Wizard of the Deep Sea

TL/ED – Miso

Crimson Circle’s missions were usually carried out in remote border areas far from the empire’s Capital.

The reason, well, was probably because of Sharmia. If she noticed and blocked things before they happened, then at the very least, there was a need to act far enough away so that her response would be delayed.

Because of that, there wasn’t a fixed base, but it always required a few days of travel to reach the Capital area.

“…Can’t we just meet separately?”

“That won’t do.”

The journey ended up being taken together with the members of Piercing Blood.

I let out a sigh and looked at the Piercing Blood member smiling slyly, and the ten or so horses following behind.

“…”

“…” Unlike what I saw at the pavilion, they were much more taciturn and seemed to have steeled their resolve.

Seeing that all their gazes were directed at me, it looked like this so-called test included this journey as well.

“U-Undercurrent nim… they’re staring at me really scarily…”

“Don’t mind it. They’re trying to get a reaction.”

I replied curtly to Damyu, who was riding precariously next to me, and then spurred my horse forcefully.

I did mean to create some distance, but Piercing Blood easily caught up without even holding the reins, unfolding a map and letting out a low hum.

“Hmm, it looks like we’ll have to go over this mountain. Seems like rough terrain, will you be alright?”

“…?”

I tilted my head. According to the map I knew, going around the mountain would be a much faster route.

“Sure. I’m confident in riding.”

But I simply nodded. If he had some kind of hidden agenda, then I preferred he revealed it quickly.

I didn’t want to keep being monitored under these uncomfortable circumstances until we arrived at the Capital. Piercing Blood burst into a hearty laugh, seemingly satisfied with my answer.

“Uhaha, really? That’s reassuring. A guy who’s good at riding is someone I can trust.”

“Is that so? Why is that?”

“A horse is a beast whose instinct is to run. No matter how much you train it with hot iron and painful whips, the more it runs, the more it forgets the training, and it starts to see the saddle and the human as hindrances…”

Piercing Blood looked down at the horse he was riding with an expression that was hard to tell if it was filled with affection or killing intent.

“Being able to handle such beasts well means you’re instilling a fear stronger than their instincts. Sometimes, an animal’s judgment is more accurate than a human’s.”

“…That’s an unique perspective.”

To be honest, I thought he was insane, but I just humored him.

After all, someone who takes medicine to stay alive and kills people isn’t exactly sane. One of the secrets to long life is also not arguing with fools.

-Clop clop, as we galloped through the overgrown mountain path, the sun had set before we realized it.

Piercing Blood looked at the darkened road and grinned.

“How about we race?”

“Hmm.”

So this was the reason he insisted on the mountain path.

He must’ve heard something about my World’s sensing ability. I didn’t know how exactly. Maybe Damyu sold me out, or perhaps he bought some intel from the knights who had fought me.

Of course, it didn’t matter at all. For someone like me who use operate Current Sense, this much was no different than walking through a wide-open plain.

However, I lightly shook my head.

“That’d be difficult.”

“Yeah? That’s not what I heard. You can’t even handle this much?”

“Look behind you.”

“?

Piercing Blood’s companions were following along well.

But Damyu.

“Keck, hek, keck, s-sorry! I don’t know why I’m like this either!”

-Neigh!! Neigh neigh!!

She had been unstable even on the plains, so there was no way she could handle galloping through a mountain path at night.

The horse, instinct or not, quickly realized the human on its back was just a parasite and started throwing a fit to survive.

“This crazy bitch…”

“Ku, keugh-!”

As a result, she caused a commotion among the well-running members of Piercing Blood, slowing their pace, and soon the rear guard was far behind.

Piercing Blood grumbled in annoyance.

“Why are you dragging her along? If you need a Keeper, I can introduce you to someone better.”

“Keeper?”

“A World with the ability to store things safely.”

It seemed members of Crimson Circle in charge of storage were called Keepers.

As I nodded, Piercing Blood looked puzzled and asked.

“Undercurrent, you didn’t know what a Keeper was until now?”

“Yeah. Someone has to tell me, right?”

“You crazy, then what the hell have you been doing all this time?”

“Completing missions and obtaining the World-Sealing Pill.”

He naturally hid the fact that he had planted numerous time bombs within Crimson Circle, sold off information about his comrades, and the internal affairs of Crimson Circle to the empire.

When he brushed off such a hectic history with just two sentences, Piercing Blood pinched his brow and let out a sigh.

“You must have aimed to enter the Upper Tier from the very beginning.”

“Yeah. Is that a problem?”

“Fools tend to harbor such goals. But no matter how you got in, a man like you shouldn’t be foolish enough to be tempted by those lunatics… I don’t get it.”

