Wizard of the Deep Sea

TL/ED – Miso

To make a plan, certainty was needed first.

That’s why I returned to the lodging and gave orders to Piercing Blood and the members.

“Eat and drink as much as you want. Act like an organization that just obtained 700,000 World-Sealing Pills.”

“?”

“???”

The members, who had been expecting orders like ‘We killed him. We’ll escape, so risk your lives to open the path’, all had bewildered expressions.

They looked to their leader, Piercing Blood, hoping he would explain something, but he too was looking at me with a similar expression.

“Is there really nothing else we need to do?”

“There is. But now’s not the time.” “…You know we only have a week, right?”

One week, I couldn’t ask for more than that. If I had asked for even a little more time, she would have captured me using forceful means.

Even this one week was only obtained because I had maintained an aggressive stance of revenge, and additionally because she really liked me.

To be precise, it was probably because she liked that my World was vast.

“Of course.”

No one knew that fact better than I did. When I answered indifferently, perhaps because that gave a sense of trust, Piercing Blood also nodded.

“Well, you’re not the type to gamble your life for nothing. I’ll trust you.”

“Thanks. Honestly, when Dark Night offered the 700,000, I thought you’d betray me.”

“I did consider it. But after hearing what followed…”

Piercing Blood frowned, wearing a disgusted expression.

“I can understand why the Fallen who could read minds committed suicide. I can’t die peacefully with that one still alive.”

“Mm, is it really that bad?”

From my perspective, who had to deal with Crimson Circle, of course Dark Night was a nightmare of an opponent.

But from the viewpoint of Crimson Circle members… isn’t it a bit much to say she’s horrifying?

No, I mean, of course losing your sense of self is horrifying, but from what I saw of others who eliminate Burdens, it seemed like some consciousness could still be maintained.

In response to the question containing that nuance, Piercing Blood twirled his index finger in disbelief.

“Undercurrent, are you crazy? You think it’s just ‘that bad’?”

“Don’t misunderstand. I’m not denying it’s horrifying. I’m just saying, isn’t it better than dying?”

“That’s a peculiar point of view. I, at least, hope death can be an escape. The others would think the same as me.”

The other members also nodded with equally appalled expressions.

…Am I taking this too lightly?

Well, whatever the case, if they see Dark Night as terrifying and cooperate, that works out for me.

“Um… then.”

During the conversation, Damyu cautiously raised her hand.

“I’m really of no use, so should I just rest here?”

“No. I need you.”

“Yes?”

I took the dazed-looking girl outside with me.

Into this horrifying and bizarre city.

Surprisingly, although Damyu initially made an uncomfortable face, once we started moving, it didn’t seem like she minded that much.

Perhaps the dying sensation improved after resting a bit, she busily looked around, exclaiming like someone out sightseeing.

“Wow… still, the city is really pretty… and there are a lot of people.”

“…”

I was about to tell her the truth, but when I saw her looking at the laughing and chatting families with a bitter smile, I decided to stop.

“Indeed. This isn’t a place for people like us.”

“I know that too. Usually we’re given missions to burn and destroy places like this. Though I was never included in those missions, the World-Sealing Pills I took were probably made from the blood of people like them.”

“Really? Despite what you’re saying, you don’t look like you feel much guilt.”

“A piglet is cute, and salted pig’s feet are delicious. I realized that in Crimson Circle, the way to survive long is to accept things as isolated facts and not think too deeply about them.”

Damyu answered calmly. Since I had no intention of involving myself in her way of life, I ended the conversation there and got to work, leaving Damyu behind.

“Wh-what are you doing?”

“Gathering information.”

Building styles, clothing, sign language, even pronunciation of the language.

For now, I gathered all the information I could. Then, I dismantled a few things and threw them into Damyu’s Swamp.

“If I do this, won’t those people say something… huh?”

Damyu looked on in amazement at the scene of people repeating preset conversations, regardless of whether we smashed up their shop or not.

It seemed she misunderstood this as one of my abilities.

“You could do things like this too…”

“…Yeah.”

“But what exactly are you doing?”

“Fact-checking. Don’t you think this city is a bit strange?”

“If strange means strange, then yes. With so many different people gathered, there’s not even a single quarrel…”

“The fact that they’re gathered at all is what’s strange.”

“What?”

After spending the entire day exploring the Capital in silence.

Even conservatively speaking, there were hundreds of different languages and races present, including those from the Empire.

That fact alone meant one thing.

It wasn’t just citizens of the Manganji Kingdom. She had performed Servitude elsewhere too.

