WETRIED TRANSLATIONS
Wizard of the Abyss
[Translator – Aren]
Chapter 17 - Adoption (8)
There’s a saying: “An awl in a pouch can never be hidden”.
In other words, a talent too brilliant and sharp can never stay hidden for long.
And as I expected, Linmel was simply too sharp an awl to stay hidden under the label “orphan”.
"Linmel!!!!!! Linmel, wait, but why did she run off?”
"Linmel!!... I’m not completely sure. She was talking with the Knight which seemed to have broached the topic of adoption. She probably felt pressured by it…”
It seemed like everyone of the orphanage had formed various search parties to comb through the woods at this hour to look for Linmel.
Well, to be fair, I was also out far past my curfew. But I guess they were viewing me as more of an adult I guess.
Well, fair enough. On the other hand, Linmel was still very much a child. If she happened to run into some bad people…
Hmm… Those bad people most definitely would end up dead.
Wouldn’t it be quite the waste for her to miss the chance to become a Knight’s daughter because she killed someone.
There was no helping it. Sighing softly, I headed towards the forest.
"We won’t get anywhere like this. I’ll search on my own.”
"...Will you be alright?”
"Yes."
The director seemed a bit troubled over whether he should stop a ten-year-old from going alone into the forest at night, or whether he should think himself foolish for worrying over someone who could use magic.
To reassure him, I decided to demonstrate what I could do.
-Crunch! I lifted a rotting tree lying nearby by making it aware of the ocean, then crushed it with my current.
I immediately felt my head getting dizzy. This was my limit. If I synced with the abyssal sea any more—
'Not even the medicine would be enough to help me…'
Something similar to this afternoon might happen again.
Still, my skills had improved so much that they couldn’t be compared to how they were before.
The only price I had to pay for it was a slightly narrowed field of vision, and the slight sensation of water clinging to my limbs whenever I moved.
Considering that my range of perception had increased dozens of times, I could say that this trade was more profitable than anything else.
The director gave me a nod and warned me, wearing a stern expression on his face.
"Alright then. But please, don’t do anything too dangerous.”
"Understood."
I spread out my Tide Sense just enough that none of those abyssal deep sea fish noticed me and began to scan the forest.
This was also when I realized that this ability with its incredibly wide range was unbeatable when it came to exploring or searching.
It was so precise that I could even count the feathers of the birds sleeping high up in the trees. I could also sense a family of rabbits sleeping in a nearby burrow…
I didn’t even bother calling out Linmel’s name anymore.
If she was still somewhere in the area, she should have heard us by now.
Seeing that she didn’t come out must mean that she didn’t want to.
"But you didn’t actually think you could climb that, right?”
"...?"
A huge, ancient-looking tree about ten minutes away from where I had been.
Her body was completely hidden by its lush foliage, but I could clearly feel her with my Tide Sense.
"..."
Thinking that I hadn’t spotted her yet, Linmel tried to stay as quiet as possible. She probably thought that I was just bluffing.
I knocked on the tree lightly, calling out to her.
"I can see you. Your wooden sword’s sticking out.”
"Huh?! My wooden sword?! Wait, I don’t have it though…?”
"Oh, right. I must’ve been mistaken then.”
How easy. Linmel clamped her mouth shut, completely dumbfounded.
"..."
"Come down. Let’s talk first at least.”
"...No.”
"Really? Then I’ll just come to you.”
"?"
I reached for the trunk, pretending to climb up, but Linmel immediately poked out her head through the leaves, trying to stop me in a panic.
"N-no. You might get hurt if you try climbing up.”
Indeed, this tree was incredibly tall and smooth, so anyone who didn’t have Linmel’s superhuman strength would find it difficult to climb up.
"Then are you coming down?”
"That’s…”
When I heard her trail off, I took a step forward without any hesitation.
With the current pushing against my back, I didn’t have to worry about falling, so the catastrophe Linmel was imagining would never came to be. I managed to climb up instantly actually.
It was as easy as walking, actually. Before she could even blink, I was already perched on a branch close to Linmel’s. She clapped her hands over her mouth in surprise.
"Wha-wha-wha-wah-wah-what?! How did you do that?”
"I’ve been practicing Body Reinforcement as well, you know?”
"Ah, is that so…? Wow, you’re amazing Jern. It took me a whole week just to be able to climb this tree!”
The moment I opened my mouth, I lied shamelessly.
I still didn’t quite get the difference between Body Reinforcement and yoga. I mean, I did get a lot more flexible, but as for whether I could withstand that intense water pressure with this… well.
I guess I’d have to finish learning it completely to know for sure.
"So. why’d you run away?”
"...I didn’t."
Linmel puffed out her cheeks, hugging her knees on the branch she sat on.
If I ever tried to sit in that position, I would definitely fall straight down. Her sense of balance was surprisingly good.
"I was thrown out.”
"Why?”
"Because they told me to go somewhere I don’t wanna go to…”
"Then don’t go.”
It was as simple as that. However, when I said that, Linmel glared at me fiercely.
"How can you just say that? I can’t just not go!”
"I can though. All you have to say is that you don’t want to go. Who’s going to force you? Just do whatever you want. It’s your life. Don’t leave these decisions to others.”
"It can’t be that easy.”
"It is. Go back now and tell the director that you don’t want to be adopted. Then he’ll do whatever he can to keep you from being sent away. You know what kind of person he is, right?”
