WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Coughing Baby

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◈ Surviving in the Magic Academy

Chapter 152

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152.

I slowly scanned my surroundings. Then, paying attention to even the faintest tremor I felt within them, I moved forward. Since I had no idea where the next ambush might come from, I needed to stay this alert.

I released magical power from my fingertips like threads and layered the area around me even more thickly. Maybe that effort had not gone to waste, because before long, I caught a foreign object carefully approaching inside the net of my magical power.

The moment I sensed it, my eyes snapped open. I pointed above my head and sent out my will. Something was coming from there.

Maybe it realized from my gesture that it had been found, because it dropped down fast. But before it could move properly, my puppet, already warned by my signal, leaped up without hesitation and swung its sword first.

The blade, filled with magical power, split the falling thing in half. It dropped to the ground. It had the form of a monkey with sharp claws.

The moment I confirmed its shape, I clicked my tongue. Then I quickly raised a barrier of magical power. The monkey’s body was made of wood. In other words, it was a kind of puppet.

It twitched slightly, then released magical power from inside its split body. That magical power soon drew colorful magic circles across it, and it began to glow red.

It was an extremely familiar structure. That was why I had hidden so quickly too. It was clearly explosion magic. The puppet’s body exploded, creating a loud roar. I felt the impact slam into the barrier of magical power I had raised.

My puppet also swung its sword to block the explosion. But it could not fully withstand the shockwave, and its body shook slightly. Seeing that, I frowned. More damage had accumulated in the puppet.

I quietly examined my surroundings. The densely packed trees made it impossible to tell where I was, and the magical power rising from their Lush Leaves disturbed the area and shook my senses.

It was perfect terrain for an ambush. That was why ambushes kept coming, just like now. This had already happened several times. I scattered magical power to search the area, but it was blocked somewhere and cut off.

“Do we really need to fight? Let’s settle this with a conversation.”

I smiled while raising both hands a little. Even so, my eyes quickly swept over the surroundings. I already knew there would be no answer to those words anyway.

Just as I expected, no answer came. No, there was something that could be called an answer. My eyes twitched slightly. As soon as I finished speaking, I sensed another puppet appear from somewhere and drop down again.

It was a puppet that looked like a roughly carved monkey. I narrowed my eyes and looked at it. Compared to the one that had come before, there was not the slightest difference in its shape or size.

That meant this one contained an explosion too. It dropped toward my puppet again. My puppet swung its sword and split it in half, but the monkey exploded without caring.

Before the explosion went off, I raised protective magic again. Watching the magic circle tremble from the impact, I shook my head. Judging by that answer, the opponent had no intention of talking.

I looked at the spot where the explosion had occurred. The blast was extremely powerful. It was on a completely different level from the exploding bugs I had once favored.

I used magical power to scrape together the puppet’s remains. Then I roughly examined its structure. The remains were badly damaged by the explosion, so I could not make out the magic or the circuit structure inside at all.

Still, I could clearly identify a few traits. The biggest one was that the puppet itself had been made solely to explode. The magical power flowing through its body was pitifully weak, after all.

To think someone would use explosives this powerful as simple consumables. I frowned. The evidence that they were consumables was clear. Their consistent shape and size meant they were being mass-produced.

On top of that, the materials making up the body were nothing but low-grade goods. The trace of magical power felt similar to what I sensed from the surrounding trees. They were probably products quickly made from those trees.

I threw the remains aside and clicked my tongue. This meant someone had come here and was mass-producing puppets. And in large numbers too, solely as consumables with this much explosive force.

I checked my puppet. Its blank face resembling Cassian was the same as ever, but I could see small cracks spreading across its body. Damage had been steadily accumulating from the earlier explosions.

Yes, I had thought there might be someone who used a method like this. There was no rule saying we could not make puppets after entering this place.

The puppets of high-ranking puppeteers were usually very strong. In that case, procuring materials locally and fighting with sheer numbers like this was also a solid direction. Puppetry came in all kinds of forms, after all.

But I never thought I would be the target. Something once again rushed into my magical power net. It had to be those monkey puppets.

After confirming the direction they were charging from, I lightly stroked my chin. Then I stirred my magical power and quickly raised a barrier. This time, their target was not my Cassian puppet. They were headed toward me, its master.

The Cassian puppet quickly moved and blocked my front. Then it swung its sword and cut through the monkeys. But as if they had expected that, they exploded right before they were cut.

