WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Coughing Baby

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◈ Surviving in the Magic Academy

Chapter 143

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143.

The workshop was still crowded with puppets. They were still preparing the prizes for that gacha. Even if a small problem had come up in the tower, the lecture still had to go on.

I tapped the table quietly and sank into thought. Where in the world had those vanished fragments of power gone? No matter how long I searched the tower, I could not find any trace of them.

The tower was practically my territory. It was full of my puppets, and the shadow tree was spreading through it as well. Even so, they had disappeared without a trace.

And not just one or two of them. Fifteen fragments. Considering the magical power those fragments gave off, that was strange. The magical power contained in a treasure stood out very clearly.

To hide it this thoroughly, they would have needed to prepare with extreme care. And it was impossible for a treasure to do that alone. That meant there was an accomplice.

And it was very clear who that accomplice was. I looked down at the mirror bug on the table. It belonged to Hao. I had confirmed that a few messages I had sent him were stored inside it.

But he had not replied to any of them. He had left the mirror bug behind and vanished somewhere. I had found this mirror bug in his room while tracking his movements.

This was clearly the work of Tooth Necklace, and beyond that, Hao. I thought of Hao’s uniquely innocent face and clicked my tongue. Was he a mage after all? Contrary to that face, he was horribly underhanded.

I rested my arm on the table and let out a hollow little laugh. Hao had readily accepted my request. He had carried it out diligently until today, too. So I had half considered him to be on my side.

Because of that, I had let some of my movements slip to him. To think he would betray me. And judging by how quickly he moved, it seemed mine was not the only request he had accepted.

Right. The treasures could move him too. In the tribute room he operated, Hao often accepted requests like that.

Perhaps he had been involved with Tooth Necklace even before I asked him for help. To hide this thoroughly, they would have needed to prepare in advance.

But how had that been possible? I stroked my chin and tilted my head slightly. I could not understand why I had not noticed anything suspicious about Hao.

Hari had been staying by Hao’s side. She always seeped into Hao and observed his actions. That mirror bug had also been under her control.

In that sense, if she had sensed anything suspicious, Hari would have told me. If she had found out about this ahead of time, she surely would have tried to stop it too.

But Hari had not told me anything in particular. Instead, she had told me there was nothing wrong with Hao. So I had trusted Hao, reassured by her words.

And yet, this had happened. Could Hari have betrayed me just like Hao? I thought that, then shook my head.

She was a being half-bound to me. She had no reason to betray me, and if she had tried, I would have noticed right away.

More than that, Hari had no reason to do it. She was extremely uncomfortable with other treasures getting involved with Hao. There was no way she would betray me and cooperate with a treasure.

Then how had Hao escaped Hari’s control?

I sent my will toward Hari through the shadow tree. But I felt no response from her. As if she could not sense my signal, that star only shone faintly.

I blinked. The star was so faint that I could not even tell where Hari was. I could only feel that she existed somewhere in the tower. Had Hao done something to her?

Maybe Hao had already noticed Hari’s existence. If so, it would have been possible for him to avoid her while carrying this out.

Hari did not stay with Hao every single moment, after all. To think he had even managed to fool Hari with that innocent face. It was honestly impressive.

After sitting there blankly in thought for a while, I shook my head. I could not be certain yet. It was only a guess.

Besides, at this point, that was not so important. It was already clear that Hao had conspired with Tooth Necklace. What mattered now was figuring out where he had hidden the fragments.

I watched the complicated flow of the moving puppets. At the center of it was No. 0. While controlling the puppets, it was steadily searching the tower.

I was doing the same. Inside the shadow tree, I checked the puppets whose lights were flickering. Hundreds of puppets were thoroughly searching every corner of the tower for traces.

Hao was just as important as Blood Axe’s fragments of power. He was at the center of everything. So I needed to know where he was.

But Hao, like the fragments, had vanished without a trace. Not in his room, not in the infirmary, and nowhere in the tower could I find his trail.

