WeTried Translations

Translator: Coughing Baby

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◈ The Inept Mage’s Infinite Regression

Chapter 36

Ethan made his way to Boen’s dorm room, where he brought up the subject of the book.

After leafing through it, Boen said, “This won’t be easy.”

“Even if I’m just aiming for the end of the semester?”

Like Basic Magic Practice, Basic Magic Exercises allowed retakes until the end of the semester. Although there was a limit to how many times someone could attempt each subtest, they were free to choose when they made their attempts.

“It’ll still be difficult.”

“How come?” Ethan asked.

“There are several reasons. First, the book itself—Introduction to Primordial Magic (Part 1) claims to be an introductory text, but it is extremely difficult. The ancient language is transliterated, so you’ll at least be able to pronounce it, but if you want to understand what any of it means, you’ll have to consult another resource. That’s not the only issue, though. Beyond the language barrier, it also uses terms familiar only to researchers of primordial magic, with only brief explanations. You’ll probably have to read multiple other books. If there’s another volume you have to track down, you’ll have to study that as well just to have a chance.”

Boen handed the book back to Ethan and continued, “That’s the main obstacle. The second volume, it’s supposedly in the Great Library Labyrinth, right? Let’s start with the good news: I’ve heard rumors that grad students at Yurmus Magic Academy love pulling stunts like that, hiding copies of their work in the labyrinth. It’s basically a prank, so they probably didn’t go deep into the labyrinth. If you’re a grad student, you might have some way to handle the librarians, but you still won’t want to encounter them if you can avoid it.”

Although grad students were treated like mere errand-runners by the academy professors, they were still recognized as proper mages to everyone else. They were a capable bunch that lacked nothing in terms of ability. However, no mage—whether a student, a graduate, or even a professor—particularly wanted to encounter the librarians that protected the Great Library Labyrinth and its books. The librarians had been created by ancient mages to prevent anyone without permission from venturing inside.

“But the labyrinth is bad news no matter how you slice it. Even if you only stick to the upper layers, it’s huge. There’s always a chance you’ll run into a librarian that came up from the depths, and even if you don’t, there are still all sorts of monsters around. It could take months just to find a single book in there. Even though the two volumes are enchanted with ‘attraction’ magic of some kind, it’s not like Part 1 will just zoom straight toward Part 2 the moment you enter. You’ll still need to get close for the enchantment to work.”

Boen had a point. According to Professor Rydel, the “pull” enchantment would only activate when the two were fairly close, about two library shelves’ distance. Each shelf in the Great Library was nearly 50 meters in diameter, so that was a significant distance, but not enough to rely on blindly.

Still, Ethan felt confident. “What if the person doing the searching is a dark mage?” he asked.

Boen gave him a curious look. “You’re saying you’ll use your knowledge of future events to see yourself entering the labyrinth and locate the book?”

“Something like that.”

“…I can’t say it’s impossible, but since the semester started, the disappearance of Maya and Koshe has the Mage Council on high alert about the labyrinth. Plus, you’ll need my help to decipher the book. You’re not planning on skipping classes, right? You won’t have much free time to go treasure-hunting, so it could take ages to find the book. Then again… given your history with demons, perhaps you could pull it off…” Boen’s voice trailed off before, suddenly, he asked, “Ethan, have you heard of karmic retribution?”

“I’ve heard the term before… Wait, hold on…”

“It’s not a riddle. ‘Karmic retribution’ is simply the consequences that follow one’s actions. Some forms of karma are obvious and immediate—hit someone, and you’re liable to get arrested or judged by a noble. But some forms are slower or more obscure. If you hit someone and never get arrested, or never stand trial, what do you think that means?”

“That you avoided retribution?”

“No. That never truly happens. Karma is frightening because it always catches up to you.”

“I recall someone saying, ‘Magic is how you escape karma.’ ”

“That was Archmage Lanarui. And the reason it’s such a famous quote is because Lanarui didn’t escape karma—he died a truly gruesome death. Magic doesn’t let you escape your dues, only delay them.”

Ethan knew that, though he hadn’t remembered it right away. Plenty of mages warned about the dangers of incurring karmic retribution. Essentially, Boen was cautioning Ethan that going beyond his limits would carry a heavy price.

Ethan didn’t buy that, though. “I think that’s just superstition.”

“If that’s how you see it, there’s nothing more I can say.”

