WETRIED TRANSLATIONS

Wizard of the Abyss

[Translator – Aren]

Chapter 198 - Journey (4)

'I’ll hear the details after I get back…'

Putting that thought aside to deal with the immediate problem, I opened the sewer gate and stepped inside. A faint scent of clean water drifted through the air.

Sewers were usually filthy and cramped. That wasn’t so much a prejudice as common sense. But here, lanterns were hung along the paths, and the passageways were wide enough that ten people could easily walk through them.

"Iavon has had many issues with water supply and sewage since long ago. Because of that, they spared no expense on the underground infrastructure to make maintenance as convenient as possible.”

The guard handed me the torch he was holding and sighed.

"Normally this sort of thing is handled by the mercenary group stationed here. We shouldn’t be sending someone our lord specifically told us to treat with utmost respect for such a trivial task…"

“Let’s just say nothing happened here. I’ll fix it quickly and come back out.”

"Yes. Those nasty earth goblins must’ve clogged the tunnel again. There shouldn’t be any trouble for someone like you, Sir Jern.”

"I don’t think this was the work of earth goblins…but alright.”

"?”

Even as the guard looked at me in confusion, I had already confirmed the problem.

No matter how long or wide the underground tunnels were, they were still within the range of my Tide Sense.

The issue was that the problem didn’t seem to be caused by a minor accident.

"By the way, do vagrants ever live down here?”

"Vagrants? No. The water sometimes floods the tunnels, so it’s not a place anyone could live in.”

"I see."

Judging by the guard’s genuinely confused expression, it seemed to be the work of a single individual.

As I began walking straight toward the source of the problem, the guard hurriedly extended his hand.

"Ah, wait! This sewer is like a maze. It’s impossible to navigate it alone. A guide will arrive shortly, so…”

"I’ve got a map, so it’s fine.”

"A-a map? There shouldn’t be one…”

Ignoring the guard’s protests, I walked through the echoing sewer paths for several minutes.

The underground sewer system truly was complicated like a maze. But while complex, it wasn’t especially large overall, so reaching the damaged section wasn’t difficult.

-Shaaaaaa...

"Here it is."

In less than 10 minutes, I found a pipe that had been cut, water wildly pouring onto the floor.

The opening was large enough for a small person to crawl through. And it was obviously deliberately cut by someone, not damage created by wear.

That worked in my favor. I slowly lifted the pipe using the currents—and pressed the severed ends back together with water pressure.

-Thud.

The water flow reconnected. However, since the pipe had been cut, it still rattled unsteadily. If I removed the pressure now, it would surely break apart again.

After thinking for a moment, I scooped up some nearby soil, dampened it with water, and packed it around the pipe.

I then squeezed it with all my might.

-Cruuunch...!

The wet soil compressed instantly under the immense pressure.

Water was still dripping out here and there, but it would serve as a makeshift adhesive for a while.

"It should be fine if I scratched it a bit, right?”

So that others could easily identify the spot later, I scratched an X on the nearby wall. Then I started walking toward the next broken pipe.

Naturally, there weren't just one or two pipes that had been cut. Dozens of pipes had been severed, which led to this massive city suddenly having problems with water.

And only the most important ones, at that.

'I wonder when they’ll come out.'

When I fixed the first pipe, I wondered if the culprit would react, but for now, it seemed like they were simply watching.

Maybe they thought it was just a coincidence.

So I kept fixing the pipes until they decided to show themselves.

-Crunch!

-Thud…

[Wh-what? The water’s suddenly running again?]

[Did that kid actually fix it?]

[Wait, I thought……he went in there to exterminate something? He looked like some noble brat. How is he repairing it?]

In the shallower sections, my Tide Sense even picked up the sound of water returning to the city above, along with the surprised chatter of people.

When the number of repaired pipes finally surpassed the number of those still broken…

I finally felt a reaction coming from further down the tunnel.

It was such blatant killing intent, gradually filling this place, that I didn’t even need my Tide Sense to detect it.

