It seemed the organization had been destroyed.
It felt as if a rope tightly bound around his mind had suddenly snapped free all at once.
There was no doubt.
The final layer of brainwashing placed by the organization had just been lifted.
After a mission ended.
The sensation was identical to when existing brainwashing was loosened to initiate re-brainwashing.
Flutter.
A pigeon flew in at that exact moment.
It was a pigeon sent by the organization.
Rustle.
He unfolded the note tied to its ankle and infused it with mana, revealing the message.
[Black rain has fallen.]
No matter how many times he checked, it was unmistakably from the organization.
He had received many short coded messages before, but never this one.
However, he knew exactly what it meant.
The organization has perished!
He had been a member of the Empire’s greatest assassination group.
And he had been their greatest assassin.
Wraith.
That was what they called him.
But now, there was no place left for him to return to.
And—
“I’m perfectly fine.”
Wraith placed his fingers in turn on his neck, wrist, and heart to check his pulse.
As expected.
He wasn’t dead.
Even the organization’s final contingency plan had failed to kill him.
[Black rain has fallen.]
Normally, any assassin who saw this sentence was meant to die.
A hidden trigger embedded deep within the brainwashing.
The moment they touched a strip of a specific material and saw those words.
Their heart would stop.
But Wraith’s heart continued to beat powerfully.
Wraith immediately pulled the mission orders from his coat.
Fwoosh!
In an instant, both the mission orders and the note burst into flames.
The only remaining traces of the mission were completely erased.
Any evidence that Wraith had been dispatched was now gone.
“At last… I’m free.”
The organization had been destroyed.
And now, Wraith was—
[Edelvine Academy – Sword School, Introductory General Education Course: Understanding of Self-Defense]
[Instructor: Ziel Steelheart]
He was about to begin his first class under his cover identity.
It was the first day of his mission.
***
He hadn’t been called Wraith from the beginning.
About twenty years ago.
At that time—his name and memories from then were now hazy.
Before he even turned three, the first words he learned were “Please give me food.”
He repeated those words in front of passersby.
—You have talent, boy.
One day, a man said that to him.
—Follow me, and you’ll never go hungry.
From that moment on, he became an assassin.
What followed was relentless training and brainwashing.
He learned countless killing techniques, and his emotions were suppressed.
After passing the final test and becoming a full assassin, he spent the next twenty years living in the shadows.
He began to be called Wraith after completing 200 assassination missions.
Enemy assassins.
High-ranking bureaucrats.
Slave traders.
Corrupt lords.
Merchant guild masters.
Even those who stood at the peak trembled at rumors of Wraith’s approach.
Absurd rumors followed him.
They said he had no physical form and lived only as a shadow.
That he had been born from darkness.
That he was the child of a demon.
Wraith was such a being.
Respected by his fellow assassins, feared by those who stood against him.
Now, that very figure was meeting with a professor of the Sword School in anticipation of teaching his first class.
‘He’s not a bad warrior.’
Edelvine Academy’s Sword School.
A specialized academy where students who wished to learn martial arts, including swordsmanship, enrolled.
Together with the Arcane School, which taught magic, it formed the two great pillars of Edelvine Academy.
Although the Arcane School had surpassed the Sword School in recent years, the perception among the populace remained unchanged.
Out of approximately 3,000 undergraduates, nearly 1,000 were Sword School students—making it the academy’s largest division.
One of its tenured professors.
Elcanto Paredes had once been a formidable fighter.
A Knight of the Empire.
More precisely, a Grand Knight—one rank below a Holy Knight.
Though he had been a lower-ranked Grand Knight, that title was only bestowed upon those who had achieved a significant level of mastery in swordsmanship.
However—
‘Why does his stomach look so bloated today?’
The man had grown immensely overweight.
Perhaps, in the past, he had been exceptional.
While Elcanto’s gaze lingered on his own gut, Ziel was observing something else.
‘If I attacked by surprise, once would be enough. If face-to-face, twice.’
His instincts measured the level and determined the likely outcome.
Professor Elcanto seemed to misunderstand Ziel’s gaze for a moment.
“Professor Ziel Steelheart, please relax.”
In that instant, Ziel realized an unexpected fact.
‘He’s ridiculously handsome. And why is his skin so pale?’
This new life he was beginning as Ziel Steelheart, under a fabricated identity.
Up until now, he had never shown his real face.
On missions, he always wore an infiltration mask.
Ziel had never truly given thought to his natural appearance.
Which is why he didn’t yet realize how striking—and dangerous—his looks could be to others.
“Ahem, ahem. Professor Ziel Steelheart?”
“Ah, yes.”
Professor Elcanto’s gentle voice reached him.
“Thank you for joining us, Professor Ziel. Coming to this honorable Edelvine Academy is a most excellent and distinguished decision.”
“Is that so.”
“Yes. I cannot tell you how fortunate we are to have you here. Please take good care of our students.”
“Yes, I understand.”
His response was indifferent and emotionless.
If the brainwashing had not been lifted, he might have shown an appropriate level of friendliness.
The brainwashing altered one’s entire personality to match the mission they were assigned.
There was no such thing as a true self.
They were nothing more than puppets moving according to pre-programmed conditioning.
But now, only three things remained within Ziel.
The instincts of an assassin.
The techniques of an assassin.
And—
A blank, white self he had regained after twenty years.
The information and knowledge he acquired during mission deployments remained intact.
But it is the self that gathers that knowledge and turns it into thoughts and ideology.
Without a center, that knowledge was scattered like fragments—leaving his self almost pure white.
“Are you the quiet type? That’s actually good. Yes, an instructor at Edelvine Academy should carry a certain gravitas.”
