WETRIED TRANSLATIONS

Wizard of the Abyss

[Translator – Aren]

Chapter 142 - Connection (3)

After a brief moment of thought, I shrugged and answered.

"I’ve got plenty of experience. It wasn’t easy making it this far.”

Actually, aside from some Fallen and criminals, I had very little experience, but it felt like the kind of moment where one needed to bluff a little. When I pushed a bit harder, Heavenly Balance fell silent.

Her emotions were usually impossible to read, but the look in her eyes right now could only be called deep concern.

It lasted only for a moment, however. She returned to her usual blank expression and replied calmly.

"...That’s fortunate. Even so, you likely won’t need to act personally.”

"Why not?”

"Because I can’t give your first mission to you alone. Decay will accompany you.”

I immediately frowned.

"So you’ve met him before.”

"We had a bit of friction before I came here. Anyway, what am I supposed to do with that guy?”

"Recently, some vigilante groups have been getting a bit bold. We need to suppress their momentum.”

"Vigilantes…?”

It was a term I hadn’t heard before. When I tilted my head, Heavenly Balance clapped her hands as if something had just occurred to her.

"Aha, right. You wouldn’t know about the Empire’s recent movements. Have you heard of a unit called the Waxed Wings Unit?”

"Ah, yes. I have.”

I remembered hearing about them at the palace before.

A newly formed organization created to hunt down and kill Fallen.

Come to think of it, since Scarlet Abyss was entirely made up of Fallen, their case would naturally be handed over to the Waxed Wings Unit. While I was wondering why that mattered here, she continued.

"I see, the Waxed Wings Unit formed an alliance with the shrine maiden who once opposed them, receiving endless support and growing without limit. And now, instead of targeting us directly, they’ve begun hunting the Abandoned.”

"The Abandoned? Who are those?"

"The low-quality scum lurking in the back alleys.”

Ah.

She meant the criminal underworld. Scarlet Abyss had taken over most of the leadership positions, meaning nearly the entire underworld of the Empire was effectively under their control.

Heavenly Balance’s expression twisted in irritation as she went on.

"They’re contemptible, but at the same time, they’re pieces we absolutely need to reach the end. It seems the shrine maiden recognized this and declared war on crime…but the speed is impossible.”

"Well, the princess, no, the shrine maiden is exceptional.”

"It’s beyond that. Even accounting for all of the shrine maiden’s abilities, something’s off…”

She stared at the map spread across her desk with suspicion.

"No matter how powerful the shrine maiden is, how could she reclaim half of what we built over 10 years in just 1 month? And then slow down afterward, as if she’s intentionally stopping? Even with information, this shouldn’t be possible.”

I swallowed dryly, forcing my expression to remain composed.

That was probably because of me. While I was in the Lower Tier, I’d pretended to carry out missions while planting backdoors and handing over every bit of information I could.

Right now, the princess was playing poker with every cheat turned on. She could read her opponent’s mind, see the future, and even knew the opponent’s cards. Heavenly Balance, even as a fake shrine maiden, had keen insight, but against something like that, a poker face meant nothing.

"Perhaps she has someone on the inside…”

"So I just need to wipe out the Waxed Wings Unit with Decay?”

"Hmm, no. You won’t be clashing with them directly.”

Before she could continue her train of thought, I quickly asked her a question. She shook her head in refusal.

"It’s still too early. All of this is meant to preserve the organization. If we rush out to show individual strength, we’ll only distract from the essence of the problem. If we keep chasing the Waxed Wings Unit directly, we’ll be the ones to suffer since they vastly outnumber us.”

"Then what do we do?”

"We’ll exploit the shrine maiden’s greed.”

"...Huh?"

Sharmia and greed?

If anything, Sharmia was the furthest thing from greedy. As I tilted my head in confusion, Heavenly Balance placed several pieces on the map of the Empire with a weary expression.

"The shrine maiden made two mistakes. First, she failed to kill her father and devour the Empire. Because of that, she never obtained absolute authority. It may be insignificant, but the second princess is still alive, which means succession is not yet guaranteed.”

"How is that greed?”

"Failing to seize everything is a fault in itself. She let the worthless opinion of the public, lower than vermin, shackle her movements.”

"...”

I opened my mouth, then closed it again.

When the Lump rampaged through the Empire after stealing Elisia’s body, the princess clearly demonstrated her absurd, absolute authority by ordering investigations and arrests of every major noble house for treason.

But—that power came with a price. If it had truly been absolute authority, she wouldn’t have had to bear the backlash, even if no evidence was found.

"Secondly, she granted the Waxed Wings Unit too much freedom in the process of empowering them.”

-Scrape, scrape…

Heavenly Balance dragged a knight piece and a smaller knight piece across the map with cold eyes, placing them in the city.

"Having risen as a shining star, the Waxed Wings Unit absorbed countless talents. Naturally, they had to train them and chose the most efficient method available.”

"And that is?”

"Practical combat.”

This time, Heavenly Balance moved another piece and placed it in the same city.

"The Waxed Wings Unit’s Knights sent their recruits directly into battle. Of course, always under the protection of skilled Knights of Heavenly Retribution. Even if the recruits panicked and froze, nothing would go wrong. Under the shield of overwhelming strength, they were free to rampage and build experience…”

Tap.

The pieces collided.

"But if an accident were to occur in such an overly safe, yawn-inducing battlefield…”

"...Then the Waxed Wings Unit would be unable to escape criticism.”

"Their recklessness would become the responsibility of their master, the shrine maiden. Naturally, their activities would be curtailed.”

The smaller Knight piece toppled over and rolled across the map.

Heavenly Balance’s face remained emotionless.

