WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Coughing Baby

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Chapter 219: 219

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I silently looked down at the body before me. The first thing that caught my eye was the finely crafted musculature that made up the puppet’s body.

This muscular body, resembling that of a swordsman, was impressive enough to inspire admiration at a glance. I gave a small nod. I had made it myself, but it truly was a satisfying body.

This was the puppet that had gone to Ivrio. Had they named it Chad? Since they had even given it a name, Ivrio clearly liked the puppet as well.

Then, for their sake, I needed to perfect it even further. I took my carving knife from my pocket. Intense magical power unique to Professor Irian flowed from the carving knife she had given me.

I pressed it against the puppet’s body and cut down in a single stroke. The puppet’s body split neatly in half beneath the magical power dwelling within the knife.

I smiled as I looked at the exposed interior. The circuits inside caught my attention. Intricately woven together, they held clear magical power as they maintained the puppet’s body.

Even after being split in half, they had not been disturbed in the slightest. The knife had divided the body so delicately that even the magical power had not noticed. I always thought this, but its performance was truly incredible.

I smacked my lips lightly. This knife was only one of Professor’s scales. Even a single scale held this kind of power, so I could not imagine what sort of item could be made if I managed to weave together more of them.

If I stayed near Professor long enough, perhaps I could obtain a few more scales someday. Well, I would first have to handle this matter properly. I glanced above my head.

I could not sense anything there. Still, Professor Irian was undoubtedly watching me from somewhere around there. Professor enjoyed watching others suffer.

I clicked my tongue again. Even my current struggle was probably entertainment to her. If I got beaten by them and returned to the tower, she would surely pull out my soul while asking whether I could not even solve something this trivial.

She had done the same when my mirror bug was taken apart. So I needed to do everything I could to make sure that did not happen this time. I slowly examined the puppet’s circuits.

Several noticeable flows of magical power came into view. They flowed along the circuits and into the various magic circles inscribed there.

They were all perfect spells I had carved. Useful support magic that allowed the puppet to serve its customer. I calmly inspected those magic circles and nodded. As expected, there was still nothing wrong with them.

I had carefully adjusted these spells over several years. Since I had standardized them enough to place them in any puppet, they were stable enough that they would not break down after only brief use.

Yes, perfect stability. That was what I had aimed for when carving these spells. The more stable a spell was, the lower the cost of maintaining it.

From the perspective of profitability, it would be difficult to find better spells to install in a product. Two years after opening my shop, puppets based on these magic circles had earned me many points.

But I no longer needed spells like these. I cut through the magic circles with my carving knife. They naturally fell away and scattered through the air.

Jegang had stolen the magic from my puppets. Then he had installed it in their own puppets. He had swallowed up the results I had gained after years of thought.

That was why the performance of the magic their puppets displayed was not much different from mine. It was only natural, since they had inscribed the same spells.

Honestly, I had expected them to steal the magic. Had I not extracted magic from other people’s puppets myself?

Knowledge that could not be protected would eventually spread. That was why I had not been overly attached to the magic itself. Still, I had not expected them to make puppets so similar to mine.

I clicked my tongue as I recalled their puppets. They had ground people up to make puppets. It was an extremely efficient method. That was probably why they had been so confident of victory and blocked my path.

But they were seriously mistaken about one thing. These spells were the result of sacrificing many things for stability.

I looked at the circuits. The magical power that had lingered where the magic circles had vanished flowed back into them. With more flows of magical power running through them, the circuits began to give off a vivid light.

Feeling those flows of magical power, I began carving a new magic circle. After connecting the completed magic circle to the circuit, I observed the flow of magical power.

The magical power began creating a new flow through the magic circle. A rough and unstable flow. I nodded as I felt it. The magic circle I had just carved contained the same spell as before.

There was only one difference. The magic circle’s orientation differed from the previous one. If the old magic circle had pursued perfection, the one I had drawn now was more raw.

Compared to the old magic circle, this one was incomplete, unstable, and even carried some risk of collapse if handled incorrectly. From the standpoint of efficiency, there was no reason at all to carve magic like this.

But because it was this kind of magic, there were parts the puppet could fill in.

I closed my eyes and focused on the tree within my chest. I could feel my consciousness approaching the domain of the shadow tree beneath it.

In the shadow tree’s domain, shining stars gave off clear light as if they were adorning the night sky. I could feel the shadows that made up the domain, countless pieces of information, flowing through those stars.

The puppets I had made were learning many things in that domain. About magic, the world, and life. Their learning continued without end.

Through that process, each of them had developed an individuality. Some dreamed of taking the form of a swordsman like this puppet. Some carried a mage’s magical power. Others wanted to possess a form like a treasure.

To bring out those individualities even further, I connected my puppets to their customers. The puppets learned about the people who stayed beside them. Through that learning, an exchange formed between puppet and customer.

