WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Coughing Baby

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Chapter 229

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The closer we got to Icewall City, the stronger the city’s uniquely vicious magical power became. The moment we entered the city, it no longer merely mixed with the air. It bore down hard on my entire body as though trying to crush me.

I slowly looked around.

There were quite a few people with fierce-looking faces walking about. People worn down by fatigue, people with pale complexions, and even people sprawled on the street, burning magic herbs.

Most of them had half given up hope in life amid the murky magical power. It was a familiar sight to me. You could easily see scenes like this if you wandered through the slums outside the university.

“Hmm. It looked beautiful from the outside, but it’s rotten within. The atmosphere feels quite different from other cities.”

Mira linked arms with me as she looked around. I quietly nodded.

It seemed Icewall City’s bad reputation was not unfounded.

I wrapped myself in magical power to more thoroughly block out the city’s unique magical power, then clicked my tongue. I thought I had blocked it, yet it was already trying to seep into me this quickly.

Even for the lower floors, the contamination was far too severe. In these conditions, it would be hard enough to protect yourself, let alone train.

“It should get a little better once we go up.”

I glanced upward. Beyond the transparent ice, I could see people coming and going through the streets. That was Icewall City’s middle-floor district. Unlike this slum-like lower floor, it looked somewhat more livable.

Like any other city, Icewall City was divided into separate floors. Still, perhaps because it had been made by carving ice, it did not have nearly as many floors as other cities.

There were only three floors in total. And we were currently on the lowest one, the lower-floor district.

I quickened my pace.

The magical power was unpleasant, so I needed to leave this place first. There was not much to see on the lower floors anyway.

As we walked, something caught my eye.

An old man leaning against a wall and burning magic herbs.

“Is something wrong? He doesn’t seem to have anything particularly unusual about him.”

Mira followed my gaze toward the old man and tilted her head. I gave a small shake of mine. As she said, there was nothing special about him.

Even so, he stayed in my thoughts for one reason only.

The marks of time carved into his face.

All the mages I had seen while attending the university retained the appearance of their prime. Even mages from the lower floors never looked beyond young adulthood.

Of course, there was Mauro. But he was an exceptional case. If he had not suffered an accident severe enough to tear apart his body, he would still have possessed tremendous magical power.

In that sense, this was the first time I had seen a genuine old person at the university.

I lightly scanned the magical power I could feel from him.

All I sensed was faint magical power that had barely surpassed the Young Tree realm. He was probably stuck around the second floor or third floor. Yet he had grown that old.

Judging by his appearance, he had likely entered the university hundreds of years ago. Even so, that old man had not progressed through the basic curriculum, much less reached the fourth floor.

Time had caught up with him faster than he could build up his realm.

At this rate, he would clearly grow old and die before graduating from the university.

Perhaps the old man knew that as well. There was not a trace of hope in the eyes of the man smoking magic herbs. He had given up entirely and chosen to remain here.

I began walking again, lightly shaking my head as we headed for the middle floors.

Icewall City was extraordinarily beautiful on the surface. That was why so many people came to visit it.

But Icewall City had many other nicknames as well. Some called it a prison for debtors, others called it the Erosion District, and still others called it the Wilderness City.

The most famous of those names, however, was the derogatory one: the City of Dropouts.

It meant that dropouts like the old man I had just seen gathered here.

There were many reasons for that nickname, but the most important was undoubtedly the low cost of living.

Like the magical power currently seeping into my surroundings, Icewall City offered far worse conditions than other cities. The upper floors might be comfortable enough, but the lower floors were no different from hell.

Naturally, the magical-power cost of ruling the city was low as well. Compared to other cities, they must have had plenty of room to spare.

So the costs paid by those living in the city were also low. While Stalactite City took roughly half of one’s income, this place collected only around a tenth.

Naturally, prices fell, and those who could not endure life in other cities gathered here.

They could not leave the university either. Hadn’t I experienced it myself? What happened when I left the university? My tree had nearly collapsed because it could not withstand the thin magical power.

There was no way mages who had not even completed the basic curriculum could leave the university. No matter how much this place resembled hell, outside the university was an even more hopeless place.

So mages who gave up on moving forward and simply lived until they died, like mayflies, came to live on the lower floors.

Perhaps the old man had caught my attention because I saw myself in him.

The version of me who had never met Professor Irian.

Of course, that was only a possibility.

Feeling grateful to Professor Irian once more, I stopped before the stairs leading to the middle floors. A guard stepped in front of me. I searched through my clothes and showed my pass.

