WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Coughing Baby

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◈ Surviving in the Magic Academy

Chapter 157

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157.

I tapped the table with my eyes closed. In that steady rhythm, I calmly sorted through my thoughts. First, I had come up with a simple plan to weed out the traitor. Now all that remained was to carry it out.

After waiting like that for a little while, I heard the door open. I slowly opened my eyes and saw Gunda and Biogan come in. I rose from my seat and bowed my head to them.

“Please come this way and have a seat.”

I gestured to the table in front of me. They followed my gesture and took their seats. Watching them, I jerked my chin toward the Cassian puppet waiting by the door.

It glanced outside, then gave a slight shake of its head. That meant there was nothing out there. Then it activated the magic circle woven into the door. It was a kind of security magic.

Now, no matter what we discussed here, no one outside would know. I made a small gesture and let magical power flow. After steadily adjusting during my rest, I had grown somewhat used to this body.

With my body feeling a little clearer, I drew a magic circle. Then I poured the tea flowing from it into cups and set them on the table.

The bitter aroma filled the room. The people seated at the table naturally picked up their cups. Biogan took a sip, then nodded in satisfaction.

I had adjusted it to suit a swordsman’s taste. Of course, I had also brewed tea that suited Gunda. As I watched the two sip their tea, I sat down as well. Soon, their eyes turned to me.

“So, why did you call us? So cautiously, at that.”

Gunda scratched his head. Facing him as he smacked his lips, I leaned against the table. Then I slowly studied their faces.

Was there a traitor among them? I could not be sure yet. But if I waited a little, I would find out.

“There is something I need to tell only you two.”

I hardened my expression and met their eyes. When they met my gaze, they straightened their posture a little. A serious look began to settle over their faces.

“After what happened, I thought it over carefully. And I realized something was strange.”

I lowered my head slightly. My voice dropped too, and I continued in a half whisper. Perhaps sensing that what I was about to say was no ordinary matter, the two of them frowned a little.

“What was strange?”

Gunda stroked his chin. I gave him a small smile as he looked faintly puzzled. Then I quietly spoke.

“The place where Ugo set the trap. It lay directly across our route. And as if he knew how we would attack, he used that explosion to neutralize us.”

“Mm, he did.”

Gunda said that. Biogan also gave a light nod as he looked at me. Facing them, I hardened my expression. Then I lightly struck the table.

“I thought that would be impossible unless he knew our information in advance. So I reviewed all kinds of information and plans. And at the end of it, I realized something. Someone among us is leaking information.”

As I said that, I examined their faces. I wondered if either of them might show something suspicious. But they did not react much to my words.

They simply sank into thought, turning over what I had said. Right. They would not reveal themselves that easily. I waited for them to sort through their thoughts.

Soon, Gunda came back to himself and frowned slightly. I could read at least a trace of unease on his face. He stroked his chin and murmured.

“A traitor, you say. Hearing it put that way, I suppose it could be possible... But could it not have been a coincidence?”

Gunda did not seem convinced yet. Well, this was only my suspicion. Without clear evidence, I could not prove there was a traitor. I would not have known either if not for the Cassian puppet.

Then what did Biogan think? I glanced at him. He was nodding slightly, as though he agreed with what I had said. That meant he recognized the possibility well enough.

Seeing their contrasting reactions, I narrowed my eyes. There were three people I had considered suspects. And one of them had quickly been removed from the list. That was the result of the Cassian puppet tracing that person’s magical power and movements backward.

So now only two remained. The ones right in front of me. They carried enough power to quickly detect the Cassian puppet’s approach. That was why I could not search them as easily as I had the previous person.

That was exactly why I had called them here. To identify the traitor between them more clearly. I smiled and shrugged.

“Of course, as Gunda said, this may be a coincidence. But I think that possibility is low. The timing was far too perfect. If I had not set out earlier midway through, several of us might have been eliminated.”

At my words, Gunda let out a deep groan. With his arms crossed, he glanced between Biogan and me, then gave a small nod. He seemed to have been somewhat persuaded by our attitude.

Facing him, I continued.

“That is why I called you two. To uncover the traitor together. You two are the core of this group, after all.”

“What will you do if the traitor is among us?”

Gunda glanced at Biogan, then smacked his lips. Biogan clicked his tongue as well and shot Gunda a sidelong glare. I smiled slightly at them and waved a hand.

