WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Coughing Baby

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◈ Surviving in the Magic Academy

Chapter 153

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153.

I lightly shook myself off while watching the rays of light pour down from the sky. My robe, badly crumpled after I had rolled across the ground several times, took in magical power and smoothly returned to its proper shape. The fight was over, so there was no need to struggle anymore.

I watched the people gradually vanish inside those rays of light. They had been so stubborn about refusing to surrender that there had almost been a minor accident, but after reaching a proper agreement, they had eventually given up and were leaving like that.

Of course, we could have killed them without accepting their surrender. The restrictions had weakened, after all. But we had not come here to risk our lives in a fight. We had only come to show that talent to the people of the association.

Everyone outside was surely watching us. In that situation, what would they think if we killed people left and right? Their reaction definitely would not be good.

They might even bear a grudge because we had killed people from the association. Since I was trying to make this huge puppeteer association my backer, I could not let that happen. There was no need to take that risk.

Of course, if I used those corpses, I could probably make some interesting puppets. But I did not need to go that far. Just examining the puppets they handled was valuable enough.

I glanced at my puppet. The one in Cassian’s form was slowly sheathing its sword. The puppets collapsed beneath that sword had been cleanly split in half, their insides fully exposed.

The battle against them had been fierce enough to completely ruin our surroundings. I could feel a large amount of magical power gathering toward the site where the fight had taken place.

At the center of that magical power sat a large man. He was breathing in magical power and slowly putting his body back in order. His body was covered in wounds, proof of how harsh that fight had been.

Through the huge gash across his body, I could even glimpse his organs. The wounds left on him were deep enough to threaten his life.

Still, he was alive. If so, he would certainly be able to recover. I nodded as I watched him slowly regulate his body with magical power.

The wounds were slowly closing along with the magical power. In that state, he would wake up soon. More than that, it was fortunate we had arrived at the right time. If we had reached this place even a little later, he might have been the one taken down instead.

I had not thought he, of all people, would be in danger. He was the strongest among the people I wanted to find. That was as good as saying the people he had faced this time were that strong.

I examined the Cassian puppet that approached my side after fixing its body. Its body had collapsed several times during this fight. Of course, it had recovered quickly.

The puppets they handled were very unusual. Each one had its own traits, I suppose. And among them, there was one I liked. It was the puppet that used shadows.

I quietly nudged that puppet with my foot. A strange sensation, as if it lingered somewhere between reality and illusion, traveled up through my toes.

I smacked my lips a little. I could yield everything else, but I had to take this one. Its way of handling shadows was extremely unique. There seemed to be parts worth referencing.

With that thought, I glanced toward Biogan. As soon as the fight ended, he had leaned against a nearby tree and closed his eyes.

He quietly calmed his breathing. I could feel magical power flowing along that breath, moving between the sword hanging at his waist and his heart.

His body as he focused was truly clean beyond words. Even more so compared to me, who had rolled around, and the Cassian puppet, whose body still showed traces of having broken several times.

There was no sign on him that a fight had even happened. This was the first battle since I had asked him to cooperate. And through it, I realized his skill was considerable.

I looked at his waist. The sword with magical power flowing through it gave off a deep sheen. He clearly treated it with great care. This chance had let me clearly understand why he had made that sword into a puppet.

Even when I saw him with my own eyes, it had been hard to catch his movements. It was my first time watching him fight. Even with his magical power limited, he had shown truly high-level skill.

If they clashed head-on, he might be able to cut down my Cassian puppet in an instant. My puppet had not built up skill through experience the way he had. It merely reproduced the information I had entered into it.

Of course, that thing would not die, so it would keep clinging to him, and unless Biogan incapacitated me, that fight would not end easily.

Mm... I had thought he was strong, but I had not known he was this strong. I lightly stroked my chin. For me, the standard of a swordsman was Cassian. I had never seen talent like hers.

Then if I compared Biogan and the current Cassian, which of the two would have the upper hand? For some reason, I felt they would be a little similar. Of course, as time passed, Cassian would pull a little further ahead. She was a swordsman, and Biogan was a mage.

Then why had he, a mage, taken up a sword? I tilted my head while looking at that sword. Perhaps he felt my gaze, because Biogan opened his eyes.

He turned those utterly calm eyes toward me. Meeting his gaze, I smiled slightly and waved my hand.

“I apologize if I bothered you. Haha, I just found it fascinating that you use a sword as a puppet. I looked at the people from that association too, but I had never seen anyone use a sword.”

I rolled my eyes and shrugged. Puppeteers each had their own individuality. Even so, there was a kind of common trait among them.

