WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Coughing Baby

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◈ Surviving in the Magic Academy

Chapter 99

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Hao’s eyes swept over the puppet from head to toe. Then, when their eyes met, Hao quietly looked away. The puppet watched Hao in silence and smiled calmly.

After a moment lost in thought, Hao’s expression hardened, and those eyes returned to the puppet. Suspicion flickered in them. Hao narrowed their eyes and stared at it.

“How am I supposed to believe you are not a minion of those wicked bastards? They must already know about this place too. I was able to confirm they can manipulate mirror bug communication as well, since my connection to Ring of the Sky-nim was cut off. There was only a devil there. Can you prove that you are not that devil?”

Hao’s suspicion was reasonable. The puppet simply shook its head. Hao clicked their tongue. Instead, the puppet lightly raised a hand. Magical power began gathering in its palm, and at the same time, a sheet of paper floated up from inside its clothes.

The puppet used magical power to write on the paper. Once it finished, it lightly tapped the paper forward. Riding the magical power, the paper flew back toward Hao.

Hao carefully accepted it. After reading the contents, Hao’s eyes trembled slightly.

-I cannot prove it, because I have been sealed in this body. I can only hope you will believe me. Still, if I were to say something to earn your trust, I remember what I told you after seeing your past. “Since I have learned of your sin, you need only dream of happiness.” It remains in my heart that you cried, if only a little, after hearing those words.

The puppet leaned against the window and gazed at the moon. Every one of its movements carried a wistfulness, as though it might vanish at any moment. Watching it, Hao went blank again.

Soon, though, Hao frowned and came back to their senses. Even so, Hao seemed a little less guarded than before. A faint light had begun to shine in those eyes.

A brief silence settled between them. The puppet’s purple hair, steeped in moonlight, gave off an eerie glow. The puppet let its gaze drift aside and glanced at Hao.

Once again, the puppet filled a finger with magical power. That power flowed over the paper and formed words, then the paper flew into Hao’s hand. Hao slowly read it.

-Was it our first meeting after that? It was when you came alone to tell me your worries. You asked me why I had taught you happiness, and said that after learning of happiness, no, you had become even more afraid of the misfortune that would come afterward.

The puppet began walking slowly around the room. Its steps circled as though treading on empty air, carrying a frailty that made it seem ready to collapse at any moment. The puppet looked at Hao.

Hao stopped reading for a moment and met the puppet’s gaze. When the puppet smiled gently with its eyes, Hao gave a dry cough and lowered their head. Then Hao continued reading the rest.

-And so I told you this. “Happiness is always buried deep within misfortune. If you do not fear misfortune and keep walking through despair, you will be able to find the brightest ray of light within it. That is another happiness I give you.” I think that was what I said. Is my memory correct?

After reading all of it, Hao nodded. Then Hao closed their eyes. Beyond the eyelids, I could see his eyeballs trembling back and forth. The puppet merely wandered leisurely around the room and gazed at the moon outside the window.

Quite some time passed before Hao opened their eyes.

Hao looked at the puppet with hesitation in their gaze. The puppet briefly met that stare and only smiled faintly. Then it handed over another sheet of paper. Hao accepted it.

-I need your help. To escape from their hands, and from these restraints. Tomorrow, at this time, in this place, I will be waiting.

With those faint footsteps, the puppet approached Hao. Hao’s body stiffened with slight tension. Magical power began rippling faintly around Hao.

The puppet paid it no mind and placed a hand on Hao’s body. Then it lightly hugged Hao and gently patted that back. Hao stared down at the puppet in a daze.

“Tomorrow again.”

Hao murmured. At that, the puppet looked up and gave Hao a smile tinged with sadness. Then it placed a sheet of paper directly into Hao’s hand.

The puppet drew away and began walking toward the door. Hao checked the paper. After seeing its contents, Hao tried to follow after the puppet. But the puppet only shook its head.

-There is no time. I must leave before they notice my absence. I hope your tomorrow will be happier than today.

The puppet smiled slightly, opened the door, and went outside. Hao watched it go, eyelids trembling. Suspicion and belief, hesitation and doubt all showed clearly in those eyes.

So clearly that I could see it all through the mirror bug.

-Did I really say things like that? I don’t think I remember them.

Beside me, I saw another mirror bug spit out words. It was the one I had left exclusively for Ring of the Sky. Of course Ring of the Sky had not. I quietly shook my head. Through the mirror bug, I could see Hao and the puppet.

I did not have the spare focus to answer Ring of the Sky right now. Every action that puppet took was under my control. I was in the middle of carefully manipulating every single movement, every glance.

The puppet’s gestures were remarkably beautiful. This was the result of the special training I had done with Mira. How flustered had I been when she smiled mischievously and said that not only the puppet, but I myself had to learn it too?

Still, just as she said, the results of learning it myself were showing. The puppet’s actions had become more natural and more graceful. Look, even now Hao was quietly narrowing their eyes and scanning the puppet from behind.

I smiled in satisfaction. As expected, if the appearance was convincing enough, the story became convincing too.

Hao left the room, following the puppet. Then Hao stood there and watched the puppet’s back as it headed toward the stairs. Under my delicate control, the puppet climbed the stairs unsteadily and vanished.

Soon, the door to the workshop where we were stationed opened. The puppet entered the room with calm steps. It gave us a slight bow. Unlike before, its face was completely expressionless.

