WETRIED TRANSLATIONS

Wizard of the Abyss

[Translator – Aren]

Chapter 10 - Adoption (1)

First, I had to think fast and act even faster.

"Are you a student here? What brings you to this place…?”

I put on my best nervous face, hands clasped, head slightly lowered, seeming fearful.

I tried to pretend as if I had no clue what she was going on about… Of course, that didn’t work.

"W-wait, what? How?? You’re just a janitor… hold on.”

The girl, openly wearing her bewilderment, started circling me, frowning while she tapped her chin. Honestly, this was a bit frightening.

She stopped her words as she looked at the back of my head, blinked, and suddenly shouted as if she had just made a grand discovery.

"Ah! You’re that kid that was behind our classroom! The one with weird clothes!”

"I’m not."

"Don’t lie! You are!”

Watching her stomp her little feet in frustration, I felt a chill run down the back of my neck.

This was really bad. Did she see that too?

Still, rather than panic, curiosity came to me first. How did she manage to see me when I hadn’t felt even the slightest hint of a presence?

"How did you learn magic? You’re not a noble. So how… even I…”

Watching the student mutter deep in thought, I ran through dozens of scenarios in my head.

Then I picked the one with the highest survival rate.

"Miss Student."

"What?"

"I truly don’t understand what you’re talking about. Magic? I’m just a normal janitor.”

I kept my expression as confused as possible.

At the same time, I gently slipped the bandage behind my back and tore at the end.

Unable to get a good grip on the thread, I lifted it with a small current and tried to cut it using a sharp wind blade…

"...?"

But nothing happened.

Why? It had worked just fine a few minutes ago.

I had no other choice but pinch the thread with my fingernail and pulled. It finally came loose just as the girl started shouting again.

"Don’t lie! I saw that you lifted up that bandage, okay??”

"Ah, you mean this?”

I tossed the bandage onto the floor, then tugged it back into my hand using the thin thread I had prepared earlier.

"My apologies. I was a bit bored, so I made this makeshift yo-yo out of spare supplies. It won’t happen again.”

"...Huh?"

The girl blinked, staring dumbly at the thread attached to the bandage, before shaking her head.

"Then what about the straw last time! You cut it with wind magic!”

"You mean when I was cleaning? I used some scissors. We have to cut straw into fine pieces before we dispose of it since it’s a fire hazard otherwise.”

I pulled out a small pair of scissors from my pocket and showed it to her. Of course, all that crap about having to cut the straw was complete nonsense. But what would a noble young lady know about cleaning?

Besides, I was pretty confident that my skill level wasn’t high enough to slice things from afar. I had to get really close for it to work.

Even if she had seen me, unless she’d been right in front of my face, she wouldn’t have been able to clearly see what I had been doing.

"H-huh?"

Seeing her rather flustered, I knew I had sold it, as such I let out a faint sigh of relief.

While I was pretty certain that it had worked, just to be safe, I went for the final blow.

"Even so, I must apologize. This is all my fault."

"Eh?"

Thud. I dropped to my knees, bowing my head with a pitiful look on my face.

"I’m new to this job, so I mistook this place for the attendant’s infirmary. I overstepped, dirtying the students’ space. I will gratefully accept whatever punishment you see if. Please take responsibility and punish me.”

Of course, I knew that this was the attendants’ infirmary.

What really mattered here was the word responsibility.

Have you ever tried telling a kid they need to take responsibility?

"No, well, there's no need to punish you… this is the attendants’ infirmary, actually…”

Every single one of them would fold just like that.

Poking her fingers together and trying to avoid my eyes, the girl was already cowed.

I let out another sigh of relief.

It seemed like I had managed to dodge this bullet.

Still, I should make it a habit to scout the class early, and if she was there, just skip it. Safety always comes first.

The student gave me one last suspicious look.

“Y-you really aren’t a wizard, right?”

“Yes. How could a mere cleaner possibly use magic? Magic is a privilege for nobles as common sense dictates.”

“...That’s not for all of them though…”

"Pardon?"

"I-it’s nothing. If you’re not, then fine. Sorry for suspecting you…”

Why was this brat so obsessed with me being a wizard?

Seizing the chance I quickly jumped to my feet and bowed low.

"Thank you for your mercy. I’ll be going now.”

“Uhm, right…”

We both felt quite uncomfortable with this situation. Thinking it was best to just quickly leave, I reached for the door.

[...So, it’s this room?]

[Yeah, I’m sure of it…]

Then I heard voices.

Well, no skin off my back. I reached for the handle, but the student suddenly jolted, panicked and stopped me.

"No! Not now!”

"...?"

