WeTried Translations

Translator: Coughing Baby

Editor: Coughing Baby

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◈ The Inept Mage’s Infinite Regression

Chapter 81

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The Secret of Count Yertiela's Mansion

Ethan hurried to wake the others. He shook them awake while packing their gear, and only after everyone was mounted did he have time to explain.

Once they were riding, Boen asked,
"Are you alright, Ethan?"
"Not at all. The wind is blowing toward the hill. We need to hurry."
"No, I mean Mumu. Can we really leave it like that? It damages your honor, and at this point it's no different from a demonic beast."

Ethan checked the quest he had just received again.
[Quest: Kill Mumu (C)]
[This great raven has now done something it can neither take responsibility for nor undo. That means it is no longer a spirit beast, but a demonic beast.]

Great raven Mumu was nowhere to be seen, likely already high in the sky. At this point, there was no way to do anything about it anyway.

Ethan sighed.
"You're right. We can't leave it like that."

Ethan loaded.

∞

From the point he loaded, he had a full month before departure. He did not strictly need that much time. Since it was already clear the Empire would start a war, spending that month at the Magic Academy could feel like a waste.

Even so, based on his war experience tied to the Undying King, Ethan felt he needed a buffer period. Nothing went wrong during the month he stayed at the Magic Academy. The problems Ethan faced always started when he left the Magic Academy and got entangled in other incidents.

In that sense, leaving a buffer made major problems easier to handle in the end. It even made things like killing the Undying King before the war began possible.

'Of course, killing the Undying King never truly solved anything.'

Still, going back to the moment a problem first appeared, or even to before it appeared, and preventing it in advance had value.

He could not call this buffer period wasted either. If Ethan used this month to find a safe, fast route to Lifia with Boen, then after loading he could take that same route with no buffer at all and reach Lifia directly.

And there was also the quest involving Robita.
[Quest: Escort Robita (C)]
[Escort Robita Bisneri to Lupla. But be careful. This noblewoman is hiding something.]

He did not have to clear every quest, but even aside from rewards, quests themselves often served as clues.

'If we travel a month earlier, we won't meet Robita.'

For that reason, Ethan once again waited a month, then set out with Boen and met Robita's carriage and Renzo on Calon's pathway. Still, there were parts they did not need to repeat.

Ethan told Renzo there seemed to be an ambush in the forest. Renzo did not fully trust him at first, but after stopping the carriage and secretly scouting alone, he believed Ethan. Renzo had Robita and the other two get out of the carriage, then decided to strike the ambushers from behind. Ethan drove the carriage instead, while Boen hid inside and used protective magic. With that plan, they dealt with the ambushers easily and even captured one for questioning. The thug spilled everything he knew, as if he had nothing to lose.

They were hired mercenaries. Their employer in Bisneri had told them to attack the carriage while pretending to be bandits. But the mercenary they caught was not the one who had direct contact with the employer, and he did not even recognize Robita. They had come looking for work after hearing about the Muhati civil war, and had fled after their first fight. He did not know the level of information Ethan wanted. Renzo seemed satisfied he had heard enough, so he killed the mercenary on the spot.

"This is better for Lady Robita, right?"

After explaining the situation, Robita hired Renzo, Ethan, and Boen.

Renzo bought three coffins again, just like before, but left all three empty and sent the living coachman and maid away in the funeral carriage. Robita objected, clearly troubled, but Renzo said that as long as they kept riding in the carriage they would remain obvious targets, and if they had to flee, riding horses directly would be faster. If they gave up the carriage, coachman, and maid, Robita would lose some comfort, but her odds of survival would rise. As a bonus, two unrelated people would not be dragged into danger. Robita finally agreed.

Then they met Mumu again.

Ethan showed his crest to Boen and said,
"See this? My family hates great ravens, so we kill them like this."
"For people who hate them, your family still uses them as carrier birds. Maybe you're the only one who hates them, Ethan."
"Maybe. I've never had a good memory from getting involved with great ravens."

Ethan was grumbling when he felt something brush his fingertips. Mumu had come close without him noticing and had picked up a piece of bread and jerky with its beak. Ethan did not miss the moment and grabbed Mumu.

"Kek!"
"You little-"

While holding Mumu in his arms, Ethan pulled a dagger from his coat. Then he lightly cut above his left eyebrow. Mumu could not say a word with bread and jerky in its beak, and it did not seem to understand what was happening either. Then Ethan drove the dagger into Mumu's heart. The piece of bread, the jerky, and Mumu all dropped to the ground. Ethan turned away, clutching his left eye.

"Ah, damn it."
"Damn. Ethan, are you alright? Sit down. Let me take a look."

After Ethan sat down and removed his hand from above his left eye, blood ran down around it.

"Good lord."
"That damned great raven tried to peck my eye out."
"Let's go to a nearby stream. You need to wash it and put medicine on it."

Renzo and Robita followed to the stream in concern, and things grew noisy for a while. No one looked at Mumu until Ethan retrieved his dagger.

After washing his face, Ethan looked at the quest window floating at the edge of his vision.
['Quest: Kill Mumu (C)' Complete!]
[Reward: 60 experience points]
[Reward: C-Rank Lottery Coupon]

He did not feel very successful.

