WETRIED TRANSLATIONS

Wizard of the Abyss

[Translator – Aren]

Chapter 52 - Knight (4)

I had made a pact of sorts with Decay.

If he left without killing me, I wouldn’t tell Dercia he had been here.

Of course, I had absolutely zero intention of keeping a promise made to a murderer.

"-So he left behind this bracelet and the chest.”

"I see."

After talking for about 20 minutes, I managed to relay about 95% of what Decay had said.

Dercia carefully examined the pearls in the chest, then rubbed one between the tips of her fingers.

"They look like pearls, but aren’t. They seem more like some sort of medicine.”

"Medicine?”

"Yes."

After saying that, Dercia picked up a pearl and swallowed it.

"?"

I stared blankly for a moment before rushing toward her in shock.

"Hey, are you insane? Spit it out!”

I tried to grab her shoulders, but felt like touching my master like that would be too disrespectful, so I just spoke to her.

Dercia looked down at me with a disappointed expression, rolling the pearl in her mouth.

"Why are you making such a fuss?”

"Why would you just…eat it??? Do you know what kind of medicine it is?!”

"Medicine must be taken to confirm its effects.”

"Well, can’t you just break it down, dissolve it, dry it, and then analyze its ingredients or something? Wouldn’t that be safer?”

"I could, but it’s a hassle and time-consuming. Eating it is faster. And my body is immune to all poison. Have you ever seen an elf die from poisoning?”

"...I’ve never seen another elf other than you, Master.”

Wait, this is the first time I'd heard that elves were immune to poison. I guess they might just be eating deadly mushrooms all the time or something to build up immunity.

Anyway, since she said she would be fine, I couldn’t really say anything more.

As I anxiously watched Dercia, she swallowed the pearl, tapped her chin lightly, then nodded.

"So that’s its effect, hmm…”

"What is it?”

"It dulls other emotions and slightly elevates one’s mood. Feelings of lethargy diminish, and the world seems a bit lighter. That’s all for now. Most importantly, there are no side effects; of that I’m sure.”

"How can you tell after eating just one?”

"It’s not that difficult. I believe that you, as an Abyss Realm mage, should try yourself.”

"...And you’re absolutely sure it’s fine?”

"I guarantee it. Even if it were poison, if you were poisoned in front of me, I could cure you.”

Still feeling doubtful, I swallowed a pearl.

Its taste—was like a slightly bitter candy? Then it suddenly dissolved into powder within my mouth.

After some time, I felt dizzy, or rather, just a bit hazy. It didn’t incapacitate me or anything.

I shrugged my shoulders as I tested my movement.

"It doesn’t seem to have much of an effect, it seems."

"I don’t believe that’s the case.”

"Huh?"

Dercia slowly walked over to me and flicked my forehead.

"Ouch."

Thud

I fell straight on my butt. The carpet was thick, so it didn’t really hurt much, though.

I rubbed my lower back and got up.

"What was that for?”

"You fell.”

"Yeah, because you pushed me, so of course—Huh?"

Only then did I realize it.

Normally, I wouldn’t fall, and even if I did, I wouldn’t fall fast enough to even feel slight pain.

I waved around my arms. It wasn’t much, but I could clearly feel that the resistance had lessened.

"...My burdens decreased.”

That easily?

Scarlet Abyss. I seriously started to wonder how much research they had put into this, looking at the chest of pearls.

However, Dercia, watching me intently, spoke rather indifferently.

"Try using your Abyssal magic.”

"Yes."

I tried to lift the chest with my currents but failed.

It only rattled a bit.

"Huh?"

I put in more strength. Only after I exerted enough strength that would usually send boulders flying did I manage to shakily lift the chest.

"It’s… not working well?”

“—Hah, Scarlet Abyss has created something quite remarkable.”

Dercia’s expression shifted slightly as she looked at the chest.

"This isn’t simply a drug that reduces the burdens of the Abyss Realm. It’s closer to an artifact in the form of a drug that interferes with a fundamental mechanism.”

"Could you explain it in a way I can understand?”

"It lowers your perception of your world.”

"Got it. Perfectly understood.”

When she saw me nodding confidently, Dercia let out a sigh and explained it in clearer terms.

"I’m saying that it interferes with your ability to recognize the Abyssal Sea. That’s probably why your burdens have been temporarily reduced without any side effects. I can’t even imagine how many hundreds of years it took them to create something like this. Even from the perspective of an elf, this must have taken an excruciatingly long time.”

"So in other words, it’s really hard to make. So…does that mean my problems are more or less solved?”