Two small hands grabbed me. I frowned at the sudden physical contact, as the voices outside fell silent.

[...Hmm. That voice…]

[Hehe...]

The girl covered her mouth as if she had slipped up. From that I could roughly piece things together.

So that was why a noble kid was hiding out in the attendants’ infirmary. She was being chased.

-Bang, bang, bang!

The door shook from a series of heavy, angry knocks.

[Hey, open up!]

[We know you’re in there!]

"Wh-what do I do…”

"They’re asking to open up. Should I?”

"No…”

The student trembled, looking utterly lost.

Her eyes were starting to glisten with moisture, a sight I had seen plenty back at the orphanage. It was the look of a kid just before they burst into tears.

Well, she probably did something to deserve it. Anyway, not my problem.

[How dare you run off without a word, huh? It seems like we’ll have to fix that habit today, right?]

[We’ll also cut that hair of yours while we're at it!]

...Okay, maybe she didn’t actually do anything.

Still, kids grew by fighting.

Two against one couldn’t be said to be ideal, but as long as she struck first, she could still win. If she fired off a single wind spell across one of their faces as soon as the door opened, would take care of half the problem at least.

[You useless loser who can’t even use magic!]

[Come out already! Should we burn your clothes too?]

"...Wait, you can’t use magic?”

That was unexpected. In that case, this wouldn’t be much of a fight.

Maybe she could use it but her output’s just really weak?

"Yeah..."

But her gloomy expression told me otherwise. Seeing her nod, it seemed like she really couldn’t use magic at all.

Basic spells were so simple even kindergarteners could somehow manage to use them.

So this wasn’t a matter of talent. Something else was wrong.

And now, I understood why those kids were targeting her.

"...Haah."

I sighed deeply, glancing between the shaking door and the trembling, lost girl in front of me.

Normally I would just dismiss this as kids being kids.

But wizards against a normal person? And 2 on 1 at that?

No matter how I pictured it, it would definitely end ugly.

I was sure they wouldn’t stop at simple shoving. Things could even end in bloodshed.

And… I could get dragged into it just by being in the same place as her.

I sure wasn't about to let something that dangerous come to pass. So with no other choice, I grabbed all the bandages I could find.

"Please stay still for a moment.”

"What?"

There was nowhere to hide in this room.

This was the third floor, so there was no way we could escape through the window.

So instead, I grabbed the student’s wrist and tied them tightly.

She looked at me in shock. Her glassy blue eyes sure were striking.

"Wh-what are you doing?”

"Please don’t scream, You’ll be safe.”

Looping the bandages under her arms, and around her torso, I bound her tightly–

"I’ll also gag you, just in case.”

"?"

Like a spider cocooning its prey, I quickly wrapped the last bit of bandage around her while she was still somewhat cooperative.

"? ??"

"Relax, it’ll be fine. Just don’t struggle. Heave-ho.”

"?! ???!!!!!!"

And with that– I tossed her straight out of the window.

The bandage, tied around the railing, went taut, but still managed to support her weight.

This was seriously insane. If that student fell and died, I’d be sentenced to death as a janitor who killed a noble.

Of course, I didn’t actually trust the durability of those bandages with my life on the line.

'It sure floats well.'

The bandages merely served to fool eyes and senses, and a secondary safety.

The real purpose was to wrap her so tightly that the whole bundle would be trapped in the current.

For some reason, living creatures, unless they’re wearing heavy armor, were hard to directly control with the current. If it were easy I’d have been levitating ages ago.

However, something wrapped up tightly enough to be treated as an object could be manipulated.

And since I had been recklessly messing with the currents quite a bit recently, my limits had broadened considerably.

It still wasn’t enough to make a girl float up like a balloon, but…

I could at least keep her from plummeting.

The third floor?

That was well inside of my range of current manipulation.

Even if I were to cut the bandages, she’d just fall slowly until she reached the ground.

I looked out the window and gave her one last instruction so that she wouldn’t panic.

"After I send those guys away I’ll pull you back up. Just stay still until then.”

"..."

She couldn’t really speak with her mouth gagged like that, but seeing that she nodded slowly even with all the confusion she felt, she must have understood me.

Good. I closed the window, and mussed my hair to appear as if I had just woken up.

Using the broom as my crutch once again, I then went to open the door.

"Why are you so slow? You really want to die or…Huh?”

"Who’s this?”

I sized up the kids before I spoke up.

Those guys looked maybe a year or two older than me, but their build was no joke. They could have easily passed as a fifteen year old.

The tall, blond-haired, and red-haired students looked at me probably thinking, “Who the heck is this guy?” Meanwhile I put on the most innocent, bewildered look I could muster and bowed.

