Wizard of the Deep Sea

TL/ED – Miso

I sat perched on top of the coffin and pondered for a moment.

At first, I misunderstood slightly. I thought the people above were all imitating someone else, and that these corpses were the real ones.

But after pulling and examining them several times, I realized. These bodies had no external injuries, nor had they died of old age. They were simply copied as they were.

To put it simply, substitute bodies.

Dolls made by mimicking the people above.

‘…Looking closely, they’re not Lump.’

I fell into deep thought.

I had heard of it before. A story of a city where everyone died without any wounds.

At a glance, it’s similar to Lump’s ability to freely borrow other people’s bodies, but it’s different. In any case – there’s a connection.

This country is related to the Crimson Circle.

‘Then with this ability…?’

The puzzle pieces fell into place in my mind.

The prince, in other words, that doll, was made by imitating me.

And then he was swapped with me. The king didn’t notice and raised him as his own son.

In that case, it made sense to think that the king never abandoned his son. He simply raised the son he had from the beginning. That’s all it would seem like.

…Why?

“What’s the purpose?”

To summarize.

The Crimson Circle has been hiding here for about seven years, creating these substitute bodies underground like this, and without doing anything else, they only swapped the prince.

If you think about it simply, they probably figured out through some method that the prince of my world had immense talent and stole it.

However, there’s something about this that doesn’t make sense.

Then why did they let me go?

I should have been quite important, yet they didn’t recognize me. Even the executive-level members thought I was just a suddenly appearing Fallen.

Even putting that aside, those guys could have overthrown this country anytime.

They probably could have replaced everyone with ease.

Why didn’t they? Why did they do nothing for seven years except swap out one prince.

“…Ah.”

That answer could also be found in the empty coffins nearby.

It wasn’t just the prince. A few others had been replaced.

…The reason only high-ranking people were in these coffins was starting to become clear.

Their goal isn’t to destroy the country.

The real goal is to slowly consume it.

Looking at the coffins that were about halfway full, I knew that the day wasn’t far off.

But I couldn’t help but smile.

“This…”

The situation is good.

No, it goes beyond just being good, this is the best opportunity.

I immediately headed upward. The banquet was still ongoing, and Karos was giving orders to the nearby knights.

I walked over and tapped her armor.

“Could I speak with you for a moment?”

“Yes?”

Taking the confused Karos with me, I headed to a separate room where no one was around.

As I used current sense to check for any eavesdropping, she asked in confusion.

“What’s going on?”

“This place is a Crimson Circle den.”

“…What do you mean by that?”

I briefly explained the situation to the bewildered Karos.

That there were substitute bodies made by the Crimson Circle under the floor, my deduction, and the reason for the deduction.

As she listened to the explanation, Karos began to take it more seriously.

“This is roughly the outline. There are still parts I don’t understand, though.”

“Hmm… What would those be?”

Scratching my head, I answered Karos’s question.

“For example, why they took seven whole years and still haven’t taken over. I mean, wouldn’t it be easier to just kill everyone and replace them with those dolls?”

At that, Karos thought for a moment and then spoke.

“…’Devoured City’ – have you ever heard of such a thing? I suppose you haven’t. It’s slang used among us.”

“A Devoured City?”

“Yes.”

Karos spoke, revealing a hint of anger.

“The cities that were attacked by the Crimson Circle. That term refers to a portion of them. When you first observe a Devoured City, you don’t notice anything strange. But after watching for a few minutes, you’ll witness a bizarre sight where every citizen of the city is repeating a single action. Even if you enter, you can’t talk to them. No matter what kind of stimulation you apply nearby, they keep repeating the same behavior, and then at some point, they all suddenly drop dead. It’s a horrifying city.”

“…That kind of thing exists.”

“There were about five of them. The Crimson Circle is far more cruel and brutal than we imagine.”

That was something I already knew well.

“At the same time, it means that their dollcraft isn’t perfect. But I heard the prince of this country is growing up without any issues. That means he’s a doll they put a lot of effort into. I don’t think they can create something like that at will. This is probably a long-term project by the Crimson Circle.”

“So not just here, but similar things must be happening elsewhere too.”

“…That may be true.”

There were some parts that raised questions.

Like, what exactly was I from the Crimson Circle’s perspective?

But that was an issue to put off for now.

“First, let’s get out and call reinforcements, and report this to Her Highness the Princess…”

“Wait a moment.”

I grabbed Karos’s wrist just as she was about to move quickly.

“Is there something more you need to say? If it’s something trivial, please save it for later.”

“This is an opportunity.”

“What?”

To Karos, who tilted her helmet in confusion, I calmly explained.

“This is the first time. The first time we know of them, but they don’t know about us.”

“It’s a sudden visit from the Imperial envoy. They must have noticed something.”

“But they didn’t strike preemptively. That means they think they haven’t been discovered. Or, they want to protect what they have. But if we retreat now, they’ll either prepare or withdraw. The lead we caught by chance will be lost.”

“…”

“This might be our first chance to strike back at them.”

After a moment of hesitation, Karos responded, seemingly willing to hear me out.

“Do you have a clever plan?”

“We’ll have to borrow the method they’re best at.”

I answered with a smile.

“Let’s cause some chaos.”

*

My plan was simple.

“We must not get caught.”

“What?”

