WeTried Translations

Translator: Coughing Baby

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ The Inept Mage’s Infinite Regression

Chapter 28

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"...And that’s how I ended up in a life-threatening situation with the demons."

Ethan met with Rivielton. The Rivielton Fabier that Ethan remembered was someone who had turned a blind eye when he used dark magic against demons and even helped him escape from the academy. So, Ethan explained his story with some embellishment. It was a simpler version compared to the one he told Boen, but the context was the same.

The Mage Court was determined to hunt down the dark mage who killed Bain using any means necessary. In the process, Ethan didn’t want the Yurmus Magic Academy and the Mage Court to clash.

As expected, Rivielton believed Ethan again.

"Why are you only telling me this now, Ethan? If you had told me from the beginning, I could have helped prevent this from happening."

"I’m sorry."

"I’ll discuss it with Headmaster Aincher. There must be a diplomatic way to handle this."

Ethan interrupted.

"My thoughts are a bit different."

"What do you mean?"

"The Mage Court won’t give up. They’ll come after me at every turn."

"That’s unlikely. If you knew how many dark mages there are in the Western world, you’d be shocked. Even the Mage Council tolerates many dark mages. No matter how powerful the Empire is, it can’t interfere with every dark mage."

Ethan wanted to say that dark mages of Terra were different, but he thought he could convince Rivielton in a more simple manner.

"Even if the Mage Court isn’t directly targeting me, if I feel that way, it’ll be hard for me to attend academy normally, right?"

"...Hmm."

Rivielton said, "Do you think there’s a way to solve this?"

Ethan replied, "What if I take down all the demons from the Mage Court?"

Rivielton laughed dryly.

"The Mage Court is made up of demon elders. You’re not planning to take on the entire Mage Court, are you? Normally, when the Mage Court moves, it’s one elder, a promising scion from a noble family, and about a dozen soldiers from both families. Each soldier is at the level of an apprentice mage, the scion is at the level of a mid-tier mage, and the elder has the abilities of a high-tier mage or higher. Furthermore, in terms of combat magic, they’re considered a step above human mages, right? Most human mages don’t hone their combat magic like demons do."

"...You know a lot."

"Even the Arnesia Empire, the largest nation, considers demon elders a valuable resource and military asset. If I can take down the Mage Court’s forces alone, the Empire will have no choice but to compromise. They won’t immediately deploy their full military power."

"That’s true. The Empire is particularly sensitive about dark mages, but it’s difficult for them to interfere in other nations to that extent. However, if all the Mage Court’s forces are killed, the Empire might think the magic academy had a hand in it, and the diplomatic crisis could escalate. Even if they attack the academy illegally as you predicted, smaller nations have no choice but to bow to larger ones. It’s not fair."

"That’s why I said ‘I.’ As long as I can prove the academy wasn’t involved, it won’t matter."

Rivielton crossed his thick arms.

"If that’s possible, your proposal isn’t wrong, Ethan. But is it really feasible?"

As Ethan was about to answer, Rivielton raised his hand to stop him.

"I’m not just asking if you can do it. I’m not deeply versed in dark magic, but some dark magic can wield truly terrifying power. Fighting and killing someone should always be the last resort. I want to know if you’re truly prepared for that."

"...Back then, Professor Rivielton, you asked me if I had the talent or experience to wield a sword. I answered that it was probably talent."

Ethan replied,

"But what if all I needed was experience?"

∞

The western part of the Yurmus Magic Academy was a dense forest called the Yurmus Forest, spread over low hills and flatlands. Upon entering the forest, even if the sun hung high in the sky, it was hard to find your own shadow due to the thick trees.

It took two full days of walking to reach a small village of six households that survived by hunting and gathering, and another two days to reach the Omon River, the arbitrary border between Yurmus and Muhati. If you took the wrong path from the magic academy, it could take several more days to find any signs of civilization even after walking straight.

