WETRIED TRANSLATIONS

Wizard of the Abyss

[Translator – Aren]

Chapter 13 - Adoption (4)

The moment I got back to the orphanage, I locked myself into the warehouse and started planning.

First, what cards did I have to play? I was an orphan.

My capital… Compared to my goal, it was pretty much zero.

I was only ten years old. Too young for even manual labor.

...Yeah, I didn’t really have any cards.

Begging was probably my best bet for now.

"Hmm...I’d be able to handle the first parts at least..."

The first part of the textbook was just a review of what I’d already learned, so even if I got it a bit later, I would still be able to catch up with the lessons without much trouble.

The problem was what came after. I had about two weeks to get the textbook while attending class to somehow not fall behind.

And I needed at least 599 silvers…

There was no reasonable way for me to do that.

And the unreasonable ways didn’t look all too promising either.

Like, what the hell was wrong with those nobles?

I knew they were rich, of course, but paying 599 silvers for a single textbook?

It also didn’t seem all that special either.

And one had to keep buying new ones every time one advanced in grade.

…I could understand now why the library banned non-nobles. Even if magic was a privilege only nobles could enjoy, this was just ridiculous, right?

While brooding over this matter, I felt a faint ripple in the current again, to which I frowned.

'That’s probably Linmel.'

I didn't have time to play right now. If she caught me, I’d have to waste at least two hours, so I crawled into the pile of straw close to me to hide.

Now I could even time her entrance. I counted exactly five seconds in my head, and the storeroom door slammed open.

Why did she always kick the door open? Linmel burst in, her eyes sparkling, before cocking her head.

"Jern!! I found a golden beetle… Huh?”

"What are you doing in the warehouse? There’s nobody here.”

"Huuuh? That’s odd… I was sure I smelled something…”

"Just what are you talking about…?”

While Linmel looked puzzled and left with the other kids, I crawled out of the straw and dusted myself off.

Even after the door closed, I could sense the group of children moving into the forest.

Not only could I feel people coming, I could also feel them leaving…

"How fascinating."

The more I used it, the more this felt like a bat’s echolocation.

While becoming a wizard and using magic still felt pretty new to me, I could at least understand the common kinds of magic all of them could use.

This metaphysical stuff about “overlaying one’s inner world onto reality”... still sounded like nonsense to me.

But I could at least accept it as getting some place to store mana in, then pulling out whatever’s in your head into reality with that stored power. That was enough for me to follow the lessons.

However, I had no idea how magic related to the abyssal sea worked. It used no mana at all. It literally felt like I had gained new limbs.

'What should I even call this?'

I felt like I needed to give it a clear name at least, since creating currents and sensing them were entirely different abilities.

I didn’t have to be anything fancy, so I’d just name it Tide Sense.

Playing with this ability taught me a few things.

First, it was impossible to use in a crowded market. The waves I sensed were so subtle that once other people got mixed in, I couldn’t tell who was coming or going anymore.

However—if I focused on something nearby in a quiet spot.

And if I concentrated all of my senses on just that one thing, my precision became absurdly high.

Could this be useful somehow?

I shoved a wooden die for board games into a cracked brass bowl and shook it vigorously.

Let’s see if I can guess right.

"6."

It was a one.

I scratched my head and rolled it slowly this time.

I could feel the die bouncing inside the bowl. First off the side, then off the top, and off the side again…

"3."

I revealed the inside of the bowl. I got a three. It seemed like I got it right this time.

"It’s useless though.”

I just clicked my tongue.

Taking this to a real gambling table would be pointless.

There’d be far too many people around, and the dice would be rolled a lot faster than this. I could maybe detect if they cheated, but would that be worth anything?

"Wait a minute…"

What if I changed the game?

For example, if it was roulette.

I dug a few holes in the ground with my foot and tossed the die.

As it fell, I manipulated the current to make it fall into a specific hole.

-Roooll…

No matter how many times I threw it, the die always landed in a hole different from the one I had aimed for.

The one my current was leading it to.

"..."

At that point this avenue became worth exploring. I rested my chin on my hand and ran through multiple possibilities.

