WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: LilGuyBlastoise
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ I Made Magic Easier by Changing the Formula ◈
Chapter 26: Reunion in the Forest
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At the end of the passage leading to the surface.
When I pushed open the stone door, outside air rushed in for the first time in months.
The cool wind washed through lungs steeped in the damp underground cavern.
‘...I feel alive.’
I let out a stale breath and looked around.
I had emerged into a secluded forest on the outskirts of the Valderk estate.
I was wrapped in [Invisibility], so no one could sense my presence, but something about the estate felt wrong.
The private soldiers crossing the garden moved busily.
Carriages came and went without pause, carrying crates that appeared to hold weapons and provisions.
‘Did a war break out somewhere?’
It was a sight that would have been impossible in peacetime.
I remembered what I had heard at the Stock Exchange a few months ago.
Rumors that the Kingdom of Kran was gathering troops at the border.
‘They said there were signs of it back then.’
Could the Kingdom of Kran really have invaded already?
This was no time to act carelessly.
Keeping [Invisibility] active, I silently slipped out of the chaotic estate grounds.
The streets of Rowen were even more tense.
Most shops were closed.
There were even lines of refugees.
People carrying packs or pushing carts loaded with hastily tied belongings streamed out of the city.
“Is it true that House Bergen sided with the Kingdom of Kran?”
“Shh. Don’t say things like that carelessly. It isn’t even confirmed. You’ll get your head cut off.”
“What do you mean, it isn’t confirmed? Who doesn’t know that House Bergen and House of Duke Broy of Kran are related by marriage? They say that bastard Count Bergen opened up the entire border defense zone for them!”
“Damn it! Rowen is finished. Let’s just get out of here.”
The words that reached my ears were shocking.
‘House Bergen? They sided with the Kingdom of Kran?’
It was absurd, but...
Felix. Sophia.
Count Bergen.
Considering their personalities, it was not impossible.
The moment the situation turned against them, they had been the first to betray everyone.
When I stepped onto the main road, a familiar building came into view.
The Rowen Securities Exchange, where enormous sums of capital had once changed hands.
Its heavy marble entrance was tightly wrapped in thick iron chains.
The Magic Tower branch was even worse.
Even its sign had been roughly torn down, leaving behind nothing but an empty shell.
‘The Stock Exchange and the Magic Tower have both withdrawn.’
It was the clearest proof that this city would soon become ruins.
“Will Imperial reinforcements come?”
“How should we know? Do you think those noble bastards will protect us? They say Lady Ellen of Valderk already ran off to the Imperial Capital with an escort.”
Amid the cries of the crowd, a familiar name caught my attention.
Lady Ellen of Valderk.
‘...At least she made it to the Imperial Capital.’
I remembered the scroll I had sent through Nen a few months ago.
It contained material that might help Ellen grow into a mage of the third tier or higher.
It was repayment for the ways she had looked out for me in her own way.
‘If she makes good use of it, she should be able to break through to the third tier quickly.’
Of course, that depended on Ellen’s efforts.
If she still failed after being shown the method, then that was a problem with her talent or effort.
She was ambitious and clever, so she would manage on her own.
I decided to worry about myself instead.
‘I need to leave too.’
I already knew where I was going.
Ruber Village, my mother’s hometown, where my maternal grandfather lived.
My parents had closed their fabric shop and moved there.
When I thought of the two people who had spent their lives fighting poverty while caring only for their child, anxiety rose in my chest.
‘They have to be safe.’
But there was somewhere I needed to stop first.
I had used up all my thread and fabric while training, so I needed to buy more.
Fortunately, my usual fabric shop was still open.
The shop owner, whose face was full of anxiety, recognized me.
“Oh? Isn’t that Mage Jeron?”
“You’re still doing business at a time like this?”
“I was just thinking of closing up and leaving. I’m so anxious that I can barely stand it. Who knows when the enemy will come.”
