WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Coughing Baby

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◈ Surviving in the Magic Academy

Chapter 161

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161.

I patted the bulging front of my clothes and smiled with satisfaction. Then I picked up the teacup on the table and took a light sip. The bitter aroma lingered in my mouth and settled my mind.

It was a very brief moment of leisure, the kind I could only enjoy in peaceful times like these.

I glanced around. Though I was not sure this situation could be called ordinary.

The others were talking over the puppets piled on the table. They were trophies taken from the people we had hunted. They smiled happily as they collected them.

Watching that, I gave a small shrug. Taking other people’s things and enjoying it that much. They were all very mage-like.

“How utterly barbaric....”

I muttered that, then tapped my lips. My true feelings had slipped out by mistake. That must have meant the sight was especially unpleasant.

I gently stroked my chin. I knew the value of puppets well. The love they possessed was directed wholly toward their owners.

The only one among them who understood that was me... no, there was one other. I glanced at Biogan. He was standing there quietly as well, arms crossed.

He was not joining the group examining the puppets either. Though he was a traitor, the fact that he understood a puppet’s value meant he was better than the rest of them.

Yes, just as I treasured puppets, other people naturally treasured theirs too. To forcibly take them and laugh so joyfully, what a barbaric act.

Mages really were like this. I shook my head in pity. If this were not a competition, I would never have taken part in such a thing. I was different from them.

“For someone saying that, weren’t you the first to choose a puppet? Also, when we dealt with our opponents this time, I believe you were the most enthusiastic one.”

Gunda approached me and tilted his head. I could see a faintly sour look on his face. He stopped beside me with that sullen expression.

It seemed he had overheard my inner thoughts. Feeling a little awkward, I avoided his gaze. Then I gave a small cough and shrugged.

“Ahem, since I’m participating anyway, I should take what I can.”

I scratched my head and looked at the others. Unlike them, my heart was perfectly pure. That was why, when we first attacked, I had not been all that interested in the puppets. I had even considered leaving them alone.

But after seeing one of the puppets they controlled, I changed my mind. I quietly felt inside my clothes. The puppet I had taken was there.

I pulled it out. Its strange texture flowed over my fingertips. I held it out slightly toward Gunda.

“Gunda, even you won’t be able to help yourself once you see this. Isn’t it fascinating? This sheen, its structure, even the material. I truly feel respect for the person who made it.”

I looked down at it, my eyes shining. It had a form like black fog. Its function was to disturb the senses of anyone who entered it.

Should I say it felt like a greatly weakened version of Mira’s fog? In that sense, it was a truly fascinating puppet. Even after losing its owner, it was maintaining this fog-like form.

Because of that amorphous body, it was not easy to understand the structure that made up the puppet either. How could I simply pass by such an interesting puppet? If I took it apart, I might gain new knowledge.

I stroked it and smiled contentedly. I had no choice but to bring it with me. I looked at the people splitting puppets in half. If I had not taken it, it definitely would have ended up with them anyway.

In that sense, one could even say I had saved this puppet. It had not fallen into the hands of people who did not properly understand that love and been split apart like the others.

From this puppet’s perspective, meeting someone like me was a stroke of luck. From their perspective, they were bound to suffer this attack anyway. I tapped the puppet like that, then tucked it back inside my clothes.

Gunda watched me and lightly shook his head. He clearly did not understand the depths of my feelings. Well, how could a mage understand my heart? I quietly shrugged.

More importantly, this hunt had taken longer than expected. I looked at the sky and lightly clicked my tongue. The circle had shrunk even more than before.

And as much as the circle had shrunk, the number of people had decreased as well. Perhaps because of that, it was now getting difficult to encounter anyone. Even during this hunt, finding people had taken longer.

And that also meant we had hunted that many people. I unfolded the map. The path we had taken was very clean now.

Like this, we had been steadily hunting people as we advanced. It was a kind of pruning. The process of reducing the number of people.

