WETRIED TRANSLATIONS

Wizard of the Abyss

[Translator – Aren]

Chapter 63 - Undercurrents (2)

Brimdal’s cabin.

I was trying my best to soothe the sobbing Elisia.

"Uwaah…Uwaaaaah..."

"...I’m sorry. She gets so anxious just being anywhere near the manor…”

"This is fine.”

"Uwahuuugh…”

Elisia buried her face in her knees and muttered some things that I couldn’t decipher. While I stroked her hair, Ruhanin bowed deeply, wearing a somber expression.

"We find ourselves relying on your help once more, Sir.”

"I’ve already received plenty of help from you as well. Helping you is really fine, but could you tell me what exactly happened?”

"That’s—”

Ruhanin seemed to struggle to find the words.

"This charge of rebellion does not apply solely to our Lord. Multiple nobles in the capital have become suspects, and their estates are currently being searched.”

I’d heard as much before, but it still sounds completely absurd.

I narrowed my eyes.

"Is something like that even possible?”

"If it were truly treason. But even the Imperial Family cannot freely suppress this many nobles. However, once the word ‘rebellion’ has been spoken, resisting or struggling will only make things worse, so it is best to lie low for now and let the storm pass.”

"Hmm. I hesitate to ask, but could it be…?”

“It is a fair suspicion to have. But no. I swear on my honor. Few in the Empire are as loyal to His Majesty as our Lord.”

So, several nobles in the capital were placed under house arrest on rebellion charges.

The charges were baseless, but the accusation itself was far too severe. Even if they were falsely accused, they chose to endure the investigation quietly and act later… Aletus seemed to have come to the same conclusion.

As expected from a seasoned noble, it was a wise decision. I tapped the table, asking,

"Is there any common point among the accused nobles?”

"None. Aside from all of them being nobles, absolutely nothing.”

"Are those families on particularly good terms?”

"Even families who could be considered mortal enemies are being charged the same.”

"Hmm…”

The Imperial family, huh? Princess Lumia wouldn’t hold enough power to cause a catastrophe of this scale. She’s still pretty young after all.

I couldn’t imagine the Emperor doing something like that either. Aletus was incredibly loyal, so accusing him of treason was like handcuffing his own right hand.

Then—the first princess?

I’ve never met her, but it seemed like she was the reason why many orphanages were expanded, and she even helped with the matter regarding the Fallen.

She was someone strangely helpful to me.

...But why?

After thinking about it for some time, I could only frown.

"I don’t get it.”

"Nor do we."

I just couldn’t see any motive behind this.

Whether it was the princess or the Emperor, if they were targeting loyal nobles, there had to be some sort of objective behind it.

But when they hit various nobles all at once, it was impossible to infer anything from that.

"Is Lord Aletus unharmed?”

"Yes. However, the manor has become quite noisy with all the arguing to prove innocence and, erm, the young lady…”

Ruhanin trailed off just as Elisia lifted her head all of a sudden, wrapping her tiny, trembling hands around my neck. Why was she choking me?

"J-Jern. Dad…”

"You don’t need to worry too much. Lord Aletus is far too capable to be brought down by something like this.”

"...Is that so?”

Her expression relaxing a little, she finally let go. I used that moment to speak firmly to Ruhanin.

"I can’t really offer you much, but I’ll do everything I can. And Sir Brimdal is here as well.”

When he heard that, Brimdal, who had been sharpening his blade in the corner, frowned deeply.

"Hey, why are you dragging me into this?”

"According to chivalry, one must protect the powerless in situations like this.”

"Chivalry? Hah. There’s only one rule a Knight must follow, and that is to kill whoever he wants, whenever he wants.”

I had already become familiar with his heartless philosophy of treating Knights as nothing more than human butchers. I simply explained to the slightly bewildered Ruhanin.

"He says that, but he’ll protect Lady Elisia more diligently than any other Knight. This cabin will be safer than any stronghold guarded by a thousand guards. Please rest easy.”

"That is reassuring. We are truly grateful.”

Ruhanin bowed repeatedly before departing.

Watching him leave, I drifted into thought.

Normally, no matter how well Elisia listened to me, and even with Brimdal here, they wouldn’t leave her in some small cabin like this. It seemed like there were quite a few nobles who were being investigated.