Inside the explosions they created, their magical power mixed together and began scattering a massive shockwave through the area. I saw the surrounding trees pushed over by the impact.

The same went for my Cassian puppet. It had taken the explosion head-on, after all. The impact had to be worse for it than anything else. It was pushed back by the shockwave and sent flying.

I caught it with a barrier and quickly checked its body. The cracks carved into it had grown worse.

I clicked my tongue lightly and looked around. My puppet and those consumables were a bad matchup. The Cassian puppet was built for offense rather than blocking force like these explosions.

If blocking something like that was the goal, turtle would have been far more effective. Mm, it was a shame I could not bring that one. With that regret in mind, I released magical power.

Hiding like this and nibbling away at my resources. It was an excellent method, even if the person using it was my enemy. I nodded. I would have done the same.

In an environment like this, finding the puppeteer controlling them would obviously be difficult. It was not as if I could quickly leave this place either.

I felt the threads of magical power I had scattered get cut off again. A vicious presence came from that area. It meant there was some kind of trap.

The other threads of magical power were also blocked by traps and quickly cut off. Like this, there were traps everywhere around me. If I moved recklessly, I had no idea what would happen.

I glanced behind me. The path we had come from was already covered in traps too. I had no way of knowing how far these traps had been scattered.

At least this place was safe. The area around me had all been blown away by explosions, after all. Of course, even that safety was only a brief reprieve.

I let out a light sigh and shrugged. I had deliberately been circling the outskirts to avoid strong opponents, but I had not expected someone this strong to be stationed out here.

I tapped the puppet remains with my foot and let out a bitter smile. Still, maybe I should call this fortunate. It seemed the opponent had not finished all their preparations yet.

The opponent was clearly specialized in mass production. But as I could tell from the monkey puppets that had just attacked me, their numbers were still lacking. That meant the production system had not been fully established yet.

That was probably why the puppeteer was trying so hard to intercept me. Right now would be his weakest moment. So he probably had no intention of talking to me. He would know I would notice this soon too.

I had expected that there would be someone setting up traps like this. That was also why I had moved right after the competition began. Thanks to that, the opponent probably had not finished preparing either.

Of course, that did not mean those exploding monkeys were not threatening. I checked the Cassian puppet again. For now, the cracks were not severe enough to hinder its movements.

But under the continued aftereffects of the explosions, the cracks kept widening. I could feel magical power flickering unstably inside them.

The opponent had clearly noticed the condition of my puppet too. That was probably why he kept sending only puppets. He merely had to keep producing puppets, while I only kept taking losses.

In the end, to break through this situation, I needed to move first. I clicked my tongue lightly and sent my will toward the Cassian puppet. Mm, I had not thought I would have to use this already.

The puppet received my signal and closed its eyes. Then it slowly lowered the sword in its hand and began filling it with magical power.

The cracks carved into its body dug deeper as it poured out magical power. It was unavoidable consumption. If we stayed like this, it would collapse first anyway.

So much magical power filled the sword that it flowed down along the surface of the blade like liquid. The puppet quietly raised it. Then it slowly swung downward.

With that, the magical power flowing along the sword began moving like a line, following the path drawn by the blade. The puppet swung the sword a few more times. During that process, the sword itself melted into those black lines and disappeared.

The puppet waved its hand. Then the lines began to flow and slowly surrounded us. They had drawn a small circle.

When the Cassian puppet emitted magical power toward the lines, they slowly began to expand. Anything in front of those growing lines was shattered to pieces as the lines passed over it. As if it had been cut hundreds of times.

Like that, the circle crushed everything that entered it. Was it roughly a fifty-meter radius? The puppet that had drawn the small circle quietly opened its eyes.

After confirming that, I nodded. Mm, it had succeeded. This was the blade domain Cassian used to draw. It was the result of trying to copy and contain that magic-like domain.

Though it could not compare to what she drew herself. Still, this had a somewhat similar function. Anything approaching that small circle would disappear.

Of course, the consumption was no joke either. I could feel magical power rapidly draining from the puppet. The burden of that power showed in the cracks too, which were growing little by little.

So I needed to move quickly. I narrowed my eyes and swept the surroundings. Earlier, I had scattered plenty of magical power and been blocked by traps again and again. Even so, I had kept scattering magical power.

That was not simply to find a path, but to locate suspicious areas. The more important the point, the more densely it would be surrounded by traps. Those traps would guide me instead.

Of course, I could use this blade domain to escape this place. But this mass-production system was extremely efficient. If I left it alone, I had no idea how far it would grow.

