WeTried Translations

Translator: Hydrogen B

Editor: Hydrogen B

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

Chapter 613: The Ignorant Have No Rights

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What? The floating castle was going to fall to the ground?

No wonder. Even after coming aboard the floating castle, she hadn't seemed particularly pleased about it. You couldn't build a nest on a broken branch. And facing an attack from the Sword Saint? That was far more frightening than falling from this altitude.

A fall could be dealt with, but the Sword Saint's single strike could not.

All right, I'd decided. We'd take care of business here and get out as quickly as possible.

‘Huh? Wait. Come to think of it, this is the floating castle before it falls. Maybe this is an opportunity. I might be able to stop the Great Descent, or at least weaken it.’

Did she have mind-reading or some comparable skill? How could she change her attitude the instant I changed my mind?

Shei softened her stance slightly.

"Fine. Since we've come this far, I'll cooperate with you."

The Green Tower Master frowned at Shei's sudden change in attitude. Not because she had become cooperative.

"You ignorant fools are obligated to cooperate with us. How dare you dress up a duty as though it were a favor? Do you expect us to treat you well?"

"You should treat us well. The information we brought concerns the Demon God."

The mages recoiled at the word Shei had casually spoken.

"The Demon God?!"

"An ignorant fool knows of that being?!"

Even mages living amid the mystery of a floating castle found the Demon God's name weighty. Perhaps it weighed on them more because they understood magic better. The mages who had paid us little attention while escorting Shei and me began gathering together and whispering among themselves.

"Lankart. So he was pursuing the Demon God after all."

"Was the rumor that he belonged to the Temple of the Demon God true?"

...Huh. Had she said something she shouldn't have? Sorry, Lankart. Shei was the one who revealed it. I bore no responsibility.

"Whatever information you ignorant fools have brought, my duty remains unchanged. I have been instructed to arrest you and hand you over to the Security Bureau."

Shei's words caused enough of a stir to make even the single-minded Green Tower Master hesitate. Meanwhile, the person who had made that statement remained composed.

"Information about the Demon God isn't their jurisdiction, is it? Call Elisha."

An unfamiliar name came from Shei's lips. It was sudden and unfamiliar to me, but not to the Green Tower Master.

"Elisha...?! How does an ignorant fool know that name?"

"Yeah. She was probably with the Intelligence Bureau."

"With the Intelligence Bureau? You ignorant fool. Are you saying that because you truly don't know who that is?"

"Who is she?"

‘All I know is that she remained an Intelligence Bureau agent of the Arcane Federation even after the Great Descent. Every mage was prickly and self-centered, but Elisha was the only one I could communicate with. She was about the closest thing I had to a fellow mage.’

"You really don't know. That is the Cyan Tower Master's name."

"Huh? Is it?"

The Cyan Tower Master of the blue Crystal Tower, one of the five magic towers supporting the floating castle, wielded ice and crystal magic. The mage who had helped Shei in a previous regression was the Cyan Tower Master.

That meant the Cyan Tower Master was one of the most powerful mages in the world, but Shei was not all that surprised.

It hadn't been much help, but she had stood on the same battlefield as the Sword Saint and the Demon King.

"That works out well. Then take us to the Cyan Tower."

"...Wait. This is confusing."

The Green Tower Master clutched her brow and sank into thought. The other mages were the same. They were curious about the strange being called Shei.

"Who in the world is he? He knows about the Demon God and even knows the Cyan Tower Master's name."

"An ignorant fool could know of the Demon God. But knowing the Cyan Tower Master's name is impossible without hearing it from someone in the floating castle. I had nearly forgotten the Cyan Tower Master's name myself."

"I heard the Intelligence Bureau recruited several ignorant-fool informants in the lower realm. Could they be them?"

"Your hypothesis has a flaw. They say the Intelligence Bureau approaches ignorant-fool informants while concealing its identity. The information those ignorant fools, who know nothing of magic, handle is no more than the movements of various nations. There is no benefit to revealing our identity."

"No. Lankart is a Federation investigator with the Intelligence Bureau. Considering that he brought them here, it's possible."

"I hear even ignorant fools have ranks on the ground. They might be important ignorant fools."

"Important ignorant fools? That's like hot ice. Instead of wasting time dividing themselves into ranks, they should learn magic and become enlightened people."

The mages had stopped paying attention to us and were talking among themselves. Their heated discussion made them seem far more lively than when they had been working earlier.

That was what mages were like. Their curiosity came first, while duties and responsibilities were handled only as much as necessary. If affiliation ever felt like a restraint, they were prepared to abandon everything and leave at once.

People called them antisocial beings, but that was only because they didn't understand. To be antisocial, one had to recognize and accept society's powerful influence more than anyone else. Mages simply built worlds of their own, unconcerned whether those worlds clashed with society or fit within it.

"Wait. There is one thing I must confirm."

The Green Tower Master was no different. She was single-minded, but not a stickler for principles. If anything, she resembled a civil servant who wanted to finish her work quickly. Though she was supposed to hand us over to the Security Bureau, curiosity got the better of her. Without another word, she pointed her umbrella at Shei.

"Shot."