Different races, different cultures. She had gone through the trouble of capturing such people personally. Solely for the sake of diversity.

The reason for pursuing Fallen was easy to understand. To expand one’s domain, then why go to the extent of using ordinary people in Servitude?

Because it helps.

“…I’ll act alone for a while. Go back to the lodging.”

I climbed the tallest spire in the Capital and sat, looking down over the city.

As Damyu had said, it was a beautiful place. With all kinds of cultures harmoniously blended together, there was a charm unique only to the Manganji Kingdom.

I spent a moment gazing at the scenery in thought, then took a few World-Sealing Pills and activated Current sense.

At first, I saw nothing, but then the setting sun refracted unnaturally, and for a very brief moment, the sky over the city shimmered with iridescent colors.

Each one of those vivid hues became a thread, connected from the Palace to the heads of the people.

“Huh.”

The sight of the entire Capital embroidered like that naturally drew a gasp. It was, literally, breathtakingly beautiful.

But awe was soon suppressed by fear.

Thinking about it, it was simple. If Puppet was an ability that grew stronger by infinitely expanding Worlds through multiple tiers, then naturally, how many Believers she had created would be the focus of growth.

The scariest thing about the Puppet World wasn’t its undetectable threads or its near-infinite domain.

It was the fact that it could grow by using even ordinary people, neither Wizards nor Fallen, as nutrients.

That was the most terrifying part.

What were mere nuisances to other Fallen could be used to strengthen herself.

“How the hell am I supposed to deal with something like this…”

I scratched my head.

If she were a Wizard who manipulated earth, there would be countless ways to counter her.

But if she were a Wizard who grew stronger by eating earth?

It might seem less impressive than the former, but once you realize half of this world is earth, it doesn’t sound so amusing anymore.

Having found no particularly effective method, I came down from the spire and was walking along the now-dark street when the shoeshine boy I had seen earlier in the day cheerfully approached me.

“Mister, want your shoes shined?”

“…”

He still had those bright eyes, holding a rag so worn it made me worry it might make the boots dirtier instead, as he looked up at me.

In reality, he was at the same eye level as me.

I had a sudden whim. I held out my boots and gave a nod.

“Go ahead.”

“Okay!”

Watching the boy eagerly rub the boots with the rag, I steeled my resolve.

If I was still determined to try something, first, I had to deal with all of these.

The Puppet World Dark Night had created was far too strong. With thousands, tens of thousands, perhaps even hundreds of thousands of threads, it could block even the Deep Sea.

As things stood, there was no way to breach it. Only by weakening the Puppet World itself could there even be a chance of fighting, without any guarantee of victory.

And just for that slim chance, I had to kill every marionette generating her threads. Not just in the Capital, but across the entire Manganji Kingdom.

‘Should I leave it to Piercing Blood?’

I felt no real guilt. These people were already dead anyway, merely moving by the power of the Puppet World.

Not releasing them would be the true discourtesy. I quietly closed my eyes and reached out toward the back of the boy’s neck.

I had planned to save this one before anything else.

“…Ah!”

And then.

Suddenly, the boy’s startled gasp made me flinch.

Of course, it wasn’t that the boy had realized what I had just tried to do.

“Oh, these aren’t shoes, they’re boots! I didn’t see clearly because it’s dark!”

“…What?”

“Don’t worry, I’ve got a brush for cleaning boots too!”

The shoeshine boy pulled out a coarse brush attached to his waist.

I stared blankly at the sight for a moment, then hurriedly activated Current sense.

But no, there was still a thread drawn from above the boy’s head. He was definitely not human, but a marionette.

Then…?

“Hey, just wait a moment.”

I quickly took off my boots.

The boy looked at me curiously.

“Why are you taking them off?”

It was certain. This boy was communicating with me.

I hesitated a moment, then made up an excuse on the spot.

“…It prickles a little when you clean them with the brush while I’m wearing them. Clean them like this instead.”

“Oh, okay!”

“And, starting now, I’m going to kill you. Go on, resist with everything you’ve got.”

“…”

At my sudden, murderous threat, the boy did not respond.

It wasn’t that he was frozen in fear, nor trembling in terror, nor that he hadn’t heard me.

He simply tilted his head like he’d heard me but didn’t understand, and then resumed polishing the boots.

“Make sure you get the soles properly.”

“Okay!”

“Oh, right. That apple tree over there had really sweet apples. If you were to pick one of those for me right now, I’d pay you a fortune.”

“…”

After several experiments, I discovered a few things.

