Academy’s Undercover Professor-Chapter 124: Stählern Kapelle (1)

‘Still, what happened to the Beast of Jévaudan?’

She knew Moriarty had taken it down, but its massive body vanishing so suddenly—there was something off about that.

Amid the smoke during the battle, she’d lost sight of it momentarily, and when the haze cleared, the beast was gone.

Instead, she had seen someone hauling off what looked like a bundle wrapped in cloth.

Could that have been the Beast of Jévaudan?

‘That tiny thing... was the same monster that rampaged moments ago?’

It had to be some experimental subject created by the Black Dawn Order.

‘James Moriarty. He has to be one of the Black Dawn’s high-ranking members.’

As she reached that conclusion, someone approached her.

“Ma’am. We’ve finished securing the area.”

It was the captain of the Clockwork Knights, saluting her as he reported in.

Casey responded with a gentle smile.

“Thank you for your hard work.”

“No, we’re the ones who should thank you. Without your assistance, this operation would’ve taken much longer to resolve.”

He bowed deeply in gratitude once more.

Though he was a seasoned upper-rank knight and the captain of the city’s elite unit, he was no match for Casey Selmore.

She was, after all, the famed genius detective and a mage officially granted a Color Title by the Mage Tower.

If she hadn’t restrained the Beast of Jévaudan with her water magic, the civilian casualties would have been catastrophic.

“Please don’t call me a mage. I prefer ‘detective.’”

“Ah—yes, of course. My apologies, Detective. Also, as you instructed, we’ve set aside the bombs used by the terrorists.”

“Thanks.”

Right. She’d deal with the escaped Moriarty later.

The immediate priority was the bombs.

Where had the Liberation Army gotten their hands on such things?

The explosives they used were special-grade and completely immune to magic.

‘Dangerous. The fact that Silence of Fire doesn’t affect it...’

It had been a long time since science began replacing swords with guns and gunpowder.

And now they lived in an era with Tesla guns, powered armor, even tanks.

In such a rapidly evolving world, the old ways should’ve faded into obscurity—but mages and knights had remained at the top.

Why?

Because firearms and explosives still weren’t threatening enough to displace them.

Even apprentice-level knights could dodge bullets with their eyes.

And mages could use the spell [Silence of Fire] to completely suppress gunpowder’s ignition.

This was why knights and mages were still the dominant powers in society—and would likely remain so.

‘But gunpowder that resists Silence of Fire... It might not be a problem for knights, but for mages, it’s fatal.’

Yes, mages had other means of defense.

But that didn’t mean they could keep a mana barrier up 24/7.

‘They’re using it crudely now—just slapping it into bombs—but what if they applied it to firearms?’

Casey envisioned the scenario:

A sniper taking aim at a high-profile target.

In critical locations, mages usually stand guard, maintaining Silence of Fire to prevent any surprise attacks.

Under normal circumstances, no explosive or gunfire would work.

But if a sniper used this specialized gunpowder?

The shot would go off without a hitch.

And someone—relaxed, unguarded—would be killed.

‘...This is dangerous. Extremely dangerous.’

This was the kind of tech that could tip the balance of power across the entire continent.

There was no way the Liberation Army developed this on their own.

Despite their name, they were little more than anti-establishment terrorists.

Yes, they had size and structure—but they still operated like guerrillas for a reason.

‘They don’t have the capability to make something like this. Someone else is involved. Someone gave this to them.’

The first name that came to mind was James Moriarty.

But this wasn’t something a single man could pull off.

There had to be an organization—something bigger—working behind the scenes.

The Black Dawn Order.

Casey hadn’t learned of their existence that long ago.

But shockingly, the Black Dawn had been operating in secret across the continent for years—long before she ever caught wind of them.

‘James Moriarty—no, that man is definitely part of the Black Dawn.’

They were incredibly dangerous.

It was even possible that all those incidents in the Delica Kingdom had been orchestrated by them.

She burned to track them down immediately—but she knew better.

‘I still don’t have enough evidence. I don’t know how large they are, or how powerful their members are.’

From what she could tell, James Moriarty was just one piece of the puzzle.

He might be a high-ranking officer—but he wasn’t the boss.

Someone else had created and was leading the Black Dawn.

That alone was enough to make Casey’s blood run cold.

‘Anyone capable of keeping someone like James Moriarty on a leash must be extremely dangerous.’

And the more dangerous they were, the more they would vanish the moment she approached recklessly.

She had to be patient. Chase the tail—until the body had nowhere left to hide.

‘For now, I need to analyze how this gunpowder works.’

Fortunately, she knew someone perfect for the job.

Her assistant: Betty.

* * *

Meanwhile, workers cleared away rubble and evacuated the injured.

The Rederbelk city police had set up guard lines to keep the public out.

On the other side of the line, crowds gathered—curious about what had happened in the middle of the night.

Enya stood by, watching the aftermath while recalling the chaos that had just unfolded.

The sudden attack on the auction house.

The reappearance of the long-dead Beast of Jévaudan.

And the group of masked individuals who subdued it.

‘Detective Casey called them the Black Dawn Order.’

She’d heard of James Moriarty too.

