WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Coughing Baby

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◈ Surviving in the Magic Academy

Chapter 89

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I left the lecture room with Mira. The mirror bug rose naturally into the air and began displaying its screen.

Inside it was the Tooth Necklace. It clattered its teeth and smiled at me. Mm, that had to count as smiling. It had arranged those teeth into a neat crescent.

The students had gathered in the second-floor central hall. The shadow puppets beside them had naturally guided them there. They glanced at the puppets and talked among themselves.

I stood before them. At the sound of teeth clacking from the mirror bug, they slowly began to quiet down. Everyone looked a little tense. Magical power was blooming from their bodies at full force.

I smiled and raised my right hand. Mira was holding my left, so I could not lift it. I turned my palm toward them and waved.

“You do not need to be so tense already. As I said earlier, there are still thirty minutes left.”

The mirror bug slowly circled around them. The Tooth Necklace inside examined them one by one and clacked its teeth.

-I will watch all of you fight your hardest. I will not interfere, so please just fight until you fall! Ah, by fall, I do not mean simply dropping facedown onto the floor. I mean dying. I once dealt with someone like that. How absurd it was when they suddenly collapsed and pretended to be dead! I told them...

The Tooth Necklace’s words burst out of the mirror bug as writing. The magical power inside it embroidered the words into the air. They formed densely packed sentences and poured down like rain. There was no way to read them all.

“Yes. Everyone can see Mr. Tooth Necklace’s words clearly, I assume. All future lectures will proceed in this manner. You simply need to satisfy the conditions demanded by the treasure in whatever way you can. Fighting will not be everything. This is just Mr. Tooth Necklace’s preference.”

The people who had been staring blankly at the Tooth Necklace’s words began turning their eyes toward me. I met their gazes one by one. These were the people I would be spending the next five years with. It would be fine to give them a little help.

“You would do well to think carefully about what they want. If you understand what kind of desire a treasure has and act accordingly, you should be able to earn their selection quite easily.”

I looked at the mirror bug as it kept pouring out words. The Tooth Necklace’s desire was very clear.

“Always think from the treasure’s perspective. Then they will gladly choose you.”

Those words came from the heart. Mira heard them and let out a small laugh. When I looked down at her, she gave me a faint smile. In a way, I had also been chosen by her.

But my sincere words did not seem to reach the students. They only looked confused. Seeing that, I closed my eyes in pity.

These foolish humans. They had been deeply consumed by that narrow-minded mage way of thinking, the kind that only saw treasures as objects. Judging from their expressions, I could already see how much they would suffer from now on.

They needed to learn that treasures also had thoughts and desires, that they had their own happiness, and beyond that, that treasures also had rights. You could only be respected if you respected the other party. They had to respect treasures.

I buried that pity in my chest and smiled again. Then I nodded toward them. If they did not know, they could learn. That was the direction mages moved in. Through this lecture, they would come to understand treasures more deeply as well.

“The combat zone will be the entire second floor, excluding the infirmary and the lecture room. Those two areas will be sealed off. After all, eliminated participants should not be able to rejoin the fight. All of you simply need to fight freely here.”

At those words, they began examining their surroundings with magical power. I watched their magical power reach even the distant rooms before speaking again.

“You will be given twelve hours. During that time, it does not matter how you fight. You may form groups, and you may negotiate. Well, the choice is yours. You may also hide without fighting.”

All of that could be a strategy. I saw no need to restrict their possibilities. The freer they were, the more actions and thoughts they would show.

“But please remember this. You are fighting because of Mr. Tooth Necklace, and for the sake of obtaining its power. Now, you may move as you please. The fight begins when the bell rings, so do your best, everyone.”

With that, I waved to them. I had said everything I needed to say. From here on, it was their business. They would manage somehow. They were experts in fighting, after all.

They began murmuring. As I had confirmed in the lecture room, they gathered into set groups and began talking among themselves. Then they gradually split into several branches and headed in different directions.

“I will say this one more time. You must think from the treasure’s perspective!”

I shouted that at their backs as they left. It was my final piece of advice. They did look at me briefly, but their faces were still full of doubt. They did not seem to understand. They kept moving away.

-To think from the treasure’s perspective, how moving! Truly moving! Well, they do not seem to understand.