"Of course not. You will probably develop a tolerance for it. Furthermore, it only seems to reduce your burdens by about a third or a quarter. For some other world this might be enough, but the Abyssal Sea? Even if you took this for your entire life, all it would do is delay your inevitable end a bit. And you don’t even have a lifetime supply of it.”

"But wouldn’t it be useful in the Abyssal Fusion state?”

"Perhaps. Though ideally, you should never enter that state to begin with. It’s a type of last resort.”

Dercia gave a far more lenient assessment than I had expected. Next she fiddled with the bracelet.

"And this—it’s clearly an artifact that transmits the wearer’s location to somewhere specific the moment it’s worn. I’ll dispose of it.”

"Erm. Wait just a second."

My hand shot forward before I even realized what I was doing.

Dercia tilted her head slightly.

"Is there a problem?"

"Well, the thing is… Hmm…”

I had told her 95%, but there was still 5% remaining.

After a brief moment of hesitation, I just blurted it out. Worrying about it any longer wouldn’t change anything.

"Master, do you not want me to survive?”

"Of course not. Did Decay say something like that?”

An immediate answer.

Dercia spoke without the slightest change in expression.

Sensing no signs of deception, I nodded and lowered my head.

"I figured as much. I’m sorry. You’ve been trying to help me, and yet I—"

"I don't care if he said some nonsense. But you, the Jern I know, wouldn’t consider his words credible unless you had some reason. Let’s hear it.”

"It’s really nothing~ He just said if you wanted to save me, you would have long made me into something that is not human."

“...”

"It was just some nonsense I should have ignored… But—”

"......"

Dercia was silent for quite some time.

I wondered if I had touched a nerve or something as I cautiously studied her face—

But what I saw was an expression I had never seen on her before.

She definitely looked flustered.

"Jern.”

"Yes."

"That statement—may not be entirely baseless."

"Huh?”

"I don’t know why I never considered that possibility before. Why…Why did I…?”

Lost in deep thought, she muttered to herself, then suddenly sat down and began to scribble something.

The lines transformed into something unintelligible, filling the page. Since I had been standing there for 20 minutes, I started to feel a bit uneasy. However, Dercia seemed to have completely forgotten my presence as she concentrated on writing.

"Excuse me, Master?”

"..."

No answer. She was practically burying her nose in those papers.

Considering whether I should make a louder noise—I rang a bell lying close to me.

But still, no reaction.

Now I was seriously starting to panic. What was going on here?

"Ah…she’s escaped into her thoughts again.”

Then, a soft voice spoke from beside me.

Startled, I quickly stepped back and looked to where the voice came from—a beautiful woman wearing a maid’s uniform stood there looking down at Dercia with a sigh.

I had been staying in Dercia’s mansion a lot lately and had never seen another person. My guard immediately shot up as I stepped back further.

"Who are you?”

Scarlet Abyss? If so, that would be the worst situation imaginable. Right when Dercia seemed not quite there mentally—

But the maid simply lifted her skirt slightly and bowed to me, a child.

"Ah, my apologies for the late introduction. I am Ciel, head maid of this mansion.”

"...I have never seen you before.”

"My master, Lady Cia, ordered me not to show myself.”

"Hmm, is that so?”

"Or do you believe that Lady Dercia is someone able to cook, clean, and do the laundry herself, by any chance?"

Absolutely not.

The halls were indeed spotless. As I let down my guard a bit, Ciel looked down at the frantically writing Dercia and sighed.

"But really… Sigh, tsk, tsk…”

Judging from how she spoke, she definitely was a maid.

She clicked her tongue, looking at Dercia like she was some kind of troublesome mold growing in the corner of a room.

"Even if you stay here, Lady Cia won’t be returning for a while. For now, please come to my room. I imagine you have quite a lot to ask.”

"..."

I still felt a bit suspicious, but there was no other way.

I followed Ciel, who was holding a lantern, to the room right next door.

...Wait, so she had been right next door all this time?

The room was also much larger and cleaner than Dercia’s. So much so that it was quite hard to figure out who the master and who the servant was.

As I sat down on a neat wooden chair, Ciel placed a teacup before me almost immediately and poured me some tea.

I took a sip. Hmm, it felt rude to put it in words, but…

It was far richer than the tea the director had made.

That kind of refinement could only be achieved by someone who had invested a significant portion of their life in the art of tea. I couldn’t help but voice my admiration.

"You really are a maid, huh?”

"Did you think I was an assassin or something?”

"Hmm, yes.”

"You’re very honest. Just like I heard.”

Ciel sipped her tea and showed me a very knowing smile.

"Heard?”