The infamous criminal mastermind who once threw the Delica Kingdom into disarray three years ago.

To think he was not only alive—but a member of the Black Dawn Order?

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That alone was shocking.

But what rattled Enya the most was the masked man she had fought.

‘That man... he knew my swordsmanship.’

The Joinas family had long been one of the continent’s most traditional knight lineages.

Their infamous secret technique, often deemed too brutal for chivalry, was still feared and respected.

Enya had only recently joined the Nightcrawler Knights, yet she had already reached the rank of upper-tier knight.

Her Sting Sword technique was considered nearly impossible to counter—even among other knights.

‘But he knew it.’

Only a few people in the world knew that technique.

Even among the Nightcrawler Knights, not many were aware.

Only her superior, Lloyd, and the commander, Terrina Lionhowl.

Could the secret technique have leaked?

‘Or... was it someone I fought in the past?’

Who?

Could it be someone she’d once failed to kill?

As she tried to recall, her chest tightened painfully.

It wasn’t physical pain—but an old scar of the heart reopening.

‘No. It’s not him. Don’t think about that. Not now.’

There were more important things to focus on right now.

Enya took out a comm crystal—an encrypted device used only among the Nightcrawler Knights.

She activated the signal and contacted her commander.

“Commander. This is Enya.”

Through the transmission, she relayed everything she had experienced and witnessed that night.

And at the end, she added one final detail.

“Also... Casey Selmore is here.”

After ending the call, Enya moved to check on the Third Princess’s condition.

She found the princess with a young girl—Betty, if she remembered correctly.

‘Detective Selmore’s assistant, wasn’t she?’

But something about the princess’s reaction seemed... off.

“Your Highness? Are you all right? Is something wrong?”

“Th-that girl, she...!”

Erendir pointed a trembling finger at Betty.

Enya followed her gaze—and saw that Betty was standing perfectly still, eyes closed.

‘What? Is she unconscious?’

No—if she were unconscious, she shouldn’t be able to remain standing like that.

Could she really be sleeping on her feet?

It wasn’t impossible. Enya herself had marched while half-asleep during training in the academy.

“She... she’s not breathing.”

“...What?”

Enya stepped closer, bringing her fingers to Betty’s neck to check her pulse.

The girl stood motionless, as if simply asleep, but her skin was cold—her breathing absent.

Dead? Just like that?

There were no visible wounds. It was utterly shocking that she might have just... died.

Just then, Casey approached, having finished handling things inside the auction house.

“What’s going on over here?”

“С-Сa—Casey! Betty, she—Betty isn’t...!”

Erendir looked like she might burst into tears.

But Casey reacted... almost casually.

“Oh, she fell asleep again?”

“W-what?! Slept?! She’s not breathing!”

“No need to panic. Hm... well, I suppose there’s no point hiding it now. You’ll understand better if I show you.”

With that, Casey reached over and pulled back the hem of Betty’s shirt, revealing her back.

Erendir’s eyes went wide.

“C-Casey! What are you doing?!”

“Just a moment, Your Highness.”

Unlike Erendir, who shrieked in panic, Enya had noticed something strange.

“There’s... a groove in her back?”

“Good eye.”

At the center of Betty’s back, between her shoulder blades, was a very small indentation.

Casey pulled a small key from her pocket.

She inserted it into the groove in Betty’s back and turned it clockwise.

Click. Clack.

The sound of gears meshing.

And then, Betty’s eyes suddenly snapped open.

“Eek!”

Erendir let out a small scream.

“She—she came back to life?!”

“No, Your Highness,” Enya said calmly. “It’s not ◆ Nоvеlіgһt ◆ (Only on Nоvеlіgһt) resurrection... Betty’s not human, is she?”

Her sharp eyes scrutinized Betty’s reawakened form.

Casey nodded, placing a hand on her hip.

“Correct. My assistant Betty isn’t an ordinary person. Actually, she’s not human at all.”

“Not... human?”

“As you just saw—Betty is a machine. More precisely, a self-operating machine. An automaton.”

Automaton.

At that word, everything clicked for Enya—Betty’s superhuman strength, so incongruous with her petite frame.

Of course it made sense if she wasn’t flesh and blood, but metal.

“A-an automaton? But... she looked just like any normal person...”

“Very perceptive, Your Highness. Yes—Betty can think, reason, and even express emotion, just like us.”

An automaton equipped with artificial intelligence and emotional capability.

Could such a machine even exist?

Machines that looked that human—she’d never heard of such a thing before.

“At that level of craftsmanship, you'd think the whole continent would be talking about it.”

“Betty isn’t like the crude automatons you may have seen before.”

“Huh?”

“She was created in secret, several years ago... in the Delica Kingdom. A classified project. A hidden weapon, you might say.”

As Casey spoke, a faint shadow passed over her face.

“An illegal black-ops project, conducted in the darkest depths of Delica. Out of all their attempts, only two succeeded. One of them... was Betty. Her real name is codename Beta.”

The shocking truth left them speechless—until—

“H-huh?! Kyaaah! Casey! What did you do to my clothes?!”

Betty had regained full awareness, and screamed in embarrassment as she realized her shirt was halfway off.