WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Coughing Baby

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◈ Surviving in the Magic Academy

Chapter 121

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The three elements that made up life were classified as the body, mind, and soul. Of course, plenty of other classifications existed, but all of them were based on those three elements.

Then which of the three was the most important? I could say with certainty that most people would answer the soul. It could not be helped. The soul could be called the original form of a life.

It was the purest mass, something that existed before a body was gained and before the mind awakened. Because of that, unlike the other elements that changed easily, the soul alone was absolute. The tree was also based on this.

Strengthening that power worked the same way. The soul did not change simply by accepting magical power and accumulating knowledge. There was only one way to bring about change: transcend a realm and become a better being.

Because the soul was the foundation of life, it held great value. That was why certain criminals across the Empire harvested weeds and used them to form magic. Even if they could not grow a tree, the soul remained.

And that incredibly important soul of mine was being torn into thirteen pieces. Through the gaps between those precisely split fragments, I felt powerful magical power. It belonged to Professor Irian. Her magical power was violently splitting me apart.

Surging anger flowed through that magical power and reached my soul. That anger burned like an endless blaze and ate away at my soul.

My soul rapidly collapsed within those flames. Along with it came a terrible pain beyond description. It was something I had experienced several times before. I should have been at least a little used to it by now, but the pain still felt foreign.

That made sense. No one could easily endure the feeling of a soul burning. Besides, perhaps because Professor was truly furious this time, the scale of the pain was enormous. My split souls screamed endlessly without even being able to cry out.

“Mm, Evron’s heart gives off such a sweet scent. It is very delicious.”

Through a connection whose origin I could not tell, through that faint passage, I heard a whisper. It was Mira’s voice. She let out a soft laugh, hoohoo.

No, was she really laughing? I could not be certain. I could not even tell if this connection itself was real. Another whisper brushed past me in the pain. Rather than a whisper, it was a scene.

It was a scene on the island. I was looking at the grave of my dead Nanny. That was something I had never experienced.

Perhaps these were simple memories. Or perhaps they were branches of possibility engraved into my soul. They might have been futures I had not chosen, or events that would happen in the future.

With my soul torn to pieces like this, I could not be certain whether the current me, or the countless things rising inside me, were real. I had become incomplete, and time tangled within me.

A small realization brushed my soul. Right. Time was something that belonged to the individual like this. All those possibilities were contained inside me. That realization soaked into my soul.

It was a stroke of fortune created by Professor’s anger-filled magical power. Of course, the realization did not stop the pain. Within the me that had been torn apart and vanished, the future could be glimpsed, the present mixed together, and the past began to flow backward.

And within that eternity, I was able to understand one certain thing. I would fall into endless pain within this time. That was the future decided for me, a sinner.

Like that, the flames of magical power quickly burned my soul. Within them, I burned away and vanished, leaving behind only a single trace. But that was not the end. Even after my soul burned to ash, I could not lose consciousness.

Because that soul was rapidly regenerating again. The moment my soul became ash, the magical power burning me immediately turned back time. Along with it, my soul was revived once more. I had become one complete whole again.

And then I was torn apart again. And within the intense flames of magical power Professor poured out, my soul burned again while my mind stayed perfectly intact. This had already repeated dozens of times.

Within that burning soul, there was only one thing I could hold on to: the single realization I had just gained. Holding on to that thin thread, I began flowing through my memories.

Like that, within my memories split into thirteen branches, I looked back on many things. And when I reached the end, I could see things that did not belong to me, things I could not identify.

They were the past lives embedded within me. Memories of killing people I did not know, in a nameless world, on a battlefield whose location I did not know. In them, I was a soldier, a general who commanded those soldiers, and a civilian killed by their hands.

Those mixed memories flashed past quickly. Then they soon blurred. But within those memories, I was finally able to discover my complete self. I had escaped the body and recognized the pure state of the soul alone.

Like that, the flames of magical power washed away at least part of my obsession with Professor, which had been consuming me. That obsession had come from my body being eroded by a treasure’s magical power. Then I naturally began to understand why Professor was so angry.

Mm... even by my standards, I had done something excessive. To dare steal Professor’s august body without a word and plant it into a puppet. If I were Professor, I would be furious too. If anything, it was impressive that she had not killed me on the spot.

This punishment could be called very fair. I was thinking that when I felt something pulling at my soul from somewhere. Along with it, the magical power eroding my soul also drained away.

That faint suction gradually grew stronger. Then it slowly began to lead me. My quickly regenerated soul smelled a fragrance within that flow. It was an intense rose scent that tempted the soul.

That suction swallowed my soul whole. It was also a natural pull. Like that, I was swept up in that unknown current and slowly sank into darkness.

