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◈ Surviving in the Magic Academy

Chapter 196

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196. (Revised)

Silence filled the surroundings. Even the man facing the woman seemed a little flustered, standing there and blinking. It was enough to make me stop trying to run away.

The woman looked around at the now-quiet area and made a slightly sullen face. Just then, the bear that had tucked the paper away clapped loudly toward her. Then it gave her a thumbs-up and nodded.

At a glance, it was clearly trying to encourage her. Perhaps gaining confidence from that, the woman gave a small nod and raised her sword. Sharp magical power began pouring from the blade.

It flowed straight toward the girl and the man. The girl, her ring of light rippling, blocked it with a calm expression and pulled the chain. The man nodded to her.

The man lightly dodged the sharp magical power the woman emitted and quickly escaped the area under its influence. The sight of him crawling on all fours was astonishingly practiced.

To think a person could move that well on all fours while still in human form. It was enough to make me forget this was a crisis and let out a sound of admiration. Soon, the man corrected his posture again and gave a sinister smile.

“City lord, I didn’t think you would make it all the way here. I suppose I dragged things out too long.”

The man sneered and looked around. The woman called the city lord flinched for a moment, then her eyes shifted slightly. Then she stammered as she answered him. Her gaze stayed fixed on the bear.

“I, I have been waiting all this time for you to show yourself. Do not think what you have done... can be forgiven. I will end your life here.”

Once the woman finished speaking, the bear that had been showing her the paper clapped again. At that, the woman looked proud, as if she had pulled it off. She raised her sword triumphantly and kicked off the ground.

As she shot forward, she was like a flash of light. Even with magical power gathered in my eyes, I could only see a faint afterimage. Her way of speaking was a little awkward, but there was no doubt she possessed power no weaker than those black mages.

In an instant, the woman reached the man and swung her sword down. The girl fired magical power using the ring of light, but the woman’s sword split even that beam in half.

But the beam extending from the ring of light did not lose its magical power after being split by the woman’s sword. It shot straight toward her. The woman seemed not to have expected that and flinched for a moment, but she soon dodged it lightly.

Because she lost her balance for that brief instant, the woman’s sword failed to reach the two of them in the end. The man took advantage of the moment she stopped, quickly crawling away on his hands and feet to avoid her sword.

The magical power blooming from the man’s limbs was extremely sharp. He seemed to be using it to slide across the floor. In that way, despite his appearance, he was fulfilling his role as a mount perfectly.

Near their battlefield, I could see Emery collapse to the ground while pouring out magical power. She was taking shallow breaths as she watched the battle.

Damn it. There was no telling what would happen if she was left like that. I quickly approached to protect her. The others seemed to think the same, because they headed toward her just like I did.

Seen up close, her body was covered in wounds. Still, perhaps because the woman had intervened at the right time, there were no fatal injuries that threatened her life.

Evron, who reached her side before us, took several tools out from his chest. They were simple surgical tools and items that seemed useful for treatment. After checking them, Evron gave Emery a small bow.

“I will need to touch you briefly.”

Emery nodded. Then Evron began treating her body with delicate care. His hands looked very practiced as he sutured her wounds and engraved several magic circles over them along with bandages.

Within the magic born from his hands, Emery soon regained a stable flow of magical power. I saw her relax and clench both hands. Then she glared at us, especially me, and clicked her tongue.

“It seems someone was thinking of running away. I will remember this. If you show such behavior again, I will personally execute you.”

Cold sweat ran down my back. Had she still had the leisure to watch her surroundings while fighting? I quickly nodded. At this rate, I might die by her hand!

Seeing me curl up, Emery let out a light snort. Then she looked toward the area where the fight was taking place and frowned.

“Those things were acting?”

The girl and the man, the two who were clearly black mages, were emitting strong magical power, as if the fight with Emery had only been a game. Of course, their magical power was a little lacking compared to the woman’s.

Even so, through their precise coordination, they were holding their own against the woman. The area they created scattered impacts so powerful that the aftereffects of their magical power alone made it impossible to approach carelessly.

