WeTried Translations
Translator: Coughing Baby
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ The Inept Mage’s Infinite Regression
Chapter 38
The person in ashen full plate looked down at the floor below and declared, “It’s not over yet.”
Sure enough, the librarian, which they thought had crashed to the ground, suddenly leaped up nearly twenty meters—an incredible feat given its weight.
“…Disturbances… Disturbing acts… are forbidden, forbidden.”
The armored figure faced the librarian with a relaxed air. At first glance, it seemed the librarian’s single dagger would be outmatched by the newcomer’s long sword, but even the librarian’s empty hand was likely lethal. Its porcelain exterior concealed metal innards, making every limb a potent weapon, yet the armored figure effortlessly avoided and parried each blow.
Koshe drew her bow from a distance, waiting for an opening, but the knightly figure waved a hand at her.
“It’s fine. Better the librarian keeps targeting me… Arojio!”
Ethan assumed that last word was some kind of spell, but it wasn’t. The armored newcomer had companions.
From the same passageway where the knight had emerged, a small figure appeared wearing a colossal witch’s hat with a wide brim. This new figure had a childlike build and carried a staff twice their own height, topped with a blue catalyst the size of a human head that sloshed with some kind of liquid. Clearly, this was a mage—or more precisely, a witch.
“→Weep, O Woman.
For your supper grows cold.”
Spinning around, they traced a circle in the air with the staff’s tip, then inscribed complex symbols and formulas into that magic circle.
“→Weep, O Child.
For your embrace shall be forgotten.”
Then the mage rocked the staff’s catalyst left and right, aiming it toward both the armored figure and the librarian.
“→Weep, O Crone.
For the prophecy of Secron shall come to pass.
What was taken from your husband
shall see your son depart.”
A sharp, salty smell, like sea wind, filled Ethan’s nostrils. Almost immediately, rain-laden gusts began swirling from the head of the staff as a storm poured forth from the catalyst. Books on the shelves were sucked into the whirling wind as it formed an enormous vortex, and both the knight and the librarian, already within its range, had to brace themselves on all fours to avoid being swept away.
“Get down!” Ethan shouted to Koshe. “Don’t get caught up in that!”
Clutching the large hat, the little witch, Arojio, spoke the final words of the incantation.
“→Therefore, greet it with a smile:
that fate of yours!”
Boom!
A burst of lightning briefly illuminated the entire shelf, followed by a shockwave so strong it sent even the books not caught in the vortex crashing down. Ethan lay flat to avoid getting pummeled by falling tomes.
When he realized that all had gone quiet, he risked raising his head and confirmed that the storm had passed. Confirming Koshe was okay, he turned to look at the librarian.
Its outer shell was scorched black and its pelvis shattered, leaving it collapsed on the floor. A jagged, blackened scar cut across the path of the magic’s aftermath, and Ethan recognized that finishing blow as a lightning strike.
Mid-level magic, maybe. Though the form of the magic circle was unfamiliar, the chanting was definitely of the Yurmus lineage, likely some sort of weather magic.
Looking away from the wrecked librarian, Ethan checked on the knight. “You all right?”
Despite taking the brunt of that same storm at point-blank range, the knight simply walked over to Ethan, his armor clanking with each step, and offered a hand. Ethan grabbed it and stood.
“Thank you for saving us. I’m Ethan of Yurmus Magic Academy, and that’s Koshe, also from the academy.”
“I’m Sigil,” the armored figure replied. “This is Arojio, and that’s Senamun.”
Ethan’s mind immediately labeled them as adventurers. An introduction like that, where only first names were given, was common among that crowd. Adventurers rarely shared their full identity or their origin, nor did they typically ask for anyone else’s.
And now that he looked more carefully, there was indeed a third member, someone who had arrived a bit later behind Arojio.
Join our discord at https://dsc.gg/wetried
Ethan assessed the three newcomers:
Sigil, the one in full plate armor, sounded male. He was extremely tall, lean-looking, and not at all encumbered by his heavy gear. Armor that fully covered the hands, forearms, thighs, shoulders, and face generally made a person look bulky and slowed their movements. Sigil, however, wore it like a second skin.
