WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Coughing Baby

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◈ Surviving in the Magic Academy

Chapter 111

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Professor Irian quietly caught her breath. Unlike her immense magical power, her body was exactly as it appeared, that of a girl. That was also why I had not been able to feel certain of her true identity so easily.

Her girl-shaped body was terribly fragile. Whenever something flustered her like this, her body could not properly obey her control. That was far too careless a form for a dragon.

But now, I was certain. There was definitely a dragon hidden inside that small body. I gently stroked her back with magical power. Some of that magical power entered the chair and activated the magic contained within it.

The spells wrapped around her body and slowly caressed her. Within them, her body gradually began to calm down. I approached her, then slowly poured her another cup of tea.

“Are you all right? It seems I startled you, Professor. Here, drink something warm. It should help your body feel a little more comfortable.”

She looked at it with a reluctant expression, then quietly accepted the cup. Then she slowly began sipping it. I carefully held out a cloud piece in front of her. She quietly accepted that too and ate it.

I nodded in satisfaction. Mm, bringing her snacks steadily all this time had paid off. It seemed Professor had grown somewhat used to my touch now. It was advice Mira had given me. If you wanted to grow close to someone, light contact came first.

As she chewed on it, she suddenly trembled. Then she quietly waved her hand. Magical power from her fingertips knocked away all the spells wrapped around her body. She placed a hand on her forehead and frowned slightly.

“You’re doing this again. Asking if I’m a dragon? Now I understand all your behavior up until now. You got fixated on something strange again.”

“Based on what I found out..., ah!”

I stopped speaking for a moment. I had accurately grasped the hidden meaning in her words. I met her gaze and gave a small nod. Then I bowed toward her.

“That is correct. There is no way that could be true. You are right, Professor. It seems I was mistaken this time.”

Apparently, she wanted to hide her identity. It must have meant she was telling me not to reveal it to others. Then as her underling, I had to grant that wish. Yes, in that case, from now on, she was not a dragon.

I straightened my back again, my eyes sparkling. Then I smiled brightly at Professor. It was a smile filled with my feelings toward her.

“This guy has already fallen into his own world and isn’t listening at all....”

Professor stared at me, then sighed.

“Then try telling me. Why did you reach the conclusion that I’m a dragon?”

If Professor wished it, I had to obey. That was surely my duty. I took the carving knife from my arms and carefully held it out to her. Then I slowly recounted the process so far.

The question that had begun with her kindness. How I had traced the reason and came to think of her as a dragon. And the process by which, with Mira’s help, I became certain that this was a scale from Professor Irian.

As she listened, Professor blinked blankly. Apparently, she was impressed by my flawless reasoning. The clues she had left behind connected with perfect clarity. They had been revealed so plainly, as if telling me to find the answer.

That was why I had even thought she might have told me on purpose. She had secretly revealed her identity to her one and only trusted subordinate. And in this way, I had reached the truth.

Ah, what a thing to be grateful for. To think she treasured me and cared for me so much. I did not know how I could ever repay this enormous grace. Loyalty and love toward her bloomed fully in my chest.

At last, the story came to an end. I looked at Professor with a bright smile. She was staring dubiously at the carving knife placed before her.

I slowly approached the table and filled the teacup in front of her again. Its fragrance rippled around us and cleared the mind. She looked at me, then slowly nodded.

“...I didn’t think I had left this many traces. Well, maybe it doesn’t matter if you know. Yes, I am dra...”

“No, I was wrong.”

I shook my head gravely. More important than whether my reasoning was right or wrong was Professor’s will. Until just a moment ago, she had wanted to hide her identity. I had to respect that will of hers.

I quietly changed my thoughts. She was not a dragon. Therefore, my reasoning that she was a dragon was wrong. Therefore, she was not a dragon. This perfect three-step structure was the truth of this world.

“No, I’m saying I’m a dragon...”

“It seems there was an error in my reasoning. There is no way you could be a dragon, Professor. I will simply bury that meaning deep in my heart. I can only apologize for displaying such sloppy deduction.”