If the opponent had not been hostile toward me, we might have cooperated. But that relationship had already gone wrong. So before this became a future problem, I needed to remove it here without giving it more time.

I sent my will to the puppet and kicked off the ground. I headed toward the space covered in the most traps. The types of traps varied. Some crushed with magical power, and others used complex magic circles to create intense explosions.

But none of them could cross the small line drawn by the Cassian puppet. They were all split apart. In exchange, the puppet’s body grew even more damaged. After quickly breaking through the traps, we arrived at the first area.

I looked around and clicked my tongue lightly. Some trees had been cut, but I could not find any trace of magical power. It seemed this was not the place. It was clearly a bait area.

Then I needed to move to the next one quickly. I turned around and left that area. Then I shot toward the next trap.

Like that, I cut through traps and searched several areas. During that process, perhaps the opponent realized I was searching for him, because more puppets and traps began attacking us.

But they could not cross the line. And after advancing like that, I finally found my target. When the black line cut through a barrier and passed by, a giant puppet appeared inside.

The puppet, which was releasing a great deal of smoke, looked like the monkey puppet I had faced earlier, except hugely enlarged.

I glanced to the side. The Cassian puppet’s body was covered in so many cracks that it looked like it would break at any moment. After confirming that, I let out a bitter smile. The damage was considerable. But thanks to that, I had managed to find the opponent.

In front of that giant puppet, one person was moving busily. It was a young man with a somewhat irritable look. He seemed to have been checking the magic circles, but when he saw us, he frowned slightly.

“Well, I didn’t think you’d find me already. I haven’t even finished setting up the workshop yet.”

He sighed. I released magical power and quickly swept the surroundings. Many magic circles were drawn around that giant puppet.

That was probably the puppet he had brought. The monkey’s body twitched slightly, and small puppets poured out from inside it. They were the ones that had attacked us earlier.

It seemed he had planned to use that giant puppet as a kind of core and create a mobile workshop. If that had been completed successfully, self-destruct monkeys would definitely have been produced endlessly.

After confirming that structure, I nodded. Trying to win through a method like that was a good approach. If things had continued like this, the opponent would likely have secured a place in the rankings and moved on to the next stage.

As I had experienced, that explosive force was quite considerable. But that possibility would stop here. It was not that he was lacking. The problem was simply that he had run into me before finishing all his preparations.

I looked at the giant puppet with shining eyes. Seeing that made me feel a little greedy. A puppet that created puppets. That kind of automation was extremely interesting too. Why had I never thought of something like that until now?

It was a very good idea. And fun, too. I was truly curious about the principle. So I would need to take it and check. And it seemed I was not the only one thinking that.

The Cassian puppet gathered that thin circle back together and shaped it into a sword again. Since we had already reached our destination and found the target, there was no need to maintain the domain anymore.

The opponent was looking at the Cassian puppet with shining eyes. It seemed the blade domain it had created had stirred his interest. I could see greed flickering in his eyes.

I had thought about exchanging names, but it seemed there was no time for conversation. I let out a bitter smile as I watched the opponent raise magical power. He looked completely ready to fight. Then I had no choice but to meet that hostility.

I checked the magical power flickering from him. In amount, it was roughly between the third floor and fourth floor. It was a little unpleasant, but I felt I could handle him well enough.

It was not as if our level as mages mattered anyway. The energy flowing through this space was pressing down on us so that we could not emit magical power above a certain level. Only puppets were free from that restriction.

If our output was the same, there was no problem. While I held him back, the Cassian puppet only needed to deal with that thing. I sent my will to the puppet.

It kicked off the ground with its sword lowered. Sharp magical power flickered at the tip of the sword. The monkey puppets tried to block its path, but the puppet simply brushed past them.

The sword cut through the monkeys and stopped their bodies in place. They quickly exploded where they stood. But before the impact could reach the Cassian puppet, it charged forward.

Now there was not much distance left to the giant puppet. The opponent began using magic circles to cast all kinds of spells in order to stop it. I thoroughly intercepted his magic too.

I might not have talent for attack magic, but I could still twist the direction of his magic a little. At the same time, I emitted magical power like threads.

Those threads of magical power began creating a barrier along the path the Cassian puppet was taking. It was a path of magical power made solely to support its advance. Riding that barrier, it rose into the air.

Then it filled its sword with magical power and faced the giant monkey puppet. It stared at that face, then swung its sword down.