“Of course, one of you may have leaked the information. But I think that is unlikely. Maintaining this group should benefit you two the most.”

Biogan nodded. In the end, we had formed this group to advance to the next competition. We needed to pass the cutoff of ten people.

In that sense, the stronger someone was, the higher their chance of survival. And if people like that formed a group, they would be even safer. That was why these two had no real reason to betray us.

Yes, that was what I had thought until this incident happened. It was also why I had brought them into the group first.

But to think there was a traitor among them. I did not know who it was, but they were terribly sly. Even after being called here directly like this, they were acting as if they knew nothing.

Then I needed to play along with that act too. I looked at them and smiled gently.

“I have come up with a small plan to weed out the traitor. If there is a traitor, I am confident they will move according to my plan. Of course, if Gunda tells me not to, I will not do it. You are the leader of this group, after all.”

I looked at Gunda and narrowed my eyes. His face turned a little uncomfortable at my words. Since he had been hesitating since earlier, he did seem more suspicious.

Besides, Biogan was a swordsman. A swordsman deceiving people? Impossible. Of course, apart from that personal fondness of mine, I still needed to keep suspecting him.

Gunda stroked his chin for a moment, then carefully nodded.

“I think it would be best to do as you say. If there really is a traitor, we will be in danger later too. So what do you plan to do?”

I stared at him quietly, then searched inside my clothes. Then I took out the coin fragment. Perhaps sensing the strange magical power coming from it, Biogan and Gunda glanced at it.

I placed it on the table and watched their faces. I wanted to see if they knew what it was. But just like before, I could not find any trace of recognition on their faces.

“This is the token for the wager made between the association heads. One person is chosen from each association, and whoever completes this becomes the winner of the wager. Ugo probably attacked us earlier because of this too. I was the only one who came from our association.”

“Urgh, so there was something like that. No wonder that lunatic let us go so easily. He was after you. That is why you stayed behind too.”

Gunda murmured. As he said, this attack had happened because of me. So I needed to apologize. I bowed my head to them.

“I am sorry. I tried to hide it because it could cause problems if others found out. But after what happened, I felt that I needed to reveal it to everyone. Problems may arise because of this again.”

Gunda waved his hand and made me straighten up. He patted my shoulder and laughed lightly. I could glimpse a hint of amusement from him.

“If it had not been for you, we would not have gathered in the first place. And if there really is a traitor, we would have been hit like this someday. So is this not fortunate instead? We prevented a betrayal at the most important moment.”

He stroked his chin, and his eyes gleamed. I saw his gaze move toward the coin fragment. He picked it up and felt its magical power.

“More importantly, you are quite something. You protected this from that lunatic and even escaped?”

I gave a bitter smile at that. Then I slightly shook my head. Protected it? Quite the opposite. I had everything taken from me in an instant. Not just the fragment, but even my life.

“Unfortunately, I handed mine over to Ugo while escaping. This is another item I obtained by luck. No one likely knew I had two fragments.”

Gunda flicked the fragment back onto the table. Biogan looked down at it with interest, stroking his chin. I looked between them, then picked up the fragment. Their eyes followed my hand, and both of them met my gaze.

“And in the process of handing over the fragment, I was able to steal a little information as well. It was clear that he had heard my location from someone else. That means there is a third party. They are probably the one controlling the traitor.”

I tucked the fragment into my clothes and gently nodded. Then I slowly continued.

“So I plan to tell the others that I have this. Judging by how they drew Ugo in, they must know about this fragment too. So if the traitor learns this information, they will surely contact the other side.”

Yes, one of these two would. I looked at them with my eyes slightly narrowed. They nodded with cautious expressions.

“You mean we catch them then? That is a fairly useful method. But what will you do if they take their time and leak the information slowly? We cannot watch all of their movements.”

Gunda asked. I smiled brightly at that. Then I placed a hand on my chest and gently let magical power flow. It became a kind of barrier and covered the surroundings even more. I had added a little more security.

“That is exactly what I want. On my way back, I made a deal with Ugo. In exchange for this fragment, I asked him to cooperate with us this time instead. After leaving this place, I plan to meet him. And according to the deal, we will learn about the other side.”

