WETRIED TRANSLATIONS

Wizard of the Abyss

[Translator – Aren]

Chapter 88 - Hunt (1)

I sat on top of one of the coffins and thought for a moment.

At first, I misunderstood. I assumed the people aboveground were all impersonators. and these bodies were the real ones.

But after lifting and investigating a few of them, I realized the truth. These bodies had no external wounds and didn’t seem as if they died of old age. They were pretty much just copies.

Or put in other words, spare bodies.

Puppets made to imitate the people above.

'...At least they aren’t the Lump.’

I pondered more.

I’d heard of this before. Stories of a city where every inhabitant died without a single mark left on their bodies.

At a glance, this ability seemed similar to that of the Lump, who could freely inhabit others’ bodies, but it was fundamentally different.

Either way, the connection was now clear.

This country was deeply tied to Scarlet Abyss.

'Then with this ability…?’

The puzzle pieces in my mind clicked neatly into place.

The prince—that puppet was created by imitating me.

And then they swapped us. The king never noticed and raised it as his own child.

If so, it made perfect sense that he believed he never abandoned his son. He simply thought he raised the same kid he’d had from the start.

...But why?

"What’s the point of all this?"

To sum it up.

Scarlet Abyss infiltrated this place about seven years ago. They created all these spare bodies underground, did absolutely nothing else, and only swapped out the prince.

Simply put, they somehow discovered that ‘my world’ hid immense potential and stole it.

But there was still something that didn’t quite add up.

Then why did they lose track of me?

If I was such an important existence, how did they never recognize me? Even the executive-level members thought I was just some fellow Fallen that popped up out of nowhere.

Even setting aside that they could have toppled over this country anytime they wanted if they had my power.

They could have replaced everyone if they wished.

So why didn’t they? Why did they do nothing for seven years other than replace one prince—

"...Ah."

The answer was in the empty coffins nearby.

It wasn’t just the prince. Several others had already been replaced.

...It also dawned on me why there were only the bodies of high-ranking individuals here.

Their goal wasn’t to destroy this nation.

They were trying to slowly consume it.

Looking at the chamber filled with coffins, of which half were empty. I realized that the day they would succeed wasn’t far off.

But instead of feeling fear, I felt a smile forming on my lip.

"This…”

This situation was great.

No, even better than great. I couldn’t have asked for a better opportunity.

I immediately headed upstairs. The banquet was still ongoing, and Carose was busy issuing orders to the Knights around her.

I approached and tapped her armor.

"Come with me for a moment.”

"Huh?"

Taking the bewildered Carose with me, I led her into a secluded, empty side room.

While checking if there were any eavesdropping devices or similar in this room using Tide Sense, she was the first to speak up, showing clear confusion.

"What is this about?”

"This place is one of Scarlet Abyss’ nests.”

"...What do you mean by that?”

I briefly explained the situation to the stunned Carose.

That there were spare bodies created by Scarlet Abyss in an underground space below the palace, my deductions about them, and the reasoning behind those deductions.

As she listened, the atmosphere around Carose slowly grew serious.

"So that’s the general outline. There are parts I still don’t understand, though.”

"Hmm… And what would that be?”

Scratching my head, I answered her question.

"For example, why they spent seven whole years and still haven't taken over this place. They could simply wipe everyone out and replace them with those puppets, right?”

After pondering for a moment, Carose spoke up again.

"... Have you ever heard of a ‘devoured city’? I assume not. It’s a term used only among us.”

"A devoured city?”

"Yes."

Faint anger seemed to stain her voice as she continued.

"Cities that fell to Scarlet Abyss. Some of them are given that label. When you first observe a devoured city, nothing about it looks strange. But after watching for a few minutes you’ll see the residents repeating the exact same actions. Quite eerie behavior. Even if you attempt to intervene, they won’t say anything, nor would they react, simply repeating the same motion until they all suddenly die at some point. Every last one of them. It’s horrifying.”

"...Places like that exist?”

"There were about five such cities. Scarlet Abyss is far more brutal and ruthless than imagination allows.”

I was already painfully aware of that fact.

"At the same time, it proves that their puppetry isn’t flawless. Yet the prince of this country has grown without issues, hasn’t he? Which means he is a puppet they put extraordinary effort into. Creating such a perfect one likely isn’t something they can do freely. This must be one of Scarlet Abyss’ long-term projects.”

"So it’s happening not only here, but probably in other places as well.”

"...Possibly, yes.”

There were still some questions spinning in my mind.

Like, what exactly was I to Scarlet Abyss?

But getting answers to those would have to wait.

"For now, we should get out of here, call for reinforcement, and report this to Her Highness…”

"Wait."

I grabbed Carose’s wrist just when she was about to move.

"Is there something else? If it’s something trivial, save it.”

"This is an opportunity.”

"What?"

Seeing her tilt her helmeted head slightly, I explained slowly.

"This is the first time that they don’t know we’re aware of their existence, but we know about them.”

"The sudden visit of an imperial envoy will surely have made them sense something.”

“If they did, they would have struck first. That means they believe they haven’t been exposed. Or they’re protecting something. If we retreat now, they will either prepare for an attack or escape. The line we’ve managed to catch purely by luck will vanish forever.”

"..."

"Right now might be our first real chance to hit them where it hurts.”

Carose hesitated, then spoke as if she was at least willing to hear me out.

"Do you actually have a concrete plan?”

"We use the method they excel at most.”

I grinned.

"Let’s cause a little chaos."

* * *

My plan was simple.

"We must not get caught.”

"Huh?"