“Half the city is already empty. I’m leaving too. What are you going to do with all that fabric?”
The shop owner looked miserable.
“It’s giving me a headache. I can’t throw away all this valuable fabric, but I can’t take it all with me either... Finding a carriage right now is like plucking stars from the sky.”
“If you’re going to leave it behind anyway, sell it to me.”
“What? You really mean that?”
“If the price is low enough, I’ll buy all the fabric and thread you have here.”
“Then I’ll only charge half the wholesale price. I can’t carry it with me while fleeing anyway!”
“Good. Here.”
“Hehe... Thank you. You’ve saved me, Mage Jeron.”
When I handed over the gold coins, he repeatedly bowed.
“Have you heard? The war is bad enough, but demon beasts have been running rampant everywhere lately. They say unidentified monsters have been attacking villages in packs in forests near the border and remote mountain valleys.”
“Demon beasts are appearing in packs?”
“Yes! They usually only come out of deep forests once in a while, but their numbers have been completely abnormal lately. Even you should never take secluded forest paths while fleeing, Mage. You might escape the war only to get torn apart by demon beast fangs!”
My heart dropped.
‘The number of demon beasts has increased?’
Ruber Village.
The place where my parents lived was deep in the forest, surrounded by dense woodland on all sides.
If the unusually violent demon beasts came down through the forest, it would be among the first places in danger.
‘I need to get there quickly.’
My anxiety flared.
I would not be able to rest until I saw with my own eyes that they were safe.
‘First, I need to pack these.’
There were mountains of fabric and thread in the warehouse.
I stuffed them into Subspace Fold.
‘Now, let’s go.’
I quietly blended into the refugees and passed through the city gate.
‘I’ve finally left Rowen.’
I no longer needed to wear that stifling mask.
The moment the city disappeared from view, I took off Jeron’s mask and put it into subspace.
‘That’s better.’
Then I headed south, toward Ruber Village.
* * *
Five figures watched the roadside from bloodstained dirt.
At their center stood a man.
Kalik, a Sword Expert who led the Kingdom of Kran’s elite scouting party.
“Hah...”
A corpse lay at his feet.
It was a Valderk knight whose throat he had cut moments ago.
“I thought there were only crude Imperial knights here... but that bitch earlier was pretty good. To think she dared wound me.”
Kalik clicked his tongue as he touched the shallow cut on his side.
He had encountered an unexpected ambush.
Despite being dressed as a mere maid, she possessed swordsmanship that rivaled a knight’s and could even wield aura.
“Sir Kalik! What do we do now?”
“That Imperial bitch managed to escape into the forest despite bleeding from a sword wound.”
Kalik smiled coldly.
“Judging by the trail, she couldn’t have gone far. Her insides must be torn open, so even if she crawled, she’ll still be somewhere in the nearby forest. Find her.”
“Yes, sir.”
* * *
A cool wind passed through the brush.
As I walked toward Ruber Village, a heavy, metallic scent of blood caught in my nose.
‘...What is that?’
Then something rolled out from between the vines.
A girl in a miserable state, collapsed on the ground and breathing heavily.
“Ahh...!”
Her maid uniform was soaked in blood.
Flesh showed through her torn sleeve.
She clutched her side with one hand, but bright blood gushed through the gaps between her fingers.
I froze.
“Nen...?”
Nen, who had been crawling across the ground, jerked her head up.
“Hans...?”
Her eyes widened.
“How are you...?”
“I was about to ask you the same thing. What happened?”
But this was not the time for a leisurely conversation.
Behind Nen.
Beyond the brush.
Five men closed in from every direction, crushing fallen leaves beneath their feet.
“So you finally stopped there, Imperial bitch.”
A man holding a sword stood in front.
Behind him followed men carrying daggers and bows.
“We found her, Sir Kalik.”
Kalik snickered.
“Hehe... After all that running, she only found some worthless commoner. She really is unlucky.”
