WeTried Translations

Translator: Hydrogen B

Editor: Hydrogen B

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Chapter 642: Black Magic, White Magic, and Gray Magic - 6

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The Celsius princess riding the ice giant gave a small clap at my answer. It wasn't a difficult answer, and she had expected me to get it right.

"Correct. This child's name is Olaf. A tiny snowman my distant ancestor left behind before dying."

Hearing that, I looked over the ice giant again.

Its lower body was far larger than its upper body. Black pebbles were embedded in its torso like buttons, while branches shaped like fingernails hung from its fingertips. The window where Elcia had appeared was the giant's mouth, and above it, pitch-black obsidian served as round eyes.

It was huge and terrifying, but looking closely, it still retained enough features to be called a snowman.

"It would've been much cuter if it had stayed small. It's just scary because it's so big."

"Oh my. You don't understand Olaf's charm? Well, I suppose that is the limit of commoners' sense of beauty."

That wasn't the issue. It was trying to smash me with its massive arms of ice.

"Enough small talk. The second question."

The ice giant raised its arm again. I flinched as I looked at the shattered ground. It had missed earlier only because Elcia had changed its direction at the last moment.

"The time limit is until its fist hits the ground. If I answer correctly, Olaf will turn its fist aside at that point... Those are the rules, right?"

Boom.

Right after that, the ice giant's fist slammed into the ground far away. A thunderous noise that sent chills down my spine echoed through the ice.

"Correct. It wasn't a question I asked, but I'll count it as correct. Now, shall we move on to the third question?"

...It didn't seem like she planned to stop after one or two questions.

"A relic an arcane adept leaves before death carries a portion of that adept's innate arcane. What do you think this child... Olaf's power is?"

How was I supposed to know that? I had mind-reading, but artifacts were objects. It wasn't like I could read an object's thoughts. At best, I could only read people's thoughts.

Ah, right. I just needed to read a person's thoughts, not an object's. Watching the giant's fist draw closer, I hurriedly shouted.

"Rolling snowballs?"

Boom.

That answer was correct too. The ice giant's fist landed a little closer than before.

"Correct. Was the hint too obvious?"

"Judging by the branches and buttons, calling it a small snowman can't have been a lie. That means this ice giant must have grown larger, right? Like rolling a snowball to make a snowman. The artifact's true power is probably the ability to absorb crystals of the same kind and become a larger crystal."

Celsius Territory was full of warm ice. Even a tiny snowman could absorb the snow and ice around it and become a giant.

That ice giant... The snowman moved by repeatedly breaking apart and reassembling itself, as long as it retained the form of a snowman.

"Not bad. Then the next question."

Another question? I would've played along if it were reasonable, but there sure were a lot of questions.

"Excuse me, may I ask you one thing?"

The ice giant's hand stopped in midair.

"What is it? You've answered well so far, so I'll grant you the right to ask me one question this once."

"No, even if they're questions... You should ask something people might not know for them to be questions. This is just small talk. Is this really the best you can do?"

I did want to provoke her a little, but I meant it too. Elcia kept circling around the issue, leaving out the important parts as though she were testing the waters. If that was the noble way of speaking, there wasn't much I could say about it. Still, my time was precious too.

I wondered how that arrogant young lady would react to my answer.

"Hmm. You're quite confident. I was only being considerate of you."

Elcia laughed off my provocation.

"I thought questions required context, but since you insist, I'll get straight to the point. Now, the final question."

Elcia tapped the window frame with her fingers. The ice giant slowly clasped both hands together. Fragments of ice and snow rose on their own and wrapped around its fists. In an instant, the ice giant's fists grew large enough to rival the ice castle.

"What established rules in this barren, abandoned land forsaken even by the sun, and has shared its grace with ignorant people to this day?"

As the question ended and the giant's fists descended, I recalled looking down upon this land from the floating castle.

Areas cut into perfect squares as though someone had measured them out. The magical families at the center of each one. And the unranked areas along the edges of those square plots, where the rules did not reach.

Then there was the independent but clearly bounded rule of Celsius Territory.

How were these rules maintained? How could rules made by humans cause anomalies across this land?

The answer was right in front of me.

"Kelvin Celsius, the first head of the family."

Elcia's smile faded, and the descending ice fist did not veer at all. It meant I was wrong.

For now.

I deliberately muttered quietly enough that she could barely hear me.

"...Her artifact."

Rumble.

A mass of ice struck the ground beside me, and the enormous impact washed over me.

Mist rose from the shattered ice. Shadows rippled through the thick fog, where I couldn't see even an inch ahead.

The ice giant lowered its arm. Elcia Celsius walked lightly down it as though it were a staircase. With a frown on her face, she asked,

"Unexpected. That is correct."

"Is it so surprising that I got the answer right?"

"The opposite. Why would someone who has reasoned that far question this structure?"

Elcia lightly waved her gloved hand. Using Celsius and Pascal, she created a simple difference in air pressure, naturally dispersing the ice fog.

As the mist cleared, Elcia Celsius appeared before me.

She really did look a lot like the Cyan Tower Master. Yet she gave off an atmosphere completely opposite to her sister's. Her elegant, gentle movements, long, slender hair that seemed woven from threads of crystal, and feminine one-piece dress all made her seem like the Cyan Tower Master's antithesis.

