WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Coughing Baby

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ Surviving in the Magic Academy

Chapter 30

──────

The first thing I did after returning was refurbish the tower. Dust rolled across the grounds, and cobwebs fluttered in the wind. As it was now, the tower looked like a ruin that had gone unmanaged for years. Before the lecture began, this grim scenery needed some care.

The first part I tackled was the tower’s outer wall, which looked the most urgent. That was not easy. The powerful magical power flowing through the tower formed a kind of magical power field that suppressed nearby magic.

That made it impossible to clean with magic. The magical power field was strong enough to prevent anyone from flying around the tower. Unless someone was on Professor’s level, there was no way they could resist it.

So I tried making puppets specialized solely for crawling along the tower’s outer walls.

I got the idea from the cobwebs plastered all over the walls. The eight legs, modeled after a spider’s, moved by gripping the tower with the sharp claws at their ends. They wiped the dust from the tower with the rags and mops attached to their bodies.

The grime had not built up over just a day or two, so it had hardened terribly. The puppets moved with precision, wiping away that wall of dust one layer at a time, cracking it open, and removing the traces of all those accumulated years.

After cleaning the tower so carefully, I could not help being shocked.

Until now, I had thought the tower was ash-gray. As it turned out, that was only a shell of dust, cobwebs, rain, and wind stains all clumped together. As the puppets diligently scrubbed and pushed at the walls, the layer broke apart, and the tower revealed its true appearance.

The walls were pure white, giving off a clear, soft glow like milk.

“Right, it was this color. I forgot because I wasn’t paying attention.”

That was what Professor said when she saw it. How could anyone forget something like this? Still, Professor seemed to like the color quite a bit. After all, she had not taken even a single step out of her room before, but now she began coming outside for walks from time to time.

A full week passed just making a large number of puppets and cleaning the exterior. The tower was so huge, and the wall of dust was so thick, that it took longer than I had expected. Still, it was fairly rewarding work.

Then what should I do next? As I wondered, the overgrown trees and bushes caught my eye. Most mages flew around, so they probably did not care much, but surely something pleasant to look at was better than this shabby mess.

With that thought, I repaired the broken, twisted paths around the tower.

I leveled the ground evenly, then covered it with stones of uniform size. With this, anyone should be able to walk around. And would it not be better to clear out everything around here and put in a garden?

Following the boundary of the magical beast territory that I had roughly figured out before, I cleared the mountain away entirely. Many magical beasts lived up to the mountainside, but near the summit where the tower stood, nothing tried to approach, so it was possible.

With simple growth magic, trees and flowers grew along the path. They absorbed the mountain’s powerful magical power and stretched out vigorously. Since I had guided them to absorb only the mountain’s magical power, they did not need much of mine.

The trees and leaves held magical power and shone green, while the flowers colored their petals in vivid shades. Since these had been grown rapidly through magic, they had no value as materials, but as scenery, they looked excellent.

All this growth happened within the flow I guided. Under growth magic delicately manipulated so everything would be placed naturally yet in order, they bloomed beautifully.

The trees stood at even intervals and cast shade over the stone path, while the various flowers blooming between them caught the wind and swayed like waves.

Standing on the path I had made, I took a deep breath. The scent of flowers, the smell of trees, even the scent of earth. The harmonious fragrance entering my nose carried magical power and seeped in more softly.

I had made it quickly, but it was still a fairly satisfying garden. It was natural and beautiful, with a clean composition that would give visitors a quiet sense of satisfaction.

As I walked through it, I saw a mage flying toward the tower. He noticed me and landed in the garden. I carefully gripped the turtle attached to my chest.

“Hello. Would you happen to be Evron-nim?”

“Yes. What is this about?”

He took a letter out of the small backpack he was carrying and held it out to me.

“This is mail from Arcana General Trading Company. If you are the recipient, please sign here with magical power.”

He pointed to a thin iron-plated section on the left side of the letter. If it was from Arcana General Trading Company, then it seemed the owner of the seat I had traded away before had been decided. Following his instructions, I left my signature over the plated section, and the thin iron plate absorbed my magical power before breaking apart.

“This has been Adelin of swift, safe delivery. If you ever need a delivery, please leave a designated request for me anytime.”

He bowed deeply, then rose back into the air. Then he shot away at tremendous speed.

I stared blankly at his retreating figure. That was incredible speed. In terms of realm, he was a mage strong enough to have created a completed tree.