∞

They passed the slash-and-burn settlers' village and traveled for two more days. The first snow of the season began to fall. Robita, visibly frozen and exhausted from being pelted by snow all day, was the first to spot a light in the darkening forest.

"There's something over there."

They had been looking for a campsite, and if it was another group of travelers, approaching them could be better for security, so they headed toward the light. It lay beyond a collapsed house, piles of stone, and ruined foundations.

The light came from a fairly large mansion. It was four stories tall, with two additional buildings attached, perhaps annexes or storage. But the garden was in terrible condition, almost wild. There were no stone walls or decorative markers at all, so it was impossible to tell where the mansion grounds began or ended.

Still, lights meant people, and a mansion this size was bound to have spare rooms. If their identities could be vouched for, all the better, but even without that, openly mistreating travelers was uncommon in the culture of Damarth Yumaha.

Ethan knocked. After a short while, a young servant poked his head out.
"Who are you? What brings you here?"
Ethan answered,
"We're travelers. Could we stay here tonight? If that's inconvenient, a barn or stable is fine."
"...Please wait a moment. I'll ask the butler."

After the servant disappeared, Robita pointed out,
"You should have given my name. Then we wouldn't have to sleep in a barn or stable."

Before Ethan could answer, Renzo said,
"It would be a problem if trackers came here after we left."

"Ah."

Ethan thought Robita was sharp as a noble, but terrible as a traveler.

Robita said,
"Still, doesn't something feel strange?"
"Which part?"
"Why is he asking the butler whether to host guests? He should ask the master."
"He was a child. He could make mistakes."
"If he doesn't know whom he serves, or who owns this mansion, that means his training is poor."

From the side, Ethan saw Boen and Renzo frown.

Hoping she would remember their earlier conversation, Ethan asked,
"Should I tell him to report to the mansion owner?"

Thankfully, Robita understood there were things more important than showing her status.
"...No. I shouldn't interfere in another household's servant training over every little thing."

The door opened again, and the same servant boy said,
"You may come in, but you must leave your blades with me."

Depending on context, that could be rude, but since they were letting in several people, it was understandable. Ethan thought Renzo might refuse, but he quickly undid his own sword belt first.

Another servant approached and took away Ethan's dagger and longsword, Renzo's twin swords, Boen's dagger, and Robita's dueling sword.

The servant boy said,
"The butler wants to see you. I'll guide you."

Strangely, the person introduced as the butler managing the mansion was a boy who did not look much older than that servant child. His manner and bearing were far more refined, though.

In the dining room, the butler greeted them.
"Welcome. I am Myul, the butler of this mansion. You haven't eaten yet, right? If you're alright with it, I'd like us to talk over a meal."

At those words, Robita sat down at the table.

Since he could hardly tell Robita to get back up, Ethan said,
"Sounds good."

"Our master, Count Yertiela, is unwell and cannot leave the room, so I am greeting you in the count's place. You are traveling, I heard?"

Ethan briefly introduced the group and said they had met while traveling to Lupla. When he mentioned they met on Calon's pathway, Myul understood immediately. He seemed to know about the Muhati civil war.

Ethan asked what he was curious about.
"By the way, is this place part of Count Yertiela's territory?"
"As far as this mansion itself goes, yes. But the front yard is Calon, and the back yard is Lupla. This mansion stands on the boundary stone between the two territories."

Ethan and Robita both realized Yertiela was a fallen noble.

Fallen nobles were common enough. Once nobles lost their territory for whatever reason, they could no longer maintain their wealth. If a fallen noble sold off remaining assets and became a merchant, took mercenary work if they had even one warhorse, or at least accepted reality and farmed someone else's land, that was considered a relatively good outcome. Most fallen nobles could not accept their condition and simply spent their remaining assets pointlessly as they grew old. Even then, if what they had left was large enough, they somehow kept going and passed the family line down.

Neither Ethan nor Robita had ever heard this count's name, and with nearby villages lying in ruins, they guessed this house had fallen several generations ago.

Myul seemed uncomfortable with the topic and changed it.
"By the way, this winter's first snow has come early. Have you had any trouble on the road?"

Maybe Robita had been starved for noble conversation, because she stepped in and started talking about the hardships of travel.

While that went on, food was served. Mashed potatoes, grilled mushrooms, fried beans, and more were brought out, but Ethan felt a strange sense of unease about the white meat soup placed before each person. While the others wisely focused on the shared dishes instead of the bowls in front of them, Ethan stirred his soup with a spoon and fished something out.

Bone was exposed. Meat still clung to it, but something looked wrong.

[Search.]

As Ethan used the skill, a longer line than expected appeared before him.
[Name: A bone with flesh attached from the meat soup.]
[It is clearly from the spine. But it is too small to be a cow spine, and its shape does not match a pig spine. I have seen cow and pig bones at the family estate, and I know human bones through 'Human Anatomy (C+)'. This appears to be a human fourth cervical vertebra.]

Then a quest window appeared.
[Quest triggered!]
[Quest: The Secret of Count Yertiela's Mansion (C)]
[Within the common sense of Damarth Yumaha, there is no custom of serving human flesh to guests. Find the reason and resolve it.]

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