I smiled bitterly and shook my head. It seemed he had hidden so well that even I could not find him. Thoroughly enough to avoid the eyes of my puppets.

Now that things had reached this point, I could feel just how shallow my power still was. I swept my gaze over the workshop. The puppets were moving in complicated patterns.

My puppets could handle all sorts of tasks. That made them truly useful. But in situations like this, where power was needed, they had limits.

Their eyes clearly would not be able to find Hao’s hiding place. If the students seriously decided to hide, the puppets would not be able to find them.

This was why I had been trying to strengthen the puppets as much as possible. Apparently, they still were not at that level.

The puppet I had poured all my points and effort into raising was not here right now either. I clicked my tongue. If Mira had been here, she would have found Hao quickly no matter where he was hiding.

Her fog was optimized for detecting beings with magical power. Both life and desire had no choice but to reveal themselves the moment they entered her fog.

It was the perfect power for searching for hidden things like this. And Mira was currently away from the tower. Her absence felt especially large now.

I could not rely on her forever. There would be times like this, when she was not here. So I needed to cultivate my puppets further and, beyond that, grow my own power.

Targeting Blood Axe this time had been part of that. If this had succeeded properly, my chances of reaching the third floor would have increased. But to think such a troublesome thing would happen instead.

Tooth Necklace’s experience felt just as significant as Mira’s absence. I had not expected it to exploit the gap left by Mira this thoroughly.

Even after time kept passing, we could not find Hao. In the end, we had no choice but to stop the search. It was a waste of magical power and mental energy.

Instead, I planted puppets throughout the tower and used them as sentries. Before, it had only been one puppet per room, but now I embedded several in each place and strengthened the surveillance.

The puppets staying near the students also paid even closer attention. Like that, the entire tower entered my surveillance net.

For now, all I could do was wait. Even if this tower was my territory, finding someone hidden this thoroughly was impossible for the current me.

And it was not as if I could use the students. If the students learned that so many fragments of power existed, they would definitely run wild trying to obtain them.

So I needed to hide everything from them and resolve it alone. With that, I sent my will to the puppets. They began responding to my will, their starlight flickering.

Feeling that intense flow, I nodded. Now, if anything moved in the tower, I would sense it. The moment Hao showed himself, the news would come to me.

After finishing all those preparations, I sent my will to Hari once more. She was probably still near Hao. If I knew that location, I would not need to do any of this.

But the will heading toward Hari still broke off midway. I frowned slightly.

Hari could go anywhere in the tower. For her to be this unresponsive meant she was practically bound by something. To think they had prepared so thoroughly for her movements too.

Then what were they trying to do with those fragments of power after putting in so much effort? I crossed my arms and sank into thought. Were they simply trying to give the fragments to Hao?

That could not be it. Hao could not contain all that power. If he did, he would definitely be eroded by it and lose the balance within his body.

To understand the reason, I needed to understand Tooth Necklace’s thoughts first. It had a tendency to seek amusement. And it had shown a very clear desire.

To escape the tower.

That was something many treasures wanted. They were bound to the storehouse. From their perspective, that cramped place must have been unbearable.

The lecture I was running relieved those desires a little. But even if they grew their power that way, it surely could not compare to going outside themselves.

In that sense, this matter might be a kind of experiment for Tooth Necklace. It intended to use Blood Axe as a test subject and make use of those fragments of power.

These fragments of power were like masses of pure magical power and desire that had not yet been tamed. Because of that, it should also be possible for them to gather into one.

What would happen if all of them were condensed together? I frowned at the thought.

They would form a kind of offshoot body. If enough magical power and magic were prepared to support it, it was entirely possible. Just like when Ring of the Sky had nearly been forcibly dragged out by Hao’s hand before.

All the treasures that had joined my message board knew that Hao had created Hari. Perhaps that was why Tooth Necklace sought cooperation from Hao, out of all the students.

