WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Coughing Baby

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Chapter 268

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I smiled leisurely at the murmuring crowd, then dipped my head slightly and offered my final farewell.

“Then, with my thanks to all of you, I will conclude this lecture. I could not have created an artificial tree so successfully without your help. To be honest, I was not certain it would work either.”

I glanced beside me.

There stood the Imperial Prince, moving magical power around with an interested expression.

There had not been much for me to say during this final lecture. At this point, what mattered was proving that my plan was real by showing its successful result.

So during this lecture, I had demonstrated how I removed the magical power curse that had enveloped the Imperial Prince’s soul. Then I had succeeded in settling his soul into a new body.

As a result, Imperial Prince Beral had been reborn as a mage.

Perhaps that was why the Imperial Prince seemed quite excited, unlike before.

He could probably clearly feel his connection to the patchwork tree.

No, it would be better to call it a paper tree now.

The patchwork tree I had planted within the Imperial Prince could no longer be called patchwork. After being bitten by the Snake of Curses I had designed, it had been completely bleached white.

So I named that new tree a paper tree.

It meant its owner could color it however they wished.

Just as I had intended, the perfectly bleached paper tree retained its pure white form while it was gradually being overtaken by the flow contained within the Imperial Prince’s soul.

When I checked it a moment ago, it had been full of a golden radiance.

That was likely the soul he had inherited from the Emperor.

I nodded as I watched the Imperial Prince circulate magical power.

He was my finished product. The owner of the artificial tree I had completed after six months of studying and taming magical power curses.

Over the past six months, while carrying out this brief scam... no, this innovative research project, I had tried to draw in as many people as possible.

I had done so to gather the various knowledge held by this Council.

In that regard, these people attending my lectures had been a tremendous help.

The Chairman had directly inscribed a magical power curse into my soul, but the foundational knowledge needed to study it had come from the library of knowledge accumulated within this Council.

Without that knowledge, bleaching the patchwork tree through the curse inscribed in my soul would not have been easy.

Therefore, the Imperial Prince gaining a tree was not something I had achieved alone.

Without the help of everyone filling this lecture hall, the Imperial Prince’s tree could not have been born either.

So I needed to express my sincere gratitude to everyone seated before me.

Besides, thanking them like this would keep them from becoming suspicious of me.

I casually looked around.

The people exchanged glances, then began walking up toward the platform. Now that the lecture was over, they were likely here to satisfy their own desires.

I took half a step back.

What they wanted was not me, but Imperial Prince Beral.

Just as I intended, people began gathering around the Imperial Prince. Smiling faintly, they offered their congratulations.

I snickered as I watched them.

For the past six months, I had tried to create the image of a confident genius. I wanted people to see me as an innovative researcher.

It seemed that attempt had been quite successful, judging by how many people had gathered here.

But had they truly failed to see through my act?

Every one of them was a mage who had lived a long time. They had far more experience than I did.

They must have seen through my awkward performance after only a few lectures.

Even so, they had continued gathering because they knew the knowledge I spoke of was quite useful.

Of course it was useful.

The insights I had gained while creating soul Saplings, just like those I gained from magical power curses, had come at the cost of my life.

Still, that knowledge alone was not enough to create a finished product like the Imperial Prince.

They had attended all my lectures, so they surely knew that.

Yet suddenly, a specimen like the Imperial Prince had appeared. Not a fake that merely borrowed magical power to imitate magic, but someone who had truly been planted with a tree.

The Imperial Prince had not merely received a tree. He had continued advancing from there.

Today, he had become a perfect mage.

Naturally, they must have found that strange.

There had clearly been limits to what I had revealed in my lectures, yet I had created such a convincing result.

So they had likely focused on magical power curses. The knowledge I had received from them until now had all been related to magical power curses.

They would study the knowledge I had gathered and roughly figure out the Artificial Tree Project I had created.

They had probably even realized that I had woven magical power curses together to undergo a process of “bleaching.” They would have also learned that the process had conditions.

The tree I created could only be applied to people like the Imperial Prince. Only those who carried magical power curses and possessed bloodlines deep enough to overcome them.

Of course, they could figure all that out because I had subtly revealed my research process throughout my lectures.

I crossed my arms.

In truth, I could have desperately concealed the method by which I created trees. Naturally, it was a method no one besides me could attempt.

Even so, I had not hidden my knowledge because it was a kind of repayment.

