WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Coughing Baby
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
Chapter 242: 242
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Five years had passed since the girl in the room beside hers died.
During that time, she learned many things. That people died when struck by lightning. That people died when trees were planted in their bodies. All of it was taught to her by the old woman.
She nudged the old woman’s limp body with her foot. The lifeless body rolled across the floor like a rotten log.
She really was dead.
She had no choice but to think. What should she do now? First, she needed to dispose of the body.
She flicked her finger. Magical power blooming from her fingertip became lightning and wrapped around the old woman’s corpse. This was magic she had learned by watching the old woman.
The old woman had always disposed of dead children this way. So she did as she had learned. The old woman slowly turned to ash and scattered within her magic.
A small glass bead remained where the old woman had vanished.
She stared down at it and saw a small black cloud churning inside.
The black cloud, as though formed from gathered ashes, contained flashing lightning magical power. It was the core of the staff the old woman had wanted to create.
It was quiet now, but if connected to a body capable of holding it, it might function as a fine magic tool. Completing it must have been the old woman’s dream.
But the old woman had died at her hands before she could achieve it.
Five years ago, she could never have imagined such a thing.
She placed a hand over her chest. Beyond it, she could feel a trace of magical power. It was flowing from a small seed embedded in her foundation.
She had first become aware of it two years after the girl’s death.
Even after the girl died, she continued the breathing method the girl had taught her, trying to endure the lightning. At some point, she noticed that continuing the breathing made being struck by lightning a little easier.
Eventually, getting struck by lightning even made her hunger disappear.
The old woman must have noticed as well. She examined her body and soon found the small seed embedded in her chest.
It was the core of lightning that had imitated the old woman’s magical power.
The old woman saw it and shouted in excitement. She said that she was exceptionally suited to accepting lightning. That she possessed talent on an entirely different level from a wanderer like herself.
That was how the old woman taught her about mages. How to accumulate magical power, and how to raise a seed.
Of course, the old woman had not kept her alive to make her a disciple.
The old woman had kept her alive until the end because she intended to use her as the body of a staff.
If she made a staff from a mage awakened by her own magical power, she might be able to raise her stagnant realm. Dreaming of that, the old woman cultivated her.
By frying her with lightning, as always.
Throughout that process, the old woman did not teach her a single thing about magic. Even she thought that was only natural. Why teach magic to someone who would soon die?
Moreover, the old woman said that she possessed greater talent than any mage she had seen in her life.
Naturally, the old woman was wary of her.
She would die if things continued this way.
So she stole magic and learned it.
As she received the old woman’s lightning directly with her body, she felt the flow of magical power. She learned how to move it.
It was surprisingly simple.
As the old woman had said, she had talent.
That was how she came to kill the old woman today.
It happened in an instant. When the old woman let her guard down, she gathered all her magical power and pierced the crown of the old woman’s head.
The old woman had said she had lived for three hundred years.
It had not been worth even her five years.
That was probably the difference in talent.
Lost in thought, she stepped on the glass bead lying on the floor and crushed it. The black cloud churning within slowly scattered.
She had no need for it anyway.
The old woman could not control magical power and had needed to borrow the strength of magic tools. She, however, could control magical power well enough without such things.
She sat on the floor and considered what came next.
Until now, her dream had been to survive the old woman.
And she had achieved it.
Now she needed a new dream. People were creatures driven by dreams.
After much thought, she chose her next dream.
She would become a noble.
She remembered the girl who had named herself Isabella.
The girl had said that nobles always looked upward. Things below them held no value.
To someone who had only struggled to survive, that sounded incredibly wonderful.
So she wanted to become a noble too.
And naturally, she was confident she could.
Now it was time to decide on the name she would live under. The old woman had said that a name was a vessel that held a person, so it had to be chosen carefully.
Yet she did not hesitate before speaking her name.
She already had a name waiting for her.
It was the name the girl had left in her care along with her dream.
“Isabella.”
When she whispered it, she felt the magical power flowing through her chest stir slightly.
It seemed this seed liked the name too.
Isabella stood up.
It was time to dream a new dream.
Afterward, Isabella wandered the world and did her utmost to achieve her dream.
At last, she reached her goal.
She was accepted into the university, the cradle of mages.
It happened in the year she turned twenty.
Of course, being accepted into the university did not mean Isabella’s dream had been fulfilled. Her dream had grown far larger than it had been when she first left the old woman’s workshop.
As she wandered the world, she came to understand clearly just how exceptional she was.
