Wizard of the Deep Sea

TL/ED – Miso

Of course, just because I wanted to meet Sharmia didn’t mean I was in a position where I could.

I had helped with the matter, but it was strictly business.

With normal methods, my current position was one where I couldn’t even meet an imperial scribe, let alone a princess.

“Will it be alright?”

“It’s not that there’s no method. And…”

I gently patted Linmel’s head, who was still sleeping soundly.

She had been sleeping for almost a full week. According to Azrael, she was just repaying the time she had borrowed, but the truth was I was worried.

“If you could look after her and make sure nothing happens to her, I’d appreciate it.”

“…Understood.” Dersia stood at the doorway of the mansion, looking at me.

There was a trace of hesitation in her gaze. Interpreting it as a lack of trust in me, I responded with a light smile.

“I understand that it’s hard to believe. But I truly do have a connection with her. It’s not like she’s someone I can’t talk to, and all I’m doing is going to collect a reward I’ve already been promised.”

“It’s not that I don’t believe you, Jern. I’ve already heard enough about the situation.”

On the way back to the Capital, I had told her everything about the circumstances that led to me meeting the Princess.

What Dersia was worried about was something else entirely.

“It’s just that… your story, there are parts that don’t quite fit with my understanding of common sense.”

“What kind of common sense?”

“Do you know anything about politics?”

“Not really.”

Naturally, the Empire doesn’t have internet news articles.

If you want to know how the Empire operates, you have to read the newspaper. But the media companies that publish those newspapers are far from free.

Even if someone somehow learns of a noble’s secret through some channel, actually publishing it would be close to suicide.

I’ve heard rumors that there used to be media outlets crazy enough to do such a thing, but at least right now, not a single one remains. I could guess what kind of disaster they met without even having to see it.

As a result, all newspapers glorify the Empire, and so the average citizen’s perception of politics is singular:

They must be handling things just fine. I’ll just focus on my own life.

I wasn’t much different. I just went a step further: Oh, the Prophet is grinding herself down to keep the Empire running. They’ve got it covered.

When I summed up that whole sentiment into a single sentence, Dersia let out a sigh and gripped the doorknob.

“When I first entered the Empire, as a member of the Black Magic Tower, I dabbled a little in politics because it was said to be something expected of someone in my position.”

“…Ah!”

That’s right.

Come to think of it, Dersia had the surname Aspandil.

She had received a title. Of course, she must have taken part in politics as well.

I became quite curious about what kind of things Dersia might have done, but she scowled and shook her head.

“I didn’t do anything. I came to the Empire to learn magic and for the sake of recordkeeping, not to become a ruler.”

“Then…”

“I just occasionally attended events where, if I skipped out, they’d accuse me of treason, those kinds of things, by virtue of my noble status. I never took the initiative on anything.”

Dersia paused for a moment, furrowing her brow.

“…Naturally, I’ve seen the Princess a few times.”

“I see. What was your first impression of her?”

“A tyrant.”

The answer came immediately after the question.

I blinked in confusion and asked again.

“A tyrant…?”

“Yes. And I mean it in the most literal sense, a picturesque tyrant who ruled over the weak as a powerful figure, carving her name into history through plunder and exploitation.”

“…??”

I was slightly taken aback.

Of course, I knew there had been things she had hidden during our last encounter, but she didn’t give off the image of a tyrant.

Dersia blinked as if recalling a memory.

“The first time I saw her, she was just a child, about eleven years old. But her words were so sharp and heavy. When a Count begged her to spare at least his territory’s people, she flatly declared that she couldn’t do that. That left a deep impression.”

“Why did she say she couldn’t?”

“Because by the time the Count had rushed to the Capital and begged, all the people of his territory had already been executed.”

“…”

“She carried out executions without an ounce of mercy, offered poisoned wine, and collected taxes. For some reason, the Emperor had practically handed over all power to the Princess. She reached a state of absolute authority at the age of eleven.”

“But…. the nobles seem to like Princess Sharmia a lot.”