They did not like moving personally. Just like me. The association in Canyon City was also quite puppeteer-like in that regard.

Of course, they too used swords or blades, as if reflecting the city’s traits. But most of the time, it was a puppet holding a sword, like the Cassian puppet I was controlling now.

Even if they made the sword itself into a puppet, nobody used it by holding it directly like he did. In that sense, the way Biogan used a puppet seemed to resemble those people instead.

I looked at the man still drawing in a great deal of magical power. The wounds carved into his body had settled down quite a bit. I could also see that the armor around him had regenerated a little along with his magical power.

The people from that city generally made their armor into puppets. They joined their flesh and puppet together as one.

Of course, their method was very different from Biogan’s. That armor was only a shell that protected the body and a tool for magic. It was like realizing a small workshop inside that puppet.

By contrast, Biogan’s sword was almost like a swordsman’s. Only sharp force and magical power flowed over that sword. In that sense, I felt he was not a mage but a swordsman.

Like Cassian, Biogan gave off a strong feeling of standing on the boundary of the line of death. Should I call it a life that rested on the tip of his sword? If I had not gone to Canyon City and learned about the life of a swordsman, I would not have been able to feel it properly.

Biogan did not answer my question. He merely closed his eyes again and leaned his back against the tree. It was clear he did not want to talk about it.

I lightly shrugged. His mouth was still terribly heavy. Had it not taken almost three years just to learn his name? So that attitude was easy enough to understand.

Since his mouth was that heavy, he surely had many stories and many things hidden. But that was not important. What mattered to me now was only the fact that his strength was very useful.

Also, since he was a swordsman, he was trustworthy. That meant his character had to be different from other mages from the start.

I smiled like that and looked around. Perhaps because of the aftermath of the earlier fight, the magical power flowing nearby was extremely rough. On top of that, the ground had been completely overturned along with the many torn puppet fragments.

Since we had to rest a little until his body fully recovered, I needed to make this place look as proper as possible.

I lightly waved my hand and released magical power. Then several small puppets popped out from my chest. They were like hard wooden blocks, and their forms were a little crude.

They were things I had made after stealing the principles of the explosion monkey puppet we had faced earlier. Of course, I could not learn that absurdly complex structure in full. I had only stolen the simple puppet mass-production method at its core.

Because of that, they could not contain powerful force like the explosion monkey. Still, they were able to use very simple magic.

When I filled them with magical power and awakened them, they scattered at once. The puppets spread in all directions, drew a kind of circle, and began slowly flying while releasing magical power.

That magical power began drawing the various spells contained inside their bodies into the air. It shimmered faintly within the weak magical power.

The flow of magical power that seemed ready to vanish at any moment headed toward another puppet. Like that, their magic slowly connected and began weaving into one.

And within the flow of magic these various puppets created together, the magic circle slowly began to take clear form.

Environmental purification magic, magic that flattened the ground, and simple magic that gently tamed magical power on top of that. Dozens of spells wrapped around the area like that.

Since I had not planted my wooden pieces, I needed to control the whole process myself. As I carefully manipulated that magical power, I heard a voice. The gloomy voice sank low like a heavy blade.

“From where I stand, you’re the stranger one. You only use magic other mages wouldn’t even glance at.”

I glanced in the direction the voice came from. It had come from Biogan. I saw him slowly examining my puppets with narrowed eyes.

I had not expected him to speak to me like this. It would be better to see this as us growing a little closer. I let out a faint laugh and moved my hand.

The puppets that received my signal caused light explosions. Along with that, the slightly amplified magical power supplied enough force to the magic circle. That magic circle emitted bright light and quickly restored the broken scenery beneath it.

Watching that, I nodded in satisfaction. Under that magic circle, the rough traces of battle had already vanished. Instead, a long table and chairs, along with small beds where one could lie down, had taken their place.

The place felt like a comfortable resting area. The magical power had also settled into a pure, calm state. Of course, we would not stay long, but if we were going to rest, should we not rest perfectly?

This was enough. I smiled brightly and looked at Biogan.

“This sort of thing is my specialty. As Biogan must have noticed, I really have no talent for fighting. I decided to leave that to others and focus on what I can do. This is the result.”

He examined the magic I had created and nodded slightly. Then he headed toward the table. I slowly approached him as he sat down, leaning into a chair.

I drew a light magic circle over my hand and tapped the table. Then a tea set slowly rose from inside the table. I took the teapot in hand and filled it with magic.

“Please rest comfortably. We plan to move again as soon as that person has recovered enough.”

Saying that, I poured tea for him. Biogan accepted it, drank, and calmly closed his eyes. I could see a slightly satisfied look on his face.