She could steal in an hour what other wandering mages had spent years researching. Her magical power accumulated several times faster than theirs.
As the old woman had said, she had extraordinary talent as a mage.
So she dreamed of becoming the greatest mage, an archmage.
She believed her talent made it possible.
Entering the university was the first step toward that dream.
And at the university, her talent shone just as brightly. Even compared to members of great families, she did not fall short.
That was why Isabella was full of confidence.
She believed that whatever happened, she could solve it on her own.
That was also why she accepted Mookgeumgo’s offer.
She met a Mookgeumgo member at the advancement evaluation hall leading to the second floor. The man with narrow eyes introduced himself as Domitian, an executive of Mookgeumgo.
Domitian praised her talent and said he wanted to bring Isabella into Mookgeumgo. He said that she would surely be useful to the organization.
Isabella could not help being tempted by his words.
Mookgeumgo was one of the organizations that ruled the university. If she entered a place like that, the path ahead of her would surely be smooth.
Moreover, Domitian gave her only one condition.
She simply needed to prepare an entrance fee of around one hundred thousand points within a month. That was Mookgeumgo’s admission requirement.
He said that if she lacked points, he was willing to lend them to her. If repaying them proved difficult, she only needed to grant a few of his requests.
To Isabella, it sounded like a plausible offer.
She had already researched many organizations. To display her talent, she needed a stage worthy of it.
Mookgeumgo was one of the organizations she had investigated.
So Isabella had faith in herself.
She would surely rise to a high position even in Mookgeumgo. Then she would use the organization’s power to reach an even higher realm.
It was not long before Isabella, who had stared only above her own head, realized that something was wrong.
-
“Are you deliberately getting in my way?”
Isabella slammed her hand down on the table.
The table could not withstand the magical power behind her blow and collapsed like ice.
Yet Domitian, who faced her as she vented her rage, merely tilted his head with a shameless look.
Isabella gritted her teeth as she looked at that hateful face.
“You know that I’ve been failing the missions assigned to me more often lately.”
“Hmm. I merely assigned missions suited to you. In that case, I don’t understand why you’re angry. You failed because you were incompetent. Shouldn’t I be the one who’s angry?”
Domitian crooked a finger.
A simple magic circle formed, turning back time for the ruined table. He rested both arms on the restored table and faced Isabella.
“Incompetent? Is that how you intend to dismiss it? I brought all the evidence.”
Isabella rummaged through her clothes and threw a bundle of papers onto the table.
They contained secrets she had learned through the Abyss Secret Association, as well as various pieces of physical evidence she had obtained herself.
They were all proof that Domitian had deliberately sabotaged her requests.
She had gathered this evidence because she had sensed that something was off.
When she first entered Mookgeumgo, she thought she would repay her debt quickly. By completing Mookgeumgo’s missions, she could earn points incomparable to what a wandering mage could make.
But for some reason, she began failing requests more often.
At first, Isabella did not pay much attention to it. Yet she gradually realized that the failures were becoming more frequent.
That was not the only strange thing.
When she thought she could not resolve her debt through missions alone and looked for other ways to earn points, everything she wanted had already been taken by someone else.
In those circumstances, Domitian often showed concern for Isabella.
He said that he had secured separate missions for her and gave her easy requests that could repay at least part of her debt. Delivering letters secretly to others, for example.
And if she still lacked points, Domitian would help her with interest even lower than Mookgeumgo’s rates.
At first, Isabella thought it all came from goodwill toward her.
She had exceptional talent, so she believed he was continuing to invest in her future.
That was why she ignored the faint sense of foreboding her tree gave off and focused only on advancing her realm.
She thought that if she reached the next floor, if she advanced to the next realm, she would settle a debt like this in no time.
But as the debt continued to grow, she realized something was wrong.
No matter how much she raised her realm or completed missions, all she could repay was the interest generated each month.
If Isabella tried to do more, her missions ended in terrible failure.
The penalty fees became new debts attached to her.
As that situation continued, Isabella naturally realized someone was interfering.
Then who could it be?
As she narrowed down the suspects, she identified one person.
Domitian, the one who had led Isabella into Mookgeumgo.
Once she suspected him, many things began to stand out.
After gathering evidence, she discovered that Domitian truly had been deliberately binding her with debt.
The missions she had believed he granted out of kindness had actually been meant to isolate her.
That was what these papers proved.
Domitian stared at the bundle of papers.
Then he interlaced his fingers and looked at Isabella. Meeting her eyes, he gave a small smile with his narrow eyes and slowly opened his mouth.
