WeTried Translations

Translator: Hydrogen B

Editor: Hydrogen B

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

Chapter 17: That's Correct, Alchemist.

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Today's class had been good too. I stretched deeply and was about to leave the room when the vampire called out to me.

[Do you have nothing for us today?]

"Nothing?"

[Anything, literally. Something interesting.]

'The stories I heard yesterday, about clothes and needles, were quite interesting. He has a decent talent for speaking too. Does he not have any other stories?'

The vampire, who had kept her distance from the world inside a coffin for several centuries, seemed to have enjoyed the story I told yesterday quite a lot. She was holding on to me like some lonely old grandmother.

No, even if she expected something, it wasn't as if every story I had was interesting. It wasn't like I had much to talk about, either.

I scratched my head.

"Something interesting... Then, should I teach you magic?"

[Magic?]

I had offered it assuming she wouldn't care. Yet both the vampire and the regressor showed interest. Huh. This much interest was a little burdensome.

"Don't get your hopes up. The only magic I can teach is the military state's standardized magic taught in Secondary Military School."

'Ah. Tch. I thought he meant innate magic.'

The regressor's interest immediately faded. Her standards had risen too high for her to care about ordinary techniques used by someone like me.

Even though, among "them," she would be judged as an ordinary talent who had drawn on her potential ahead of time.

Hmph. A regressor of ordinary talent carried by lucky encounters and items. Good luck with that.

On the other hand, look at the vampire's reaction. It was beautiful in the most exemplary way.

[Y-you can wield magic?!]

People often look upward to fuel their ambition and downward to find reassurance. For me, the person beneath me was a vampire who had nothing going for her but her suspiciously great age.

Ah. My pride was swelling. The modern genius theory truly existed. An ancient person like the vampire thought I was amazing, as though I were some kind of genius.

Feeling my chest fill with pride, I said, "Yes. I can use magic."

The regressor snorted.

'It's military state standardized magic that any dog or cow can learn. Showing off over such completely useless magic...'

As if she had even been a dog or cow in her first life. Maybe she had been a rat kicked to death by a cow's hind leg?

Just go away already. Why were you still here listening to me?

If you were going to stay for class, you should take a cue from the vampire. That was the kind of response that made teaching worthwhile.

[Magic is the product of mystery, an otherworldly art only profound sages could approach! Even I could not wield it, yet someone like you can handle it?]

"What do you mean, someone like me? Back where I came from, I was someone who could hold my head high."

I was a criminal in the military state and had to crawl around here, but I had never lost first place at my Secondary Military School. Even after dropping out, there was no one in the back alleys who didn't know the magician.

I had been famous more as a clown than a sage, but still...

"And it's not like I'm special. Do you know how many people can use magic besides me? Once you enter secondary school, everyone tries magic at least once."

I had only stated an ordinary fact, but the vampire looked as shocked as if she had witnessed the end of the world.

[Everyone... tries it? Magic?]

"Of course."

[How many of them are there?]

"The Secondary Military School I attended had two hundred students per year, and there are ten schools like that... So yes. There are at least two thousand people who can use magic."

[T-two thousand...]

The vampire was genuinely amazed.

[Two thousand mages. That is more than the population of a decent city.]

"These days, a population of two thousand doesn't even count as a city. The population has grown so much. You'd have to go to some remote rural area to find a place with only two thousand people. And I think you're misunderstanding something."

That was two thousand people in one year.

Ah. They hadn't had the concepts of schools and year groups back then. I needed to correct that misunderstanding.

"The total magic-using population isn't two thousand. There are two thousand thirteen-year-olds attending Secondary Military School. There are the same number of fourteen-year-olds, and the same goes for those a year older..."

[Impossible! Then there are no less than one hundred thousand mages?!]

"Not mages exactly, but people who can use magic. And not many of them study magic professionally."

[Still, one hundred thousand... One hundred thousand...]

In the past, there had often been countries with fewer than one hundred thousand people. It was only natural that she was surprised. I shrugged.

"More or less. That's the gap a thousand years creates."

Thank you, civilization. Thank you, precious history of humanity, for putting me a thousand years ahead of the vampire.