The guard accepted it, checked it, and opened the way.

As I slowly climbed the stairs toward the middle floors, I felt that I could breathe a little easier.

It seemed that they had put considerable effort into the middle floors, since the murky magical power did not seep in here. Compared to Stalactite City, the purity of magical power was roughly equivalent to the fourth floor.

As that magical power suggested, the atmosphere on the streets was much lighter than on the lower floors. I could see quite a few people walking about who looked well-off.

[Since I know where the Trading Company is, I’ll guide you.]

Isabella moved ahead with a gentle smile. I took out my mirror bug and checked the time. We were a little early for the appointment, but we were still within the scheduled time. Everyone had probably gathered already.

I followed Isabella and surveyed our surroundings.

Then I frowned slightly.

Something irritating had caught my attention.

“As expected, people have already started copying us.”

I glanced at someone passing beside us and sighed. A clearly human skull sat beside them. Judging by the magical power inhabiting it, which did not belong to that person, it was clearly something borrowed from somewhere.

As we continued down the street, I saw others with several such skulls at their sides.

Eventually, we came upon a large building.

Isabella stopped in front of it and gestured to me. I looked up and saw an ice sign affixed to the transparent building.

Arcana General Trading Company.

It was clearly one of the Trading Company’s buildings.

I glanced around. Many buildings filled the area around us. Seeing so many impressive-looking structures, this was clearly the center of the city.

I gave a small nod and headed inside.

At the same time, a woman waiting at the entrance stepped before me and bowed.

Dressed in bright, elegant clothes, she suited the neat interior of the ice-built Trading Company perfectly. Soon, she raised her head, turned around, and walked farther inside.

I smiled with satisfaction as I watched her back.

I could feel a connection from her to myself.

I had heard they brought several prototypes. Had they already put them in the store?

Judging by how flawlessly she had been made, to the point that it was difficult to notice she was a puppet, they seemed to have invested a great deal of magic into her.

I followed the puppet I had made farther into the Trading Company.

After walking for some time, the woman puppet stopped before a firmly closed door. The room beyond was concealed with magic, so I could not tell who was inside.

Considering the city’s magical power continually eroded its surroundings, maintaining a magic circle like that would naturally cost money. Concealing the room despite that meant they were discussing something important.

The puppet lightly sent magical power toward the door.

A response soon came from within. Someone opened the door and stepped outside.

It was a man with a somewhat cold impression. I gave him a slight bow.

“Judging by the atmosphere, it seems those from Mookgeumgo have already arrived. We should have come sooner as well, so I can only apologize for arriving this late.”

I looked at the name tag attached to the man’s chest.

Customer Response Department, First-grade Assistant Manager, Orgot.

Hmm. Had he been promoted another rank?

I sent him a small congratulatory look.

After taking charge of the Arcana Puppet Workshop in Jegang’s place, he seemed to have built up quite a few accomplishments as well. Perhaps Orgot noticed me looking at his name tag, because he lightly shook his head.

“Not at all, Mr. Evron. They came early because of something you requested before. It has not been long since we began talking, so let us go inside together.”

Orgot extended a hand and politely indicated the room. I straightened my clothes slightly and entered.

If the Trading Company got involved, selling puppets in this city would surely proceed smoothly. Just as before, they would rapidly expand their territory through capital.

That was why I chose to work alongside the People’s Council.

During my competition with them, I had clearly felt the power of capital. There was no need for me to struggle alone and pound the streets myself.

They would establish the territory first, and I would follow behind them.

If we made up for each other’s weaknesses through this process of coexistence, we could devour this entire city.

Just as we had done in Stalactite City.

Of course, there were problems as well.

Turning mages’ inconveniences into products was the result of effectively exploiting a gap in the points system. And such a field naturally attracted competitors.

Hadn’t the People’s Council done the same?

The same thing would clearly happen here as well.

No, it already had.

I lightly clicked my tongue as I recalled the skulls I had just seen. They were clearly products made in imitation of my puppets. Of course, they were not puppets. Necromancers probably controlled them.

In other cities too, items that copied the structure of my business would inevitably appear. My puppets were rather unique, making them difficult to imitate perfectly, but someone could still create something with a similar structure.

Naturally, those who copied me were far behind me in both cost and magic. That was only expected. My creations were the results of years of work. Even when the Trading Company had used its capital to make puppets, had I not won in the end?

Still, I could not rely only on past victories.

