WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Coughing Baby

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◈ Surviving in the Magic Academy

Chapter 26

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I looked in the mirror.

A face as thin as skin and bones, looking ten years older, stared back at me. Fatigue had stained the skin under my eyes black, and those dark circles seemed to run all the way down to my chin. They were the traces of three sleepless days and nights spent agonizing without end.

I had no idea how I was supposed to run that damned lecture.

I looked around. Explosive magical power swirled through the room. This was one of the rooms on the fourth floor, and after absorbing so much of my magical power, it had half turned into my workshop. If I kept soaking it in magical power for another month or so, I should be able to fully tame it.

It could not even compare to the underground workshop beneath my old shop. Its magical power efficiency was thousands of times better, it had powerful security, and it was huge enough to let me do anything I wanted. It was the perfect workshop I had dreamed of.

But I could not smile at all. Of course, it was because of that damned lecture.

I still had no idea what form the lecture should take. I had considered going outside to ask for help, but I quickly gave up on that.

I knew no one, and the area around me was all mountains, so I did not even know where to go. Besides, how was I supposed to get help? I had no points, so I would not be able to pay properly anyway.

In the end, I had to squeeze everything I had been given for all it was worth and somehow finish that syllabus.

I had come up with all sorts of ideas so far.

The first was a lecture on magic books. The old magic books placed in the library. I wondered if I could share them with the students taking the lecture and have them discuss the knowledge and magic contained inside.

I thought this one had real potential. All I had to do was throw the books at them. The students could interpret the magic books on their own and learn from them by themselves.

But there was one major problem. I did not have the ability to supervise that class. How could I lead that class and grade them? I did not fully understand those magic books myself. For someone like me, who could barely learn two spells after spending a whole month on them, it was impossible.

So I put that plan on hold. Then what if I handled practice instead of theory? With that thought, I also considered a lecture focused on practical training.

I would have the students spar against each other. They would compete, build experience, and absorb techniques. I thought it was a very good idea.

But this had an obvious problem too. It was the same as before. How was I supposed to supervise that? And how would I evaluate it? In the end, I passed on this one too.

In more or less that way, dozens of lecture ideas appeared, then disappeared because of their limits.

There was one fact that stood out clearly among all those countless lectures. The person creating all those limits was me.

Because I was weak, because my realm was lacking, every class ran into a wall. In the end, I realized it. I did not have the ability to run a class.

It was obvious, really.

I was nothing but a freshman who had just entered the university. Could someone like me really teach other mages, who might have been rolling around here for years? No matter how much I thought about it, it was impossible.

So over the past few days, I had considered many possibilities.

The surest option was Professor’s help. If Professor helped me even a little, I could find some way to put a class together. A survival lecture, or a practice-focused lecture, for example.

But after declaring that she was leaving everything to me, Professor had holed herself up at the top of the tower and refused to budge. Just in case, I sent up several proposals, and her magical power came down through the tower and struck me right on the head. After that stinging pain, I had no choice but to give up on getting Professor’s help.

A little resentment toward Professor rose in me. Why had she left this problem to me? She clearly knew I lacked the ability, so why?

That resentment circled around and ended up aimed at my past self. Why had I tried so hard back then? I should have taken it easy. Then this would never have happened.

But it had already happened. The face reflected in this mirror was the result. This exhausted mess that looked ready to collapse at any moment.

I could not go on like this.

No answer came to mind. But I could not give up here. Somehow, I had to present a result to Professor within the week.

“Damn it, if I could just dump this on someone else like Professor did, I wouldn’t have to worry like this...”

I threw the mirror in irritation. It struck the floor and shattered into pieces. A puppet that had been standing by quickly approached and cleaned up the fragments.

Wait.

Something suddenly caught in my mind. I felt like I had said something incredible.

What had I just said? I replayed what had happened. I had thrown the mirror. The mirror had broken, and the puppet had come over and cleaned it up. Then what about before that?

I had complained. If I could just dump this on someone else like Professor did.

Yes, that was it. Those words cleared my head.

Professor had dumped everything on me. That was why a talentless person like me was suffering this much.

Then could I not do the same thing?

That thought began taking over my mind. Maybe this was a kind of surrender. But it was the only hope I had. I lacked both the ability and the knowledge to run a lecture anyway.

Then I had no choice but to find something outside myself to run it in my place.

