WETRIED TRANSLATIONS

Wizard of the Abyss

[Translator – Aren]

Chapter 158 - Past (8)

I watched Sharmia as she left, lost in thought.

That was when I remembered the last conversation I had with the present Sharmia.

She had suddenly shown me some odd sentences.

[From now on, please don’t say anything to me.]

"...Huh?"

As I wondered what she meant, Sharmia pulled out another sheet of paper, her expression serious.

[As you already know, I've seen you before. This version of you. And the things you’re about to do as well.]

"You've seen me? But then you couldn’t possibly not have known.”

No matter how much I dyed my hair blond or altered my face, the base was still the same.

If Sharmia had seen me in the past, then the moment she saw me in the present, she should have recognized me immediately.

[I’m sorry. The moment I tell you that—The other me becomes aware of it as well.]

"...Ah."

[From this point on, I can’t know how you’ll act or what methods you’ll use. If I already know what you’re doing and learn even more, the future me will end up preparing countermeasures.]

Only then did I get it.

What the present Sharmia thought and did was something the future Sharmia was also aware of.

Because she was her future self. If Sharmia and I were to exchange accurate information here, then the future version of her would know about it as well.

"So from now on…”

[Yes. For the next 2 weeks, you’ll have to act purely on your own judgement. I’m sorry, but I can’t help you.]

It was essentially a declaration of abandonment.

Still, her reason for it was valid, so I nodded. I was confident I could hold out for that much.

"Understood. I can manage for just 2 weeks."

[...]

Then Sharmia suddenly shot me a sharp, irritated look.

"What is it?"

[...Did I say that?]

"Huh?"

[Nevermind.]

After leaving behind those cryptic words, Sharmia sighed and looked at me with faint concern.

[Good luck, Jern. I’m sure you’ll manage on your own.]

That was what happened before.

I lightly dusted myself off, pulled my mask back on, and headed in the direction past Sharmia had gone.

I felt completely alone, but at the same time, oddly refreshed.

'I’ll manage on my own…will I?'

Which meant—

I could afford to use slightly more extreme measures.

* * *

Sharmia was in the imperial warehouse.

Of course, even if it was called a warehouse, it wasn’t gloomy or pitch-dark by any means, so it was closer to a treasury. The Knights, bewildered by the princess suddenly barricading herself inside, nonetheless stood firm at their posts.

Now then, what should I do…?

After briefly thinking about it, I casually knocked over a potted plant in the adjacent corridor with a current.

-Crash!

"...Who goes there?”

"Go check it out!”

Not all of the Knights moved. A portion of them drew their swords and rushed toward the source of the noise.

They couldn’t dare abandon the door guarding the princess, but even that reduction was more than enough.

After waiting a moment, I carefully moved along the ceiling, checking every angle of the Knights’ vision, and headed toward the rear entrance of the warehouse.

The back door was firmly locked, but—

A lock meant nothing to me.

Click

The moment my hand touched the padlock, it came undone. I set it aside, opened the door without a sound, and slipped inside.

"Sniff, hic…”

The first thing I saw was Sharmia, sniffing as she stuffed various treasures into a bag.

Crouched down, shoving things inside, she looked like a hamster cramming its cheeks full of seeds.

I watched for a moment, then cleared my throat to get her attention.

"Ahem."

"...!"

Sharmia turned around in shock, and upon seeing me wearing a mask, hurriedly pulled a golden dagger from her bag and aimed it at me.

"Wh-who are you?”

"That one isn’t worth a lot.”

"What...?”

I walked straight up and began rummaging through her bag.

Sharmia flinched but seemed to realize who actually held her life in her hands right now, so she remained silent. Her expression gradually turned gloomy again.

"...If you’re going to kill me, then do it. That might actually be better.”

"Are you sure about that?”

I picked up the golden dagger she had dropped and brought it up to her neck.

"Agh…”

Fear filled her face.

This would be something she would have to face thousands of times in the future, most likely. I snorted softly and pulled the blade away.

"’It’d be better to die.’ That’s easy to say. But when actually faced with death, no one actually chooses it. People with terminal illnesses, people trapped in caves with no escape. All of them desperately struggle to survive until the very end. So don’t go around saying death is an escape so easily.”

"...Who are you?”

She asked the same question she did earlier, but its meaning was entirely different.

Before, she asked me whether I was an assassin, but now she was genuinely curious about who I truly was.

I had already thought about my answer.

"Think of me as a guide arranged by your future self.”

"A…guide?”

"You’re not the only one who knows the future.”

At those words, realization fell over Sharmia’s face.

As for what the Scarlet Abyss Sharmia actually wanted, I couldn’t be sure. Was she trying to erase me by creating a future where this young Sharmia dies? Or was she trying to eliminate a future where Sharmia spends her life running away, only to eventually stand against Scarlet Abyss?

Whatever was done here couldn’t change the fixed future, so I assumed it was the former—but if she intervened for that purpose, then I’d simply use it as well.

"I'll help you run away.”

"I-I don’t need that.”

Sharmia shook her head in refusal.

"I can do that on my own.”

"Oho? And how exactly?”

"I understand what you’re saying.”

With a resolve stronger than I had expected, she put the dagger back into her bag.

"It might be true that dagger isn’t worth much, but it won’t raise suspicion.”

"Why not?”

"Unlike the other treasures, this one isn’t exclusive to the imperial warehouse. There are a total of 120 of them in the Empire. Selling it wouldn’t make it easy to track me down. And to reach the palace my future self told me about…I won’t need that much money. That’s why I chose this.”

