WeTried Translations

Translator: Hydrogen B

Editor: Hydrogen B

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

Chapter 614: To Escape You Must First Be Trapped

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Mages were stubborn about black magic too. No matter how much I asked for a lawyer or whatever Shei said, not a word of it made a dent.

"Ah, right. Standard magic was a kind of black magic that used your own body as a sacrifice. I forgot."

"I forgot too! No, I never learned anything except standard magic in the first place!"

I never wanted to become a black mage either! If you thought about it, the military state was at fault for teaching black magic while calling it standard magic!

"Wait a little. If I find Elisha and explain the situation, you should be able to get out. Rest until then."

Having said that through the bars, Shei left me behind. I cried out alone from inside my cage.

"Get me out! Even an ignorant fool shouldn't be treated like this!"

"Visiting hours are over. Ignorant fool, follow me."

A Security Bureau mage roughly seized me. Bound by ropes, I couldn't resist and was dragged along.

The mage took me to a special detention cell, tossed me into the room, and grumbled.

"Haah. Lankart again? Last time, he brought in an ignorant fool who used qigong. Now it's a black mage. What does he think this floating castle is?"

"What's wrong with black magic? If black magic is all someone learned, they might use black magic! How is that a crime?"

"How is it a crime? Such foolishness befits an ignorant fool. That's why you learned dangerous, pointless magic like black magic."

If there was one decent thing about the floating castle's "enlightened people," it was that they never failed to explain themselves. The enlightened mage spoke as though bestowing instruction upon an ignorant fool.

"To use your body as a sacrifice, you must first turn it into a catalyst. You need to create a channel for mana to flow through in order to produce phenomena. In other words, every black mage is a homunculus who has modified their own body."

"Body modification? What kind of slander is...!"

Ah, right. The bio-terminal. People in the military state underwent a procedure to have bio-terminals implanted in their wrists at a certain age, didn't they?

Damn military state. What did you do to me?

"A black mage who uses their body as a catalyst is like a walking bomb. How could we know what magic they might cast using their body as a catalyst? If they approached in secret and used wicked magic at the cost of their life, even a sorcerer couldn't guarantee their survival."

"I have no intention of using anything like that! I barely have any mana in the first place, so even if I use black magic, I can only cast everyday-grade spells!"

"How could I believe that? There's no way to know unless we dissect your body and cut it apart."

If I could use my body as payment to cast tactical-grade magic, I would've done it long ago! I didn't have that kind of ability!

"Besides, the magic you gained by touching a taboo is limited to tactical grade at best. If that isn't foolishness, what is?"

There were countless kinds of magic in the world and many ways to classify them, but the most widely known classification was as follows.

Phenomenon-grade. Magic that reproduced a simple phenomenon.

Everyday-grade. Magic that combined phenomena and refined them for everyday use.

Combat-grade. Magic powerful enough to harm an opponent in battle rather than everyday life.

Tactical-grade. Magic with enough force to deal with multiple people or tactical weapons.

Strategic-grade. Magic equivalent to an army, capable of changing military doctrine on its own.

And war-grade. Grand magic that could start or prevent a war, depending on how it was used.

The military state had roughly assigned numbers to them, classifying them from Level 0 to Level 5, but that was closer to renaming concepts that had existed all along. Even then, the only person to reach Level 5 was the War Mage, one of the Six Generals. And even that felt a little like exaggerated marketing based on the sheer scale of her magic.

Even the military state's strongest mage paled before the Arcane Federation.

"White magic is more precise, more systematic, and superior. Every mage living in the floating castle can wield strategic-grade magic. Unlike black magic, they don't have to offer their own lives."

Black mages used their own bodies as catalysts, but the human body wasn't actually such a valuable catalyst. It was merely convenient to use and allowed for slightly faster casting.

That was why black mages could never achieve greatness. Even the military state's most distinguished mage officers were limited to tactical-grade magic.

That was the view of the Arcane Federation's enlightened people, though. In the military state, where the overwhelming majority were untalented and ordinary, even power that reached such limits was a sweet fruit.

"This was forcibly drilled into me by the military state! If I could've learned white magic, I would've learned white magic too!"

"That's why your life was spared. You didn't touch black magic of your own will. Still, no matter how it happened, the fact that you're a black mage won't change."

The Security Bureau mage gave me a look filled with contempt and pity, then sealed the bars with magic.

"There are two possible ends for a black mage. You either burn your body as a sacrifice, cast a single spell, and die, or you find someone else to use as a sacrifice."

With that quiet warning, the mage tapped the bars.

Mana swirled around the bars, and my body rose into the air. I struggled, but there was nothing beneath my feet or at my fingertips to grab onto.

A gravity barrier? I couldn't touch the floor or ceiling like this. Even when I tried to move as though swimming, some force kept pulling me toward the center of the prison. It felt as if I had fallen into the middle of an antlion pit.

