WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Coughing Baby

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◈ Surviving in the Magic Academy

Chapter 122

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I quietly leaned back. At the same moment, a blade of magical power brushed past the tip of my nose. When I touched it lightly, I could tell a thin layer of skin had been scraped away.

"Oh my, Professor really is something. She must truly not want to work."

Mira leaned slightly against me and whispered. I nodded at her words. Then I quietly watched the scene in front of me. The president and Professor were squabbling over several documents spread between them.

Of course, calling it simple squabbling did not quite cover it. Magical power surged from Professor again. It swept across the table and tore the documents to shreds.

It was a powerful resonance of magical power, unlike anything I had seen from her before. It was more than double what she usually released. That alone showed how serious she was. Her reluctance to work was reaching me all the way over here.

Of course, even that magical power could not defeat the president. When the president lightly waved his hand, the stack of documents that had vanished without a trace regenerated at some point and reappeared in Professor's hand.

"Give up. It is time for you to work too. That fellow is managing the tower now, is he not? Staying shut in your room like this is bad for your body. You need to move around sometimes."

The president said that and laughed heartily. Professor glared at him and burned the papers again. But they had already returned to her hand. In the end, she sighed and gripped them.

"If it were not for the contract, I would have escaped this place, professor or not."

As she said that, she lightly shook her wrist. I began to sense a faint ripple of magical power within it. Beyond the contract she had made with me, a short phrase briefly came into view. It flashed past and quickly disappeared.

"So, is this all?"

She said that and threw the stack of documents onto the table. It rode a current of magical power and slid down until it reached me. When I carefully looked at Professor, she frowned slightly and jerked her chin toward me.

She meant for me to read it. Sensing her intention, my heart lifted a little. I let out a small breath.

It was a sigh of relief. Apparently, she was not disappointed enough in me to cast me away. I took the stack of documents and slowly read through the contents.

"You are showing that fellow as well? Hm. You seem to rely on him quite a bit. How pleasant to see."

The president nodded. Professor clicked her tongue lightly at his words. The documents contained nothing else but the university's upcoming schedule. Plans that stretched across the next several decades.

The first thing that caught my eye was Professor's name, stamped right in the middle. It seemed to be the most important item on the schedule. Above it were the words entrance exam.

I calmly read through the contents. Written below was that after this lecture ended, she would be placed in charge of the entrance exam. Entrance exam. It had been a while since I had heard that. So Professor was going to be in charge of it?

I roughly calculated the date. Since one year of the lecture had already passed, it was less than four years away. And aside from the entrance exam, there were many other places she had to go. From attending the professors' meeting to the graduation evaluation.

The closest task she would take charge of was the graduation evaluation for basic curriculum completers, which would happen next year. Graduation evaluation. A professor handled that? I quietly nodded. Well, if not a professor, who else would carry out the evaluation?

"You have been playing around too much until now, so there is a great deal of work waiting for you. The schedule will be rather tight. If you dislike it, attend the next professors' meeting. The schedule may be changed there."

The president said that and smiled brightly at Professor. Professor crossed her arms, openly showing how annoyed she was. A professors' meeting, huh. According to the schedule, it was held once every twenty years. The next one was in three years.

She puffed out her cheeks slightly, her face full of complaints, but the president firmly shook his head with that bright smile. In the end, Professor sighed and shot up from her seat.

"You dumped nothing but annoying work on me. This is exactly why I did not want to come.... Your business is done now, right? Then I am leaving."

Professor said that. We naturally tidied up and stood as well, following her. As he watched us, the president looked deeply disappointed. He pitifully clasped the teacup in front of him.

He bent halfway over and rubbed his face. Then his face changed from that of a boy to the wrinkled face of an old man. In the form of a terribly shabby-looking old man, he began to murmur bitterly.

"Are you leaving this old man behind again? How lonely. I will be left all alone in this vast, empty space once more. To think guests who came after so long would be this heartless. When one gets old, one ought to die, yes."

Professor snorted at the president. She looked at him through narrowed eyes.

"Lonely, my foot. You can spy on the entire university anyway, so stop talking nonsense. Why do you think I refuse to leave the tower? You like peeping on other people."

Professor paused for a moment, then began looking back and forth between me and the president. I could see a hint of disgust in her eyes.

"No wonder I thought you two felt similar. You are both exactly the same kind of shady."

She clicked her tongue and turned on her heel. Then she began striding out along the path we had taken in. Those steps, filled with magical power, were so fast that catching up to her would not be easy.

Like that, she quickly became a dot and left the palace. I bowed deeply to the president and was just about to follow her when I suddenly felt something catch against my body.

Something was pulling at my foot. When I looked down, darkness was wavering there. It came from the president. He met my eyes and smiled faintly. That darkness gently separated Mira, who was beside me, from my side.

"You stay behind for a moment. I have something simple to discuss. Miss puppet may leave now. I will send this fellow off soon."

"Oh my, if the president says so, then I should obey. I will be leaving first, then. Please enjoy your conversation."

Mira gave us a light smile and trotted after Professor. The president lightly smacked his lips. Then he put on an awkward expression and scratched his head.

