WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Coughing Baby

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◈ Surviving in the Magic Academy

Chapter 102

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Beyond the huge glass window taking up one side of the room, I could see a blazing sun. According to Professor, it was something made by taking a star and processing it when the university was first created. She said that was what she had heard when she became a professor.

The sun scattered such intense magical power and light in every direction that it was hard to believe it had been made artificially. Even into the room where we were.

The magic cast over the window softened that sunlight and made the room warm. The sunlight drifted through the room before settling on the table by the window.

And sitting there was Professor Irian. Today’s meal seemed to have satisfied her as well, because a faint smile rested at the corners of her mouth. Seeing that, I smiled a little too.

I looked at her hair as it reflected the sunlight and scattered a clear golden glow. That beautiful grain, as if gold had been spun into thread, was enough to naturally draw in anyone who saw it.

She was looking out the window while lifting the teacup I had set down. The teacup was the perfect size for her hand, and the jewels embedded in it were connected through circuits, creating several spells.

I fiddled with the knife inside my clothes. It was a new object I had made using the knife Professor had bestowed upon me. The magical power flowing through the carving knife filled my body with vitality.

This carving knife did not have a single offensive function. I had not expected it to take this form either. It merely supported me like this.

But it was incredibly useful. It responded to my will and always moved along the best path. The objects created at the end of that path turned out even better than I had imagined. Just like that teacup.

Because of that, I had recently gotten rather interested in remaking objects with this knife. Most of the things in Professor’s room had been replaced that way too. More beautifully, and with greater completion.

Now only that one remained. I looked at the table she was leaning against. It was extremely large. Of course it was, given that dozens of people could sit around it.

And that size made Professor’s small body, perched there, stand out even more. Her short height, barely reaching my waist.

That was also why I intended to change the table. It did not bring out her dignity properly. If I simply looked at her like this, Professor felt like nothing more than a cute girl.

A cute girl, huh. I laughed under my breath at the thought that suddenly came to mind.

There was a saying among wandering mages. If you met someone in the form of a child, run away. Even more so if their realm looked high. It was an old proverb.

A mage always dreamed of rising in realm. If someone experienced even once the sensation of leaping past a stage and being reconstructed into a being far superior to before, anyone would surely desire a higher place. I was the same.

But most mages died without achieving that. Mages had long lifespans, but that did not mean immortality. In the end, there were countless cases where they collapsed after failing to overcome the limits of lifespan.

A mage’s body was said to always maintain its optimal state, but it could not completely block the aging accumulated over long years. Those stopped by a wall inevitably grew older little by little.

If someone among such mages had a young appearance, it meant one of two things.

The first was that they truly were young. Someone who had crossed wall after wall with genius talent and still had a very healthy remaining lifespan.

How many sponsors would be behind someone like that? If one touched them carelessly, death would surely follow. So it was easier on the mind to run away without pointlessly getting involved.

The other meant they were not human. Beings who stood one step away from the restriction known as lifespan. This case was the same.

How could one approach without knowing what they were? What if they liked eating humans? That was why this proverb was upheld among wanderers like a kind of rule. I had been one of those wanderers too.

I stared at Professor Irian. Until now, I had thought she was the first case. But that did not seem to be it. That was what I had been thinking lately.

Well, whichever of the two cases she was, I was standing here now to get advice from her.

Perhaps Professor felt my gaze, because she glanced at me. She smelled the fragrance rising from the teacup, then took a sip. She smiled gently and nodded a little. After swallowing the tea, she spoke.

“So, what was it you wanted to ask?”

“Professor, do you know love?”

At those words, she coughed slightly. She put down the teacup she was holding and looked at me with flustered eyes. I met her gaze and spoke seriously.

“I have been thinking about it recently, and I wondered if Professor might be able to give me an answer. I thought Professor’s interest in treasures might be called love.”

Professor’s mouth opened and closed a little. Soon, she swept a hand over her face. Then she sighed.

“What love? I just collect them because I like them.”

“I see.”

I quietly nodded. It seemed she did not know much about love either. I poured tea into her empty teacup again. She glanced at me for a moment, then held the cup. Then she took another sip of tea.

I asked her lightly.

“Then have you ever been in love?”

Pfft. She sprayed out the tea just like that. Butler carefully wiped the corners of her mouth with a handkerchief as she began coughing.