The sharp sword of magical power split the giant puppet in half. Seeing that, I smiled faintly. Creating puppets was certainly threatening. But in the end, if one could get this close, it could be handled easily.

If that puppet was destroyed, there should be no remaining threat. Thinking that, I glanced at the opponent. But just like me, the opponent was also smiling.

Seeing that suddenly stirred an ominous feeling in my chest.

“Fall back!”

I shouted and strongly sent my will toward the Cassian puppet. It sensed that, flinched, and quickly launched itself backward.

But by the time I shouted, it was already too late. Sharp tentacles had risen from the half-split body of the giant puppet and wrapped around the Cassian puppet.

The tentacles began pulling it in. The puppet cut them away and tried to escape quickly, but even more tentacles wrapped around it.

“That puppet looks useful, but it’s too dangerous. I’ll need to break it a little.”

The opponent muttered. Magical power flickered slightly from him. The giant puppet’s body, receiving that power, gradually began to shake. At the same time, I saw a clear magic circle appear on its body.

I frowned as I looked at it. That magic circle was very familiar. It was the explosion magic circle I had seen on the monkey puppets earlier. Was he planning to blow up his own puppet?

As if proving my thought, vibrations of magical power began. Then a huge tremor shook the area. It was almost like a single scream. I quickly raised a barrier of magical power and crouched down as much as I could.

The giant puppet exploded along with its magical power. I felt the massive shockwave created by the explosion strike my barrier. I quickly restored the barrier and reduced the impact as much as possible.

But even so, I could not block all of the force. Every barrier shattered, and the impact sent me rolling several times as I was thrown back. Then I filled myself with magical power and quickly swept the surroundings.

When I checked the site of the explosion, I saw the Cassian puppet. It was half shattered to pieces inside the blast. Its limbs had been torn off, and its body had burst apart along the cracks.

It could not move at all. After confirming that, the opponent smiled slightly and looked at me. He had even blown up his own puppet, and yet he was smiling like that. He was definitely hiding something.

The opponent gestured lightly. Then a small puppet crawled out from the traces of the explosion. It was a white monkey resembling the exploding monkeys. But I could tell that far more complex magical power flowed inside it.

“That giant puppet was just a factory. As long as I have this child, I can make another one anywhere. Should I call it a kind of bait? Anyway, it seems to have worked well. I caught your puppet like this, after all.”

At those words, I clicked my tongue lightly. He approached me with a confident expression. Though his factory had been half destroyed, he had completely crushed my puppet, so it made sense for him to look like that.

I let out a bitter smile. I had taken the bait badly. To think that giant puppet had not been the main body. He stood in front of me and looked down at me.

“Hmm, then how about surrendering now? That way, I can poke around that puppet. If you don’t, I might make a small mistake.”

At his words, I stroked my chin. I had been attacked several times on my way here. In the process of defeating those who rushed at me after seeing my magical power, I had clearly learned something.

In this place, the university’s restriction, that survival zone, had been weakened a little. So as long as one did not touch someone directly, anything was possible. Even killing a person.

I shrugged. Surrender, was it? It had not even been a day since the competition began. I had heard time was different from outside, so only a few hours had probably passed out there.

So I could not leave already. If I went out now, I would have no face to meet Mauro. Besides, Mira was almost certainly waiting on standby, saying she would punish me.

Perhaps my relaxed attitude irritated him, because the opponent frowned slightly. Then he raised his hand. The white monkey puppet opened its mouth.

The puppet spat a small puppet from its mouth. It had the form of the exploding monkey I had faced over and over. Mm, he was clearly planning to get me caught up in a kind of “accident” with that.

From my perspective, with my magical power barely holding on, blocking that would be difficult. Not that I intended to block it. I let my body sag and sent out my will.

Right now, the opponent was careless, thinking everything was over. It was time to aim for that opening.

At the same time, sharp magical power flickered strongly. I felt that magical power brush past the opponent’s body.

The opponent noticed it quickly too and raised a protective wall, but the sword filled with magical power simply cut through whatever lay before it and continued forward.

Just like that, one of his hands fell. The monkey riding on his shoulder was also split in half. The opponent tried to move, but sharp magical power flickered again and cut off his other arm as well.

Having lost both arms, he frowned and spat up a little blood. It was probably because all the magic he had been forming with those hands had been torn apart. In that state, he surely could not handle magical power properly.

The sword settled right in front of his neck. It rested there quietly, filled with sharp magical power, as if it would pierce his throat if he moved even a little.

I slowly got up and met his eyes. Then I smiled brightly and waved.