It was very likely. If they created an offshoot body using that power as the foundation, it could move more freely instead of remaining bound to the storehouse.

And what a treasure would do after escaping the storehouse was obvious. It would try to leave the tower. And then it would try to satisfy its desire.

That was what I feared most while handling the treasures. Preventing treasures from escaping the storehouse. That was the duty given to me as the storehouse keeper.

So I had to stop it. I absolutely had to....

Then I stopped for a moment. A thought suddenly came to mind. I stroked my chin.

I looked down at the turtle hanging from my chest. Whether it knew how urgent I felt or not, it was blankly watching the puppets with a relaxed face.

“Mm, do I really need to stop it?”

I lightly tapped the turtle’s back and tilted my head. At my touch, it let out a soft cry. Meeeh. Maybe this was an opportunity.

The reason I had tried to bind Blood Axe with points was to tear away its power. Like this turtle, I wanted to create a new being that could filter the treasure’s magical power inside me.

That power was not something I could obtain without its owner’s consent. That was why I had put so much effort into Blood Axe.

But right now, those fragments of power were rolling around in the tower. Fifteen ownerless fragments. The total amount of power was almost the same as what I had tried to tear away from it.

Tooth Necklace’s goal was very clear. It wanted to form Blood Axe’s offshoot body and see whether it could escape the storehouse.

If it succeeded, it could build a better plan based on that. If it failed, it could move in another direction. This lecture would keep going anyway.

It must have realized that I needed the treasures’ help to structure the course. And it must have known I would not give that up.

I could immediately understand why it had called this a game. From Tooth Necklace’s perspective, it did not matter whether this failed or succeeded.

The ones carrying it out were not Tooth Necklace, but Blood Axe and Hao. Blood Axe must have fallen easily for its temptation.

I suddenly realized where the students’ suspicious points had come from. Just like Hao, they must have received those points from Blood Axe and carried out proxy gacha draws.

Even if they only obtained the byproducts, it would have been profitable for them. That must have been why they had shown reluctance when they drew out that power.

Now that I knew the result, I could roughly infer the process. Of course, figuring it out did not mean much. Everything had already happened. I could only admire how thorough they had been.

So I changed my thinking. They had prepared very thoroughly. Thoroughly enough that even I, who managed this tower, had not noticed. No matter how much I interfered, the fragments of power already gathered would surely combine into one.

Then could I not simply use the result?

I quietly stroked my chin. Those fragments of power were things Blood Axe had voluntarily torn away. And they had no proper owner. In that sense, that mass of power could be considered something I could simply devour.

I smacked my lips. Within the anxiety flickering in my chest, I felt a faint sense of anticipation bloom.

Right. A crisis always arrived together with opportunity.

Once I changed my thinking, this began to feel like a fortuitous encounter. Of course, that did not mean the danger disappeared. So I needed to prepare in advance.

I quietly stood and sent my will to the puppets. It was an order to lower the level of surveillance little by little. If I deliberately revealed an opening like this, Hao would move.

I was making it so I could guide his actions, even if only slightly. And as if proving my thoughts correct, after a few days passed, Hao began to move.

His actions, slipping through the gap in surveillance, were extremely stealthy. But I noticed quickly. The moment he moved, a faint will flowed into me.

I quietly placed a hand on my chest. That faint will came from Hari. The weak ripple telling me where she was soon faded away.

After confirming the location, I let out a small bitter smile. Hao had appeared on the first floor, in the very room where Hari had been created before.

Hao had once again taken his place at the site of that ritual. It seemed that room and Hao were deeply connected. I quickly headed there.

There was no need to bring puppets with me. There would not be a major fight there.

I opened the door and entered the room. Then magic circles of many colors came into view. Those magic circles were strangely intertwined, forming one enormous circle. It was large enough to fill the room.