While I was proudly showing off, an oblivious voice cut in.

"Stop encouraging her misunderstanding. Only a tiny number of them have talent for magic."

The regressor stepped in to nitpick.

Honestly, she had learned magic herself, so why was she putting it down so much? She criticized it as though she couldn't bear not to diminish herself.

"If you actually made them try it, most of them probably couldn't do it properly. Talent matters above all else in that field, so many people learn only the basics of magic and put it aside completely. They're better off learning combat or strategy with that time."

She seemed to be trying to downplay it, but unfortunately for her, even that was fascinating to the vampire.

[They have the chance to learn magic, yet give it up? How can that be...?]

"Ah, well. It's a long explanation. Hmm."

This time, I cut in.

"When knowledge becomes more common than stones by the roadside, people begin to treat knowledge as they would stones."

[Even though learning it would surely make them stronger?]

"It means power is also a commodity subject to economic logic. If it isn't scarce, there is no need to acquire it."

[Huh. What a peculiar perspective...]

"Well, that's the changed world, isn't it?"

[Th-then. Perhaps...]

After I said it so casually, the vampire hesitantly spoke from inside the coffin.

Like a greedy person coveting something she ought not wish for. No, like a timid girl who reproached herself as greedy simply for desiring something.

[If someone like me asked to learn... would you teach me?]

"Can't you learn magic, Trainee Tyrkanzyaka?"

[I do not mean that I would use it. I simply wish to learn it once. Like the others who study in that place called a school...]

"Ah. You want to become a mature student."

People who never had the chance to learn at the right time often held regrets. It might not seem like a big deal to someone living in the modern age, but regrets piled up over the years that had passed. I scratched my head.

"To attend school, you would first need to resolve the issue of resident registration, Trainee Tyrkanzyaka..."

That would be difficult. The military state's resident registration was quite strict. Though someone like the vampire probably wouldn't have much trouble establishing an identity even in the strict military state. I shrugged as I replied.

"If you want to learn, you don't necessarily need to choose a school. As long as you pay, you can learn plenty at a private academy too."

[Really?]

Knowledge had become common, but it still wasn't worth as little as a stone. The military state tightly controlled Level 3 tactical-grade magic and above and refused to teach it, but even private academies taught up through Level 2 combat-grade magic.

As I shrugged, the vampire spoke again.

[Then... could you teach me magic just once?]

"Me?"

[Yes. At present, my only windows to the world are you and Shei.]

Teach magic to a thousand-year-old vampire, a Progenitor whose every deed was recorded in legends? Me?

What nonsense. I knew the theory inside and out, but I was hopeless at practical work. I had read every thought in my magic teacher's mind with my ability, yet still could only use Level 0 phenomenon-grade magic. That was why I had eventually dropped out.

This wasn't false modesty. Magic wasn't even my specialty, but if she saw me barely managing to cast even Level 0 phenomenon-grade magic, she might question my ability. There was no need to think about it. I needed to avoid this at all costs.

Just as I was about to refuse,

'He said it would cost something? That is fine. I have gold to spare...'

Money.

It had always been that way. Gold was the metal that blinded people.

A disgusting trophy that stood atop people's heads, made steel stain itself with human blood, then moved alone and lofty to sit atop another head.

Even respectable people might despise money, but they never kept their distance from it. The same went for someone as serious and thoughtful as me.

I changed my attitude in an instant, clenched my fist, and placed my hand over my chest.

"I can teach you too, Trainee Tyrkanzyaka."

Then I made a circle with my fingers and gave it a small shake.

"Ah, but even as an instructor, teaching magic for free is a little difficult. The higher the level, the stricter the security classification. So there would need to be some compensation."

[You want gold?]

"Not necessarily. Just a little sincerity. Enough to make me feel inclined to do it."

It was painfully transparent wording. The regressor clicked her tongue and glared at me. I didn't even need to read her thoughts. She was probably about to condemn a military state officer for lining a different pocket.

But did you know?

Several hundred years ago, bribes had been "common sense."

[Gold is a modest request. Very well.]

With a creak, the coffin lid opened at an angle. From within, where darkness still churned, a pitch-black hand held something aloft as it floated over.

