WeTried Translations

Translator: Hydrogen B

Editor: Hydrogen B

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

Chapter 637: Black Magic, White Magic, and Gray Magic - 1

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Two hotspots had emerged in Celsius territory after the Descent.

One was, naturally, the floating castle that had descended. It was the capital of the Arcane Federation, a miraculous castle drifting through the sky. Inside was practically another world, where gravity anomalies allowed people to walk and stand on walls and ceilings. It was a wonder beyond comparison with Celsius territory, where ice merely froze a little more easily.

Even today, people who yearned for the floating castle lay beneath its shadow with their mouths wide open, waiting for sweet fruit to fall from above.

The other was the academy where a mage said to have come from the floating castle was staying.

He was a great teacher who, in barely more than fifteen days running a small academy on the frontier, had already produced five mages and awakened mana sense in over a hundred people. What he had accomplished in those fifteen days already matched Celsius territory's annual output.

They said rumors could travel a thousand miles without legs. All the floating castle's lottery tickets were already on the move, eager to meet the man who could confirm their winnings. So many people sought him out that nonexistent scalper tickets were being sold.

...There were even quiet rumors that he taught secret magic to hopelessly ignorant people.

There were simply too many people looking for him.

The hope of the ignorant.

The mage who made mages.

The teacher of foolish citizens.

The subject of all those rumors was me.

"Hilde. Let ten people in."

"Yes! The first ten people in line, please come in!"

Hilde went outside and called out loudly. A huge commotion erupted from the line that had been waiting as quietly as mice.

"I was the tenth person! Who's in front of me?!"

"Hey, you! Don't cut in line!"

"The three of us came together. They were just holding our places."

"Who says you can do that? Want the three of you to walk the road to the afterlife together too?"

Competition always got ugly, even when it was something as simple as waiting in line. Hilde shouted at the crowd again.

"Everyone! Stop trying to pull tricks and take out the numbered tickets we handed out earlier! You'll enter in numerical order! Up to number ten!"

Amid the noisy uproar, the students entered the academy with eager expressions. They carried a thread of hope that, if I chose them, they could become mages.

...And even if I did not choose them, they could still learn a form of magic called standard-issue magic.

"Don't push! I'm number one!"

"Who's pushing? There's nobody behind us!"

"Hey! Heyyyy...!"

Then, the students waiting in line were shoved to one side all at once. The tightly packed crowd slid away like goods on a conveyor belt. They flailed to keep from falling, shoved the people beside them, and those people pushed others down in a domino effect.

Chaos broke out. Screams and noise filled the area in front of the academy. People rolled away in a single tangled mass, leaving the street before it empty.

"Excuse me."

A group approached through the cleared street.

At their center was a mage in robes tinged with a soft blue light. Five guards accompanied the mage. Skilled practitioners of internal energy surveyed their surroundings with sharp eyes.

"Move! Get up! My daughter's underneath!"

"Mom! Mom!"

The front of the academy had become a disaster zone because an unprecedented force had swept everyone aside as the mage arrived.

The mage, who had been watching calmly, lightly lowered a hand. The force pressing against the space vanished. With a single gesture, the mage who had "cleared away" all those people swept a gaze over the scene as though looking at garbage.

One person had resisted the magic. An elderly retired mage who now ran a small academy pulled themself up and demanded an answer.

"Hey! What do you think you're doing? There are children here! Why would you use such rough magic?!"

Anyone could see that the mage had done it. Common sense said no one else had either the ability or the reason to use magic.

Yet the mage shamelessly asked back.

"Magic? What magic?"

"That...!"

The elderly mage could not answer.

They did not know what kind of magic it had been. They had once been a mage, but they had not reached a high level even then. The magic performed by an active Elect was too advanced for them.

'Mana has seeped into the space. Wind-type? But there wasn't any wind...'

The elderly mage fell silent, and the mage looked down on them.

"If you're a mage too, prove it. Prove what magic I used. If you insult my honor without even figuring that out, I'll report you."

The Arcane Federation had a rule.

The person claiming harm had to prove the facts.

That was only natural. Since one could not prove that something did not exist, the person claiming that something had happened ought to prove the damage.

But what if it was magic?

What if someone had suffered an incomprehensible phenomenon, a force they could not even perceive without mana sense?

