WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Coughing Baby

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◈ Surviving in the Magic Academy

Chapter 127

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127.

The tree inside my chest trembled slightly. Within that vibration, magical power stretched out like thread and slipped quietly through my fingertips.

I slowly moved the magical power I had drawn out. It wriggled like a single snake and headed toward Mira, who lay on the workbench.

The magical power sank straight into her chest. I held my breath and focused. From this point on, I had to carry out work that required quite a bit of care.

The thread slowly wrapped around her heart. Then the heart sensed my magical power and fiercely breathed out mist.

When I let my magical power follow the flow of that mist, the mist soon returned to the heart. The thread of my magical power began to engrave itself into the heart as it followed the mist.

I slowly moved the magical power and adjusted the inside little by little. It was preparation for entering a dream. It was also something I had learned after everything I had gone through over the past month.

Apparently, unless magical power was engraved like this and a kind of marking was placed on the puppet, one could be completely swept away by the customer’s dream. That was what the puppeteers under Koite had told me.

After finishing all the marking, I quietly closed my eyes. Then I could tell that a kind of signal from her was reaching me.

I nodded. This should be enough. I drew the thread of magical power out of her. At that, Mira let out a soft sigh.

“Are you all right?”

“Hehe, yes. It really is a strange experience, having someone else’s magical power engraved into my body.”

She said that while lightly stroking her own chest. Then she raised herself up. I supported her and checked her body.

Was it because of the magical power just now? There seemed to be a slight error. I touched her body here and there, carefully refining it. To endure the dream, we had to be as prepared as possible.

“Now, please stand.”

She stretched wide, then stepped onto the floor and rose. From her body, covered only in thin, fluttering cloth, a captivating scent seemed to flow.

She picked up the small pair of glasses placed on the workbench and began looking them over from side to side. Soon, she put them on and smiled brightly at me.

“How is it? Do they suit me?”

She lightly pushed the glasses up with a finger and leaned against me. Those were a kind of prop for this dream. I gave a small nod.

Then I sent my will into the tree inside my chest. At that, the puppets waiting nearby responded to my will and began to rise. They clung to Mira.

The puppets slowly began to take off Mira’s clothes. Mira naturally let the puppets do their work. I gave a small dry cough and turned away.

Rustling sounds continued for a moment. Soon, the puppets moved away from her and returned to their places.

I glanced at Mira. She was wearing the loose robe mages often wore. The robe gave off a very luxurious sheen.

Fully dressed like that, she looked wonderfully elegant. She slightly raised her hand and shook the robe.

Seeing the robe hang a little loosely, I took a cord out from inside my clothes. Then I gently tied it around her waist.

“How is it?”

Mira felt the cord and nodded in satisfaction. She slowly turned around once, looked over her body, and laughed softly.

“Hehe, it feels new to have Evron doing things for my sake like this. It is very fun. I was asked to visit dreams from time to time even after this, and now I am getting a little interested.”

She covered her mouth and smiled with her eyes. Hearing her words, my eyes twitched slightly. Something about it bothered me.

She was my puppet. This time, she was entering a dream because we had accepted a kind of request. But for her to say she wanted to do it again simply because it interested her, that was not something I could tolerate.

“Then shall we go? Everyone must be waiting. Hehe, I am truly curious what the owner of the dream looks like.”

Mira leaned her head against me. Then she naturally linked arms with me. I slowly led her out of this large room.

I glanced back. The room was quite luxurious. It had been assigned to Mira. She had stayed here for the past month and received a kind of education.

That month had gone by quite quickly. Another treasure had held a lecture at the tower, too. I had also been able to attend Professor On’s class.

And through all that, Mira had lived apart from me. I quietly placed a hand on my chest. That discomfort from a moment ago could be called a kind of jealousy.

After all, this was the first time she had ever left my side. Feeling that, I smiled bitterly. Mira noticed my mood and smiled slightly.

We slowly walked down the corridor. At the end of it, a huge door came into view. Magical power leaked through the gap in the door like water.

Over the past month, I had watched quite a few dreams. From very simple dreams to complex ones. In those dreams, Koite made me create puppets. Puppets that suited each dream.

Beyond that door, I began to feel the connections coming from those puppets. They were the ones that would enter this dream with Mira.

I stood in front of the door and carefully knocked. Then I heard a slight stirring inside. When I opened the door and went in, I saw a huge cavern.

The space had been expanded so much that even several turtles could fit inside, and just as I had felt from beyond the door, intense magical power was flowing through it.

That magical power was flowing toward the magic circle that filled the cavern. I slowly looked over the magic circle.

The magic circle, with its writhing circuits, was greedily sucking in magical power. It even looked as if it might explode at any moment.

But that magic circle had been adjusted with great precision. During this past month, while wandering through the Dream Theater, I had seen many rooms like this.

