WETRIED TRANSLATIONS

Wizard of the Abyss

[Translator – Aren]

Chapter 117 - Using One Evil to Fight Another (7)

I went straight to the point the moment I saw Nightfall.

"This man is my enemy.”

"Really?"

With her hands clasped behind her back, Nightfall approached me cheerfully, her dull eyes practically licking my face.

"Then can you explain what all this is about?”

"Yes. When I joined Scarlet Abyss, this man, Vile Blood, took advantage of my ignorance and pushed me into dangerous missions countless times.”

I lied without even wetting my lips.

Such occurrences weren’t actually uncommon in this garbage group. Sunken Mire had tried something similar with me as well. It wouldn’t be easy to verify the truth.

"And when I was worked so hard that I was about to be crushed by my burdens and close to dying, he tried to sell me off. Before becoming Lady Nightfall’s family, I wanted to take my revenge no matter what.”

"Oho, so that’s what happened.”

Nightfall seemed pretty uninterested in the matter. She just smiled brightly and accepted it.

"Well then—no more problems, right?”

"That’s not quite it, Lady Nightfall.”

That was when…

The middle-aged man with long hair reaching his waist, who had been standing silently beside Nightfall, suddenly spoke up.

When I focused my Tide Sense on him, I saw something rather grotesque.

Threads descending from the sky were jammed into his ears, nose, mouth, and even his eyes—tens of thousands of them in nearly every opening.

If those threads represented Nightfall’s trust, then this man was undoubtedly her second-in-command.

That in itself wasn’t surprising. Of course, she would have at least one close aide.

What shocked me was Nightfall’s response.

"Is that so? What is it, Mom?”

"...?"

Nightfall had just called that man ‘Mom.’

I wasn’t particularly discriminatory. It was just… He was clearly a man.

Of course, I knew that this so-called ‘family’ wasn’t truly family but another form of hierarchy… Still, Mom was a world that could not have suited him less, and my emotions kept leaking out.

As I struggled to hide my confusion, Nightfall’s mother continued.

"Vile Blood is a well-known figure in the Lower Tier. He has completed many missions, and many more are already reserved for him. If we deal with such a key asset so lightly, there will be backlash from the Lower Tier.”

"Hmm, really? I just thought he was some insolent guy. But is that really so important?”

"Of course, it doesn’t truly matter what the Lower Tier members think—but other people may raise objections. Lord Great Void also told us not to treat the Lower Tier too dismissively.”

"..."

Unlike with the opinions of other family members, Nightfall seemed to seriously consider her mother’s words, resting her chin on her hand.

In the meantime, that guy glanced at me. It was only for a moment, but his expression clearly showed he was rather displeased.

"I never intended to kill Vile Blood either.”

"Hmm? What do you mean by that?”

"I said I wanted revenge, but if I truly killed him, it would be difficult to deal with the aftermath, even if I became your family, Lady Nightfall. And after all, I wasn’t actually killed by Vile Blood. So how about this instead? We make those guys family too. Just like me?”

"Didn’t you say he was your enemy?”

"Yes. Now that I’m with you, Lady Nightfall, wouldn’t it be far better to make them useful rather than kill them?”

"That won’t quite work, but…it’s not a bad idea. I’ll try.”

"...Huh?”

As I was trying to make sense of what ‘It won’t work, but I’ll try anyway’ was supposed to mean, Nightfall stamped the floor with her heel with a ‘tap, tap.’

Then, threads descended from the sky and wrapped around Vile Blood’s arms and legs.

"Ugh-"

Pretending not to look too closely, I glanced over. Those whose limbs were bound twitched, then loosened the ropes themselves and rose to their feet with vacant, unfocused eyes.

They looked like zombies.

"This is the best I can do without a clear affirmation.”

"What do you mean by that…?”

"Isn’t it obvious? Family isn’t a relationship that forms just because one side wants it.”

Nightfall snapped her fingers while looking at the staggering Vile Blood.

