WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Hydrogen B
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Chapter 60: 11. St. Yansk University and the Chamber of Secrets (3)
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Elizaveta went on about nonsense, like a bill she was supposedly considering that would tax men for grooming their body hair in the interest of public hygiene.
She also rambled about pointless foreign gossip, namely that the marriage prospects of a princess practically guaranteed to become the next monarch had, astonishingly, been released onto the marriage market regardless of status.
“Mm. I understand.”
“Oh, that's exactly what I wanted to know.”
“Ah, I see.”
“Yes, Your Highness is right.”
Ivan was a highly sociable man, so he generously demonstrated the modern art of getting by, represented by [Mm, Oh, Ah, Yes], and put his empathy skills to work.
Elizaveta watched him with profound disdain, let out a long sigh, and finally returned to a serious expression.
Only then did Ivan, who had maintained a grave face while half-listening to her words, or rather, ignoring almost all of them, realize that she was getting to the point and focused on her.
“You know the dwarves launched a large-scale attack on Pritchenkaya, don't you, Vanka?”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
“And you know they brought an excavation relic with them?”
“Yes.”
He had not seen it himself, but he had pieced together what happened on the rainy streets of Pritchenkaya.
Widespread ground destruction. A Dwarven weapon of devastation that could bury an entire city if properly activated.
Excavation engines, excavation relics. The dwarves probably had their own name for them, but that was what those massive structures were generally called on the front lines.
They had been exterminated so thoroughly in the last war that Ivan had thought no such relics remained in the world...
“Right. Enrika slaughtered every last one of those dwarves, but... in the end, all she found were traces of the relic.”
“Traces?”
“Traces that it had begun destroying the ground. We only found evidence of activation extensive enough to collapse all of eastern Pritchenkaya. Take a look at this report.”
Elizaveta handed him a file stamped with a classified seal.
-A cavity was discovered beneath eastern Pritchenkaya, indicating the passage of a massive structure. Seventy-five percent of the eastern Pritchenkaya Underground Waterways were destroyed, and drainage facilities across the eastern district have ceased functioning.
-Analysis of the destruction indicates that the relic stopped almost immediately after attempting the collapse operation.
-Tracking was conducted along the structure's route of travel.
-The trail disappears near Saint Yansk University.
-Magical probing discovered an unidentified underground cavity beneath Saint Yansk University.
-All attempts to enter the area have failed.
-Recommendation submitted for the evacuation of all undergraduate students and a large-scale construction project. See Appendix, page 12.
“Mm...”
Ivan closed the file and sank into thought.
An unidentified cavity beneath the university?
“Is there a reason you can't excavate into it from underground?”
“Our experts say large-scale excavation work beginning underground carries a substantial risk of ground collapse. It would endanger the workers, of course, but a massive collapse could begin around the university buildings as well.”
“Then why not proceed with the evacuation as this report recommends...?”
“This is the assessment from our Department of Magical Engineering. Read it.”
The next file required an even higher security clearance, though it looked as if it had been hastily scribbled together.
-Probing confirms that some form of large-scale spell has been installed within the underground cavity beneath Saint Yansk University.
-The spell possesses its own defensive system. The disappearance of the Dwarven excavation relic allows us to infer the system's general operation.
-The estimated date of installation is at least 1,500 years ago, possibly as many as 2,500 years ago...
“...Does that make any sense?”
“Exactly. I honestly can't believe it either. Then again, more than half of what our Department of Magical Engineering does is like this. We can either believe it or bury it. Those are our choices.”
Elizaveta shook her head.
“But one thing is certain. If the ground collapses, the large ancient magic circle buried in that cavity, along with the Dwarven excavation relic, will be lost.”
“Can it be reverse-engineered?”
Ivan understood Elizaveta's intentions by then.
This ambitious war commander wanted both the ancient ruins beneath the university and the Dwarven excavation relic in her hands.
Yet human technology could not restore a Dwarven relic. In fact, neither could Dwarven technology. Every design technique had been lost, and the machinery was too complex to reverse-engineer.
Still, if a complete specimen existed, they might gain something from it. The chance was thin, but it was better than nothing.
And if it was buried beneath the heart of the capital, it would be foolish not to dig it up.
At the same time, it would be equally foolish to attempt it openly, where everyone could see.
They could not publicly announce that they were researching a Dwarven relic. Nor could they announce the installation of a state facility researching an ancient spell of unknown origin beneath Saint Yansk University, where the children of international dignitaries were enrolled.
“Vanka. I am not asking you to serve your country.”
“...”
“I am proposing a transaction. It is dangerous, important, and cannot be allowed to fail.”
“Give your order. I am listening.”
Ivan nodded gravely.
“Enrika has pursued them through the tunnels the dwarves dug. The Counterintelligence Command is devoting all its resources to watching the nobles of this city. And beneath this university sleeps a relic whose creator, purpose, and age are all unknown.”