There were five rooms in this Dream Theater, and which room was used depended on the price of the dream.

The dreams I had seen until now had been the cheapest products. Those rooms had been extremely small. This was my first time coming to this room.

They said this was the second largest room. After confirming the complex magic circle that matched the points paid for it, I nodded. Its structure was beyond what I could grasp at my current level.

As the magic circle rippled, several puppets were touching it up here and there. They were puppets controlled by Koite.

We passed those puppets, each one beautiful and impressive, and moved toward the magic circle too.

In the very center of the magic circle, Koite was wearing extremely flashy clothes and talking to someone. The ring set on his finger gave off a brilliant shine.

“Oh my, it seems that is our customer.”

Mira said that. I nodded and quickened my steps. Koite glanced at us and lightly gestured with his hand.

It was an exaggerated motion, as if he were trying to make the other party notice us. As we walked toward him, I saw the main figure who would create today’s dream.

She was a woman with a very cold impression. The woman glanced at us. I could feel a line of suspicion bloom in her eyes.

As we prepared this dream, Koite had given me a stack of papers about her. I searched through their contents in my mind.

She was a mage named Lumira. She stayed on the sixth floor and had tried several times to rise to the 7th floor. There had also been an added note that she had spent almost all her points on this request.

Koite came over to me and patted my shoulder. I quietly smiled. Then I bowed deeply toward Lumira.

For now, she could be called my customer too. So I had to do my best. Beside me, Mira also bowed lightly.

“These two will be in charge of this dream. Very reliable, are they not?”

Koite said with a broad smile. At those words, Lumira released magical power and swept it over my body from head to toe. She did the same to Mira.

As I quietly accepted that flow, her magical power brushed past my tree. Lumira looked at me and clicked her tongue lightly.

“This frail little thing is going to handle my dream?”

After saying that, she glanced at Mira. Her magical power had been blocked by Mira and had softly settled down. Mira met her gaze and smiled gently.

“The puppet beside him is the puppet he made. As you confirmed, she is an excellent puppet. You will be satisfied even in the dream.”

Koite looked at Mira and smiled brightly. Lumira looked back and forth between me and Mira, then shot Koite a suspicious glare.

“If the dream is strange, I will demand a refund at once. I will be watching.”

“Of course. Now then, please enter. The actors have all gathered as well. We will prepare immediately.”

Lumira glanced over the three of us, then turned away. One of Koite’s puppets approached her.

Escorted by that puppet, she headed straight toward the center of the magic circle. A bed had been placed there. It also looked like a coffin.

“You only need to go inside and calmly settle your magical power. Then I will guide you into the dream, dear customer.”

Koite shouted loudly. Lumira stared at him for a moment, then nodded. She lay down on the bed.

Then the puppets waiting nearby covered the bed with its lid. Magical power wrapped around it in layers and sealed the bed.

It was clear she would not be able to hear anything we said in there. After confirming that, Koite’s smiling expression changed completely, and he clicked his tongue.

“Ugh, what a fussy one.”

He stretched lightly. I glanced at him as he grumbled under his breath. Perhaps Koite sensed my gaze, because he met my eyes.

“What do you do if she really tries to get a refund?”

It was a light question to ease my tension before starting the job. He grabbed a bit of flesh under his chin and grinned.

“That’s just how our business is. Mages are always sensitive about their own profit. So all we have to do is give them a satisfaction they can’t deny.”

Koite looked Mira up and down. He gave a sly smile and raised his thumb.

“Very good. That friend looked very satisfied too. Excellent.”

I nodded at those words. Mira lightly pushed up the glasses resting on her nose. Her current appearance was the result of actively reflecting Lumira’s tastes.

Did we have to include the customer’s tastes to this extent? I looked at Koite with that question in my eyes. Koite looked at me and laughed cheerfully enough to show his teeth.

When he clapped lightly, the puppets that had been adjusting the magic circle gathered around. Looking at those beautiful figures, he nodded in satisfaction.

“Plausibility is not important in a dream. What matters most is a kind of persuasiveness. As long as it feels convincing, dreams will flow on their own. And the easiest way to gain that persuasiveness is by earning favor.”

Koite smiled at the puppets. Matching his smile, the puppets slowly began to leave the magic circle. He met Mira’s gaze.

“Yes. A charm that can bewitch people is the quality of an ace. Your puppet has more than enough of that. I did not offer you a business proposal for no reason.”

He politely held a hand out toward Mira. Mira gently took that hand. Then Koite lightly shook it.

He let go of her hand and held his palm out toward me too. When I carefully took it, he gave a bright smile.

That was different from his previous greedy smiles. It was a smile with a kind of artisan spirit to it, one befitting a puppeteer. He shrugged.

“So I am counting on you for today’s dream. Your roles are very important.”

He patted my shoulder. I nodded slightly. Then I glanced at the coffin located in the center of the magic circle.