Gunda flinched in surprise after hearing that. He seemed unable to believe I had negotiated with that guy. Biogan also frowned slightly and looked at me. I smiled brightly at them.

“Would I have any reason to lie to you? Since the other side touched us first, should it not be fine for us to grab that weapon by the handle and swing it ourselves? So the information about this fragment will serve as bait. They will focus only on the fragment, then be caught by us in return.”

Gunda swallowed. Looking at him, I gave a dark smile. Then I rubbed my hands and stood up.

I did not know what the traitor intended, nor did I know who was receiving the information.

But seeing that they had tried to turn Ugo against us, and further, seeing that Ugo himself had shown no real desire to eliminate our group, there was one thing I could tell.

The scale of the other side’s power was roughly similar to ours. That was probably why they tried to use Ugo. Ugo must have also hoped that we and the other side would clash for that very reason.

Then what if I leaked false information? That was what I thought. If Ugo and we formed an alliance, it would be a major problem for the other side.

They would never have imagined that I would hand over the fragment, the target of the wager. I laughed lightly while observing their faces.

Of course, it was all a lie. As if I would be insane enough to cooperate with Ugo. If I met him again, he would definitely try to kill me again. Even more so if he learned I had this fragment.

But the traitor, whoever it was between these two, had no way of knowing my words were false. They probably could not contact Ugo directly from this deep underground either.

“And I also intend to tell the others that there is a traitor. Then everyone will become wary of one another. It will become harder for the traitor to move, and the information about my fragment will be treated as even more important.”

I spoke leisurely, with a little composure. I could feel Gunda and Biogan listening to my words. I slowly tapped the table and let magical power flow. Then several sheets of paper slowly rose from inside the table.

“I wrote down our plan for how we will move from here on. The others have not finished preparing yet, so we will probably begin moving around dawn tomorrow. I wrote false information in here to prepare for anything that might happen before then.”

I used magical power to hand the stack of papers to the two of them. As they began checking them, I glanced over them as well. They were a kind of plan diagram drawn based on the map.

They all had the same overall structure, but each one also contained subtle differences. Certain details, such as times and places, had been slightly altered.

“Please distribute these to the others. If the traitor passes on information, the other side will surely try to target us again. Once that incident happens, we can use these contents to trace backward and identify the traitor. While using Ugo’s power to deal with the other side, I intend to get rid of the traitor too.”

At my words, Gunda blinked. I lightly clapped my hands at him and laughed.

“Now, let’s get up. We need to quickly sort out the traitor.”

Gunda and Biogan nodded. Like that, we all split up and headed to other rooms. Then we told the others about the coin fragment and the traitor.

At that, a commotion began to spread among the people. As I expected, they suspected and watched one another. That net of surveillance gradually grew thicker too.

The three of us were soon able to gather again. I quietly checked the mood among the people. Then I gently murmured.

“Fortunately, there is no major opposition. I thought some people might blame me.”

Gunda nodded. Then he let out a small laugh and patted my back.

“Everyone has benefited from you, after all. If anything, the traitor is the problem. In this situation, it will be hard to pass information.”

I slightly nodded at that. As Gunda said, in the current situation, no one would be able to slip away easily. I lightly stroked my chin. If surveillance was the problem, all we had to do was widen the gap a little and induce movement.

“I will adjust the barrier. So someone can head outside, even if only for a moment. I will tell you two its structure as well, so please leak information about it to the others little by little.”

“Hmm... You are quite sly, aren’t you?”

Gunda murmured. At that, Biogan gave a small nod. Seeing their attitude, I could only tilt my head.

Sly? Me? I had only put together the best plan I could. All so I could fool the traitor convincingly.

Compared to me, the traitor who was hiding so perfectly was far more suited to that word. I narrowed my eyes and looked over Gunda and Biogan.

I did not know which one of them was the traitor. But I understood how that person would feel. This was a small trap I had prepared for them.

The current situation was a kind of time-limited crisis for that person. If they failed to deliver the information in time, the other side would fall into danger. So they had no choice but to move.

They believed they were helping uncover the traitor. Of course, they must have also sensed that I suspected them a little. Even so, they would think they were less suspected than the others. After all, I had told them the whole plan.

So they would relax a little and move. And there was no way my puppet would miss that movement. Feeling the swarm of its stars that had already spread throughout this underground space, I quietly smiled.

Now all I had to do was wait.

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