"Of course, I don’t believe this alone will stop them. There are dozens, if not hundreds, of ways to destroy the Waxed Wings Unit’s momentum. All of them will be assigned to the Lower Tier as missions.”

I was both impressed and horrified by the depth of her schemes.

If direct confrontation wasn’t possible, she would simply ensure they couldn’t step forward at all.

It felt like watching politicians scheming against each other.

"Your task is simple. Make sure this becomes our problem.”

"What do you mean by that?”

"If it becomes public that Scarlet Abyss’ Upper Tier directly assassinated them, their crimes will fade in comparison. The Waxed Wings Unit underestimated the underworld and paid the price by losing young, promising talent. That is the best outcome. And for that your ability is necessary.”

"...Detection."

"Yes."

If what she said was true, the Waxed Wings Unit’s talents were protected with extreme care.

But they couldn't stay together forever. There would be gaps, albeit brief ones…

And I was to use detection to exploit those.

"I understand what I need to do.”

"Then I’ll tell you the location.”

"Before that, there’s something I’d like to ask.”

"Hmm, what is it?”

I asked lightly.

"So I have to kill those ‘talents?’”

"Why do you think I asked whether you’d killed before?”

"I see. Understood.”

"...However.”

"Yes?”

"If the situation is unfavorable, crippling them so they can never wield a sword again will suffice.”

Heavenly Balance added nonchalantly.

"Would such a situation even arise? If it’s just the two of us in my world, I can kill them anytime.”

"That’s why I said if.”

"Hm.”

I met Heavenly Balance’s gaze.

After a moment, she clicked her tongue in irritation.

"Why are you looking at me like that?”

"It’s nothing. When do we leave?”

"Get out. Right now.”

As she snapped, my suspicion turned into certainty.

How should I put it? Heavenly Balance was strangely soft when it came to children.

...Though the children imprisoned outside would strongly object to that statement.

* * *

Two days later.

"Uugh, Uweeeeegh...!!"

I emptied my stomach completely and rolled on the ground.

I could ride a horse well enough, but riding nonstop for 2 full days was completely different.

My body was drenched in sweat, and every muscle felt like they had all been torn apart.

Of course, there was a faster method…

"You can either ride the Lump or a horse. But if you choose the horse, you won’t be able to sleep for even a second.”

"What do you mean by ride the Lump? Can that thing turn into a horse and run?”

"No. I mean, you get eaten by the Lump here, assembled there, and then the Lump revives itself in a different body.”

"I’d rather die for real than do that.”

"Then you’ll have to ride the horse. It’ll take 2 days at full gallop.”

"...Can’t we just call Great Void and teleport?”

"Even he has limits when it comes to tearing space. Great Void himself usually rides the Lump for long distances.”

"Have you ever ridden it, Miss Heavenly Balance?”

"I'd rather die.”

On that, we were in complete agreement.

As a result, I ended up sprawled against the city wall, my entire body coated in dust.

"Tsk, tsk, poor kid…”

"Leave him be. All his limbs are intact, so he can work.”

Leaning against the busy city wall in a completely destitute state, people must’ve mistaken me for a beggar or something, seeing that they started tossing me coins.

I didn’t feel offended or anything. No, just watching people walk by made my mind feel calm.

It seemed I’d been living under constant tension without realizing it, spending day after day inside Scarlet Abyss. But that brief peace was shattered when ice shards fell among the coins at my feet.

It wasn’t Decay. It was a slightly older middle-aged man, but he didn’t look like the Lump in disguise.

"A boy who doesn't seem like a boy. So the rumors were true. I’ve come to deliver a message.”

Instead of answering, I picked up one of the ice shards.

A chilling cold radiated from it. The Abyssal Sea around it was freezing a little. I forced myself upright.

"Where’s Decay?”

"Shh."

The messenger lowered his voice in warning.

"Decay is too famous. If he comes out in a place like this, he’ll definitely be noticed. He’s hiding deep inside the city right now.”

"Then he could just disguise himself and come out…”

"It must be something related to his Burdens. Still, you arrived at exactly the right time. Too perfectly timed, actually.”

"What?"

Instead of answering, the messenger hurried toward the end of the wall.

When I spread my Tide Sense, I found a small hole in that direction. Sighing, I followed him through it, only for him to immediately lock eyes with a guard on the other side.

"What are you looking at?”

"..."

But when he barked confidently, the guard hurriedly averted his gaze.

Before that, I saw the scorpion tattoo on the messenger’s shoulder. It must be the mark of the underworld gang operating this city.

"Don’t worry. This city is firmly under our control. We’ve got no intention of fighting you.”

"Rotten to the core.”

"Hmpf. In a world this insane, how else do you survive?”

He boldly strode toward the walls.

Naturally, there was no resistance. He climbed the watchtower in mere moments, waited impatiently for something, then raised a spyglass and spat.

"Damn it…They really did come. Take a look."

I pushed the spyglass aside and spread my Tide Sense.

"No need. I can see…”

"Damn it, the Waxed Wings Unit actually came out all the way to our city? Why this backwater of all places…?!”

"Hey, if we cooperate, our Sadou faction will survive, right? We trusted Scarlet Abyss and stayed instead of fleeing. I want a definitive answer.”

"Fuck…”

"Wh-what?! Does that mean no?”

Ignoring the messenger, I let out a long sigh.

When I heard that the princess was backing the Waxed Wings Unit and that they gathered countless talents, I had this faint, ominous feeling that this might happen.

There was this saying, right?

Bad premonitions always come true.

[Uwooh, uwaah! The city is so pretty! Big sis, after we bring down divine punishment, can we hang around for a bit? We can, right?]

[Linmel. How many times do I have to tell you this? Address me as Dame Carose. And what do you mean by ‘divine punishment’? We’re here to learn. This is a classroom, and right now is class time.]

That sounded about right.

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