As expected, she did not know much about love. In the end, it seemed impossible to get clear advice from her. I had somewhat expected that. I looked at her girl-like appearance. Then I quietly nodded.

Professor’s body trembled. Her magical power began to ripple in the same way.

Mm, had I gone a little too far this time? It seemed I would be hit this time. I quietly wrapped my body in magical power and braced for the coming impact. Sure enough, my prediction was not wrong.

“...Get out!”

Her face flushed, and her magical power gathered explosively before striking me. I was hit by it and thrown out the door. After rolling across the floor several times, I was finally able to stop.

In that state, I looked at the firmly closed door. It had been quite a while since Professor last hit me. After quietly counting the dates, I realized it had already been well over four months. Maybe because it had been so long, my head rang quite a bit.

At that moment, someone gently stroked my head. Something that began from those fingertips soaked into my head, and the pain began to settle.

When I glanced over, Mira was there. She had changed into new clothes again today. This time, it was a dress that looked quite light. She met my eyes and smiled slightly with her eyes.

“Hehe, it has been a while since I saw you get chased out like this.”

“It certainly has.”

I brushed myself off and stood up. To be honest, the second question had been half a joke. I had not expected her to react that explosively, though.

A joke, huh. It was surprising that I had become able to do such a thing to Professor Irian.

Lately, she had softened beyond imagination. What would it have been like before? The moment I brought up love, my soul would have been pulled out and wrung dry.

That was why I would never have dared to ask such a question. Joking around would have been unthinkable.

But now it was different. She clearly felt a certain amount of fondness for me, and I had also come to feel a bit of familiarity toward Professor. It was a natural pull, something like an instinct.

There was no other reason I had asked whether she loved treasures. It was because of this very sensation. I quietly clenched and unclenched my hand. Did every treasure get naturally drawn to her like this? It was a strange feeling.

“I cannot believe you really asked that. Did I not tell you? The fragrance I smell from her is very pure. Asking someone like that such a teasing question, it is almost surprising Irian ended it at only that.”

“If there is something one does not know, should one not seek the answer from others? I thought Professor might know.”

Mira linked her arm with mine and burst into laughter. She looked up at me. The rose fragrance from before still lingered around her body.

“Please know that the final path is always open. If you entrust that body to me, I will make sure you can love me.”

“...Haha, I am fine.”

I smiled bitterly. Then I lightly shook my head. She would know too. As someone who was not a complete puppet, she could not become the answer to the assignment. Yet the fact that she kept needling me like this was probably in the realm of hobby and amusement.

I heard a faint click of the tongue. When I looked at Mira because of it, she met my eyes with a bright smile. Had I heard wrong? She placed a hand on my chest and asked.

“Is that so? Then how do you plan to find a method?”

“Is there not someone nearby who knows more about Professor On than I do? I also need to express my gratitude, so I am thinking of visiting that person this time.”

The assignment Professor On had given me was like grasping at clouds. Love, huh. I needed to clarify its meaning. Let us head to the city. I made up my mind.

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“Mm, so you came to find me?”

“Yes.”

I nodded. Puppets filled every direction. They were not only on the walls, but also on the ceiling and the floor. I sat at the table in the center of them and looked across from me.

“Hoho, I did not know you would only come now. And to think you came to ask about an assignment, at that.”

Mauro smiled with his wrinkled eyes slightly folded. He held out a teacup. I quietly looked around as I watched him pour tea. The puppets were very neat. They were objects worthy of the name On’s Puppet Workshop.

“I apologize. I tried to come as quickly as possible, but I had many things to handle in the meantime. Please accept this. It is a token of my gratitude for introducing me to the lecture. I prepared a bit in points.”

Saying that, I sent a mirror bug flying. It flew straight to Mauro. Mauro stared at it, then brought his ring to it. What I transferred to him was twenty thousand points, all the points I had received from the Ring of the Sky before.

While attending Professor On’s lecture last time, I had learned something. The chance I had gained this time had been given entirely out of goodwill, and for a puppeteer like me, it was a priceless opportunity.

Exchanges always had to be thorough. Since I knew there was no malice in this, I had to return it with goodwill.

“I will gratefully accept it this time, but from next time onward, you do not have to bring something like this. You could now be called a fellow member of my school, after all.”

“Well, if you give it, I will not refuse, of course.” He added that and stroked his beard. After listening to him, I tilted my head slightly.

“A fellow member... you mean?”

