WETRIED TRANSLATIONS

Wizard of the Abyss

[Translator – Aren]

Chapter 67 - Undercurrents (6)

I had been mistaken. The terror attack wasn’t delayed because the nobles were arrested.

It was delayed because Elisia had come to the cabin during the process.

"..."

"Jern? Is something wrong?”

"It’s nothing.”

I held my tongue.

She, of course, had a connection to Scarlet Abyss. Maybe something was implanted inside of her when she was kidnapped and forced into that dream by Illusory Flower.

But then why didn’t they do the same to Aletus? That would have been a lot faster.

...I had no clue. I met Sharmia’s eyes, which were watching me with confusion. I did it to avoid suspicion.

All my future selves from every branch had reached the same conclusion.

The reason they hid it from the princess—

"Shar. Hypothetically, if I do find the cause, what will you do?”

"We’ll have to take care of it, won’t we?”

"It won’t be that easy.”

I intently studied her expression as I spoke.

"The nobles I investigated were all the heads of prominent houses deeply interwoven with the Empire since ages. If one of them is aiding Scarlet Abyss, removing them won’t be simple, even for Your Highness.”

"Ah, that’s what you were worried about.”

Sharmia sipped her tea, smiling softly.

"Yes. It certainly won’t be easy… but it is possible.”

"How so?”

"We just need to take care of the culprit and blame the whole thing on Scarlet Abyss.”

"...Is that really possible?”

"Yes."

A short answer.

But it was enough for me to witness her conviction.

"Do you really have to kill them? I mean, since they didn’t do it intentionally, wouldn’t it suffice to isolate them?”

"That would be the ideal solution, indeed…”

She rested her chin in her hand, then finished her sentence with something quite chilling.

"But the future doesn’t allow uncertain interference.”

"What do you mean?”

"That’s what happens when you can only see the process and not the result. Let’s say I see a future where I’m assassinated. In that vision I see myself drink a glass of poisoned wine. What do you think I should do?”

"You should just avoid drinking wine then, right?”

"Sometimes that’s all it takes to solve this, but sometimes it doesn’t. There are absurd cases where the assassination only succeeds because I avoided drinking wine.”

Sharmia sighed, appearing as if she was speaking from experience.

"To erase a disaster like this, we can’t allow anything but certain endings."

"That means—”

"Eliminate the source. Find the person who poisoned the wine, the hand holding the dagger, the one ready to rush out to kill you at any moment.”

She then smiled bitterly.

"With the Imperial capital at stake, I have no room for leniency. I’ll never be able to choose something as uncertain as isolation.”

I see.

I smiled back and lifted the teacup to my lips.

This was exactly why none of my future selves told her. The moment the princess found out that Elisia was the cause, it was pretty obvious what would happen.

Of course, I wasn’t planning to let the capital burn to the ground just to save Elisia. Even if she was my future retirement fund, there were lines one should never cross.

However.

I at least wanted to give her a chance to struggle.

If I didn’t even grant her that, then I wouldn’t be able to live the way I did anymore.

I stood up and placed a coin beside the cup.

"Won’t you tell me your theory?”

"My apologies. I think I still need some more information. I’ll tell you once I’m certain.”

"Oh, really?”

"Yes. Really.”

"Well, if you insist, there’s nothing I can do then.”

After exchanging some smiles, I left the teahouse first.

"Excuse me.”

The moment I reached the alley, I gritted my teeth and ran.

Sharmia had said she had spoken with me for a long time.

In other words, she most definitely noticed that I had been trying to hide something just then.

I had, at best, a day or two before her additional investigation reached Elisia.

That was all the time I had left.

* * *

Sharmia kept smiling until Jern’s figure completely disappeared from her view.

And like that, five more minutes passed since then.

She kept staring outside, her expression fixed, until a waitress brought her new tea.

"Phew."

She let out a deep sigh, loosening her tension. She looked up at the waitress and asked,

"Was I shaking?”

"No, not even once did your breath falter.”

"That’s a relief.”

-Clink

The face of that waitress, currently collecting the empty cup, was far too beautiful for a mere teahouse worker.

Skin so flawless that it seemed unreal. Lush, golden, cascading hair, and eyes and eyelashes so perfect, looking as if they were crafted by a master artisan.