Then I blinked. I felt a thumping beat begin around my chest. I quietly placed a hand over it. Beyond my chest, a heart was beating quickly. I had returned to my body again.

I quietly looked down at both hands. My slightly trembling fingers came into view. Carefully, I clenched both fists. The sensation felt somehow a little awkward.

Someone reached a hand toward me. A faint rose scent came from those fingertips. It was Mira. She gently held my hand and lightly patted it. Along with that, it began to sink in that the punishment was over.

The sensation of my body gradually connecting to me spread through my whole body. Whatever my soul had felt, whatever it had realized, quickly vanished the moment it sank into the body. Only a faint trace remained.

“Hoohoo, you have returned. I was very worried while watching your soul burn.”

Like that, I faced her. She looked into my eyes and smiled lightly. I quietly blinked. Before my soul was pulled out, she had sold me out in an instant. I had not thought she was like that. Had she not said she cared only for me?

A small resentment toward her rose inside my chest. When I looked at her with that resentment, she tapped my chest and let out a small sigh.

“I always tried to stop you, Evron. You were simply running wild. And the living should survive, should they not?”

She was right. Running wild. I quietly nodded. That expression was probably accurate. Only when my soul remained could I finally understand. I had been a little excessive. This incident could be called entirely my fault.

She covered her mouth and laughed softly. Then she looked somewhere. Because I was lying on her lap, I could not see properly, but I could immediately guess where her gaze was headed. Professor, most likely.

“I do not want to be hit by Irian again. One such unpleasant memory is enough.”

Had she ever been hit by Professor? Ah, there had been one time. It was when she had failed to bring out a treasure. It seemed that had bothered her quite a lot.

After I had adjusted to my body well enough, I moved off Mira’s lap. I gave her a glance of thanks and sat up. When I raised myself, the surrounding scenery came into view.

We were still in the palace. The first thing I saw was the tightly sealed door. And I could also see the two people looking at me.

A girl with loose blond hair and a boy with white hair. Professor and the president. When I saw Professor, my body flinched. She was wearing an expression I had never seen before.

What lay in those eyes was unmistakable. And there were countless emotions there. Anger, contempt, betrayal, and disgust.

With eyes where all those things were mixed together, she glared at me. Her magical power rippled again, then began pouring straight toward me.

It seemed Professor’s anger had not yet cooled. That was only natural. I deeply understood the emotions she must be feeling. So I closed my eyes and tried to accept it as it was. It was something I had to endure.

But that magical power was quietly blocked midway. The magical power pressing down on me vanished like melting snow. When I opened my eyes, I saw the president. He was waving a hand and dispersing Professor’s magical power.

Professor gave a light snort and withdrew her magical power. She turned her gaze away with a sulky face. The president looked at Professor, then smiled brightly at me.

“Hoho, are you all right? I was quite worried about you. I asked her to stop.”

Professor clicked her tongue at those words. No wonder the punishment had ended faster than I expected. I slightly bowed my head toward him. It was a light greeting.

It was true that he had helped me. But I did not feel grateful. If he had not brought it up, it would have been the perfect crime. That regret rose in my chest, then disappeared.

Then I flinched in surprise and carefully watched his expression. He had said he was Professor’s godfather. What I had done could be called a fairly serious transgression. If he was angry at my actions, I might die right here.

Fortunately, that did not seem to be the case. Rather than angry, he seemed very amused. A bright smile appeared on his face as he looked at the turtle sitting on his hand, then burst into loud laughter.

The darkness in his eyes leaked out and rippled. That darkness spread around us in an instant and swallowed the palace in gloom. After laughing for quite some time, he rubbed his eyes and drew it back in.

“I can only apologize to you. If not for me, you would not have been caught. Hoho, I never imagined you had made a puppet without Irian knowing.”

He lightly tapped the table. The turtle resting at his fingertips let out a meeh. The president looked at it and laughed again.

“That will, that ability to act, that quick wit. I like it very much. You are truly mage-like. Though you are a little contaminated. Well, is that not fine too? It is plain to see you are following that Irian over there.”

“The two of you make a very good pair,” he added, and lightly waved his hand. Along with it, a slight wind brushed past me. Then I was able to see the turtle.

The turtle that had been resting on the president’s hand was now in front of me. It had the form of a girl. It looked very much like Professor. It seemed the president liked that.

It immediately began watching my reaction. It furtively sent me a will asking whether I was all right. This outrageous thing. This thing had abandoned me right away, just like Mira. With very clean skill, too.

Of course, it had all started because of my mistake, but this thing could be called me. And yet it had abandoned me. I looked at it with that resentment. Then it quietly enlarged its shell and hid inside.

