WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Coughing Baby

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◈ Surviving in the Magic Academy

Chapter 101

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The evil mage had succeeded in his plan. Of course, that was only a comparison to a story. There was no way I was evil. It was simply how the role worked.

Reality was different from stories. I wanted to teach Hao that. And I carved that lesson deeply into Hao. Led along by my plan, Hao fixed their faith into the form of a ring and granted it to my puppet, Hari.

Yes. Up to that point, it had been a great success. I had caught all four rabbits at once. The tower was stable, the treasure was protected, I had gained points, and I had even obtained a new power.

But stories always had variations.

The tale of a beautiful woman, an honorable swordsman, and an evil mage was extremely famous. Famous enough to spread deep among the weeds, even though many mages found it unpleasant.

Yes, that story had spread throughout the Empire. And stories that spread widely always changed in all sorts of ways.

The swordsman sometimes became a country youth, the genders of the two were sometimes reversed, and in some versions, the evil female mage was moved by the swordsman and became his new lover.

Of course, the person who spread that last version was burned to death by a female mage who looked exactly like the one described in the story. I had seen it myself back when I wandered the continent.

Anyway, the Empire had plenty of variations like that. And among those many versions, new characters were often added.

Helpers, I suppose. People who aided the protagonist in a moment of crisis.

Then what kind of helper did weeds usually imagine? It had to be an absolute power, one that let the protagonist overcome an insurmountable wall. And weeds knew very well what sort of beings had that power. Gods.

At the moment of crisis, the sky would open and a god would reveal itself. Then it would bring down righteous judgment upon the evil mage threatening the protagonist.

The scale differed from story to story, but the important part was that the evil mage did not dare oppose it. I was the same.

A god I had not accounted for had also appeared in the play we arranged. A god that crumpled every plan.

Of course, unlike in the story, that god did not punish the evil mage, meaning me. On the contrary, the god gave me a reward. Reality really was different from stories.

And that god was right in front of me now. I studied her carefully.

Her golden hair held magical power and gave off a brilliant light, while her emerald-like eyes sparkled at the plate before her. It was Professor Irian. Right now, it was her lunchtime.

Professor carefully lifted her fork. Long noodles wound around the prongs. She carefully pushed them into her mouth.

Then she slowly closed her eyes and began chewing. With every bite, the smile on her face deepened. Watching her, I naturally found myself smiling in satisfaction as well.

Soon, she lightly swallowed what was in her mouth and began winding noodles around her fork again. The fork was full of her magical power. She delicately adjusted it, using that magical power to hold the noodles.

That was how those noodles had to be eaten. They did not remain in reality, after all.

I quietly looked down at the bowl. The noodles inside gave off a faint light. Within that light, they held a hazy shape, as if they might vanish at any moment.

If not for the magic placed on the bowl, they would have melted into the air long ago. I had put real effort into fixing them in reality. I had even gained a small insight from it.

Professor put the noodles into her mouth again and began chewing. She lightly kicked her feet. I could see her cheeks turning rosy. Deep satisfaction seemed to fill her.

I quietly nodded. The last few days spent thoroughly refining that flavor had been worth it. This was also my repayment to her.

Professor looked straight at me. She chewed with her cheeks puffed out, then swallowed. Her eyes shone with a little excitement.

She lightly touched the noodles with her fork. The fork, now without magical power, passed right through the noodles and struck the bowl. She moved the fork like that and spoke.

“This has a really interesting taste. I like it. I did give it to you, but I didn’t think you’d refine it this much. How did you make it?”

“It is thanks to you, Professor.”

I bowed deeply to her.

If I received points for that, how many would I have to ask for? Ten thousand? No, that was nowhere near enough. Then a hundred thousand? No. Considering the raw material, even that would definitely be too little.

As she had just said, she had personally selected and brought that material. From Ring of the Sky, no less.

I thought of Ring of the Sky, which must have been crying after having part of its body torn off. It could not be helped. Professor’s will was absolute. She was the god of our tower, after all.

The reason she had wanted to eat that was simple. It was because of Hari. Hari often ate the minds of the students. That had caught Professor’s interest.

Afterward, Professor said she wanted to try eating a mental body like Hari did. And the thing most suited for that was Ring of the Sky. When I casually brought it up, Professor tore some off without hesitation.

And I was the one who had to cook it. That high-dimensional ingredient gave off magical power so dense that I could not even touch it with my own strength. If I touched it with bare hands, my body would surely melt into it.

But I had an item Professor had bestowed upon me. With its help, I was able to refine it perfectly. I took a small knife from inside my clothes. Then I held it in both hands and respectfully offered it to her.

Professor accepted it. I quietly straightened and looked at her. She looked at the knife, then opened her mouth slightly. She blinked as she held it. Then her gaze turned to me. I could see her pupils trembling.

“You turned that... into a cooking knife?”

I quietly shook my head. A cooking knife? It was not such a simple tool.

“It is not a cooking knife. It is a carving knife.”