There was no other reason for doing this. The fact that the circle in the sky had grown smaller meant the competition was reaching its final stage. Since only ten people could move on to the second round of the competition, we needed to reduce that number as much as possible.

I quietly tapped the table. Everyone we had met had been in a small group of no more than four. Because of that, the others could not easily overcome the violence of numbers we created.

It was not that others had failed to think as I did and therefore had not formed large groups. Their choices were the result of rational judgment.

If one only considered the possibility of passing, their chances were probably higher than ours. As Miorang had shown, creating a traitor was very easy.

If they increased their numbers too much, they would surely fall into traps just as we had. That was why people only formed groups with a few members from the same association or with acquaintances.

Miorang was the same. He had also formed a group with several people from the same association. He probably knew the danger of betrayal well, just as he had done to us.

Even so, I had formed this group because I was confident in my own safety. My consciousness could move to an offshoot body anyway. Betrayal was not a major issue for me.

In that sense, no group had as many people as ours. That was why we could advance so fearlessly.

Miorang, who had established a cooperative relationship with us on the other side, was probably carrying out this pruning just like we were. So that, in the end, only they and we would remain. That was our goal.

And we were surely not the only ones pleased by the decrease in numbers. I frowned slightly and checked the map. There was not much road left ahead.

Our destination was right before our eyes. I crossed my arms and looked down at the map. We were heading toward the center of the circle carved into the sky.

That was where this first round of the competition would end. According to Miorang, the place clearly marked on the map was where the “qualifying line” was located. It was the qualifying point that could only be entered once the circle finished shrinking and only ten people remained.

I glanced at the others. The people who had finished dividing the puppets were murmuring among themselves. I clapped my hands at them and stood up.

“Now, let’s move again. It’s time to advance.”

The people nodded at those words. I looked them over one by one. This short rest had been the final breather I had prepared for them.

From now on, if they wanted to survive, each of them needed to do their best. How many of them would remain? Even I did not know that.

Individual ability would matter more from here on. I could say I had fulfilled my responsibility for using them as meat shields by leading them this far. Of course, that did not mean I was done using them.

I hid those inner thoughts and gave them a bright smile. Then I cleaned up the area and began moving slowly with the others. Once again, with me and my puppet at the front.

There was no one blocking our way. That was the result of our steady cleaning. Because of that, it did not take very long to arrive near our destination.

I quietly stroked my chin. A small, rounded hill came into view. I took out the map and slowly compared it with the terrain. After checking everything, I gently nodded.

According to the map, this was indeed the center. The circle in the sky was pointing here as well. I filled my legs with magical power, kicked off the ground, and leapt up. Then I stood at the edge of the hill and looked around.

From the top of the hill, I could see the scenery in every direction clearly. Magical power was also gathering here, forming a single flow. In that sense, this place was a kind of natural fortress with its surroundings fully exposed.

The importance of this place was obvious just from the terrain. I stood still and let magical power flow. Then I frowned and kept watch over the surroundings.

My magical power sensed nothing. After checking the area like that, I let out a faint sigh. Then I gathered magical power and began drawing a magic circle on the ground.

It was a kind of concealment magic. Inside the magic circle, which slowly gave off magical power, I felt my presence gradually sink. After confirming that, I gestured with my chin toward my puppet.

The one wearing Cassian’s appearance sensed my will and gently nodded. Then it slowly left the magic circle and began checking the surroundings. It was a kind of reconnaissance.

It searched the hill like that and headed toward the center. There, it found a strange mark. A total of ten small circles were placed there.

It had to be the path leading to the next competition. It would probably activate once ten people remained. After confirming that, the puppet returned to my side.

Together with it, I built the magic circle with even more care. Then I checked the completed result and smiled in satisfaction. It was perfect.

It would not be easy for those who came here to discover my concealment. I was quite confident in magic that hid things. I had been storing puppets in the tower while avoiding Professor Irian’s gaze, after all.