Trailing off at the end of his words, Piercing Blood raised his hand.

“Rest! Set up a makeshift camp.”

Even if not because of Damyu, galloping through a mountain at night wasn’t a wise decision.

Everyone sat down, unpacked their belongings, and began constructing simple shelters, cutting trees to make light doors and digging dugouts.

“What are you doing?”

“I stored the food in the Workshop. I’m going to take it out.”

I glanced sideways at the members traveling with me.

“It doesn’t seem like you brought much either.”

For a group of about ten traveling together, their luggage was unbelievably minimal.

Just a few wires supporting those small tents. No weapons, no food, no water, nothing. Do these guys not die even if they starve?

At those words, Piercing Blood grinned.

“Save that. Withered Grass!”

“Yes.”

A man bowed his head ninety degrees, then suddenly took off his shoes and began walking step by step.

Where he stepped, green plants started sprouting up.

“I’ve made feed for the horses first.”

“…Huh.”

The resting horses eagerly approached and began grazing on the grass Withered Grass had grown.

As I nodded along, he now inspected the nearby trees, placed a hand on one of them, and asked,

“What shall I make?”

“Try to make a variety. We have a guest, after all.”

“Yes. Understood.”

The tree trembled slightly, then soon bore fruit.

It wasn’t just one kind of fruit. Pears, apples, cherries, even watermelons. All sorts of fruits and vegetables that shouldn’t grow on a tree sprouted.

The members picked the fruits naturally, as if they were used to it.

With some suspicion, I picked a western pear and tried it, and it was cooler and sweeter than any pear I had ever tasted.

It was such an incredible World that I was genuinely impressed.

“So that’s why no preparations were necessary. I can’t even imagine what kind of Burden this comes with.”

“Yes. The Burden is nothing special.”

Withered Grass clasped his hands behind his back and explained proudly.

“If I don’t take the World-Sealing Pill, plants grow inside my body.”

“?

“I lost this eye back then too. A pear grew inside my head.”

How did he even survive that?

“Whatever I eat grows inside me using that as nourishment, so before I met Crimson Circle, I mostly lived in starvation. I only ate just enough not to die each day, and whenever I felt something starting to grow inside, I’d cut that part open and tear out the roots.”

“…”

I stared at the pear in my hand, felt queasy, and just set it down nearby.

Piercing Blood lit a small campfire, sat beside it, and spoke proudly.

“We can survive without anyone’s help. Food, shelter, whatever, we don’t need anything. No spatial limitation can stop us.”

“It’s a perfect lineup for an assassination unit.”

“Exactly. Just one thing, if only it weren’t for this damnably lovely pill.”

He took out a white World-Sealing Pill from his chest, glared at it with hatred, then chewed and swallowed five of them at once.

The other members also took out their pills as if they were precious. In that moment, they watched their surroundings more cautiously than during any meal.

The act of taking the World-Sealing Pill felt almost like a religious ritual. Piercing Blood trembled slightly as he sensed the Burden of his World easing, then looked at me.

“It’s a shame. That’s why I have high hopes for you.”

“…Hopes?”

“Didn’t I mention before that it’s not the first time I’ve wished for someone in the Upper Tier who could actually communicate? That’s what I meant.”

It seemed to carry a deeper meaning.

I shrugged my shoulders without answering and leaned against a nearby tree.

“Aren’t you going to sleep together?”

“I’m more comfortable alone.”

“Well, if that’s the case.”

Piercing Blood, as if he wouldn’t press further, finished his meal and returned to his tent.

Honestly, I wanted to go into the Workshop and sleep there, but doing something like that would draw a clear line.

With my eyes closed, I let myself drift into sleep, staying alert and never lowering my guard.

…

..

.

“…Tsk.”

And then, I opened my eyes.

There wasn’t anything like a night watch. It was about two hours after I had fallen asleep.

Clicking my tongue in annoyance, I found Piercing Blood already sitting near the campfire, poking at the smoking ashes.

“Hm? You’re up? It’s still quite early, though.”

“…”

I didn’t answer this time either.

Piercing Blood likely didn’t possess a wide-range sensing ability like mine.

Even if someone among his members did, there was no one with a range or precision surpassing my Current Sense.

Even if, by some chance, someone had a power specialized purely in detection that exceeded my ability, they wouldn’t be able to use it while asleep.

Which means…

“You lit the fire knowingly.”

“What are you talking about? I don’t quite understand.”

He answered shamelessly, lifting both hands.

“If there’s a problem, just say so. I’ll wake the members.”

“…”

The members inside the tent were already awake.

Though they were lying down with their eyes closed, their heartbeats weren’t those of people who were asleep. If Piercing Blood spoke, they would rush out immediately.

