WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Coughing Baby

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ Surviving in the Magic Academy

Chapter 77

──────

I stroked my chin and stared down at the paper in front of me. It was something I had bought from the Abyss Secret Association for quite a lot of points. The more I went over what it said, the more a bitter smile tugged at my mouth.

I wasn’t sure we could win all of these. There was a reason the people from the Blade Association had accepted our demands so readily. The same went for how easily I had managed to get this information.

As they had said, this was tradition. They called in a sponsored party who had fallen short of expectations and held duels to confirm that talent once more.

The difficulty changed depending on the sponsorship money. And Cassian received ten thousand points per floor, the highest possible amount. So failing on the third floor must have been the perfect excuse to drag her in.

It did seem to be the highest difficulty. The first opponent had been so skilled in dueling without magical power that it was hard to believe they were both on the second floor. They were clearly someone with plenty of experience in this.

The second opponent had been the same. He was someone who had only just reached the third floor. Even so, he had been highly practiced in duels. The third opponent she would face next would probably be the same.

What about the fourth? The fifth? What about the final, eighth opponent? According to this paper, the last person she would face was certain to be someone on the fifth floor.

The higher the floor, the harsher the path to the next one became. On average, they said it took fifteen years to go from the second floor to the third, and thirty years to go from the third floor to the fourth.

They said it took fifty years to graduate from the fourth floor. If one chose not to graduate and instead moved into the advanced course to head for the fifth floor, even more time than that had to be invested.

Then how wide was the gap in years between Cassian, who was still on the second floor, and her final opponent? That gap had to contain a span of time several times longer than her entire age.

And we had to overcome that. Evan came to mind. Had that bastard really not known this? Considering his slippery personality, he definitely had.

He simply had not told Cassian. Given Cassian’s personality, I doubted she had looked into it much either.

I looked at this matter from Evan’s position. Now that I thought about it, that guy had raised five swords.

Maybe it did not matter to him if Cassian lost all eight duels. By sacrificing one of his swords, Cassian would end up belonging to a large organization.

What if she won? Even better. Her talent would have been confirmed, so the association would continue its sponsorship. The association must have been thinking something similar.

I calmly sorted through my thoughts. Seeing this actually put me at ease. It did not seem like they would pull any tricks in the remaining duels.

To be honest, I had been worried they might harass Cassian by distorting time or changing the duel location. That was why I had considered using our future demands for something like that.

But this tradition had continued for a long time. There were quite a few records of people winning through the whole process and getting out. There were no schemes involved.

They were completely open about it. Just like most sword-wielders. Then all we had to do was prove ourselves with strength. The difficulty was the problem, though.

Either way, nothing changed. If she lost, she would remain here. We had to stop that. So all I had to do was help her win every duel. That was my goal.

I looked at Cassian and Mira as they smiled while choosing clothes. No, only Mira was smiling. Cassian was just hanging from Mira’s hand and being dragged here and there.

An employee from the Arcana General Trading Company stayed close beside them and recommended various outfits. Mira boldly held the clothes up to Cassian. Then she took a few into her own hands.

Just then, the mirror bug rang from inside my clothes. It was the alarm telling me the scheduled time had arrived.

“Let’s move now. Time’s up.”

I said that and rose from my seat. Cassian looked at me with an extremely refreshed face. Mm, I felt guilty for no reason and avoided her gaze. After all, I was the one who had requested this.

“I haven’t finished checking them all yet. What a shame.”

Mira gathered the clothes with a regretful look. The mirror bug that slipped out of her arms touched the employee’s ring and handed over the points.

Mira held the clothes out to me. I took them and put them inside the spatial pouch. These were the clothes Cassian would be changing into every day from now on.

Cassian clung to the bear puppet with a relieved expression. The old blank, shabby air around her was gone. Instead, she looked like a very delicate young lady.

It was the result of Mira’s work. I had asked her to make Cassian look as beautiful as possible, but I had not known this much was possible.

“You’re amazing.”

“Oh, not at all. I merely drew out the potential that child already had.”

Mira smiled calmly. Mm, her main body was a heart, so how was something like this possible? I suppressed that question and signaled to the bear puppet.

It walked straight out of the building. Cassian clung to its back and was dragged along, and we followed after them.

Before long, we found a wide clearing that looked like the center of the city. That was our destination.

“This way, please.”

