WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: LilGuyBlastoise

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ I Made Magic Easier by Changing the Formula ◈

Chapter 9: I Become a Secret Tutor

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“Are you a mage?”

Ellen’s question was sharp.

Her silhouette stood against the moonlight.

There was none of her usual childishness to be seen.

She carried the imposing presence befitting a member of Valderk, Rowen’s most prestigious noble house.

“...”

I swallowed dryly.

A clumsy lie here would only make her more suspicious.

“...I can only imitate it a little.”

“I knew it.”

Ellen crossed her arms and stepped closer.

“But how? It isn’t easy for a commoner to learn magic.”

“When I worked as a library assistant, I taught myself by reading discarded old books. I tried it out of curiosity, and luckily, I managed to move a little mana.”

“You taught yourself?”

Ellen’s eyebrow twitched.

“Don’t lie. Magic isn’t something you can learn from books without a teacher.”

She pulled away the cloth covering the workbench.

The magic circuit was fully exposed.

“Especially this circuit. Its formulas are complex and precise. You learned this on your own?”

“I understand it’s hard to believe.”

I made a bitter expression and held out my palm.

“My mana is pitiful. So I had no choice but to make a circuit that lets mana flow through it for my work.”

I deliberately opened my mana core so she could sense it.

An extremely faint amount of mana.

Ellen closed her eyes for a moment and felt its signature.

“...Certainly. Your mana is only a little better than that of an ordinary person. You couldn’t even cast a single Fireball, never mind Blaze.”

“Even with a circuit’s help, I can’t even consider combat magic. I can only barely use household magic for things like mending fabric or removing stains.”

“Mending clothes by compensating for weak mana with a magic circle... I’ve never heard of such a thing being possible.”

The wariness in her eyes had not faded.

As she examined the magic circuit again, her eyes gleamed.

“No matter how I look at it, this isn’t an ordinary first-tier formula. It almost seems second-tier.”

“You have a good eye. It was originally second-tier, but I altered it so that I, a first-tier mage, could use it.”

Ellen stared at me as if she could not believe what she had heard.

“You altered a second-tier formula into a first-tier one, even if it is household magic? That’s impossible. Even Academy professors couldn’t do it.”

“It’s not that big a deal.”

“Not that big a deal? Fine, then answer this.”

She suddenly traced something in the air with her finger.

“Mana backflow caused by interference between multiple attributes. I tried applying three auxiliary formulas to control it, but I couldn’t find the answer. It’s an Academy assignment. Can you solve it?”

This was a test.

She wanted to know whether I truly understood magic through self-study or whether I had been lying.

I smiled inwardly.

‘She’s asking something this basic?’

Still, I pretended to think deeply, resting my chin on my hand before picking up a quill and scribbling formulas onto a scrap of cloth.

“If you use three auxiliary formulas here, the circuit becomes too heavy. Don’t stop the backflow. Make it circulate.”

“Circulate?”

“If you invert the third formula, the backflowing mana gains acceleration and turns into output instead. Like this.”

Scratch, scratch.

I compressed three complicated formulas into just two lines.

Then I wrote them on the old cloth for her to see.

“...!”

Ellen snatched up the cloth and quickly scanned the formulas.

“How is this... Wow, it really works!”

The suspicion in her eyes had become astonishment.

“It can be solved this simply?”

Ellen looked at me as though she were a miner who had found a massive diamond in the dirt.

“You... could you be a genius?”

“A genius? It’s just a trick. Since my mana is lacking, I only learned a few methods to get by with as little power as possible.”

I smiled awkwardly.

Ellen gulped.

For a moment, she fell silent as if seriously considering something.

“Hans.”

When she spoke again, her voice was brimming with excitement.

“From today onward, you’re my secret tutor.”

“A tutor? I’m only a mender.”

“What does that matter? You have to do it. Please, raise my grades. I want to wipe that smug look off Sophia’s face during the exams.”

“Sophia? Lady Sophia of the Bergen family?”

The older sister of that scoundrel Felix.

I had seen her a few times at the library before.

“That’s right. It’s frustrating, but my magic grades are worse than Sophia’s. I fall behind her every time, both in theory and practice.”

“Then why not find another good magic teacher?”

“You explained it in a way I could understand just now. You’re the first person who’s ever explained magic theory this easily. The Academy professors only ever ramble about things I can’t understand...”

Excitedly, she seized my hand.

“No matter how I think about it, Hans, you’re the only one. I’ll offer you exceptional terms. In return, promise me one thing.”

She brought her index finger to my lips.

“The fact that you use magic must remain absolutely secret. Sophia especially mustn’t hear about it. She’ll try to take you away from me. Or she’ll try to win you over.”

Her expression suddenly hardened as she looked out the window.

“This won’t do. Follow me.”

“Where?”

“Here.”

An old rug lay in one corner of the room.

Ellen casually pulled it back and felt along the gaps between the floorboards.

It was an ordinary floor, with nothing unusual in sight.

Tzzzt!

But when she pressed the knot of a particular floorboard and poured mana into it...

Rumble!

Part of the floor sank down, revealing a dark underground stairway.

“This is...!”

“It’s fine. Don’t be surprised. Follow me.”