Marionettes under Servitude could communicate properly, as long as it didn’t stray too far from their assigned task.

But anything beyond that, they responded to with what was practically dismissal. It seemed this method was chosen because if they moved like fully wound-up dolls, this city couldn’t function properly.

That meant the master of Puppet, Dark Night, could rotate only parts of their memories and set detailed commands.

“Hah, damn it.”

The boy didn’t react to the curse. Understandable, since it wasn’t related to his task.

The reason I cursed was because of a sudden flash of inspiration.

“This…”

It was going to be a bit difficult and troublesome. The easiest way would be to kill every marionette in the country and then face the weakened Dark Night head-on.

But that would only be mentally easier. Realistically, it was as close to impossible as you could get while still calling it possible.

However. The method I just came up with.

‘Might actually work.’

It was a possibility as close to impossible as one could get.

*

I returned to the lodging immediately.

Piercing Blood, unable to hide his nervousness, looked at me, then at my expression.

Seeing the confident smile on my face, he slowly lifted the corners of his mouth.

“Undercurrent, judging by that look, I take it you’ve come up with something brilliant.”

“Yeah. But I need your consent for this plan.”

“Consent?”

“Piercing Blood. Do you trust me?”

“As I said earlier, I do. In fact, there’s nothing else I can do but trust you. I absolutely don’t want to end up under that Dark Night woman’s command.”

“Even if it means using any means necessary?”

“…?”

Piercing Blood tilted his head in confusion, but still answered.

“Yeah. Any means necessary.”

“Even if it means falling into hell, as long as it’s not that hell, I can take it, can I interpret it that way?”

“Uh… yeah? But what are you even trying to say?”

“I just wanted a clear answer on how much you don’t want to become one of Dark Night’s marionettes.”

“If that’s it-”

Piercing Blood nodded with a serious expression.

“Of course. Like I said before, the only reason I planned to support you, even going as far as preparing to kill an Upper Tier, was because I didn’t want to serve under a lunatic like her.”

“Good. I’ll remember those words.”

“So, can I hear the plan now?”

“Of course. Just get some sleep for now.”

“What does that mea-”

-CRASH!!!

A metal bucket crumpled with a loud clang.

Piercing Blood’s confused gaze disappeared into the back of his skull, and his body collapsed to the ground.

“Hah… haa…”

Having struck Piercing Blood on the back of the head and knocked him out, Damyu stood trembling, looking down at him.

“W-what… what did I just do…? Even if it was Undercurrent’s order, I just knocked out the leader of Crimson Circle’s top assassination unit in the Lower Tier…? If this gets found out, how horribly will I die…?”

“Damyu. You hold on to this.”

“W-what is it?”

“You don’t need to know. Just think of it as something precious, and never look inside. If you do, you’ll die a painful death. Blood will pour from your limbs.”

“Hiiiek… o-okay…”

“And the other members.”

“Y-yes. I already drugged their meals. They should all be sound asleep by now…”

“Good job. Now tie them all up with rope.”

One hour later.

Dragging Piercing Blood and the other members, all tied up like dried fish on a string, I made my way toward the Palace.

“…Wh-what is the meaning of this?”

Shocked, uh, what was his name again?

Some uncle or whatever, stared in horror at the tied-up group, clutching his head.

“My god… what have you done! Release them immediately!”

After a moment of consideration, I said,

“I came to see my little sister.”

“Y-yes?”

“Open the gate.”

“…You insolent wretch!”

When I replied casually, threads rose from his body.

“Do you think you can simply request an audience with her? She’s not someone you can meet just because you want to! You will pay for your rudeness!”

Oh? So if he’s at least at the uncle level, he can handle the Burden and use his World?

As I whistled and prepared to fight, suddenly, he grimaced in pain.

“…Ghh, grrgh… agh…”

“?

“F-fine. I understand…”

The man abruptly changed his tone, rewound his threads, and opened the gate.

Even while holding his head from a pounding headache, he didn’t forget to glare at me and mutter a line.

“D-don’t think you’ll always have her favor…”

“Yeah. By the way, aren’t you her uncle?”

“…What?”

“What kind of uncle calls his niece her? Don’t you think that’s a little weird?”

There was no reply. –Thud! The door closed.

And then.

“Well. That took a day.”

That soft voice echoed through the dark corridor.

Click, clack… the sound of heels spreading out.

“…”

As I slowly turned around, without any grand entrance, she was simply standing there.

“Did the revenge go well? How do you feel?”

The leader of the murderers who had killed millions was, hmm.

“More ordinary than I expected.”

She truly was.