WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: LilGuyBlastoise
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ I Made Magic Easier by Changing the Formula ◈
Chapter 31: Half a Day Is Enough
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The road to the command headquarters was in chaos.
Soldiers stood guard over water barrels in every square.
Long lines stretched out for water rations, with angry shouts coming from the back.
“One bucket per household? I have three children!”
“Those are the orders. Step back.”
There were easily twice as many sentries as usual in the watchtowers atop the walls.
“This way.”
Gylon hurried ahead.
The command headquarters was a stone government building north of the square. The guards at the entrance crossed their spears to block us, then quickly stepped aside when they saw Gylon.
Every soldier we passed in the hallway stopped and saluted.
Of course, not me. Gylon.
‘A magic adviser gets different treatment.’
The meeting room door opened.
Armored knights and robed mages sat around a long table.
There were more than twenty of them.
All of them looked as if they had been up all night.
At the head of the table sat a man with graying hair.
Marquis Hargen, Governor of Bellat.
An Imperial Sword Master.
I had never expected to meet someone like him.
“So, you are that mage.”
“It is an honor to meet you, Marquis Hargen.”
“Enough formalities. Rise.”
The Marquis waved his hand.
“If such things mattered, I would not have summoned a wandering mage here. Sit over there.”
“Yes, sir.”
I sat down.
The parchment I had handed over yesterday lay spread across the table. Several mages had their heads together over it before glancing at me.
Half wary, half curious.
Among them was a familiar face.
The mage who had fired a mana arrow at me in the square earlier and paid dearly for it.
When our eyes met, the mage hurriedly lowered their gaze to the parchment.
The adviser seated beside the Marquis spoke first.
“Your Excellency, there is something we must address first. On the very day this incident began, an outsider appeared with a solution.”
They glanced at the magic adviser before continuing.
“At a time when intelligence reports say spies from the Kingdom of Kran may have entered disguised as refugees, it is disappointing that our magic adviser has been so easily swayed by an unidentified mage found on the street.”
The air in the meeting room grew heavy.
Several knights subtly moved their hands toward their sword hilts.
‘It is a reasonable suspicion.’
I would have suspected me too.
If the enemy had cut off the water supply, the first person to suspect would be the one who appeared with a solution.
I smiled calmly.
“You should be suspicious. That is the proper thing to do.”
The adviser’s eyebrow twitched.
“There is no time to waste, so verify it quickly. I entered through the north gate around yesterday evening. There should be inspection records. I visited a weapon shop, an armor shop, and a magic materials shop, then spent the night at the Bronze Kettle Inn. I went nowhere else, so please check. The shopkeepers and innkeeper will remember me.”
“Records can be forged as easily as...”
“Y-Your Excellency! You need not suspect that man!”
A mage clutching the hem of their robe cried out, breathing hard.
Their eyes were bloodshot, and their hands trembled.
They looked as if they had not slept at all.
“I am Delan, the manager of the purification magic circle. Cassel, the squad leader of the Waterway Guard, is definitely the culprit. I saw Cassel tear the black scroll apart right in front of me.”
Delan continued between ragged breaths.
“And there is someone behind Cassel. A witness saw Cassel meeting an unidentified person in a warehouse in a back alley before heading to the waterway. That person had pulled their robe hood low over their face. It is highly likely that person gave Cassel the scroll. In other words, this mage named Hans has nothing to do with this incident.”
The advisers’ expressions wavered.
At that moment, Marquis Hargen’s adjutant rushed in and spread out a scroll containing the gate inspection records.
“Hans’s identity and movements have also been verified. He is a refugee from Rowen who entered through a proper inspection yesterday. He visited a weapon shop, an armor shop, and a magic materials shop, then immediately checked into an inn. It has been confirmed that none of his movements overlapped with Cassel’s, either during the crime or before it.”
The room stirred.
“But isn’t it suspicious that a commoner can use third-tier magic?”
“The records list his occupation as repairer, yet he is a mage. There is clearly something suspicious about him.”
“Quiet!”