"Would you care to answer what you think my ancestor's innate arcane was?"

There were clues. I answered without much thought.

"This territory's rule: anomalous freezing and boiling points."

A castle was built from ice that would not melt, while sewer pipes circulating through the inside and outside maintained the temperature throughout the land. The cold land froze warmly under rules made by one human, holding warmth within it.

Celsius Territory had developed from the beginning by making use of that anomaly. Naturally, those rules must have been born alongside Celsius Territory itself.

Elcia nodded.

"My ancestor wandered the land before awakening to magic and settling here. Her innate arcane was the power to freely move between states of matter, trapping and releasing heat. Thanks to her sacrifice and efforts, warmth took root in this cold, barren land. Celsius Territory became the most prosperous city even in this wilderness."

Elcia gathered the drifting ice powder and shaped it into a city. A city clustered together like penguins around a towering ice castle. Celsius Territory.

Elcia silently looked down at the city within the snow globe, then lightly touched the ice castle with her finger.

"But if my ancestor were to die, the territory she had carefully cultivated would surely become a land where humans wandered like beasts once more."

The ice castle melted away, and the villages around it were swallowed by a raging blizzard. A city maintained by a great person's magic could only fall when that person died.

"My ancestor, concerned for the future, made a magnificent decision before his death. Even if this body dies, the magic will remain."

"She left behind an artifact?"

The crumbling ice castle rose again. No, it became more splendid and prosperous than before. An artifact didn't rest or sleep. As it continuously poured out power, the city flourished further.

"Innate arcane changes the laws of the world itself, but an artifact only reproduces one of that person's abilities. Using an artifact requires mana... That is why we, the Celsius family, raise mages, protect the family and its artifacts, and maintain this territory's rules."

A genius from the origins of magic and the artifact she left behind. That was why the unique order of magical families and rules came to exist. To survive in the cold, harsh northern lands, an order that had never existed before was created.

...That was everything I had learned so far.

"Do you understand now why the territory cannot accept black magic?"

This was where I would learn more. Elcia criticized me coldly.

"Standard-issue magic? It's not bad. It seems suitable for ignorant fools who can't even use their heads to learn with their bodies. It would be useful in some backward country."

"...People from that backward country wouldn't be pleased to hear that."

Hilde was hiding nearby, looking displeased as she considered smacking the back of your head. Little birds hear what is said by day, and mice hear what is said by night.

"But black magic is an intensely personal power. Its mana is difficult for anyone other than its owner to use. Few black mages become mages who master innate arcane. In a way, black magic itself is innate arcane."

Bodies possessed unique qualities. What was medicine to one person could be poison to another, and even when seeing the same thing, people perceived it differently depending on their experience and knowledge.

That was why a black mage who used their body could not understand anyone else, and no black mage could be understood by anyone else.

A black shadow fell over Elcia's model.

"Black mages cannot contribute to the Celsius artifacts. Their mana would eat away at this territory. If ignorant people don't even make the effort to learn white magic, the territory will eventually be buried beneath cold and suffering, then vanish."

The black shadow eroded the ice castle from the bottom up. The ice castle, which had been maintained by white magic, soon sank into darkness and disappeared.

Having finished her magic, Elcia rebuked my foolishness.

"Do you understand now how foolish your ridiculous ideals were?"

The mages of the Arcane Federation were not simply a selfish group of people in power. If power had been so precious to them, they would never have shared opportunities with ignorant people from the frontier school districts. They would have hidden it and monopolized it instead.

Yet they did not actively try to spread it, either. They maintained a structure where a talented few held greater power.

The reason was the artifacts.

Artifacts were needed to establish rules, white mana was needed to maintain them, and those rules were needed for people to survive.

Hmm. Fine. I knew everything I needed to know now.

I understood the background, so now...

"There's one thing I would like to ask."

I needed to ask how things would change. They couldn't live like this forever.

"Your younger sister. Does the Cyan Tower Master share the same opinion?"

Elcia's expression changed. Unlike when she had looked upon me with pity and questioned me, her face now held only pure displeasure.

"...I'll give you a chance to explain why you're bringing up that child here."

"Artifacts aren't Demon Gods. One day, they'll all wear down and disappear. The end is coming. Are you prepared for that day?"

A Demon God's innate arcane was inscribed upon the world. That was why a Demon God's artifact remained eternally powerful.

But what about ordinary artifacts?

Artifacts were objects too. They held mysterious power, but they had no ability to protect themselves. They could easily be damaged or weather away, losing their function.

That was the point I had raised.

"Hmm... So you're one of them? I judged you to be an idealist, but I was mistaken. It can't be helped. Even someone as rational and reasonable as I am can't understand the thoughts of a madman."

Elcia scoffed and revealed her hostility toward me.

"There's no problem."

Elcia lightly swept her hand. The blizzard that had filled every direction cleared in an instant. She climbed onto the ice giant and spun around.

"Because there is more than one artifact."

The revealed ice castle was surrounded by countless people.

Numerous ice sculptures glared at me. Along with the ice giant that called itself a snowman, there was a bird with gleaming crystal wings and a flame glowing within a transparent lamp.

Artifacts with different powers, and the members of the Celsius family who possessed them, surrounded me.

Footnotes:

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