“Now the situation has changed. Then shall I say it? How about you surrender?”

He looked down at the sword held to his neck, then glanced behind him. There, the Cassian puppet was staring at him in perfectly fine condition. After confirming that, he frowned slightly.

“I definitely broke it.”

“Yes, it was completely wrecked. I was truly surprised. To think that was not the main body.”

I shrugged. I felt him try to release magical power slightly. The sword dug deeper into his neck.

“Mm, if you keep moving, I may also make a small mistake while accepting your surrender. The sword might slip, for example.”

I looked at him with a friendly smile. He seemed to think for a moment, then clicked his tongue lightly. He quietly closed his eyes and let out a deep sigh.

“I changed my method this time, too. To think I’d meet someone like you on the outskirts. I feel sorry to the association head. They trusted me, but still. I surrender.”

The moment he said the word surrender, something fell from the sky. It was a single beam of light. It wrapped around his body, then slowly melted him away.

He would probably be sent outside. I stroked my chin while looking at that strange sight. Then I slowly walked toward the place where he had disappeared. I felt a somewhat familiar magical power there.

A small fragment was lying in that spot. I picked it up and scratched my head. This was proof of the wager between association heads. No wonder he had been hard to deal with. He was someone chosen by another association head.

I had not expected to obtain this so early, and on the outskirts at that. Meeting him this early had been extremely fortunate. If this had started running properly, even I would not have been able to approach.

Anyway, I had dealt with him, so was that not a good thing? Thinking that, I looked at the white monkey puppet. The puppet had been split in half, but perhaps because the cut was clean, it was still in fairly good condition.

I quietly stroked my chin. A puppet that spat out puppets. It was an interesting structure. Since its owner had surrendered and vanished, this was mine now.

Should I research it a little? Perhaps I could apply it to my own puppets too. Thinking that, I placed it into my spatial pouch.

Then, with a satisfied smile, I glanced at the Cassian puppet that had approached beside me. The magical power I had sensed from it had already fully recovered. Its shape was perfectly fine too.

It had returned to its form from before the fight. No, more than that, it looked a little more advanced. It was clearly becoming more accustomed to that body.

It had been worth deceiving the opponent by creating all those cracks. I had been able to hit him from behind very easily. The opponent had a plan too, but that was not enough to overcome this thing.

I raised magical power and began inspecting its body. Then I felt the countless presences wriggling inside it flicker with will, as if responding to my magical power.

Should I rest here for a bit before moving? There were still quite a few traps left, and this place too had been thoroughly tamed with magical power by the opponent... Come to think of it, we had not even exchanged names. Anyway, by that unnamed opponent. It was a good place to use as a workshop for a while.

I patted its shoulder. Then the thing that had taken Cassian’s form slowly melted and collapsed. At the end of that, it began flowing like a giant liquid.

I watched it flow around me and slowly wriggle, then released magical power. I calmly observed the things contained inside it. Some parts had been damaged during this battle too, so I needed to repair them.

After carefully filling in the damaged parts, its structure was completely restored. Of course, even if I had not touched it, the damage would have recovered quickly. I checked it like this because I needed to move quickly.

No traces of the explosions could be felt from it anymore. This rapid recovery was its greatest trait. No, rather than recovery, resurrection would be the right word.

I lightly stroked it. I felt the wills contained inside it flicker toward me. Each of those many wills was contained in a grain like a single fragment.

All of those grains were organically connected while also containing their own magical power. Each and every one of these small grains was no different from one of my puppets. My soul fragment was inside them, after all.

These were always connected to my domain. Because of that, even if they lost their bodies, as long as spare bodies existed, they could always resurrect quickly. It was a domain possible because of the turtle’s Moon.

I placed a hand on my chest. Of course, because turtle was not here right now, the effect was somewhat weaker. Still, I could use myself as the Moon and substitute for that role to some extent. Enough to resurrect this thing, at least.

Each time these small grains broke, they slowly recovered inside magical power. Like that, they fought endlessly and resurrected endlessly. As a whole, they wore Cassian’s body.

Of course, it could take a different form too, but right now, that body was the most optimal. Like that, it raised itself again and borrowed Cassian’s form.

It lightly swung its sword as if checking its body. With that, I felt countless grains inside it become half destroyed, while others filled the empty spaces. Perhaps it was satisfied, because it quietly nodded.

That was also the result I had made after a great deal of thought, in order to contain Cassian’s physical information. After many previous attempts, I had learned that a single puppet would struggle to handle the whole thing.