The Arcane Federation upheld the same rule. Even if it was magic, even if only a mage could prove it, the Arcane Federation still demanded proof from the victim.

As though taking revenge for the witch hunts of ages past.

Knowledge was power, and magic was authority.

That had become the ideology of the Arcane Federation.

Which was good news for me.

"You used wind-type and crystal-type magic at the same time. You lightly crystallized the atmosphere, making the space gelatinous. Then you moved it with Pascal, so everyone was pushed aside at once."

If the mage had truly wanted to clear them away, creating a strong wind or shoving them with ice would have sufficed. Instead, the mage had deliberately chosen the more difficult method, both to show off and to give those beneath them no grounds to argue.

It was a pointless effort against someone who could read minds. I read the mage's thoughts and gave the perfect answer. The elder gasped as though they finally understood, while the mage's mouth twisted in displeasure.

'A mage kicked out of the floating castle and preparing for the Dragon Gate, they said. And he recognized atmospheric crystallization right away? He has some potential.'

That thought passed quickly. The mage addressed me with relative courtesy.

"My introduction is late. I am Temperus Kelvin, a magic scholar employed by the Celsius family. I heard the rumors and came to meet you."

"Did you take a numbered ticket?"

"...What?"

I asked back with an indifferent expression.

"I asked whether you took a numbered ticket. Everyone here came to see me."

Only then did Temperus notice the numbered tickets in the hands of the people lying on the ground. Temperus easily guessed their purpose, and the expression hardened further.

"Ha ha... What a joke. Do I look like one of those people to you?"

"Well, the order isn't always important. If it's a special case, I can see someone first regardless of their ticket number."

"Of course."

Huh? I was not saying you were special. I corrected the misunderstanding.

"I hope your business is special enough to interrupt my work. Otherwise, you're just wasting my time."

"...!"

"Hilde, pack my things. We're going on a business trip today."

After sending Hilde inside, I casually put on my coat and stepped outside. Ignoring Temperus glaring at me, I called out to the people sprawled on the ground.

"Today's lesson is canceled. Study on your own while I'm away. I don't know when I'll return, but even if I do, I can only teach magic to those who are prepared."

"Ugh... We waited for days...."

"That person performed the magic of taking first place without even drawing a numbered ticket. The power to disregard order, that is true magic. Work hard so you can become mages like that. That's all."

Temperus's face turned red and blotchy as I spoke. Why? Did Temperus think my speech was mocking them? It was not. I was simply stating the facts.

By the time I finished, Hilde came out with my things. I took them and jerked my chin at Temperus, telling them to lead the way.

"This isn't a place for bringing a housekeeper."

"Then are you going to attend to my bath?"

"...How vulgar. Do as you please."

'If it weren't for Miss Elisha's words, I'd execute this bastard right here. Why does she even want someone like this?'

Temperus bit down on a lip and sharply turned around. Temperus's guards spread out, surrounding Hilde and me. It was hard to tell whether they were protecting us or escorting us as prisoners.

Under heavy guard, I headed for the center of Celsius territory.

The Celsius family's main estate was also called the Ice Castle. The reason was simple. It was the shortest and clearest description.

The Celsius estate looked like an ice castle from a fairy tale brought to life. Its walls and pillars were transparent, with a faint blue hue. Clear crystals scattered sunlight like a kaleidoscope, illuminating the world in place of the sky hidden by the floating castle.

The massive walls and great gate were ice as well. They were not brickwork but single, solid masses of ice frozen into shape from the start. Though it was an enormous inner fortress, there was not a single tiny scratch or blemish on its surface. The unrealistically huge ice castle was clear and transparent, as though it had been taken straight from imagination.

As I walked, I casually placed a hand against the ice wall.

It was warm.

Warm for ice, anyway. It was warm enough that I would have believed it had been frozen from hot water.

Warm ice. Two words that did not suit each other at all existed together as a perfectly valid concept.

"Do you know the rules of Celsius territory?"

Temperus, who had been stealing glances at me, suddenly asked a question. Without looking at them, I answered.

"Anomalous freezing and boiling points, right?"

"Then you must know the principle contained in the Ice Castle's ice as well."

'Let's see whether you know this, you bastard. Celsius territory is the wealthiest and most outstanding territory in the Arcane Federation. It isn't somewhere the likes of you can dismiss!'