After checking the magic circle thoroughly again, I sat in the center and gently closed my eyes. I needed to spend some time like this. They would need certainty too.

How much time had passed like that? My eyes twitched faintly. Part of the nearby flow of magical power had changed.

The direction of that flow was changing very naturally, as if caused by the movement of the wind. It felt like nothing strange, just a natural phenomenon.

But that flow was wrapping precisely around the barrier I had made. Because I had stayed tense and kept scattering magical power, I was able to notice how suspicious it was.

After confirming that, I smiled slightly. Were they finally moving? I stood up, dusted myself off, and looked around. I could not see any trace, but someone was clearly targeting my barrier.

Of course they would. This place was the key area of the competition. Naturally, there had to be someone occupying it.

The reason I had concealed myself like this was to lure out people like that. I looked over my body. My clothes were badly disheveled. My puppet was the same.

Right now, we looked like fugitives who had lost our group and drifted here. We had made ourselves look shabby so it would seem as if we had hidden in the center while aiming for one last chance.

In that sense, we were prey anyone would covet. And as if proving that, the people occupying this place were reacting to my appearance.

I felt the magical power surrounding the area gradually increase and begin to flow. It moved like a storm and started invading the circuits of the barrier. They were beginning their attack in earnest.

I quickly sent my puppet outside. It raised its sword and stabbed into the flow of magical power. Along with that, the magical power trying to break my magic circle faded.

The brief danger had been handled. But I could not relax. What they wanted was probably to draw my puppet out of the barrier like this. I felt that scattered magical power take shape again.

It did not vanish. Instead, it attacked my puppet. It became a kind of spell and bound my puppet’s body like chains. It was a kind of restriction magic.

I gave a bitter smile. From that spell, I could clearly feel the intent to swallow me up cleanly. I reached out and released magical power. It flowed over the puppet’s body and quickly cut through the restrictions.

The puppet soon regained its freedom using my magical power as its foundation. But the opponent did not miss the brief moment it had been bound. I frowned slightly at the magical power I felt from every direction.

The barriers where the opponents had hidden were opening. From within them, puppets sprang out and rushed at my puppet. They shot toward it at high speed.

My puppet barely raised its sword and blocked their attacks. Sparks flew, and its sword was pushed back. After checking the opponent’s puppets, my eyes widened slightly.

Those puppets were holding swords, just like mine. They were surely from Canyon City, like Biogan. As if proving they had not made those puppets for nothing, they quickly pressured my puppet.

When one sword was blocked, another sword flowed over it, and when that was avoided, yet another sword stabbed in. Their coordination was as natural as flowing water, and indescribably fast.

My puppet tried to block it, but it only endured that pincer attack for a very brief moment. It inevitably exposed openings within their linked attacks, and the opponent did not miss those brief gaps.

Wounds began to carve themselves into its body in an instant. Under that pressure, it had no choice but to slowly step backward toward my barrier.

And the moment its body nearly touched the barrier, some of those sword-user puppets shot toward me. They were trying to neutralize me first, as the puppet’s owner.

Before the swords filled with their magical power, my barrier quickly collapsed. The blades fell straight toward me. I stepped back and built up a magical power barrier to block them, but it only halted their movement for a moment.

I saw sword light flash through the cracks in the barrier. My puppet blocked that sword light. And in that urgent movement, its opening grew wider than before.

The opponent’s puppets quickly swung their swords. Then that sword light swept past the puppet’s body. What they had aimed for was the arm holding the sword.

Seeing that arm fall to the ground together with the sword, my expression hardened. Then I sent the puppet a signal. At this rate, there was no hope.

After receiving my signal, it turned and ran. I also disturbed the magical power, erasing the magical restraints chasing it, and quickly pulled back.

Were these the people occupying the center after all? The magical power I felt from them was extremely strong. Their puppets were the same.

They were stronger than I had expected. So I needed to leave this place quickly. Otherwise, those restraints would only grow stronger.