Then what if I wove multiple puppets together in a complex manner? I suddenly had that thought. I would make it under the assumption that it would break.

It was an idea I came up with while thinking about the trait contained in my soul. I still did not know why, but my soul was the result of many soul fragments gathered together. Then there was no reason my puppet could not be the same.

That attempt had been quite successful. The thousands of soul fragments dwelling inside that thing were handling Cassian’s power well enough, after all.

I scratched my head. Of course, this was the physical information from when Cassian had left for Canyon City, not the current Cassian. But enduring that level of power was still difficult all the same.

Even so, through continued battles, this thing was becoming more accustomed to handling that power. It was more skilled than before. Seeing that, I nodded. Now I was truly certain. With this thing, I could win.

This was my masterpiece, made over several years. It was a kind of elite puppet mixed from the tree stems I had steadily torn off all this time and countless soul fragments. I was certain I would not be able to make many more of them in the future.

The materials were expensive too. Should I say the efficiency was not very good? So it was a little disappointing. What I wanted was not an elite puppet like this, but to scatter that power among all my puppets.

Still, it had been worth making. This power was extremely useful. It absolutely did not die. Its resurrection began from me, after all.

That was why I was confident in victory. How could one defeat something that did not die?

Of course, that was only possible if I was alive. So others would notice this structure too and try to aim for me.

I scratched my head. It would have been very convenient if the competition had been a tournament like before. I could have just watched from outside. Then it really would have been a straight road to victory.

But the method had changed like this. So my plan needed to change as well. To pass through this safely, I needed people. So I had to move quickly.

I got up and started walking. Then I glanced at the sky. There, a giant circle had been drawn. Along that circle, a kind of magical power wall surrounded the area in all directions.

Over time, the circle had continued to shrink. It was clearly smaller than it had been at the beginning, so there was no doubt. If it shrank further, people would eventually gather in one place.

The fighting there would also become more intense. Those with confidence would know that and would already be headed toward the center. The weak would be circling the outskirts.

That was why I was sweeping the outskirts. The people I was looking for would not have headed to the center. Like that, I spent several more hours searching the outskirts again.

During that process, I encountered several puppeteers. And in the end, I finally found one of my targets.

He had his eyes closed while leaning against a tree. His presence had sunk so deeply and mixed with the tree’s magical power so well that it was hard to notice. If I had not searched carefully, I would not even have known he was there.

I released magical power toward him and announced my approach. Then I raised both hands high and smiled lightly. Despite that friendly gesture, he saw me and drew his sword.

Then he swung that sword quickly and shot toward me. He was so fast I could not properly perceive him. The moment that sharp magical power tried to cut through my body, one sword blocked its path.

It belonged to the Cassian puppet. He created some distance and checked the form of my puppet. I saw his eyes twitch slightly.

“Biogan, it’s been a while. Mm... I think this should be a familiar face to you. She was quite famous in Canyon City, after all.”

Biogan glared at me. His killing intent began flickering thickly. Uh, mm. I had thought bringing out this form would make talking easier.

It seemed he had clearly misunderstood and thought I had stolen Cassian’s appearance. I hurriedly waved my hand and searched through my clothes.

“Please don’t misunderstand. I know Cassian very well. She is staying in our tower right now. I received permission to make this too.”

Saying that, I took out the “Cassian certificate.” Cassian’s magical power flowed through it. It was something I had received in case something like this happened.

Biogan accepted it and fell into thought for a moment, then stared at my face. After narrowing his eyes suspiciously, he soon sheathed his sword. He was at least willing to talk now.

“Ahem, the reason I came looking for you is simple. I was wondering if we could cooperate with each other. During this first round, I mean.”

I smiled slightly and scratched my head. The moment I first saw this structure, I knew. It would inevitably be dangerous if I was alone. So there was no reason not to cooperate.

I looked at Biogan. Though I often attended Professor On’s lectures, we were still awkward with each other. Even so, the reason I had come looking for him was a kind of trust.

He had come from Canyon City. On top of that, unlike others, he used a sword as his puppet. In other words, he was a swordsman. A swordsman could be considered trustworthy, unlike a mage.

Thinking that, I smiled brightly. Of course, that was not the only reason. He was a newcomer like me. Perhaps because of that, he often seemed a little distant from the association people.

So it would definitely be easier to ask him to cooperate in this matter. Those were the people I was looking for. The newcomers taking this lecture with me, the ones not yet fully dyed by the association.

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