“Hmm. As you suspect, it was me. You noticed rather quickly. Most people take ten years to realize their circumstances.”
Isabella’s eyes trembled.
She had not expected Domitian to admit it so readily.
He continued, looking at her.
“So what of it?”
“What do you...?”
Isabella tried to speak, but Domitian raised a hand and stopped her.
A powerful magical power began to flow from him. It was magical power so strong that it could not be compared with Isabella’s.
“I do not want you to advance. Of course, if you can repay your debt, I will withdraw my hand whenever you wish. Hmm. But you keep failing your missions. In the end, the debt you carry will continue to grow.”
Isabella could only freeze.
She certainly had talent. Talent enough to stand alongside the mages of great families.
But she was only a second-floor mage.
There was still much time before her own talent could bloom.
That was why, from the moment she first owed Domitian a debt, she had been somewhat prepared to be used by him.
Even she could tell that her talent was remarkable. Anyone would want it.
She thought that was why Domitian sponsored her. Once she grew and gained great power, he would use the debt he had left her with to wield that power.
But Domitian’s actions went beyond Isabella’s expectations.
Rather than helping her grow further, he was deliberately blocking her path.
She could not understand why he would do such a thing.
“You must be wondering why I did it.”
Perhaps noticing her thoughts, Domitian gave a light shrug.
He looked her up and down and continued leisurely.
“The instant I saw you, I knew. You possessed incredible talent. If I gave you wings, you could fly to the very end of the sky in no time. Naturally, that would be of great use to me as well.”
But Domitian slowly shook his head.
Looking at her with desire so clear it could be felt even through his narrowed eyes, he continued.
“There is a better way than that. We can have your talent for ourselves. Deep within my bloodline, within my foundation. To do that, I needed to cultivate you so that wings would never grow on you, so that you would crawl across the ground. And my plan worked.”
Domitian spread his arms.
Then he let out a satisfied laugh.
“Perhaps because geniuses like you can rise so easily, you never look at what is beneath your feet. The university is such a wonderful place. With a little effort, one can gather excellent talents like this.”
Gather talent.
Mix it into his bloodline.
Isabella immediately understood what he meant.
He clearly intended to bind Isabella to his own blood relatives, make her bear children, and pass on her talent.
Of course he had to obstruct her. If she became too strong, he would obviously be unable to control her.
Once she understood, Isabella could only stare blankly at Domitian, having forgotten even her anger.
She had never imagined he held such a purpose.
This man saw an entirely different world from her.
Then what should she do?
Isabella quickly turned the matter over in her mind.
Soon, she had no choice but to close her eyes.
She realized clearly that there was no path for her to escape.
If Domitian continued to bind her and restrain her talent, she could not overcome it.
With her talent blocked, she was only a wandering mage stuck on the second floor.
Domitian simply sent Isabella away, as though whatever she did would have no meaning.
But Isabella did not give up.
She had a dream.
A dream of rising to the heights, becoming a noble, and going even further to become an archmage.
If she did nothing, achieving that dream would be impossible.
So she struggled for decades.
In truth, Isabella’s debt amounted to only hundreds of thousands or a few million points. To those with money to spare, it would be a laughably small sum. If someone accepted a small burden, the possibility of resolving her debt was always there.
Yet no matter how hard Isabella worked, no one paid points for her.
That, too, was the product of Domitian’s cultivation.
By making her fail many missions, Domitian thoroughly concealed her talent. He made sure others would not notice the one talent she could display.
No sponsor would pay points for someone like her.
She had no clear backing, which made it even worse. That was likely why Domitian had targeted her. He must have judged that he could devour her without consequences.
Thus, Isabella was forced to break little by little.
Holding anger inside and engraving despair upon her heart, she finally realized that she could not escape this deep abyss.
So she lost both dreams and hope, wishing only for her miserable life to end.
But the countless debts engraved upon her even took death from her.
Until she repaid everything, even choosing to die had become impossible.
In the end, she had no choice but to kneel before Domitian.
Looking down at Isabella, Domitian let out a satisfied laugh.
Just as he had on the day they first met.
Afterward, Domitian used her like his hands and feet.
No, calling her a slave might have been more accurate.
Isabella could not refuse his orders.
Domitian carefully controlled the realm she would advance to, and Isabella refined her magic according to his guidance.
On the day she reached the end of the fourth floor, Domitian called for her.
Isabella gathered the magical power flowing through her chest at her fingertips.