“As I said before, they definitely spent seven years on this place. They wouldn’t want to give it up easily. From their position, they can’t attack someone with the status of a royal envoy. Their best option is to remain discreet and eliminate our suspicions as much as possible.”

“Hmm, that’s true. I agree.”

“We must do the same. We pretend to investigate, as if we only have circumstantial evidence and no hard proof. But we must be good at showing that we don’t have proof.”

“Yes. That makes sense.”

“What do you mean, ‘that makes sense’, Karos. This is something you have to do.”

“?”

Even through the helmet, I could tell Karos frowned as she responded.

“I… I’m not very good at that sort of psychological stuff. Can’t you do it, Jern?”

“I can’t go out in the open. Fallen recognize each other.”

To be exact, only those of the Great World like me.

Even Decay had only just barely figured out I was a Fallen. Most ordinary Fallen wouldn’t even realize I was in the same field as them.

Still, it wasn’t likely they’d place a low-tier Fallen in charge of consuming an entire country, so I had to play it safe.

“Please approach the nobles and engage in conversations, drop subtle questions that suggest uncertainty. Something like, ‘Huh? These people don’t seem to know much? Maybe this is doable?’ That level of questioning. The most important thing is that they must not find out.”

This was a task that suited Karos perfectly. Though she didn’t seem too keen, she brought up another idea.

“Can’t we call on Lady Dersia?”

“That gate only opens at night. And this isn’t a task that requires power.”

I shrugged my shoulders.

“If a monster like Master shows up, the scales will tip in an instant. The moment they witness the arrival of a 9-Star Wizard, they’ll throw everything they have into escaping, and we can’t have that.”

The Crimson Circle executive behind all of this had to be captured without fail.

To uncover my past, and also to learn other things in the process.

“I’ll work on distinguishing the dolls in the meantime.”

“Were there any identifying traits to the dolls?”

“No. At least while they’re lying down, there’s absolutely no way to tell them apart from normal humans.”

“Then what are you planning to do?”

“There’s one person we know for sure is a doll, isn’t there.”

“…Ah.”

Karos let out a soft murmur, as if she’d realized it.

If you can’t tell humans and dolls apart, then all you need to do is identify their traits.

“I’ll go investigate the prince. I’ll leave the chaos to you in the meantime.”

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

To her slightly confused expression, I responded lightly.

“If we fail? What happens then?”

“Naturally, it wouldn’t end well. Wouldn’t that mean we’ve blown everything out of proportion?”

“No. We’ve already won.”

I shook my head and declared our victory.

“We’ve already confirmed the existence of the dolls, the ambitions of the Crimson Circle, and their objective. We discovered and stopped it before the country was completely devoured. Even in the worst-case scenario, we’ve already uncovered so much. We could return right now, and it would still be enough. But we’re just casually tossing out a fishing rod to pull in a little more. Let’s not take it too seriously.”

“Mm… is that so?”

“That’s right. Then I’ll count on you.”

“…Yes!”

Karos gripped her gauntlet tightly, as if steeling herself.

Somehow, I left the room thinking how easy she was to manipulate.

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

What I didn’t mention were a few things about my past.

And that my ultimate objective was to capture the Crimson Circle executive.

It’s not too different. I walked while lightly covering the kingdom with current sense, and when I saw some guards patrolling, I asked.

“You there. You guys.”

“S-sir Envoy! What brings you here?”

“It’s nothing urgent, but do you happen to know where His Highness the Prince is? He wasn’t at the banquet, and I’ve grown a bit concerned.”

“Ah… well. It seems he’s feeling slightly unwell.”

The guards’ slightly stretched-out tone.

It’s a lie. I nodded in agreement inwardly.

“I see. I asked for no reason then. Carry on with your duties.”

“Yes, sir!”

I had already found the prince’s room.

Avoiding the guards’ line of sight, I approached the area, but unfortunately, there was another guard stationed directly in front of the door.

After a moment of consideration, I entered the adjacent room, placed my hand on the wall, and concentrated my current sense strongly.

“…Hmm.”

The prince was there.

[Hehe…]

He was sitting at his desk reading a book, occasionally letting out an unsettling chuckle.

His age looked to be about the same as mine, and his face… hmm.

Looking from this angle, we really do resemble each other. There were some hairstyle differences, and more importantly, I don’t smile so creepily like that…

I observed him for several minutes, but honestly, is this really a doll? I could barely tell.

He had the odd hobby of writing his emotions in detail in a diary and rejoicing over it, but even that felt human.

No wonder the king didn’t realize his son had been swapped.

Isn’t there some way to tell? As I was pondering, the guy suddenly stared blankly into space.

“…Huh?”

Then all of a sudden, he looked around in a panic.

“W-what is this? What the hell is this??”

…What?

I hadn’t done anything.

As I watched him panic, the guards rushed into the room.

“Your Highness, what’s the matter?”

“Don’t you see this…? This thing!”

“Sir…?”

“W-what is this? It just appeared out of nowhere… over there! It’s over there too!”

“W-we’re not sure what you mean, Your Highness.”

“…”

No way.

I looked where the prince was pointing.

There, an eel was floating in midair.

It’s a Deep Sea Creature.

“You really don’t see this bizarre fish-looking thing…? Really??”

I looked at the panicked prince and quietly let out a sigh.

There’s no denying it now.

He was made after me, so in a way, it’s only natural.

That doll –

“I’m the only one who can see it? Why…?”

…is in the same place as me.