Though parts of the metal were rusted or scorched, the armor was still in good shape: red plumes on the helmet, carefully segmented joints, a smooth finish—it was expensive craftsmanship. The smell of burnt metal… He might’ve been hit by that lightning too, which meant the armor was probably enchanted. An item like that could cost as much as a fortress.
Arojio, the witch with the enormous conical hat, was anything but ordinary. That incantation was likely mid-level or higher, and it had been cast with impressive speed and accuracy in a tense situation. Even professors at the magic academy were seldom tested that way; they were judged on their research prowess, not their skill in combat.
And that staff… the catalyst alone was massive. A high-grade staff was typically custom-made to help the caster quickly deploy certain spells they used often. Without it, conjuring that lightning storm might have required hours of chanting and loads of reagents, so both Arojio’s skill and her staff’s power had been on display.
Senamun drew Ethan’s eye most of all, leaving the strongest impression despite having arrived after the fight.
That black porcelain face… Senamun was definitely an automaton. After the librarian, anything even resembling an automaton set him on edge. Senamun’s face had suffered a long fracture above the left side of her mouth, which had seemingly been repaired with a gold-infused adhesive. Unlike typical automatons in livery or maid outfits, Senamun wore a revealing noblewoman’s evening gown, adorned at the neck, wrists, ankles, and hands with various gold and gem accessories. Even the exposed skin had lines of gold in places, possibly more signs of repair.
No one would bother wearing all that jewelry here unless it was magical gear, so it was presumably high-end magic items for combat. Priceless in every sense.
“Aren’t outsiders supposed to be banned from the Great Library Labyrinth just like academy students?” Ethan asked.
Sigil shrugged. “We got permission from Headmaster Aincher to complete a job here.”
Ethan nodded before pressing further. “So, you’re adventurers, yes?”
Adventurers roamed forbidden lands or tombs, often taking on commissions from nobles or the wealthy to retrieve valuable items. In the case of tombs, they were labeled grave robbers. Public opinion of adventurers was typically poor—working outside lawful areas, many turned to banditry or double-crossed their clients by way of theft or blackmail. But there was always demand because there were too many places that the rich or powerful simply didn’t want to go themselves.
“Yeah, we’re just ordinary adventurers,” Sigil replied.
‘As if,’ Ethan thought. Traveling in such obvious splendor would attract every fortune hunter’s aggression. Brushing off all those threats suggests they were extremely powerful. They definitely weren’t “ordinary.”
From Ethan’s perspective, letting such extraordinary adventurers just walk away would be a waste.
“So, if you’re adventurers, that means you can accept a commission?”
“Oh? Planning to hire us?”
Sigil glanced at the other two, clearly respecting their opinions rather than deciding unilaterally. Senamun dipped her head but said nothing, and Arojio seemed reluctant, tugging at the cloth near Sigil’s waist.
“Sigil, Sigil,” said Arojio.
“Arojio, hey, cut it out.”
“I know who Ethan is.”
“Really?”
That caught Ethan off guard. No way…
“Ethan Dora Charasen.”
“A noble?”
“Yeah. Charasen, the swindler house.”
Ethan frowned. “You know, if this is a serious talk, you could just whisper?”
Sigil laughed. “Eh, no problem. Even if he’s from a ‘swindler house,’ doesn’t mean he’s a fraud himself.”
“I’ll divine it,” Arojio said. Raising her staff, she waved it toward a shelf, causing a random book to drop open to the floor. She peered intently at the open pages and muttered, “Hmm… That’s strange… Hmm.”
“She’s book-reading,” Sigil explained, “like fortune-telling, except we’re in a library so there’s no stars. So, Ethan, what’s your commission?”
Catching Koshe’s eye, Ethan saw that she understood what he was getting at. They were in agreement.
“We want you to help us find two books.”
“Depending on the details, we might accept. You got the money?”
“Do you accept magic tools as payment?”
Sigil tilted his head, intrigued. “If they’re valuable enough, yeah.”
Ethan led him a short distance away from the others. Reaching into his coat, Ethan revealed an item. Sigil regarded it with growing interest.
“How about this?”
In alignment with Arojio’s blunt label of “swindler house,” Ethan set out to scam them using his Glock 45.
Join our discord at https://dsc.gg/wetried