Bang!
The room fell silent when Marquis Hargen struck the table.
“Let us settle this. The true culprit has been identified and is already dead. The military will pursue whoever is behind this.”
His cold gaze swept over the room.
“And is it important right now how this commoner learned magic? What matters is ability. What do you intend to do about the purification magic circle? If you have another solution, speak.”
“......”
Those who had just suspected me lowered their heads together.
“Your suspicions have been settled. Let us get to the point.”
Marquis Hargen looked at me.
“I will ask directly.”
He held up the parchment.
“These few blank lines. If you fill them in, will the magic circle work again?”
“It will.”
“How long will it take?”
“Half a day is enough.”
The meeting room stirred again.
“Half a day? That makes no...”
“Your Excellency, you cannot believe everything he says. Have him fill in the blank lines here and now. We can judge whether he is telling the truth by looking at them.”
One of the mages cut in.
I shook my head.
“Those lines contain values that must be filled in while directly observing the magic circle’s condition on site. If I force in a formula written beforehand and it does not match, then restoration will become impossible not just for a month, but for several months.”
Magic Adviser Gylon nodded.
“Those lines are where a variable formula needs to go. It is impossible to write them in advance.”
Gylon scolded the mage who had objected to me.
“If you do not understand, keep your mouth shut.”
“S-Sorry.”
The mage lowered their head in embarrassment.
The Marquis gave a short laugh.
“Fine. You said you would first hear what we could do for you.”
He leaned forward.
“I dislike long discussions. If you truly resolve this matter, I am willing to offer three thousand gold as compensation, along with ten high-grade mana crystals as a reward.”
Several people at the end of the table audibly sucked in a breath.
“And.”
The Marquis paused.
“If your achievement is clear, I can also consider granting you a title. I will submit your identity and accomplishments to the Imperial Capital and ensure that you receive the rank of Baron, the lowest rank of Imperial nobility. What do you think?”
Everyone’s eyes fixed on me.
Three thousand gold and ten high-grade mana crystals.
As payment for saving a city, it could not be called especially generous.
But there was the condition attached afterward.
A baronial title in the Empire.
For someone who had been oppressed his whole life as a commoner, I finally had a chance to become a noble.
More importantly, I would gain the qualification to enter the Magic Tower openly.
Then the Marquis hurriedly spoke again.
“Is the reward too small?”
I shook my head.
“No. That amount of money and mana crystals is enough. And a baronial title is already more than a commoner like me deserves.”
The Marquis’s face brightened.
“Then will you accept?”
“However, I have a few more conditions.”
“A few conditions? Let us hear them.”
I held the upper hand anyway.
They would give me more money if I asked.
But money was something I could earn as much of as I wanted.
I needed to obtain something that money alone could not easily buy.
A noble title.
For now, the limit was a barony, which could be considered honorary nobility.
Demanding anything higher was not realistic.
I would secure something realistically attainable.
The thing I had longed for.
“I want permission to enter the Amos Magic Tower.”
“The Amos Magic Tower...”
The Marquis narrowed his eyes.
Gylon cleared his throat.
“...Ahem! The Amos Magic Tower is the Empire’s greatest Magic Tower, located in the Imperial Capital. It is a closed place that accepts only pure-blooded nobles or children of high nobles directly recommended by the imperial family. Even if you become a Baron...”
The Marquis cut Gylon off.
“I will guarantee the Magic Tower recommendation under my authority. One of the elders there is my friend. I have several other connections as well, so do not worry.”
“Your Excellency... there is no need to go that far...”
Another adviser objected, but the Marquis glared and struck the table.
Bang!
“This is the price of a city. Do you think this is excessive?”
“N-No, sir. I only meant...”
“Those who cannot solve this problem keep finding pointless objections. If you make noise one more time, I will throw every one of you out of this meeting room.”
Silence.
The meeting room became still.
‘He is no ordinary man.’
It was not simply because Marquis Hargen was the city’s governor that everyone obeyed him so completely.
