WETRIED TRANSLATIONS
Wizard of the Abyss
[Translator – Aren]
Chapter 49 - Knight (1)
Our return trip was quick.
Dercia’s portal was connected directly to the library after all.
I was aware of that fact, yet actually experiencing traveling to the capital within seconds when we took two entire days by carriage to reach this city was a completely different matter. It made me imagine some very dangerous possibilities.
"If Scarlet Abyss ever managed to use teleportation spells like this, that would spell disaster.”
"Do you truly believe people who can’t even handle elemental magic could ever reach the level of stitching together dimensions? Well, that Lump seems to have a similar power, though.”
"Did you properly kill it?”
"I can’t kill it. Instead I bluffed a bit.”
"Bluffed…?”
"Yes. But considering that the bluff came from a 9-star mage, they will have no other choice but to fall for it. They know nothing about magic to begin with.”
We sent Elisia and Aletus back to their estate.
Of course, that was easier said than done.
When we arrived at the mansion, the maid who greeted us blinked in confusion, asking,
"Ah, Lady Dercia. And Sir Jern. Is something the matter? The master and young lady are currently out on a trip.”
"Umm… yeah, about that. We brought them back—”
"Huh? I beg your pardon…?”
I already had a bad feeling about what would happen next. I awkwardly stepped forward and opened the door to my workshop.
The maid, following behind me, let out a scream louder than someone discovering a murder scene.
"K-Kyaaaaaaaaaaaaagh!!”
"What is going on here, no!! Master!! Young lady!!”
"Ugh, a doctor! Send for a doctor!!”
The servants who had rushed in after hearing the scream had similar reactions.
... It seemed the news of Azellin’s invasion hadn’t reached the capital yet.
Well, obviously. We did get back here way too fast. As I quietly tried to back away, the head butler, who was on the verge of madness, grabbed me.
"Wh-what in the world happened?!!”
"Erm…”
I gave a brief explanation of what had happened, concealing what might have been done to Elisia, but even that much made the butler’s legs give way as he collapsed to the floor.
"...Thank you. Truly. Your deeds are a debt our family may never be able to repay…”
“I didn’t do much. Lady Dercia was the one—Wait, Master, where are you going?”
"I only need to make sure that they understand that we weren’t the attackers. Once the report about Azellin’s incident comes in, they'll come looking for us anyway. I’ll explain everything then.”
I sensed a strange impatience in Dercia’s tone as she spoke.
Well, there was nothing I could do about that. I gave the butler one last piece of advice before leaving.
"Erm, Lady Elisia might be a little confused when she wakes up and say some strange things. Please do not believe anything she says.”
"Pardon? What do you mean?”
"...I’m busy. Goodbye.”
I followed Dercia through the open door into the library.
?
Wait, there were books, but this wasn’t the library.
It was a strange room, with papers stacked upon papers, books, and pens scattered haphazardly on top of them. But rather than calling it messy, it felt somehow organized according to some system only the owner could understand.
This was probably Dercia’s private place. I cautiously stepped forward, looking around.
"This is my room. You are the first human, besides Ciel, I have allowed inside.”
Dercia, casually sitting down on the rather plain, kind of out-of-place bed, curled her finger.
It seemed she wanted me to come to her.
I instinctively felt great anxiety, taking a step back.
"The Imperial law—”
“Just come here. I’m going to treat you.”
"Yes."
Couldn’t she have treated me in the library though?
When I hesitantly approached, Dercia grabbed me by the back of my neck and dropped me onto the bed.
Then she examined the injured area and muttered something.
"Ugh."
Rather than calling it pain…it felt like my energy was pulled out of my body.
As soon as the healing began, all the exhaustion in my body completely vanished, relieving all the tension I had been feeling. It was strangely pleasant.
"What kind of magic is this?”
"Healing magic… though more accurately, it’s magic that simply forces your body to divert all its functions to natural recovery, dramatically increasing the speed of the process.”
"Didn’t you have that magic that could immediately heal someone completely? Like what you used when you beat me like a dog in the library.”
"That wasn’t healing but restoring your previous physical state from memory, separating the damaged areas from the undamaged parts."
"...What?”
"Jern. I have a question for you.”
Suddenly, Dercia looked directly into my eyes as she went over my wound with her hand.