But I simply ignored it and lifted the next pipe—

"Now! Fire!”

-Tak!

Arrows immediately shot out from the darkness.

As I slowly took in the scene unfolding before me, I ended up quite startled by the rather unexpected situation.

The fired arrows weren’t really surprising. After all, I had already seen everything. How they raised their bows, how they pulled the strings taut, and how much their hearts pounded as they waited for their leader’s signal.

What surprised me was their trajectory.

'These wouldn’t hit even if I just stood still.'

So I tried staying still, trusting my pressure armor, and sure enough, the limp arrows just struck the ground.

It was impressive in its own way, I guess. Arrows shot from this distance completely missed a stationary enemy. Convinced that they weren’t actual archers, I listened as a frantic voice ordered another volley.

"What are you doing?! Again, fire again!”

"Y-yes!”

-Fwup!

This time the arrows flew differently, several aiming directly at my vital points.

Nodding in admiration at their sudden improvement, I watched as the arrows stopped several meters away from me.

"Wh-what is going on…?”

A bearded man stared in confusion as the arrows lost all momentum midair, as if they had struck an invisible target. One of his subordinates swallowed nervously.

"Th-that’s at least a 5-star…a high-ranking wizard…”

"...That’s impossible! Why would a high-ranking wizard be here?!”

They seemed to be under a rather unfortunate misconception.

If that was what they thought, they’d probably try to run. And if there were any remaining stragglers, chasing them down would become rather annoying. Thinking that, I took a step forward. The leader, who had flinched, suddenly drew his sword, determination filling his eyes.

"Today, we die here. Anyone who wants to run, do it now.”

"N-no!!"

"...Then we’ll die together with you!"

-Clack!

The grips on their swords looked clumsy no matter how you looked at it, but their resolve was real.

Eight men stepped forward into the lantern light. They wore filthy gray training robes, as if they were trying to imitate martial artists. It wasn’t just the clothes that were filthy. Every single one of them looked grimy as well.

Their hair and beards stuck out wildly in every direction. Even without looking into their eyes, you could feel the madness in them. The first man raised his sword and charged at me while screaming.

"Dieeeeee!”

"Let me take a look."

-Crunch!

"Ghk—"

"C-cough…”

All eight of them dropped their swords and collapsed to their knees in the very poses they had been charging in.

A few of their spines looked like they had bent into a slightly odd direction. I considered simply dragging them away like this, but even in that state they still hadn’t lost their vicious spirit, which made me curious.

"So you’re the ones they call earth goblins?”

"...?"

"If not, I’m sorry. I’ve never actually seen an earth goblin before. Since they’re called goblins, I expected them to look like the normal ones, but I might be wrong. For all I know, they might actually look just like humans.”

"You may take our lives, but you will not insult us! We are the Martial Order!”

"The Martial Order, huh? I see. But that’s not the name of some earth goblin subspecies, right?”

"Krrrgh...!”

The leader, who had been resisting the fiercest, struggled on his knees for a while before grinding his teeth and spitting curses at me.

"You may have won today. But one day, when the time comes—when Scarlet Abyss covers this world—your precious magic will not save you!”

"...What?"

Scarlet Abyss. The moment I heard that word, my vigilance went up a notch.

But those guys weren’t Fallen. They weren’t even wizards.

They were just people Scarlet Abyss would treat as livestock, less than humans. There was no way they had any real connection to them.

"Who do you think you are, pretending to be affiliated with Scarlet Abyss? They have nothing to do with you.”

"They may not know us, but we know them.”

"No, those guys don’t even consider people like you to be human. If they saw you, they’d kill you right away.”

"We know."

The leader met my gaze with bloodshot eyes, glowing with rage.

"But thanks to them we gained hope.”

"What kind of hope?”

"Hope that one day there will be a world without wizards.”

He clenched his teeth as he spoke.

"A world where people don’t stand above others just because they were born the son or daughter of a wizard! A fair and equal world! If such a world truly comes, we are willing to die for it!”