Of course, no one in their right mind would even think that this could actually be used.

A ten-year-old like me wouldn’t be able to get into a casino to begin with.

And I also knew how hard it was to win money in these kinds of establishments.

I hadn’t done it before, but I knew of people who got ruined that way. If one started winning a little, someone higher up would try to pull some tricks to bleed one dry. Even a dog is bold in their own yard, so I was pretty sure I stood no chance to win against them.

Even if I somehow managed to win, could I even bring that money back with me without consequences? Could I protect it with my meager power? No way. If they used force, I’d be completely helpless.

Taking all these things into consideration, I should never even think about making use of this unconventional method.

"Well, whatever."

But among the unconventional options, this was still the most normal.

After thinking about it for about an hour I came up with solutions for most of my problems.

Should I just take some of that despair-drenched money and go for it?

I left the warehouse without the slightest bit of hesitation.

* * *

"Please, can’t you do it just this once?”

"My apologies, sir. We can’t approve any more.”

The bank employee looked at Albus, the orphanage director, with pity as he slid the papers back.

"As I said before, with this much debt, we can’t approve another loan… unless you’re willing to put the building up as collateral.”

"I can’t do that.”

Albus firmly shook his head.

He could never put the orphanage as collateral.

He’d be selling the children’s future just to survive today if he did that. There was no room for compromise.

The employee sighed as if he'd already expected this answer, then put the papers away.

"Personally, I’d really love to help you, but I’m afraid it just can’t be done.”

"...No, it’s fine. Thank you for your time.”

It wasn’t fine, but he still bowed and left the bank.

Trudging along the road, his expression hollow, he glanced up at the clear sky with bitter thoughts.

'Did I take on too much…?'

The princess’ welfare policy had given them some room to breathe, which was good.

Thanks to that, there were fewer children getting neglected. Albust truly felt like kissing her feet in gratitude for that.

However, where there was light, there was shadow.

Driven by the profit that could be gained from those benefits, orphanages sprang from the ground like mushrooms. They dragged in orphans, sometimes even made some up, just to fill their quotas.

Buildings that only existed on paper. Children treated worse than animals.

Albus, who had been a promising official back then, burning with a sense of justice, tore all those fraudulent orphanages apart.

But the children remained.

None of the other orphanages seemed to have any place for them, so for a time, the capital was overflowing with abandoned children.

Albus hadn’t been aware of these details. After all, he only processed things from behind his desk, and all the reports he received showed that things were going well.

Then, on a rainy day, on his way to the palace to receive an award for eliminating those fraudulent orphanages, he came across the dead bodies of two small children, clinging to each other in an alley.

When he saw these two young corpses, their mouths still filled with baby teeth, a realization dawned upon him.

While those criminals had locked the children in cages and fed them soup unfit even for dogs…

It was him who had taken even that soup away from them.

After that experience, Albus abandoned his promising career and used all his remaining wealth to build an orphanage.

Perhaps it was his way to atone, but even if that were the case, he poured his entire being into it, from his youthful twenties to his fifties.

Even when he was told that the subsidies would stop, he spent his own savings to expand the building and improve the children’s meals.

Other teachers warned him again and again that they couldn’t continue this way, but Albus still took in every child in need.

'It seems like I was too greedy…'

Was this how the heavens punished him for what he did?

If it was, he wished it would only fall upon him. When he returned to the orphanage with weary steps, some of the children ran up to him with moody faces.

"Mister Director!! Yandil stole my candy!”

"Whaaat are you saying? You gave it to me!”

"I told you to just taste it a little! But you swallowed it! Why did you do that…? What’s the point of it if you just immediately gulp it down!”

"So what if I ate it?!”

"Now, now… no fighting, everyone. And don't share your candy like that. You could get sick. Also, if you swallow it like that, it might block your throat, and you wouldn’t be able to breathe anymore. You wouldn’t want that to happen, right?”

"Nooo..."

"Good, if you two promise me to make up and not to fight anymore, I’ll give each of you a piece of candy. How about that?"

"We’ll make up!!”