I had a fixed idea about dreams. What was a dream? It could be called a kind of whole made from experiences.

The things we had seen, heard, and done until now piled up and settled into dreams. In other words, we could not put things we had never experienced into dreams. That was the limit of dreams.

That was why I had not placed much value on dreams. Other mages were probably the same. Mages did not need to sleep if they did not want to.

But this Dream Theater was a little different. Koite waved his finger. Magical power bloomed from his fingertip and began moving in a complex pattern.

“Now, put in your puppets.”

Koite clapped his hands and said that. Following his words, I sent a signal toward the puppets waiting on one side of this huge cavern. Then my puppets began moving.

They would become the core that made Lumira’s dream come true. The puppets each took a key point in the magic circle and began lying down quietly.

I glanced at Koite. There was a reason we were using my puppets instead of his. It was because Mira formed the center of this magic circle.

It meant that a kind of unity was important in the dream we were going to create. Koite’s magical power began seeping into the magic circle.

“Then I will be off now. A dream, how exciting.”

Mira lightly tapped my chest and let go of the arm she had linked with mine. Then she headed toward the center of the magic circle, where the coffin was located.

She sat on the edge of the coffin and began humming. She looked very happy.

Each time Koite waved his finger filled with magical power, the magic circle began to shake. He jerked his chin slightly toward me. It meant I should leave the magic circle.

I carefully moved my feet and passed between the circuits filling the cavern. Koite, who had followed behind me, began wrapping the magic circle with his magical power.

Then the magic circle began to shake violently. The same was true for the puppets at its center. Soon, circuits covered this huge cavern.

Koite’s body, which was pouring out magical power, began to grow thinner and thinner. The several folds of flesh under his chin sank down, and a slender jawline appeared.

By the time he had become so gaunt that only skin seemed to remain, the magic circle began floating into the air.

The magic circle rippled for a long while, then blurred like mist. It blurred so much that I could no longer make out the scenery inside it.

How much time passed after that? The mist slowly began to sink. I lightly looked around.

Only one coffin sat alone in the cavern. My puppets that had gone into the magic circle had also vanished somewhere.

I slowly closed my eyes and searched for their signals. Then I felt a faint connection stretching toward me from somewhere. It looked like they had properly settled in that world inside the dream.

“Still, this dream will become more perfect thanks to you.”

Koite muttered while pouring out magical power again. His body grew even thinner. His magical power began seeping into the coffin.

“I did not expect all your puppets to have faint egos. They are hard for even me to make. No wonder Mauro likes you.”

He added that and began adjusting his magical power delicately. Along with that, something began eroding my puppets. Within it, the connection to me also shook.

I quietly closed my eyes and gently cut off that connection. Then my puppets slowly sank into the dream. As the connection completely disappeared, they were dyed by the dream.

Aside from the kind of marking carved into their hearts, they had been completely separated from me. Feeling a sense of loss ripple through my chest, I clicked my tongue lightly.

I had practiced it several times, but I just could not get used to this sensation. I glanced at Koite. I could see him moving his magical power with shining eyes.

There was a reason I had cut off the connection to my puppets like this. It was because only puppets could enter dreams.

If I kept that connection going, the dream would flow into me as well. So only the puppets had to be left inside the dream like this.

The puppets, the ones Koite called aces, all had egos. Some had been made by Koite, and some had been made by the puppeteers under him.

Those egos were as perfect as Mira showed. Yet even then, they did not dream. Because of that, those puppets could enter other people’s dreams.

This dream was the same. I cut off the connection to Mira, who was positioned at its center, last, then let out a light sigh.

What formed Mira’s core was the Fog Heart. In other words, a treasure. She was also like a puppet. Since she had the body of a treasure, she did not dream either.

At the same time, that powerful force was very good at acting as the dream anchor. That was also why Koite had coveted Mira.

Koite stopped emitting magical power and staggered over to me. I sat him down at a table, brewed a cup of tea, and handed it to him.

“Now then, let’s manipulate this dream properly. The theme of the dream was the tower and enlightenment, right? This will be an amusing play.”

Koite said that while sipping his tea. He rummaged through his clothes. Several beads slipped out from inside. He swallowed them all at once and yawned widely.

Then his gaunt body gradually began to swell and returned to its previous appearance. He lightly patted his stomach and grinned.

He waved his hand. Then his magical power rippled above it and began condensing into a single sphere.

It hardened, forming into something like a crystal ball. I had seen it from time to time before. It was Koite’s unique magic that showed the scenery of dreams.

Koite placed the huge crystal ball, as large as a person’s upper body, on the table. Then he lightly tapped its surface with a finger.

The pitch-black mist inside it rippled, and soon the screen brightened, showing a woman. It was Lumira, the woman with a cold-looking impression.

Her eyes hardened slightly as she looked around. In front of her stood a huge tower.

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