Academy’s Undercover Professor-Chapter 252: The Truth of That Day (2)

The police collapsed in pools of blood.

No, not police—criminals wearing police uniforms.

Ludger looked down at them with a cold gaze.

Even though he had inflicted excruciating pain and killed them with ruthless precision, there was no peace in his heart.

Instead, an unsettling calm settled over him, and from somewhere deep inside, something like molten lava began to boil upward.

What a grotesque world, Ludger thought.

He had wandered, hiding his identity, convinced that even if he left, there would be no regrets.

But the world never followed such simple logic.

There were fleeting encounters.

Ludger hadn’t tried to suppress them.

He thought it was fine to have them—or not to. Either way, it didn’t matter.

But when he looked back, those things were already gone.

Torn and trampled by brutal hands, beautiful things disappeared without resistance.

From the beginning...

If he had paid attention from the start—could things have ended differently?

Would Shelly not have been kidnapped?

Would Arte still be alive?

He didn’t know.

Even the most complex mathematical theorems and magical formulas yielded answers if one spent enough time on them.

But not this.

This alone gave no answer, no matter how long he dwelled on it.

Still—

“I must do what must be done.”

He swore to eliminate everyone involved in this.

It wouldn’t bring him peace, but he had to do it nonetheless.

But how?

For a secret operation like this to exist, involving the police as pawns, the people behind it could not be ordinary.

As Hans had said—it had to be a movement at the national level. And clearly, this wasn’t the doing of a single person.

Even if Ludger raised his voice to denounce them—would anyone listen?

No. His words would be buried in the dirt.

The elite powers behind this would surely do everything to destroy him in return.

He needed something else.

A messenger more powerful—undeniable—something the world could not help but believe.

“You...!”

Just then, a familiar voice rang out behind him.

Ludger slowly turned his head.

There stood Casey Selmore, glaring at him.

Her twisted expression was overflowing with tangled emotions.

“Casey Selmore...”

“What... What is this? Why are you here? And these corpses...”

Her trembling gaze trailed from the red-stained white gloves on Ludger’s hands down to the body of Arte, lying motionless before him.

And with that, Ludger remembered.

Her reputation.

How her name reached even far-off nations, always on the front page of newspapers.

Casey Selmore.

The usual calm on her face was gone. She looked almost frantic.

“This isn’t... No, it can’t be, right?”

Ludger looked around.

The corpses of officers strewn across the ground. The blood-smeared chamber.

And himself, standing alone at the center of it all.

No matter how one looked at it, he was nothing less than the prime suspect—the orchestrator of it all.

“I’m sure this is a misunderstanding...”

“Casey Selmore.”

Ludger called her name and then fell silent.

What he would do from here on would be unacknowledged, foolish, and reckless.

And Casey Selmore... would be part of it.

He was going to use her.

Use...

For a moment, he genuinely considered telling her everything—explaining it all and asking for her help.

It wasn’t as though he felt no guilt.

But that wasn’t the way.

It couldn’t be.

A child had died.

Those responsible must be held accountable.

Not a single one could be spared.

They had to suffer the same.

“I thought you were smart. But that question just now was surprising. Have you been associating with ordinary people for so long that you’ve mistaken yourself for one of them?”

Even Ludger could hardly believe the cold, indifferent voice that came out of his own mouth.

He didn’t need permission.

He didn’t seek sympathy or understanding.

The moment he chose this path—he had to become it.

Utterly, completely—a villain.

Not Professor James Moriarty.

But the criminal consultant James Moriarty.

“How can a superior being live by matching himself to those beneath him? Casey Selmore. You know this too, don’t you?”

“Know... that?”

“This world is dull. Boring. And the people who live in it—utterly insignificant...”

If he had stopped speaking there—

He might have had a chance to go back.

Ludger knew this.

But because he knew, he deliberately crushed that chance as well.

“It’s suffocating. So stifling it’s enough to drive you mad.”

Casey inhaled sharply.

“So what—you’re saying you did all of this for your own stimulation? That you killed these people because you were bored?”

“And is that so wrong?”

Ludger shrugged.

“You know it too, don’t you? That voice deep inside you that’s just like mine.”

Casey lowered her head.

“...I hoped you weren’t a bad person.”

Ludger said nothing, waiting for her next words—he could feel the betrayal and fury boiling in her voice.

“I thought... all this... was just... Yes, a misunderstanding. I wanted it to be something we could talk through, work through, and come out of. Just a stupid, fixable misunderstanding.”

“Absurd.”

Because it was absurd.

“Because I believed we could talk. That if we spoke honestly, we’d understand each other.”

“Utter nonsense.”

Ludger’s gaze was as cold as his voice—he knew she could see right through the lie.

Casey’s face twisted as if she were about to cry.

But she, too, was a prodigy.

She crushed her pain quickly.

And as a detective committed to justice—her fire was reignited.

She was a woman of steel.

“In that case, James Moriarty... I’m placing you under arrest!”

Her eyes blazed with righteous fury—a burning will to eliminate the evil before her.

“By all means.”

By all means.

James Moriarty finally smiled.

“...Don’t move. If you show even a hint of resistance, I won’t be able to guarantee your safety.”

“Oh my. Even now, you’re being so thoughtful.”

As he spoke, Ludger tapped his cane lightly against the ground.

Thunk.

A whirlpool formed in the floor. From its center, a stone shard shot upward like a bullet.

Casey instinctively stumbled back.

The cane collided with the projectile, knocking it from her hand.

But then—

Moisture in the air condensed midair, forming a whip-like shape that scooped up the dropped cane and returned it to her hand.

Single-element caster.