Already trying to establish dominance? Hmm. Too bad for you. Structurally speaking, you could not ask me a question I did not know.

I read Temperus's mind, considered it calmly, and chose the most elegant words I could.

"Warm ice doesn't melt. There's no warmth for it to draw from me."

"...That is a poetic answer, not one fitting for a mage."

Was that sarcasm? Temperus's literary education was lacking. I explained more clearly.

"Celsius territory's rule is anomalous freezing and boiling points. In other words, ice forms its crystal structure through mana rather than cold. That rule has been strongly applied to the walls, creating ice close to room temperature. That must be thanks to the Celsius family's unique innate arcane... and that relic, correct?"

'A relic? How does some drifter, not even from the Celsius family, know that much...?!'

Temperus looked flustered, apparently not expecting me to recognize even the relic. Enjoying that reaction, I added lightly.

"You're wondering how I knew it was a relic? The answer comes from thinking about it for a moment. Even with an anomalous freezing point, it cannot be this high. Otherwise, even drinking water would disappear, and everyone would die of thirst. The water in my canteen has not frozen yet, either. That means the magic only works on ice structures. There is no way this is all the result of white magic, and there is even less chance that a mage is constantly exercising their innate arcane. That leads to the conclusion that it is innate arcane as a phenomenon without will, in other words, a relic."

A relic could cause this mysterious phenomenon without being supplied with mana. Celsius territory probably had quite a few relics of that type.

Perhaps because I had said too much, Temperus cleared their throat and cut me off.

"Ahem. You needn't explain it in such detail."

"That's the wrong response."

"What?"

"Your answer was wrong. I explained it kindly because it seemed you didn't understand. You should thank me."

Temperus's face turned red at my open disregard.

Temperus was an Elect. As the Celsius family's problem-solver, Temperus was skilled enough to enter the floating castle whenever they wanted.

Temperus had simply chosen to live grandly in Celsius territory rather than scrape by in the floating castle. They were used to looking down on others, never to being looked down on themselves.

And now I, someone who had rolled in from who knew where, was openly dismissing them. It was an extremely humiliating situation for Temperus.

But what could they do?

With mind-reading, I held a slight advantage whenever I competed with anyone in knowledge. I knew what they knew, while they did not know what I knew.

In other words, I stood one rank above anyone in the Arcane Federation.

That made me the greatest, did it not? In the Arcane Federation, was that not the truth?

Sick of my consistent arrogance, Temperus glared at me and spoke.

"...That is enough. I understand that you are exceptional. At first, I had my doubts, but after meeting you and speaking with you directly, I can see it clearly."

"I understand. People usually don't know until they see something for themselves."

"I don't know whether you have the right to be so arrogant, but I understand why the young lady thought so highly of your abilities."

Temperus continued speaking while leading me deeper into the Ice Castle. I stepped forward boldly. The door of ice slid open without a sound.

"But this land belongs to the Celsius family."

The gates of the Ice Castle closed behind me, cutting off my escape route. As if they had been waiting for that moment, Temperus snapped their fingers. The five guards turned and surrounded me. The sharp air around them made it clear that guarding us was no longer their purpose.

Hilde clutched the bag and trembled, pretending to be frightened.

"Uh? Teacher, what's going on? I thought we were going on a business trip?"

"I suppose this is their business. Threatening me?"

In the tense silence, where someone might strike at any moment, Temperus slammed a staff against the ground. One side of the Ice Castle melted away, revealing a facility hidden within.

It was a prison with icicles hanging down like iron bars. It had no special equipment or furnishings, built solely for confinement. People were trapped behind those bars, frozen in place.

They were not dead yet. That ice was magic too. It would be a little cold, but less unpleasant than being submerged in water. They were merely trapped within shells of ice surrounding their bodies.

I recognized several of them.

"The Celsius family has ordered me, Hughes. Teacher of foolish citizens."

Richard and his friend, both of whom I had met in the outer district, along with the underachieving students who had secretly come to the academy at night.

Every one of them had learned standard-issue magic from me.

"Recruit you for spreading black magic through the territory, or else... execute you."

Presenting irrefutable evidence, Temperus aimed the staff at me.

Footnotes:

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