The Tooth Necklace clacked its teeth from beyond the mirror bug. I glanced at it. Beyond the screen, I could see a white sky. It was the scenery of the storage room.

It was still bound inside the storage room. The illusion in the lecture room had only reproduced the scene inside.

I had prepared plenty of mirror bugs so it would not feel stifled. Right now, dozens of mirror bugs were floating in front of it. They showed every part of the second floor and captured the students.

And those videos were not something only it could see. All the other treasures using the message board could observe them as well. While watching, they would also get a chance to pick out anyone who caught their interest in advance.

-Now then, I suppose a fight so fierce it makes my teeth ache will begin. This should be fun! Kkekek!

The students each occupied an area they liked and began laying down magic. Soon, the sound of a bell rang throughout the second floor. It was the sound announcing the start of the fight.

I returned to the lecture room. Otherwise, I might get caught up in their fight. The Tooth Necklace left, saying it would observe them.

Then an hour passed.

No one had been eliminated.

During that time, not a single fight occurred. Everyone had gone into rooms and was watching one another.

I had expected as much. They knew nothing about each other and had no certainty that they could win, so who would be stupid enough to move first? Time passed like that, bringing us to the present.

Mira sat beside me and quietly drank tea. She watched the second floor through the mirror bug floating in front of her. A few mirror bugs like that were floating in front of me too.

Looking at them, I took out a new sheet of paper. When I sent my will, the mirror bugs showed me someone new. It was a slender-looking woman. She was talking with the people around her.

Should I organize some information about this person this time? I remembered her. Was her name Luciella? She was the one who had bought a seat from me.

Her skill was impressive too. I had confirmed that it had been quite some time since she reached the third floor. She would probably become one of the top students in my lecture.

Right, then this person needed to be placed above average. Would around seventy points in each category be appropriate for now? I checked the information and carefully adjusted the scores.

“What have you been doing all this time?”

Mira asked as she set down her teacup. I put down the magical power pen for a moment and looked at her. I could read a little boredom in her eyes.

“I am organizing some basic information about the students. I am checking the information sent by the shadow puppets attached to them, along with the mirror bugs.”

Beyond the mirror bugs, the shadow puppets were attending to the people as they talked. The puppets wore smiles as they assisted the people beside them. They poured tea, cast simple magic, and did their best to make the students comfortable.

Like that, they were roughly gathering everything they saw and heard nearby and sending their will to me. I was writing it all down on paper.

Their preferences, movements, gazes, and so on. Even the smallest details were fine. I needed to weave all of it together and create a rough profile of each person.

“Is there any need to do this now? Like the last lecture, the information will naturally gather if you simply wait.”

Mira rested her chin on her clasped hands and asked. It seemed she was bored because there had been no fighting for so long. What she said was true.

This was all information that would accumulate with time anyway. But that would be after time had passed. I could not be sure whether the information gathered then would truly reflect them in full.

“I am not gathering this for my own benefit. Nor is it for the treasures. It is solely for them, the students. I need to prepare for the risks they may face.”

Perhaps those words drew her interest, because she began flipping through the dozens of sheets of paper in front of me. They were a somewhat hazy collection of information. They were not perfect yet either. I would have to keep observing and revising them.

Still, some of them had very clear notes. She picked up one such sheet of paper. When she saw it, she laughed lightly.

“Ah, this child. I remember.”

Was there someone Mira would take interest in? I glanced at the paper. Seeing the name, I nodded slightly. If it was that person, I understood Mira’s reaction.

In truth, among those who had taken the previous lecture, an unexpectedly large number had applied for the lecture again. Even though I had given them such low scores. They had probably seen that my lecture had changed.

The person she was looking at was one of them. That was why the information was so clear. I had already gathered enough information, after all. The name was Hao. Mira’s eyes sparkled as she flipped through the paper.

“This one had a very strong scent. How should I put it? For some reason, every time I looked at them, I wanted to eat them.”

In truth, Hao’s skill could be called the lowest among all these students. Hao had finished around 160th place in the previous lecture.

I eliminated all mages of a similar level from the documents. Even so, there was only one reason I accepted Hao. As Mira had just said, Hao possessed a somewhat strange trait.

Hao drew the interest of inhuman beings. The Fake Tree now attached to No. 0’s chest used to cause trouble from time to time. You could call them escape attempts by wraiths. And strangely, those wraiths would gather only around Hao’s mirror bug.

