction weapons.”
Though the Director intended to treat the existence of the new weapon as confidential information, an excessively powerful weapon would inevitably become known, whether wished for or not.
Moreover, given Maid Jang’s position in charge of the Foundation’s counterintelligence department, even if she did not wish to know, the worried and fearful maids under her would inevitably bring various information to her.
– The gift academy’s breakfast menu today is mole skewers with vegetables, and mole stew seasoned with premium spices. Why can’t we eat that?
– Be quiet. Just eat white bread. Inferior students at the Academy eat far worse food than you.
Like some eccentric old man throwing his disciple off a cliff, she regretted whether she needed to train her subordinates to suppress emotions lest they endure it, only to have team members who were stirred by fear and respect come and babble freely.
– Your words were correct. The upperclassmen at the Academy are feasting on an enormous menu easily accessible to Foundation Scholarship Students, but that’s just a show for appearances. In reality, it’s confirmed that they’re feeding stones in the labs. You were aware of all that, weren’t you?
– …Indeed.
– I expected you to say they at least ate black bread, which is no better than white bread, but they really are heartless. At this rate, we should hand over the title of evil organization from our assassination squad to the Gift Academy.
The fact that those she thought ate black bread were actually confirmed to be eating stones revealed a far more harsh and malicious method of talent cultivation than she’d ever known.
It wasn’t surprising at all to Maid Jang that the jumpy and fearful assassins would one day be horrified by nuclear weapons evaporating a small country in the desert.
The mischievous faces of the department members were armed with complaints, jealousy, and the belief that they deserved better working conditions than what they had.
Everything was familiar.
There was only one hand presenting the report, and apart from the fact that the state of their deteriorating and collapsing bodies had worsened to an irrecoverable point, everything else was the same.
“I acknowledged that the Director intentionally exposed mana users to nuclear fallout to test how much collateral damage they could resist and survive for the mission’s efficiency. It’s frustrating, but I believed that no one would oppose the Director’s order after seeing such weapons and progress reports.”
“That means the Director beautifully deceived you with the Goblin World, and now your patience can no longer function.”
“We must evacuate the Academy. The moment the Director uses that in the Academy, every student and faculty member, except for the Principal, will be exposed to unavoidable mana contamination. Hell’s torment awaits even mana users who cannot survive. ”
“Is there confirmation it will definitely target the Academy?”
“There is. Based on the information from the Secretary Office Head, I’ve tampered with the storage for nuclear weapons. From what I’ve verified, a significant amount of nuclear weapons went missing, so the remaining ones will be used as efficiently as possible. And that target is [Gift Academy]. I must prevent the cursed weapon that has taken my subordinate’s life.”
Professor Bronze realized the true meaning behind her words.
“You intend to die.”
“Words won’t convey it. I will forcibly evacuate everyone from the Academy, even if it costs my life. That is the only method for revenge against the Director, who has violated our will and the life of my subordinate.”
Even if the Director’s direct subordinate conveyed the plan and shouted for evacuation, there would be no one who would believe or listen to those words readily.
That’s why Maid Jang planned to attack the Academy herself, get herself killed, and force them to realize the truth by having them forcibly view her memories in the Academy.
Regardless of the success of that plan, Professor Bronze appreciated Maid Jang’s stance.
“How old are you?”
“I am thirty-five this year.”
“Older than a student, but still young for a head of the assassination squad.”
“Then you would understand if I said I have less than ten years left to live.”
“…Indeed. You’ve pulled your power with potential while hastening your peak with a life without a future.”
“Did the knowledge of my age assist in your judgment?”
“It was enough. Knowing righteousness, not fearing the fight against great evil for the world’s justice, and possessing excellent tracking skills trailing after a rogue. You draw as a remarkable ‘rogue’ successor.”
Professor Bronze extended her hand.
“Become my disciple. I promise to steal [Distrust] from the Principal at the risk of everything I possess.”
“Such a thing… is it truly possible?”
“It is possible.”
“That Principal would never allow you to steal.”
“No, he will allow it. The real reason the Principal established the Academy is…”
Maid Jang was left speechless by Professor Bronze’s story.
“I cannot believe that. If you said you established the Academy to make a fortune, I could understand that evil dragon could want that, but that’s…”
“Could I possibly know more about the Director than you, as an outsider? It’s the same problem. No matter what you know about the Principal, it won’t match what I know as an insider.”
Her heart began to tilt.
Maid Jang resolved to leave with Professor Bronze.
But just then, the very source of all this chaos revealed his presence, slipping through the senses of two masters of the seventh rank.
“You are the one who ambushed us…”
“You were said to be the secret weapon concealed by the Director…”
It was quite perplexing for them why they hadn’t noticed this being until now, adorned in brilliant golden radiance.
The Golden Magical Girl Avalon proudly put her hands on her hips and shouted.
“Well, what a truly touching story. As the one destined to rule the world with the dream and hope that gold will show, I can’t allow the atrocities of a being wielding such evil weapons to go on. I, the Golden Magical Girl Avalon, shall assist in your escape!”
Professor Bronze and Maid Jang exchanged glances and nodded before aiming their assassination knife hidden in the staff and the launch-type blade hidden in the dusting tool.
“You aim to relay to him that the Director’s wicked plan is about to be thwarted.”
“I’ll test the prowess of the next head assassin of the Foundation, nurtured as a secret weapon to replace Maid Jang!”
“Why is no one listening to me…? Am I not cute enough to deserve some attention?!”
Though Avalon thought that, with the Academy professors and the Director’s direct subordinate reconciling, she could clear up the misunderstanding regarding herself…
That foolish expectation was crushed by the combined power of the two masters.
“The Director’s killing machine is not human. Hence, your words hold no value.”
“…Have you ever said that to Lady Oknodie?”
“Oh dear. I should have said it before deciding to take you as my disciple.”
The two masters, suffering from selective communication disorders, began to lay siege to the mysterious Dark Shadow Avalon.
Avalon, flustered, wanted to dodge with the powers of gold and clear up the misunderstanding, but due to the characteristics of Golden Mana that could not conceal her, most of her powers became difficult to manipulate.
If she used her power now, the other professors, conscious of their strength and saving it, would surely ramp up the intensity of their attacks in an instant.
‘There’s no choice. Despite the knowledge instilled through fragments of memory, this combat technique is still usable, so I have no choice but to employ it.’
Based on reasonable judgment, dozens of [Golden Balls] created by Avalon spread across the air, engulfing all memorization and surrounding space upon contact before vanishing.
Maid Jang merely saw it as an annoying attack, but Professor Bronze gained complete certainty from it.
“That mana manipulation technique… is indeed similar to how my commendable disciple committed the Empire theft, which I never ordered her to do, [Black Hole Ball].”
“Did you notice? Yes, I’m on Oknodie’s side. I’m not your enemy!”
This should be enough for them to trust her.
Avalon’s hope crumbled right before her eyes.
“Oknodie’s mentor, the Butler of the Foundation, taught you that wicked dark combat technique. It makes it all too clear that such an existence cannot coexist with you.”
“Does it really get interpreted that way?!”
“Truly, the Foundation planned to make you the ‘replacement’ for Oknodie. If you kill her, the Foundation will also lose the chance to harm Oknodie by losing its replacement.”
Avalon squeezed her eyes shut in the midst of the combat as dizziness rushed upon her.