There were as many kinds of magic as there were mages. Someone with strange magic like mine might suddenly appear.

If we merely stagnated, a new competitor could emerge at any time.

That was why we moved so quickly.

We intended to swallow as much as possible before someone appeared who could threaten us.

And to do that, we needed to negotiate with the city’s leadership.

I glanced around the room. There were several people seated inside.

They were all from Mookgeumgo.

I gave them a slight bow, then walked toward the woman sitting on a sofa with her back to me. Judging by the others, she seemed to be the center of this group.

The Trading Company was undoubtedly an enormous organization. They had swallowed even Stalactite City, the university’s largest city, so no one questioned their capabilities.

But no matter how outstanding they were, they did not have the power to swallow other cities as well. Organizations comparable to them already held those cities tightly in their grasp.

And Mookgeumgo, the people before me, was one such organization.

This was a meeting to negotiate with them alongside the Trading Company. We had gathered because we needed to discuss the process of coordinating our territories.

Orgot bowed to the woman, led me to my seat, and introduced me to her.

“This is Mr. Evron, the puppeteer working with our Trading Company. All the high-grade puppets we provide from now on will be made by Mr. Evron. And this is…”

Orgot tried to introduce the woman to me as well, but his words were cut off halfway.

The woman had waved at me.

“Oh my, Evron. It has been a while.”

I blinked quietly at the woman’s warm smile, then slowly bowed.

“It has been a while, Lady Ailey.”

She was Ailey, whom I had met during the entrance exam.

Her long black hair hung loose, and she still reeked of blood. She looked exactly as she had before.

Ailey rested her chin on both hands and looked me over from head to toe. Her eyes held deep interest.

“Hmm. You’ve changed a lot. Before, it seemed like you would die if I poked you, but now you look like you might bounce back a little.”

Ailey lightly smacked her lips.

Her attitude carried even a faint hint of killing intent, so I could not help feeling slightly tense inside. On the outside, however, I showed nothing and held a gentle smile.

“You have changed a great deal as well, Lady Ailey.”

I examined the traces of magical power flowing through Ailey’s body.

They ran much deeper and stronger than mine.

I had seen that form of magical power several times before. From Hongryeong and Cassian.

Like them, Ailey was clearly standing at the threshold of the fourth floor.

Perhaps noticing my gaze, Ailey laughed as though amused and looked toward Orgot.

“You all can chatter among yourselves about business. I’m going to catch up with this cute puppeteer friend after so long.”

Ailey lightly gestured with her chin toward those standing behind her. One of them stepped forward and looked at Orgot. That person was clearly in charge of this matter on Mookgeumgo’s side.

I gave Orgot a slight nod. He rose from his seat and headed toward another set of seats placed at one side of the room. It seemed they planned to talk there.

[Master, I’ll join them over there as well.]

Isabella wrote in the air before going over to them.

Mira sat beside me and let out a quiet laugh. Ailey examined the two of them and narrowed her eyes.

“Hmm. You travel with some interesting things. Especially the one next to you. She reeks of blood.”

“Oh my, I was thinking the same thing. What a scent. You seem to have killed quite a lot of mages.”

Mira gave her a smiling look.

Ailey smiled with her eyes as well.

Somehow, the two of them seemed to share a very similar air.

I knew exactly why.

Both were experts at killing living things.

I glanced at Ailey.

Ailey was someone who hunted mages outside the university. Of course, that had only been my guess. But judging by what Mira had said, my guess seemed to be true.

I carefully set that thought aside and spoke.

“I never dreamed that you would be here, Lady Ailey.”

The last time I saw Ailey had been at the entrance ceremony. After that, I had lived without thinking of her.

She belonged to a great family, and she was a killer.

There was no reason for me to seek her out first.

Yet Ailey had appeared at a meeting to negotiate with someone from Mookgeumgo. It was difficult not to be surprised.

“I originally had no intention of coming to such a boring meeting, but I heard that you would be here, Evron. Hehe. I came because I wanted to talk with an old classmate after so long.”

Ailey smiled brightly and leaned back against the sofa.

Then she continued slowly.

“Besides, I heard something interesting. Hongryeong, that young master, caused some trouble. And I heard you were involved too.”

She lowered her voice and added one more thing.

“You made a contract, didn’t you?”

I could only swallow quietly.

The contract I had made with Hongryeong was known only to him and me. I had never expected Ailey to bring it up.

Ailey narrowed her eyes and looked at me.

Her gaze was filled with amusement.

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