What I had prepared this time emphasized the astringent taste swordsmen generally tended to like. He seemed to like the flavor of that kind of tea too.

Thinking of how he had not even accepted this tea at first, this was incredible progress. It was the result of steadily trying to approach him. I felt a little rewarded as I thought that and kept speaking to him.

But he did not open his mouth again. As if opening that mouth were a luxury. It was an extremely taciturn attitude, but that attitude only made him seem more reliable. Yes, a swordsman spoke with the sword, not the mouth.

I sat beside him like that and sipped my tea too. At the same time, I controlled a puppet to scrape together the remains of the puppets we had faced earlier. Then I piled them on the table and took apart their structures one by one.

Since it would take a little time for that man’s body to recover anyway, I needed to observe the puppets during that time.

As time passed, the magical power that had kept gathering gradually began to settle. Within it, I felt some color return to the face of the man that had been pale with light.

He slowly took a deep breath and opened his eyes. Then he gave a slightly bitter smile and bowed his head toward us sitting at the table.

“I lived thanks to you. I never thought three of them would attack at once.”

“What danger could Gunda have been in? Even without us, you would have escaped just fine.”

At my words, the armored man, Gunda, stroked the long scar carved into his chest and shook his head. The one that had carved that scar was probably this puppet. I rummaged through the remains of the puppet I had been examining.

It was a puppet in human form. And the magic circle carved into the back of its hand was extremely unique. When I flowed magical power into it, a sharp blade of magical power surged up with a small vibration.

I lightly brought my hand to it. Then, though I felt nothing at all, the tip of my fingernail was neatly cut off. Cassian had been hit by this a couple of times too.

Like that, these three puppets were highly distinctive and strong. Of course, they belonged to us now.

When I first found Gunda, I had been quite surprised too. His heart had been just about to be stabbed. If his opponent had been alone, he would not have been in danger. But these three had gathered and targeted him.

Just as Biogan and I had cooperated, the others were cooperating too. Of course. That could be called the way the weak survived.

Gunda got up and approached the table where we were. Then he plopped down into an empty seat. He looked over the two of us and quietly opened his mouth. I sensed a little tension on his face.

“Mm, since you helped me like this, it must mean you want something from me. What is it?”

“What price would we need? Considering the years we have known each other, of course we should help you. That could be called the mindset of a proper person.”

I said that while wagging my finger. But he only made a sour face at my words. It seemed he did not believe me. I had only spoken the truth, though. I shrugged and laughed lightly.

“Mm, I do have something like a goal. I came to find Gunda to ask for cooperation. As you were just attacked, everyone is gradually grouping up. So there is no need to travel alone here. Those overflowing with confidence have probably all headed toward the center.”

“We newbies need to gather our strength first,” I added while looking at Gunda. At my request for cooperation, he fell into thought for a moment. Soon, he examined us and nodded.

“...If my lifesavers ask for it, I can’t refuse that request for cooperation. If anything, I should be the one asking. Looking at you, your abilities seem outstanding.”

“Thank you. I didn’t expect you to accept so readily. I feel relieved knowing Gunda will join us.”

I smiled and clapped my hands. Biogan showed no reaction to his joining us and merely drank his tea. I saw his sword tremble slightly. Did that mean welcome?

“More than that, this was unexpected. Your puppet, was it Mira? I thought you would bring that one.”

Gunda spoke while leaning against the table. As I poured tea for him, I glanced at my puppet. The one in Cassian’s form stood quietly behind me.

“Mm, Mira is outside. She is strong too, but this friend is strong enough, so please don’t worry.”

I smiled lightly and tapped its sword. Gunda, who had been carefully observing it, nodded. Mm, he seemed a little interested in my puppet. What was the reason?

Keeping that thought in one corner of my mind, I looked at Gunda. He met my eyes, smiled awkwardly, scratched his head, and sipped the tea.

“Mm, your current puppet is certainly strong enough. It was very unusual. I’ve never seen a puppet regenerate so quickly.”

I shrugged at that. I did not know why, but if he was interested in my puppet, I only had to give him all that information.

“It would be more accurate to call that resurrection than regeneration. Unless you kill me, this puppet will not fall. Since it is always connected to me, there is no reason to spare its body.”

“Hooh, such a thing is possible? Fascinating.”

Gunda looked at the Cassian puppet with round eyes. That thing looked down at Gunda and lightly released magical power. It seeped into my chest and began creating a kind of cycle.

“It is a puppet mixed with my secret technique. There is only one in the world. It would be hard for me to make it again too. What goes inside is quite special.”