I glanced at the woman swinging her sword within that area. The awkward display from earlier had clearly sounded like acting, no matter who saw it. Had the others felt that too? Somehow, the tension that had filled the area until now seemed to ease a little.

Were we supposed to see the current situation as acting? I glanced at my wrist, and a screen appeared. Next to the words Survive written on it, I could see the word Complete.

So surviving meant holding out until that woman arrived? That fight must also be part of the set sequence. No wonder I had felt like this place would be the safest.

I breathed out in relief. It was actually a good thing I had not run away because of that ominous feeling. If I had run away, Emery definitely would not have let me off with a simple warning like this.

As expected, trusting my instincts would not hurt me. I quietly watched the fight. If that really was the set sequence, the result would come soon.

Just as I thought, the result showed itself. I could see the girl avoiding the woman’s sword and pulling the man’s leash. Under that rough handling, the man smiled happily and quickly moved away from the woman.

Watching that, I quietly shook my head. Who would think it was acting after seeing him treated like a mount and crawling along the ground like that? It was incredible acting.

By contrast, the woman was a little... lacking. Enough that all of us could tell she was acting. I stopped slightly while thinking that.

The fifth maxim: when you think something is certain, doubt it one more time. The scroll’s words had come to mind.

Following that maxim, perhaps even that terribly awkward acting was intentional. Thinking about it, this was not just a story, but a test!

Hadn’t the scroll said as much? Every test had proper evaluation criteria. No matter how new this test format was to me, it was clear we were being graded.

Perhaps even our current behavior would become part of the score. And there was someone who had thought of that before me. It was Evron. He put on a serious expression and looked around at the others.

“Let’s help that woman first. She seems to be the key person in facing the black mage.”

I could see the others nodding at that perfectly reasonable opinion. I let out a groan. Damn it, I was late again. It felt a little frustrating.

Still, I also felt somewhat relieved. He had excellent situational awareness, tact, and ability. With such a capable person in the same group, wouldn’t the exams ahead become a little easier? I even thought that.

I let magical power flow and scanned the surroundings. The fight between the woman and the black mages was continuing to grow fiercer. I also confirmed that thick shadows were secretly flowing and gathering around them.

We had to stop those things from interfering with the fight. If the woman fell here, I had no idea how the story would proceed afterward. I filled my feet with magical power and shot toward the battlefield.

The group members each took their positions and blocked the shadows’ advance. I also cut down the tentacles and defended my place. The moment we took position and began supporting the woman, she glanced at us.

I saw her lightly nod and adjust her grip on her sword. After that, her movements began to change little by little.

She began swinging her sword harder and more nimbly, quickly pressing the black mages. Soon, the woman swung her sword in a wide arc toward the man.

It carried enormous magical power like a half-moon and split the world in half. The man narrowly avoided it, cold sweat running down him as his eyes blinked wildly.

He seemed to be sending some kind of signal to the woman. But the woman merely tilted her head and swung her sword even harder.

Gang, who was watching from the side, let out a quiet sound of admiration. I could feel deep yearning in Gang’s eyes as they followed the path drawn by the woman’s sword. Gang nodded and cut down one tentacle.

“What an impressive sword. I can tell at once that she is an excellent swordsman.”

It seemed sword-users had something between them. At Gang’s admiration, Evron nodded with a pleased expression, as if agreeing. In front of him, I saw several puppets crushing the tentacles’ bodies.

I did not know why he agreed with a sword-user’s words, but even I had no choice but to admit that the magical power drawn by that woman was excellent. The path she drew looked beautiful even to me, someone ignorant about swords.

“Ha... damn it. I’m finally a little better.”

I saw Emery rise. I glanced at her. While we took our positions and blocked the shadows, she seemed to have recovered enough, because she was releasing fairly clear magical power.

Evron approached Emery and began removing the bandages and magic circles wrapped around her body. Only small red marks remained, and her body looked rather fine.

Emery stood from her spot while gently fluttering her fan. She looked toward the battlefield while covering her face with it. I could feel a slight irritation in her eyes.

“The sudden ambush left me no choice but to suffer it, but this situation is different. Everyone move aside. I will burn it all at once.”