He jerked his chin at his subordinates as though it were a nuisance.
“Take care of them. Both of them, quietly.”
“Yes, sir.”
One of them raised a bow and drew the string.
Without warning or a word.
An arrow flew toward my chest.
Clang!
With the clear sound of an arrow striking solid steel, it bounced harmlessly off the hem of my Magic Armor Fabric and fell at my feet.
‘...What ridiculous bastards.’
They were trying to put an arrow through me without a word.
There was no time to think for long.
[Seam Connection]
The moment space folded.
I stood behind the archer.
“Huh? Where did he...?”
Before he could turn his head, compressed mana shot from my fingertips like a blue thread and pierced the back of his skull.
Thud!
There was not even a scream.
The man collapsed like a puppet.
“...When did he get over there? He’s no ordinary man!”
“He’s a mage! Attack him all at once!”
“Yes!”
They charged at me.
But I was faster.
[Third-Tier Transformation Formula: Needle Storm]
My hand had already finished casting.
Dozens of silver needles poured down.
Rat-a-tat-tat!
Thud! Thud!
Their eyes were pierced.
Their foreheads and temples were punctured.
They died instantly.
It had all happened in a moment.
Now only Kalik remained.
“You...!”
Bloodshot veins filled his eyes.
“I’ll kill you!”
Blue aura flickered over his blade.
In the blink of an eye, he closed the distance.
Whoosh!
The space where I had been standing split in a straight line.
‘Fast.’
But I was one step faster.
I had seen through his movements with [High-Precision Vision] and escaped with [Seam Connection].
“You think you can keep dodging?”
Whoosh! Whoosh!
Kalik chased after me like a madman, swinging his sword.
[Seam Connection] [Mana Needle]
Once I had opened some distance, I fired Mana Needles at him.
Clang! Clang!
But Kalik easily dodged or knocked them aside.
“Ghk... Pathetic. You think those little needles can do anything?”
The moment his hand touched his belt and dropped away.
A sharp dagger flashed toward my neck like a ray of light.
I evaded it with Seam Connection and swept my hand.
[Needle Storm]
Rat-a-tat-tat!
Needles covered the air.
But Kalik knocked away every one of them as well.
My chest went cold as I watched.
The level of a Sword Expert.
Even when I widened the distance, he caught up in the blink of an eye.
‘...If I only keep dodging, my mana will run out first.’
[Invisibility]
“Where are you going!”
It was useless.
His sword cut precisely through the place where I stood.
He had already read my mana signature.
Stealth in the middle of battle did not work against someone as strong as a Sword Expert.
A bead of cold sweat ran down my back.
‘I can’t win like this.’
Mana Needles did not work, and neither did stealth.
If I only dodged, my mana would be depleted first.
‘But I made something for just this situation.’
The products of my obsession, made frantically over the past few months in the underground cavern and stored in subspace.
“Die!”
Kalik swung his sword again.
As I evaded it, I let one sheet of Magic Armor Fabric drift in front of him.
Riiip!
The sharp aura sliced through the fabric with ease.
‘One sheet gets cut without resistance.’
Then two.
Riiip!
Just as expected.
But it took a beat longer.
The magic formula woven into the fabric interfered with the aura’s mana flow.
Three.
Rrrip!
The blade barely cut through all three layers.
An unpleasant friction sound rang out, like tough leather being torn apart.
‘Impressive.’
Three sheets of Magic Armor Fabric that even arrows could not pierce.
That was the terrifying power of aura.
But I could also clearly see the limit of his sword strike.
‘Then what about four?’
I threw four stacked sheets of Magic Armor Fabric in front of him.
Kalik snorted and swung his sword.
“What a joke. You think this flimsy cloth can stop my sword...?”
He stopped speaking and his eyes widened.
His blade had been blocked.
“Three sheets is your limit?”
A smile spread across my lips.