But there was a problem. Who was I supposed to entrust it to?

My train of thought stopped there. I did not know anyone at the university. I did not know much about the university either. If I brought it up with Professor, she would definitely hit me.

Then who should I leave it to? That thought churned inside my head. It shook my already unstable soul and brought on pain. I clenched my teeth.

Damn it. Instead of recovering, I kept overworking myself, so my unstable body and soul still had not settled back into place. That damned eye. The moment I remembered it again, my soul screamed.

“Wait.”

I looked into my ruined body and soul.

Now that I thought about it, Professor had said something.

That thing was on the gentle side among her treasures. In front of something like that, I had been nothing but a mere ant. No matter how lacking I was, that did not mean everyone else was overwhelmingly stronger than me.

Even students stronger and more talented than me would be nothing more than slightly larger ants if they stood in front of that thing.

What I lacked was power.

And the tower was overflowing with things that possessed that kind of power.

Treasures. Right. Professor’s treasures were here. From the sixth floor to the ninth, the treasures Professor had selected and brought in were emitting magical power from each floor.

How terrifying had it been just to come down here? Professor had said she had stabilized them, but every time I passed the rooms holding those treasures, their magical power made my heart pound.

They were beings so powerful I would not dare approach them.

If they noticed me passing by and carelessly emitted magical power, they could melt me in an instant. Even the faint magical power weakened by layers upon layers of barriers had nearly made me lose consciousness.

Then I remembered the sixth floor, when I first entered to clean. That bizarre magical power had transformed the floor itself. Back then, I had no choice but to flee from that overwhelming power.

If I threw students into places like that, would the treasures not take care of the students on their own? Well, they would probably learn something from the experience. Once I started thinking around the treasures, a few lecture plans quickly came to mind.

I quickly spread out a scroll and wrote them down. Thoughts burst out of me. All kinds of ideas sprang up, as if the frustration piled up over the past three days was finally being released.

All mages liked treasures. No, the moment they saw treasure, they lost their reason and rushed in. Each treasure was practically a lifeline that could protect their lives.

Then what would happen if I scattered those among the students? I could run the class as a full-on Treasure Hunt.

I did not know what was inside that storage room either. I could just throw the students in there, and if someone managed to seize a treasure, I could simply give it to them. That way, plenty of people would gather, and I would have nothing to do.

In front of the completed syllabus, my body trembled. What a perfect lecture. Had Professor believed I could solve the problem like this? Thinking about it that way, it almost felt like she understood my limits better than I did.

The moment I thought of Professor, my strength suddenly drained away. I had built the plan around treasures, but Professor was the problem.

Those treasures were items Professor had gathered over her entire life. Giving them away just like that was obviously asking for trouble. If I brought it up the wrong way, she might beat me to death.

I needed to run the lecture in this format while making sure it did not offend Professor. I had to solve that problem.

Another day passed that way.

I carefully passed by the treasures emitting murderous magical power and headed to the tenth floor. The stairs leading to the tenth floor were blocked by a barrier, and a small bell hung beside it.

That probably meant I was supposed to ring it.

I carefully filled the bell with magical power and rang it. Then an explosive flow surged inside, and a vengeful spirit came out and screamed. I jumped back in shock. The thing was sucked straight through the barrier.

I stared at the bell. I had only just noticed it, but I had seen that thing before. I remembered Professor showing it off in front of me.

It had definitely contained an enormous number of vengeful spirits and given off terrifying magical power. To think it had changed like that and was now being used as a doorbell. A hollow laugh escaped me.

Soon, the barrier opened and revealed the stairs. I slowly climbed them and headed to the tenth floor.

It was a beautiful room no matter how many times I saw it. The scenery visible through the walls made the room itself feel like part of nature. In the center of the room, Professor was lying on the bed and receiving a massage from Butler.

The tenth floor was Professor’s bedroom, workshop, and office. The enormous magical power surging up from this mountain flowed into her body according to the current of this workshop. Just watching that mighty flow made my brain heat up.

Holding a stack of papers so thick it was almost a book, I quietly moved to her side. First, I studied her mood. She looked very pleased, with a broad smile on her lips. I asked for permission first.

“Professor, I’m truly sorry to visit while you’re resting so comfortably.”

“It’s fine, it’s fine. What is it?”