"Jern, I…”

"Right. Just rest for today.”

Once Ruhanin left, her tension finally eased. I gently laid her onto the bed before Brimdal unsheathed his sword.

"Are we doing it here?”

"It won’t be loud enough to wake her.”

The unexpected guests delayed our schedule, but I had to continue my training.

As I slowly circled Brimdal, he suddenly asked,

"You think Scarlet Abyss is behind this?"

"If they could do something like this, we might as well just wash our necks and wait to be executed.”

Nobles charged with treason.

If Scarlet Abyss was really capable of manipulating the Imperial Family like that, there’d be no point in resisting. We’d just die before long.

"Is that so?”

Brimdal’s massive sword caught the torchlight like a polished mirror.

"Four splits today.”

"...That’s too brutal.”

He ignored my whining and casually responded.

"If you’re going to blame something, blame your own growth.”

The pressure he exuded as he stood up was unreal.

Standing against a Knight with a body roughly two and a half times my size was incredibly stressful.

Which was exactly what I wanted. Brimdal raised his blade, taking a proper stance.

He took one step forward, his blade in place under the orange torchlight.

Then a flash.

"Hmpf—!"

Swish, I twisted my head hard enough to nearly snap my own neck, yet a few strands of my hair were still sliced off.

If I had been even 0.1 seconds, or even less, slower, my scalp would have been peeled away.

Brimdal, having swung his blade with unmistakable lethal intent, smirked.

"You’re dodging well. Three strikes in a row.”

"..."

I gritted my teeth and raised my Tide Sense to its limits.

Four splits meant one second divided by four.

He tilted the blade, polished until it was mirror-like, and caught the torchlight. A flash, and at 0.25 seconds, a killing strike would arrive.

For a normal human, reacting to that would be nearly impossible.

"Predict the trajectory of a single movement and then predict the movement.”

Within that 0.25-second flash I had to calculate the sword’s path and determine its trajectory.

Or else I would die.

This wasn’t training. Brimdal wasn’t holding back; instead, he was actually trying to kill me.

-Split! My cheek split, blood trailing down my face.

As I felt that hot sensation, Brimdal looked at me in disappointment before raising his sword into the torchlight again.

"Don’t think of your ability as an ability. If you think, that means you need to perform it consciously, and that is a process in itself. When you grab a hot iron by accident, do you think about letting go? No. Act first. Think later.”

This was my daily regimen.

As the mastery of Arcane Strengthening increased, mere beatings no longer gave me that vivid sensation of being on the line between life and death.

So Brimdal brought about something far worse than mere violence. An overwhelming, inescapable sense of death. A force I could never get accustomed to.

A murderous, psychopathic dwarf.

I did this every day. And every day, I tasted death again and again.

Because—

"If you die, I’ll send that young lady back home.”

"...You’re really crazy.”

We had made an agreement before we started this training.

He would swing with the intent to kill, and if I ended up dead, I couldn’t hold any grudges.

I was an idiot who thought he only meant it metaphorically.

For Elisia’s sake, I couldn’t die today.

I saw the blade flashing in the torchlight.

Again and again.

After about an hour of this training, I was covered in shallow cuts and soaked in so much sweat, to the point that I didn’t even notice all that anymore.

But my growth was undeniable.

"It feels like only my Tide Sense is improving, not my Arcane Strengthening…”

As I slumped into a chair, my lungs burning, Brimdal seemed incredulous.

"It can improve?”

"It can and does.”

"Tsk, what a waste. A pearl necklace around a swine's neck.”

My Tide Sense and perception had sharpened drastically under true mortal danger.

It was miles ahead of my slowly improving Arcane Strengthening. Sighing, I grabbed a towel and opened the door of the cabin.

"I'll go wash up.”

"Okay. How long is this girl going to stay here?”

"I’ll send her home when this issue is resolved. It won’t take long.”

"Got something on your mind, huh?”"

"Not at all.”

Princesses, Emperors… all that stuff felt far too distant from where I stood.

I bitterly chewed on my thoughts before speaking up again.

"...No matter how I think about it, there just aren’t enough clues. I can’t figure anything out right now.”

"Is that so? Then let me give you some advice.”

"And that would be?”