"That’s not the problem…”
Linmel let her head droop, making her seem quite gloomy.
"I was told, I’m talented. I always thought smart kids like you were the real geniuses, but that Knight told me that I was actually the most gifted.”
"...Well, it’s true after all. So what?”
"`Do you remember Rianne?"
I combed through my memory at the sudden mention of that name.
Right, she was an aspiring Knight a few years older than us. As far as I could remember she was incredibly bright and kind.
"Yeah, I remember. Didn’t you learn swordsmanship from her?”
"Yeah. Rianne was really serious about it. She’d stay out to practice even when everyone else has already gone to sleep. She worked really hard… And I promised her that I’d take the Knight apprentice exam with her.”
Linmel tightened the hug around her knees, quietly mumbling.
"When Rianne heard that a Knight would come around to check our swordsmanship, she was so excited and practiced even harder. She really wanted to show him what she’d learned. But he only looked at her for a few seconds and told her that she needed to work harder.”
"Seriously? That must’ve stung.”
"No…”
She shook her head hard.
"Rianne confidently said that she understood and that she would work even harder. She looked so cool.”
"She’s got a strong spirit, alright. That’s good to hear.”
"But…”
Linmel lowered her head again, sounding as if she was about to cry.
"The Knight only looked at me swing my sword once before covering his mouth and telling me that I was the talent of the century. That if I became his daughter, he’d make absolutely sure that I would get into the Imperial Knight Order someday…”
"..."
"I don’t remember what else he said. All I could think of was the expression Rianne was making, and that I never wanted her to look like that again.”
Stuff like that happened often no matter in which world. Talent trampling over effort and dreams.
"I didn’t want to go. Buf if I stay, Rianne… I don’t know, maybe she’d start hating me. I don’t want that…”
Linmel fixed her teary eyes on me.
"Jern, what should I do?”
"Hmm..."
It had been a long time since Linmel had been this serious.
But no matter how long I thought about it, there was no absolutely right answer to this.
I guess I had to resort to shock therapy, mixing truth with small lies.
I scratched my head before answering.
"First of all, let me tell you something."
"Huh?"
"You’re not all that, okay?”
"...?"
"You’re not that talented. Just because one Knight praised you a little you act like some tragic heroine. Sorry, but aren’t you being a bit full of yourself? That’s all I wanted to say.”
Her jaw dropped to the floor when she heard what I said—
Then her head immediately turned red.
"A-are you stupid?? The Knight said I was so talented that I could make it into the Imperial Knight Order…”
"Yeah. And I’m saying that that’s not that big a deal.”
"You’re jealous of me as well, aren’t you? How can this not be a big deal?! No kid in this orphanage has ever been told that! Don’t you get it?!”
"What? Are you mad because I said that your talent’s not a big deal?”
"I’m not mad…”
"This is what true talent looks like.”
I grabbed Linmel’s trembling hand.
"Huh?"
Linmel, who probably didn’t even dream that I’d ever do something like that, lost her balance and began to plummet toward the ground.
"Kyaaa...Huh?"
But her body never even reached it.
She slowly sunk downwards as if she was in water, before softly landing on the forest floor. She seemed quite confused, oblivious to what had just happened.
Only after seeing me get down in the same manner did Linmel’s eyes widen.
"Jern, you were a noble?”
"Seriously doubt that."
Well, I probably wasn’t. Anyway, I didn’t stop there. I used the current to lift up all the leaves close to us.
There were thousands of them swirling up all at once. Even while seeming surprised, Linmel’s eyes sparkled at the storm of leaves surrounding her instantly.
"Whoa..."
"Linmel. The world is vast. From where I’m standing, your talent doesn’t look like much. Even I, a wizard, am nothing in the grand scheme of things.”
I tried to persuade her as calmly as possible.
"You seem to think that you’ve been given some never-before-seen power, but this world is more or less bursting with talents that could easily reduce you to nothing. Once you get adopted and train as an apprentice you’ll realize that soon enough. Talent doesn't make you special. It just lets you stand on the starting line sooner than some.”
"...But even if that’s true, Rianne–"
"Right. Rianne never even got to that starting line.”
"That’s so unfair…”
"It sure is.”
I chuckled slightly before tapping Linmel’s chest.
"So you have to take responsibility.”
"...?"
"For Rianne, who couldn’t even make it to the starting line. You, who could, have to run for her as well.”
Not just anyone could become a Knight. That much was obvious.
So those who were capable of achieving that had the responsibility to carry the dreams of those that weren’t forward.
The only lie I told her was that Linmel’s talent was nothing special.
The truth is that this talent would eventually let her reach the pinnacle. That much was certain.
"If you just become some ordinary Knight, Rianne would probably hate you until you die. But if you become the strongest Knight there is, she’ll definitely be proud. She’ll definitely boast about how she was the one who led you to the path of the sword.”
"...Really? Do you really think so?”
"Yeah. That’s how everyone lives.”
Linmel looked between me and the floor, as if lost in thought.
"..."
Seeing that gloomy expression gradually get replaced by her usual mischievous smile, like a child smuggling some stones into their desk and about to throw it at someone’s head, I could already tell what she was going to say.
"Jern."
"Yeah?”
"I want to be a Knight.”
"That’s the right choice.”
Getting adopted into a Knight’s family.
Wasn’t that the sweetest dream any orphan had, the kind you’d wake up crying over because it was just a dream.
To turn down something like this almost felt like a slap to every other orphan’s face.
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