A designated request, huh. So in the upper levels of the city, requests were handled that way? I learned something new. I looked down at the letter in my hand. I had been so busy decorating the tower that I had almost forgotten, but the course registration period was nearly over now.

I tore the letter open and checked it. The simple personal details of two people were written there. As soon as I saw them, a low groan escaped me. One name was unfamiliar, but the other was far too familiar.

It was Hongryeong.

Right. I had a feeling we would keep running into each other somehow. I scratched my head.

Thinking about it, it made sense for him to take the seat. The woman who had bought this seat from me, was her name Hwaryeong? In any case, that person had looked like she came from the same family as Hongryeong at first glance. The magic they used and the atmosphere of their magical power were almost identical. Of course they would support someone from the same family.

Even at the university, blood ties held a great deal of power. People from other families or groups were probably pulling each other along the same way. For a wanderer like me, it was something I could not even imagine.

Of course, I had Professor. I had gone through plenty of hardship, but still, had I not made it to the university and even ended up living in the tower? This, too, could be called a fortunate encounter. I was sure I would suffer plenty more from now on, though.

For now, I hid the letter inside my clothes.

Until Professor called me, I had to wait quietly. Given Professor’s personality, since she hated troublesome things, it was obvious she would call me to sort out the students. There was no need to move before then.

Then should I decorate the tower some more?

The outside of the tower was roughly done. Now it was time to tidy up the inside. I had been cleaning it all along, but since I still had not properly filled it with furniture, the tower was almost empty.

The areas where students would mainly come and go were the first and second floors anyway. I only needed to deal with those quickly. Since I had no idea what they had originally looked like, I quickly remodeled the first floor however I wanted. I did not bother much with the corridors or the central hall, and only placed a few chairs where people could rest along the way.

The most important thing was decorating each room with its own character. I planned to make the first floor a resting space and meeting plaza. If so, I had to do my best with each room so they could spend their time in the tower as comfortably as possible.

First, I needed to make the central room.

What kind of form should I design it in? To start, it needed windows. I tore down the existing tiny windows and opened up large arched ones.

The sunlight coming through them gently covered the floor and wrapped the space, which had felt cold, in warmth. Windows like these lined the walls and brightly lit the room.

To keep the sunlight from dazzling the eyes, I laid down a thick carpet made from magical beast hide. Since I had only just made it, it had not been properly broken in yet, so the fur was stiff. But because of that, it held the sunlight even more strongly.

In the center of the room, I placed a large round table. Magical power lanterns decorating the ceiling shone over it like stars, releasing a soft magical power.

On one wall, I installed a wide fireplace and raised a strong flame. This pure flame, burning only with the tower’s magical power, scattered strong magical power throughout the room and created a warm flow.

This alone seemed a little lacking as a place to rest.

So I brought in several large sofas and placed them throughout the room. I cast all sorts of magic on these sofas so anyone could lean back comfortably, and I placed small tables nearby so people could enjoy tea and snacks at any time.

With this, I was able to fill the room for now. Anyone who stepped inside would probably feel at ease. But they were all only temporary measures. The magic would not last long before coming undone, and the furniture had been made in a rush, so it was sure to fall apart quickly.

I frowned as I looked at the furniture, where traces of hasty work remained here and there. It could not be helped. The materials, time, and magic were all unsatisfactory. It was fortunate I had managed even this much.

To cover those flaws, I placed puppets around the room. They were puppets made solely for receiving guests, minor copies based on the Butler puppet that was probably serving Professor even now.

If those things drew attention, some of the room’s awkwardness would disappear. This was the best I could do.

This structure would become the foundation for each room. Rather than simply copying and pasting it, I still needed to arrange each room anew, with a layout and distinctive traits that suited it.

Another week passed while I decorated all the rooms like that.

I was resting after finishing work on the first floor when a soul approached and settled onto my shoulder. I looked at it without thinking and nearly screamed. A grotesque vengeful spirit, preserved with its whole body melted down, had climbed onto my shoulder. I hurriedly grabbed the thing and threw it.

I glared at the thing wriggling on the floor. That distinctive appearance, I had seen it somewhere. It was definitely the thing that had leaked out of Professor’s doorbell.

In that case, Professor was calling me. I picked it up with my fingers and headed toward the stairs. I pressed the topmost of the ten buttons installed on the staircase. Then, when I climbed the stairs, Professor’s room immediately appeared.