When I fled without looking back, the opponent’s puppets, and even the puppeteers, left the barrier they had formed and began chasing me.

Feeling that writhing magical power, I shook my head. I had tested them a little, and it was clear I could not handle them. The pincer attack those puppets created was that powerful.

If its intensity had been even greater, my puppet would have collapsed faster than it did. The fact that it endured that long was thanks to me, but the opponent’s attitude also played a part.

They were handling my puppet carefully, as if they already considered it theirs. Was it because it was a puppet that used a sword? They clearly intended to steal it and inspect its structure.

Then I needed to make them regret that carelessness. I ran and ran until I left the hill. Then I slipped among the trees.

The opponent caught up to me very quickly. I sensed sharp magical power and quickly lowered my body as I turned around. A blade was falling toward me.

At this rate, I clearly could not dodge. My puppet sprang forward and pushed me lightly aside. It was trying to protect me from the path of that sword.

As it intended, I was able to fly a little farther forward. But the price was clear. The puppet had been pierced by that sword in my place.

Seeing that, I froze. The puppeteers slowly approached me as they watched. I could see smiles on their lips. They thought they had caught me now that the puppet was broken.

At that, I lightly checked the surroundings. Thanks to the puppet’s sacrifice, I had reached the planned spot without taking any damage. I quietly moved back. Seeing me like that, they also took a step forward.

And the moment they took that final step, explosive magical power wrapped around the area. After confirming that, I laughed. People were most careless when they thought things were finished.

The magic circles hidden around us shone. They fired magic straight at the puppets. They were restriction spells that half-neutralized the puppets, just as my puppet had been hit.

The puppets bound by them reacted at once. They scattered the swords they were holding and created a kind of small sword formation. The magical power flowing along those swords formed a kind of domain to resist the restraints binding their bodies.

Seeing that, my eyes faintly shone. It was an incredibly strange spell. So sword-user puppets could be used that way if enough of them were gathered.

Inside that sword formation, the restraints quickly faded. But that spell was not all we had prepared for them. Several puppets fell down over their heads.

That group of puppets poured their strength toward them in their own ways. The sword-user puppets, focused on responding to the magic circles, could not deal with that attack effectively. Just as my puppet had done, they were forced to retreat a little.

And taking advantage of the gap created like that, one puppet shot forward. It was a mounted puppet that looked like a horse-shaped magical beast and a human had been fused together.

It belonged to Jurban. Because Jurban was weak, Jurban used a puppet specialized in targeting openings like this. And that puppet’s trait was perfect for our plan right now.

The mounted puppet charged straight ahead with its spear. Then it brushed past the group of puppets showing an opening. What it aimed for was not the puppets, but their owners, the puppeteers.

The opponents quickly responded to that movement too. They built a barrier together and stood firm. The mounted puppet threw itself toward that barrier.

It thrust its spear at the barrier. With its acceleration behind it, the spear pierced about halfway through. But that was its limit. It stopped there and could not advance any farther.

The puppet was flung back in the opposite direction. Seeing that, I smiled slightly. The first attack had failed, but it had dealt them that much damage.

Their faces had turned a little pale from rapidly gathering magical power. They had already fallen perfectly into our trap.

No matter how strong they were, it was clear they could not overcome the violence of numbers we created in the end. So now we only needed to slowly pressure them and force their surrender.

Thinking that, I took one step forward. Then my face quickly stiffened.

“Everyone, over here!”

I pulled back and shouted to the people in the group. Then I placed a hand on my chest. I could feel my tree trembling. It was because of an ominous premonition seeping in like a flood.

That sense of crisis was not simply because of them. It was more direct, an intuition that something was threatening my life.

And this was also the sixth sense every mage possessed. It seemed I was not the only one who felt it, because everyone had stopped. Us and our opponents alike.

At my shout, the people in the group quickly approached. I checked them and scattered magical power. Then I quickly raised the barrier I had prepared beforehand. I built up protective magic.

