WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Coughing Baby

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◈ Surviving in the Magic Academy

Chapter 32

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A damp wind swept over me. I narrowed my eyes and looked around. Wet moss spread in patches over walls riddled with cracks.

An endless silence hung in the air. The torches on the walls swayed in the wind, flickering as if they could not quite hold back the darkness.

Professor really went all out decorating this place. I had wondered what Professor had been doing for the past month. Apparently, making a place like this was why Professor had looked so excited. Reborn under Professor’s hand, this place felt less like a tower and more like a labyrinth buried deep underground.

The path ahead was already full of marks where traps had been destroyed. The course participants had clearly forced their way through. I slowly followed the trail. The heavy magical power around me made the labyrinth’s atmosphere feel even more oppressive.

After walking for a while, I began hearing a commotion from beyond the wall. I followed the sound at a slow pace. Soon, I came out into a wide clearing. It was large enough to hold several hundred people. Many people were milling around there.

Why weren’t they moving forward? I carefully pushed through the crowd, and before long, I found the path leading out of the clearing. The way ahead was blocked by two groups, both pouring out dense magical power.

They were facing each other down over the path. The sound that had led me here was the fierce shouting they were throwing back and forth. I slowly approached them. They seemed to notice me as well, because they stopped arguing.

To be honest, even I had not expected the sixth floor to change this much.

No wonder Professor had been smiling at me so mischievously. Right now, I was nothing more than one participant, just like the people in front of me. If we were measuring individual ability alone, I was probably the weakest person here. Professor probably wanted to see me get pushed around among them.

But they would not see me as a participant.

I was the guide who had led them here, and I was the teacher who had conducted the class. They were bound to misunderstand it that way.

So I had to keep that misunderstanding going. I put a broad smile on my face so they would not suspect me, then raised both hands above my head.

“Hello, everyone. Why are you still here?”

I roughly checked the two groups.

One side was the sword-wielders. I had thought they would have already pushed far ahead. That was what using swords meant, after all. Yet here they were, stuck in an early area.

It was probably because of the people stopping them. Once I checked their faces, I saw they were the ones who had gathered around the people from the great families. The five at their center were nowhere to be seen, and the rest had stayed behind to block the path.

“You came in here too?”

The strongest-looking mass of muscle among the sword-wielders spoke. He was a man whose face looked buried in muscle too.

“Yes. It seems someone needs to watch over you all. But please don’t worry. I have absolutely no intention of touching the treasure. So don’t mind me and do what you need to do.”

That was a lie, really.

Still, the part about having no intention of touching the treasure was mostly true. If I could secretly take it for myself, I would, but otherwise, there was no real need for me to touch it.

I had to keep running this lecture for five more years. There was no need to make enemies from the very first step. To survive for a long time, the most important thing was not earning anyone’s grudge.

The muscular man sighed. He pointed at the group blocking the path with the huge greatsword in his hand.

“What are we supposed to do when these bastards are blocking the path and won’t let anyone through? It’s not like we can kill them.”

“Mm, if you want to obtain the treasure, you should be able to overcome a little obstruction like this. Good luck, everyone.”

I left them just like that. There was no reason for me to mediate between them. I only planned to do my own job. Since this place was wider than the other areas, it would probably be the safest. A lot of people had gathered here too. It was my chance to start doing business.

I set up shop around the center of the clearing.

The puppets squeezing out of my spatial pouch began setting up a small tent there. It was a very simple structure, with the puppets using their own bodies as the frame and draping cloth over themselves.

As I did that, many gazes gathered on me. I smiled at them and hung a sign in front of the tent.

[Evron’s Puppet Workshop]

Pride welled up in my chest. It was the sign I had brought from outside the university, almost like another part of myself. To think I would be able to hang the same sign I had put up while aiming for the university, now inside the university itself. It stirred up a lot of feelings.

Now my goal was to hang this thing outside the university again. Once I graduated from this place, I would open my shop with my head held high. Instead of scraping by on the outskirts of the slums like before, I would head to the Empire’s capital. I would put my name up there for everyone to see.

While I was lost in that happy imagination, several more puppets popped out of my spatial pouch. They were quite varied. A puppet specialized in first aid, a puppet with explosion magic carved across its entire body, a puppet for receiving customers, and more.