"I did not want to bring up my business right away because I thought that child Irian would leave like this. What a shame. Still, thanks to you, this meeting was rather enjoyable."

The president said that and slowly stood. His heavily aged face had already changed back into that of a boy. He stood beside me and looked at Mira's retreating back.

"I remember seeing what is contained inside that puppet. Was it an item from Irian's treasure vault? I never imagined she would give that to you. And to think it would be dressed up to resemble her so closely. Very amusing."

I bowed my head slightly to him. It was a relief that he liked it. Of course, I was not the one who had done that. That was the result of her desire. The president glanced at me and nodded.

"It has been roughly a thousand years since I last met Irian. She ran away as soon as she took up the professor position, you see. I did not expect her to change this much in a mere thousand years. I am looking forward to what the next thousand years will bring."

The president said that and lightly floated into the air. Sitting in midair as if perched there, he patted my shoulder. A slight pressure came from that hand. He looked at me and continued.

"I have high expectations for you. You are the first subordinate she has taken in, after all. So do not die. Do not break, either. As you know, the university is not a place that is merely free."

He lightly waved his hand. Then the pressure resting on my shoulder naturally dispersed. Do not break. I could easily understand what he meant.

The university's two rules were only the bare minimum line. This place, too, was a wilderness like the outside. The habits of mages who roamed outside would not change just because they entered the university. I had nearly fallen victim to that myself.

"Thank you for your kind words."

I said that and smiled lightly. At the same time, a small question rose in my heart. He had said he created the university's two rules. But why were there only two?

Those two rules were clear, but they were also loose. If one set their mind to it, there were ways to bypass them easily. If the university was simply a place for education, he could have created more rules to protect the students.

Yet only two rules existed here. And within them, mages had grown even more sinister. I quietly blinked. Perhaps that situation itself was what the president wanted.

"Hm, yes. Then I will look forward to you surviving for a long time. If you disappear, it will become difficult to see her amusing side as well."

"That reaction was quite new too," the president added, nodding. But there was not a single smile on his dry lips. His face was completely different from the one he had worn with Professor Irian.

He looked at me with that numb face. In his pupils, my reflection seemed no different from an object. Then his face changed in an instant, and he smiled again.

Seeing that, I understood. The president was a mage too.

I recalled what Professor Irian had said before she left. That he and I were similar. Perhaps those words were right.

Now that I was alone with him, the magical power of the treasure inside my body was stirring faintly. As if it had met a comrade. Within that sensation, there was something I could vaguely feel.

Just as I followed Professor, he too wanted something from her.

I did not know what it was. I had only sensed it by instinct. I hid the movement of that magical power and quietly smiled.

"That is roughly all I wished to tell you. Stay by Irian's side for a long time. I would like her to depend on you more."

"Would that not make things more amusing?" he said, laughing heartily. I lightly nodded to him. I did not know what his intention was, but staying by her side was something I naturally had to do.

"Then I will send you off now. This will likely be the last meeting we have, unless you become a professor. I hope we can meet again someday."

He lightly pushed my body. Then I began to float slowly. And as if swimming through the air, I naturally began moving outside.

I bowed deeply to the president. As he said, this might be our final meeting. A professor, huh. I thought of Professor Irian. There was no way I could become like her.

With the enormous door at his back, he lightly waved at me. At the same time, I began to feel a faint current. Within that current, my body shot quickly outside.

It happened in the brief moment I blinked. Before I knew it, I was outside the palace. As I hung underwater and stared blankly at the palace, bubbles began to rise from it.

At the same time, a slight ripple appeared. Then that ripple grew larger and larger. Soon, it covered the entire palace and squirmed like a single lump. Within that ripple, the palace gradually began to crumple.

Not long after, the ripple vanished without a trace. The palace was gone as well. In place of the palace that had disappeared entirely, what remained was a huge cave made from the turtle's shell.

"Oh my, did the president personally send you out? I did not think you would come out this quickly."

I heard Mira's voice. When I looked that way, Mira lightly waved at me. She was pressed close to Professor. I gave her a slight nod.

Beside Mira, Professor was looking at me through narrowed eyes. I could clearly feel the contempt in her gaze. My chest ached. To think Professor would look at me like this.

I slowly walked toward them. But I had no choice but to stop right away. Professor had taken a small step back by the same distance I had moved forward. She looked down slightly at her own body, which had retreated.

"Hm. A visceral rejection reaction. Do not come any closer. Take that out again."

She kept her distance and jerked her chin slightly. That? There was only one thing she would be looking for here. I quietly looked down at my chest. The turtle was hanging there, buried in its shell. She was probably talking about this one.

I placed the turtle on my hand. It began wobbling and shaking inside its shell. After checking the situation outside for a moment, it pulled its body out.

It was still in the form of a girl. Its face, which looked exactly like Professor's, came into view. Professor's magical power lightly scooped it up. Professor set it in her palm and looked down at it.

She opened and closed her mouth a few times, then looked at Mira beside her. Mira met her eyes and smiled slightly. Professor let out a small sigh and glared at me.