I gave a bitter smile as I felt that cycle. The basic material used to make it was very expensive. It was hard to find materials that could regenerate inside magical power.

But what mattered more than that was my tree branch and the Fake Soul created based on it. In order to make a sufficient amount of that, I had needed to keep tearing pieces off my tree. I glanced up at it.

If I calculated the number of tree branches inside it, even by a simple estimate, it probably contained five times the amount of my current tree. It was the result of pouring in every stem I had regularly torn off for this matter.

Perhaps he felt my sincerity, because Gunda’s eyes sparkled. Biogan also opened his eyes slightly and examined the Cassian puppet. Feeling their interest, I smiled faintly.

Anyone could simply cooperate. But to move beyond that kind of cooperation, trust was needed.

And the best way to gain that trust was not to lie. By openly revealing the truth about my information, they would surely trust me more.

This was the same as exposing my own weakness. They now held my information in their hands. So they would treat this cooperation a little more seriously.

I glanced at their puppets. I did not know what power was hidden in that armor and sword. But they did not seem to have any intention of revealing their secrets like I had.

That was natural, since those were the sources of their power. If anything, it was strange for me to reveal everything like this. Of course, I had not said it purely for trust alone either. I lightly shrugged.

“Then Gunda, please rest a little too. Around five more minutes should be enough. After that, we’ll move again.”

“I don’t mind moving right now, but...”

Gunda rotated his arms to show he was fine. In front of him, I took out a piece of paper. It floated up over the table on magical power.

Gunda looked down at it. The map had the terrain we had passed through so far drawn in detail. It also had all the information about this competition written down, including the positions of the people we had encountered and the timing of the wall shrinking.

The time when that circle shrank was the same. I glanced up at the sky. It shrank roughly once every hour. Five minutes from now, it would shrink again. So moving then was efficient.

“Ooh, you made all this.”

Gunda quietly nodded. I pointed with my finger to an unexplored region on that map.

“As you can see, that wall will shrink soon. I was trying to match that timing. Afterward, we will head here.”

“You’re planning to move along the outskirts?”

I nodded. The place we were now was also on the outskirts of this circle. Even on those outskirts, fights occurred from time to time, like just now. The center would be worse. So we needed to move slowly while following the shrinking of the wall.

“Yes. Also, we don’t have enough people right now. So we will gather more people. Looking at the three who have gathered like this, you should understand. Our target is the students who attend the same lecture as us.”

We had found several earlier too. I had also recorded their locations. But we had not contacted them in particular. I had thought finding these two in front of me was more important than persuading them.

Anyone who attended the lecture would surely acknowledge that these two were strong. So I had intended to slowly expand our influence based on that strength. Now that both had been gathered, that had become possible enough.

“A large number of people will gather like that. Do you have any intention of becoming the leader of such a group?”

I said that to Gunda. He quietly scratched his head at my words. After rolling his eyes for a moment, he looked at me.

“The leader, you say.”

“Yes. When people gather, there has to be a center for them too. Otherwise, they will split apart quickly. I think Gunda will perform that role best. That is why I came to find you.”

Gunda folded his arms and examined my face. I could feel a bit of suspicion in his eyes. Along with confusion at my suddenly bringing this up.

“Why not you?”

At that question from Gunda, I glanced at Biogan. He seemed uninterested in our conversation and only drank his tea in silence.

“Mm, I lack strength. Who would follow the words of a mage who is only on the second floor? As for Biogan... as you can see, there would instead be a lot of resistance. Besides, among those taking the lecture together, Gunda is also the strongest. So I think everyone will accept it.”

Gunda quietly stroked his chin at my words. A bit of desire appeared on his face. Soon, he nodded. I smiled slightly. It was not an offer that would harm him, so I had thought he would accept quickly.

His thoughts were very clear. Becoming the leader of the group was the same as gaining a kind of insurance. He could command the members of that group and raise his chances of survival.

“You made a good choice. Then would you like something simple to eat while we wait? I will prepare something good for getting your body in order.”

“Ooh, thank you.”

Through that conversation, we enjoyed a moment of leisure with them. Though it was only five minutes, it was enough time to relieve that tension and fatigue. After time passed like that, the circle in the sky gradually began to narrow.

After confirming that, I slowly rose from my seat. It was time to move.

“Then please leave finding people to me. You all will have many chances to use your strength from now on.”

I smiled lightly and headed forward. Then I linked magical power to the puppets and scattered them in every direction. Those small puppets flew away, drew magic circles, and began searching the surroundings.

I nodded as I watched the terrain they drew naturally enter the map. We only needed to keep going like this. If a puppet was blocked along the way, it would mean there was someone there.

