WETRIED TRANSLATIONS
Wizard of the Abyss
[Translator – Aren]
Chapter 24 - Rising Above (7)
Nobles didn’t gather as often as one might think.
Except for special occasions like imperial balls or tea parties by influential figures in high society, they tended to actually avoid each other.
The reason for that was pretty simple—very few of them actually got along.
Even if they met up, the only thing that would happen is that they would expend emotions and energy on engaging in heated verbal spats. So all of them shared a common mindset of just keeping to their own business and just getting out of each other’s way.
In other words.
Having more than fifty nobles gathering in one place today was highly unusual.
"Just what is going on here!!!”
Bang! Roillac, the head of the Rigdhan family and the one presiding over this meeting, slammed the round table with gritted teeth.
The teacups that had been placed in front of each noble present clattered. His actions were incredibly rude, but no one protested.
If anything, the others ground their teeth even harder and joined in his shouting.
"My daughter was kidnapped! Just what were the Knights guarding the gorge doing?! I will personally punish every person responsible for this incident in the harshest way possible!!”
"You—you useless bastards! Are you seriously telling me that you haven’t found a single clue?!!”
"The Imperial Knights are still only considering whether they will assist us? Do you not understand the current situation? Fine! I will deploy all of my family’s Knights to the capital! Even if it will lead my house to ruin, I will not lose Hughins!”
"...Ahem."
Hearing all that, Roillac, who had been the first to lose his temper, cleared his throat and took a step back.
The parents who had lost their children were on the verge of revolting. If they weren’t appeased soon, something truly terrible could occur.
"You are right to be outraged. This situation requires swift action. However, reckless actions without proper consideration will only make things worse! If you care for your children, I would like to ask you to calm down so that we can begin the meeting.”
"Is this meeting really necessary?! We barely have time to act!”
"Of course. But we must do everything we can in the limited time we have. I have requested support from the Magic Tower, and I just received word that the Imperial Knights will join us. With this we have made use of all our resources.”
The Magic Tower.
The Imperial Knights.
The private Knights orders of each house, including his own.
They could raze a small nation in less than a day with these forces. Anything beyond this would be the whole army, which wouldn’t be that useful for a search.
"I know the wait is painful, but trust me. If anything happens to the children, I will offer you my head as atonement.”
"..."
Roillac, who was connected to almost every noble house and even had the council behind him, hadn’t spoken a single empty word.
Hearing that, the nobles sat back down, still trembling. They had realized that showing excessive anger here would only get in the way.
Glancing over the much calmer nobles, Roillac snapped his fingers. To that, a stone slab floated up in the center of the room.
Crrrrk… Slight parts of the slab sunk in, revealing a map of the gorge.
"First, we must know our enemy. Hugen, tell us what you heard.”
"Yes."
A middle-aged man sitting in a relatively remote corner of the table stood up, sorrow deeply etched into his face.
"...My daughter, Lady Nia, an Academy teacher, said they called themselves the Scarlet Abyss.”
Loud murmurs roiled through the room.
"Scarlet Abyss? What’s that supposed to be?”
"...Ah, could it be the group from a few hundred years ago…?”
"I see now. Those guys described as a gang of lunatic wizards?”
"...But wasn’t that just a legend?”
Even after exchanging various opinions about this group, one thing was certain.
—It was a kind of group you’d only see in legends.
The nobles’ expressions hardened.
"I bet they were just bluffing!”
"Who would even believe that nonsense?”
"What kind of teacher can’t even protect her own students!”
Hearing this barrage of criticism, Roillac roared.
"Silence! Teacher Nia gave it her all to protect her students until the very end. When the Knights found her…”
"It’s alright. I’m satisfied just knowing my daughter is still alive.”
Hughen continued after calming Roillac.
"One thing is certain. His inner world has fallen into the Abyss. That is an undeniable fact.”
"This has been cross-checked and subsequently confirmed, so refrain from any speculation.”
Fallen.
That single word left the nobles dumbfounded.
"An Abyss Realm wizard… a living one?”
"Does someone like this even still exist in this day and age?”
"Even if one existed, how could they still be alive? Don’t wizards who fall into the Abyss Realm usually die within a month?”
“—One thing is clear.”
Roillac gripped the table and continued.
"The old Scarlet Abyss, too, was composed only of those who have fallen.”
"..."
What had begun as ridiculous nonsense now turned into a slightly plausible hypothesis.
Roillac kept going, now faced with the completely silent group of nobles.
"No matter whether they really are the Scarlet Abyss or just some lunatics borrowing the name, they certainly have been preparing for this day for quite some time. This isn’t just a random act of terror but a meticulously planned strike.”
"How could they…?”
"The moment I heard that name, I used my connections to get all the information on them I could in the underworld. Surprisingly, there had been dozens of mentions about a group with the name Scarlet Abyss in the past three years.”
"What?!"