Wow, really? She was actually giving it to me?

As expected, a crisis was an opportunity. The crisis of having to live in the same space as a thousand-year-old vampire was equal to the opportunity to fleece a rich old woman who knew nothing of the world!

Desperately suppressing my eagerness, I focused on the object carried by the black hand. It was... a golden crown that looked expensive at a glance.

What a windfall. I cleared my throat so my delight wouldn't leak out.

"Taking it out of a coffin makes it look just like a burial good. Ow!"

[Enough nonsense.]

That didn't mean she had to throw the crown at me. What if this valuable item got scratched? Worried that I might leave fingerprints on it, I pulled my sleeve down and carefully accepted the crown.

Good heavens. This weight. Was this really a crown? If it was all gold, then even if its price had fallen a little because of alchemy, it would be worth...

...Ah, wait.

Alchemy, a thousand years ago, the technological gap, and that strangely gullible attitude...

No way. With a faint hope, I examined the golden crown.

Ah, why were bad premonitions never wrong?

"This is fake!"

[...?]

"Come to think of it, this is gold from before the Alchemical Revolution, isn't it? Then it's counterfeit gold! Oh no, what am I supposed to do with this?"

The vampire was genuinely flustered.

[Gold is gold. How can there be true gold and false gold?]

"They were separated a hundred years ago."

[Wh-what? Could it be...]

'Once again, I failed to keep up with the times... Is that it? Is it that same pattern again...?'

I felt like lashing out because I had been scammed, but after reading her thoughts, I felt too sorry for her to do it. Yes, I had only lost some money I might have received, while the vampire had effectively lost everything she owned.

At times like this, mind-reading was unfortunate. If I hadn't known, I could have shaken her down until not a single tear remained.

Sigh. Such was my fate. Just when I thought I might make some money.

"Normally, I would have to arrest you for counterfeiting gold coins, but there was no knowledge of alchemy in the era when you lived, Tyrkanzyaka trainee, so I'll let it go. Here, look."

I drew a star in the center of the crown with my finger. If it had been pure gold, nothing should have stained my hand, yet it turned bright red, as if it had been scorched by a heated branding iron.

"For a gold crown, the shine and weight. Probably the third and fourth vertices. Hmm, it really is old alchemy, so the alchemy level is low. Even I can unravel this."

I tapped the third and fourth vertices. Then I turned the crown once, scratching its front and back with my fingernail. Tap. Finally, I pushed mana along the line, and the golden crown began to flow and change color as though melting.

What emerged was a dull, dark-gray metal.

It was mithril, a mana-conducting metal that was far more useful, more common, and cheaper than gold. It was certainly several times better than gold... but that was precisely why it had suffered the misfortune of no longer being a precious metal.

I placed it on the lectern and said, "Mithril is a metal with excellent mana conductivity. It is so good that alchemy using it could imitate every metal in the world. Naturally, the metal it imitated most often was gold. At the time, though, even mithril was scarce, so fake gold mixed into real gold wasn't very noticeable. That was how counterfeit gold, mithril, gradually entered circulation.

"Then one day, an alchemist who wanted to make more money came up with an ingenious idea. Since true gold was difficult to make, they intended to create mithril, turn it into gold, and sell it. Mithril was difficult to make too, so it seemed like their efforts would end as wasted labor, but..."

Unfortunately, they succeeded.

The alchemical pattern was revealed.

Estimated Level 3. Alchemists with a modest degree of skill began producing mithril. It was only cottage industry production, but the steady supply caused its price to fall.

People who owned gold feared this change. Their assets kept halving while they did nothing. A few quick to hear the news became enraged and worked to uncover what was happening.

"And the moment they learned the truth, they shut their mouths and began selling the gold they owned."

[Why? Rather than punishing the alchemists who made counterfeit gold?]

"Because they had to get rid of their gold before anyone else found out it was fake. If they punished the alchemists, other people would find out, wouldn't they?"

[They knew the gold they possessed was fake, yet sold it?]

"They sold it because they knew."

Anyone who sat still while the money they had built up evaporated in real time was an idiot. It was only natural.