“I wrote the syllabus and brought it here. I came in person because I hoped you would read it.”

She slowly opened her eyes. Then she flicked a finger. I carefully unfolded the papers and floated them before her. She grabbed them with magical power and slowly read through them.

“Treasure Hunt?”

“Yes. The students search for treasures, and whoever obtains one receives that treasure. That is the lecture plan I came up with. I prepared it because I thought it suited the structure of our tower best.”

“By the treasures written here, you couldn’t possibly mean the things I collected, could you?”

Her magical power surged. I felt an explosive flow. When I quickly lowered my head, the magical power swept through where it had been. Even I was surprised by the movement. Maybe because I had been hit so many times by now, I had dodged on reflex. Seeing the magical power begin to move again, I raised both hands.

“Please just hear me out for a moment!”

The magical power stopped halfway. It had already come right in front of my face. Cold sweat ran down my back. I could not imagine what would have happened if that had hit me.

“Go on. If I don’t like it, I’ll throw you straight out the window.”

I glanced out the window. The dizzying height greeted me. If I fell from here, the magical power would stop me from flying properly, and I would definitely turn into a blood lump. I slowly took a deep breath and spoke.

“When I tried to design a lecture, I felt painfully aware of how lacking I was. I assume you entrusted this task to me so that I would come to that realization, Professor. So, in line with your intention, I decided to receive help. Then I thought about what would be the most helpful thing in the tower, and the answer was your treasures.”

Professor stared at me. Irritation still lingered in her eyes. I had to catch her interest quickly. I continued in a rush.

“Treasure Hunt is the result. From the sixth floor to the ninth, we open the treasure vaults inside. Then students are sure to swarm in to look for treasures!”

“Then they’ll take them.”

She frowned as she spoke. This was exactly what I had expected. Over the past day, I had thought of all sorts of ways to overcome this situation.

And by recalling Professor’s personality, I had been able to devise a method perfectly suited to her. I spread my arms and continued in an exaggerated voice.

“We stop them from taking anything. We set up plenty of traps and block them.”

As expected.

Professor’s eyes began to sparkle. A hint of interest appeared in them. This was a method I had created with her position as the Explorer in mind.

She knew very well what the process of finding treasure was like. Usually, to obtain treasure, one had to break through a great many traps protecting it. She had experienced that firsthand, so she would know how difficult it was.

I thought there was no way Professor, who liked tormenting others, would simply pass up this kind of situation. And that prediction was exactly right. Professor half sat up and began reading the syllabus.

“Oh, this sounds fun.”

“We make them barely miss the treasure, so close that it feels painfully regrettable. Then they’ll come to the next class grinding their teeth even harder. And in front of those traps, they’ll fall into despair. They’ll suffer the pain of having to turn back with treasure right before their eyes.”

I used as much imagination as possible to describe their despair. Professor’s face shone along with it. She clapped her hands, absolutely delighted.

“I should make the traps myself!”

Good. I let out a sigh of relief inside. The part that worried me most about this Treasure Hunt was setting up the traps. No matter how much I prepared, it would not be enough.

But if I drew Professor’s interest this much, I had expected she would want to move herself. If Professor joined in, there was no need to worry about the traps. If anything, I would have to worry about the students.

This would reduce the burden on me by that much. In fact, I would have almost nothing to do. Could I not just act as a guide for the people who came?

If she did not like it, I would have to come up with another lecture. Judging from Professor’s reaction, it seemed to have gone well, but it was still too early to relax.

The fact that I had nothing to do meant that the lecture would practically be run by her.

This was very different from what Professor had declared to me. She must have noticed that I had subtly handed the authority for the lecture back to her.

If she found that unpleasant, she would definitely hit me again. I watched Professor nervously, but she only smiled happily while examining the syllabus. Thank goodness. That probably meant she liked this lecture that much.

I bowed my head deeply. Then I mourned for the people who would take the class. Since I knew Professor, I could already guess how vicious the traps she made would be. I absolutely could not take this class.

But then something felt strange. An ominous feeling wrapped around me. What was the reason? I slightly raised my head and checked Professor’s reaction. She was looking at me with a sly grin.

“If we do this, you’ll have nothing to do. You should take this lecture too. It’s your punishment for dumping the lecture back on me.”

Damn it. I had not expected this. My vision went dark.

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