“There are three reasons. First, she was genuinely competent. Second, all the nobles who disliked her were purged years ago. Lastly, no matter how foolish nobles may be, they’re not stupid enough to slander someone who could cut off their heads at any moment.”

“…”

Just from what I was hearing, there had never been a tyrant like this.

And it seemed that wasn’t even the end, Dersia slowly opened her mouth again.

“Of course, all of that had nothing to do with me. What I focused on wasn’t her disposition, but her level in magic.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“…I happened to see it by chance. At a banquet one day, the Princess picked up a wine glass, and then let it slip from her hand.”

Slowly.

“The Princess looked a bit flustered as she watched the wine glass fall. If it had shattered, the banquet would’ve turned into a mess.”

“Did you stop it?”

“She stopped it herself.”

Dersia spoke with a disturbed tone, as though even she couldn’t believe what she was saying.

“By blinking her eyes.”

“Huh?”

“Before she blinked, she was a 1-Star wizard. And after blinking, the number of stars that rose was three.”

“…?”

“In the time it took her to blink once, she became a 3-Star wizard from a 1-Star, mastered Telekinesis, and lifted the wine glass back up. That’s what I mean.”

I, was left speechless with my mouth agape.

Even if one were ignorant of magic, it was easy to grasp just how absurd that was.

“No way.”

“Exactly. If I hadn’t seen it myself, I wouldn’t have believed it either.”

Dersia sighed and shook her head.

“Something incomprehensible is dangerous. We call engaging with such things an act of foolishness.”

“She’s no ordinary Prophet then.”

“I imagine you’ve probably suspected that to some extent. That’s why, while I’d personally recommend staying as far away from her as possible…”

Dersia looked down at me and trailed off.

“This might just be my selfishness.”

“It is selfish.”

While we were talking, Ciel appeared from behind and pinched the back of Dersia’s neck like a cat.

Dersia didn’t even move, just glanced back slightly in protest.

“Ciel, I’m in the middle of a conversation.”

“Jern-nim. Would it be alright if I offered a little advice from now on?”

Ciel ignored her and looked at me with a bright smile.

“What kind of advice?”

“I think you bear a bit of responsibility for this situation, Jern-nim.”

“?”

“?”

Both Dersia and I expressed our confusion at the same time.

“Did I do something wrong?”

“No. Actually, the problem is that you two get along too well. More precisely, Jern-nim, you’re like a deadly poison to Elves.”

“And what do you mean by that?”

“You know how Elves are extremely efficiency-oriented, right? For a race with that kind of personality, your presence is like a high-performance lubricant. Even Dersia-nim has been trying to control her own issues, but because you keep wagging your tail around her, I think she’s been a bit tempted.”

“Hmm… so what do I do about that?”

“If I feel like your conversation is overheating like, starting from let’s invent the wheel and turning into let’s build a wheel-less carriage and launch it into the sky, I’ll step in and apply the brakes. How does that sound?”

Ciel’s words meant that since I also had the nature of stimulating Dersia’s instincts as an Elf, she would step in and intervene when necessary.

“Don’t think too hard about it. All I’m saying is that if Dersia-nim tries to make any strange suggestions to you, I’ll give a light warning. If you both remain firm in your intentions even after the warning, then I won’t say anything further.”

“Not bad.”

It helps knowing there’s a brake. When I nodded, Dersia let out a deep sigh.

“Don’t take it too seriously. Ciel is probably just doing this for her own amusement.”

“There’s no harm in hearing a third-party opinion. Well then, I’ll be going.”

“Please don’t forget what I told you, and be careful. Ah, and if you return, let’s talk about that then.”

“…Yes.”

Dersia held back her words.

But I could immediately tell what she wanted to say.

[….]

As if it had overheard everything, a Deep Sea Creature swam past me, sweeping the area with its gaze.

“Let’s do that, then.”

This seemed quite urgent, after all.

*

The method for meeting the Princess was simple.

[Who are you.]

