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Chapter 1
It seemed the organization had been destroyed.
It felt as if a rope tightly wound around his mind suddenly snapped free in an instant.
There was no doubt about it.
The final layer of brainwashing the organization had placed on him had dissolved.
Just like after finishing an assignment—
the same sensation as when they erased his existing conditioning to apply a fresh round of brainwashing.
Flap.
A pigeon landed right on cue.
It was one sent by the organization.
Rustle.
When he unrolled the note tied to its ankle and infused mana into it, words slowly revealed themselves.
[Black rain has fallen.]
No matter how many times he checked, it was clearly sent from the organization.
He had received short coded messages like this a few times before, but never this phrase.
But he knew exactly what it meant.
The organization is gone.
He had belonged to the Empire’s most elite assassination group.
And not just as any assassin—
he was the top assassin.
The Wraith.
That was the name they called him.
But now, he had nowhere to return to.
And—
“I’m perfectly fine, it seems.”
Jiel touched his neck, wrist, and chest one by one, checking his pulse.
As expected.
He wasn’t dead.
Even the organization’s final fail-safe hadn’t been able to kill him.
[Black rain has fallen.]
All assassins who saw that phrase were supposed to die.
A hidden trigger embedded deep within their brainwashing.
The moment they touched a sheet of a certain material and read that phrase—
their heart would stop.
But the Wraith’s heart continued to beat powerfully.
He immediately took out the mission order from his inner pocket.
Whoosh!
The mission order and the pigeon note went up in flames in an instant.
The only evidence of his assignment vanished without a trace.
Proof that the Wraith had been deployed was completely erased.
“So… I’m finally free.”
The organization had been destroyed.
And now, the Wraith—
[Edelvein Academy Sword School – Liberal Arts Course 1: “Understanding of Self-Defense”]
[Instructor: Jiel Steelheart]
—was about to teach his first class under his cover identity.
It was the first day of his mission.
He hadn’t always been called the Wraith.
About twenty years ago—
back when even his name from that time had grown vague—
He was not yet three years old when he first learned to say “Please give me food.”
He repeated that phrase in front of passersby.
—You have talent, don’t you?
One day, a man standing before him said that.
—I’ll give you food. Will you follow me?
And that was how he became an assassin.
What followed were years of brutal training and relentless brainwashing.
He learned countless techniques and was stripped of all emotion.
After he passed the final trial, he lived the next twenty years as an assassin.
He began to be called the Wraith after completing his 200th assassination.
Assassins from rival groups, high-ranking officials, slave traders, corrupt lords, merchant guild masters…
Even powerful men who normally flaunted their status trembled at the rumor—
The Wraith is coming.
Absurd stories spread too.
That he lived with no physical form, only a shadow.
That he was a being born of darkness.
That he was the child of a demon.
That was the kind of existence he was.
A figure respected by fellow assassins and feared by all who opposed him.
Such a being was now meeting a professor of the Sword School to prepare for a class.
‘Not a bad warrior.’
Edelvein Academy’s Sword School—
A department for students wishing to learn swordsmanship and martial arts.
Together with the Arcane School for magic, it formed the two pillars of Edelvein Academy.
Though the Arcane School had recently surpassed it in reputation, public perception still held them as equals.
Out of roughly 3,000 undergraduates, the Sword School alone had 1,000—
the largest department.
One of its full professors, Elcanto Paredes, was once quite a skilled man.
A Knight of the Empire.
A former Great Knight—though one of the lower-ranked ones.
Still, you didn’t get the title of Great Knight unless you achieved real mastery in swordsmanship.
However—
‘He’s gotten… fat.’
He had put on far too much weight.
He must have been a formidable warrior in the past.
While Elcanto looked down at his belly, Jiel was looking elsewhere.
‘If I ambushed him—once.
If head-on—twice.’
An instinctive estimate of skill and outcome.
Elcanto seemed to misinterpret Jiel’s assessing gaze.
“Professor Jiel Steelheart, relax.”
At the same time, Jiel realized something else—
‘He’s ridiculously handsome. Why is his skin so pale?’
This new life he was beginning under the alias “Jiel Steelheart.”
Until now, he never had reason to show his real face.
For missions, he always wore a magical mask that changed his appearance.
He had never thought deeply about what he actually looked like.
So he had no idea how violently striking and eye-catching he appeared to others.
“Ahem. Professor Jiel Steelheart?”
“Ah, yes.”
Elcanto’s gentle voice reached him.
“Thank you for applying, Professor Jiel. Coming to the honorable Edelvein Academy was an excellent and wise choice.”
“Is that so.”
“Of course. We’re very fortunate to have you. Please take good care of our students.”
“I understand.”
His reply was detached and emotionless.
Before the brainwashing had dissolved, he would have projected an appropriate personality for the situation.
Their conditioning rewrote even one’s personality to suit each mission.
It left no room for a true sense of self.
He had merely lived as whatever the brainwashing predetermined.
But now Jiel had only three things left:
The instincts of an assassin.
The skills of an assassin.
And—
a blank-slate self he had regained after twenty years.
All the knowledge and information he’d learned during missions remained.
But it was the self that consolidated such fragments into thoughts and beliefs.