“It was all correct...”

“No! I was wrong!”

“Stop interrupting...”

“How foolish of me! To dare think you were a dragon, Professor!”

I was the one who was wrong. Professor was always right. Therefore, Professor was not a dragon! Pouring out that will, I beamed at Professor.

Professor met my eyes. Then she clicked her tongue. The magical power rippling around her began giving off a dense pressure.

“This won’t do. You’re too much to handle right now, so let’s make that head of yours normal first and then talk.”

My head? What could she mean by that? I was quietly blinking when her magical power pulled my body hard. I ended up kneeling right in front of her and looked up at Professor.

She placed her hand on the crown of my head. This too was Professor’s grace! She was touching my head. How could something this wonderful happen?

A ripple began to form from her hand. It was golden magical power. It poured straight down into my head.

That magical power dug into my mind like a kind of net. Then it began gathering the things inside my head into it. It was a kind of search magic.

The things that had originally been in my body naturally passed through that net, but small stains began getting caught one by one. It was the magical power that came from the treasures. The things that had dug all the way into the depths of my mind.

Rather than saying the net found them, it would be more accurate to say they were charmed by the net’s magical power and naturally drawn in. Like that, the net began gathering away all the contamination from the treasures inside my head.

At the same time, a realization flashed through my mind. Was this why she had not hit me all this time? Because if I so much as brushed against her magical power, the magical power of the treasures would be drawn in like this.

My head gradually began to clear. Things I had not thought of before came naturally to mind, and a faint sense of liberation filled my thoughts.

“Now, are you a little more normal?”

Professor said. I quietly looked up at her. Her golden-tinted hair reflected the sunlight and shed a dazzling glow. Beyond it, her eyes looked down at me with a sullen expression.

It was Professor as usual. For some reason, though, I no longer felt the affection toward her that had been surging endlessly until a moment ago. Only a slight sense of pressure filled my chest.

I quietly clenched my hand. What had I been doing all this time? Just a moment ago, I had even fed Professor refreshments myself. Mm... I could not believe I had possessed such courage.

Of course, even as my head thought that, my body was still drawn toward her. What she had removed was only the contamination in my head. Even so, I had escaped the state where I thought only of her, unlike before.

“...Yes, thanks to you. Thank you very much.”

I gave a small bitter smile. Ever since I became certain that she was a dragon, whenever I stood in front of her like this, the magical power of the treasures would eat into me all the way to the tips of my thoughts. Then I would become infatuated with her. Like Hao before, when they were drunk on the Ring of the Sky.

Because of that, it seemed I had gotten a little excited. The disgraceful behavior I had displayed until just now came back to me. Feeling ashamed, I bowed my head toward her. Professor stared at me, then clicked her tongue softly.

“Now that you’ve calmed down, I can finally talk.”

She let out a deep sigh. Then she lightly rubbed her forehead.

“I never thought you’d infer my true body from that one scale. Or that the magical power of the treasures would guide you that far. You somehow got it right.”

At those words, the corners of my eyes trembled slightly. She had admitted herself that she was a dragon. I had been certain, but hearing it directly from her own mouth made the feeling entirely new.

“Well, nothing changes just because I’m a dragon.”

I lightly shook my head and closed my eyes. She said nothing changed. But that was not true. Even now, in this moment, though I had escaped the magical power of the treasures, loyalty toward her had begun to grow inside me.

The fact that she was a dragon had gone beyond certainty and become fact. Also, the fact that I was her underling had not changed. In other words, it was clear that I was a dragon’s trusted subordinate.

Like that, affection toward her began welling up again. This was not affection born from the attraction created by the treasures’ magical power. It could only be called my true worship toward her.

I snapped my eyes open and looked at Professor. Somehow, it felt as though the elegant dignity unique to dragons was naturally spilling out from her. I immediately prostrated myself before her.

“To think you are a dragon, how truly amazing. I am truly grateful that you bestowed such grace upon me. As expected of you, Professor. I will believe in and follow you for the rest of my life!”