“…Did you hand out this orb to other people as well?”

Because there was still a way to contact her.

I used the communication crystal orb I’d received earlier, and Karos responded.

[…]

She looked at me with a slightly sour expression before asking,

[You’re the Fallen boy. What do you want? Was it not enough to drive a stake into Her Highness the Princess’s heart?]

“What kind of slander is that?”

[Do you have any idea how heartbroken Her Highness was after your rejection? She even tried to take her own life.]

“Say something that makes sense.”

Over losing a single orphan?

I thought the exaggeration was absurd, but then Karos sighed and continued.

[That’s what I’m saying. So, what do you really want.]

“There’s something I didn’t receive the last time we met. I also wanted to talk for a bit.”

[With Her Highness?]

“Yes.”

A long silence followed.

[Now is… not a good time. The Princess is currently attending to official duties.]

“I can wait.”

[Should I have been more direct?]

“No. I understand it’s a rejection. I was just trying one more push.”

[…]

For some reason, it was blatantly obvious that this bodyguard, Karos, didn’t like me.

So, I prompted her to reject me outright.

She was the loyal type, if she rejected me that way, she’d report it to the Princess.

It might come off as arrogant, but I was confident.

If Sharmia knew I wanted to see her, she would summon me.

Definitely.

[Tch.]

A small tongue click. I lifted the corner of my mouth slightly at the displeasure in it.

Displeasure comes from having to do something one doesn’t want to.

[Give your name to the guards.]

“Yup, thank you.”

No reply came. The other side had cut the connection unilaterally.

I couldn’t understand why someone would hate a cute, small boy like me. Thinking that, I made my way to the royal palace.

“Hello, I’m Jern Aspandil.”

“Ah, this way please…”

The guards hurriedly led me somewhere the moment they saw me.

It was the back gate of the royal palace. Along the way, several guards brought out a blindfold.

“Jern Aspandil-nim. We apologize, but this is a secret passage.”

“Yep. I understand.”

I felt sorry for the guards, but it was meaningless.

I had already scanned every wall and hidden passage using current sense, and memorized the structure in my head.

I didn’t remember everything down to the last detail, but I could at least tell where the traps were and which path was correct.

I just hoped I wouldn’t need to make use of it later.

“We’ve arrived.”

The guard who brought me to the massive door was different from the one who had first escorted me.

The guards had changed multiple times. I had been handed off during the winding, twisting route.

It seemed even the guards were only allowed to know limited parts of the palace.

“Should I knock?”

“Uh, I’m only assigned up to here. I’ll be waiting in the back.”

The guard panicked and ran off.

Hm.

Most likely, Sharmia is behind this door.

It seemed the word “tyrant” wasn’t entirely unfounded after all.

Knock knock knock.

Whatever the case, I had to do what I came to do, so I knocked.

“Come in.”

I heard Sharmia’s slightly low voice.

“Excuse me.”

As soon as I opened the door and stepped in, I was startled.

The room, as large as a soccer field, was utterly desolate. A desk in the center, and on that desk, a mountain of documents.

Buried in them, writing swiftly, stamping, reviewing, with a weary expression, was Sharmia, wearing glasses. And yet, her beauty, utterly untouched by fatigue, no longer seemed of this world.

Without even looking in my direction, she murmured,

“Tea… or maybe food… whatever it is, just leave it and go.”

Her voice was calm. As I walked up to the desk, I saw a twelve-dish meal set on top, completely untouched.

I pulled out one of the piles of documents and took a look.

Administrative processing that was lighter than I thought. I frowned.

She’s doing all this alone? There’s no reason for that. A Princess, royalty, shouldn’t be handling such matters. It’s the kind of work that could easily be delegated to a noble.

As I flipped through a few more, I was shocked by another realization.

There was no classification at all.

She was just randomly picking tasks from the pile, handling them, then moving on to something completely unrelated.

It was an astonishing amount of work, no doubt about that. But at the same time, it was unbelievably inefficient.

