WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: LilGuyBlastoise
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ I Made Magic Easier by Changing the Formula ◈
Chapter 20: Flowers Wither, but Stars Are Eternal
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“Ha... haha... hahahaha...”
I couldn’t stop laughing.
The fate of having to live as a First-Tier mage with trash-tier mana aptitude.
I had finally broken free of those cursed shackles.
‘I reached the Second Tier far sooner than I expected.’
I thought it would be possible soon if I stayed here.
But I never imagined that day would be today.
My heart swelled.
‘But I can’t be satisfied with this much.’
Third Tier, Fourth Tier, Fifth Tier... Perhaps even higher was no longer impossible.
‘I won’t stop until I reach the top.’
Normally, when someone became a Second-Tier mage, mana should shimmer all around their body.
Unable to contain their overflowing power, mana would leak out.
But not a speck of mana leaked from my body.
‘What a waste.’
Mana leaking out?
That was wasteful.
For someone who had suffered from mana deficiency their entire life, luxuries like putting on airs or projecting intimidation were beyond reach.
I adapted the sealing formulas from a mana sealing array to suit my body.
They would contain my overflowing Second-Tier mana without interfering with my ability to use it.
[Second-Tier Transformation Formula: Seal Concealment]
Just as the truly rich did not flaunt their money, true mages did not flaunt their mana.
‘Blabbing that I’ve reached the Second Tier would be stupid.’
Outwardly, I still needed to appear to be a First-Tier mage with weak mana.
Nothing worked more in my favor than making my enemies lower their guard.
I formed another Mana Needle.
It felt different.
Now that I was Second Tier, it felt as though my mana had turned to liquid and seeped into the silver thread.
Shushushuk!
As the silver thread infused with Second-Tier mana passed through the fabric, its fibers took on a glow far denser than before.
[Second-Tier Transformation Formula: Fluidization]
It gave solid fabric the properties of liquid.
The hem of the dress swayed as though it ignored gravity.
‘At last, the final process.’
[Second-Tier Transformation Formula: Mana Synchronization]
It was a formula I had used even at the First Tier, but now that I had reached the Second Tier, I classified it as Second Tier.
I engraved the Mana Synchronization Formula into the dress.
The dress would breathe and shine in time with Ellen’s breathing.
Flash.
The moment I tied the final knot.
Fwoooosh...
A Milky Way spread across the ceiling of the dark underground prison.
The dress swayed in midair.
Countless stars poured across its deep color, as though someone had cut out the night sky itself.
This was real light, incomparable to any illusion spell.
“...It’s complete.”
Exhausted, I collapsed onto the floor.
Every bit of strength had left my body, but my heart was full.
Sophia? Duell?
Whatever they had prepared would look like crude toys before this overwhelming masterpiece.
“The preparations are complete.”
Now, it was time to prove it.
* * *
The reception room of the Valderk estate.
The air was thick with suffocating tension.
“It’s here.”
Nen carefully set a large clothing box on the table.
Count Valderk stood with his arms crossed, staring coldly at the box.
“Open it.”
A short command.
Nen carefully lifted the lid.
Rustle.
The dress appeared with the soft sound of silk brushing against itself.
“...”
At first glance, it was utterly ordinary.
The dress inside the box was a deep night-sky blue.
There was no extravagant lace or dazzling jewel decoration.
Even its color was so dark that it could easily have looked dull.
The Count frowned.
“This is... all?”
Disappointment was clear in his voice.
“The result that arrogant bastard boasted about is nothing more than this simple dark-blue dress? Sophia is supposedly wearing a dress that unfolds into a living flower garden. How does he intend to win with something so gloomy? Nen, what do you think?”
“W-well...”
Nen also looked clearly flustered.
The underground cavern had been too dark to see it properly.
Now that the dress was in this bright reception room, it looked far too plain.
“I’m disappointed. I expected too much.”
The Count clicked his tongue.
He started to rise, wondering how he should deal with the man in the underground prison.
Then it happened.
As Nen lifted the dress onto a hanger to put it away, a ray of morning sunlight passing through the window brushed over its surface.
Swish...
“...!!!”
The Count froze.
His eyes widened in disbelief.
The object that had looked like an ordinary piece of cloth moments earlier transformed into something entirely different the instant it caught the light.
As if possessed, he approached the dress.
“I can’t believe it. How... how is this possible?”
A breathless exclamation escaped him.
He turned to Nen and shouted excitedly.
“Bring Ellen at once and have her put it on! Hurry!”
* * *
At the same time, at Count Bergen’s estate.
“Perfect! It’s absolutely perfect!”
Sophia spun in front of a full-length mirror, crying out in delight.