I frowned slightly. Hao had only been hiding for a few days. But to make a magic circle of this size? It was too elaborate to believe he had created it in such a short time.

If he had tried to draw this while hiding, I would certainly have noticed. But this magic circle had appeared in an instant. It was clear he had prepared it in advance, even before this lecture.

I thought of Tooth Necklace. When I had faced it before, it had been extremely relaxed. That had also been an expression of its confidence. It seemed it had prepared for this for quite a long time.

Should I say it was truly like a treasure? I could feel an intense desire to obtain what it wanted inside this magic circle. In contrast, Blood Axe seemed to have worked hard only to be used by it.

Did it owe Tooth Necklace points or something? I could not know. In any case, it was the treasure that would become my slave No. 1. Everything that came from it was practically mine.

And yet they dared handle it carelessly without my permission. That was absolutely unforgivable. My eyes flashed, and I threw the turtle.

Meeeh, it cried as its body swelled enormously. Then it pressed down on the magic circle with that body. I saw the slight anti-magic resistance mixed into its shell seep into the magic circle and begin shaking its structure.

At this rate, the magic circle would surely collapse. But that trembling only lasted a moment.

Beneath the turtle, the magical power flickering in the magic circle layered itself again and again, gradually creating a massive protective barrier. The turtle kept pressing down hard with its weight, but the magic circle did not break easily.

Once enough protective barrier had built up, it slowly began pushing the turtle’s body away. The turtle transformed its shell and pierced through it, but it could not smash that entire thick barrier.

In the end, it was pushed back by the barrier and flung away. The turtle landed on the floor and shook its head with a meeeh. Its eyes wobbled lightly, full of dizziness.

I lightly tapped its leg, signaling for it to shrink. It shrank down and fell into my arms. I lightly patted the head of the turtle hanging from my chest, then looked at the magic circle.

The protective barrier had regenerated as quickly as it had been broken. If anything, it seemed thicker than before. This had been a test. If I could pierce the magic circle, all I had to do was recover the power.

But judging by the current situation, that seemed difficult. The turtle was the strongest power I currently had. If even it was blocked this easily, then no matter how hard I tried, piercing it would be difficult.

Still, perhaps because that impact had reached it, the magic circle flickered and showed me the scene inside. Hao was scattering magical power at the center of the magic circle.

Had Hao noticed me? When he saw me, his eyes widened slightly. Then he smiled awkwardly and scratched the back of his head.

“I didn’t think you would come this quickly.”

“Mm, I didn’t think Hao would do something like this either. Why did you do it?”

I tapped the magic circle with my foot. The magical power flickering inside created a strong repulsive force.

“I received a request from Tooth Necklace, you see. I didn’t know things would get this big either.”

He looked embarrassed and glanced at the magic circle. Seeing him like that, I clicked my tongue. As expected, I had been right.

Hao accepted requests from treasures. A few incidents had happened because of that. This matter could be called an extension of those requests.

Though I had not expected him to make a double contract between me and the treasure. I crossed my arms and glared at him. Meeting my gaze, Hao slightly looked away.

“I know I received a lot of help from Evron. That’s why I accepted Evron’s request too. But Blood Axe handed out far more points than that.... And since I also owe the treasures a debt, I couldn’t refuse their request.”

I remembered Blood Axe recklessly throwing points at Hao in the tribute room. Had it given him that many points to buy him off?

I saw a trace of desire flicker across Hao’s face. I reflected on my own thinking. He was a mage too. Naturally, he would prioritize his own profit over his friendship with me.

I had been careless because I thought he was completely bound to Hari. Then where was Hari? I looked around. Then I confirmed the faint will flickering from her.

Hari was completely sealed in one corner of the layered magic circles. Thanks to the magic circle activating, she had managed to send part of her will to me, but she was still bound by that magic and unable to move an inch.

I wanted to release her, but I could not do it with my power. Looking at the magic circle, I shook my head slightly.

