WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Coughing Baby

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

Chapter 49: 49

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[If you have any questions, please leave a post.]

-12 : A distortion occurred in Room 3 on the first floor. (5 days ago)

└ 0 : Resolved. (5 days ago)

-136 : The infirmary is acting strange. (3 days ago)

└ 0 : Resolved. (3 days ago)

-134 : When is my bear puppet coming? (2 days ago)

└ 0 : Resolved. (2 days ago)

└ 134 : Thank you! (2 days ago)

- 0 : I will close the message board for about three days. (2 days ago)

└ 1 : May I ask why? (2 days ago)

└ 0 : I plan to attend a lecture. (2 days ago)

└ 1 : I see. Good luck. (2 days ago)

“Put it away now.”

I said that to the mirror bug. The screen it had been showing went dark, revealing my face. The dark circles under my eyes were painfully obvious.

When would these dark circles finally go away? Ever since I came to the university, they had only gotten darker.

The mirror bug folded the mirror, hugged it to its chest, and slipped back into my pocket. I had checked to see if communication might work here, but there was no chance.

The message board was a function I had created by revising the mirror bug over and over. I had designed it around a thought: what if records were not simply sent from person to person, but left in one place where everyone could see them?

Making the message board had been the right call. Writing was far more efficient and convenient than speech. If others left inquiries, I only had to check and handle them when I had time.

Since I no longer had to run over whenever someone called me, I had even more free time than before. Thanks to that, I could also put more effort into improving the mirror bugs. It was quite enjoyable.

There were still a few drawbacks. One was the short communication range. Right now, there were only a few stars on my shadow tree. They were the puppets I currently had with me.

The farther the distance, the fainter my connection to the other puppets became. It could barely cover the area around the mountain where the tower stood.

I smiled bitterly. It was probably because my realm was still lacking. I needed to refine my magic even further. As the tree grew larger, its range would definitely expand as well.

Though looking at it now, that might be difficult too. The tree in my chest was still bare. That was the result of peeling away so much of it during my experiments. Thanks to that, the shadow tree beneath it had become much fuller, though.

Just then, a blackish shadow suddenly lunged.

It was a tiger that looked about five meters long. Its eyes were filled with intense pain and madness, and extremely powerful magical power poured from its entire body. It seemed to be the master of this territory.

But it was too small.

The turtle lightly kicked the charging tiger with one foot. The tiger slammed straight into the ground.

The turtle approached and swallowed it whole. After chewing a few times, it let out a long, pleased cry. Apparently, it tasted quite good.

I briefly examined the corpse that had drifted all the way into the workshop. Its entire body was stained with shadow like blotches. It was clearly partly contaminated by the shadow river flowing out of Professor Heisen’s tower.

No wonder the turtle liked it. To the turtle, whose main body was shadow, it must have been a fairly tasty delicacy. I handed the corpse back to the turtle. It began chewing it in its mouth.

There had not been anything like this the last time I came here. It had probably wandered in and settled here recently. Far in the distance, I saw a white mountain. It was a strange sight, with black stems spreading in every direction.

I slowly headed toward it.

As I drew closer, its form became clear. A towering black tower stood at the mountain’s summit.

I had not been able to participate in the last lecture because I was raising my realm while continuing my research. Not that it mattered much, since I would have come last anyway.

Would it be a little different this time? That hope rose in me. My realm had risen, and I had become at least a little stronger. The same was true for my shadow. I tightened my grip on my resolve and headed toward the tower.

Nothing had changed.

“Oh, you’ve gotten a little sturdier. Congratulations on growing!”

Baun let out a loud laugh and walked away. I could not thank him. No. 0 had been crushed in his hand. My mind rapidly drifted away.

I opened my eyes while clutching my throbbing head. Myra was staring at me. It seemed I had returned to the lecture hall. I gave her a slight bow.

The pain soon vanished. Before, I had collapsed at my seat for a long while, but now I was fine. The pain of my tree being torn apart was worse than this.

So I had grown after all. Not stronger, just tougher.

“You’re... first again today....”

“Yes. It seems I’m still far from surpassing the others.”

I answered with a bitter smile. Myra covered her mouth and laughed softly.

“Still... you’ve raised... something interesting....”

Her magical power quietly approached my side. The shadow tree reacted to it and wriggled. It reached outside my body and touched her magical power, as if it were delighted to see it.

At the same time, I began to feel an extremely deep presence. I shuddered a little at the sensation of it traveling through my body. Something bizarre and incomprehensible flowed within Myra’s magical power.

Before I knew it, No. 0 had fully recovered and poked out from my shadow. She poked No. 0 with her finger. The turtle had also approached her at some point.

Then it flipped over and showed off. She stroked the turtle. My shadow tree, my puppets, all of them treated her with great familiarity. Was it because she handled shadows? I could not tell.

“I didn’t think... you would proceed... in this way. I thought you would only... succeed much later....”

“It’s thanks to you, Myra. I prepared this as thanks.”

I took out a shadow puppet I had prepared in advance from my spatial pouch. The puppet slowly rose and bowed toward her.

No. 1. The first one I had made.

If not for the advice she had given me several times, I would definitely still be wandering around without direction. Giving her my first result was an expression of gratitude for that help.

Myra looked at No. 1 and laughed brightly. When she touched it, the shadow inside slipped out. Then it loosened like mist and revealed a streak of light within.

“Such a pretty color.... Thank you....”

When she drew her hand back, it returned to its original form. No. 1 approached her and poured her tea.

After enjoying tea like that for a short while, she turned her gaze slightly. Her eyes went to her shadow. Something was rippling inside it. She watched it for a moment, then looked at me.