Elizaveta looked at him with blazing eyes.
“If it is dangerous, destroy it. If it is useful, bring it to me. Without anyone noticing. For me... no, for this country, lend me your strength one more time.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
His answer came at once.
Elizaveta stared at Ivan in disbelief.
No, ordinary civil servants at least showed some displeasure when given orders outside their duties, did they not? Ivan was not a salaried civil servant, but still.
She had just dumped an uncertain and dangerous project on him, one with no proper information or support, and he had accepted immediately?
“...Did you even hear me say this was a transaction?”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
Elizaveta looked slightly flustered.
The value of a transaction naturally rose with demand. If she had shown that she needed his help this badly, should she not place something even heavier on the other side of the scales?
Yet the man before her only nodded without making any demands.
As he always did.
“Then... um. Is there nothing you want? A position, wealth, honor, rights... something like that?”
“Do you remember what you asked of me, Your Highness?”
“Mm?”
“The letter. The one you sent through Dmitry.”
“Ah, the letter. But what does that have to do with...?”
Elizaveta was an exceptionally intelligent person. She remembered every official document she personally issued.
Politics was delicate work. Even a simple sentence could carry complicated implications.
So even a personal letter, if it bore a princess's hand, had to account for political misuse. The letter she had sent Ivan was therefore filled with careful, delicate metaphors.
Its rough contents had been...
-If there is something you desire, I shall repay you threefold.
This was an old Krasilov proverb. Repay both favors and grudges threefold.
So that part could be set aside.
-If that compensation is insufficient, I shall pay the remainder with our friendship.
-If even that cannot settle the account, I shall pay with our memories.
“Ah...”
As Elizaveta's expression turned awkward, Ivan nodded gravely with the bearing of a mature adult.
“The late King's generosity and Your Highness's favor are more than enough reason for me to heed your command. The support funds Your Highness sends every quarter have also been more than generous.”
Ivan was a greedy man. He ran an orphanage for the sake of his own hypocrisy.
Feeding war orphans took a great deal of money. Ivan had accumulated sufficient funds during his long military service, and he also received official support from various high-ranking figures, including the princess.
He was a modern man familiar with capitalism. He had also served in the Royal Guard and had connections with senior military officers, with a career as a political soldier behind him. That meant domestic intelligence work.
So Ivan understood that Elizaveta's “transaction” was, in effect, a blank check.
At the same time, Ivan was a sensible man.
‘If there's a dungeon beneath an academy, then a hidden piece is hiding there. That's practically common sense.’
A dungeon needed rewards. It was a principle even found in classic literature that was strangely serious about copyright lawsuits, Dungeons and Dragons.
And this was a quest personally given by a princess, involving a secret chamber with ancient, mysterious magic. What incredible treasures could be sleeping inside?
Suppose he accepted a mission to clear such a dungeon alone, then asked for support.
From the princess's perspective, she might think:
-Mm. This is costing more than expected. To spread the risk, should I send additional agents to the site?
People of this era were not fools. The princess, in particular, was one of the most capable among them.
What were the odds that such a princess would blindly think, Ah, I trust Ivan, so I should pour money into this and simply watch him carry out this special operation alone?
They approached zero. Politics did not work that way. Investors did not review the financial statements of their investments every quarter and conduct audits for no reason.
As a rational, skeptical, sensible modern man, Ivan accepted the mission without another word.
That meant the princess now owed him a political, or psychological, debt. Unlike a tangible debt, such an intangible debt was guaranteed to have far broader uses.
Elizaveta was currently the most powerful person in the city. It was fair to say that nearly all administration in the Krasilov Kingdom moved by her hand.
If he used the debt owed by someone with that much power, he could provide every child at the orphanage with higher education and better nutrition without worrying about money.
If he simply accepted wealth as compensation, it would be a one-time payment. But under the name of “support funds,” how much financial aid could he secure?
With the satisfaction of committing wicked, systematic corruption, Ivan nodded to himself.
He carefully gathered the reports, gave a deep bow with perfect court etiquette, and left the president's office.
Elizaveta stared blankly at his retreating back for a long time. Then she rubbed her face with dry hands and sank into the sofa.
“...Idiot...”
The Royal Guard officer who had heard words too irreverent to repeat turned toward the window with a blank expression.
It was summer.
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“I'll give you half the kingdom.”
No, that was wrong. It was too clichéd.
“Do you not wish to possess the noblest person in this kingdom?”
Damn it, that sounded too much like a succubus. Refine it a little more... Yes, make it romantic.
“I'll give you half of myself. Will you give me half of yours?”
That sounded somewhat better.
Elizaveta stood before the mirror in the president's office, muttering to herself for a long while.
She wore the expression of a devoted princess, commissioning a difficult mission and offering even herself as the reward.
It was a scene from thirty minutes before Ivan had accepted the mission out of patriotic loyalty, without asking for any compensation, and left.
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Footnotes:
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