Ziel did not respond to Professor Elcanto’s words.
His mind was still clouded, adjusting to the self he had just regained for the first time in decades.
But the serious expression on his face gave rise to misunderstanding.
‘Did he not hear me?’
“Professor Ziel?”
“…….”
“Ahem, yes! Very good! You have gravitas. Essential for an educator!”
Ziel had a single goal.
To adapt well in this place as a general education instructor for Edelvine Academy’s Sword School.
It was his own goal—not that of an assassin.
‘A new life.’
Twenty years as an assassin.
In other words, twenty years without a self.
Now that he had regained his self, he was aiming for a new life.
In truth, he had regained his self specifically to live that new life.
“I will do my best to adapt.”
“Excellent attitude.”
Professor Elcanto smiled with satisfaction.
But inwardly, his smile held a different meaning.
‘Thank goodness. I can finally survive this year.’
Sword School general education instructors were hard to come by.
The eligibility requirements were strict.
Commoners could not apply.
Only nobles could.
Even fallen nobles were acceptable, but most fallen nobles chose to join the military instead.
After all, they could still start as officers and earn good pay.
Of course, if that were the only issue, there would still be a number of applicants.
After all, what kind of place was Edelvine Academy?
It was one of the two great academies, founded alongside the Empire itself, sharing its history.
Many came solely for the honor of serving here.
However, the general education instructor position was different.
Low pay.
Short-term contract.
No honor and no retirement benefits.
They were looked down upon by professors and often ignored by students.
It was no wonder the previous instructor resigned before even finishing a single semester.
The situation had become so dire that three of the five general courses were being taught by full professors, and the remaining two by teaching assistants.
Now that someone had finally taken the position, the professors—especially Professor Elcanto, the lowest in seniority among the full professors—could finally breathe a sigh of relief.
‘Was the record five months? Either way, please don’t quit. My suffering needs to end!’
He wondered how this one would fare.
If he lasted even six months, it would be a blessing.
“Ahem. And just so you know, if things go well, a contract renewal is possible. So work hard.”
“Is it possible to eventually become a professor?”
“A… professor?”
Why would someone applying for a general instructor position even ask such a thing?
Professor Elcanto hesitated for a moment.
Becoming a full professor after starting as a general instructor and working up through assistant professor was not theoretically impossible…
‘But practically, it was absurd.’
Still, Professor Elcanto smiled broadly.
“Of course, Professor Ziel.”
“Professor……?”
“Anyone who works hard and proves their ability has every possibility. You’ve met the basic requirements. Keep working as a general education instructor, and your opportunity will come.”
“Yes, I understand.”
A clueless fool.
A meaningful smile spread across Professor Elcanto’s face.
‘I can become a professor.’
Ziel formed yet another goal.
If he became a professor.
Then his life under this false identity would become even safer.
For now, however, his first priority was simply to stay at Edelvine Academy as long as possible.
‘This is the safest place.’
It wasn’t that Edelvine Academy itself was particularly safe.
It was that this mission was safe.
Unlike past missions, this one was designed entirely by him.
Only he knew about it.
He even wrote the mission orders himself and secured his cover identity alone.
For the sake of his new life.
The assassination target was real, though.
Ziel asked,
“I have a question.”
“What is it, Professor Ziel?”
“What must I do to receive a good evaluation as an instructor?”
Ziel genuinely wanted to know.
Receiving a good evaluation would allow him to remain at Edelvine Academy for a long time.
After a brief pause, Professor Elcanto answered.
“Just follow the rules and teach your classes properly.”
“Follow the rules.”
“What else is there? An educator should teach students well and evaluate them according to protocol.”
“Yes, I will do so.”
Ziel repeated those words several times in his mind.
Follow the rules.
As if someone could become a professor just by doing that.
Professor Elcanto sneered inwardly.
“Oh, and it’s good to show affection for your students.”
“How does one show affection?”
“……Well. Just care for them with love? Ha ha.”
“Love……”
He didn’t quite understand.
“I will try.”
“Mhm. Very good. I’m sure you’ll do well, Professor Ziel.”
A gentle smile spread across Professor Elcanto’s face.
“Oh, and this is a gift. It’s a book of academy regulations. Please read it.”
“Do I need to memorize it?”
“Well, memorizing it would be admirable, but—”
“I understand.”
Ziel accepted the book and rose from his seat.
“Then I will head to class.”
“Ah, it’s already time. I leave it in your hands, Professor Ziel.”
Click.
As Ziel left and closed the door, Professor Elcanto stood with a satisfied expression and began brewing tea.
“A professor, huh. The guy doesn’t know a thing about how the world works.”
Chuckling to himself, Professor Elcanto brought over the steaming teacup and morning newspaper.
“Memorize the regulations? As if. That thing is thicker than a brick.”
When he unfolded the newspaper, an astonishing headline appeared on the front page.
“Assassination group exterminated? The world really has seen everything now.”
It was news of the imperial crackdown on the very assassination group that had terrorized the Empire’s most powerful figures.
“Good riddance.”
Professor Elcanto set the newspaper down with a tap.
[Valdrein Empire Announces Successful Operation to Exterminate ‘Black Sky’ Assassination Group… Remnants Confirmed Dead]
[Key High-Risk Target, ‘Wraith,’ Specializing in Assassination of Key Figures—Current Whereabouts Unknown]
[Feature Article: ‘200 Confirmed Assassinations’ – What Kind of Being Is Wraith?]
[Commander of the Operation: “For the peace of the Empire, we will dedicate all efforts to eradicating the remaining remnants.”]
Cliche Novel 