The magical power and structure flowing from the magic circle were difficult for me to understand at my level. The strange atmosphere dwelling in that magic circle had a grain different from what a mage would draw.

Tooth Necklace had definitely prepared it. And the power pressing down on her was flowing from Blood Axe’s fragments, located at the center of the magic circle.

I looked at the center of the magic circle. Magical power flowed strongly there. And at the center of that magical power, Blood Axe’s fragments floated in the air, creating a slight current.

Within that current, the fragments gave off a strange magical power, gathering into one and scattering apart. During that process, they were being drawn toward one another.

The ritual was already halfway complete. Seeing that, I nodded. Then I quietly crossed my arms and looked at Hao.

Hao blinked. He had raised a great deal of magical power and was preparing for any attack I might make. Following my gaze, he looked over the magic circle and tilted his head slightly.

“Are you not going to stop this ritual?”

At his question, I readily nodded. Then I lightly shrugged.

“Do as you please. From the look of it, you prepared for quite a long time, so how could I stop it? You even managed to block that friend’s eyes.”

I glanced at Hari. I could see her puffing up her cheeks inside the magic circle. Hao looked at her and smiled bitterly.

“It hasn’t been long since I learned that person was attached to me. If Tooth Necklace hadn’t told me while we were preparing this, I would never have known for the rest of my life.”

I nodded at that. I had thought as much. It would still have been difficult for Hao to notice that on his own.

I smiled faintly. No matter how this turned out, Tooth Necklace’s punishment had just been decided with those words.

The story of Hao and Hari was something Professor truly liked. That was why I had not told Hao about Hari. I had also informed the treasures of that fact.

And yet, to think it would ruin Professor’s entertainment for the sake of its own desire. When Professor returned, Professor would definitely not forgive it.

Of course, it probably had not thought much about what would come afterward. It must have simply poured as much of its desire as possible into this. This magic circle was the result. Because of that, there was no way I could pierce this magic circle.

“I’ll just watch too. So do everything you want. I’m also curious what result will come out.”

Saying that, I began observing the magic circle again. Like the magic circle Ring of the Sky had made before, this was also a magic circle built on the foundation of a treasure.

Because of that, the structure of the magic circle was extremely interesting. I quietly stroked my chin and nodded. The magic circle had a structure more like a momentary desire than the precise laws I usually drew.

Inside it, magical power burned like fire. And it mixed into the fragments of power at the center, creating a massive flame of desire. Should I try designing a magic circle like this next time?

As I analyzed the magic circle, I felt a gaze on me. Hao was looking at me with an uneasy expression. I gestured lightly at him with my chin, then continued observing the magic circle.

Hao watched me for a while, then quietly resumed the ritual. The magical power rising from him flowed along the magic circle and began giving off an even clearer light.

Along with it, I saw the fragments gather into one large mass. After confirming that, I let out a small laugh. Let those fragments of power gather all they wanted. It did not matter if they made an offshoot body.

As seen right now, this was something I could not stop. In that case, rather than resisting the flow, it was better to ride along with it. I would wait so a more perfect result could be produced.

Like that, the ritual began reaching its end. In a ritual meant solely to gather that power into one, the magical power converged and flowed. And under Hao’s guidance, the fragments formed a single shape.

It was shaped like a small hand axe. The moment that shape settled completely, the magical power flowing along the magic circle began drying up in an instant.

Along with that, the small hand axe slowly floated into the air and shook its body.

-Slaughter, slaughter!

The magical power it held flickered, and the will within it reached me. The magical power echoing through the room was terribly violent. The hand axe spat out its will as if it were delighted.

Seeing that, I nodded. What was contained inside that small hand axe was definitely Blood Axe. They had truly created an offshoot body.

I could not imagine how much time Tooth Necklace and Hao had put into accomplishing this. So, out of respect for that effort, I needed to steal this power with everything I had. Facing it, I lightly smacked my lips.

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