Right now, the only one actually sleeping was Damyu, who had somehow ended up snoring peacefully against the tree next to me.

“Leave them.”

“Really?”

“Yes. If you’re going to give an order, order them not to wake up.”

“…Hmm, I can’t command such physiological responses, but… alright, I’ll tell them not to get up.”

The ones “sleeping” in the tent must have heard that too.

I got up, stretched my body, and strode along the dark mountain path.

“…Oh? He was awake.”

“Damn, I guess we’ve been found out?”

A group of armed assailants cautiously approached, wearing camouflage outfits that blended in with the forest, wielding axes, spears, swords… even crossbows.

There were thirty of them.

The man who appeared to be the leader, the largest among them, scoffed as he stepped forward.

“You dumb bastard, what’re you gonna do if your buddies wake up? Think you can outrun us in this mountain?”

“Ha, I suppose. That’s true.”

“You guys would’ve been better off if we snapped your necks in your sleep. Now you’ll die knowing it’s coming.”

A man who didn’t match his size, holding a crossbow, sneered as he stepped closer.

“But hey, if you hand over everything you’ve got with the woman… hmm, alright. I’ll shoot you in the head.”

“And how’s that different?”

“If you try to resist and cause trouble, we’ll tie you up and slice off your flesh bit by bit. Wouldn’t you rather die quickly?”

The threat was familiar. The gestures were familiar.

It seemed this mountain had been crawling with scum like them for a long time.

I let out a sigh as I looked at Piercing Blood standing with his hands behind his back.

This was better, at least.

“Still, that’s not a bad offer.”

“Oh? First time I’ve seen someone smart enough to agree with this kind of talk.”

“Put that crossbow under your own chin and pull the trigger.”

“…What?”

“It’s going to happen anyway. Better to speed it up a little, don’t you think?”

“…”

I thought the bandit leader would immediately fire in a rage.

But instead, the one who seemed to be assessing the situation cautiously took a step back and whispered to his subordinate.

[…Hey, you’re sure they’re not knights, right?]

[I’m telling you! There’s really nothing. No sword, no spear, just bare-handed. Look at their shabby clothes.]

[Hmm, really?]

But an instinct is just an instinct.

If they were satisfied enough to pass up such an unguarded group, they wouldn’t be bandits in the first place.

“Alright. We’ll tie you up and keep you alive until-”

I half-listened to the bandit’s words and glanced at Piercing Blood, who was smirking.

No matter what, he surely wasn’t expecting me to lose to mere bandits.

He probably just wanted to see what kind of World I had during the fight, that must’ve been his intent.

If this was another test, then I had two objectives.

To deal with them in a way that gave up the least amount of information, while also forcing Piercing Blood to acknowledge me.

It wasn’t easy, but not impossible.

“…Then let’s make sure they can’t run first.”

I didn’t want to waste much of my Burden on trash like this.

While speaking, I suddenly used water pressure to grip the fingers and arm of the guy aiming for my leg.

“Huh-?”

His reaction was slow.

It had to be. When a part of your body suddenly stops responding mid-fight, making the decision to apply force in reverse isn’t easy.

It could not be done to knights, who had reaction speeds several times faster than ordinary people, because one dies if one does not dance a waltz on the line of death. They would instantly resist and put distance between themselves and me.

It also can’t be done to a wizard who must construct a proper spell to attack. The moment they sensed the situation, they would cast another spell and freeze their own hands.

But to someone who is neither a knight nor a wizard, just a bandit, this kind of trick is possible.

-Thwack, Pak!

“Keugh.”

The leader’s arm bent. His finger pulled the trigger.

In less than a second, the crossbow was aimed at his own chin.

It seemed the weapon had been modified to pierce even armor. The bolt flew with such force that it was far too powerful to be stopped by mere flesh.

“…”

Without even a moment to scream, the bandit leader dropped to his knees as the bolt exited through the top of his head.

Blood flowed, soaking into the ground. But none of his underlings reacted with rage.

“L-Leader…”

“Huh?”

Swords, spears, daggers.

The weapons they held, and the hands holding them, betrayed them.

It happened too fast to comprehend. Expecting them to realize, after seeing their leader kill himself, that their own bodies were betraying them, would be too cruel a standard.

-Ujeok, udeuk!- In that brief moment, flesh was torn, blood splattered, and lives were extinguished.

All of them struck vital points that, once pierced or slashed, would inevitably lead to death.

The time this took was exactly two seconds.

As a result, the bandits all committed suicide within that time.

Did Piercing Blood figure something out from this scene? When I turned around with slight concern…

“…What?”

He was staring blankly at the corpses of the bandits, not even understanding what had just happened.

Well, it was a hard thing to grasp.