WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Coughing Baby

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◈ Surviving in the Magic Academy

Chapter 20

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The world was beautiful, and the sunlight was dazzling.

Everything looked vivid, as if it had been touched by some new light. Every shabby sight in the slums felt fresh, like I was seeing it for the first time, and I could sense a hidden beauty in all of it.

The center of the slums was crowded with people. Maybe because today was the day the exam ended, the streets were busier than usual. I walked with light steps, waving and greeting everyone who passed by.

A smile spread across my face. People stared at me in confusion, but that did not matter. I simply wanted to share this refreshing feeling, this happiness, with these poor souls.

My body felt as light as a feather, and my heart felt like it was walking above the clouds.

Mm-hmm-hmm. A hum slipped out on its own.

It felt as if I had been freed from every worry and fear that had weighed me down for so long. The frustration that had piled up each time I failed the exam, the eleven years of blood, sweat, and effort. All of it had existed for this day.

Even the druggies sprawled on the ground looked as cute as little flowers. I crossed the slums as if I were flying.

To think this road, which I had seen until I was sick of it, had been this beautiful all along. Why had I failed to discover its deeper meaning until now? I must not have had the breathing room.

I used magical power to pluck a wildflower from the ground and brought it to my nose. A light sweetness lingered there. Mm, what a charming scent. I closed my eyes and drew the fragrance deep into my body. Then, at some point, a fishy smell began to push it away.

"You've finally gone mad, I see."

It was the sword-user, Evan. The bastard was looking at me with a face full of pity. A strong smell of iron came from him.

For a moment, I almost frowned, but I gently relaxed my expression and smiled. Mm, even this fishy smell must have its own beauty. I simply could not perceive it.

"Are you all right? Don't tell me you failed the exam and took some kind of drug."

Evan waved a hand in front of my eyes. A drug? If one thought about it, perhaps it could be called a drug. A tonic for my life, that was. I brushed the bastard's hand aside and spread both arms wide. Sunlight wrapped around my whole body.

"Failed? Of course I passed."

The bastard's eyes widened as if he had heard something impossible. After digging at his ear for a moment, he asked again with a stunned look.

"You passed?"

I nodded. He blinked at me. I took a piece of paper from my coat and fluttered it in front of him. It was my acceptance certificate, protected under layer after layer of every defensive magic I knew. Proof of my university admission, the fruit of my efforts.

His eyes moved along the letters written on the paper. Disbelief settled over his face. After staring blankly at it for a while, he opened his mouth and stammered.

"Uh... congratulations."

"Mm. Yes."

I smiled and nodded. Seeing that expression gave me an even deeper sense of satisfaction.

In truth, I had lingered here for a while just to see that face. Now that I had gotten a satisfying enough reaction, it was time to leave. I started walking, then stopped.

Thinking about it, I had owed him a few debts over the years. Since I would soon be leaving for the university, should I not give him at least one gift?

As I began wondering what to give, my shop suddenly came to mind. The place where I had spent the past ten years. My home.

Once I left for the university, I would have to vacate it too. Better to leave it under the care of someone I knew than let some stranger take over. I turned back to the bastard and said,

"I'll be leaving for the university soon, so after that, I'll give you the shop."

"Your shop? No, wasn't it our land to begin with? You were occupying it without permission."

He nitpicked. I had stayed there for ten years, so it had completely become my land. I had no idea what he was talking about. I laughed and shrugged.

He looked like he wanted to argue more, then closed his mouth. After smacking his lips for a moment, he nodded with an uneasy expression.

"Well, if that's the case, I'll accept it."

If I ever came back from the university later, I would just take it back.

With that thought, I started walking again. He stood there blankly for a moment, then scratched his head and turned away. I left the center of the slums behind and headed for my home.

The open lot I had cleared before came into view. In the middle of it, my shop stood tall, welcoming me back. The sign that read [Evron's Puppet Workshop] sparkled in the warm sunlight. I walked closer and ran my hand over it.

I remembered the day I first hung it. Back then, I had not thought I would stay here this long. Then eleven years passed, and only today had I finally seen the results.

I lightly opened the door and stepped inside. A scene not much different from two weeks ago greeted me.

Except Professor was lying comfortably where the table had been on the first floor. In place of the table, some sort of massage bed had been set there. I had never seen it before.

Was she sleeping?

I carefully approached Professor. She was snoring softly, sunk deep into the bed. Butler stood beside her, kneading her arms and legs with the delicate care of someone playing an instrument.

Perhaps she sensed my presence, because Professor slowly opened her eyes. They were heavy with sleep. She yawned and stretched.

"The exam's over already?"

I nodded. Then I took out the paper I had shown off earlier and held it out to her. She accepted it with two fingers and checked it.

Under Professor's teachings, I had finally managed to pass. Professor would be happy too. A smile formed on my lips.

Then came the shock.

In an instant, I was embedded in the wall. Huh? I blinked. The pain reached my body a beat later.

I sensed Professor's murderous, condensed magical power. She had clearly hit me with it. I looked at her with trembling eyes. Why? I had passed, so why?

"What are these points? You're almost dead last."

Professor shook the paper. I had not thought of this possibility. My pupils shook wildly. She hit me because my points were low.

My mind snapped awake all at once. Until now, I had been wandering through flower fields in my head. With Professor's personality, I should have expected this. I quickly pulled myself together and stood up straight.

"I'm sorry!"

I immediately slammed my head down. I felt magical power surging above it. If I had been even a little slower, I would have been hit again. Cold sweat ran down my back.

"Well, I suppose it can't be helped. It isn't as if I expected high points from you anyway."

Professor said that and yawned widely again. Butler quickly offered her tea. She accepted it and took a sip.