"Even if I force it, they'll only become dolls like that. Mindless puppets that can move only within my world. Still, they’re functional enough to deceive other Lower or Upper Tiers.”

"I-I see.”

"No one is born perfect. That’s why people have to rely on others. There’s no need to share blood. If you lean on each other, fill in each other’s weaknesses, and make sacrifices for each other, that’s what family is…”

After delivering that hazy lecture on family, her expression dazed, Nightfall suddenly leaned in close and pressed a finger on my forehead.

"Undercurrent, kneel.”

"Yes."

So that was how it would start. I dropped to one knee without a word.

She gently caressed my ring finger. A ring made of thread formed there.

Threads drawn from the ring soon tickled the back of my hand.

"You won’t be able to see it, but lift your hand and try to grab the air… Not there, a little more to the right. That’s it…”

I deliberately fumbled a few times before grabbing the thread.

Smiling softly, Nightfall recited the terms of the contract.

"As family, I will bear all the pain you receive. No matter how big or small. All of it. If you understand, nod.”

When I nodded, the thread writhed and spread across the back of my hand.

And from that moment, I began to feel a certain sensation. For some reason, the threads felt extremely sticky.

"In return, you must also make sacrifices for me. Will you obey all my commands and live for my sake?”

"I will, without fail.”

"Good, then… Hmm?”

With Nightfall’s puzzled murmur, the thread unraveled.

The sensation vanished. She tilted her head, then drew out the thread again.

"Huh? That’s strange. Will you obey all my commands and live for my sake?”

"Yes. I will.”

But the thread unraveled again.

"H-Huh…?”

Flustered, Nightfall tried several more times, but the thread never went beyond that sticky, half-formed state.

After contemplating for a moment, she looked straight at me and asked.

"What is this? Have you ever formed a contract with anyone else with Puppet?”

"...I have not.”

"That’s strange. We like each other, so why can’t we become family?”

"Is there some kind of problem?”

"Hmm, this might sound like a strange misunderstanding, but… It feels like Puppet itself is refusing the contract with all its might.”

"...Refusing?”

"Yeah. This is the first time I’ve seen something like this, so I’m at a loss. I don’t really know what the issue is.”

"..."

That Puppet bastard. It sure was smart.

Unlike its master, it knew that if one were to put the Abyssal Sea’s burdens on one side of the scale, then no matter what one were to pile onto the other side, the balance would never match.

With a sigh, I asked Nightfall.

"Could you try once more? It seems the contract might be a little unfair.”

"It should be quite fair. Go on, try.”

Holding the thread, I quietly muttered.

"If you would take even the tiniest fraction of my pain, then until the moment you find me no longer useful, I will offer even the very last fragment of my life. Thinking only of the prosperity of the family, if you tell me to die, I will die. If you tell me to kill, I will kill.”

"...So that’s what you were trying to do. Such an unfair contract cannot be accepted.”

Nightfall laughed lightly in disbelief and explained,

"Family must share sacrifices on equal footing. Offering one’s entire life in exchange for taking not even all, but only a portion of the burdens…”

-Raaaattle

Nightfall had no choice but to stop mid-sentence.

The ring rolled widely like a wheel, spewing out threads. In the end, the ring lost its shape entirely, stopping only when it was reduced to just a few strands of thread. Those threads rubbed against the back of my hand searching for a gap until they bored a tiny hole.

It wasn’t particularly painful. They drew no blood. After all those threads slipped through that small opening and settled inside, I looked around to see Nightfall staring at the few remaining strands that had once been the ring, her expression showing puzzlement.

"...That’s just ridiculous.”

"Is there some problem?”

"In forming a contract with you, I used enough thread to create a thousand family members. For the next two years, I won’t be able to make any new family…”

"Erm, I’m sorry.”

"No, don’t apologize.”

Nightfall smiled wryly, as if she had miscalculated in a good way.

"The fact that such an unreasonable contract was formed means you thought becoming our family was worth that much. Yes. It means you were that happy about my offer.”

...It was exactly the opposite.

It seemed Nightfall hadn’t even imagined that the burden of my world alone exceeded that of a thousand people.

