WeTried Translations
Translator: Coughing Baby
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◈ The Inept Mage’s Infinite Regression
Chapter 37
“You know,” Koshe began, “I never imagined the young lord of a high-status house like Charasen would be hanging around back alleys trying to make money.”
“There you go, picking a fight again,” Ethan replied.
“No, I’m sorry if it sounded like that…” Koshe actually seemed embarrassed. She was avoiding Ethan’s gaze. “…It’s just that my family is a lot smaller than Charasen, you know? I’ve been hearing about your family since I was little. My father always fusses over whether the goods from Charasen will arrive on time, quoting things Duke Charasen has said here and there. I guess you could say I’ve always held this mix of admiration and jealousy toward them.”
Ethan had met Baron Ludyrock a couple of times. The baron had barely paid any attention to Ethan, an illegitimate child, but he always put on a friendly face for Duke Charasen.
“Sorry to break it to you, but Charasen’s glory isn’t mine. Picking fights with me isn’t going to solve whatever feelings you’ve got.”
It wasn’t just about House Ludyrock. Take Yejoff, for example. Although he was royalty, the Yekatan royal family wasn’t as old as House Charasen, nor did it have as many vassals. True, Yekatan held a larger territory and had strong retainers, but from the standpoint of the Mage Council rather than the Oath of the Empty Throne—the council of kings—the prestige was reversed.
“I know. Just think of it as me being curious, okay?”
“Believe it or not, I do work hard,” Ethan replied candidly. “I didn’t come here just for the money.”
“Oh? Then what else are you here for?”
Ethan pulled out Introduction to Primordial Magic (Part 1) from his coat and showed it to her. “I’m not talented at magic, right? But apparently, I might still be able to learn primordial magic. The problem is, I only have Part 1 of this book. I need to find Part 2. They say there’s some ‘pull enchantment’ on them, so if I keep searching, I’ll find it eventually.”
“Ah, I see.”
“And for the record, the profitable item I’m after is a book called Ancarucia of the Unreachable End. If you happen to spot a copy, let me know.” Ethan paused for a moment, then continued, “By the way, what’s your book about?”
Koshe hesitated—no doubt because she was searching for a volume tied to Maya’s dark magic. But she seemed to realize that if they were to continue exploring together, then they had to share information about the books they were looking for.
“There’s no title on the cover, but I heard it’s bound in purple leather, constantly gives off smoke, and when you open it, a scream echoes out.”
“…At least there’s no chance of mixing it up with a normal book.”
They explored the labyrinth for about six hours per stretch, followed by another six hours retracing their steps back. Since they needed to scan the bookshelves, it took a bit of time. However, Ethan mainly skimmed for Ancarucia of the Unreachable End before quickly moving on to scan for Introduction to Primordial Magic (Part 2). As for Koshe, her target was a purple, smoke-emitting book. It could easily be spotted from a distance, so the actual searching was easy enough. Thankfully, unlike Maya and Boen, Koshe had plenty of stamina, so she had no trouble matching Ethan’s pace.
Along the way, they did find one copy of Ancarucia of the Unreachable End. It turned out to be surprisingly easy to spot; when Ethan looked at it, the book’s edges glowed red, but apparently only to his eyes. According to Zir’s explanation, Broker Quests were set up so that certain helpful cues appeared to assist the quest-taker. Ethan brought the book into Limbo later that same day and received a D-rank Lottery Coupon, which he decided not to use right away.
By their fourth day exploring together, the two had grown fairly comfortable with each other.
“So who taught you archery?” Ethan asked.
“You know Maya has relatives in the knight branch of the Onik family, right?”
Ethan felt a momentary pang at Maya’s name, but he refocused on the conversation. “Right,” he said. “House Onik was originally a lineage of knights, but after Maya Onik’s aptitude for magic was recognized, the family split.”
“They might have split, but the two branches still get along. People usually call them the ‘Knight Oniks’ and the ‘Mage Oniks.’ When I was staying with the ‘Knight Oniks’—Maya’s uncle’s side—I started practicing archery with Maya just for fun. Her uncle said I had a knack for it.”
“Having a unique talent is always an asset.”
Ethan had seen Koshe’s archery skills twice now. She used a large bow that loosed arrows almost horizontally down the aisles, which implied its maximum range was actually much greater. And her accuracy was top-notch; she’d skewered the head of a book-worm from the far end of a shelf. Ethan hadn’t even needed to swing his sword.
Using magic with archery had a lot of tactical value, too. Swordsmen typically couldn’t cast spells while locked in melee because casting demanded high composure. With archery, though, there was more room to maneuver, and an archer could take down threats before they closed in.
Ethan asked, “Are you planning on becoming a battle mage?”
“After I graduate?”
“Yeah.”
“Not sure. I’ve never really thought about it.” Koshe habitually flicked her ponytail. “I guess I’ll decide after I see what Maya wants to do.”
“You’ve been friends with Maya since childhood, right?”
“Yeah. Maybe I’ll ask her what she’s thinking.”