"Yes, Lady Cia speaks quite often about her troublesome disciple.”

"Ah, right. Why is Master like this anyway?”

"She, well… She ran away into her thoughts. Unfortunately, it will take her quite some time to come back to her senses.”

"...Like a week?”

"You should be prepared for at least several months, or even years.”

"What?!"

Thud. I slammed the table without really meaning to and jumped to my feet before sitting back down again, realizing how impolite my actions had been.

"I mean, what might be the problem?”

"Don’t worry too much. This happens sometimes when she argues with herself and loses.”

"Erm… What did you say?”

"When she realizes that something she has been doing is irrational—she throws aside all she was doing and devotes herself to that question alone. When she finishes, she usually ends up creating some sort of masterpiece, but I’d say she still hasn’t outgrown her childhood habits. If she fails to find an answer this time, who knows, she might actually fall.”

Ciel spoke as if it was nothing, taking another sip.

I was in no state to do the same.

Without Dercia’s help, a lot of things would become impossible. I rubbed my head and sighed.

"I have no idea why this is happening all of a sudden…”

"Hehe. Indeed.”

Even I, her disciple, was anxious.

And yet Ciel merely smiled. That irritating expression made it quite impossible for me to let this slide.

"You may not think much of this, Miss Ciel, but for me, this is a serious matter.”

"My apologies, I was simply reminded of Lady Cia’s younger days.”

"...Are you an elf?”

"No. I don’t mean when she was a child. I mean when Lady Dercia first arrived here.”

That seemed to be a surprisingly intriguing story.

Ciel gazed into the air as if reminiscing about the past.

"When Lady Cia left the Dark Magic Tower on her own and wandered the capital, reading, searching, and scribbling strange symbols on the walls of alleyways—she was closer to a beast than a person.”

Was she insulting her?

But Ciel’s expression seemed more fond than mocking.

"Isn’t it fascinating? An elf closer to a beast than a human?”

"Did you take her in, Miss Ciel?”

"If you said that in front of Lady Cia, she’d probably hit you, but yes. I suppose you could put it that way.”

I finally began to understand the situation.

Since Dercia didn’t value herself at all, of course she would need someone like Ciel to take care of her.

Then, since she wouldn’t want to be cared for, the one who took care of her had to do so voluntarily.

And lastly, a maid willing to voluntarily care for someone like Dercia would most certainly not be entirely sane.

Having come to a rational conclusion, I slightly pulled back, to which Ciel’s smile widened.

"Even the part where you stop thinking and just act is the exact same. I’d believe it if I was told you were her son.”

"...Thanks, if you meant it as a compliment, that is."

"It is a compliment. I’m rather grateful to you, Sir Jern.”

"I haven’t really done anything though.”

"Just by existing, Lady Cia has changed quite a bit. She speaks to nobles again, reconnecting her ties to the Dark Magic Tower… From an incomprehensible monster to an eccentric wizard with a disciple. I truly believe it’s an incredibly positive change.”

Ciel smiled brightly at me, as though she was incredibly pleased.

"So please don’t misunderstand. Lady Dercia really cherishes you, and she is doing everything she can to ensure your survival.”

"You overheard, huh?”

"I’m sorry. With my room right next door, it was hard not to hear.””

...Hearing these things from someone else made all of this even more embarrassing.

I cleared my throat and stood up.

"Sorry for saying unnecessary things. I guess I’ll look for something to do until Lady Dercia comes back to her senses.”

It was shocking, but when I thought about it, nothing had really changed.

My struggle for survival had started far before I met Dercia.

In fact, I now had a direction. If the advice I had received from Scarlet Abyss was useful—then maybe going to find a Knight wasn’t completely wrong.

As I got up, Ciel, seemingly just remembering something, handed me a book.

"Ah, Sir Jern.”

"Yes?"

"This is something Lady Cia had compiled for you. It may help with your training.”

"Oh, thank you.”

I opened the grimoire.

"...?"

But there weren’t any notes or explanations to be found.

There were just normal, intermediate-level spells—the kind that usually required one to at least be at 4 stars and were impossible for a 1-star mage like me to use.

Simply put, it was a grimoire filled to the brim with extremely difficult spells.

Naturally, I, a 1-star mage, couldn’t learn a single one of them. So I tilted my head and asked,

"Erm, did Master say anything about this book when she compiled it?”

"What do you mean?”

"Master said my limit is at 3 stars, but all the spells in here are only usable at a higher level.”

"Huh?"

Ciel blinked and tilted her head as if she genuinely had no idea what I was talking about.

"She said she was going to teach you everything, though?”

"?"

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