Her gaze turned toward the window, as if checking the time. Butler took a watch from their pocket and showed it to her. When she saw it, she frowned.

"I woke up too early."

She rose from the bed and set her feet on the floor. I quickly stood at attention by her side. She glanced at me and said,

"Anyway, how does it feel to have passed the university? Does it feel like the whole world is yours?"

Passed. At that word, a smile formed on its own. My body seemed to grow light again. I tried to collect myself quickly, but I could not erase that happiness. Professor noticed and chuckled.

"You'd better wake up from that dream quickly. Passing the university won't be the end of your hardship. It will be the beginning."

I bowed my head politely and listened. I already knew the university was not the end.

But how could I hide my anticipation and excitement? No matter how hard I tried, I could not calm it down. Ignoring me, she unfolded my acceptance certificate in her hand.

"Mm, twelve thousand people. Quite a lot passed this time."

She laughed.

"What do you think? More successful applicants than you expected, aren't there?"

Professor was right.

In truth, I had only been thinking about passing, so I had not cared at all about my rank. But now that I thought about it, as Professor said, there were far too many successful applicants.

There were many rumors about the university, but very little information circulated outside. According to mages who had left the university, some kind of prohibition had been placed on them, making it impossible to leak stories about the inside.

So unless it was the Empire, which directly administered the exam, no one else could easily tell how many people entered the university. I had thought there would be a few thousand at most.

Yet this many people had passed.

If around this number passed every year, then just how many mages were there inside the university? I could not even begin to grasp the scale.

Seeing my face, she clicked her tongue.

"The university may be an object of longing for many mages, but that only applies to rootless wanderers like you. Many mage families consider it a rite of passage."

She showed me a simple illusion with magic. In the illusion, countless people fell into one giant sieve. Only a very small portion passed through. The rest struggled inside, trying to slip out through the mesh.

"You barely made it through a filter meant to sift out countless mages. In that sense, you have only just reached the starting line."

Professor erased the illusion and crossed her arms with a deep frown. Although she held the position of professor, she seemed to have a great many complaints about the university's structure.

"I'm telling you this because you passed the university. Lower yourself more than before. Be more desperate. Inside, there will only be people better than you."

"Yes."

I answered tensely. Professor was right. I had gotten far too excited just because I had passed the university. I recalled the exam process. I had not passed through skill. I had used tricks.

My points proved that. So I had to engrave those points deep in my heart. As Professor said, I had to approach everything with the thought that I was the weakest person there.

When Professor moved her fingertips, I heard space split open. From the crack, she pulled out one heavy book. Then she lightly placed my acceptance certificate inside it and handed it to me.

"Admission is one month from now, so this is your homework until then. Use that as a reference and further modify this puppet before you enter."

She said that while pointing at Butler, who stood beside her. I carefully accepted the book. Professor quietly lay back down on the massage bed. Soon, she fell asleep again and began snoring softly. Butler resumed the massage.

After bowing in farewell, I left. On the way down to the workshop, I let out a bitter smile. I had not expected to get hit as soon as I came back. But thanks to that, my head was clear again.

The workshop, which I had returned to after so long, was spotless, without a single speck of dust. I headed to the workbench in the center and placed the book on top of it.

There was nothing written on the cover. It was merely bound in luxurious leather. I had never seen this kind of book before. I carefully opened the cover. A simple table of contents was written in neat handwriting.

I began to read it slowly.

Soon, my hands trembled wildly at its unbelievable contents.

This was a magic book containing magic for serving and assisting others. In other words, attendant magic. And not just any attendant magic, but extremely special magic inherited and developed over many long years.

I could also understand why nothing was written on the cover. This was not the kind of book circulated outside.

It was knowledge shared only by some family with a long history. As if proving that, the book was packed with magic passed down and improved through generations solely to support mages.

Where had Professor obtained this? Had she unearthed it somewhere while collecting treasures?

Thinking that, I slowly turned the pages. Each spell carried a deep history, and they were filled with delicate techniques designed over countless years.

The most impressive among them was Environment Optimization Magic.

This magic described in detail how to manipulate the air currents around a target and keep the surrounding environment comfortable at all times. It required only a faint amount of magical power, little enough that anyone could use it.

But the flow of that magical power was extremely strange. The magic circle that formed this magic could only be perfectly constructed with the delicate circuit structure written in the book.

If even one part was off, the result produced by the magic would surely collapse very quickly. Finding this optimal flow was not something that could be achieved through talent alone.

It was magic filled with research and effort, something that could only be born from experiments carried out over a very long time. If this magic were used, the entire space would be optimized to match the target's preferences, allowing it to remain comfortable at all times.

A shiver ran through me. To think magic like this existed.

The other spells also formed beautiful, delicate magic circles like this one. Looking at them made me feel deeply ashamed of myself.

I remembered the spells I had named "perfect" until now. I had named them that partly because they were adjusted to Professor's tastes, but also because after countless improvements, I had thought they had no gaps at all.

Yet before this book, those spells of mine felt endlessly shabby. Somewhere deep down, I had thought I was the only one who could create magic like this. I had thought I was special.

But here were mages who had created magic greater and deeper than mine.

The world was far wider than I had thought, and there must be countless gifted eccentrics out there. Families with history would stand at the peak of them all. As this book showed, even in a humble field like serving others, I could feel the weight of their tremendous history.

Professor's words were always right. I was a bug. A bug who had only just entered the university. The joy and excitement of passing finally sank completely. Anxiety filled their place instead. Passing the university was only the beginning. Now I had to think about surviving there.

The entrance ceremony was one month away.

Looking at this magic book, the one month Professor had given me felt far too short.

I slowly began learning those spells.

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