I let out a sigh and picked up some documents.

“…?”

Only then did Sharmia seem to notice something was off. She looked my way.

Blinking, rubbing her eyes, and muttering to herself,

“Am I dreaming…?”

“This is reality.”

“Eh? Eh, Ehh…??”

“I don’t intend to interrupt. This is about a land dispute. It overlaps with another administrative document here. If you check them together, it should go a bit more smoothly.”

“…Huh? Ah, yes. You’re right.”

“Please pretend I’m not here and continue your work.”

There wasn’t much I could help with. I knew nothing about how the Empire ran, or the kind of structure it operated under.

Still, I could at least sort the documents by category.

While the Princess worked, I organized similar policy matters so that she could handle them more efficiently.

Even so, Sharmia worked for hours on end. She glanced at me occasionally, but it was clear these tasks weren’t under urgent time constraints. It looked like she simply wanted to finish what needed doing before turning her attention to anything else.

“…Ugh, uwaaah…”

Only as the sun stretched into evening did the related work finally end.

Stretching her arms with a big yawn, Sharmia finally looked at me and mumbled like someone in a trance.

“B-but… is this really not a dream? If I did all this work in a dream, I’d be so mad I could die.”

“It’s not. I came because I wanted to talk.”

“…It is real? Then, what brings you here all of a sudden??”

Watching her with that vacant expression, Dersia’s warning kept trying to scatter from my mind.

A tyrant? This is the tyrant? That’s all I could think.

I forced myself to stay focused and cleared my throat.

“I apologize for coming unannounced. Something happened recently, and about what I mentioned last time…”

“-Ah!”

Sharmia lunged at me.

More precisely, she stretched herself across the desk and grabbed my hand with sparkling eyes.

There was even a touch of madness in her expression, it was a bit scary.

“Have you changed your mind? Are you saying you’ll let me use you now?”

“…No. That’s not it. It’s about my birth.”

“…Ah.”

Sharmia, who calmed down slightly, pulled her hands back with an awkward face.

“A-ahaha… sorry. Now that I think about it, there was a bit of a situation last time, so I couldn’t tell you.”

“There’s no need to apologize. I just came hoping I could hear more about that, if possible.”

“Of course! And now that I think of it, I completely forgot to mention the reward, it’s totally my fault. Ah, but this isn’t the time for that.”

She clapped her hands together as if something had come to mind and stood up from her seat.

“I’ve been so rude to a guest who came to visit. Not only did I fail to serve you, but I made you work.”

“It’s my fault for visiting while you were working. I only meant to help, so I hope I wasn’t a burden.”

“No, no, no! You were a huge help. It’s been so long since I finished work while the sun was still out, I can’t even remember the last time! Have you done this kind of work before?”

“A little.”

“I knew it! This might take a bit, so I’ll go bring some tea!”

“No, I can-”

“Ah ah! Making a guest prepare tea? Please don’t make me into a shameless wretch with no sense of propriety! I’ll be right back, so please just have a seat and wait!”

At this point, it was hard to tell who the royalty really was.

After the adorably scolding Sharmia left the room, I tried to settle my dazed head.

Her unwavering pace made it feel foolish for me to be the serious one.

“…”

While waiting for the Princess, my eyes wandered to the pile of documents she had processed.

I had sorted them, yes, but I didn’t know what judgments she had made or how she’d handled them. Suddenly curious, I picked one up.

[Territory Lockdown Order Related to Epidemic Spread Prevention Measures]

As I flipped through the dozens of pages under that heading, I tilted my head in confusion.

All of the response forms meant for outlining the follow-up actions were completely blank.

But Sharmia had clearly handled this document.

…Then what was going on?

Puzzled, I flipped back to the very first page, and finally understood why.

The response had been written.

It was just so simple that there was no need to fill out the rest with unnecessary details.

[After lockdown, execute all.]

“…Hmm.”

I stared at the document for a while.

Because I now had a rough idea of how to continue this conversation with this tyrant.