Illusory rose petals made of mana bloomed over the red dress she wore.
Whenever she walked, it even looked as though a flower path appeared beneath her feet. She truly looked like a walking garden.
“As expected of you, Duell! They don’t call you the East’s greatest genius for nothing.”
At Sophia’s lavish praise, Duell, a moustached man, proudly puffed out his chest.
“You flatter me, my lady. This is merely the basics. The harmony of illusion magic and clothing is a realm those tasteless Imperial craftsmen could never even dream of reaching.”
“Hoho, the Valderk family won’t even compare, will they?”
“Hahaha! The Valderk family? I heard they entrusted their clothing to some nameless mender after Pompar ran away.”
Duell burst into laughter.
“Isn’t a mender some lowly profession that does nothing but stitch torn clothes? Could clothing made by someone like that possibly compare to even the tip of my work? They’ll be fortunate if they don’t arrive dressed in rags.”
“That’s right. Tonight, Ellen will be my backdrop.”
Sophia’s eyes gleamed viciously.
Her defeat in the previous contest, and the anxiety caused by the disappearance of the assassin Jacob.
She intended to vent every bit of that resentment by crushing Ellen tonight.
Count Bergen entered with a pleased smile.
“Are you fully prepared? The carriage is waiting. His Highness the Crown Prince will arrive soon as well, so let us hurry.”
“Yes, Father! I’ll show them Bergen’s prestige today.”
Sophia walked out confidently.
Red illusory flower petals scattered magnificently behind her.
* * *
The grand ballroom of Rowen Castle.
The banquet hall, where the Empire’s most prominent nobles and Rowen’s influential figures had gathered, was dazzling with the light of splendid chandeliers and glittering jewels.
At the seat of honor, the handsome blond Crown Prince Kaisis sat pouring himself wine with a bored expression.
“Count Bergen’s family is entering!”
At the attendant’s cry, the doors opened.
The moment Sophia entered, the hall erupted.
“Wow!”
“Look! Beautiful petals are falling around her dress!”
“She’s so beautiful!”
“As expected of the Bergen family. Their wealth is incredible.”
Everyone’s attention focused on Sophia.
Her dress was certainly extravagant.
The illusory effect of a flower path spreading beneath her feet with every step was enough to captivate the nobles.
Even the Crown Prince glanced at her with interest.
Sophia proudly walked toward the center of the room.
‘Now only Ellen needs to arrive. The moment she stands beside me in some tasteless outfit, everyone will see who is above and who is below. Tonight’s ending is practically decided.’
The attendant called out.
“Count Valderk’s family is entering!”
Sophia covered her mouth, ready to sneer.
Duell also crossed his arms, prepared to dismiss the rags supposedly made by that insignificant mender.
Then.
Ellen appeared alongside Count Valderk.
“...?”
In an instant, the noise in the ballroom vanished as if the room had become a vacuum.
Ellen wore a deep night-sky blue dress.
Unlike Sophia’s, it had no flashy illusion magic or eye-piercing jewels.
Its shape was simple and calm.
But the moment she took one step down the marble stairs.
Swish...
The hem of her dress rippled.
Like the Milky Way flowing across the night sky.
The fabric itself had become fluid, flowing like liquid.
Strangely, the dress held light within itself and cast it at different angles with Ellen’s breathing and movements.
Some parts were dark as a deep abyss, while others shone brilliantly like condensed starlight.
“Ah...”
Everyone let out a breathless sigh.
Instinctive awe before overwhelming beauty.
A goddess draped in thousands of stars stood there.
‘This can’t be happening!’
Sophia’s face twisted.
The fake petals floating over her own dress looked like endlessly crude, childish toys before Ellen’s mysterious dress.
“H-how can this be... How is something like that possible?”
Duell, the genius tailor standing beside her, looked as though his eyes might pop out.
As a mage, he could see the nature of the magic engraved in that dress.
“My God! That isn’t an illusion... It altered the material properties themselves... It changed the structure of the fabric to trap light? This is insane... Is that even possible?”
He trembled.
At best, he had only layered mana over a surface to display an illusion.
“What kind of monster made something like that?”
His pride shattered into pieces.
He had no choice but to acknowledge his defeat.
Ellen lifted her head proudly and descended the stairs.
Count Valderk stood beside her.
He had to bite down hard on his lips to keep his laughter from bursting out.
His rival, Count Bergen, stood slack-jawed and dropped the wineglass in his hand.
Every noble nearby could not take their eyes off his daughter.
‘To think it would be this incredible.’
His surprise upon seeing the dress that morning had merely been a preview.
The true value of that dress far exceeded his imagination.