Honestly, that was only natural. I didn’t want to brag about my burdens, but the Abyssal Sea was simply that absurd a place.

"I’ll allow you everything. Your memories, your will. Since you were the first to sacrifice yourself to such an extent for me, I should repay you in kind.”

Well, I had gained her favor, so the outcome wasn’t all too bad.

"I’d love to spend the whole day with you, but… I have a meeting. Sigh, Mom?”

"Yes."

"Please show Undercurrent… No, big brother around Manganji. I’ll be back by evening, so just explain the basics.”

"Understood.”

Nightfall’s male mother bowed his head and accepted.

Nightfall smiled as she turned to leave, then looked back at me and formally greeted me.

"Welcome to the family. Big brother.”

"Yes, Nightfall.”

"?"

"I’m sorry. I mean Lady Nightfall.”

Seeing Nightfall’s dull eyes blink, I hurriedly corrected myself.

It seemed like that wasn’t right.

* * *

Once Nightfall left, her mother snapped at me in a cold voice, completely unlike before.

"Follow me.”

"What should I call you? Should I call you Mom as well?”

"Number 1."

That was truly a relief. I really didn’t want to call that guy Mom.

Number 1 walked through the dark corridors of the castle without looking back as he replied.

"And never do that again.”

"What do you mean?”

"Treating her as if she were truly family. You're not a fool, so you must know. She doesn't actually want a real family. If you cross that line, a fate worse than death awaits you.”

"Well, I figured as much from the moment she called you Mom.”

I brushed off the sharp provocation, to which he stopped talking.

That suited me just fine. I needed time to experiment.

'It’s almost the same.'

The Abyssal Sea was still cold and heavy.

The only difference was that my Water Partition had widened slightly.

It wasn't that my tolerance had truly increased. Rather, Puppet had reduced the burdens of the Abyssal Sea a little bit, giving me some breathing room.

But it really was only by a small amount. Enough to maintain my Realm in reality for maybe ten more minutes.

Was that contract really worth binding my entire life for something this trivial? Others claimed it would take over their entire world for them.

...The sad part was that I could understand those people.

Then, a question suddenly occurred to me.

"Then does that mean Lady Nightfall is bearing my burden right now?”

"Impossible. If she truly took on all of it, she wouldn’t be able to endure it.”

"Then where did my burden go?”

"Everyone is bearing it.”

"I see."

Number 1 pointed out the window with a finger.

Looking out at the darkened capital at night, I realized that there were far more threads than usual. I sharply took in some air at that realization.

"...Don’t tell me."

"Now do you understand why even those who aren’t Fallen are put under control?”

My burden hadn’t disappeared.

It had been divided into incredibly small fragments and spread across all the ordinary people, those who hadn’t fallen, of Manganji.

Livestock meant to absorb pain. I stared at the houses outside, at a loss for words. Number 1 let out a short laugh.

"Do you even have the leisure to think about anything else? You should think only about family.”

"Are those people outside not family?”

"Livestock. Judging by the contract, it seems you truly wanted a family. All I can tell you is to wake up from that absurd dream…”

Number 1, sneering, sharply turned, and walked on.

"At least be grateful that you’re a worker. Your role is to increase that livestock and ensure you aren’t discarded.”

"That’s an interesting way to put it. How does one discard family?”

"Didn't you hear? Family is about mutual sacrifice. You didn’t seriously think it would end with a single contract, did you? Did you believe it would be acceptable to shove all the burden onto her and then run away? As long as she continues to shoulder the burden, you must continue to make sacrifices as well. For the sake of the family. Ah. I see…”

As if something had just occurred to him, he let out a small chuckle.

"My welcome was a bit late. Welcome to the barn, rookie.”

I smiled back and replied.

"Thank you. I’ll do my best.”

"...Tsk."

Apparently displeased with my response, Number 1 clicked his tongue and walked on.

But, yeah. I couldn’t help but smile.

Because this little game of house would collapse, all because of that livestock.

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