After shouting that, I raised my head and smiled brightly at Professor. When I looked at her like that with a beaming smile, Professor looked down at me with a fed-up expression. Of course, this part was half a joke.

“Has he been dyed by magical power and started thinking of himself as a treasure? I think his head really has gone strange....”

Professor muttered quietly. Hearing it, my eyes sparkled. A treasure? That was right. I too could be called a treasure. A treasure in her hands!

“I can only be grateful that you say that, Professor. To think you consider me a treasure, what deeply moving words those are. I will live on by engraving those words of gold in my heart!”

I shouted with a tiny bit of mischief. Of course, the rest of it was all sincere. At that, Professor sighed again.

Then she swung her hand. Magical power from her fingertips crashed down over me.

--

“And so I was chased out.”

At those words, someone burst out laughing with a pfft. When I glanced toward the sound, I saw Mira smiling as if she found it amusing.

“Hehe, how cute.”

Mira said that. Cute? I could not tell who that was directed at. Was it Professor, or was it me? Or perhaps it might have been both.

“How was it? Did my advice help a little?”

She asked. Her eyes were sparkling with interest. I gave a small nod.

“Yes, it was very good.”

“Then I’m glad.”

Mira smiled and leaned against me. I gently accepted her weight and lowered my head slightly. The advice she had given me was about how to deal with Professor.

According to her, Professor gave off a scent that was fussy, but also pure in some ways. So I had to approach her very carefully.

After hearing that advice, I had approached Professor little by little over this time. After slowly growing closer and slowly approaching her, today I had reached the point where I could even put refreshments directly into her mouth.

And in the end, I was able to naturally learn from Professor’s own mouth that she was a dragon. Now it had gone beyond certainty and become fact. My chest filled with loyalty toward Professor.

“You must continue moving in this way from now on. You must never grow impatient.”

“Yes, I felt that today too.”

I nodded. Yes, as she said, I had moved a little too impatiently today. I had also approached Professor rather aggressively. As a result, Professor had become a little wary. So I needed to take one step back.

To think she had investigated Professor this far. As expected of a treasure well versed in understanding people’s hearts. I exchanged a faint smile with Mira.

There was only one thing I wanted. For Professor to lean on me more and more. That was the thought I had when I found out Professor was a dragon.

It was the same mindset I had first held when I came to the university. To devote myself to her and please her as much as possible. I had simply gone one step further and wanted to plant my existence inside her.

“By the way, trying to tame Professor. You are quite bold.”

Mira said. I glanced sideways at her. Tame? That was not something to describe with such a vulgar word. I simply wanted us to become a relationship of subordinate and master where we treasured each other a little more.

As I talked with her a little about what came next, No. 0 approached us. In its hand was a small puppet.

It set the puppet on the table. Then it looked at me and quietly crossed its arms.

I raised magical power and carefully examined its puppet. It looked very different from what it usually made, almost like something I had made.

It seemed to be Professor On’s assignment. After checking even the inside of it, I looked at No. 0. It met my eyes with a tense face.

I slowly shook my head at it. This was something I had already tried. And the moment I made it, I had realized it was wrong. No. 0 had probably known the moment it made it as well. Its body drooped.

What it had attempted belonged to the realm of imitation. Just as it had imitated me, I had tried imitating other puppeteers. But the things made that way were nothing more than variations on the way I made puppets.

Professor On had told me to make a puppet different from mine. I had thought a great deal about that and managed to find one answer. That answer was surprisingly close by. It was Professor Irian.

She was a dragon, but at the same time, she also had a human body. And that body was nothing but fragile. It was a very pure human body.

In the process of tracing Professor’s traits with Mira, I came to wonder whether I could apply that to puppets too. Just as a dragon became a person, a puppet would transform into another form.

That was the direction I had taken while working on this assignment. Well, I had not expected to gain such an insight while dealing with Professor. I briefly told No. 0 about that as well.

It left, lost in thought. It seemed it was going to make another puppet again. Watching it, I smiled slightly.

Could Professor Irian have fully revealed her identity in order to give me this lesson? Of course, there was no way that was true.

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