The jewel glittered, and a sphere of mana rose toward Shei. It was an utterly sudden, unprovoked attack. It carried no killing intent, but it had enough force to break three or four ribs on an ordinary person.

Shei was not an ordinary person, of course. The Heaven-Reversing Boundary flashed through her nerves the moment it sensed the attack. Before the umbrella could even recoil, Shei had already cut the rope and grasped Skywarbler.

Whoooom. A streak of wind turned into a blade and split the sphere of mana in two. The divided spheres burst weakly in midair.

"What are you doing?"

The Green Tower Master quietly stared at Skywarbler and the mana dwelling within it.

"The power to command wind cannot be qi. Are you a spirit user?"

"...I don't particularly rely on spirits."

"A spirit is a collective term for power outside one's own will. You are not casting magic directly, but stimulating the intent dwelling within your weapon to produce magic. I wondered why such strange mana had been surrounding you."

Skywarbler and Jizan were Shei's weapons, but they were not power exclusive to her. Shei had merely been chosen for now. Someone else chosen by them could produce similar power.

Perhaps Skywarbler and Jizan were the ones trapped by the shackles called Shei.

Still, using good tools was also a skill. The Green Tower Master acknowledged Shei.

"If you have been chosen by a spirit, you can narrowly be said not to be an ignorant fool. You couldn't have been chosen by a spirit if you lacked even the senses to understand it."

As though all the secrets had finally been solved, the mages chimed in one after another.

"Ah, a spirit user? Then he cannot be considered an ordinary ignorant fool."

"Not quite enough to call him an enlightened person, but... close enough."

Wasn't that a little too different from their earlier attitude? When they called Shei an ignorant fool, they dismissed everything she said. The moment she was proven not to be one, their attitude changed.

My urge to rise through the ranks was suddenly surging. Now I understood why people in the Arcane Federation of the lower realm admired mages so much. With such different treatment, even someone living an ordinary life would want to learn magic.

"You must still answer for illegally entering the floating castle, but since you are not an ignorant fool, we may take your circumstances into consideration. I will relay this to the Intelligence Bureau."

"Whatever you think doesn't matter to me."

"But that applies only to you. The ignorant fool beside you is not qualified to walk the floating castle. He must remain here."

"Huh?"

That made this ignorant fool feel bad. Ah, should I show off my skills for the first time in a while? I might not have much mana, but I was quite good at pretending I knew things through mind-reading.

‘Ah, they don't know Hughes? He may be a little lacking, but Hughes can use magic too.’

After finishing that rude thought, Shei pointed at me.

"Hughes can use magic too."

"I do not sense any notable mana from him."

"He doesn't have much mana, but his knowledge is considerable. Even Lankart admitted he was a step below him in knowledge."

"Lankart did...?"

The Green Tower Master's brow twitched again. Shei might not have intended it, but mentioning Lankart successfully stirred the Green Tower Master's curiosity.

"Yeah. Apparently they were classmates in the military state. What was it again? He said he beat Lankart and came first?"

"Oh? Then show us."

Was this it? My chance to demonstrate my magical talent? The stage was set. I cleared my throat and spread both arms before the mages.

"Ahem. Now, watch closely. It may not compare to the magic of the floating castle's distinguished mages, but I too can use magic..."

"Be quiet. If you want to prove it, show us with magic instead of words."

"...All right. I will."

Cold. Still, a true entertainer had to turn a cold audience into a blazing one. I formed a simple hand sign and drew up mana before everyone.

"Set, Ri."

I drew mana from within my body. Military-state standard magic was quick and convenient magic that used the body as a medium. I would combine it and put on a little magical performance. Even the floating castle's mages wouldn't be able to resist this.

"Fahrenheit."

Flames bloomed from my fingertip. Then I was about to trap the flame with wind and perform a trick.

"Ahhhhhhh!"

At that moment, all the mages began shouting at once. Their unexpectedly intense reaction caught me off guard.

"Huh? I haven't even started yet?"

I had only lit my finger on fire. Even a country kid wouldn't be this surprised. What was this? Had the mages' threshold dropped because they were trapped in the floating castle?

...That was what I thought, until I saw dozens of wands pointed at me and realized something was wrong.

"Black magic!"

"Arrest him!"

Huh? What? Black magic? This?

"I only used standard magic... Mm!"

I had no chance to argue. Whips made of mana wrapped around my body, and an invisible film covered my mouth. Dozens of restraint spells bound me.

At the same time, invisible walls surrounded me. A sense of foreboding came over me, and I reached out, but my hand struck a one-way barrier and could not move an inch.

"Using black magic in the holy land of white magic. You have some nerve... No, you clearly didn't. Judging by your reaction, it seems you cast it without knowing. You were simply foolish."

Along with wariness, I felt gazes from every direction that found me pitiful and stupid. Feeling wronged, I twisted against my restraints and shouted.

"What is this? I only showed you magic!"

"The term ignorant fool suits him perfectly. Take him to the Security Bureau and detain him. He is a black mage, so put him in the special detention cell."

Leaving only those words, the Green Tower Master turned away as though she had no need to hear more.

Clank.

And just like that, I was locked alone in a special cell.

Footnotes:

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