I glanced at the others. If my thought was correct, this barrier alone would not be enough to block it. At that, the people stood beside me and quickly reinforced the barrier.

The barrier formed in an instant and swiftly covered our surroundings. It was the result of practicing it many times before coming here. And the moment it was completed, I felt a huge surge of magical power rise from beneath the ground.

It was hot magical power, as if a single mage had used all their magical power to blow themself up. That magical power climbed through the ground and caused an explosion. Then it struck the barrier we had built head-on.

The shock made my insides churn. I spat out a little blood and clicked my tongue. Even though we had prepared in advance, the barrier we built had been half-destroyed in an instant.

The power of that explosion was too strong. It made sense. That familiar explosion was one I had suffered before.

I looked outside the barrier. This explosion had not only swept over us. The opponents I had lured out had also been caught in it.

The first thing I saw was their puppets. They had been hit by the explosion and were half in pieces. The sword formation had reduced the burden, but it seemed they had still failed to withstand the explosion.

The opposing puppeteers had also been swept up by the explosion and flung everywhere. I saw them leaking magical power and vomiting blood in various places. Their condition was rather bad. It was probably because they had not prepared for the explosion in advance like we had.

“Mm, I was thinking I’d blow everyone away at once. I didn’t know you would block it this well. Is it thanks to your experience last time?”

A small voice came from inside the mist of magical power created by the explosion. Along with it, a faint smell of blood brushed the tip of my nose. I frowned slightly and looked toward the source of the sound.

Someone slowly walked out through the magical power. It was Ugo, the narrow-eyed boy. With a mischievous smile on his lips, he waved at us.

After lightly glancing over us, he headed straight toward the opposing puppeteers. Then he checked their faces one by one, and soon raised magical power toward one of them.

Just as we had not sensed his presence, his magical power was extremely stealthy as well. Perhaps that puppeteer sensed it heading toward them, because they slightly lifted their head.

There was a bit of hesitation in those eyes. They looked back and forth between us and Ugo. Then they soon gave a bitter smile and opened their mouth.

“I... surrender.”

A cluster of light fell toward them. Their companions saw that and likewise declared their surrender. Along with that, even more clusters of light wrapped around the area. Inside them, the people quickly vanished.

“Oh dear, they ran away again.”

Ugo smacked his lips and shook his head. He walked straight to the place where the opponent had disappeared. Then he rummaged through the various items left there and soon picked up a small coin fragment.

He looked at it and smiled with satisfaction. The person who had just surrendered and left had also been chosen by another association head. I had known in advance, but their power had also been stronger than expected.

“It’s a shame everyone runs away like this whenever things seem uncertain. I wonder where the rumors about me spread from. As expected, was it your fault for running away?”

Ugo fiddled with the fragment and glanced at me. At that, my face stiffened slightly, and I gave a bitter smile. There was no need to make excuses. His words were true.

Our group had dealt with many people on the way here. But in that process, there had also been some we let live. And the reason we had let them go was to spread the word that Ugo was harming people.

It seemed my efforts had worked a little. Seeing how the opponents just now shouted surrender without hesitation, they had surely heard the rumors I had spread.

And this explosion was, as expected, probably the result of blowing up corpse puppets like last time. I looked beside him. About three corpse puppets were standing there. Facing those expressionless faces, I clicked my tongue lightly.

The reason I had spread rumors earlier was so Ugo could no longer receive supplies of those corpse puppets. If everyone was on guard, it would not be easy to cause “accidents.” Even so, it seemed quite a few people had been caught.

I checked the condition of the others. Everyone had taken a heavy shock while blocking that explosion. Still, fortunately, it was not so bad that we had to run away completely like last time.

Though one person was in rather serious condition. I looked at Jurban. Jurban’s face was pale, and Jurban was vomiting a mouthful of blood.

Jurban had sent a puppet at the opposing puppeteers. Because of that, it had been completely swept up in the explosion and utterly broken. The recoil had clearly twisted Jurban’s magical power too.