Without a center, his knowledge was scattered like fragments—
leaving him almost pure white inside.
“You’re the quiet type? That’s good. Edelvein Academy teachers should have gravitas.”
Jiel gave no response.
His mind was still in turmoil from the return of his long-lost self.
His expression was serious—serious enough to lead to misunderstanding.
‘Did he not hear me?’
“Professor Jiel?”
“……”
“Ahem! Very good! You have presence. That’s essential for educators!”
Jiel had one goal:
To adapt well as a liberal arts instructor at the Sword School.
A goal he chose himself—not as an assassin.
‘A new life.’
Twenty years as an assassin.
Which meant twenty years without a self.
Now that he had regained it, he sought a new life.
In fact, he had regained his self in order to start anew.
“I’ll do my best to adapt.”
“Excellent attitude.”
Elcanto smiled contentedly.
Inside, however, he was smiling for a different reason.
‘Looks like I’ll survive this year after all.’
Sword School liberal arts instructors were hard to find.
The qualifications were the problem.
Commoners couldn’t apply.
Only nobles.
Fallen nobles were allowed, but most of them enlisted in the military to start as officers with decent pay.
Even so, there should’ve been at least some applicants.
This was Edelvein Academy, after all.
One of the Empire’s two great academies, founded alongside the Empire itself.
Many came purely for the honor.
But the liberal arts instructor position was different.
Low pay.
Temporary contract.
No prestige.
No retirement benefits.
Disrespected by professors, ignored by students!
The last applicant had quit before the semester even ended.
The situation was so bad that out of five liberal arts courses, three were being taught by professors and two by teaching assistants.
Now, with one new instructor—
the lowest-ranked full professor, Elcanto, finally felt relieved.
‘What was the record? Five months? Anyway, he’d better not quit. My days of suffering are over!’
He wondered how this one would fare.
If he lasted six months, that would be a miracle.
“Ahem. By the way, if things go well, you might even get your contract renewed. So do your best.”
“Could I eventually become a professor?”
“A… professor?”
This guy was definitely clueless.
He applied for a miserable liberal arts instructor position and was already asking such things.
Elcanto hesitated.
In theory, it wasn’t impossible to go from liberal arts instructor → assistant professor → full professor…
‘But realistically? No chance.’
Yet Elcanto smiled brightly.
“Of course, Professor Jiel.”
“Professor…”
“If you work hard and show your ability, it’s certainly possible. You at least meet the minimum requirements. If you do well as an instructor, opportunities will come.”
“I see. Understood.”
What a naïve young man.
Elcanto’s smile turned subtly meaningful.
‘I can become a professor.’
Jiel set another goal.
If he became a professor someday—
his life under this false identity would become even safer.
Still, staying in Edelvein Academy as long as possible was his first priority.
‘This place is the safest.’
Not because Edelvein Academy itself was safe—
but because this mission was safe.
Unlike previous assignments, Jiel had designed it himself.
Only Jiel knew the plan.
He forged the mission orders and created his own cover identity.
All for a new life.
‘The assassination target was real, though.’
Jiel spoke.
“I have a question.”
“What is it, Professor Jiel?”
“How can I receive good evaluations as an instructor?”
He genuinely wanted to know.
He needed good evaluations to remain in Edelvein Academy long-term.
“Hmm…”
After thinking for a moment, Elcanto answered:
“Just follow the rules and teach properly.”
“Follow the rules.”
“What else is there? A teacher should teach well and evaluate fairly.”
“I see. I’ll do that.”
Jiel repeated the words several times in his mind.
Follow the rules.
‘As if knowing that lets you become a professor.’
Elcanto mocked him internally.
“Ah, and it helps to have affection for the students.”
“How does one have affection?”
“Uh… well… just… care for them with love? Haha.”
“Love…”
He didn’t really get it.
“I’ll try.”
“Good, good. You’ll do well, Professor Jiel.”
Elcanto smiled warmly.
“Ah, and this is a gift. It’s a book summarizing the school rules. Read it.”
“Should I memorize it?”
“Well, memorizing it would be good, but—”
“Understood.”
Jiel took the book and stood.
“Then I’ll head to my class.”
“Ah, time’s flown. Please take care of things, Professor Jiel.”
Clack.
As Jiel left and the door closed, Elcanto rose with a satisfied expression and prepared tea.
“Become a professor? He really knows nothing about the world.”
Chuckling, Elcanto grabbed the steaming teacup and the morning newspaper.
“Memorize the school rules? As if. That book is thicker than a brick.”
When he unfolded the newspaper, surprising headlines filled the front page.
“Assassin group exterminated? I’ve lived long enough to see everything.”
The very group that had terrified the Empire’s powerful figures—
news of its destruction was plastered across the page.
“Good riddance.”
Elcanto thumped the newspaper down.
[The Valdrein Empire successfully eliminates the ‘Black Sky’ assassination group… remnants found dead.]
[‘Wraith,’ high-priority threat specializing in assassinations—still unaccounted for.]
[(Special Report) ‘200 Assassinations’ — Who Is the Wraith?]
[Operation leader: “We will dedicate full force to hunting the remaining assassins for the Empire’s peace.”]