To manipulate airborne moisture without a wand—

The rumors were true. Single-element casters couldn’t use other types of magic—but their control over their element was absolute.

I’ll fight her briefly and retreat.

Just as Ludger prepared to cast again—

Screeeeech!

A heavy pipe on the ceiling came loose, and scalding white steam burst forth.

CRASH!

The over-pressurized pipe shattered, obscuring vision. Rubble and metal fragments rained down from above.

“Ugh! What is—?!”

Casey tried to push through the steam to chase Ludger, but collapsed piping blocked her path.

Chunks of the ceiling, once supported by the pipework, began to fall.

And in that moment, even Ludger was thrown into unexpected confusion.

“Big Brother!”

At that moment, Hans’s voice echoed from afar—and Ludger immediately realized who had caused the pipe explosion.

“This way, hurry!”

Ludger was about to run when his eyes fell on Arte’s body lying on the ground.

Without hesitation, he bent down, lifted the boy in both arms, and dashed toward the place where Hans was signaling.

A moment later, rumble—the ceiling collapsed with a thunderous crash.

Barely escaping the crisis, Ludger rejoined Hans and headed deeper into the mine.

“Big Brother. That child...?”

“......”

“...Whew. I won’t ask for details. But there’s something you need to see.”

“Something to see?”

“Yes. After we split up, I snuck deeper inside and stumbled upon something... astounding.”

If Hans was calling it that, it couldn’t be anything ordinary.

“What choice do I have?”

“...We’re going.”

“I’ll guide you. The path is complicated, so watch your step.”

Hans led Ludger down into the depths of the mine.

At first, it had seemed like an abandoned tunnel that no one visited.

But the warehouse where the officers had gathered, the pipes running through the walls and ceiling—those told another story.

This place clearly served a different purpose.

And the deeper they went, the more the place shed its image as a mine and revealed itself as a highly modified secret laboratory.

“This way.”

Eventually, Hans brought Ludger to a vast laboratory.

No, it was closer to a factory.

Complex machinery filled the room. Through a ceiling-mounted rail system, humanoid metal forms hung and moved along the line.

“Big Brother. Do you see this?”

“Yes. These are... automata.”

Automata—mechanical puppets.

But what Ludger saw here was far from the ordinary variety.

There was the secrecy of the location, yes—but also something far more sinister.

Why, then, had they kidnapped people?

That question found its answer as the two ventured further into the lab.

“...What is this...”

Hans was speechless. Ludger, too, silently stared at the sight before them.

They were looking at a large glass tube.

It was filled with a green liquid. Suspended within it, eyes closed, was an adult man.

The glass tube was linked by complicated wiring, and at the end of those wires was a steel capsule.

Inside the capsule was—an automaton, crafted in human form.

Just then, something changed in the glass tube.

Creaaak...!

The man who had looked lifeless suddenly opened his eyes and began to convulse violently.

But the transformation didn’t stop there.

His face twisted grotesquely, and parts of his body swelled like balloons—

Pop.

“...Shit.”

Hans barely choked back a ◆ Nоvеlіgһt ◆ (Only on Nоvеlіgһt) curse as he stared at the glass tube, now dyed bright red.

“Big Brother. This...”

“Yes. Now we know why they were abducting people.”

The truth was evident just from the laboratory alone.

What this place was for.

“Soul transference. These bastards were kidnapping people to implant their souls into automata.”

“Why would anyone... do such a thing?”

“We’ll figure out the why soon enough.”

Ludger’s eyes turned toward a certain direction.

If the experiments were still ongoing, there had to be others still alive in here.

He made a vow.

Whoever was behind this—they would pay.

No matter who they were.

But at the same time, Ludger felt a flicker of hope.

Whether it was the right path or a road of no return, he didn’t know.

But at the very least—there might be a way to bring Arte back.

“Hans. I’m entrusting Arte to you.”

“B-Big Brother?”

“From here on, I’ll handle it.”

Ludger handed Arte’s body to Hans.

Immediately afterward, his body began to be engulfed in thick shadow.

Magical beast—

Ater Nocturnus.

Swallowed completely by shadow, Ludger fixed his gaze on one direction.

At his will, the magical beast spread its elongated arms, transforming into wings.

* * *

“Aaah! Run for your life!”

“M-Monster! What the hell were the entrance guards doing?!”

The guards inside the secret lab fired their guns at the monstrous being before them.

But the black beast ignored the bullets, slaughtering everything in its path.

With every sweep of its massive, elastic limbs, people fell.

Wherever its shadow passed—blood splattered, and corpses piled up.

Some tried to flee, but the monster missed not a single one.

Eventually, the gunfire and screams ceased.

The lab had been purged. The few who remained were huddled in the center, trembling.

Then the shadow-covered figure of Ludger appeared before them.

“So these are the only survivors.”

“P-Please, spare us!”

When the monster spoke in human language, one of the researchers—mistaking it for mercy—cried out in hope.

Immediately, the hand of shadow pierced through his chest.

“Don’t speak unless I allow it.”

The corpse was flung across the room.

The rest of the survivors turned ghostly pale.

They weren’t fools—they understood that to displease this man meant death.

Ludger watched them with satisfaction, then dispelled the shadows surrounding his body.

Before them now stood the true figure of Ludger—

A striking young man with a sharp expression, wearing a black Inverness coat and a gentleman’s hat.

Some were shocked that this was the monster’s true identity.

But the moment they looked into his eyes—they all held their breath.

Ludger ignored their reactions.

He sat down in an empty chair—one left behind by the former master of this lab—and crossed one leg over the other.

“Now then. Let’s hear it.”

His eyes gleamed with menace.

“Tell me everything. What exactly were you all doing here—leave nothing out.”