He had been worried that his anxieties would reach the children, but thankfully, only a warm smile showed up on his face as he looked at them.

After settling all the children’s matters, Albus returned to his office, where he met one of the teachers, Miss Katri, who was in charge of the overall daily management of the orphanage. She seemed rather worried.

"Sir Director, how did the matter with the loan go?”

"Well… they said it’d be difficult to approve another one.”

"Haah..."

Letting out a heavy sigh, Katri lowered the papers she was holding.

If one traced the problem back to its source, it would be because of Albus’ willingness to recklessly take in children. But she couldn’t bring herself to say it to his face.

If he hadn’t been so soft-hearted, some of the children she knew and loved wouldn’t even be alive today.

"What do we do now? We won’t even last two months with what money we have left. Maybe three if we cut back on food.”

"Hmm. I’ll keep looking for other options. And…”

Albus chuckled slightly as if all this was nothing, taking off his coat.

"You know, I’m still considered a landowner, right? If we don’t find an alternative, I can just sell what I own.”

"No, Director. That’s…”

Katri shook her head.

Calling him a landowner was only half-right.

Albus did own some land in the northern plains, which was quite valuable since it produced some of the finest tea in the region, which made it the orphanage’s largest source of income.

If he sold it, reinvested the money, and gradually scaled down, he might be able to keep the children from suffering.

However, that land had belonged to his family for countless generations and even had their burial grounds on it.

His parents rested there, not too far from the tea fields. So if he sold it…

"That’s only the last resort. And what matters most is that the children live well, right? If my mother were still alive, I know she would tell me to do it as well.”

"...You’re really incredible.”

"It’s nothing. Haah, I’m more worried about Linmel. What exactly did that Knight see in that delicate little girl…?”

"Linmel is a delicate little girl? She’s able to hunt bears, you know?”

"Huh? Is that some kind of metaphor?”

"Oh dear, you’ve been so busy getting loans approved that you didn’t hear. The other day she went up the mountain and…”

-Knock, knock, knock.

Just as Katri helplessly shook her head, her explanation was cut short by someone knocking at the office door.

"Ah, just a moment.”

"Good afternoon.”

"Oh, Jern? What brings you here?”

It was a boy with black hair, short stature, and pale skin from his low sun exposure. His eyes seemed so deep and dark that it was hard to believe that they belonged to a child his age. He bowed politely.

"I wanted to consult with you about something, Director. Do you have some time?”

"Ah, of course. Miss Katri, could you tell me the rest later?”

"Yes. Jern, don’t take too long. The Director’s already quite tired.”

"Okay. I’ll be quick.”

Once Katri left the office, Jern sat down on the sofa.

"Director.”

"Huh, yes. What is it?”

"Could you lend me some money?”

"...Uhm, money?”

"Yes."

Albus tilted his head, meeting Jern’s gaze.

He knew that he was a good child, but sometimes he couldn’t quite tell what was going on inside of his head.

But what mattered the most was that he was a good child.

'Well, he has been eavesdropping on some of the Academy’s classes recently… He probably needs money to buy supplies.’

Having come up with a plausible theory, Albus opened the orphanage's safe and asked.

"How much do you need?”

"599 silvers."

"...?"

He froze where he stood.

"Umm, that’s a bit…”

"Ah, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean the money you already have.”

Jern smiled softly and pushed his fingers forward.

Then, clang—

As if forced closed by an invisible force, the safe door shut.

That wasn’t all. Click, click—the handle twisted on its own, locking the safe tightly.

Albus silently stared at this incredible display of growth, feeling shocked.

'I—I knew he was listening in on those classes, but…'

He didn’t know all too much about magic, but even he could tell that performing it so smoothly without even chanting a single word was unimaginably difficult.

Could someone really progress this much from simply eavesdropping on a class without actually attending it?

Meeting the pondering Albus’ gaze, Jern responded.

"Let’s do some work together, Director.”

"...Work?"

"Yes."

A thought had entered his head that he should never have about a ward.

"I'll make us some money.”

Those words sounded like a devil’s whisper.

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