Ellen went down the stairs first.

I followed behind her without thinking.

After descending for a while, we came upon a fairly spacious underground cavern, a little over 350 square feet in size.

Magic lamps gave off a soft glow.

There were desks and chairs, along with boxes of emergency rations neatly stacked in one corner.

“What is this place?”

“It’s a secret space belonging to the Valderk family.”

Ellen brightened the magic lamps as she spoke.

“When this estate was first built, my grandfather had this shelter constructed in complete secrecy. Only a very few people in the family know about it.”

I looked around.

Several cave entrances branched off from the walls.

“Those passages are emergency exits. They lead respectively outside the city, to the sewers, and to the study in the main house.”

“So you can take shelter or escape if danger comes.”

Ellen nodded with a proud smile.

“Never enter them. You could get trapped in the maze or caught in a trap.”

“I’ll remember that.”

“We’ll hold your tutoring sessions here from now on. And you’ll conduct your magic experiments here too.”

“You want me to do them hidden underground?”

“No matter how carefully you lock up the annex above, you can’t completely block every smell and sound. If a spy Sophia sent comes around, they’ll find out quickly.”

She was right.

This place was deep underground, so neither noise nor mana signatures could leak outside.

It was the perfect secret base.

But then a chill ran down my spine.

I looked at Ellen and asked,

“Why are you telling me about such an important family secret?”

“...?”

“Knowing the most confidential matters of a noble family means... I could be silenced at any time.”

My voice trembled slightly.

This involved my life.

No matter how kind someone was, people who knew too many secrets were eventually eliminated.

“I understand why you’re worried. But the Valderk family has never once abandoned a retainer who helped the family.”

Ellen smiled reassuringly.

“More importantly, now that you’re my secret tutor, I should pay you.”

She rubbed the ornate ring on her left hand.

A spatial ring enchanted with spatial magic.

It was a luxury artifact that only the very highest ranks of nobility could possess.

Flash!

Space rippled, and stones glowing blue appeared.

“Will this be enough?”

Ten lower-grade mana crystals.

They were not depleted scraps with only residue left. They were genuine crystals, full of mana and shining blue.

‘Good heavens!’

At market price, each was worth one gold.

Together, they were worth ten gold.

“You’re really giving these to me? This is far too much for tutoring fees.”

“Don’t feel burdened. With your talent, using Depleted Mana Crystals is what makes no sense. And honestly, it would hurt my pride if my secret tutor were using such trash.”

As she set the mana crystals on my workbench, she spoke quietly.

“Hans. Your talent is real. Right now, you’re limited to household magic because your mana core is too small... but if you break through that limit and learn combat magic as well.”

A fierce light shone in her eyes.

They were not the eyes of a childish noble girl, but of the next head of a great house.

“As you know, I am the Valderk family’s only child. On the day I become head of the family, I will appoint you as an official knight in my own name. I mean that I will make you a retainer of Valderk, not merely a commoner mender.”

Thump.

My heart gave a heavy beat.

A rise in status.

A path to becoming an official noble of the Empire.

It was an exceptional offer that any commoner would gratefully accept while bowing their head to the floor.

I swallowed a bitter smile.

‘A retainer...’

It was not a bad offer.

But my goal was not to spend my whole life bowing beneath someone else.

I wanted something higher than a knighthood, complete freedom and wealth.

‘For now... there’s no reason to refuse.’

This was the best refuge possible.

A safe hiding place, abundant funds, and mana crystals.

Until I had grown stronger, there was no better shelter.

Just as she would use me as her secret tutor, I only needed to use her family’s backing.

“It is far more than I deserve. While I remain here, I will do my utmost to meet your expectations, my lady.”

“...While you remain here? So you mean to leave someday?”

When I did not answer, Ellen narrowed her eyes.

Then she smiled strangely.

“Most commoners would have started with empty promises to serve me for life. Interesting. I like that.”

With a cheerful expression, she walked toward the secret passage leading to the main house.

“It’s late, so I’ll go now. Starting tomorrow night, lessons will begin here. Make sure you’re prepared.”

Slide. Thud.

She disappeared into the secret passage, and the wall closed again.

I was left alone in the empty underground cavern.

Ten lower-grade mana crystals shone brilliantly on the workbench.

I picked one up and held it to the light.

The mana’s blue radiance glimmered mysteriously.

“A knighthood...”

I smiled calmly, tossing the mana crystal into the air and catching it.

“Who knows? By then, I’ll have more than enough money to buy this whole family.”

I would not become anyone’s retainer.

I had no intention of becoming one.

Scratch. Scratch, scratch.

The magic circle I drew on the ground was dozens of times more complex and refined than the one I had shown Ellen earlier.

‘With this, not only second-tier, but higher is possible.’

I immediately erased it.

Scratch, scratch, scratch.

‘Third-tier is no problem either.’

Scratch. Scratch, scratch, scratch.

‘Even fourth-tier, though only in limited ways.’

Several fourth-tier magic formulas I had learned through Professor Kael’s notes.

‘It’s impossible for now because of my mana.’

Still, someday it would be possible.

‘For the time being, I’ll expand my mana core as much as I can here.’

This underground secret room.

For me, it was the finest experimental space and training ground.

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