"You may feel anxious, so let me state this first. No matter how you answer, nothing will change about how I treat you. Our contract will remain unchanged. I will continue to assist you in ensuring your survival, so please be honest with me.”
That whole introduction made me feel even more anxious even though she clearly meant it to be reassuring.
But at the same time, it clearly showed her sincerity, so I wiped away the smile on my lips and answered with the same sincerity.
"Yes. I understand.”
It probably didn’t look all that dignified, speaking while lying down on the bed, though.
Dercia then posed her question, her voice flat.
"Do you have any connection with Scarlet Abyss?”
"Hmm."
I pondered about it. For quite some time, actually.
I could understand why she was asking this. That was why, rather than trying to find an answer that would satisfy her, it was more like I was searching for the answer to that question I had been asking myself.
Thankfully, Dercia didn’t rush me and waited patiently even after five minutes passed in silence.
"...This probably isn’t the answer you want, but—I honestly don’t know. However, I can explain.”
"Please do.”
"This is about the corpses we saw, right?”
"Yes."
Dercia nodded.
"Since I met you, Scarlet Abyss has begun to move. Their intent to expand their numbers is quite obvious. But what is their goal? Why are they moving now…?”
"And you think that goal is me, right?”
"I believe it’s very likely. They are clearly trying to create someone similar to you. Maybe—”
"They're looking for me. That is a possibility.”
I shrugged as I answered.
"To be honest, I…have no memories of before I was five.”
"...Hmm.”
"When I came to, I was in front of the orphanage. So I grew up as an orphan. Which means I could have been tortured by Scarlet Abyss before losing my memories… or maybe I’m some sort of secret weapon they wanted to unleash on the Empire.”
"Or perhaps the part about you losing your memories is a lie.”
“Do we really have to bring up that possibility?”
"Hm…”
Dercia stared at me for a moment, then chuckled.
"If you were one of their pawns, Scarlet Abyss must be having quite the hard time.”
"I’ll take that as a compliment. Do you have any other questions?”
This couldn’t possibly be the end. I had expected Dercia to pick apart every detail in my statement, but surprisingly, she ended it there quite decisively, as if that answer was enough for her.
"Well, strictly speaking, this question was simply something born from pure curiosity. Nothing is yet certain, so making assumptions would be premature.”
"Still, isn’t it quite likely that my missing memories are somehow connected to all this?”
"Even if it is, what could we possibly do with that information? Didn’t you say you’ve lost them? So they are useless to us.”
"...That’s true."
"Then, I’ll be asking about the battle once I return, so get some rest for now.”
"Where are you going?”
"If I don’t report about the Azellin situation, things will become incredibly bothersome. If you need anything, just ring the bell and a maid will…”
Dercia suddenly stopped speaking, pondering something, before her expression twisted into something rotten, and then took the bell back.
"Never mind. I’ll return quickly, so just bear with it.”
"Okay."
After Dercia opened the door and left, I lay back comfortably on the bed.
From the image she gave off, you’d think it would reek of cigarette smoke in here, but it didn’t. If anything, everything was nearly scentless.
I was incredibly exhausted, so I thought about just sleeping, and then I reached a hand up toward the empty air.
"Hmm…”
I examined it closely.
It was a normal hand. A child’s hand. Though because of the Body Strengthening technique and training that was closer to torture, it had developed muscles that it shouldn’t have at this age.
That aside, there was nothing unusual about it.
'...Did it really happen?'
A thought suddenly struck me.
Did the original owner of this body really suffer torture severe enough to fall into the Abyss?
If that were the case...
I wondered who could have done it.
* * *
Shockingly, I couldn’t leave Dercia’s room for three whole months after that.
The moment she heard how I had managed to defeat Illusory Flower, she locked the door.
Even when Elisia, who had woken up, desperately tried to come see me, Dercia wouldn’t even allow her to speak to me.
Then it seemed like Elisia tried to break down the door. I couldn’t check on her anymore after that.
Once my leg fully healed after about two months, I asked every week to be allowed out. But Dercia, who looked at me as if I were some terminally ill patient, always gave me the same answer.
"Jern, you are in a very, very, very, very dangerous situation right now.”
"Haven’t we known that from the very beginning?”
"It’s even more dangerous. The real mystery here is how you managed to survive…”
Dercia, the dark circles even heavier than usual, knitted her brows as she examined me.
It had become a routine she would repeat every day for three months.