We were on the third floor. I had thought about going higher, but Cassian could not use magical power right now, so I simply chose the third floor as the stage.

The people coming and going across the clearing were scattering blade-like magical power. Most of them were swordsmen. And among them, in the middle of the wide clearing, stood Cassian.

Her expression was extremely awkward. Mira carefully straightened every part of her outfit.

“Are we... really doing this?”

Cassian asked with a sour look. I nodded heavily. She sighed and hugged the bear puppet.

“Then we’ll begin.”

Through the shadow tree, I scattered my will to the puppets. They received my signal and began moving all at once.

The puppets standing around us cast the magic they had been preparing. It was a light-emitting spell. The intense masses of light floating in the air began pouring out a bright glow.

Then the mirror bugs caught that light and flashed, drawing people’s attention. Naturally, their gazes gathered on Cassian, who stood in the center.

The people who saw her standing under the light began stopping in their tracks. Dressing her up had been a fairly effective choice. If she had looked like before, they would have just walked past.

Cassian shyly tried to sneak one foot back. But Mira, who was beside her, gently caught her.

“Give up. You’ll have to keep coming out from now on anyway. This is all for your sake.”

The mirror bugs flew through the air and displayed Cassian’s image inside them. Some captured her current appearance, while others showed videos edited together from scenes taken from the last duel.

The people who had stopped began staring blankly at those screens. In front of them, the puppets gathered and set up one large sign.

Looking for challengers for a pure sword duel without magical power.

Participation fee: 100 points, victory reward: 1,000 points

I smiled as I looked at it. To make her a little more complete, she needed more experience. There was a limit to simply having us adjust her movements.

She needed more real combat, more duels, so we could draw out her potential as much as possible. That was why I had demanded that they let her go outside.

Of course, I had not intended to go this far at first. I knew Cassian would feel pressured. So I had planned to hold the duels quietly.

But after confirming that information, I changed my mind. We could not afford to be picky about our methods. We had to make her grow somehow.

After thinking of the most effective method, I came up with this duel business. Wearing a broad smile, I filled my voice with magical power and shouted.

“Cassian-nim, the greatest talent recognized by the Blade Association, is waiting for you. We are looking for those who wish to converse through pure swordsmanship without using magical power. The participation fee is only one hundred points. Whoever defeats her will receive a full one thousand points!”

I saw the two sword-users who had followed us looking at me in disbelief. But I did not care about them.

Hadn’t that nameless young man said it? They would not interfere with whatever we did in the city. In that case, there was no one who could stop this duel.

I felt the people doing business beside us glare at us. We were interfering with their business. Yes, we were doing business too.

This clearing was also a kind of street stall zone. A zone where people were free to sell anything. I had learned that rule while looking into the city.

It was a place where anything could be sold, so all sorts of people gathered there. In that case, duels could become a product too. We had come here to sell that.

Cassian stood quietly amid the flashing lights. Her unique empty eyes emphasized that delicate atmosphere even more. Of course, in reality, she had simply half given up and gone dazed.

No one approached carelessly, though. It made sense. To them, a duel was sacred territory.

Sword-wielders took great pride in the swords they carried. They had probably rarely seen duels sold like a street performer’s act. That was likely why they found it uncomfortable.

Time continued to pass like that. Still, we did not give up. We kept handing out flyers, shining light, and drawing the gazes of those nearby.

Then, after some time had passed, someone finally approached. It was a huge man with a sword on his back. The sword was as massive as his build.

“Who is that young lady?”

He asked me. He seemed more interested in Cassian than the duel. But that did not matter. We had dressed her up to draw even that kind of interest.

“She is Cassian-nim. For training, she has restricted her magical power and stepped into a duel. What do you think? Are you perhaps interested in a duel with her?”

At those words, he thought for a moment. Soon, he shook his head slightly and tried to step back. I approached him and whispered in his ear.

“Can you see those people over there?”

I raised my finger and pointed at the two people. At the two observers who had followed us. Perhaps realizing I was pointing at them, they stared straight at me.

“They are from the Blade Association. Cassian-ssi has come out for duels because she receives the association’s sponsorship. If you win here, you may draw the association’s interest.”

I raised the volume of my last words slightly so everyone around us could hear them. The two people must have heard it as well, because they gave dry laughs.

Of course, it was a lie. But it could also be true. If Cassian lost here, that alone would be an impressive feat.