"Oh my, what brings you here, esteemed students?”

"We heard a voice… Where is that girl?”

"Huh? What girl?”

"Elisia!"

"Elisia… Who might that be?"

So her name was Elisia?

My tilted head paired with my sincerely confused expression must have been quite convincing, because the red-haired kid blew up in anger.

"That silver-haired half-breed! How dare she run off without knowing her place! We were going to teach her a proper lesson today.”

"M-my apologies. I was sleeping here up until just now, so I didn’t see anything.”

"Tsk, really? You’re not hiding her in here somewhere, are you?”

"How would I be able to hide anyone in this tiny room? But if you like, feel free to search.”

"Hmm..."

"Ugh…Hughins, what now?”

It seemed like the blond-haired student, Hughins, was the one making decisions here.

I waited, heart in my throat, watching Hughins scan the room and click his tongue.

“What that guy said is right. There’s no place to hide here. Guess we just misheard.”

"Is that so…?”

"Let’s go. She’s definitely hiding somewhere around here. Let’s search the upper floors.”

"Got it! No matter where she’s hiding, we’ll definitely find her…”

The red-haired student stormed out the room in a huff. Hughins was about to follow him out when he suddenly looked back at me again.

"You. You’re a janitor, right?”

"Ah, yes…”

"It seems like you were hurt. Sorry for waking you. Here.”

-Ping!

Hughins flicked something shiny from his pocket towards me.

I reflexively caught it… It was a silver coin.

Wait, a silver coin. That’s half a year’s allowance for me.

"You didn’t have to… Thank you very much!”

Money’s never a bad thing.

I tried to hide my grin, pocketing this little bonus as Hughins continued calmly.

"If you happen to find that silver-haired student, come up to the fourth floor and tell me. I’ll pay you ten times that.”

"Of course I shall do as you say! But…”

I asked carefully.

"Did that person do something wrong?”

"Wrong? Hmpf, obviously.”

Hughins crossed his arms, his expression showing that he was genuinely offended.

"That half-breed tried to attend the same class as us. She doesn’t even know her place, so we have to beat it into her until she quits.”

"By half-breed you mean…?”

"She can’t use magic. She’s not even a proper wizard.”

Pure contempt twisted his face.

"That means one of her parents is a commoner. How utterly disgusting…”

"..."

Whoever raised this guy seriously screwed up.

While I was silently offering my condolences, Hughins smirked and blurted out something even more absurd.

"Oh, right. If you find her, you can rough her up yourself first before bringing her to us. She’s a commoner like you, so it’s fine if you hit her.”

Sure. And maybe I’ll just throw myself off a cliff while I’m at it, right?

"Understood! I’ll give her a good punch the moment I see her!”

"Huh? Hahaha! I like you, kid.”

While it wasn’t what I was aiming for here, apparently I had managed to win him over. Laughing heartily, Hughins left for the fourth floor.

Only when I couldn’t hear the sound of his footsteps anymore did I pull the bandage back through the window.

"Uuurgh… You all right?”

"..."

"Hm, I’ll take that silence as a yes.”

Elisia kept her head down, quietly unwrapping the bandages, her face clouded over.

She probably heard everything from outside the window.

And if what they said was true… I guess her obsession with magic suddenly made a lot more sense.

I gently peeled off the last of the bandages, careful as to not scrape her skin, and sat her on the bed, trying to comfort a little.

"Don’t think too much of it. Not being able to use magic is hardly the end of the world.”

Personally, I’d be more than happy if I could separate myself from that stuff completely.

But Elisia just looked towards the ground gloomily as she muttered.

"Why are you still talking to me so politely?”

"Huh?"

"Everything they said is true. I really can’t use magic…”

The lively girl from earlier was completely gone. Now she just sat there, her knees pulled up, curling into herself, drowning in self-pity.

"I’m just a half-baked noble… I skip class every day, and keep running away. So…”

"Let’s skip all that.”

"...Huh?"

I raised a hand, cutting her off mid-sentence.

Seeing Elisia tilt her head in confusion, I immediately jumped in before she could say a single word.

"That sure is tough. Good luck. You can do it. Fighting.”

"...Huh? Eh?”

Leaving behind the extremely confused Elisia, I retreated backward out of the door.

Did I have any intention of getting involved in this bizarre event?

Not in the slightest. Not even a tiny bit.

I was already drowning in my own problems.

Since it was my day off anyway, I could just sneak into another room and actually get some sleep in.

"Huh, just what…?”

I could still hear Elisia muttering in utter bafflement by what had just happened behind me.

_________________________________________________________________________

Join our Discord for updates on releases! https://dsc.gg/wetried