"How are your burdens today?”
"I don’t feel like they are getting worse than before. I know that the Abyssal Fusion state is really dangerous, but the side effects seem to have passed already. Staying inside won’t change anything. I seriously feel like I’m dying here.”
"It seems you still don't properly understand. You were moments away from becoming part of the Abyss.”
"...Ah."
I responded with a slightly surprised tone, to which Dercia tilted her head.
"What is it?”
"I thought so too. That I was on the verge of becoming a phenomenon.”
"Since you felt it yourself, this makes things quicker. If you had mismanaged it even slightly, you would have melted into that world, the Abyss Realm, and ceased to be human.”
"What would happen then?”
"Transcendence. You would vanish from this world. You would end up living inside the world you created.”
"..."
I had simply felt instinctively that it was something I should never allow to happen. So that was what was happening.
"Once you step in, you would never be able to return. So how could you force your way out by will alone…?”
As I looked at Dercia, deep in thought, I remembered something.
"Come to think of it, I think Elisia helped me return from the Abyssal Fusion state.”
"What do you mean?”
"When I came back to my senses after losing myself in that state, she was doing something to me. Maybe she somehow canceled it using her ability to reject magic?”
"Using anti-magic to prevent a person from turning into a phenomenon? Those things are completely—”
Dercia, who had been pacing around, dismissing the idea, suddenly stopped, then began thinking about this avenue more seriously.
"Hmm."
"So, when can I go out? If I stay in this room any longer, I’ll go insane.”
Even I, who usually liked staying cooped up indoors, genuinely felt like dying from this seriously long confinement.
After a long moment of silence, Dercia handed me a key.
"...Fine. If you feel like you’re about to melt into the Abyss Realm again when you’re outside, use this key to open a door closest to you. It will directly connect back to this room. It’s single-use, but it should be enough.”
"Huh? I can really go out?”
"Since nothing happened for the last three months, we can consider you stable for now. Ideally, I’d like to study you for another six months, but I have other matters to attend to.”
She really did seem busy, poking the preserved head of Illusory Flower on the desk while scribbling down what seemed like magic formulas.
"We’ll temporarily suspend our classes. I need to consider this and the matter you told me.”
"Understood. Then I’ll…”
"Yes, please rest.”
Freedom, at last. I hurriedly left the mansion before Dercia could change her mind.
"Haah…”
A puff of white breath came out. I had taken notice of it from the scenery outside the mansion’s windows, but it really was winter now.
My shoes crunched softly in the snow as I walked through the capital. I had been wandering around for quite some time, but in the end, my feet took me to what I considered my home. The orphanage. I hadn’t visited in a long time, so I should at least show my face now.
And Elisia. Considering how she tried to kick down a door, she must be doing better now, but we haven’t been able to speak for these three months. Should I go visit her after stopping by to see the director?
"Ah, right."
Since it’s been a while, I should bring a gift.
I stepped into a nearby bakery, confidently pushed open the door, and asked the confused owner,
"Are there any sweets here that have been reserved?”
"Huh? No, no there aren’t.”
"Then I’ll buy everything. Please wrap it all.”
"Haha, what an interesting joke…”
I placed the key to the workshop I had received from the Dark Magic Tower on the counter.
Then the bakery owner’s face changed completely.
"...Ah! You’re a mage’s apprentice! Are you running errands?”
Hmm. It’s my workshop key, though.
It was probably because this was an expensive bakery that often dealt with wizards. It seemed like I wasn’t going to see the ‘I beg you for forgiveness for failing to recognize you, esteemed Sir Wizard!!’ reaction.
Not that I actually wanted to see it. I shrugged and gave him my answer.
"Yes. I was told to distribute them to the people at the Tower.”
"Where’s your attendant?”
"I’ll carry it myself. Don’t worry, even if I look young, I’m still a wizard in my own right.”
I lifted the key using the currents.
At that, the bakery owner’s eyes lit up like lanterns.
"W-wait, T-Telekinensis, at your age…???”
"Ah."
This wasn’t Telekinensis though.
I guess that was how it looked to others. Unable to properly explain it, I just stayed quiet as the startled baker hurriedly wrapped up the pastries.
"Oh my! I didn’t realize I was speaking to a future Archmage! Which noble house are you from?”
"I can’t say, for personal reasons.”