“Don’t stress over things you can’t do, and do things you can.”

"..."

That was a very Brimdal-like advice. I glanced at the sleeping Elisia and murmured,

"You’re right.”

There was nothing I could do right now.

But if something came to me—I had to be prepared not to miss it.

That would be a far better course of action than wallowing in my helplessness.

* * *

Living in this cabin meant that food was hard to come by, so we had to go to the capital every week.

We could have just stocked up on long-lasting ingredients and lived off of those for a while, but—Brimdal had a strict rule.

"Aren’t you buying too much meat?”

"You’ll thank me when you’ve grown. Training builds spirit, and meat builds the body.”

He loaded nearly 100 kg of meat into the wagon as he replied.

I wouldn’t eat even 2 kg of that. Judging by the great variety of alcohol and snacks, it seemed like this would take a while.

"I’ll go run some errands.”

"Go ahead."

Sighing, I headed toward Dercia’s mansion.

I knew she would somehow contact me when she woke up, but I started feeling anxiety gnawing at me.

She had been in that state so long that I wondered if she ever woke up.

No matter how I thought about it, this couldn’t go on. While physical training helped me resist the pressure of my burdens—but, ultimately, it was just a temporary measure.

I needed to learn magic.

"Um, Sir Jern?”

"?"

As I was walking, lost in my complicated thoughts, a blonde boy around my age, loitering by the fountain in the square, spotted me and hurried over.

His stride, the training sword strapped to his back, and his constant vigilance.

It seemed he was a Knight—or almost at least. An apprentice.

He was someone I should show some respect to, I carefully asked.

"Yes? Who are you?”

"I’m, erm, Marton. The one you fought in the last match.”

"Ah, Sir Marton!”

"You remember me? I thought it was too short a match for you to do so…”

"How could I forget someone I crossed swords with?”

Of course, I didn’t remember him at all.

But I still gave him a bright smile. He fought with all his might and remembered me quite well. If I had said something like “And who were you again?” his heart would have shattered.

"What’s the matter?”

"Could I perhaps borrow a moment of your time?”

"That’s..."

I really had to go see Dercia.

I scratched my head with a slightly awkward look on my face, about to refuse.

"Please!”

Marton nearly bent more than 90 degrees right there in the streets.

"I promise, it won't take long. I really have something I need to talk to you about!”

"Ah, alright… I get it, so please raise your head.”

Once someone bowed that low, there was no way one could say no anymore.

He probably just wanted me to give him some pointers on swordsmanship or something. Thinking that I could visit Dercia later, I followed Marto, who brightened instantly.

"Yes! Right this way!”

He hurried down an alley as if he didn’t want to waste a single second, leading me to an empty lot.

"I brought him!”

There were several other apprentices already gathered there.

But…none of them looked all too friendly.

"Good job.”

The largest one stared at me with blazing eyes.

I glanced back for a second; Marton had already joined them, wearing a similar glare.

What a hassle.

This place was quite open, so escaping wouldn’t be much of a problem for me. But if this became a recurring thing, it would be nothing but trouble. I sighed and tried to talk things out first.

"What’s this about? I’m busier than I look. Please get to the point.”

"Your nose is piercing the heavens.”

"You won a single tournament, and now you think you’re a real Knight?”

The apprentices closed in, completely surrounding me.

They were all different ages, mostly a year or two older than me, but—being apprentices—they were all massive. It felt like being encircled by adults.

"It seems you have some sort of grudge against me, huh?”

"Yeah!"

So it was about my origins.

Honestly, it was a lot stranger that something like this didn’t happen earlier.

If someone rises up from the gutter, no matter how talented, or maybe because of that talent, people tend to resent it. The better you did, the more they would hate you.

Normally, this was when one should let one’s fists do their talking.

I sighed as I reached for my sword hilt, but then…

"Choose, right here and now! Are you a wizard, or are you a Knight!”

"...?"

The biggest guy pointed his finger at me and barked that nonsense.

Wondering what he was on about, I asked,

"Choose? I am both.”

"You can’t be.”

"And why not?”

"Because it’s obvious why you became a Knight! The Knights are just a pitiful fallback for losers who can’t cut it as mages, so you’re here to trample all over us for fun!”