If you headed southwest and reached the lower reaches of the Omon River, consider yourself lucky. However, if you moved northwest, you’d find yourself struggling in the vast sea of forests leading to the Dolton Mountains, where getting lost and dying was common.

The only salvation lies with the Yurmus Forest Keepers. The forest keepers employed by the Yurmus family know the paths of the Yurmus Forest, drive out unauthorized hunters, and rescue those in distress. However, since there aren’t many keepers, not every lost person is fortunate enough to be saved.

Ethan was in a small cabin used by these forest keepers. He attached a suppressor and flashlight to his Glock 45 and mounted an RMR (Reflex Miniature Red Dot) sight. He swapped the first magazine for an extended one with 17 rounds. Ethan wasn’t lost. After discussing with Headmaster Aincher, Rivielton told Ethan about this cabin’s location. It was about half a day’s journey from the magic academy.

Headmaster Aincher decided to tell the Mage Court that Ethan had left the academy to avoid causing harm to the Yurmus Magic Academy and to escape the demons of the Mage Court. However, due to student protection, the academy wouldn’t disclose where Ethan had fled. Rivielton thought it was impossible to predict how the demons would move, but Ethan, having studied demons, was certain they would track him down.

"And I’ll annihilate the Mage Court’s demons alone."

For an ordinary magic academy student, this would be unimaginable, but Ethan believed he could do it.

The door burst open and three demon soldiers entered. Seeing Ethan sitting quietly and doing nothing, they drew their swords and began to cautiously surround him. The one at the front shouted toward the door.

"There’s a dark mage here!"

Ethan said, "I’m not a dark mage. I’m Ethan. What’s your name?"

The demon seemed flustered but answered Ethan’s question.

"Xenoph."

"...Xenoph. I’ll remember that."

Ethan shot Xenoph in the head, and at the same time, the demon behind Ethan attacked.

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Ethan woke up in his bedroom in Limbo. Demi was right beside him. He said to Demi, "I’ll load."

"There’s only one saved slot. Shall I load from 'Cabin'?"

"Yes."

"You can exit through the mirror here."

Demi pointed to a full-length mirror beside the bed. Ethan dusted himself off and walked through it.

Ethan woke up in the cabin, having just finished assembling his firearm and sat in a chair, waiting for the demons to arrive.

‘This is Save/Load.’

He could record a specific moment in time. Then, regardless of him dying, he could return to that recorded moment from Limbo whenever he wanted. Ethan, anticipating countless deaths in his fight with the demons, had saved his progress after finishing his preparations in the cabin.

In truth, if he could endure the fatigue and pain, the Save/Load ability wasn’t strictly necessary. But Ethan felt a bit of relief knowing he wouldn’t have to repeat countless lies or unnecessary killings every time he died and returned to this point.

"Still, they arrive four hours from now. I could have saved a bit later."

Ethan shook his head.

The demons had arrived faster than expected. If he had been lazy, he would have had to choose a new save point. Having extra time meant more time to prepare, so he had to use it wisely. Moreover, since there was only one Save/Load slot, he’d have to return to this point again if he messed up the timing. Now that he had Save/Load, starting over from the beginning felt much more exhausting.

"Now that I know when the demons arrive, let’s see how many I can kill from this position."

Ethan acted according to his plan.

When Ethan opened the door and immediately shot Xenoph and his two subordinates, the demons were momentarily stunned. Then, three more demons charged in with raised magical shields.

However, Ethan knew how to handle this situation. He shot their legs. When the shield-bearing demon in front fell, the weaknesses of the other two were exposed, and Ethan took them down. But the next part was the problem.

"I hear chanting...?"

Ethan thought the spell sounded familiar, but when a giant boar’s maw suddenly appeared in front of him, he belatedly remembered what spell it was.

∞

"I’ll load."

"Is everything alright?"

"...Holding the cabin doesn’t seem like a good idea."

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