Sharmia soon murmured softly, after almost being entranced by that face.

"...Seeing you up close, you really do look extremely pretty. I should thank your parents.”

"Yes, indeed.”

The waitress nodded her head in agreement, then calmly stared in the direction Jern had run.

"Shall we set a tail on him?”

"Don’t.”

"Yes."

No argument.

To those who knew, Sharmia’s words were the absolute truth. An oracle.

Every citizen of the Empire quite literally owed their lives to her.

Meanwhile, Sharmia, like any other woman in her early twenties, just smiled and chatted nonchalantly as if she had not a single worry in the world.

"I couldn’t say this in front of him, but isn’t he ridiculously cute? He is so young, yet always looking so grumpy, hiding everything he’s thinking. Talking to him feels like dealing with some jaded political monster."

Sharmia’s Knight, Carose, swallowed dryly.

The urge to ask her why she found that cute in any way was overwhelming.

"I just want to bite his cheek and ruffle his hair all the time. I know I shouldn’t think like that… Is this what it feels like to have a little brother?”

"Your Highness, with all due respect—”

Nevertheless, there was something she absolutely had to express.

"I still believe the more prudent option is to kill him.”

She stared down the alley where Jern had vanished with unadulterated murderous intent.

His trail was still fresh. If she were to give the order now, it would take her less than two minutes to catch up to that brat and behead him.

As long as Her Highness gave the order.

"Hmm…”

Sharmia leaned back, looking slightly troubled.

"Well, that is one of the options.”

"In that case—”

"But no.”

She refused. Carose was forced to swallow her bitter frustration once more and stepped back.

Seeing her like that, Sharmia added with an apologetic smile on her lips,

"I’m sorry. But the very fact that I can talk to ‘that thing’ at all is the most fascinating thing I’ve ever experienced, above anything else. If possible, I absolutely want him as an ally, no matter what it takes.”

"As you wish. I shall comply with whatever Your Highness decides.”

"Thank you for your understanding.”

Sharmia bowed her head in gratitude, then picked up the cup of black tea Jern had left behind.

Steam was rising from it. Jern had lifted the cup to his lips several times—but the level hadn’t decreased at all.

He had just brought it to his lips, not drinking a sip from it.

A wise move. Yet Sharmia’s face became sulky.

"It’s the 349th time, and he still won’t drink it.”

She tried so hard to make him drink it.

It wasn’t even poisoned or anything…

Sharmia took a sip of it herself, feeling some regret.

–Sip.

"Hmm..."

After tasting it…

... She realized he might have suspected it was poisoned.

* * *

"Wha–, h-hey! You thief! Bring my horse back!"

"I’m a direct guard of Her Highness the first princess.”

"Here’s the saddle, too. Please enjoy your ride.”

I took the fastest horse from the nearest stable and raced to the cabin.

I barely knew how to ride a horse, but by reading the movements of the horse’s muscles using Tide Sense, I somehow managed to make it go even faster.

It seemed like Brimdal was out chopping wood, so I kicked open the door.

Inside, Elisia was happily lounging on the bed reading a book, lighting up the moment she saw me.

"Oh, Jern?”

Seeing that radiant smile…

I forgot everything for a moment, feeling a short but painful pang of guilt.

Sure, my life sucked quite a lot too, but Elisia not only lost her mother at a very young age, got bullied, kidnapped, and nearly killed, but also had something implanted into her that dragged her into this whole mess.

At this point this felt less like a streak of bad luck and more like the whole world was her ‘burden.’

I led Elisia to sit down on a chair, smiling.

"Jern?”

She looked up at me bewildered, noticing my slightly serious expression.

"Sorry, this might be quite sudden, but I’d like to ask you a few questions. Would you mind answering them?”

"Questions? Why all of a sudden?”

"I’m…just curious.”

It would definitely be best to keep all the details about this situation from her for now.

She nodded without hesitation.

"Okay!”

After I got her permission, I immediately shot my first question at her.

"Have you been feeling sick lately? Did any part of your body hurt maybe?”

"Hmm, not at all.”

"Did you maybe suddenly develop a new interest in something like, I don’t know, arson? Like an urge to burn down everything in the world?”