Trying to hide? Not a chance. I would make sure it tasted even one-hundredth of the pain I felt. Thinking that, I used magical power to tap its shell.

But that shell was incredibly hard. It was a toughness I had never felt before. It strongly blocked my magical power, and even used the recoil to bounce it away.

I rubbed my tingling fingers and opened my eyes wide. The turtle poked its head out of the shell and checked my reaction, then hid inside again. The president spoke to me.

“It is an apology gift for ruining your plan. You seemed to like turtles, so I placed a part of the shell that forms this continent inside it.”

After saying that, the president stroked his chin. He lightly smacked his lips and looked regretful. Then he continued.

“To think you came up with such an interesting idea. Why did I never think of this? Next time, I should try it as well.”

“Thank you very much for giving me such a precious gift.”

I bowed deeply to the president. Not only had he apologized, he had even given me a gift like this. Gratitude toward him naturally bloomed in my chest. Somehow, it felt as if our hearts connected.

I was thinking that when I began to feel an intense presence. A gaze was glaring at me. I followed the stare that seemed ready to bore through my face and saw Professor.

She was looking at me with an expression of disbelief. She met my eyes and frowned heavily. Her face was filled with contempt toward me.

“I had a feeling you two would be similar. You, let’s talk again after we leave this place.”

Professor said that while lightly grinding her teeth. I quietly swallowed. It seemed the punishment she would give me would not simply end here. The president burst into laughter at her and wiped the corners of his eyes.

“Do not be like that. If you have come to dislike him because of this incident, why not hand him over to me? As you said, perhaps the two of us would get along well.”

The president gave a light wink. Darkness lightly flowed down from that eye.

“I have also become interested in this friend. His soul, I mean. When it was inside his body, I thought he was just an ordinary fellow, but once it was pulled outside, it became truly interesting.”

As the president said that, he let more darkness flow. I blinked at those words. My soul? I could not understand. The president glanced at me. Then he placed a slightly sinister smile at the edge of his mouth.

“I saw it in the cracks of your soul. Should I call them broken fragments? You reincarnated, did you not? I am also a kind of fragment, so I could tell.”

Hearing that, I felt my heart drop. My body naturally began to stiffen with tension. To think the fact that I had reincarnated had been found out, and by the president of the university, no less.

Memories of the island quietly rose. It was something Ojo had said, a lesson that reincarnators were precious materials by their very existence. In the process of wandering the continent, I had learned that it was true.

“Oh my, is that so? No wonder there was such a sweet scent.”

Mira linked arms with me and lightly leaned her head against my chest. The gaze she gave me somehow seemed to grow even greedier.

I glanced at Professor. She still had a sulky face. The president looked at me and continued.

“Reincarnators have a unique presence. A strange presence that cannot be felt in this world. Of course, you are a little odd. Unlike the others, that presence is far too faint. So it took me a long time to notice. That is also why I became interested.”

The president smiled brightly as before. Then a bit of darkness pouring from him slowly reached toward me. It was magical power, but it also could not be called magical power. As I felt it, fear ate into my body.

Countless things I could not identify were writhing inside it. And that darkness began wrapping around my body. I could only stiffen like a frog before a snake.

It was the moment that darkness was about to pull me away. A powerful golden light split the darkness apart. The darkness, having lost its center, quickly scattered. My body was slowly freed within it.

That light was coming from Professor. She had gathered magical power in her finger and was crushing the darkness. She glanced at me and lightly clicked her tongue.

“Even though he did something unexpectedly insane this time, he is mine for now. I already knew he had reincarnated too. So do not touch him carelessly.”

At those words, the president grinned. He nodded. I looked at Professor with eyes full of emotion. To think she considered me this important. I was deeply moved.

“Oh my, Professor knew as well?”

Mira said that. She was still lightly stroking around my chest. Sticky mist was dripping from the end of her hand.

“Yes. I have pulled out that bastard’s soul so many times. It would be wrong if I had not noticed.”

Professor looked at me and ground her teeth as she said that. Her magical power began to ripple in a murderous way. Then Professor began cracking her fingers one after another. The popping sounds felt as if they were coming from my own body.

“I was keeping your secret, and you dared to do something like this. I will fix that head of yours properly, so look forward to it.”

I lowered my head deeply toward her. I had nothing to say. It seemed my crisis was not over after all. The president watched us and burst into loud laughter.

“Hoho, it was a joke, but you gave me a fine reaction.”

Saying that, he lightly scratched his head. When our gazes met, he gave me a light smile.

“I wondered if I had perhaps driven too large a wedge between you two, so this is fortunate. It seems she has no intention of abandoning you.”