Even terrifyingly powerful people who looked like high-level Sword Experts were cowed before him like mice before a cat.
A Sword Master.
That was it.
This was the authority and presence that only the absolute masters of swordsmanship, Sword Masters, could possess.
He glared at me again.
“One thing. All of this depends on your words proving true. If this is nothing but boasting... I will not forgive you.”
His gaze was icy.
He would give me what I wanted, but if I was bluffing, he would kill me.
I smiled calmly.
“One last condition. Exemption from military service, exemption from conscription, and a guarantee of free status. I would like all of it in writing, stamped with the Governor’s seal.”
“You truly are a merchant at heart.”
“A deal must be exact.”
“Hahaha!”
The Marquis laughed loudly.
He was the only one laughing in the meeting room.
“I will add an identification token issued in the name of Bellat Command. You will not be stopped at inspections anywhere in the Empire, and you will be exempt from conscription. Is that enough now?”
Exemption from conscription.
That was what Nen had repeatedly warned me about.
She had said that wandering mages were dragged away during wartime.
Her worried face came to mind as she pressed the talisman into my hand.
“However.”
The Marquis raised his index finger.
“All of it comes after the magic circle is restored.”
“Of course.”
I stood.
“Please lead the way. I need to begin now if I am to finish before evening.”
The Marquis gestured to Gylon with his chin.
“The adviser will accompany him personally. Give him everything he needs.”
“Yes, sir.”
As I left the meeting room, I heard the Marquis laughing behind me.
“What an interesting fellow.”
* * *
The underground waterway was damp and cold.
Gylon, Delan, and several military mages followed behind me with knights carrying torches.
When we reached the deepest part of the waterway, a massive purification magic circle appeared in the darkness, pulsing ominously with a bloody glow.
Dark red energy rose from it like heat haze, carrying a foul stench of blood.
“The density of the contaminated formula is too high.”
Gylon sighed.
“Normally, we would have to remove this entire massive formula and rebuild it from the foundation. Even if highly skilled mages worked together, it would take at least a month to rebuild the framework while minimizing mana collisions.”
Gylon was not wrong.
The huge wall had been contaminated, so the standard solution was to tear it down and rebuild it.
It was a conclusion that Gylon and Bellat’s mages could reach because they were skilled in their own way.
But I saw it differently.
I walked up to the magic circle and quietly placed my hand on the stone slab.
My Absolute Memory and my sense for reading the texture of mana.
The structure of the dark red cursed mana and how it was tangled came clearly into my mind.
“The magic circle is not broken.”
The mages froze at my words.
“The main body is fine. The curse has simply been layered over it and reversed the flow. We only need to remove the layer.”
“Remove it? That curse is completely entangled with the original formula. If the main body collapses while removing it...”
“They are not entangled. They are only overlapping. Their phases are half a beat apart, so they merely look entangled.”
The curse covered the original formula by imitating the exact same texture.
But it was half a beat off.
The problem was that it had settled on top at that mismatched phase and pulled the direction of circulation backward.
‘Whoever did this has some skill.’
If I simply pulled it away, the main body would come with it.
I had to precisely read that half-beat mismatch and align an inverse phase with only the curse.
The problem was the order.
Seventeen connection points.
‘They mixed in false connection points.’
If I mistook a fake one for a real one and touched it, the curse would seize the main body and run wild.
That was what the few blank lines on my parchment were for.
The authenticity of the connection points, and the order in which to sever them.
“Everyone, step back. I will begin.”
I gathered mana at the tip of my right index finger.
Thin as a needle.
[Mana Needle].
I threaded it with [Reinforced Mana Thread] and drew it out long.
The eastern side of the magic circle, where the circulation path bent.
It was the point where the curse’s phase differed most greatly from the main body.
I loaded the exact opposite texture into that mismatch and pushed it into the connection point.
Ssshh.
The bloody texture of the curse rippled, and one strand detached from the main body.
“Oh! How is that possible?”
The mages stared in shock.
The second.
The third.
Snap.
Snap, snap.