“What kind of trick is this!”
“Who knows.”
Just this kind of trick.
Flutter! Flutterrr!
A wide gap opened in subspace.
In front of him, to both sides, and behind him.
Stacks of four Magic Armor Fabric sheets flew in from every direction, forming towering walls of fabric.
Kalik flinched in surprise and desperately swung his sword, but the Magic Armor Fabric could not be pushed aside.
Unless all the stacked sheets were cut through at once, they would never tear.
“How dare you! With such petty tricks!”
Clang! Clang!
The fluttering fabric completely blocked Kalik’s view.
“This...!”
I did not miss the moment he lost his balance and staggered.
Rat-a-tat-tat!
Needle Storm flew through the cloth.
With his view blocked, Kalik instinctively swung his sword.
But silver needles slipped into his blind spots and buried themselves in his shoulder and thigh.
“Ghk...! You bastard!”
I did not miss the moment he screamed.
I unleashed another spell.
[Third-Tier Orthodox Magic: Frosted Ground]
The dirt beneath his feet froze like a mirror as pain from the needles wracked him.
“Wha...!”
In the brief instant he lost his balance.
I layered another spell over it.
[Third-Tier Orthodox Magic: Crushing Pressure]
Thoom!
An invisible weight pressed down on his shoulders.
“W-what is this...!”
Kalik gritted his teeth and strained to regain his balance, but it was useless.
Shh. Shhhhh.
I had already spread transparent threads everywhere like a spiderweb.
[Reinforced Mana Thread]
I had scattered them each time I circled around him with Seam Connection.
An invisible net of death.
The moment Kalik forced himself to take a step while enduring the heavy pressure.
An invisible thread cut deeply into his calf.
Blood burst out like a fountain.
“Urgh!”
He recoiled in surprise, and this time his forearm was cut.
When he twisted his body, another thread wrapped around his wrist.
A forest of sharp, invisible blades.
If he moved, he was cut. If he stopped, the threads tightened.
“What is this...?! Let me go!”
The color drained from Kalik’s face.
He struggled miserably like an insect caught in a spiderweb.
Only then did fear appear in his once-arrogant eyes.
“You... What kind of monster are you...?”
“You don’t need to know.”
I stepped forward and curled my fingers.
Whirr!
The threads around him pulled tight all at once.
The taut strands bound Kalik’s limbs like a web and hoisted him into the air.
“W-wait... Wait...!”
He was not worth listening to.
The moment a thread wrapped around his neck.
I coldly pulled my wrist.
Shhk!
With a dull tearing sound, his head was severed.
“Hah...”
I caught my breath.
Five men, including a Sword Expert who wielded aura.
I had slaughtered them all.
Nen stared at me blankly with disbelieving eyes.
“Hans... How did you...?”
“Don’t speak. You’re still bleeding.”
I examined her injury.
The gash in her side, torn open by aura, was too deep for ordinary hemostasis to matter.
Bright blood continued to pour from it.
‘...At this rate, she’s in danger.’
My hands moved on instinct.
First, I had to stop the bleeding.
There was no need for some complicated, inefficient healing formula.
I would change it my way.
[Third-Tier Composite Formula: Trace Erasure + Tear Mending + Biological Synchronization]
A flash of light.
Trace Erasure, which removed stains from cloth, perfectly disinfected the wound so it would not be contaminated.
Tear Mending, which seamlessly repaired torn fabric, restored her skin.
Biological Synchronization naturally integrated new flesh into her body.
Shhh.
The open wound smoothly sealed, and the spurting blood stopped completely.
At last, a faint trace of color returned to Nen’s face.
“Thank you... Hans...”
She looked up at me through unfocused eyes.
Her face was full of questions.
I felt the same way.
Why was Nen, Ellen’s maid, being pursued by Kran scouts on this isolated path?
“This place is dangerous. Let’s move first.”
I supported Nen and carried her on my back.
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