I sent my will toward one of those actively moving stars. It was the star containing the ego dwelling in this puppet. I felt it release a small light and connect to me.

I explained the magic circle to the puppet. Then I told it that how it filled that circle from now on was up to it. I could feel its satisfaction.

I slowly opened my eyes and looked at the magic circle. Perhaps it was already moving, because the once-empty magic circle was creating a strange flow. It had begun shaping the magic circle on its own. I smiled faintly at the sight.

Every mage knew the three elements that made up magic. Magical power, knowledge, and will. Without magical power, knowledge alone could not produce magic. Without knowledge, magical power alone could not draw a magic circle.

And even with magical power and knowledge, magic would remain faint without sufficient will. Then who used the magic circles inscribed into a puppet? Naturally, the puppet itself, the owner of the magical power.

That was why puppeteers made puppets with egos. Without will, magic could not come into being. Had they not torn apart human souls to create dim egos as well?

In that respect, the old spells were forms where the puppet’s ego was not particularly important. Stability, in other words, also meant limiting output. They had been designed to produce the same result regardless of who used them.

That was why the magic my puppets used and the magic their puppets used did not differ greatly. But these magic circles I was now creating were filled with empty space.

I picked up my carving knife and quickly cut away the other magic circles as well. Then I replaced those empty spots with blank magic circles. The puppet began filling those magic circles little by little too.

In this way, the magic circles were being remade by the puppet itself. They would become magic solely for Ivrio, the person connected to it.

Through its exchanges with its customer, the puppet would analyze their patterns, modify and improve this magic, and rearrange it until it found the most optimal form.

And the more closely it connected with its customer, the more the puppet’s will would fill the magic. Through that process, the magic would surely become more special. It would become magic meant for only one customer.

Tch. I had not wanted to go this far. I clicked my tongue as I thought about the points that would disappear. There was only one reason I had not attempted this from the moment I first began selling puppets. Points.

I glanced down at the magic circles. The rough flow of magical power they created was gradually damaging the puppet’s body. Naturally, I would need to make the puppet’s body stronger. I would have to adjust the circuits as well.

After all that work, the cost price would probably rise by around five hundred points. My monthly net profit from Ivrio was around five points, so they would need to keep the puppet for nearly ten years just for me to avoid a loss.

If I had started doing this from the beginning, I would not have been able to open a shop, much less run a business. I lightly shook my head at the thought.

The only reason this was possible now was because of the trading company. They had taken away everyone who had been making me unprofitable by every measure of efficiency. On top of that, they had reduced my overall numbers by luring away my people.

Only now had things reached a scale where my customers could make up for those losses, even if I accepted a deficit. I had finally found a way to solve the cost problem.

After carefully refining Ivrio’s puppet, I completely improved its body. I sealed the body that had been split in half and lightly patted it.

The puppet immediately rose to its feet and left. It was probably going back to Ivrio.

I had heard that they were holding an information exchange gathering among wandering mages today. The others would surely be surprised when they saw that puppet. It was only natural. The level of magic it could use had changed.

If the previous puppet was the first generation, this puppet could be called the second generation. It did not merely create an emotional exchange. That exchange even changed its magic.

I narrowed my eyes and looked out the window toward the Arcana Puppet Workshop. If Jegang had accepted my offer of cooperation, I would not have done this. I was accepting losses too.

But Jegang had refused my proposal to work together. Instead, he had tried to attack me. So now I had no choice but to eliminate him. This was the way to do it.

There was one clear way in which I fell short of their trading company. I did not have enough capital. Because of that, their capital had allowed them to take many things from me. This time, they had even targeted my people.

Then I needed to keep digging into their weakness. Their puppets.

Their method of creating puppet egos was clearly groundbreaking. Even I, who had conceived of puppet egos, had never imagined that particular method. When I first saw it, I had been deeply impressed.

But it had a side effect. Their copied egos could not take on a distinct form like the egos my puppets possessed. How could something that was merely copied hold will?

They might use capital to imitate me. But they could not imitate my puppets. Their puppets were nothing more than things made by stealing mine.

They had been able to dominate the market because their puppets and mine had the same functions. They had poached my people because they believed that, if their puppets had the same functions, they would have ample means to respond.

Their future plans were probably based on that as well. But I had no intention of fighting on their ground.

If they used capital as a weapon, then all I had to do was develop puppets at a speed they could not follow. I would endlessly create new deficiencies.

Customers stayed with them because they were sufficiently satisfied with the puppets they handled. But what would happen if I kept innovating until they were dazzled by what they saw?

If puppets continued advancing like that, the satisfaction they currently considered perfect would become an inconvenient past. I would send those who could not keep up into the past, while I moved toward the future.

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