How should I put it?

It felt like watching a rabbit fawn over a tiger because it believed the tiger would fight a lion for it.

Well, if you didn’t know better, I guess that could happen. Remembering that international criminal organizations sometimes gained support from social outcasts, I sighed.

"So that’s why you cut the pipes of this city? For Scarlet Abyss? I’m sure they’ll praise you for a job well done.”

"...Watch your tongue! We did this to protect the ancient relic of Iavon…!”

Just before I could hand them over to the guards, one of the Martial Order guys snapped angrily at my mockery, unable to contain himself.

At that, the leader shot his subordinate a sharp glare. Realizing he had misspoken, the man immediately clamped his mouth shut.

An awkward silence suddenly fell over the place. Curiosity stirred in me again, so I nudged the leader a few times.

"Hey, what is that?”

"Kill me."

He clearly had no intention of opening his mouth. His subordinates wore the same resolute expression. After hesitating for a moment, I spoke again in a casual tone.

"Since it’s come to this, I might as well tell you. I actually came here looking for that thing as well.”

"...What?"

"I’m a member of Scarlet Abyss as well.”

I tapped near my eye to show that there was no star in my pupil, to which the subordinates’ eyes widened in shock.

"You idiots, don’t fall for such a cheap trick!”

The leader of the Martial Order snorted as he glared at me.

"Look at our hands and feet bound in midair! This is Telekinesis! He’s tying all of us up with nothing but Telekinesis and calmly holding a conversation. That means he’s at least a 7-star mage…an unimaginably powerful one. Hiding the stars in his eyes would be nothing for someone like that!”

"A-aah…”

"I-is that so…?”

Watching his subordinates’ disappointed looks, I scratched my cheek. Then a thought crossed my mind.

'What if...'

Even if the pressure of the Abyssal Sea applied gradually, bringing an ordinary person who was neither a mage nor a Knight into it would probably be lethal to them in seconds.

Moreover, they probably wouldn’t even be able to see what I see.

But—

"What are you trying to..."

I grabbed the leader’s shoulder and slowly shifted my Water Partition.

He had no idea what was happening, but I could see the Partition gradually wrapping around his body.

I wondered what would happen if I entered the Abyssal Sea with him like this.

Would he see the same things I could see?

"Open your eyes wide. I’ll show you what the Scarlet Abyss you worship is really like.”

Even with the Water Partition around him, he was just an ordinary person. If his luck was bad, he might explode and die.

'But if someone who worships extremist terrorists explodes…'

Honestly, I doubted I’d feel much guilt about it, so I moved him without much hesitation.

The next moment, the world inverted.

I watched him with curiosity. Would he see what I saw inside my Water Partition? Or would he see nothing at all, remaining in the same world he had been in before?

"..."

At first, I thought it was the latter.

He simply stared into empty space without any reaction.

It seemed like my experiment failed. Well, at least he didn’t die. Just as such thoughts entered my mind.

"Th-this is…”

He looked at the deep-sea creatures swimming before his eyes.

And at the abyss darker than black beneath us.

Staring up at the sky that continued nothing but darkness, the leader’s mouth slowly fell open.

"Th-this is…a w-world."

"Oh, you can see it?”

"Y-yes! Yes! I believe you. I believe you now! I believe!”

The leader, babbling something like a hymn, nodded frantically.

There was reverence flashing in his eyes along with fear. At this rate this already-crazed man looked like he might go even more insane, so I quickly returned us to the real world.

"Good. So you believe I’m part of Scarlet Abyss now, right?”

"Y-yes…”

"L-leader? What just happened?”

"He suddenly disappeared and then came back…”

The subordinates looked confused as they asked their leader, but the man trembled terribly, lacking the composure to pay them any mind.

So I slowly spoke, making sure he could understand despite being so panicked.

"What’s this relic you mentioned?”

"...S-soil."

"What?"

"A treasure Scarlet Abyss called Divine Soil is hidden beneath this city…”

Bingo.

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