"What? Absolutely not!”

"Did monsters perhaps suddenly look cute to you to the point that you want to invite them to the capital?”

"...J-Jern??”

Elisia looked at me with a concerned expression.

"Did I do something wrong?”

"No. That’s not it…”

Elisia herself was completely oblivious.

And no matter how I looked at her, Elisia didn’t seem like she was a Fallen.

If she were, there was no way I would have missed it while living together with her like this. Looking into her confused eyes staring at me, a sudden thought appeared in my mind.

The thing that was done to her the moment she was kidnapped that day—

"...Dreams."

"Huh?"

"Have you had any weird dreams lately?”

"Hmm… I don’t think so?”

She thought for a moment but then shook her head.

If not dreams, then what else could it be? As I continued to ponder over some other possibilities, Elisia suddenly added something as if it just occurred to her.

"Actually, now that I think about it, I don’t dream at all.”

"You don’t dream?”

"Yeah. Even if I sleep, it feels like I just blink and wake up. Dad said it’s because I’m still growing.”

She didn’t dream at all.

That confirmed it. I silently sat down beside Elisia.

Her eyes grew wide in surprise.

"?? What’s wrong?”

"Actually, today’s my day off.”

That was a lie, but oh well. I’d explain it later.

"And I’m kind of sorry that I couldn’t visit you every day like I promised you before.”

"H-huh? I already forgot about that…”

"Still. Since I’m free today, how about we go out for a bit? Ah, of course, only if you don’t have anything to do—”

Before I could say anything more, Elisia nodded her head.

"Nope! Let’s go out!”

How fast.

It was exhausting trying to match the energy levels of a kid—

But we managed to keep going until nightfall.

"Yaawn…”

We couldn’t risk going to the capital, so we climbed the mountain five times, and by the time we got back to the cabin, we were both pretty exhausted.

After washing up, Elisia let out a big yawn, looking extremely tired, so I led her to her room.

"Sorry, I think I kept you out too long.”

"It’s fine. I’m not tired, really…”

"No. Look, it’s already this late.”

I glanced out the window. The night’s darkness had already swallowed all the light.

"We’ll talk more tomorrow. Sleep well.”

"Okay..."

Elisia rubbed her eyes as she lay down on the bed. I quietly slipped out of the room, closing the door behind me.

But I didn’t leave completely. I leaned against a nearby wall, expanding my Tide Sense to track her heartbeat.

I waited until her breathing stabilized and she fully drifted off into sleep.

Then I carefully cracked the door open and stepped into the room again.

"Elisia.”

I softly called her name, not expecting a reply.

I was met with silence, so I spoke with a colder voice.

"What? Do you want me to call you Illusory Flower then?”

"..."

"Right. Illusory Flower is dead. Then should I perhaps call you Lump?”

The moment these words left my mouth—

Elisia sprang up and sent a vase flying towards my face.

I tilted my head slightly. She then lunged forward with a single leap, slashing a shard of glass towards my neck.

All according to my predictions. There were some limits to a young girl’s body, so I could dodge with ease.

"Kgh—!"

That was the end of that desperate outburst.

After pressing down on her using water pressure until she couldn’t move anymore, I dragged her into a chair and tied her up with rope, so tight she wouldn’t be able to even twitch a single finger.

Once I was done with the restraints, ‘Elisia’ looked up at me with a pouty expression and muttered.

"Tsk, this got messy.”

Something that wasn’t Elisia was using her voice to speak.

I could feel disgust rise inside of me. I raised my hand, about to slap her, but stopped myself, reminding myself that this was Elisia’s body. Instead, I let my eyes shower the Lump with pure contempt.

"So you really were inside of her, you piece of shit. Crawl out of her. Now.”

"If you answer one question, I’ll do it. How did you know? My ability…”

"You mean about Illusory Flower? I definitely killed him. But there’s bound to be someone else able to use his same crap trick. I do remember there being some bastard who can mimic others among you guys.”

I stared down at the tied-up Elisia.

"Lump. It seems more like a title than a name, so it’s pretty hard to forget.”

"...Is that how you want to play this? You do realize whose body I’m in, right?!”