Like that, we quickly moved along the outskirts. We needed to gather as many of our targets as possible. The search process went quite efficiently.

Inside the faint net I had created by mixing puppets and tracking magic, then mixing magic and magical power, I was able to quickly find the people moving along these outskirts.

And among them were the people we wanted to find. After roughly making one lap like that, I nodded. It had taken less time than expected.

I thought it would take two more days, but it had all ended in less than one day. It was probably because the circle kept shrinking and the search range had decreased, and also because we had avoided fights with others.

I glanced behind me. Including myself, there were seven of us in total. The number of this small organization had already grown this much. It was the result of scraping together everyone on the outskirts.

The remaining five could not be found anywhere. They had probably already been eliminated. I could not find their traces anywhere.

I lightly clicked my tongue. I had expected it too. I could not take care of all of them. But the number that survived was lower than even my expectation. That meant this competition was going that fiercely.

I looked around. In the area where there was nobody at all, only the densely grown trees emitted thick magical power. Since the circle had kept shrinking, there was nobody left near here now.

“Then shall we rest here for a few hours? I will prepare the place.”

I said that to Gunda. He nodded and controlled the people.

I filled the tips of my fingers with magical power and controlled the puppets. Within the magic circle those puppets created, the trees split, the ground hardened, and a single building rose from within it.

It was a temporary building with even the inside perfectly decorated. There surely could not be a better place to rest. Like that, people began entering it.

As I watched that, Gunda approached me. He stroked his chin, eyes sparkling.

“Mm, you know plenty of interesting magic. Finding hidden people, and making a house like this too.”

I burst into a slight laugh at that. Then I gently shook my head and scratched my head.

“It’s the result of using petty tricks. Since I lack strength, I have no choice but to use things like this well.”

Gunda brought up several more topics after that. They were very simple stories. As we talked like that and he looked around, he lowered his voice slightly.

“So, why did you just avoid the others? I thought it would be better to have them join us.”

At his question, I stroked my chin. The owner of this group was not me but him. So I needed to tell him the truth about my judgment too.

“Mm... I think our current number is already quite large. We talked about cooperation among ourselves, but it will be hard to trust one another. If we add more people, it will become impossible to control. So we decided to gather only those we at least know by face.”

“We newbies should try our best together,” I added with a slight smile. “Now, let’s go inside.”

Saying that, I lightly pushed Gunda’s back.

This few hours of rest would surely be our last break. Since we had circled the outskirts enough, we needed to head toward the center now. It would be hard to enjoy this kind of leisure there.

Inside, people slowly melted away their tension. There was no worry that someone nearby would attack. This building had been modified as a kind of workshop. Its defenses were extremely thorough.

I also entered the room made for me and was slowly dissolving my body with magical power. In the middle of that, I felt some kind of presence. When I glanced to the side, I saw a silver wave rising up through the floor.

It soon took human form. The one in Cassian’s form sent its will to me. Someone had left this building.

At that, I lightly scattered magical power. Within it, I was able to find a faint trace of magical power. The presence was truly secretive. That person had crossed the barrier surrounding this building very easily.

When I formed this workshop, I had told everyone about the barrier surrounding it. So that was probably why they moved so naturally. I narrowed my eyes.

I could not clearly determine who it was. They had covered their entire body with magical power, and everyone inside the building had entered their own rooms and was keeping their security tight.

I could not tell who had left. I quietly fell into thought, then nodded.

“Just leave it.”

The Cassian puppet tilted its head slightly. I had expected something like this to happen anyway. What loyalty could exist in this loose group made through simple negotiation?

Someone would certainly think differently and seek a more profitable plan. That unknown person spent some time outside and then carefully came back inside. That probably meant they had sent a signal somewhere.

I could not tell where that magical power had gone. I only knew that it had crossed the barrier. I looked at the Cassian puppet. They only recognized my puppet as having Cassian’s form.

But that thing could freely transform its shape. That was why it could also flow through this building itself. That was also why I had fully revealed the barrier.

If the opponent paid attention only to the barrier, that thing could detect their movements like this. Thanks to that, I had been able to discover that suspicious behavior right away.

The Cassian puppet lost its form again, turned into silver liquid, and seeped into the building. It seemed it intended to watch even more thoroughly.

A traitor, huh. It did not matter. I had not thought this group would last to the end anyway. If someone betrayed us, I only had to use that against them.

The only one I could trust among them was me. ...No, should I include Biogan too? Swordsmen were trustworthy, after all. At the very least, he would not betray first. Thinking that, I let out a small laugh.

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