The puppet returned to its original place. The wall where it had been hanging. Leaning against that wall, it closed its eyes and stopped breathing as though going to sleep.

Good. It had been very effective from the first attempt. Through the mirror bug, I saw Hao continue staring at the stairs. Hao looked down at the scraps of paper in hand for a while, then put them into a pocket.

Then Hao left the tower. Watching that, I quietly nodded. Mm, it looked like Hao had not noticed anything strange. That meant those memories had been distorted that much.

It was just as Ring of the Sky had said. After checking the previous videos, the things Ring of the Sky had said to Hao did not even amount to half of what had just been written. They had not meant that either. Ring of the Sky had never said anything that kind.

The words that puppet had used were all things Hao had said before. I had only quoted them. I stitched together the things Hao had shouted to others during mass and gatherings, then dressed them up to sound plausible.

Then it seemed fine to continue like this. I had confirmed that those memories were clearly distorted. I looked down at the bundle of papers placed in front of me. Then I quietly checked what story I should bring up tomorrow.

Inside this bundle of papers were all the words Hao had spoken. It was the result of investigating Hao’s actions and playing back every video. Yes, this could be called a kind of strategy guide.

Also, since all the stories of their religion were contained inside, it could be called a scripture too. I never thought I would end up making something they had not even made themselves. I gave a small laugh and looked at the mirror bug connected to Ring of the Sky.

“Now, do you believe me?”

-This really works. It feels incredibly strange....

Ring of the Sky poured out its will from beyond the mirror bug. It became words and appeared on the screen.

“Then, as we discussed yesterday, Ring of the Sky-nim, please leave everything to us and prepare the ritual. Please create a magic circle that can contain all of their power.”

-Yees, if their power can gather together like that, using it will be simple. Please leave it to me. More importantly, may I watch tomorrow too? I want to keep watching that.

Ring of the Sky wrote in a slightly excited tone. I quietly nodded. It seemed to have liked the scene just now quite a lot. Of course it would. I had put my heart and soul into that performance.

But this was not something that would end in a single day. In order to predict Hao’s actions and guide the direction of the Ring of the Sky Church, I had to immerse myself in the puppet even more deeply than now.

I looked at the puppet with its eyes closed. I needed to give that thing a name too. Should I call it Ring of the Sky for now, like they did? Mm, then let us shorten it and call it Hari. I liked that name quite a bit.

I had granted Hari an ego as well, but it was still weak, so I needed to control the puppet myself like this. Still, all the information from this strategy guide had been loaded inside it.

If I kept adjusting Hari’s behavior like this, one day, the puppet would be able to deceive Hao on its own. Once that time came, I could just watch.

That future was probably not so far away. We would be entering special training from now on, after all. I looked at the puppet with sparkling eyes. Perhaps Hari sensed it, because its body flinched slightly.

The next day, Hao came to the room again.

Hao glared at the puppet with a stiff face. Yesterday’s hesitation had disappeared. In its place, that empty space had been filled with firm conviction and the light of faith.

“I let it pass yesterday, but I still cannot believe you. Even that story is something that could have been fabricated somehow. I need a more certain story, and more certain proof.”

Hao’s face was a little firmer than before. It seemed the many stories written on the papers we had given over had led to a great deal of thought. Still, a mage was a mage. To think Hao would grow suspicious again this quickly.

My eyes flashed. Then I just had to erase that suspicion. Could Hao really endure this? I gave Hari an order. Receiving the signal, it began to move.

Facing Hao, Hari smiled gently and approached. Then the puppet lightly wrapped its arms around Hao’s waist. Hao’s face flushed red. Hari held out a sheet of paper.

-I am happy just that you came to find me like this. Please think more, doubt more, and question me more. And at the end of it, come meet me again like this. That is my only happiness now.

Hari looked up at Hao and smiled faintly. Hao could not meet that gaze and gave a small dry cough. The mood naturally loosened like that. Hari stepped slightly away and wrote another sheet of paper to send over.

Hao accepted it and nodded. The tension from when Hao had first entered the room was nowhere to be found on that face. Hao looked at the paper, then at Hari, and began listening to the story.

Watching the papers go back and forth like that, I smiled in satisfaction. This was it. All I had to do was drag Hao’s faith down like this. Not toward Ring of the Sky, but toward Hari. Not toward the treasure, but toward my puppet.

They talked like that, then soon parted ways.

The next day, and the day after that. They continued meeting.

Hari encouraged Hao, and also told Hao the things they wanted to hear. It brought up stories of the past too. Through that process, Hari’s ego began clearly recognizing its role.

On the fourth day, Hari had reached the point where it could handle Hao alone without me intervening. That was the power of the strategy guide loaded inside it.

I checked the time. There were only a few days left until the next lecture began. I needed to finish this before then.

I looked at the mirror bug. Then I wore a slight bitter smile. Even so, I had not expected it to be this effective.

Beyond the screen, I could see Hao kneeling in front of Hari with tears in their eyes. Hari looked down at Hao gently.

“Ring of the Sky-nim! I will definitely free you. Even if I must offer my whole body!”

As Hao said that, they gently kissed Hari’s hand. Hari gave Hao a sad smile and nodded. The moonlight softly wrapped around their bodies. It was a very pleasant sight.

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