Elisia, or rather Lump, wore a greasy smile as he manipulated her body to bite down on her tongue.

It wasn’t hard enough to sever it. Just enough to show that he could, to seize control over the conversation.

I didn’t allow it.

"I know."

"...!"

Her teeth stopped before they could reach her tongue.

The Lump looked quite flustered, trying to snap Elisia’s jaw shut, but all it did was tremble slightly, like it had been nailed in place.

After a moment, I released it. I didn’t put any more restraints on that thing.

It was just a demonstration meant to show that I was the one holding the reins here.

"Try it again.”

I didn’t expect that I’d be using my newly refined Tide Sense for something like this.

I was several times faster in blocking any bites than the Lump was in initiating the motion.

After several attempts, and having each one blocked before it could even begin, the Lump glared at me in disbelief.

"What kind of inner world is this? Even though I’m right in front of you, I can’t see a thing.”

"You're a thousand years too early to peek into this world.”

"...Fine, so we’re going to play hardball, I see. Choose. Kill this girl you care so much about, or let me go.”

The Lump confidently offered me this ultimatum.

I responded by raising my middle finger.

"No need for that. If I just wait, you'll disappear on your own. Why should I lift a finger?”

"Oho, you’re quite the optimist. Give me one reason why I should leave this body.”

"You know, the fact that you're using that ability means you're currently suffering from your burdens as well.”

"..."

"I remember the last guy’s burdens were quite horrific. Let’s see how long you last. If you want to gamble your life over this stupid power struggle, be my guest.”

I sat down on a chair across from the Lump, silently staring at it.

"I’ll wait. And the moment you crawl out—I’ll come find you.”

"...Wahahahaha! You? You’ll come to us?”

The Lump, wearing Elisia’s face, smirked.

"And what exactly will you do when you find us?”

"Not you plural. Just you.”

I extended a single finger to the Lump’s forehead.

"This wasn’t an order from your organization, was it? You acted alone.”

"What are you talking about? What makes you think that?”

"Your superior already came to me.”

Scarlet Abyss had no intention of making any moves yet.

That Decay guy told me that they had already achieved their goals and that they had no intention of starting any pointless chaos that would expose them.

It wasn’t like I took everything he said at face value. However, the sincerity behind his recruitment offer was genuine. The pearl pills I had gotten from him actually helped me out quite a bit.

Moreover, Decay’s explanation made logical sense.

That wasn’t the case right now.

"This little stunt has no benefit for you. You’ve already achieved your goal, but here you are poking the capital again? Even if you guys are focused on increasing your influence or something, your actions make no sense.”

"..."

"This plan is too stupid for it to be anyone else’s plan. It’s not like there aren’t any organizations that come up with stupid plans, but this is just going too far. Which only means that this was likely the action of an individual. Well, I get that it’s an organization full of Fallen and that there’s no way they’d follow orders properly, but… you seem like a pure, brain-rotten hedonist. Am I wrong?”

"...Hehe."

As I spoke with complete conviction, the Lump grinned eerily.

Seeing Elisia’s face twist like that made me even more furious.

"Well, since you’ve figured that much out, there’s no more point in lying. Yeah, I acted alone. This brat still has a fragment of Illusory Flower’s dream left in her. I saw it and couldn’t help myself. Want to know the rest? I’ll tell you for free if you want.”

"No thanks. I’m pretty sure your other reason is just something as idiotic as ‘waiting around was just too boring’ after you were told to be on standby.”

"...Waha, wahahahaha! You! I like you. You seriously don’t want to join Scarlet Abyss?”

The Lump grinned maniacally, but I maintained a completely blank expression.

"I told you. I’ll come find you.”

"And what will you do when you manage to do it?”

"It’s hard to predict people like you.”

This thing acted purely on impulse. In other words, the Lump would continue to commit such acts.

Unlike Scarlet Abyss, which seemed to serve a deeper purpose, this thing just carried out acts of terror because of a mood. Completely unpredictable.

This time it used Elisia because she was convenient, but I had no idea what it might do after this.

Unpredictable variables like that—

—were major hindrances to my survival.

"So just sit tight and wipe your neck. Scarlet Abyss is one thing, but you? I’ll definitely kill you.”

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