"The reports I received are all the same. Wizards with bizarre talents, not of noble birth. They are buying up natural-born wizards with almost inexhaustible amounts of wealth…”
"..."
The nobles’ faces gradually paled.
"Did they make any demands?”
"No."
"No way…”
"...Your fears are probably right. The purpose behind this kidnapping was to increase their numbers.”
"Uugh…”
A few of the more weak-hearted nobles immediately fainted.
Roillac ground his teeth as he looked over them.
All the nobles’ children had been kidnapped.
Of course, that in itself was utterly horrific. It was the largest, most dreadful incident in decades.
But somehow…
He couldn’t shake this uneasy feeling that this was only the beginning.
* * *
In the underground prison. I looked at the sea that was gradually being stained red as I muttered quietly.
"It’s dangerous."
Faris was the cause for this, right?
I had no idea what method he was using, but he somehow could interfere with my world.
To be precise, he somehow made his blood spread through my sea. It only took an instant, like a drop of milk inside a glass of water.
[...]
Because of that blood, the deep-sea fish started to react.
However, they didn’t act nearly as fiercely as when I sprinkled some of my own blood. They simply approached it out of curiosity, not in search of prey.
It made me feel uncomfortable, so I tried to push away the blood using the current to prevent it from touching me. But no matter what I did, it continued to spread through the sea.
I frowned.
'We’re definitely going to run into him…’
Seeing that the blood was getting thicker, he probably was somewhere nearby.
Would I be able to fight him? I recalled the scene of him fighting with the teacher.
The methods he used were so bizarre that they were hard to forget. He had used his own blood to form some sort of whip. I had never heard of that kind of magic.
"Hmm…”
I didn’t see any plausible way to fight him.
Even if he had some help from those mummies, that guy still withstood the attack of two 3-star mages with ease.
Winning would take me several miracles.
But even so, I didn’t have any other choice…
I guess it was time for me to engineer the first miracle.
"Could you wait for a moment?”
I scanned the area around us using my Tide Sense.
In one of the cells I found the tool I had been looking for.
"...Don’t come in. Don’t even peek in.”
Acting immediately, I made sure to stop the kids from peeking into the cells.
I was pretty sure that the children’s weak minds would shatter if they saw. I picked up a sharp pair of pliers, probably used for some sort of torture, near a corpse.
It was caked with dried blood, but now wasn’t the time to worry about stuff like that.
"Elisia."
"Huh?"
"Can you try to cut the collar around my neck with these?”
"Ah, okay!”
Elisia took the pliers and tried to cut the collar with all her might.
"Uuuugh…!”
It didn’t work.
They were too hard. No matter what tool we used, removing these collars would be impossible with a child’s strength.
"...I’m sorry. It won’t work.”
"It’s okay."
I patted Elisia’s head, who seemed to feel a bit down, before I could even realize that I had accidentally slipped into informal speech.
I was worried that Elisia, who knew that I was a mere janitor, might feel upset about that, but seeing that she was actually rubbing her head against my hand, I guess it wasn’t like that.
This time I went to get a chisel and hammer from the torture chamber.
"Use this to hit it.”
"Isn’t that a bit too dangerous? If I slip just a little…”
"Is that so? Then you guys try holding me steady and prevent me from moving.”
"Alright!”
The children, including Hughins, crowded around me and held me down.
Elisia, with renewed determination, solely focused on hammering at the shackle.
Clang! Clang!
Each strike felt like a blow to my head, but I could see tiny cracks forming on it.
"S-stop. That’s enough.”
I staggered to my feet and pried at the cracked area with the pliers.
Crrrack...Clang!
The shattered shackles bounced off and rolled across the floor.
"Phew..."
I stirred up a gust of wind.
A strong breeze blew through the completely sealed prison.
"Alright. Gather around.”
I snapped my fingers, glancing at the children gathered around me.
The sealing collars that had been impossible to remove using the currents were easily cut through now.
"Wow…! I-it works!”
"Finally…!”
The cells were instantly lit up by the colorful glow of the children testing their favored magic.
I calmed them down and gently explained what was coming next.
"My detection magic… has been triggered by something. It’s the man who kidnapped us.”
The atmosphere immediately chilled as I spoke those words.
However, Hughins, the only one who seemed confident among the terrified children, looked at me with a gaze filled with infinite trust.
"But you can beat him, right?”
"Of course. That guy is nothing to me. Still, you might get dragged into this fight, so I would appreciate some help.”
That was a lie. But what those children needed right now was confidence.
My words seemed to have worked, seeing that their faces brightened instantly.
"You don’t have to fight him directly. Just do this and you’ll be able to get out of here safely.”
"Okay!"
After explaining the outlines of my plan, I called Elisia into one of the cells while the kids were preparing.
"Lady Elisia.”
"Yes! No, I mean, yeah!”
"Once we’re outside, the Knights will definitely look for you. Try to find them and tell them to come rescue me.”
"Got it, but rescue you? You said you can win against that guy, though?”