With little remaining before she achieved a completed tree, her magical power was purer than ever.
The finger holding that magical power gradually transformed into lightning.
It had cast off its human flesh.
Isabella poked a letter with a finger made of lightning.
In the blink of an eye, it became ash and vanished.
Incarnation magic.
This was the magic Isabella was researching now.
If she continued to train it, she would surely reach the realm of the completed tree. It was magic that could not be achieved without innate talent.
If she could control this magic to its limit, she might even reach the realm of an archmage.
But Isabella only stared at her fingertips with a clouded expression.
An archmage.
What meaning could that have?
In the end, she was merely a tool held in another’s grasp, like so many other mages.
Facing her, Domitian spoke.
“This time, one of my direct blood relatives was born into a small family. The name was... Ugo, was it? I hear Ugo possesses considerable talent.”
Domitian smiled quietly at Isabella.
She gave a small nod. She had heard that news in passing while working under Domitian.
“But he has rather a lot of obstacles around him. So you will grant that child three wishes. Do that, and I will erase the debt engraved upon you.”
Domitian snapped his fingers and produced a thin sheet of paper carrying magical power.
Faint golden patterns rose on it.
It was a contract, an absolute rule among mages.
“Hmm. It will not be difficult for you. I trust you. Perhaps through this, you may obtain the freedom you have desired so deeply.”
Domitian held the contract out to Isabella.
She stared at it.
The words Domitian had just spoken were written on the contract.
He would erase her debt.
The fact that he was offering this contract also meant that her usefulness at the university was over. University points held meaningful value only within the university.
Replacing the debt with wishes meant that he was letting her leave the university.
She thought she could feel a trace of hope.
Isabella lifted her head.
The moment she met Domitian’s face, she knew.
He had no intention whatsoever of freeing Isabella.
As he had said before, these three wishes would surely bind her talent.
Both Isabella and Domitian knew it.
Yet Isabella had no choice but to sign.
This was the only means she had, however slight, to escape this hellish place.
If she left here and went outside, then as Domitian said, perhaps, even if only by the smallest chance, she might gain freedom.
Isabella could not give that up.
The contract was deeply engraved upon her tree.
She completed the basic curriculum and left the university.
Then time passed.
Isabella found herself facing a deep hole in her chest.
Her strength left her, and she collapsed to the ground.
Perhaps sensing death, Isabella’s magical power instinctively tried to seal the hole. But it was blocked by thick chains and sank away.
The contract wanted her dead.
If a little more time passed, she would die.
But standing before death, Isabella somehow felt like laughter was spilling out of her.
Of course it would.
At last, she would be free from this hellish life.
Isabella raised her head slightly and met Ugo’s gaze as he looked down at her.
His face, resembling Domitian’s, was twisted as though he did not want her to die.
Naturally.
This could not have been Ugo’s original third wish.
Isabella slowly looked around.
She saw many people pouring deep resentment toward her.
They were members of Ugo’s family.
And they were the reason Isabella would die like this.
With her eyes half closed, Isabella recalled Ugo’s previous three wishes.
For his first wish, Ugo wanted her to become his teacher.
And it was granted.
Ugo had considerable talent, and Isabella raised him quickly.
She shortened a process that would have taken others decades to only around five years.
Thus, Ugo succeeded in sprouting a Sapling at the age of twelve.
It was undeniably outstanding talent.
But it was also somewhat ambiguous talent.
Ugo’s family was enormous.
Naturally, there were people who had been born decades before Ugo and awakened to magic long before him.
From that perspective, Ugo’s talent was not enough to overcome the years they had accumulated.
No matter how hard he worked, Ugo was ultimately only someone far down the succession line.
So Ugo made another wish of her.
He asked her to make him the successor.
As Ugo made that wish, she somehow saw Domitian in him.
And Isabella granted his wish.
Very quickly.
In Isabella’s view, there were two ways to place Ugo in the successor position.
The first was to raise Ugo as much as possible and make him a powerful mage.
They could compete over the position of successor, build influence, and use their strength to make their opponents submit. That strength would naturally become Ugo’s.
Considering Ugo’s talent, it was quite possible.
But Isabella did not choose that path.
She took the second path instead.
She removed everyone else.
After all, once the others disappeared, Ugo would naturally become the successor.
To Isabella, it was the fastest path.
And the path she wanted most.
So she began hunting the others using only her own strength.
Of course, the others did not simply accept it.
They had made great efforts to seize the successor position as well, so naturally they tried to kill Isabella, who targeted them.