"Of course. My apologies for asking something so pointless! Please just wait a moment; I’ll wrap them up nicely for you!”
"...Wait, let me help as well.”
I was going to carry them anyway, so the faster they are wrapped up, the better.
Sighing, I used the currents to lift the pastries one by one and placed them into bags.
By this point, the baker’s reaction had gone past shock into complete disbelief.
"Wait, just what…?”
"...Wow, a lot of Knights are passing by outside. Did something happen?”
Unable to bear with this any longer, I quickly changed the subject.
"...Ah, yes. They say times are dangerous these days, so those marches have become quite the common sight. Several cities were attacked by some terrorist group lately. Scarlet Abyss or something—”
"Hmm, I see.”
"I doubt they could do anything in the capital, but, well, people have families in the other regions.”
It seemed like while I had been locked up for the last three months, the name Scarlet Abyss had finally spread to the capital.
If even ordinary citizens were aware of their existence, then Scarlet Abyss’ initial goal seemed to have been accomplished.
So what would be their next move? As I watched the Knights march down the main street as I pondered, the baker spoke up again, his expression more relaxed.
"Still, I’m not particularly worried. I recently watched the Golden Seed Tournament, and the future looks quite promising.”
"The Golden Seed Tournament?”
"Yes. It’s a competition where Knight apprentices compete to see who is the most outstanding among them. But the most surprising part was that some dark horse showed up and absolutely crushed all contenders expected to win.”
"Oho, so that happened. That sounds impressive.”
Hearing the words Knight apprentice… made a certain blond girl pop into my mind.
"Indeed! It was truly incredible. It’s not like the other contenders were weak; that person was just so overwhelmingly strong that I could definitely see them aiming for the position of Knight of Heavenly Retribution.”
The bakery owner, apparently a very passionate fan of the Golden Seed Tournament, began to explain with great excitement, practically spitting as he spoke.
"Well, they couldn’t have been more than fifteen, but their skill was truly—unbelievable. To be honest, I didn’t like them at first. Their origins were unclear, and the way they talked was far too crude.”
An unsettling thought suddenly crossed my mind… Could it be?
"By crude—”
"After defeating an opponent, they would say things like, 'Child, you are nothing to me,' or 'Bow before the Dark-Night-Thunder-Scourge Knight, mortal.'"
"The what?"
"Dark-Night-Thunder-Scourge Knight. That’s what they called themselves.”
Wow……
Just wow……
Okay, it definitely wasn’t who I thought it was.
Feeling much more at ease, I took a sip of coffee.
"That is quite a name.”
"Right? But the more I watched, the more I came to like them! That cool demeanor, those eyes that looked like they belonged to someone who had mastered everything at such a young age!”
The bakery owner wasn’t quite right in the head either.
I silently offered my condolences to the poor unnamed apprentice. Since they had won the tournament, the entire world now knew they referred to themselves like that, even after they grew up more.
If it were me, I would never want to go outside anymore. As I was sipping my coffee, the bakery owner suddenly ran out from behind the counter, his face showing his excitement.
"...Oh! Sir Wizard, look over there! That’s the insignia of that apprentice!”
I looked through the shop’s window to see which unfortunate soul it was.
They had black hair. Long black hair that reached their waist.
And—
"---Pfffft!”
"S-sir Wizard?”
I spit out my coffee.
I then rushed to the window, my eyes reflecting that person’s image in detail.
Even on horseback, even with her hair dyed jet-black and wearing an expression so arrogant it almost seemed scornful—
"...L-Linmel?”
"Yes. The apprentice Linmel. Do you know her?”
It was unmistakably Linmel.
Even the armor she was wearing was incredibly strange. The pauldrons were carved with the heads of dragons and the faces of demons, and the sword hilt was decorated with jewels and inscriptions.
All of that stuff looked absolutely useless in actual combat.
"And she called herself that Dark-Night whatever Knight?”
"Huh? Yes."
Staring blankly at that scene for a bit, I gathered up all the pastries and stepped out of the shop.
"Please send the bill to the Dark Magic Tower.”
"Ah, yes. Have a nice day!”
The bakery opener seemed delighted, having sold all his pastries, but I sure wasn’t.
'Isn’t she a bit too young to be in that phase already…?’
—I had this urgent feeling that I needed to stop Linmel’s slightly premature puberty antics.
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