Even the people prepared by the association had failed to defeat her. If a sword-user from the street beat someone like her, the association might show a little interest.

“Ahem. You said one hundred points? I suppose I’ll give it a try.”

He must have been tempted, because he held out his ring. A mirror bug that had been floating in the air and shining approached it and let magical power flow. The points naturally entered it.

“You must restrict your magical power. If you don’t follow that rule, I can’t say what disadvantages may follow. The association people are watching right now, after all.”

Listening to me, he faced Cassian. Cassian stared at him blankly. He looked down at Cassian, who was three heads shorter than him, and his cheek twitched.

There was no carelessness in him. If anything, he seemed a little tense. It was only natural. He had heard that Cassian had the association’s attention.

He carefully drew the sword from his back and approached her cautiously. The moment he came within arm’s reach, Cassian cut him down in a single stroke.

He collapsed on the spot and lost consciousness. The puppets quickly examined him. His wound was not serious. He had merely fainted after being crushed by her strength.

After giving him rough first aid, the puppets moved him to one corner of the clearing. I looked at him lying on the ground and stepped forward. Then I cleared my throat again and shouted.

“The first challenger stepped forward, but he was cut down at the tip of Cassian-nim’s sword. Even so, he was a very brave person. He challenged Cassian-nim, who has been recognized by the association, after all. Is there anyone next? There isn’t much time left!”

I noticed that the mood had changed slightly at some point. The gazes of the swordsmen, who had looked at Cassian as if she were just a puppet, began sharpening. They must have recognized her skill.

It made sense. Even to me, that strike just now had been beautiful. Her opponent had not been weak either. Judging by his magical power, he had possessed fairly high-level skill even by third-floor standards.

“It is only one hundred points. If you win, you can take one thousand points and honor with you!”

Soon, a few more people approached. And all of them were cut down in a single stroke.

I smiled happily as I watched. As expected of wanderers, there was still no one who could properly counter Cassian’s sword. The entire process of those duels was being recorded by the mirror bugs.

“One hundred points. If you win, one thousand points!”

I continued shouting like that. The puppets also kept promoting with magic. Even so, not many people approached.

The six hours permitted to us nearly came to an end like that. We cleaned up, then followed the observers back to the room.

On the first day we came out into the city, Cassian faced a total of ten people. I set a table in front of Cassian, who had gone limp on the bed.

Then I prepared refreshments. It was honey tea with plenty of the sweetness she liked added in. At that scent, Cassian naturally raised herself.

“First, this is the first day’s profit.”

One thousand points. Out of that, I handed eight hundred to Cassian. Mira and I took the rest. Since we had only promoted it and she was the one fighting, it was a natural distribution.

“You can just take it all, old man.”

Cassian said while sipping her tea. I shook my head. The mirror bug containing the points flew straight toward her. Watching Cassian receive those points, I opened my mouth.

“Cassian-ssi, you should value points too. You are dueling right now because of points, after all. And this is only the beginning. More will gather from now on.”

Points had to be handled carefully at all times. It was advice born from my own experience. She nodded and lifted her teacup. I also lifted mine and closed my eyes as I savored the aroma.

The beginning was always this small. But once it piled up, it could never be ignored.

Every day for six hours, aiming for the evening period when the most people gathered, we went outside.

As she continued dueling every day, she looked different from the day before. Both her skill and her atmosphere changed.

Maybe rumors about her had begun spreading, because people started waiting for her. More people applied for duels, and crowds began to gather.

I smiled as I looked at the points starting to pile up. It was one hundred points per person. There was no one who surpassed Cassian’s skill, so the turnover was good too. The points kept accumulating.

“I trust you are not doing this to earn points.”

Mira said while looking at me. A mischievous smile had appeared on her lips. I put on a serious face and shook my head.

“What are you talking about? This is clearly for collecting experience and data. More importantly, today’s outfit is quite good too. It is drawing people’s eyes very strongly.”

It was the fifth day since we had come outside. I watched Cassian fight.

Following her movements, the fluttering clothes swayed in the wind. With that swaying, people’s eyes naturally turned toward her.

As the points piled up like that, her movements grew smoother. The duels were helping her naturally adapt to her changed body. And based on those duels, we drew out even more changes.

Within that cycle, her sword grew a little deeper. And at the tip of that sword, the third opponent also fell.

---

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