Thus Isabella faced every kind of danger.
For decades, death had always remained familiar at her side.
Amid that danger, she often wished to die.
But Isabella could not die.
She struggled to grant Ugo’s wish, and the more fiercely she struggled, the more her pure talent led her to unimaginable heights.
Crisis became opportunity instead.
Isabella surpassed death and finally broke through her limits.
Beyond the completed tree, she spread its branches in every direction.
The others could no longer block the path of Isabella, who had stepped into the next realm.
The struggle over succession that had continued for decades came to an end.
But it had also gone far beyond the line.
Even in a succession struggle, there were certain unspoken agreements.
Do not kill one another.
Do not cause excessive harm.
Those rules were only natural from the perspective of someone who would lead the family. Everything had to lead to the family’s benefit in the end.
But Isabella ignored those unspoken rules and rampaged.
She killed every successor except Ugo.
She left no possibility other than him.
Thus, the family had no choice but to accept Ugo.
There would have been resistance if Ugo had lacked talent, but his talent was enough to make him the family’s successor.
That was how Ugo rose to the successor position.
But countless family members had died.
Then where would that resentment go?
Naturally, it flowed toward Isabella, who had led the slaughter.
It was obvious what Ugo would originally have wished for as his third wish.
He had probably intended to make her the mother of his children.
That was what Domitian wanted.
Of course, if she lived that way, Isabella could live a stable life forever.
She could bear children, share magical power with them, and grow old until she died.
But that could not be called the life of a mage.
How could someone who had been stripped of dreams and hope, reduced to selling their talent, be called a person?
That was nothing more than a beast raised in captivity.
Isabella did not want to continue such a life.
So she intended to twist the third wish.
To accomplish that, she created many conflicts within the family.
She killed all the others and swiftly raised Ugo to the successor position.
And though Isabella had killed all the successors, their factions still remained.
Therefore, Ugo could not ignore their pressure and run wild as he pleased.
In the end, he had no choice but to make an agreement with them and wish for her death.
And that was exactly what she wanted.
Isabella coughed up rising blood and smiled brightly.
Her talent played a major role in making this possible.
If that talent had not raised her to a realm higher than before, it would have been impossible to place Ugo in the successor position this way.
If things had dragged on, Ugo would eventually have taken control of the family slowly and made his original wish.
But her talent had brought her to death like this.
Perhaps even Domitian had not expected Isabella to grow so rapidly.
At the ironic situation, Isabella burst out laughing.
She had resented her talent for so long.
What if she had possessed only the talent of an ordinary mage?
She probably would not have experienced this. Ordinary mages scattered throughout the world held no value.
But in the end, that talent allowed her to achieve her final dream.
Without being used by anyone else, she could die as Isabella herself.
This death was what she had longed for all along.
Thus, Isabella died.
Just as other mages did.
-
[This was my insignificant life.]
Isabella quietly closed her eyes and finished writing.
I could not help letting out a low groan.
I understood why Isabella had never spoken of her past.
I could guess what happened afterward without hearing it.
To make use of her dead body, Ugo must have taken on a new teacher.
That teacher would have been Gaon.
Perhaps Domitian was even the one who connected Gaon and Ugo.
And Isabella became a puppet, endlessly falling into ruin through the pain of her soul collapsing.
[And then I met you, Master. When I was drowning in despair, having forgotten even who I was, you were the ray of light that came to me.]
“A ray of light?”
The words somehow felt burdensome, and I gave a small awkward cough.
Isabella quietly shook her head and tightly held my hand, which rested on her chest.
[No. Master, you were my light. You gave me a new dream when I wished only for death. You let me move freely again.]
Isabella stopped writing and wore a faint smile.
Then she slowly released my hand and stepped back.
[So I wanted to forget everything about the past. Everything from my past had fallen away with my death. I thought all that remained for me was reverence for you, Master. But...]
Isabella looked down at the hole that still remained in her chest.
As though tracing the mark of the contract within it, she sent magical power through it and continued writing.
[I never expected the past I thought I had cast away to return like this. So if you wish it, I will end my life here. It would be the only way to prevent you, Master, from being dragged around by that man, Domitian.]
Isabella knelt before me.
She bowed her head silently, as though waiting for my response.
Looking down at her, I felt as though my chest was burning.
It was an emotion I had never felt before.
What was this?
After thinking it over, I understood exactly what to call it.
This was anger.
A deep anger toward Domitian, and beyond that, toward myself.
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