Mauro laughed heartily. He took out a card. On it was the same mark as mine, the mark of “On.”

“This is an item needed for class, but it is also a mark that you are one of our guild members. From the moment you accepted it, it meant you also belonged to our guild. So of course we are fellow members.”

At those words, I laughed a little in disbelief. I had expected they would pull me into their guild. But I had not thought he would talk about it this openly. To think receiving the card itself was the path to becoming a guild member.

I had misunderstood. It was not that one could attend the lecture because they had joined the guild. One joined the guild because they attended the lecture. That was why he had handed this card to me.

Perhaps he saw my expression, because Mauro laughed heartily. Then he lightly waved his hand.

“It is only called a guild. There will be no coercion whatsoever. The only purpose of our guild is for excellent puppeteers to socialize with one another. It is also what Madam wants.”

At the word Madam, I naturally recalled the woman who had been held in Professor On’s arms. I quietly waited for Mauro to continue. After taking a sip of tea, he stroked his beard and spoke.

“If you do not want to belong to the guild, you may leave. That does not mean you will be kicked out of the lecture. However, you will not be able to get my advice, hm? After all, it would be difficult to open my mouth if you are not one of our guild members.”

He winked one eye. It was far too frivolous a gesture for an old man to make. Feeling that lightness from him, I smiled a little bitterly.

“I would be grateful if you considered me a fellow member. Like you said, puppeteers should help one another, should they not?”

I quietly nodded. To be honest, even if Mauro had not brought it up, I would have opened the topic first. I had been quite interested in their guild as well. Influence, I needed that. Mauro laughed loudly at that.

“A wise decision! At last, our city has gained a new member too. You have no idea how much I envied the fellows in other cities.”

“Then I look forward to your guidance from now on, Guild Leader.”

“Call me by my name as comfortably as before. Guild Leader? Why use such stiff words?”

Mauro waved his hands as he spoke. After that, he gave me a light explanation of the “On Puppet Guild.”

They gathered in the city about once a year, and whether one participated was up to them. Once every ten years, puppeteers from every city gathered. Things like that.

It was similar to what I had investigated ahead of time. The guild was endlessly light. It simply left everything to the freedom of the individual. And that was also why I wanted to enter this guild.

It was quite some time later that he brought up my concern. It was the result of failing to withstand the bored glare from Mira, who was sitting beside me.

If not for that, he probably would have talked about the guild to his heart’s content. Mauro coughed awkwardly.

“Hmhm, sorry about that. It has been so long since I explained it that I lost track of time. Anyway, Professor gave you an interesting assignment.”

Mauro quietly looked at me. Then he smiled.

“Well, what I can tell you is very simple. You were told to make a puppet you love, and will continue to love. If so, why must you love that puppet? I think it would be good for you to try finding a clear reason why you must.”

“A reason, you mean?”

I quietly fell into thought. A reason I had to love it. I had thought a lot about the assignment, but I had never thought about the reason for love.

“Today’s advice ends here. I said this before as well, but a puppet is also a form of magic. Only when you think about it and find that answer yourself will you finally gain insight. So find the rest of the path yourself. The answer may be closer than you expect.”

At Mauro’s added words, Mira laughed. She lightly hugged my arm and leaned her head against me. A faint rose fragrance awakened my mind.

“Oh my, the only thing closest to you here is me, though?”

Mauro burst into hearty laughter at Mira’s words. He lightly struck the table and nodded.

“That may be so! You should help this friend well.”

“Hehe, I am doing that. He is my master, who will be with me for life, after all.”

“To have such a fine young lady at his side, this friend is very blessed. Of course, I do not know whether you are truly a young lady. Uhuhu!”

“What are you saying? I am such a delicate woman, you know?”

Ahaha, ohoho. They laughed at each other like that. I quietly watched them and smiled bitterly. It seemed the two of them got along well. Or perhaps the opposite.

After that, only simple conversation passed between us. Mauro did not give me any more advice. As he said, the rest was something I had to resolve. I could only be grateful that he had given me this much of a topic to think about.

A reason for love, huh. I thought about that as I slowly returned to the tower. Then several days passed. No. 0 approached me while I was lost in thought.

It looked extremely excited. It said it had completed the puppet and brought me along. It had been a month and a half since it had shut itself inside its own workshop.

I stared blankly at the puppet it had made. There, I existed. My figure in an enormous form.

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