Having lost both puppet and magical power like that, Jurban could not endure any longer. Jurban looked at me and let out a small sigh. Then Jurban murmured, “I surrender.” At that, a cluster of light descended and wrapped around Jurban’s body.

Jurban was the first eliminated member of our group. Watching Jurban leave, I nodded. Jurban had sacrificed themself to create the current situation.

Jurban had done so by trusting my promise to give them coins instead, since their chance of advancing was slim. So I would definitely keep what I had promised. Jurban showed a bitter smile, then vanished in an instant.

“Thank you very much. Thanks to all of you, I obtained one fragment easily.”

Ugo approached our barrier and spread both arms. Then he rummaged in his clothes and pulled out a coin fragment. He released magical power and connected the fragments.

The coin fragments were woven inside that magical power and merged into one. I narrowed my eyes slightly and looked at it. The coin in his hand was about half complete. Ugo shook it and met my gaze.

“I didn’t know you would come here. If you hadn’t figured out our location properly, you wouldn’t have been able to prepare a trap like this.”

I shrugged and glared at Ugo. At that, Ugo smiled brightly and tapped our barrier with his hand.

“Well, you all moved so grandly that predicting your route was easy. So I used you as bait. And I succeeded, just like this. Very nice. Normally, I would have had to use two puppets.”

After smiling brightly like that, he soon stroked his chin and looked at me. Then he smacked his lips slightly.

“And I also happened to overhear an interesting story. That you had one more fragment. Originally, I wasn’t planning to target you all together. I thought Miorang was the only one left with a fragment now. I would have had to face that power, you see.”

He flicked the fragment. At those words, my complexion hardened slightly. Seeing me like that, Ugo gave an easy smile.

“But if you have it, the story changes. If I take that now, I’ll hold the majority. So I tried to get rid of all of you here at once.”

He lightly stepped back. Then he held out his hand toward me.

“But everyone’s fine. Of course, I can deal with you all, but... it would be a waste to use up more of my puppets, so if you hand over the fragment, I’ll let you live.”

Beyond those narrow eyes, Ugo’s eyes shone as he released killing intent. At that killing intent, the others began raising magical power. He paid no mind to that and smiled at me with his eyes.

“This time, even if you run, I’ll chase you to the end. So hand over the fragment quietly. Otherwise, you may suffer another ‘accident.’ Like these people.”

He tapped one of the corpse puppets beside him. At those words, I clicked my tongue hard. Then I made up my mind inwardly once more.

For whatever reason, this fellow was casually ignoring the rules of the association, and beyond that, the university. So he had to be removed. He was not suited to the puppeteer association I envisioned.

I quietly took out the fragment. Then I filled it with magical power and lightly flicked it. It flew straight to Ugo and dropped onto his hand.

Ugo carefully received it and checked the magical power contained in the coin fragment. He was checking whether it was fake. Of course, there was no need. It was real. I saw Ugo tilt his head.

“Oh? I didn’t think you’d hand it over this easily.”

I shrugged. Then I raised both hands.

“Of course I should give you what you ask for. It doesn’t mean anything to me anyway.”

I gave him a cheerful smile and nodded. At my reaction, his expression hardened slightly. He had clearly sensed that something was suspicious. But it was too late now. Looking at him, I continued.

“Because I’ve secured enough time to bind you now.”

He released magical power and looked around. Then he filled his body with magical power and blurred its form. He was clearly trying to use his unique concealment technique.

Ugo hid himself like that. But he could not hide his presence perfectly like before. A kind of trace had been carved onto his body. After confirming that, his face hardened.

“Did you call us bait? That’s exactly right. Just as you used us as bait to obtain a fragment, we also tried to fish you out. And we succeeded. I’m truly glad you moved exactly as we intended.”

He looked at me with his eyes wide open. Only now could I see the pupils that had been hidden behind those narrow eyes. Those blue eyes held a bit of bewilderment. Facing them, I burst into laughter.

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