"As I said earlier, Scarlet Abyss has undeniably invested seven whole years into this place. They won’t give up on it so easily. From their perspective, they can’t risk attacking someone with the status of an imperial envoy. Their best move would be to play it safe, avoid suspicion, and make our doubts completely disappear.”

"Hmm, true. I agree.”

"We must do the same. Act like we have suspicions but have no evidence to turn them into certainty. Pretend to investigate, but make it clear we have nothing solid.”

"Yes. That makes sense.”

"That’s your answer—really? Dame Carose. You are the one who has to do this, you know?”

"?"

Even though she was wearing a helmet, I could still see her frowning as she replied.

"I… am not good at psychological games. Couldn’t you do it yourself, Jern?”

"I can’t go to the front lines. The Fallen can easily recognize each other.”

To be more precise, those who also possess Great Realms.

Even then, Decay barely managed to identify me as one, so that meant most Fallen would never notice I was the same as them.

Still, for a job like infiltrating an entire nation, they wouldn’t plant some low-level Fallen. In other words, I had to stay out of sight.

"You need to make them think, ‘Huh? These people don't really know anything. This might be manageable.’ Ask nobles some vague questions, poke around for information, but just enough to keep Scarlet Abyss from giving up on this place. The key thing is that they must never realize that we know.”

This job suited Carose perfectly. She seemed a bit reluctant, though, so she immediately suggested an alternative.

"Couldn’t we just call in Lady Dercia?”

"I can only open the portal leading to the capital at night. And this isn't a task requiring strength.”

I shrugged.

"If someone like my master shows up, the scales will tip instantly. The moment they see a 9-star mage coming here, they’ll use every method possible to escape. We can’t let that happen.”

We had to catch the Scarlet Abyss executive who was behind all of this.

Both to uncover my past and a few other reasons.

"In the meantime, I’ll try to identify which person here has been replaced with a puppet.”

"Do puppets have some special characteristics?”

"No. Not when they’re lying still. I can’t distinguish them from real humans at all.”

"Then how do you plan to tell them apart?”

"There is one person we know for certain is a puppet.”

"...Ah."

Carose gasped softly as if having realized something.

If I couldn’t tell puppets and normal humans apart, I simply had to study the one puppet I knew existed to figure out their characteristics.

"I’ll go investigate the prince. Meanwhile, please make sure to cause a spectacular mess.”

"...I’m not sure this is really okay. If we fail…”

Seeing her slightly shaken expression, I answered lightly.

"If we fail? And then what happens?”

"Obviously nothing good. We’d only make things worse, right?”

"Not really. We’ve already won.”

I shook my head and declared our victory.

"We already confirmed the existence of the puppets, Scarlet Abyss’ ambitions, and their goals. We found out all of this before the country was completely devoured. Even in the worst-case scenario, we’ve learned far too much. We could head home right now and still call this a success. Everything else is just casting a fishing line to see if we can reel in even more. No need to take it too seriously.”

"Hmm… Is that so?”

"It is. I’m counting on you.”

"...Yes!"

Carose clenched her gauntlet as though steeling herself.

I left the room with the realization that she was really easy to deceive.

Of course, I didn’t actually deceive her. Most of what I said was true.

I simply left out a few details about my past.

And the fact that my actual goal was capturing a Scarlet Abyss executive.

Overall, there wasn’t a huge difference between my real intentions and my words. As I spread Tide Sense lightly across the whole kingdom and walked, I spotted guards patrolling and approached them.

"Hey. You there.”

"S-sir Royal Envoy! Do you require assistance?!”

"It’s nothing serious. Do you know where the prince is? He wasn’t at the banquet, so I grew slightly concerned.”

"Ah…well. It seems His Highness is feeling a little unwell.”

The way their voices trailed off told me everything I needed to know.

A lie. I nodded calmly.

"I see. My apologies for asking such a pointless question. Carry on.”

"Yes!"

I had already located the prince’s room earlier.

Avoiding the guards’ line of sight, I approached the area, only to find another guard posted right in front of the door.

After thinking for a moment, I slipped into the adjacent room and placed my hand on the wall, concentrating intensely on Tide Sense.

"...Hm."

The prince was inside.

[Hehe...]

He sat at his desk, reading a book, occasionally letting out a creepy little giggle.

He seemed to be around my age, and his face was…hmm.

Looking at him like this, he really did resemble me. His hairstyle was different, and most importantly, I didn’t laugh in such a creepy way…

I observed him for a while, but he didn’t show a single unnatural action, to the point that I started wondering if he really was a puppet.

He wrote in his diary, putting great emphasis on his feelings, and celebrated his own writing with odd satisfaction. But even that felt human in a way.

No wonder the king never noticed his son had been swapped.

There really was no way to tell. Just as I was thinking that, the kid suddenly froze and stared into empty space.

"...Huh?"

Then he grew visibly distressed and started looking around him.

"Wh-what? What is this??”

...What?

I didn’t do anything.

As I stood there in confusion, guards burst into the room.

"Your Highness, what’s the matter?!”

"Can’t you see this…? This thing!”

"Pardon...?"

"W-what is this? It just appeared out of nowhere… over there too! And there!”

"I-I’m afraid we do not understand what you mean, Your Highness.”

"..."

Wait, no way.

I looked toward where the prince was pointing.

A lone eel-like creature was lazily floating where the prince pointed.

A deep-sea creature.

"You really can’t see this weird fish-thing? Really??”

Watching the panicking prince, I quietly sighed.

I couldn’t deny it anymore.

Since it was made after me, it was only natural in a way.

That puppet—

"It’s visible only to me? Why…?”

...Lives in the same world as I.

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