Ethan was about to tease her for going through life without a plan, but instead, he said, “Oh, watch out there.”
“Where?”
He pointed below a railing. “See that big patch of moss down there? It’s pretty dark under that ledge, looks like it’s rotted through. We should stick close to the wall.”
“You’ve got sharp eyes. I can barely see that.”
Koshe, curious, walked over to the spot where she might have otherwise taken a fatal plunge. The boards creaked a bit but didn’t give way. So long as she didn’t walk on the center of the plank, it would be fine.
Ethan shrugged and followed her.
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By the ninth day of exploration, they realized they needed to push deeper.
“No more right-hand rule,” Ethan declared.
“Why not?”
He had lots of reasons, but the simplest one was efficiency. “I’ve been making a map. You probably noticed that when we used the right-hand rule, we ended up revisiting certain rooms multiple times. Some of the exits, even though they start in different places, lead to the same general area. That’s inefficient.”
Creating a map of the Great Library Labyrinth wasn’t easy, given that each “shelf” wasn’t always on the same level. It wasn’t violating the laws of physics, but it wasn’t straightforward either. Ethan counted his steps to figure out how each shelf connected to the next. He systematically tested how far they got by using the right-hand rule from each distinct exit.
“I’m pretty sure the farthest shelf we’ve reached started from the seventh exit. If we go straight there, it’ll take only about an hour. But because of the right-hand rule, we had to bypass the most direct path. To go deeper, we need to cut across.”
“What about the shelves we skipped? There might be a chance that the books we need are there.”
“We’ll have to give up on those. There’s no way we can search everywhere. Besides, we haven’t seen anything like your purple book in the areas we’ve covered, and I suspect the volume I’m looking for, hidden by a grad student, won’t be in a place that just anyone can access.”
It was just a guess, but from a mage’s perspective, Ethan thought it likely.
“So what’s our plan once we reach this farthest shelf?”
“We’ll check each exit that leads to a different shelf, then find a route that goes even deeper.”
“…Isn’t that dangerous?”
“Well, it’s not that deep. We’re talking about half a day’s journey, tops. Typical labyrinth exploration can take weeks or even months; this is nothing.”
Koshe seemed convinced. “I’ve heard the librarians classify books somehow. Maybe the reason we haven’t found anything similar to what we want is because we’re still in the upper layers. Okay, I’ll go along with your plan.”
As they kept exploring, they encountered various intriguing creatures. One was a smooth, silvery organism that seemed to live in the labyrinth’s underground water. It slipped away between the rocks as soon as they spotted it, forcing them to hold their breath in caution. After that, they avoided approaching any springs or waterfalls to refill their canteens. They also saw a swarm of book-butterflies mating in large clusters, and random quill pens floating in midair with no apparent purpose, but those didn’t seem dangerous. Ethan and Koshe were growing more at home in the labyrinth, or so they thought.
On the 24th day of exploration, they discovered a shelf that branched even deeper than normal. As they climbed down a ladder, Ethan noticed someone, or rather something, standing across from him.
“Hang on, Koshe.”
“What?”
“Don’t come down—”
“Permi… ssion…” The shadowy figure spoke in a high, strangely melodic voice. “Do you have… permission? Do… you have permission? Visitors must, in advance… in advance—apply for usage, then receive… then… after that, you… complete the… complete the…”
It spoke in a halting, broken manner, its words lapsing occasionally into a harsh grinding noise more akin to the scraping of metal than human speech.
Ethan recognized it from pictures he’d seen in various references: this was a librarian.
Its head resembled a white porcelain sculpture, reminiscent of a beautiful boy or girl. But one of this librarian’s eye sockets was completely destroyed, revealing a nest of gears inside. As the ghostly wind tousled its long hair, that gaping mechanical ruin glinted in and out of view. Below that, it wore what had once been a neat brown uniform embroidered with gold. Now, though, the fabric was torn and dangled in tatters. In one hand, it held a dagger in a reverse grip.
“A librarian.”
“What?”
“Go back up the ladder, now!”
“Otherwise… otherwise, the user must be—must be put to dea—” The librarian brandished its dagger and lunged at Ethan. “…must be put to death.”
Ethan drew his sword, trying to parry, but he was hopelessly outmatched. The collision knocked him off balance, sending him crashing into the opposite railing. From what Ethan had read, a librarian’s body weight exceeded 200 kilograms. Despite its slim form, it was entirely a mechanical automaton made of metal.
“Ethan!”
The librarian turned its head and body fully toward Ethan, refusing to let him escape its sight.
Ethan pulled out his handgun. “Damn it. I guess I’ll have to use this.”
He wasn’t sure if its firepower would be enough to break the automaton, so he planned to shoot the moment the librarian leaped through the air at him—
But before he could, a figure in ashen full plate armor charged out of the dark corridor.
The librarian pivoted toward the newcomer, swinging its dagger. The armored figure blocked it and landed a solid punch, sending the librarian crashing down to the floor.
“Need some help?”
Flat on his back, Ethan blinked, wondering if he was seeing things. “Looks like you’ve already helped…”
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