You could say it was the price of deceiving them.

I had presented them with a direction, so they would each conduct their own research and discover various possibilities. Just as I had done with the puppeteer association before, I had broadened the scope of magic.

That was enough repayment for the knowledge I had received from them.

They had surely understood my intentions as well.

That was why they gathered around the Imperial Prince rather than me. They knew I would reveal nothing further, so they intended to seize the Imperial Prince and study his tree.

I could not stop them.

If the Imperial Prince still had the body of weeds, I could have controlled him. But the moment he became a mage, he too fell under the university’s rules.

I was smiling lightly as I watched Merov speak with the Imperial Prince when someone approached me.

“Hmm. Is it really all right to leave him like that? You said he was an important specimen.”

I glanced over and saw a head of completely white hair.

It was the Chairman, the head of the Magical Power Council.

I shrugged at his words and smiled.

“It is fine. They will not learn the exact method unless they dissect His Highness. Senior, you have probably tried it yourself at least once. Though I am sure you failed.”

They did not know it, but no one among them would be able to create an artificial tree like mine.

They probably thought I had taken a tree from someone else, bleached it, and planted it within the Imperial Prince.

My nickname, Stem Collector, would make that assumption even more likely.

They would surely obtain trees and conduct experiments of their own from now on.

But all those attempts would fail.

Just like the Chairman’s had.

At my words, the Chairman gave a light cough.

So he really had tried it.

I had thought he would.

Bleaching a tree would surely have been easy for the Chairman, who had planted magical power curses within me. Naturally, he would have acquired a tree and tried it himself.

But he must have failed.

I had failed too.

I lightly felt the spatial pouch tucked against my chest.

Inside was a tree I had acquired before.

A tree I had spent a great number of points to obtain, only for it to collapse completely.

Thinking of the points that had vanished into thin air, I sighed softly.

In truth, I had considered a possibility similar to theirs.

What if I could bleach a living tree and freely transplant it?

So I had personally conducted an experiment to bleach a tree.

And I clearly learned that souls had durability.

Yes, bleaching a tree meant erasing its soul.

That was why the perfect tree could not endure the pain and eventually collapsed.

The patchwork tree had endured the bleaching process because it had no soul. It was merely a lump created from gathered fragments, so it felt no pain.

Therefore, I was the only one capable of creating an artificial tree like the Imperial Prince’s.

A patchwork tree could only be made by grafting it with my own tree as the adhesive.

That was also why I had readily revealed the process of creating trees to them.

Why hide something only I could make?

So they would fail, and fail again.

In the end, every one of them would become a stepping stone for me.

They were all accomplished mages.

Even Merov, who had brought me here, was an 8th floor mage.

News that people like them continued failing would only elevate me further. A mere third-floor mage had succeeded where all these mages could not.

That kind of reputation was exactly what I wanted.

They would gain knowledge, and I would gain fame.

In this relationship built on good intentions, everyone could not help being happy.

As I smiled brightly, the Chairman shook his head with an oddly displeased expression.

After thinking for a moment, he searched inside his robes and took out a card.

“Here. Take this.”

The card gave off black-stained magical power.

I cautiously took it and turned it over once.

It looked strangely familiar.

“No. 6 gives lectures from time to time. With that, you should be able to find No. 6.”

No. 6.

I knew exactly whom the Chairman meant.

The Chairman was referring to the soul that gave off black light, the one I had seen in the Chairman’s world before.

I had wondered where I had seen that card before. It was similar to the card Mauro had given me when he introduced me to Professor On’s lectures.

It was a mark personally bestowed by a professor.

I quietly ran a finger over the name Alecter written on the card.

No. 6 had been called corpse-fucker, if I remembered correctly.

That was why I had suspected No. 6 was a necromancer, but No. 6 was actually a professor?

Well, with the Chairman here, there was no reason there could not be reincarnators among the professors.

But why was he giving this to me now?

I met the Chairman’s eyes in confusion.

The Chairman smiled with his eyes.

“If you wish to meet the others, make contact with No. 6 first. You should be able to have quite a conversation with No. 6. Of course, you should be careful not to get eaten.”

“...Thank you.”

I carefully tucked the card into my robes.

This was a chance to contact reincarnators. Even if they were dangerous, I needed to meet them.

They too might become a source of strength for me.

Of course, I would need to move after I had broken this curse.

I lightly tapped my chest.