Either way, Boen’s lecture on karma wasn’t relevant. Ethan had a better idea for searching the labyrinth: He could reset to his initial regression point, not the current Save point but the very start, right before vacation. That way, he could bypass the patrols, skip classes, and spend three whole months combing the labyrinth. Once he had the book’s location, he could Load back to “now” and retrieve it with Boen.

Ethan wondered if convincing past Boen to explore the labyrinth with him would be too hard, but then he realized, ‘Heh. I might not even need Boen. There’s someone else in the labyrinth.’

∞

Even with only one Save Slot, as long as he didn’t overwrite that slot, he could return to that initial point whenever he wanted.

‘There must be countless paths I haven’t taken yet.’

Right now, though, that would just complicate Ethan’s choices. For the time being, he intended to stick to his most advanced Save point.

In Limbo, Ethan explained his plan to Demi. She didn’t mention karma at all; on the contrary, she said it was a good approach and pointed at the door behind her. Evidently, so long as Ethan was in Limbo, without even having to kill himself, Demi could send him to the “restart” point.

Upon returning, Ethan quickly sized up the student traffic in the dorm halls, repeated the act of lifting a stone to pass Basic Magic Practice, headed to the Great Library, and borrowed Introduction to Primordial Magic (Part 1). Then he went down to the dorm’s basement, all the way to the last room. The door was locked, but a simple wire pick took care of that.

“Nothing’s changed, as expected.”

He’d come down this way before, so slipping through the secret door into the Great Library Labyrinth wasn’t difficult at all.

Upon stepping past the labyrinth’s first shelf, an arrow whizzed past and stuck into the wall near Ethan’s head.

“Who’s there?”

Ethan raised both hands to show he wasn’t attacking.

He saw a figure with deep navy-blue hair in a ponytail, dressed more like an adventurer than a mage, holding a large bow of some unusual material—not normal wood, by the looks of it.

When the stranger got a better look at Ethan, they said, “Wait… you’re wearing a school uniform? Brown hair? Are you Ethan, from House Charasen?”

“Yeah.” Ethan named the stranger: “You’re Koshe, right? I didn’t expect to run into someone from the same year in here.”

Koshe Ludyrock, a friend of Maya and someone Ethan had only encountered as a corpse previously, slid the arrow back into the quiver strapped to her thigh. Ethan moved closer, stopping at a distance comfortable for conversation.

Before Koshe could speak, Ethan beat her to it. “How’d you end up here? A first-year prowling around the Great Library Labyrinth?”

“…Well, I, uh…” Koshe fumbled over her words, then bristled angrily. “Why am I acting all nervous in front of someone guilty of the same crime?”

“Never said you had to be nervous.”

They had recognized each other as classmates, and they both came from noble houses that did business together, so there was some familiarity. This was the first time they’d ever really spoken face-to-face, however.

Ethan chuckled. “For me, I’m doing a shady back-alley job—someone said I might find something valuable if I took the secret passage to the Labyrinth. Evidently, all the older students know about it.”

Even though that was a lie, him being the first to “reveal” a secret eased Koshe considerably.

“…I’m hunting for a certain magical tome related to my personal research.”

“That works out. Even if we’re only exploring the shallow area, this is still a labyrinth, right? Why not team up?”

Koshe clearly wanted to avoid letting Ethan tag along because her secret task involved a dark magic tome connected to Maya. Yet, at the same time, she seemed a bit uneasy being alone in such a vast, silent space. Ethan could relate, he was sure he would feel the same if he were in her shoes. Her willingness to shoot first and ask questions later made that obvious enough.

“My friend is harboring an incomprehensible monster inside her. She’s growing more unstable by the day, and I’m the only one who knows. I have to do something.”

Ethan already knew why Koshe was here, of course. He’d come to the labyrinth this time to find a book, but he also wanted to steer events toward a better outcome. He was sure there was a way for neither Koshe nor Maya to end up dead.

“…Can someone who can’t even use magic really help?” asked Koshe. “I think I’d be better off alone.”

“You mages and your constant need to get under people’s skin.”

“Say it louder, I didn’t hear you.”

Ethan hopped off a ledge about seven meters above the floor. For a moment, Koshe seemed startled, but Ethan stuck the landing without a scratch. She was impressed enough by that jump to realize he was no ordinary student.

Ethan grinned. “C’mon, I asked you to let me join, right?”

“Ah… well, if you’re going that far, fine. But I decide our path.”

“Deal.”

‘No doubt she’ll use the right-hand rule,’ Ethan thought as he trailed after her.

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