It was a function of the tower that Professor had restored. If you pressed a button and climbed the stairs, you could go to that floor. A very useful function. How nervous had I been all this time passing by Professor’s treasure room? Just not having to pass in front of it was something to be thankful for.

Professor was lying on the bed, looking at a large mirror floating in the air. I carefully moved to her side. The mirror was showing the sixth floor. She was projecting magical power through the mirror and engraving magic circles in every direction.

“Did you call for me?”

“You’re here. Take a look at this.”

She opened a gap in space in midair and poured papers out of it. They spilled down like a waterfall and continued piling up. The rain of paper finally stopped only after rising higher than Professor’s bed.

I picked up a sheet that had flown to my feet and examined it. The name of some mage I did not know was written there. It seemed to be someone who had applied for Professor’s lecture.

“Someone sent them by magic. You sort them out.”

Mm, I had expected it, but I did not think I would actually hear those words. I looked at the mountain of documents with its ridiculous height. Just how many people was this? I could not even begin to guess. I put a smile on my face and nodded.

“Understood. Is there a type of mage you prefer?”

I asked Professor. Professor thought it over, then shook her head. That meant she was telling me to handle it myself. I lifted the mountain of documents with magical power and put them all into my spatial pouch. Even putting them inside took quite some time. How long would it take to examine all of this?

“Then I will select two hundred and bring you the list.”

“Sure.”

I bowed politely and withdrew. Professor was absorbed in the mirror and said nothing. When I glanced at it, I could not even properly figure out what kind of magic was contained there. The students who would go in there were truly pitiful. Though that included me. A sigh slipped out.

I pressed the second-floor button and went down the stairs. The first floor had been roughly put in order, so now it was time to work on the second floor. The lecture would open soon, too, so I had to finish everything before then.

After arriving at the central hall, I turned the pouch upside down over a large table. A tremendous amount of documents squeezed out of the spatial pouch and poured down.

While the documents piled up, I ordered the puppets to decorate the surroundings similarly to the first floor. In truth, there was not much for me to touch here. Since Professor had already repaired the magic in each room so it worked properly again, I only needed to bring in a few pieces of furniture suited to each room.

The puppets began moving. I watched them briefly, then turned my gaze to the mountain of documents. They were still pouring out of the pouch. Mm, I had to select two hundred from all this. I needed to move quickly. I rolled up my sleeves and began reading the documents one by one.

The documents listed names, admission years, and what floor they were currently on.

The document I was holding now had the name Cassian written on it. Admitted in Lumina 7,453, so this person was one year my senior. Already on the second floor, too. I heard it took five years on average to climb from the first floor to the second, so this was someone overflowing with talent. Mm, I would set this person aside for now.

Like that, I slowly examined the documents one by one. I could not pass over even one of them lightly. This tremendous amount of paperwork was extremely valuable information. If someone tried to buy this with points, it would easily cost several thousand.

A name showed a person’s identity. As I read through the documents bit by bit, I saw many people with similar names. Their admission years and floors were similar, too. They were definitely people who had applied together from one organization or family.

I should reject all these people, too. I needed to adjust the number of students to the ratio I wanted as much as possible. If a similar group like this flooded in all at once, it could disrupt our plan for Treasure Hunt.

Maybe I should pick about one person from among them. After that, I found quite a few similar cases.

I focused on other points as well. From my perspective, the more recent the admission year and the lower the floor, the better. Those with recent admission years but high floors were all set aside separately.

The senior named Cassian from earlier was the same. These people were too talented. They might steal the treasures with unexpected skill. People like this needed focused attention.

By filtering and filtering these documents that contained only simple information, I selected two hundred people.

It was the result of agonizing over them for two nights.

As I had planned, about half were people with shaky experience. People who had advanced to the second floor around the expected time based on their admission year, and people with short admission histories who remained on the first floor. They were certain to fail to overcome Professor’s traps and fall into despair.

If I followed my heart, I would have filled all two hundred spots with people like this. But then our intentions would be far too obvious. To hide that, I needed to mix in some skilled people.

Even while doing that, I picked out people who were as unlikely to know each other as possible so they could not cooperate. That was how I filled the remaining half.

I took the documents of these two hundred people and went to Professor. They were swallowed straight into the gap in space. I roughly organized the remaining documents and stored them in a corner of a room in the fifth-floor dormitory. They might be useful someday.

And time passed.

The day of the lecture approached. It was exactly one month after course registration ended.

---

Join our discord at https://dsc.gg/wetried