After standing them all against the tent walls, I took a workbench out from deep inside. Its functions had been simplified as much as possible, and I had brought it so I could make puppets here.

I had spent some time thinking carefully about what kind of puppet to sell, but because I had not known what kind of place this would be, I had not come up with a clear answer. The puppets I had taken out now were only for my safety and convenience, not for sale.

What I needed right now was my old sense. That intense instinct that followed the smell of money. To awaken that sense, which had been buried under my narrow-minded artisan spirit, I had taken this position. For the past month, I had kept working for this moment.

The theme of the dungeon Professor had decorated this time was clear. From what I had seen so far, it was a labyrinth. They probably had to find treasure hidden somewhere. Countless traps and magical beasts would be crawling around during the search.

Then what kind of puppet would be useful in a labyrinth like this?

One that stepped on traps in their place? One that made a safe space? One that restored magical power? They were all good ideas. I took materials out of my spatial pouch and drew designs for them one by one.

But soon, I crumpled them up and threw them away.

These were too obvious. Other mages were sure to have a few ways to replace functions like these. In other words, they did not have much market value.

So I needed a groundbreaking product that could only be used here. With that in mind, I made several prototypes.

A number of clever puppets did come out, but I still was not satisfied.

After some time passed, I suddenly heard a sound. It was a strange whisper that seemed to ring right beside my ear.

‘1 dropout occurred. Remaining participants: 200.’

Mm, Professor even set up an alert like this? I had not expected a dropout to appear this quickly. Everyone here was definitely hiding some skill, yet someone had been eliminated before even thirty minutes had passed.

That meant the traps were vicious. Dropout was a standard Professor and I had discussed and created. Professor had said the torment would stop just short of the point where one more step would kill them. Those who dropped out like that would be dragged out by Professor’s hand and thrown outside.

Every course participant was sure to fear dropping out.

Then a scent brushed past the tip of my nose. It was the smell of gold. At the same time, an idea spread through my mind.

Professor could not kill these mages anyway. They could only be tormented until right before death. The two groups outside were only facing each other down because they could not kill each other, weren’t they?

Then what if I retrieved them right before they died?

I had heard there were people in labyrinths who specialized in collecting corpses. Then what if I did something similar, recovering half-corpses and keeping them alive? The thought came to me that I could make a puppet specialized only for that.

I sketched the design. What shape would be good? A person? No. Bipedal movement was a terrible body structure for this labyrinth. A body that would be put in danger as soon as it stepped on a trap was not fit for the purpose.

Then an animal? I could make it walk on four legs. With that shape, it would be fast and could carry a person on its back, so it seemed stable.

But this bothered me too. There were too many things I would have to give up for quadrupedal movement. The biggest problem was that I could not guarantee the safety of the target being recovered.

If it had a shell like my turtle, that might work. But the turtle was too slow for this kind of job, and it lacked stability when dealing with traps. It was only specialized for pushing through with overwhelming mass.

Then I should add more legs. I would simply make it insect-like. I would attach several legs, then mount a large coffin on top, big enough for a person to enter. If I cast all sorts of support magic on the coffin, the person inside should be safely protected.

Mm, good. This one felt like it had market value. Then the important part was the material for making the coffin. Plain wood alone would not be able to hold all those spells.

As I rummaged through the materials I had brought, I saw the turtle attached to my chest. I stroked it once. My fingertips caught on its shell.

Hardness, sufficient. Capacity to hold magic, more than enough. Now that I thought about it, this shell was perfect for making coffins.

Would it be fine if I took off just a little?

As if the turtle had sensed its fate, it let out a faint cry. That was the Sapling’s doing, after reading my thoughts. Crying like that would not help.

It did not take very long to make puppets from the shell. After all, I only had to maximize the performance of the material.

For now, I made thirty in total. That was the result of shaving off one layer of the turtle’s shell.

Now I only had to sell them.

“Now then, everyone. Before you explore the labyrinth, how about preparing some insurance?”

I shouted in front of the tent.

In the short time I had stayed inside the tent, the atmosphere outside had become very heavy. Other mages, not just the sword-wielders, were putting strong pressure on the people blocking the path.