Then I could feel the black-stained tree writhing.

I shrugged as I looked at the tree, which could not circulate even a trace of magical power.

I was in the exact opposite situation from Imperial Prince Beral.

He had learned magic and escaped being weeds, while I had been bound by a curse and driven away from magic.

Being unable to use magical power felt like an even greater loss than having my limbs cut off.

The Chairman, who had been watching me, frowned slightly.

“Are you truly planning to keep containing that curse? If you say the word, I can lift it immediately.”

“Yes. Since I cannot add any more curses, I have no choice but to let it age like this, even for a year. This will be how I grow.”

“Ah, before you leave, how about planting around a hundred more curses in me?”

I added that with a smile.

The Chairman took half a step back with the expression of someone who had seen something they should not have.

Hmm. I was merely doing my best to fulfill my promise with him.

I could only tilt my head.

With this final lecture, the mountain’s one-year stay at the university had come to an end.

In a few days, the mountain would move.

Since the Chairman was bound to the mountain as well, he would have to leave the university again for forty-nine years.

I had asked whether he could not remain at the university, but he had only shaken his head.

He said it was a kind of contract.

He had not explained it properly, so I did not know the details. Still, he had likely made an agreement with the president.

After all, it was the president who had told me about the reincarnators.

What did the president want to gain by using the Chairman?

I was a little curious.

But I had no intention of digging too deeply.

Some knowledge only became dangerous once you learned it.

In any case, because the Chairman was leaving, our promise had no choice but to be postponed.

That was why the Chairman offered to lift my curse.

But I refused.

The curse inscribed in my body was practically an inhibitor. The longer I let it age, the clearer my magical power would become.

In a way, it was an important opportunity to advance to the fourth floor.

That was why I wanted to keep this curse for a long time.

Of course, I could not keep it for too long because I had much to do.

So I planned to wait until they failed in their experiments again and again, until their results finally reached me.

That period was one year.

Therefore, I asked for the curses inscribed in my tree to be released gradually over the next year.

The Chairman did not refuse.

This was important to him as well.

I glanced at the Chairman.

He was looking at me as though I were a precious object.

I could understand that look.

To the Chairman, I was his one and only test subject.

That was why I needed to be wary of him. He might kidnap me and drag me outside just to continue his experiments.

But I knew he would not do that.

Not because I trusted him.

How could I trust a mage? I would sooner believe the world was flat.

What I trusted was not the Chairman, but his desire.

I smiled lightly as I felt my tree, hardened deep beyond my chest.

Just as my tree’s appearance showed, my soul was full of curses. There was a little empty space left, but the curses still wrapped around it so densely that I could clearly feel them.

That was why it would be difficult to inscribe any more curses.

Well, that was only natural.

I was merely a third-floor mage.

Even if my soul regenerated endlessly, the space available for curses was limited.

Therefore, I needed to increase my soul’s capacity.

And the method was very simple.

I only needed to raise my realm.

How far would I need to advance?

The Chairman said that the curse currently within my soul was only around one-tenth complete.

To create a perfect curse, I needed to fill a soul roughly ten times larger than mine was now.

I would probably need to reach the realm where I could extend branches before I could contain such a soul.

Therefore, the Chairman had no choice but to fully support my growth.

There were limits to kidnapping me and trying to forcefully raise my realm.

The best way for him to fulfill his desire was for me to grow rapidly here at the university.

The Chairman must have understood that from the moment he saw my soul.

That was why the Chairman had no choice but to become my perfect backer.

I lightly flicked the card in my hand.

I had found it a little strange when I first received it, but now I understood.

He probably intended for me to meet other reincarnators and grow as quickly as possible.

I tucked the card into my robes and smiled lightly.

The direction the Chairman’s desire pointed was also the direction I wished to go.

“Then I will see you next time.”

I bowed to the Chairman.

With this, I could say that everything at the Council had been successfully concluded.

Everyone who had come to this Council had achieved what they wanted.

It was the result of my good intentions reaching them.

If I could continue sharing benefits with everyone like this, savagery would soon disappear.

It did not take long to wrap up matters at the Council.

The Imperial Prince left with the Chairman, and I returned to the tower in high spirits.

Then I met Professor Irian, and my soul was torn into twenty pieces.

“What weird thing did you attach to yourself again? Just die like that!”

Amid the pain of my soul burning, I could only blink without understanding what was happening.

Why was this happening?

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