“Do not get caught next time,” he whispered, and winked slightly. Then he lightly clapped his hands.

“And do not worry. I will not tell anyone else that you reincarnated. Reincarnation is also one possibility through which we humans can move forward.”

After saying that, he gently stroked his chin. Then he shifted his posture, rested his chin on that hand, and looked at us.

“Since I peeked at your secret, I will tell you one of mine. You have no value to me. So there is no need to worry that I will eat you like the others. I am only an offshoot body of the archmage who founded this university.”

I blinked slightly at those words. An offshoot body? He lightly tapped the floor. Then beyond this palace, the surrounding cave began to ripple greatly. The flow of magical power was strong enough to be felt even here.

“This turtle’s corpse is also a mark showing that humans first triumphed over a disaster. Using it, land was made, and by plucking out its eye, the sun was raised. And I was placed inside it. In other words, this university itself is my body.”

As he said that, the president pointed at his own eye. I could see darkness rippling inside it. I naturally understood what those words meant. Within the space called the university, there was nothing he could not see.

“So do not worry. Even if I ate you, it would not help me at all. You are not the only one in the university who has reincarnated.”

I was slightly startled by those words. There were reincarnators other than me in this university? Seeing my face, the president smiled brightly.

“The university is a place that filters out talented people, you see. Those who have reincarnated also naturally gather here for the most part. Of course, they are all hiding their identities. It might be interesting for you to try finding them. This is my final apology gift to you.”

The president finished speaking and stroked the teacup placed in front of him. I cast magic toward him with gratitude. Tea flowed along a magic circle and slowly poured into his cup. He drank it and nodded.

“Then, well, shall we end this friend’s story here? I have finished getting a general idea of him too. Now I must talk with you. You have grown quite old now as well. Was it over five thousand years? You are fully an adult now.”

The president looked straight at Professor. Five thousand years. Was Professor’s age around that much? It was something I was learning for the first time. Professor scattered magical power with a sulky face. It was thick with displeasure.

“To speak of someone else’s age so easily. You know that, to us, time itself is power.”

The president lightly avoided her magical power and burst into laughter. Then he glanced at me.

“I revealed your secret in the hope that from now on, you will be honest with each other without hiding things. Mm, I would like the two of you to become more harmonious than you are now.”

The president said that and looked back and forth between me and Professor. I quickly nodded. This time, I had been a little excessive. The moment I realized Professor was a dragon, my body and mind, swept up by desire, had naturally done the deed.

Now that I had properly recognized that, nothing like this would happen in the future. With that feeling, I gave Professor sparkling eyes. Right, such a thing would never happen! ...Mm, would it not be fine as long as I did not get caught?

Professor looked at me with an indescribable expression. Soon, she sighed. Her magical power sank down as if exhausted. She weakly waved her hand.

“Just state your business. I want to leave quickly now. Everything has become annoying. I should hurry back and rest.”

Magical power began settling inside Professor’s body along with that gesture. After withdrawing all her magical power, she glared at the president. She crossed her arms and slightly puffed up her cheeks.

“You are trying to leave this quickly? Has it not been a long time since we last saw each other, to only state my business?”

The president looked at Professor with a regretful face. But she only snorted and glared at him. Under that silent pressure telling him to speak quickly, the president eventually sighed.

“I did not know you would become this rough. My business, then. First, I called you because I was curious whether you were doing well. Even when I wanted to see you, you never came out of the tower. I was also curious because you had taken in a person.”

After saying that, he gave me a slight sideways glance. Then he lightly nodded and clapped his hands, showing Professor a mischievous smile.

“Well, he is this interesting an existence. He must suit your taste very well, since you like rare things. Now I understand why you treasure him so much.”

“Shut up. Is that all?”

Professor said that with a frown. The president looked at her and smiled brightly. Then he lightly tapped the table and continued.

“Of course, I know you would be very angry if I called you for only that. There is another matter. This is business as the president, not as your godfather.”

A part of the table he had been tapping opened slightly, and something inside popped out. It was several documents. He sent them straight toward Professor.

Professor lifted them. As she slowly read them, her face began to crumple. Just like the documents in her hand.

“You are also a professor, you see. If you have played around for a thousand years, you have rested plenty. And as much as you have rested, you must fulfill your duties too. It is time to work. Please fulfill your responsibility as a professor.”

At those words, Professor looked utterly disgusted and threw the crumpled documents. Her face was filled with annoyance. The president smiled gently, unfolded them again, and held them out to her.

I quietly blinked as I watched that scene. That meant there were things she had to do besides managing the tower. I glanced at Professor. Work, huh. Somehow, I had a feeling I would be the one cleaning up after it.

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