Emery began swinging her fan. As she did, the magical power rippling from her traveled along the fan and began scattering in every direction.

Her magical power spread beyond the shadows and took control of the surroundings. After confirming the magical power flowing around the shadows, Emery removed one jewel from her fan and threw it over the shadow.

Then a magic circle popped out from the jewel and began spewing enormous flames. It consumed the magical power Emery had scattered and created a huge firestorm.

I flinched from the heat and stepped back. The firestorm settled over the shadow itself and began burning it. Unlike us, who had only dealt with the tentacles, it began eating the shadow itself.

The shadow wriggled as if resisting, but it could not overcome her magical power. The firepower was stronger than before. Like that, she continued burning the shadow, as if venting what she had suffered earlier.

The flames did not stop at simply burning the shadow. They spread all the way to the battlefield between the woman and the black mage. After confirming that, Emery lightly fluttered her fan as if controlling the flames.

Then the flames began restraining the man’s movements, as if matching the woman’s sword. Of course, the flames could not overcome the man’s magical power and quickly died down, but they were able to limit the area he could move in, if only a little.

It created a thread-thin opening. And the woman did not miss it. Her eyes flashed as she kicked off the ground. Then she seemed to leap through space, crossing the ring of light, and thrust her sword at the man.

The man tried to avoid the blade, but the woman’s sword was a little faster than he was. Like that, the sword cut through the man’s body and passed by.

The man spat blood and rolled across the floor. And as he was thrown away, the girl who had been on his back had no choice but to land on the ground as well.

The girl stared blankly at the fallen man, then turned her gaze to the woman. Somehow, the girl looked a little angry. She touched the ring of light and began releasing magical power stronger than before.

Then I could feel the ring of light expand and emit an intense glow. It held a power quite different from the magical power the girl had shown until now. For some reason, looking at that light made all my worries seem to vanish.

Facing it, the woman showed a somewhat flustered look and began filling her sword with magical power. The girl frowned at the woman and held out the ring of light.

Just as it was about to burst while rippling with deadly magical power, the fallen man sprang up and lightly pulled the leash. The girl’s hand stopped. After spitting out a little blood, he looked around and shook his head.

“As expected, it is still impossible for now. But do not think you will be able to hold the advantage forever. Time is on our side, after all. Then we will withdraw here.”

The man approached the girl and lowered his body again. The girl let go of the ring of light and stroked his wound. The magical power strongly dwelling in the ring of light flowed through the girl’s hand and into the man.

Thanks to that magical power, the wound that had cut halfway through the man’s body quickly recovered. He placed the girl on his back and began withdrawing while crawling across the floor.

He was trying to escape. The woman saw that and took one step toward them. Then she quietly opened her mouth.

“...Mm.”

The woman’s eyes shifted around, looking slightly troubled. Then the bear took out another sheet of paper and quietly held it out in front of her. The woman read the paper and nodded.

“Do you think I will let you escape?”

At that, the man let out a sinister laugh. Then he jerked his chin toward the castle rising high on the far side of the city. Screams and shouts were still coming from that place.

“If you spend any more time here, the castle will be breached. You were away from your post for too long. Many things will be heading there.”

As if proving the man’s words, I could see a giant shadow approaching the building. The giant shadow contained countless wriggling tentacles within it. If that thing attacked the castle, a great disaster would definitely occur.

It was a choice between two options. As the woman paused for a moment, the man raised magical power and wrapped his body in fog. He glanced at us and narrowed his eyes.

“You should think carefully too. Even if you stay here, you will only be eaten by the ritual in the end. If you wish to run away, I will open the door for you anytime.”

The man gave a sinister smile. The girl sitting on his back lightly pulled the chain. Then the man crawled softly on all fours with a bright smile. Slowly, he vanished into the fog.

The magical power I felt from him did not seem like acting at all. It was enough to make me think that perhaps he was not acting, and was truly performing the ritual. I swallowed, slightly tense.

But that tension quickly disappeared. The woman’s eyes shifted toward us, and she opened her mouth.

“Then you lot, follow me. I will guide you to the castle.”

The woman turned stiffly, climbed onto the bear, and leaped away. I let out a faint laugh. Hearing it from so close made her way of speaking feel even more awkward. The others seemed to have similar thoughts.