[But those who bought the false gold believing it to be real? They could not have stayed still either.]

"Exactly!"

She was full of enthusiasm for learning. This was rewarding to teach. Smiling broadly, I spread both hands.

"What happened afterward is difficult to sum up simply. The buyers grew furious, the sellers denied everything, they fought, argued, and started wars against each other. It was utter chaos. One historian said that blood equal in weight to all the gold that existed at the time was spilled."

Anyway. Shaking the mithril crown around, I continued.

"Put simply, mithril is dirt cheap now. To exaggerate a little, it's probably worth about the same as a pile of firewood."

That meant most of the vampire's wealth had become worthless. I lamented my own disappointment but looked at her with pity.

Things like liquor, preserved fish, or antiques could become more valuable if left for a suitable amount of time. Yet as the laws of nature dictated, if left too long, everything spoiled. A thousand years was too long.

After a long pause, the vampire finally spoke.

[History, and even alchemy... How do you know all this? Could it be?]

Oh, even now she was curious. Happy with that attitude, I nodded broadly.

"That's right. I learned this at 'school' too."

[Again!]

"Not just alchemy. Mathematics, biology, natural science, foreign languages, magic theory, mechanical engineering, ballistics, and more. They teach all of that in secondary school."

[What... is this place called a school? Is it where talented children gathered from every country seek learning? Something like the Tower of Sages?]

"No. Anyone from fourteen to seventeen years old who graduated from Elementary Citizen School with good grades and wants to attend can enter."

[Th-that is impossible.]

Perhaps the shock was too great, because the voice from within the coffin became quieter than before. She seemed to be suffering quite a bit of culture shock.

Back then, learning anything at all had been something only the highest class could do. The path of learning was narrow, winding, and difficult. It was closed off too, so even those who reached its end often despaired before firmly shut doors.

Was the present better by comparison?

"Anyway. You understand now, right? What a shame. Whew. That was exhausting. Class is canceled today too."

[U-um. Wait.]

Unable to readily accept the changed world, the vampire insisted on cross-checking with the regressor.

[Shei. Was what he said... true?]

"...It was all true. But."

'Even if they learned it, there aren't many people who can do it as skillfully as that man. The military state pursues specialization. Everyone delves deeply into a field suited to their aptitude. It's strange that someone who can withstand one of my sword strikes also has such knowledge of alchemy and magic...'

That damn overestimation just because I deflected her blade. Honestly. I couldn't even imagine how much she would have treated me like a worm if I hadn't deflected it.

Ah, then my arm would have been cut off. I really would have become a worm crawling on the ground.

"But it isn't as extraordinary a place as he makes it sound. If you expect too much, you'll be greatly disappointed."

The regressor spoke dismissively. It really was an ordinary place, so I didn't bother arguing.

The vampire, who had been impressed, suddenly voiced a question that had occurred to her.

[Shei, did you also graduate from this place called Secondary Military School? Were the two of you fellow students?]

"No, I only attended Elementary Citizen School."

[Ah... I see.]

'Hmm. Certainly. Even their manner of speaking is different. There seems to be a gap between them...'

The vampire trailed off apologetically. Realizing the pity hidden in her tone, the regressor hurried to explain.

"No?! I only attended Elementary Citizen School because I came from an orphanage and had no tuition money!"

[How unfortunate.]

"No! What I mean is, I had no reason to attend Secondary Military School! I was perfectly capable without it!"

[I understand. Do not worry. I shall diligently teach you bloodcraft as far as my power reaches.]

"That's not what I meant!"

Sigh. It wasn't as though I had been trying to boast, but this was how it turned out. I wiped my nose and said, "For reference, I had no parents either, but I attended on a scholarship. I was first in the entire school through Secondary Military School, after all."

"Just shut up!"

"The fuller a stalk of rice grows, the lower it bows its head. The more a bag contains, the quieter it stays even when shaken... If you wish it so badly, I shall remain silent."

"Is that shutting up?!"

This was why uneducated people... Sigh.

I did as I was told and merely sighed quietly, but even that seemed to displease the regressor. Huffing angrily, she took something from an unseen space.

Footnotes:

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