Elisia seemed puzzled.
I had to make absolutely sure that Elisia understood the real gravity of the situation, so I explained gravely.
"Of course, that was a lie. I can’t possibly win. Our opponent is a skilled wizard who could hold his own against two 3-star mages, while I’m just a 1-star novice.”
"...What?? You’re 1-star? ... Ah, I see. But you could use telekinesis!”
"That’s— I can’t really go into detail here, but it’s more like a trick rather than true telekinesis. If the Knights don’t come quickly, I’ll definitely die.”
"Really…?”
"Yes. Please, I’m asking you."
"...B-but why?”
Elisia’s eyes wavered.
She gently grabbed my collar, as if she couldn’t understand what she was seeing.
"Why are you going so far? You… you could have left on your own, right? You’re just a janitor. You didn’t even have to get caught like this to begin with. Are you trying to kill yourself?”
"Our deal isn’t over yet. I haven’t received my payment.”
"I don’t have anything to give you…”
She seemed quite confused.
I gently pulled her small hand away and spoke.
"Don’t worry about not being able to pay me. I’ll get my payment from your father instead.”
I could use this event to skip building trust between us entirely.
Well, that wasn’t the only reason I was doing this. Anyway, I absolutely had to save Elisia.
"And one more thing, just in case. Your magic prevents or disrupts the manifestation of other spells.”
"...Huh?"
"That guy, Hughins, actually somewhat guessed it correctly. Anyway, tell your father once you get out.”
"Uh, w-wait a minute. I don’t get what you’re saying here.”
"You don’t need to right now. Oh, and let me correct something.”
I locked my eyes with the lost Elisia.
"I have absolutely no intention of throwing away my life.”
That mindset hadn’t changed.
After about ten seconds of prolonged eye contact, Elisia nodded, her face slightly flushed for some reason.
"...Got it.”
With that, the last preparations were now completed.
All that remained was the boss fight, with survival as my only goal.
* * *
In a damp corridor on the first basement floor.
"Ah, damn it. She was seriously strong…”
Faris sighed as he looked down at his bloodied right hand.
It didn’t hurt that much. Not after what he went through by living in ‘that world.’
But he had lost too much.
"If I can’t make one of them fall after all this, I’m definitely screwed.”
The hundreds of mummies he had received for this operation were all destroyed.
He had expected the Knights and teachers to be strong and challenging to take care of, of course.
But what he didn’t expect was that the nobles guarded their children this heavily.
And he hadn't received those mummies for nothing either. If he couldn’t show any tangible results, he was sure to face punishment.
And being punished in his current situation would either mean death or an even worse fate.
'...Well, still no real problem.’
However, Faris wasn’t all too worried.
He had succeeded in kidnapping as many children who had recently gone through Soul Fever as he possibly could.
That was what was most important.
Their inner world was still incredibly fragile. Just the slightest push would bring it crashing down.
Since he had never tried torturing kids before, he worried that he might kill a few accidentally, but even then he should succeed in making at least one of them fall.
Faris hummed as he continued to descend into the prison. While he was physically quite weary, the thought of things going smoothly made his mood soar.
—That was until he saw a child standing in the corridor.
"...Huh?"
Black hair, black eyes.
A young boy, barely half his height, stared at him with emotionless eyes.
For a brief moment, Faris had been unable to understand this situation, just standing there and blinking.
Those eyes were truly strange. Rather than just calling them unfocused, they almost seemed like the depths of the sea itself…
"...Wait, wait, who the hell are you? How did you get out?”
That wasn't the real problem here. Faris shook his head and glared at the child.
There was something eerie about him, but it was clear that he was one of the noble children he’d kidnapped who somehow managed to escape.
The sealing collar should have made him unable to use elemental magic, so how did he get out of the cell?
"Hey, come here while I’m still being nice. Unless you wanna die.”
Regardless of what happened, he couldn’t leave him like that.
Faris flicked his finger, sending a few drops of his blood splattering across the floor.
These drops quickly swelled, spreading to cover the entire floor. It was quite the gruesome sight, enough to make most people faint.
And besides that, incredibly deadly.
He wouldn’t even need a chant. He could instantly make this blood harden into spears to rip the boy apart with just one snap of his fingers.
"..."
However, the boy remained completely unfazed. He just pulled out the split-apart collar from his clothes, making them roll across the floor.
Clang… It kept rolling until it bumped against Faris’s foot.
The child smiled at him.
He was clearly mocking him.
"Hah, this little brat…”
Faris chuckled. Not out of anger, but out of joy.
The boy had escaped the prison, managed to shatter the sealing collar, and avoided all the traps until he reached this place, fearlessly standing before him.
Was he perhaps consumed by some sort of reckless confidence?
No.
He acted like that because he knew that this was the only way for him to somehow escape.
"You’ve got talent.”
Faris licked his lips.
It seemed like he’d be gaining quite the amazing new companion.
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