“Professor Heisen... is calling you....”

“Yes?”

“It should be... a good thing, so... you don’t have to be nervous....”

She returned the shadow and puppets she had been playing with. Before I even had time to say anything, a shadow covered me.

I blinked.

The place had changed before I knew it.

The first thing I saw was a neatly organized desk. Even the documents on top of it were arranged neatly at regular intervals. Several wide bookshelves stood against the wall. They were packed tightly with books.

It was a place I had seen before. Professor Heisen’s office. He was seated at the desk, slowly handling the documents placed before him.

He glanced at me, then pointed to the chair in front of his desk. I carefully sat down. I had no idea what this was about this time.

He left me there and continued moving his pen. The scene felt strangely familiar. It felt like this had happened before. I sat quietly and waited for him to speak.

After who knew how long, he looked at me. My body tensed sharply.

“Well done.”

I blinked. What was that supposed to mean? I could not understand what he was saying I had done well.

He flicked his pen. The magical power that flowed from it sucked in the turtle hanging from my chest. The turtle landed in his hand.

It examined him and let out a cry. Then it rubbed its head against his finger. It was even more affectionate than it had been with Myra before.

Professor Heisen slowly examined it and spoke.

“Over the past thousand years, five people have completed my lecture. Now there are six.”

I only blinked. He did not even glance at me as he continued.

“Take out the rest too.”

I could roughly guess what he meant. He probably wanted the puppets connected to shadows, like the turtle. I quickly took the puppets out of my spatial pouch.

A few shadow puppets and several mirror bugs floated into the air. Professor Heisen used magical power to probe their interiors.

After slowly grasping their structure, a faint smile formed around his mouth.

“Yes, you have quite a bit of talent. It’s an interesting structure.”

Only then did I finally understand what he was talking about. He was praising me. Praising the shadow puppets I had made.

“Thank you.”

I bowed deeply to him. Talent. That was the first time I had heard that since coming to the university. Thinking about it, I had hardly ever heard it even before coming here. My chest began to tremble slightly.

“If not for your unique magic, this would not have succeeded. You are aware of that, I assume.”

“Yes. I know.”

I nodded. He was right. I had already run several experiments.

I had tried to make shadows using other people’s tree branches that I had collected so far, but they could not endure the overload and burst apart. Only my tree branch, where Fake Soul flowed, made this possible.

“The mages who completed my lecture in the past all transformed their shadows with their own distinct magic like this. Unlike the fools who only know how to be spoon-fed.”

He looked into my eyes. There was a hint of regret in his gaze.

“It’s a little disappointing that I can’t put you to use here. Judging by what you’ve made, you’d be well suited for handling chores.”

Cold sweat ran down my back. He looked at me like that for a moment and smacked his lips, then waved his pen. The puppets floating in the air landed on his desk.

He used magical power to pull out the shadows dwelling in them. Like before, the shadows loosened and displayed the stars contained within them.

He looked at me. The magical power that came from him drew out my shadow tree connected to those stars. With the help of that powerful magical power, the shadow tree temporarily took form.

After slowly examining it, he clicked his tongue.

“There are still quite a few immature parts. The egos are crude, and the connections are inefficient.”

He began writing something with his pen. After who knew how long, he threw a densely filled sheet of paper at me. At the same time, the magical power vanished, and everything returned to its place.

I carefully took it. I swallowed hard. I could feel my heart beginning to pound. Several pieces of advice were written there. I bowed so deeply my head nearly touched the floor.

“Thank you.”

“I respect those who can create this kind of individuality. This is repayment for showing me a new possibility, so you don’t need to be that grateful. In fact, this alone is a little lacking. I gave the others a chance to stay in my tower, after all. Though they have all run away now.”

He waved his hand as he spoke. After thinking for a moment, he swished his pen once more. Then he threw me a piece of paper with something brief written on it. It rode his magical power and rose onto my hand.

“I’ll write you a recommendation letter instead. It should help every time you take an advancement evaluation in the future.”

My eyes trembled. I carefully stroked it. Such kindness. I bowed deeply once again. Warm emotion I had felt for the first time since coming to the university soaked into my chest.

Was this what it felt like to be acknowledged? My body trembled slightly.

“I didn’t expect you to produce this kind of result. Once this lecture ends, I suppose I’ll have to catch someone like you too.”

He said that. He lifted everything on the desk with magical power and handed it to me. I carefully put it all back into my spatial pouch.

He took his gaze away from me. Then he began handling the documents on his desk again.

“You’ve created your shadow, so there is no longer any need for you to attend the lecture. You may go now.”

Then a shadow rushed over me.

It happened in an instant.

When I blinked, I was back in the lecture hall.

Myra was looking at me. She saw the papers in my hand and let out a soft laugh.

“It seems... the talk went well....”

“Yes. Though I’m a little flustered.”

I looked at the papers in my hand. A smile naturally rose to my face. I could not hide how light I felt.

“You won’t... be staying here, then....”

She said that with a regretful expression. I simply nodded. She already knew that I was staying in Professor Irian’s tower. Instead, I brought up something she would like.

“Still, Professor Heisen said he would bring one person over once this lecture ends.”

“Is that... really true...?”

Her face brightened. Her dark circles seemed to fade a little. She thought for a moment, then continued.

“Is there any need... to catch only one...? I think bringing... about ten... would be nice....”

She smiled as she said that. Deep, dense emotion soaked through it. It was something I had glimpsed once before.

“I should... go out too....”

Behind her shy smile, a horribly twisted shadow rippled.

I offered a brief moment of silence for whoever those unknown people were.

Footnotes:

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