"I do not think I can trust a word that bastard says right now, so you explain it. What exactly is inside this? That bastard president did not explain properly. And I cannot exactly dissect it either."

Hearing the word dissect, the turtle flinched. Then it let out an urgent meeeng toward Mira. Its body trembled. Mira lightly tapped her own chin.

She glanced at me. A slightly troubled smile appeared on her lips. Those who can survive should survive, should they not? The words she had whispered seemed to brush past my ears.

"It is a fragment of Professor's body."

"A body fragment? If something like that had been taken from my body, I would have known right away."

Professor said that with an uneasy expression. Mira let out a light sigh. Professor's eyes gleamed at her. It was a look telling her to explain more.

"That is only natural. They are things Mr. Evron collected very naturally. Hair, nails, or saliva, for example."

At her words, Professor touched her hair. A strand slipped loose into her palm and gave off light. Professor quietly looked down at it, then looked at the turtle.

The turtle also watched her for a moment before looking back. When their gazes met, both of their hair held the exact same golden color. Seeing that, Professor looked somewhat sickened. Then she burned the strand of hair in her hand.

"No wonder. I thought something felt strange lately. So that was why you suddenly started clinging to me."

Muttering that, Professor brought a finger to the turtle. Magical power began to rise from the fingertip placed on its forehead. Then that magical power gently wrapped around its body. The turtle squeezed its eyes shut and submitted to it.

Professor's magical power began moving into the turtle. At the same time, a connection naturally formed between the turtle and Professor. The fragment contained inside it had begun responding to her magical power.

The turtle also belonged to me, so I could feel a portion of the connection to her as well. Through it, I felt Professor thoroughly searching through the secret hidden inside the turtle's mana heart.

Professor swept over its body once with magical power, then pulled that magical power out. And her expression grew even more disgusted. Her face was almost twisted with loathing. She glared at me.

"You gathered those things and clumped them together to this extent? No wonder this felt familiar every time I looked at it. Ha, what in the world is this?"

She sighed. Many meanings were contained in that sigh. Not only contempt and disgust, but much more besides. Her magical power sank heavily.

"It is fascinating, at least. I did not know such a transformation could be achieved with only those things. I do not know whether to call this coincidence or talent."

She said that and lightly stroked the turtle's head. Feeling her touch, the turtle let out a meeeng. Looking at the turtle, Professor smiled faintly.

Seeing that smile, I began to feel a little hopeful. Was she perhaps going to forgive me after seeing my work? While I was thinking that, she erased her smile and clicked her tongue. Then her gaze turned toward me.

The moment I met those eyes, I realized my hope was worthless. Her eyes had gone ice cold. There was not a single trace of emotion in them. Her anger seemed to have filled up beyond its limit and burst.

"Let us go back first."

She spat out the words as if chewing down her anger. As if responding to her words, the turtle enlarged its shell, hid its body again, and changed back into the form of a turtle. Professor lightly tapped its head and placed it on the ground.

Then it grew in size. Once it had grown to about the size of a small carriage, it folded its legs and settled down on the ground. Then it lowered its shell and shaped it into stairs.

Professor climbed those stairs without hesitation and entered the room on its back. Mira lightly waved at me, then followed Professor into the room. The door shut firmly behind them.

The turtle looked at me and let out a meeeng. Along with it, I felt its will telling me to climb on. Following that will, I hesitantly climbed onto its shell, and Professor's magical power slowly began blooming from inside the room.

That magical power wrapped around the turtle. The turtle comfortably entrusted its body to Professor's magical power. Then that magical power slowly lifted its body. In front of the turtle, it gradually began creating a current.

The turtle let out an excited cry and stepped onto that current. Then the magical power assisted its movements, carrying it forward at high speed. The turtle shot out of the cave.

Then the turtle began rising quickly toward the surface. With Professor's magical power engraved into its body, it was showing explosive speed. At this speed, it was clear that returning would not even take a day.

And Professor's magical power did not stop at simply assisting the turtle's movement. Since that magical power was wrapped tightly around the turtle's body, it naturally wrapped around me as well.

I tried to quietly slip away from that magical power, but it coiled around my body like a snake. Feeling it bind my body tightly, I closed my eyes.

It seemed Professor's anger was truly enormous. After all, she appeared intent on punishing me even on the way back. That magical power began pulling out my soul. Then it slowly split it into thirteen branches.

Professor's magical power quickly burrowed into the gaps of my split soul. With it, my soul began burning once more. The flames of anger contained in her magical power were burning even more fiercely than before.

On the way back, that torture continued without end. I had no choice but to endure the pain. But if this was all, it was fine. This pain was instead giving me a kind of insight.

If this was the price I had to pay for my sin, I could gladly accept it. If this alone could ease Professor's heart even a little, that would be fortunate.

But the punishment she gave me did not end there. The day after we returned to the tower, I sank to the floor in front of the firmly shut door. Countless sealing spells covered the door.

Professor had locked her room. The wraith that came out of the doorbell quietly pointed at the sign hanging on the door. Written on it were the words, "No Evron Allowed."

This could not be. I had no choice but to stare at that sign in utter despair.

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