She stared blankly at me. I carefully reached out toward her to receive the knife back. She placed it in my hand.

I looked at the knife, dyed in golden light. The flow of magical power rippling both across its surface and through its interior was utterly enchanting. Just holding it awakened all my senses anew.

I put it back inside my clothes, then pointed to the bowl before her. Her gaze followed my hand to the bowl. I continued gently.

“Using this knife, I perfectly separated the magical power contained within it. As a result, only the hazy mental body remained. I kneaded that with a few additives, then made it into a kind of pasta. Can you taste the happiness?”

Professor quietly nodded. I set a bowl of sauce in front of her. The sauce gave off a bright light.

I lifted it and lightly poured it over the noodles. The sauce mixed with the noodles and fixed their hazy form a little more clearly. She lifted her fork again and pierced the noodles.

“This sauce was made using the separated magical power. It contains a different kind of happiness. You should be able to taste a more complex flavor than before.”

Professor wound the noodles around her fork again and put them into her mouth. Then she quietly began chewing. Pop. The sound of something bursting came from inside her mouth. At the same time, her eyes widened.

“I received Hari’s help in making the sauce. I added a little of Hao’s story, the one you saw.”

“...It’s even tastier. It feels like my head is filling with happiness.”

Professor closed her eyes and savored the taste. A little time passed before she opened them again. She glanced at me.

“So, what is that child doing now?”

At those words, I quietly focused my mind on my chest. A hazy connection flowed along the shadow tree. It held a flow clearly different from the other egos. It was my connection to Hari. She was in the infirmary. A faint bitter smile formed on my face.

“She is beside Hao.”

“Hehe, yes. That’s how it should be.”

Professor said that with a pleased smile. She nodded, then began eating again.

Two weeks had already passed since the Ring of the Sky Church held the ritual to create Ring of the Sky. They had returned to their daily lives. During that time, no major disturbance occurred in the tower.

Only occasional sightings of Hari were posted.

During the week Hari had disappeared, she had been with Professor.

Professor spent that time thoroughly examining whether the thing inside her was an offshoot body that had popped out from Ring of the Sky. It was also a kind of assessment.

In a way, Hari could be called my first successful work. She was the result that proved my promise to Professor. To increase the power of a treasure even further. That was the promise I had made to Professor while setting up the lecture.

Well, Professor did not only inspect her. She made Hari seep into the tower as she was. Because of that, Hari could not leave the tower. Of course, that was also why she woke up so quickly.

If she had been left alone, Hari would have had to digest that power while sleeping for decades. Only decades. Considering that power, that amount of time was nothing. I had carried out the plan with that in mind.

Professor seemed displeased with that. Having become immersed in the story I had arranged, she wanted Hari to wake up as quickly as possible and face Hao. The result was the present situation.

I toyed with the knife inside my clothes. This knife was the reward Professor gave me because she was satisfied with this story. It was also the reward for lodging Hari in the tower.

At first, it had been shaped like a huge scale shining gold. According to Professor, if I infused it with magical power, it would change into the form I desired most. This carving knife was the result.

Just as she had said, this carving knife was extremely useful. It allowed me to handle materials beyond my limits far more freely.

I was very satisfied. There surely was no better item for carving a puppet’s body. It was also good for cooking, as I had just proved.

Professor continued her meal with great enjoyment. Her cheeks were puffed out. She inhaled the noodles like that, smiling happily. I quietly watched her.

She seemed to feel my gaze and gave me a puzzled look while chewing. I bowed my head slightly to her. At that, she giggled and returned to her meal.

Mm. In the past, she would definitely have frowned in this situation. Since this lecture began, she had not once raised her magical power against me.

At first, I had thought it was simply because I had taken charge of the lecture and spared her some trouble. But her behavior had become too gentle for that to be the only reason. Back then, I had not understood why.

Now, I could understand the reason a little. Magical power from the knife flowed through my body. Somehow, that flow of magical power seemed to resemble Professor’s.

It did not take long for her to finish her meal. She smiled in satisfaction and sent me out of the room.

I headed straight to the infirmary. It looked like cleansing needed to be done again.

When I entered the infirmary, the first thing I saw was Hao lying on the bed. Hao was unconscious and limp. Looking at them, I let out a sigh. This was already the fourth time this week.

Hari was beside Hao. She had been staring down at them, then looked at me. A little gladness rippled in her purple eyes. She pointed at Hao with a finger.

“Wait a little. I’ll cleanse them right away.”

I strongly activated the infirmary’s magic and poured it onto Hao. It was cleansing. Within it, Hao’s mind gradually began to recover.

I floated a mirror bug to check the result.

-Mental score: 88. Your lowered score is recovering. Cleansing is in progress, so please maintain a stable posture!

Very normal. I lightly nodded. At that, Hari smiled faintly and stroked Hao’s head. The pure white ring floating above her head gave off a slight light.