“For now, everyone, let’s move. Staying here will only leave us surrounded by danger.”

Evron jerked his chin in the direction the woman had gone. He was right. I did not know what sort of acting the woman was doing, but we needed to follow her for now. That was probably the test’s intent.

The others seemed to think the same, because they quickly moved and followed the woman. We crossed the ruined city center and saw the inner castle. The woman saw the giant shadow that had reached the castle’s vicinity and drew her sword.

She shot toward the shadow and swung her sword, but the mass of shadow quickly melted away before she could reach it. As if it had only meant to lure the woman here.

The other tentacles also began slowly retreating along with that movement. The woman quietly clicked her tongue and crossed the castle wall to head inside. Following her over the wall, we found many wounded people.

They were the soldiers guarding the castle. All of them were covered in torn wounds, likely from fighting the tentacles. But for some reason, looking at them gave me a strange feeling.

Why did I feel this odd sensation? I let magical power flow and briefly examined their bodies. Then I had no choice but to quietly blink. These things were not human.

Their bodies resembled humans very closely, just like the corpses outside. But what was contained within them could not be called human. Somehow, they felt similar to the shadow tentacles.

They were also creations born under a mage’s hand. I glanced at the woman. I did not feel the same presence as these creations from her. The same had been true of the black mages. That meant they were people.

After confirming that the woman was entering the tall castle, I followed behind her. The woman reached a place deep inside the castle, a space like a conference room, and sat in the seat of honor.

The woman looked around at us and lightly gestured. It meant to come closer. Emery clicked her tongue slightly and approached her. We did the same.

When we stood before the woman, she gave us a slight bow. Then she propped up her chin, put on a serious expression, and sighed.

“I do not know where you people came from, but I must express my thanks first. Thanks to you, I was able to learn a little about the black mage. They had refused to show themselves before, so I had been troubled. Take a short breath, with a solemn face. Before we speak, I should introduce myself first. I am Cassian, the master of this city. It is difficult to say this as one who has received your help, but I have another favor to ask. Cross arms and fill them with magical power. Will you help me annihilate those vile black mage bastards? I swear on my name that I will not forget your help and will repay you. Exhale a sigh. Of course, I will not stop you even if you flee. I will provide you with a safe path as well.”

Her tone was less awkward than before. Still, I could only blink. Something strange seemed to be mixed in between her words.

Had I heard wrong? As I thought that, I heard someone sigh beside me. When I glanced over, I saw Evron clicking his tongue with a deeply worried expression.

Soon, he seemed to notice my gaze and let out an awkward laugh. Apparently, he had also noticed the strange parts in her words. The woman seemed not to notice our awkwardness and was staring at us intently.

No, her gaze was not on us, but behind us. I quietly turned around and saw the bear from before hiding a sheet of paper while pretending not to know anything. It was such a lighthearted sight that even the last bit of tension dropped away.

At that moment, I felt something wrap around the surroundings. Like before, a curtain had bound us.

--

Chapter 1. Black Mage

You have received a request for cooperation from the city lord. Discuss how you will act and submit your opinion. (This choice will be reflected in the later story.)

--

It was a different choice from before. I quietly looked around and saw that the others were looking at the same screen. Soon, Evron stroked his chin and smiled.

“This really does seem to be a play.”

I nodded. Just as he said, this was no different from a play. That was what it meant to reach the end of the story. Our choice would become a branch point and a standard that guided this test.

“My opinion is the same as before. If humans are to remain human, we must not ignore those in crisis. I will cooperate with the city lord.”

Gang spoke while touching their scabbard. I had expected Gang to make that choice. I quietly watched Emery’s reaction. She was resting her chin on her hand without giving any response to Gang’s words.

As for me, I planned to follow her. If I defied her even here, I would definitely become the first card she discarded. Evron had also said he would follow her, so whatever she chose would practically become our opinion.

But she seemed lost in thought for a long time. Then should I reveal my thoughts first?

“I think running away would also be good.”

Gang met my eyes and showed a slightly displeased look. I gave them a slight bow and carefully continued.