I wasn’t sure if the phrase fit here, but even rotten fish was still a fish. Sharmia had shown talent from a young age. She wasn’t just considering an item’s worth but also if it could be traced back to her.

But naturally, it still wasn’t enough.

"Hmm. Sharmia.”

"D-don’t you dare speak the princess’ name so casually.”

"Let me tell you exactly what will happen if you take that dagger to a pawnshop. The owner will immediately drop to his knees and beg you to spare his life. Then he’ll report it straight to a nearby noble.”

"...Why?"

"Because in an empire this vast, 120 is an extremely small number.”

"?"

"That dagger was distributed by the Emperor himself to the nobles on your birthday. The design is incredibly unique. Which means any shop owner with half a brain wouldn’t dare evaluate it based solely on the value of the gold it contains. They’d instantly recognize it. This dagger is not something a mere pawnshop owner would dare to handle. Simply showing willingness to buy it could result in execution.”

I spelled it out for her, one word at a time, as she stared back blankly.

"There wouldn't be any tracing involved. It would go straight to the Emperor. And then he’d ask why you tried to run away. If you refuse to answer, he’d judge you mentally unstable and lock you in an even taller tower. If you did answer, he’d decide you were severely unstable and nail shut even the windows of that tower.”

"Th-then I’ll take something else…”

"If you were an ordinary noble lady, that might be possible. But there isn’t a single item in this vault that isn’t precious. If there were, it wouldn’t be stored here."

I checked it myself. After gaining access to the palace through my connection with Sharmia, I had once sorted through the most valuable items in the imperial treasury, just in case.

I had never planned to steal anything, but if I needed money for a greater cause, I had considered borrowing some. Ultimately, that plan had been abandoned for precisely these reasons.

"Even if there were something usable, do you really think you could leave the palace so easily? You’re the princess. Countless Knights are constantly around you, and when you go out, their number doubles. Your destinations are limited as well.”

"..."

Sharmia pressed her lips together, seemingly thinking.

Then, seemingly agreeing to my points, she lowered her head.

"Then, what am I supposed to do…?”

Her eyes reddened, as if she might burst into tears at any moment.

"There’s no way out, is there? I know it’s hard for me to leave, but I don’t want to just sit here and wait with nothing…”

"As I said, I’ll help you.”

"I told you already. I don’t trust you.”

She still looked at me with eyes full of suspicion.

"Even if you say you’re from the future, I don’t want to follow someone I've never met before. Even if this method is wrong, I’ll handle it myself. I can do that.”

"I know."

"...What?"

No matter how young she was, Sharmia wasn’t naive enough to simply nod and believe someone and agree to my words in a situation this irrational, faced with a future where the world collapses and everyone dies in agony and a future self who supposedly prepared an escape route.

She had already thought about that.

"That’s why you should ask someone you do trust for help. Someone who’ll help you, Your Highenss."

"Wh-who are you talking about?”

"How about the head maid?”

"Sheryl wouldn’t do that. She’d never let me run away.”

"You’re wrong about that. You don’t understand your head maid at all.”

"Huh? And you think you do—”

"I understand her better than you do, indeed.”

I stopped there and stood up.

"Go to her and simply say that you want to leave this palace. That’s all. If her reaction isn’t what you expect, you can always brush it off afterwards.”

"...I won’t do that."

"The choice is yours, Your Highness.”

Leaving only those words behind, I turned and walked out of the storage room.

"W-wait.”

Sharmia reached out to stop me, but—

"We’ll continue this conversation outside.”

I dismissed her.

* * *

The warehouse.

Left alone, Sharmia stared blankly at the place where the masked man had disappeared, then frowned.

'What was that…?'

He wasn’t an assassin.

He had the ability to infiltrate a warehouse filled to the brim with Knights.

And yet, he hadn’t killed her.

More than that, he’s shared a future only she should have known.

As Sharmia pondered why he repeated actions that no mere assassin would do—her gaze fell on the dagger.

She sighed and closed it.

"I’m tired…"

Too much had happened, including her encounter with that man.

Getting to her feet, she trudged back toward her bedroom, escorted by the Knights.

On her way, a bright, lark-like voice called out to her.

"Oh my, Your Highness!”

"...Sheryl.”

"I heard you were in the warehouse. Why were you there? If there was jewelry you wanted to wear, I could have gone to get it for you…”

As she walked with Sheryl toward her chamber with an exhausted expression, Sharmia recalled the words the masked man had said.

Sheryl would help her escape.

'...That’s ridiculous.’

Sheryl had always been an excellent head maid, who placed the princess's safety above all else.

How could someone like her ever say that she, the princess, should leave the palace?

Of course, she’d tell her to visit the infirmary or report it to her father.

"You look so pale. Have you been having those nightmares again lately?”

"Yes, kind of.”

"I brought some herbal tea. I’ll add a spoonful of honey for you…”

Sharmia stared blankly at Sheryl’s bright expression.

Even this loyal maid…

would one day be crushed to death by the coming disasters.

The realization made her next words slip out of her mouth.

"It’s hard to keep staying in the palace.”

Every time she looked at the people she loved, their deaths just kept replaying in her mind.

That was why her inner thoughts, carrying her true feelings, spilled out like this.

Sharmia quickly covered her mouth in shock. She shouldn’t have said that. She had sworn mere moments ago that she wouldn’t do this…

As she realized her mistake, she froze and saw Sheryl preparing some tea.

"Ah, my apologies. Please forget what I just said…”

"...Your Highness."

Sheryl.

She didn’t scold her or express concern for her mental health either.

She simply spoke casually as she continued her work.

"...Well, then, how about taking a short trip?”

"...?"

Just as that mysterious masked man had said.

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