"Wait! What's going to happen to me?"

The Security Bureau mage didn't even look at me.

"After an investigator interrogates you, you will be expelled from the floating castle. Feel mysteries your magic could never reach, and regret your foolishness."

Expelled?

...That sounded fine, actually.

The Security Bureau mage left after saying that. Alone in the special management room, I carefully assessed my situation.

All right. I had been locked in solitary confinement as intended. The anti-mana barrier sealed mana, but it didn't hurt me at all. This body had no mana to begin with.

The problem was this gravity barrier. It was simple, but surprisingly troublesome. Since my body was floating in midair, I couldn't use the Earth Qi Art either. It would be different if there were something to grab onto, but I was suspended in empty air and couldn't move an inch.

I was wearing heavy handcuffs, and there was nothing nearby to grab. It was a prison that left me utterly at a loss as to how to escape. Was that what I should expect from the Arcane Federation's floating castle?

"Hup."

First, the handcuffs. The cards were in my pocket, but if I couldn't draw a card just because my hands were bound, I couldn't call myself a magician. I nudged the clip I had positioned with my waist and legs, and a card popped out. I shifted slightly and slipped it between the handcuffs.

The mana-infused handcuffs covered my entire hands. If I forced them open, the magic would activate and crush my hands. To remove them safely, I would have to carefully dismantle them, but that was the kind of petty trick suited to the weak man I used to be.

"Elixir."

Using the Demon God of alchemy, I transmuted the handcuffs all at once. The heavy handcuffs became cards of the same mass and scattered apart.

The magic engraved on the handcuffs crushed my hands in the process, though.

"Whew."

My hands regenerated as if nothing had happened. Free of the handcuffs, I looked up and down.

There didn't seem to be any surveillance. All I could see were solid iron bars. Still, more troublesome than the bars was the gravity barrier keeping me from reaching them.

I couldn't block it or escape it. I reached out, but the farther I extended my arm, the heavier it became. When I threw a card, it flew through the air before stopping as though caught in a net, then returned to me. I tilted my head back to avoid it, and the card flew toward the opposite side and repeated the same movement.

"Hmm. So that's how it's built."

I couldn't plant my feet on the ground, grab anything, or throw something out. It felt like I was trapped inside an invisible flask.

But... if things returned to me.

"Lightning Skein."

I caught the heavy handcuffs with Lightning Skein and spun them around. When the rotation reached its peak, I hurled the handcuffs hard outward. Just like the card, they traveled some distance before gradually slowing down.

When the handcuffs stopped completely, I pulled them again with force. They shot back like an arrow and passed me toward the opposite side.

A little farther than before.

"If energy is conserved, repeating this like a swing means I can eventually get out."

I pulled the handcuffs at the right time. Each time, they traveled farther. Like a swing growing wider and wider, the handcuffs gradually increased their arc until, at some point, they didn't return and simply fell.

They had escaped the gravity barrier.

"Whew. That much? Then."

Nine of Spades glowed among the fallen handcuffs. Using the card as a medium, I called upon another Demon God's power.

"Tree of Origin."

Grass roots sprouted from the pattern on Nine of Spades. The thick roots spread out and dug firmly into every corner of the prison.

"Hup!"

Using the handcuffs anchored by the roots, I pulled with all my strength. If I kept applying force like this, I would be able to escape the gravity barrier...

Then, as I strained, I realized I had made one miscalculation.

"Ah! I was weak!"

There was no way I could escape the gravity barrier with my pathetic strength! I should've used the swing plan from before to send my body out instead! What should I do? Change plans now?

"Ngh. This is a little disappointing... Huh?"

As I thought that, the direction of gravity pulling me changed. I had escaped the gravity barrier. I slammed hard into the floor, rubbed my throbbing head, and muttered.

"What? That was manageable."

It was less impressive than I thought. I could escape with my pathetic arm strength? This was more like exercise equipment than a barrier.

...No. That wasn't right. Hmm.

Once I got out of the gravity barrier, escaping wouldn't be difficult. I could cut through the bars with cards and pick the lock somehow. All that remained was getting out of the Security Bureau.

"Gaia Ego."

Most of the floating castle's structures were made of meteorites. They were a little unusual, but meteorites were still rocks. I used earth magic to dig a hole and escape the Security Bureau, then got to my feet not far away.

"Whew. Escape successful."

The floating castle prison had been troublesome, but it wasn't enough to hold me. Feeling pleased with myself, I wiped the dust from my face and considered what to do next.

"Let's see. What I need to do now is..."

There was no need to think about it. What else could I possibly do in a foreign place like the floating castle? I smiled coldly and muttered.

"Lankart. Time to find that son of a bitch."

Footnotes:

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