It had been the same in the lecture. Hao was often attacked by magical beasts. It was because of that scent Mira mentioned. I found that strange, so I had observed Hao a little more.

The reason I brought Hao in was to focus the treasures’ attention on that student. Hao stood out even to treasures. Just like Mira remembered Hao now.

Hao would receive the treasures’ attention like that, and would also be affected by them. All of that would be conveyed to me. Hao would become the standard for this lecture. A kind of sample for that purpose.

“Mm, what are these numbers below? 29, 90, 33?”

“They are a kind of threshold. I judged that some change would occur if those numbers were exceeded.”

Life was the sum of three things. Body, mind, and soul. Those three gathered together to form life. What I had written down were scores for the life possessed by the student.

Of course, several other theories existed. Some said magical power was included, and others claimed there were various additional elements. After all, we still had not clearly grasped what life was.

Even so, everyone agreed that these three basic elements were included. That was why the three elements of life was also the most widespread comprehensive theory in the magic world. So I had used it to assign scores.

There was a reason Hao’s mind score was high. Based on what I had observed, Hao’s trait was rooted in the mind. The body was ordinary, and the soul was not impressive either, as this score showed.

But the powerful waves of mind I could feel from Hao were strong enough for even me to perceive now and then. That was probably what drew in inhuman beings. That was why I had given Hao’s mind score such a high value.

“Ah, I understand what you are thinking. You are wary of the treasures.”

She laughed softly. At her words, I quietly nodded.

They would grant power. What sweet words those were. As the students gathered here now showed, they were words any mage would surely be drawn to. But could it truly be as easy as it sounded?

Treasures fundamentally had the property of eroding their targets. That was also why they were called treasures. If weeds saw them, they might even melt on the spot.

Of course, those who handled magical power were less affected by treasures. But if they abused that power too much, even they would be eroded. The same could happen if the gap in power was too great.

I remembered when I faced that strange eye on the seventh floor. Even though I had only looked at it, I had almost split into twelve branches and gone mad. Like that, treasures naturally scattered contamination around them.

What would happen if the students received the power of such beings?

Of course, the students also knew plenty about treasures. Most of them would surely make good use of the power they were granted. They were also terribly careful with their own bodies, after all.

But a mage’s greed always tended to lead to excess. The treasures would also interfere with them directly.

In that process, they might change in some strange way. For example, they might become the treasures’ biological terminals.

As the person conducting the lecture, I had to prevent such risks in advance. That would also be a violation of the students’ basic rights. Professor would certainly not leave me alone either.

So I needed to observe their initial state. The state they had been in as their purest human selves. I roughly explained that to Mira. After hearing it, she smiled at me with her eyes.

“Hm, how interesting.”

Perhaps satisfied, Mira put the paper back and began watching the mirror bug again. It showed the central hall. Beyond it, firmly closed doors could be seen. They were the rooms the students had entered.

“More importantly, when do you think a fight will happen? Right now, this is just boring. That one seems to think so too.”

She pointed at the screen. Beyond the screen, I could see a mirror bug. It was examining the rooms and pouring out writing at random. I laughed lightly and shook my head.

“They will fight soon. You only need to wait a little longer.”

I spoke to her with certainty. Perhaps she sensed it, because she looked at me with a slightly puzzled face.

“I trust mages. If they catch an opportunity, they will move without hesitation.”

“Did you not usually say that people cannot be trusted, and mages even less so?”

She tilted her head as she said that. Mm, had I said that out loud before? Feeling a little embarrassed, I scratched my cheek.

“Mm, I trust in the untrustworthiness of mages. In their intense selfishness and desire.”

She blinked. I bowed my head slightly toward her and began writing on the paper again. Information was still pouring in. I needed to write all of this down quickly.

And it happened just as I said.

The first battle broke out about ten minutes after that conversation. It was caused by those who had previously attended my lecture gathering together. They attacked a group of independent mages and eliminated them just like that.

Calling it an ambush would be more accurate than calling it a battle. It took less than three minutes to deal with more than twenty people.

They handled everyone at once while their opponents were off guard. It was also a situation where they could not help lowering their guard. They were allies, after all.

They had probably formed an alliance only to create an opening. If they could eat, they ate. If they saw an opening, they bit. That was exactly the way of mages.

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