Along with that, Hao’s mental score sank a little further. Even while their mind was being eaten bit by bit like that, Hao had a very peaceful expression. Watching that, I clicked my tongue softly.

After Hari took root in the tower, I announced the second rule to the students. Everyone else followed it very well, but Hao would not listen to the warning at all. Whenever they saw Hari, they followed her as if bewitched.

Perhaps because of that, Hari constantly targeted Hao as well. Compared to the others, the frequency with which she blocked Hao’s path was on a completely different level.

She ate Hao’s mind once, then sucked at it again while the cleansing was underway. It looked like Hao matched her tastes perfectly.

Hari quietly looked down at Hao. The emotion in her eyes rippled strongly through her magical power. I immediately knew what it was. Appetite. Mira often looked at me with eyes like that too.

“I’ll inspect your body for a moment, so stay still.”

Saying that, I approached Hari. She nodded. I lightly flowed magical power and checked her body. There was nothing wrong. It still did not belong to reality.

Her body had changed into something closer to a spirit than a puppet. It was the result of Professor fixing her to the tower. This was also a trait of the Ring of the Sky floating above her head.

I had originally intended to bind the ring to the puppet’s body. Professor, on the other hand, had intended to bind the body to the ring. As a result, this being was now more suited to the name Ring of the Sky than puppet.

This was also a miracle Hao had created. The magic that formed Ring of the Sky would never have succeeded without Hao’s lofty faith.

Hari, made in that way, possessed a clear possibility. The possibility of becoming another treasure. Professor had not liked this matter for no reason.

She was far too weak to be placed in the treasure vault, but she could be called a very good pet spirit-thing to raise in the tower. Professor released her like that, so she could grow by eating the tower’s magical power.

Hari eating other people’s minds was nothing more than the instinct of the Ring of the Sky embedded within her. She was a being made from the minds and faith of the Ring of the Sky Church, after all.

It could also be called a kind of hobby. That was why she had made the first floor her hunting ground.

This kind of miracle would definitely never happen again. I looked at Hao, who wore a happy expression in Hari’s arms. Because something already occupied Hao’s expanded mind.

The 100 points Hao had reached. Hari was staying at the end of them. It was like a mark that could not be erased. One day, Hao would recover those lost memories too. Professor was very amused, saying she looked forward to that time.

Soon, Hari’s meal ended. Along with it, Hao’s score recovered completely. The infirmary’s magical power began waking Hao’s consciousness. Hao groaned and opened their eyes.

Those hazy eyes seemed to meet Hari’s for a moment. But at that instant, Hari melted into the air and vanished. At the same time, the connection through the shadow tree was cut off.

Hao grabbed their head and sat up.

“Where is this...”

“The infirmary. You ignored the warning again. I found you collapsed and brought you here.”

“I’m sorry. I troubled you again, Evron.”

I lightly shook my head at those words. Hao blinked, then looked down at their own hands. Soon, Hao smiled bitterly.

“Why is that? I clearly know it in my head, but I keep following her.”

Judging by the situation, Hao would be carried here again next time.

I lightly shook my head. Still, it was fortunate that cleansing did not take away Hao’s power. It did not seem to be a problem caused by contamination, after all.

No, maybe that made it more of a problem. That might be why Hari could comfortably tear into Hao. Well, it was not my problem anyway.

“Then, since I saw that you woke up, I’ll be going. Rest a little longer before you leave.”

I said that to Hao. The dense fragrance coming from Hao had calmed a great deal. Now, only a slightly refreshing scent lingered around them. Watching Hao blankly nod, I left the infirmary.

The tower’s work was all done. Then it was time to solve my own problem. A sigh naturally escaped me at the bleakness filling my chest.

I climbed the stairs and headed to the workshop. When I opened the door and entered, I saw Mira.

I quietly stopped in place. She was wearing a dark red dress and looking at the mirror. Through the mirror, my eyes met hers.

She lifted the hem of her skirt slightly and turned halfway around in place. Following that movement, the dress shed soft magical power. She faced me with a smile on her lips.

“Well, what do you think? Does it suit me?”

“...Yes, you are very beautiful.”

I nodded slightly. Seemingly satisfied with my words, she smiled brightly and approached me. Then she gently took my arm. She led me in front of the mirror.

“Why are you dressed up like this?”

I asked while meeting her gaze through the mirror. She looked at me and smiled lightly with her eyes.

“Hehe, to be loved. You have been sighing a lot lately because of the assignment, you see. So I dressed like this to help you. It seems Evron does not know much about love.”

She said that while placing a hand on my chest. A faint rose scent came from her body. I felt my heart beat a little harder at that fragrance. There was definitely charm magic in it.

I let out a small dry cough. The assignment. I had not expected that to come out of her mouth again. I thought she had stopped teasing me about it.

I looked at Mira’s eyes through the mirror. They shone with mischief and interest.

I could not deny her words. Make a puppet that could be loved. That was Professor On’s assignment.

I still had not found a clear answer to it. That was also the reason for the bleakness filling my chest.

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