“I am only bringing it up. Didn’t the city lord tell us we could run away? She said there was a safe path. If we can escape through there, we should be able to leave this terrible barrier.”

I quietly placed a hand on my chest. The reason I stepped forward like this was that I trusted my instincts. If we chose to fight, a thorny road would unfold. That feeling filled my chest.

In the previous choice, my senses had sent me a signal that fighting the black mage would be safest. And as a result of that choice, the woman called the city lord had arrived and secured our safety like this.

My instincts were functioning effectively in this choice as well. And that feeling was sending me a signal now. It was telling me that running away would be relatively less dangerous.

“There may be an even better method.”

Jaun stroked their chin while looking at me. A better method? Was there another option besides running away? They jerked their chin beyond the curtain. It was the direction of the castle wall.

“I mean joining the black mage outright. From the look of things, the city lord seems to have difficulty leaving this castle. Wouldn’t it be more convenient to side with the winning side? We only have to finish the story, after all.”

There was that method. It was a method I had never thought of. I quietly felt the sensation in my chest. The moment I heard Jaun’s words, it settled calmly. That meant it was the safest method.

Of course, if that happened, everyone remaining in this city would become sacrifices for the ritual. But what did that matter? As we had just seen, they were all nothing more than puppets.

It meant we did not need to feel any guilt about offering people up. I glanced at Gang. At Jaun’s words, Gang looked dumbfounded and let out a hollow laugh.

For someone like Gang, who spoke of human duty, it was clearly a hard choice to accept. But this was a test. As Jaun said, we only had to finish the story.

In that sense, there was no need to make an unreasonable choice.

“What a very mage-like opinion.”

Emery looked around at us with a relaxed expression. I swallowed quietly. No matter what we said, the direction she chose would become the path we took.

Still, I looked at Emery with a little hope. If she was also a mage, she would surely make the most reasonable choice. Cooperating with the black mage, or running away. There was no need to pass up a safe and quick path.

Perhaps Emery felt my gaze, because she met my eyes. Then she let out a light sigh. Seeing that, I could only stop short. Somehow, I glimpsed contempt in her eyes.

“I never thought you lot would be worse than a swordsman. As far as I am concerned, my disappointment is great.”

She gave Gang a small bow. I could feel respect for Gang from her. I blinked. It was the first time I had seen someone call a sword-user a swordsman.

She stood beside Gang. Evron, who had been standing behind her, quietly stroked his chin. Somehow, I could glimpse an interested smile at his mouth.

“Mm, as before, I will follow Ms. Emery.”

Evron headed toward Emery. Seeing that, I could only make a tearful face. The warning in my chest had grown even worse.

It was stabbing violently at my heart, as if telling me this was an extremely great crisis. But I had no choice but to follow Emery. I could not be abandoned here.

“Then I will fight too.”

Holding back tears, I headed to Emery’s side. The moment Emery and Evron finished choosing, the vote had already passed the majority. What could I do in that situation?

“This situation again? Refusing the easiest path... I truly do not understand. Well, do as you please.”

It was a four-to-one situation. Jaun seemed to sense that the opinion had been decided, so he shook his head. Along with that, the contents of the screen began to change. Our decision was engraved inside it.

--

Chapter 1. Black Mage

You have received a request for cooperation from the city lord. After discussion, you decided to build a cooperative relationship with her. Survive the black mage’s clutches.

--

At our decision, the woman who had introduced herself as Cassian brightened. She spread both arms toward us.

“Thank you. Then follow me. I have many things to ask of you.”

The woman awkwardly rose. Somehow, I could glimpse a triumphant air from her. She seemed immersed in her own acting.

I quietly stared at the screen. Survive was the same as before. But for some reason, unlike before, it felt extremely ominous. Feeling the instinct ringing in my chest, I looked at Emery.

Even after finishing her choice, Emery was staring down at the screen, lost in thought. I could not understand why she, a mage, had chosen to fight. To throw away that safe path.

But the path was already decided, and I had no choice but to follow. I could not run away either. If I ran away alone, Emery would definitely burn me. Like that, I followed behind Cassian with a tearful face.

---

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