Hmm.

So those guys didn’t mind an orphan becoming a Knight, but had a problem with a wizard becoming one.

Did those apprentices hold some sort of inferiority complex towards wizards?

So to them, the idea of a mage-apprentice dominating over Knight-apprentices seemed something inherently unforgivable, huh.

I narrowed my eyes, denying their claims.

"That’s not the case. Don’t you think it’s kind of absurd to discuss superiority and inferiority between wizards and Knights? Their roles are completely different. It’s like comparing a baker and a lawyer as if they were the same kind of profession.”

"Whatever! Then why did you enter the tournament just to beat us up like that?!”

"I didn’t really want to enter. And I have absolutely no intention of stealing your spots as Knights either.”

I only did it to prove that I wasn’t a useless swindler disciple Brimdal randomly picked up.

I didn’t expect to actually win the whole damn thing.

"I won’t be entering any more tournaments anyway, so please don’t worry too much. Can I go now?”

The big apprentice shook his head and stuck out his hand.

"Hmph, so you’re done playing Knight? Then hand it over!”

"Hand what over?”

"The price you got for beating us at the tournament!”

"?"

This was the first time I was hearing of there having been a prize.

"And what prize would that be?”

"I knew you’d act like that. If you really have no interest in becoming a Knight, then you don’t need it!”

"No, I seriously have no idea… Ah.”

Could it be that thing?

I rummaged through my robe’s pockets and pulled out a wrinkled ball of parchment.

"I did get this winning certificate thing, but—"

"Uwaaaaaargh…!!!”

The apprentice’s eyes bulged before he quickly darted forward and snatched it out of my hands, carefully unfolding it as if he were handling a delicate work of art.

"Y-you crazy bastard! How could you treat it like that?!”

"Q-quick! Get a heavy book! We need to flatten it out!”

The apprentices rushed to gather around the certificate and began unfolding it more.

They were struggling so hard one might think they were actually trying to resuscitate a dying person.

I stared down at this pathetic scene and asked Marton, who seemed as if he would faint.

"Why do you even want that thing? Wouldn’t having a trophy with someone else’s name on it be pretty pointless?”

"Y-y-you idiot?! Then why did you enter the tournament?!”

To clear the public’s doubts.

Marton clutched his head as if he was in pain.

"I thought it was just some trivial competition, since all I got was this piece of paper. There wasn’t even an awards ceremony.”

"An award ceremony? With that certificate, you get a knighting commendation from the Royal Knights!”

"Ah, I see. A commendation. Sounds important, I guess?”

As I thought, it wasn’t anything special. When he heard me answering that indifferently, Marton started throwing a proper fit.

"Not just any Knight order, but the Royal Knights! Don’t you understand what that means?”

"No clue.”

"It means the most noble of nobles will know who you are, that you won! Not all who receive this certificate end up joining the Royal Knights, but every member of the Royal Knights has received it!!”

"..."

So this was about establishing oneself as a shining rookie in the Royal Knights.

I guess it was understandable why those apprentices were so rabid for it.

Of course, I didn’t really want to become part of the Royal Knights.

Even if they offered me to join, I would refuse decisively. Why would I sign up to become some bodyguard for the Imperial family when I had my hands full with protecting my own life?

Still.

"Hmm…”

I felt like I had found a clue.

I placed several things on my mental scale, weighing safety against risk.

Until one side finally dropped.

"That’s it! It’s as good as new!”

"Uwaah, beautiful, so beautiful…”

Just when I finished my thoughts, the apprentice had finished neatly flattening the winning certificate.

I approached the group, overcome with emotion.

"Everyone."

"Ah, Jern. It seems we misunderstood you.”

So they already forgot that they had called me a crazy bastard a few minutes ago?

The apprentices, their faces as serene as a Buddha’s, smiled at me as they continued.

"For you to hand over such a precious certificate without asking for anything in return… You aren't a wizard. You’re a true Knight!”

"No. I’m definitely a wizard.”

"R-right?”

"Yes. And…”

I gave them a cool, refreshing smile as I held out my right hand.

"I’ll be needing that back now.”

It seemed like he misunderstood something here, but—I never gave it to them.

One of them just snatched it out of my hand when I took it out.

"It’s mine, after all."

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