Each time my fingers swept smoothly through the air, the bloody strands were torn away in reverse order and scattered like dust.
The massive cursed formula was being undone helplessly, without any resistance.
At last, only the final core embedded in the deepest part remained.
Then, at that moment.
The bloody mana seemed to sense danger and let out a strange scream as it violently shook.
“Careful! The curse is making its final struggle!”
Gylon shouted in alarm.
I waved a hand to reassure Gylon.
“It is only its final struggle.”
Without panicking, I stretched out my left hand.
The Reinforced Mana Thread I had prepared beforehand drew a momentary grid in the air.
[Stitching Seal]
It was precise control that suppressed and stitched shut the entire recoil of the curse that was trying to surge backward.
Crack!
The thrashing bloody energy was trapped within the grid of mana thread.
“...That is.”
Gylon’s voice stopped.
“A chant blockade? No... is it a Silence-type formula? You can use it without a chant?”
“That is impossible. Silence requires three lines of incantation.”
“But that was cast with one gesture. The mana flow is completely different, too. What kind of formula is that?”
Murmurs spread behind me.
‘They recognize it.’
They could guess its roots, but they did not know its form.
Naturally.
I had stripped the Silence formula down to its bones and remade it.
‘Let us finish this.’
The moment I ruthlessly tore away the final connection point with the Mana Needle in my right hand.
Wooooosh!
The dark red bloody energy that had been boiling violently vanished as though it had been sucked into the center of the magic circle.
At the same time.
The original formula awakened.
Blue light filled in from the edges and began moving through the circulation paths.
In its original direction.
Mana returned to its proper place and resumed circulating according to the original formula.
Trickle, trickle...
The bloody water was pushed away from the end of the waterway, and clear water filled it.
“The water... The water has cleared!”
“...We are saved. We are saved!”
Delan collapsed onto the ground.
“The purification magic circle is circulating again. It is completely normal.”
Faces that looked unable to decide whether to laugh or cry.
The mages said nothing.
They could only stare blankly between the magic circle and me.
It was something that would take at least a month.
Something even a fifth-tier mage could not guarantee.
A complicated light flickered in Gylon’s eyes as Gylon looked at me.
“...You did not touch the main body at all. You selected only the layer over it and peeled it away.”
“That was the fastest way.”
“I never even considered it. Where did you learn those Spell Formulas?”
“Trade secret.”
* * *
Around evening, I received what was owed to me from the command headquarters.
Three thousand gold.
Ten high-grade mana crystals.
A letter of recommendation for the Amos Magic Tower.
And an identification token issued in the name of Bellat Command.
“The petition has already been sent to the Imperial Capital. It will take around two months for a reply to arrive. The Magic Tower will open its doors if you bring only the recommendation letter.”
“...Thank you.”
“Baron Hans. I will call you that in advance.”
“I am still a commoner.”
“You are no longer a commoner. You are someone who has rendered service to the Empire.”
The Marquis looked at me for a while before continuing.
“Which brings me to this.”
“Yes?”
“Would you consider working under me? I will match whatever salary and treatment you desire. Letting talent like yours continue wandering would be my loss.”
Gylon flinched, but did not object.
Instead, Gylon looked strangely understanding.
“It is an offer far beyond what I deserve, but.”
I politely declined.
“I still have much to learn. That is why I am going to the Amos Magic Tower.”
The Marquis gave a short laugh.
“Understood. I will not hold you. I have already written the recommendation letter, but I will send a separate letter to my friend at the Magic Tower. I will tell him that if Baron Hans receives poor treatment, I will not let it stand.”
“...There is no need to go that far.”
“You saved my city. I should do at least this much.”
The Marquis stood.
When he rose, the mages and knights in the meeting room all rose with him.
“Thanks to you, we avoided a great disaster.”
The Marquis lightly tapped my shoulder.
“I will treat you to a banquet. I will not accept refusal.”
A banquet.
There was no reason to refuse.
I had planned to spend the night in this city anyway.
And if the food was free, all the more reason.
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