They could at least slash a little and clear them out. Why were they only standing off like that? Thinking that, I smiled at the people looking at me. I took out one of the prototypes I had made so far. It was a small rectangular coffin that could fit in the palm of my hand.

“You all heard the notification earlier, didn’t you? You only get one chance here. If you are eliminated like that, your chance to obtain the treasure vanishes into the distance.”

I tossed the small puppet into the air. The coffin grew larger and transformed until it was the size of a person. Eight legs were attached to it.

It opened its coffin lid and showed the magic circles installed inside, then demonstrated how it could move quickly across the floor and walls.

“The item prepared for that very situation is this, a retrieval puppet. This puppet hides in your clothes, and when you inject magical power into it, it immediately eats its owner and runs away. Back to my side, that is.”

I showed them the various puppets inside the tent.

Those puppets acted out an example, taking the puppet inside the coffin out and giving it first aid. The puppet I had intentionally damaged was quickly restored to normal under their hands.

“And in this way, you can gain the chance to try again. Of course, there is a risk that the puppet may be damaged by traps on the way back here, but it should be able to endure most things. You could call it an extra life.”

The coffin puppet that had been moving around the floor and showing its interior to the mages shrank again and returned to my hand. I lifted it high so every mage in the clearing could see it.

“How about each of you taking one of these extra lives with you? I’ll rent them out for exactly 2 points.”

The heavy atmosphere disappeared without a trace, and an awkward air flowed through the clearing. I paid it no mind and continued advertising while shaking the coffin.

Before long, someone suddenly popped out from among the sword-wielders. Mm, not someone. A woman. It was the woman I had seen earlier, the one who looked a bit absentminded. She slowly walked toward me.

“Mister, give me one.”

She reached out her hand. Seeing her up close, the feeling that I had seen her somewhere before became stronger. Still, I did not show it and placed the coffin in her hand. I brought my ring to the ring she held out and received the points.

The woman examined the coffin from side to side, then tucked it into her clothes. After giving me a polite bow, she went back among the sword-wielders. Who was she? I set that question aside for now and smiled. In any case, I had made my first sale, so I could breathe a little easier. I smiled brightly and shouted.

“Now, does anyone else need one? Even if your companions abandon you, this loyal puppet will never abandon you. Now, there aren’t many left. First come, first served, and then they’re gone!”

Once I shouted that, the mages began slowly gathering. This was exactly why I had set the price low on purpose. Since it did not cost much, there was nothing strange about preparing one.

Like that, every coffin puppet I had made so far sold out. Even if it was a small amount to them, once it gathered and came to me, it was sure to become a mountain. Right now, I had sold 30 and already earned 60 points.

That was more points than all the wealth I had held before.

These were also points that would continue piling up until this lecture ended. Those puppets were disposable consumables. If anyone benefited from them, they were sure to rent one again.

Of course, that only applied if those things could make it back to me.

It would be a bit of a waste to sell only those. With that thought, I took out other puppets and introduced them as well. The response was weaker than before, but a few mages still bought one or two at the low price.

Then the labyrinth slowly began to vibrate. At first, it was so faint that it felt like my imagination, but soon the rumbling grew stronger, and by the end, it was hard to keep my balance.

I fixed the things inside the tent in place with magical power and swallowed. When the vibration settled, several more paths had appeared in the clearing. The other mages wandering around the clearing quickly shot toward those paths.

The sword-wielders were the same. The muscular man spat on the ground and headed toward a newly opened path. He glared at the people who had been blocking the way and said,

“You lot won’t get away with this next time.”

Mm, watching someone else make enemies always made my blood run cold. In truth, a place like this university was quite disadvantageous for the sword-wielders. Being told not to kill anyone was a huge restriction for experts in slaughter.

Even so, their strength could not be ignored. From the passage they entered came the sound of wind being cut, along with a chilling murderous aura. In this short time, they must have already broken through very far.

Once the sword-wielders and the other mages left like that, the clearing emptied out until no one remained. The group of mages who had been blocking the path also stopped talking among themselves and began slipping away.

This happened one hour after we came up to the sixth floor. The floor had probably changed because Professor found the situation boring. Otherwise, there was no way the labyrinth would change like this.

Of course, I still had no intention of leaving this clearing. Not until Professor chased me out. For the next 23 hours, I planned to scrape together as many points as possible.

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