The Count remembered Hans, whom he had thrown into the underground prison.
‘So he wasn’t just a money-grubbing fraud.’
To think he had imbued clothing with such incredible magic.
‘He’s a monster.’
Meanwhile, Ellen passed Sophia and stopped in front of her.
Sophia trembled but could not say a word.
“Sophia! Your dress today... It’s so beautiful. It feels like spring itself has been brought here.”
Ellen spoke as if she truly admired it.
Sophia’s eyes widened at the unexpected praise.
“You really think so?”
Ellen then whispered softly.
“But flowers wither quickly, don’t they? Stars are eternal.”
“Y-you...”
Ellen delivered the final blow and calmly walked past.
A long afterimage of the Milky Way lingered behind her.
At that moment, Crown Prince Kaisis, who had been sitting at the seat of honor with a bored expression, rose.
He dismissed his guards and approached Ellen himself.
“Beautiful.”
The surroundings fell quiet at the Crown Prince’s voice.
“I have seen enough decorations today that catch one’s eye for a moment... But there was only one I could not look away from until the end.”
His gaze traveled over the dress in admiration.
“It is as though the night sky itself has descended upon Rowen.”
He politely extended his hand to Ellen.
“Would you grant me the honor of sharing the first dance with that night sky?”
“Gladly, Your Highness.”
Ellen took the Crown Prince’s hand and walked to the center.
The music began, and so did the dance.
Whenever Ellen spun, her dress spread out with a swish..., scattering starlight in time with her movements.
Everyone watched the scene in wonder.
‘Hehehe... Count Bergen! It seems the contest is over.’
Count Valderk drank his wine with a victorious smile.
‘D-damn it!’
Meanwhile, Count Bergen and Sophia retreated to a corner, their faces red with humiliation.
It was a complete defeat.
* * *
The following morning.
The underground prison of the Valderk estate.
Clomp.
Heavy footsteps echoed through the cavern.
I withdrew my mana from my training and rose to my feet.
The person standing before the iron bars was Count Valderk.
He looked down at me with his hands clasped behind his back, but his gaze was clearly different from before.
“The ball was a success.”
The Count spoke.
“His Highness the Crown Prince asked Ellen for the first dance. That cunning girl from the Bergen family fled the banquet hall as though she were running away. It was the most satisfying night of my life.”
“I’m glad my humble skill was of help.”
“Yes. It was helpful. Very helpful.”
The Count nodded.
“You made my daughter the star of the Rowen ball and restored my pride. Therefore, as promised, I will spare your life.”
“Thank you.”
“But that is all. You will never leave this place.”
It was what I had expected.
Still, I pretended to look flustered.
“Is there truly no way for me to leave?”
“No.”
The Count answered coldly.
“You learned of the underground passage, our family’s most closely guarded secret. Do you truly believe a mere commoner can learn that secret and still walk out the front gate alive?”
Chilling murderous intent radiated from his eyes.
“There is only one way for you to leave this place. As a corpse. You should be grateful that I am allowing you to live at all because my daughter is fond of you.”
A vile and ruthless measure.
Typical noble behavior.
“Instead, I will guarantee your life here. You will be provided with all the tools, food, and materials you need. You will spend the rest of your life down here, making and mending clothes for our family. That is the only life you will be permitted.”
The Count declared it as though it were tremendous mercy.
A life sentence to work like a machine in an underground prison until I died, never seeing sunlight again.
However.
‘Hahaha...’
I cheered inwardly.
I had to bite the inside of my mouth to keep my laughter from bursting out.
If the Count had told me I could leave now?
That would have been the worst possible situation.
‘Where does he expect me to go, leaving behind such an incredible training ground?’
The endless mana gushing from the depths of the cavern.
‘I need to scrape that well of mana completely dry.’
Of course, I could not let it show.
If the Count realized I liked this place, he would start to suspect something.
I lowered my head and acted as though I had resigned myself to my fate.
“...Understood. I am grateful... simply to have my life spared.”
Seeing my slumped shoulders, the Count smiled in satisfaction.
He must have felt the satisfaction of conquest, believing he had completely controlled and subdued this insignificant commoner.
“A wise choice. Nen will bring you anything you need. Prepare clothing for Ellen’s next social gathering.”
The Count left the prison without looking back.
Clank.
I heard multiple locks being fastened.
I kept my head lowered until his footsteps vanished completely.
Then, when perfect silence descended.
‘In any case, thank you, Count Valderk.’
I calmly smiled and raised my head.
‘You’ll keep me imprisoned for life? What an interesting offer.’
It might take years.
The day I return to the outside world.
Then, Count Valderk.
I will make you bow that arrogant head at my feet.
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