Wizard of the Deep Sea

TL/ED – Miso

“…You really don’t want to talk about it, do you.”

Unexpectedly, Cheon-hwa merely frowned slightly before brushing off my bluff.

Then she turned on her heel and started walking somewhere.

“We act to find Sacrifices.”

She didn’t explicitly say it, but the implication to follow was clear. I trailed after her and asked again.

“…Sacrifices?”

“Yes. You’ve heard it from Void. The Crimson Circle’s goal is to kill the Prophet and erase magic from the world.”

-Clunk.

On the first floor of the Spire, there was a door leading underground. It was a place my Current Sense hadn’t detected. As I cautiously entered the dark passage, endless darkness stretched before me.

“Magic is the seed of all evil and a part of the Prophet. As long as it exists, the Fallen will never disappear.”

“That’s interesting.”

I tilted my head at Cheon-hwa, who spoke as if it were nothing.

“If magic disappears, does that mean we’ll return to our original world?”

“Don’t be mistaken.”

Cheon-hwa shook her head.

“Once you’ve fallen, you cannot climb back up.”

“If there’s no hope, why do we do any of this?”

“That’s for you to decide.”

“…Huh?”

“I act solely out of hatred.”

Contrary to her words, not a trace of anger could be heard in her voice.

If anything, it carried regret and detachment.

“Void believes it’s the reason he was born. Lump seeks the amusement he can find in the process. Decay acts on faith. We dream of the same goal, but what we want differs.”

“What if I don’t want that goal?”

“Then Void wouldn’t have accepted you.”

The conversation ended there.

At the very bottom of the underground, before a small door thick with the smell of salt and blood, Cheon-hwa asked quietly.

“Have you ever seen hell?”

“A few times.”

“That’s fortunate.”

When the underground door opened, I understood there was not a shred of exaggeration in her words.

“…”

A Great Cavern so massive it was hard to believe it had been built underground.

Hundreds of children, none older than ten, were packed into enormous pits.

There were dozens of such pits. That alone was enough to call it hell, but—

“…They’re all alive.”

“They’d be worthless as Sacrifices if they died.”

Those vacant eyes reflexively looked up toward the source of the sound, toward us.

Whether I was shocked or not, Cheon-hwa walked toward the next room as if it were nothing.

“We put them into Worlds. For the Dark Veil, we can maintain it by putting in a hundred per day.”

“How efficient. Just a hundred lives to cover the entire empire.”

I forced myself to respond calmly and followed behind her.

I’d heard about it before. That the Crimson Circle bought Natural-born wizards with money. It was exactly what had almost happened to me.

I also knew that the Crimson Circle bred those Natural-born wizards like livestock to increase the number of children born as wizards.

But actually seeing the result was different.

I felt like I was about to vomit.

“Are they only used as Sacrifices? Don’t you inflict pain on them to make them Fall and become your allies?”

“We tried that in the past, but the success rate was practically nonexistent, so we stopped.”

“…Why?”

“The Fallen fall through suffering.”

Cheon-hwa looked down at the pit as if observing inanimate objects.

“Suffering is the opposite of happiness. Do you think these things, who know not a single happiness, can feel what pain is? Do you think livestock slaughtered for meat truly suffer?”

“Yes.”

When I answered without a moment’s hesitation, her eyebrow twitched briefly before her expression returned to its blank state.

“Unfortunately, it seems the World rejects your claim. Of course, it would be wasteful to use them only as Sacrifices, so we did what we had to do.”

Cheon-hwa turned to look at me with a bitter smile.

“Since long ago, we’ve occasionally scattered them throughout the empire.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“Our Great World has been in progress for quite some time. We needed as many allies as possible, but the Sacrifices simply wouldn’t Fall. So we decided to scatter them across the empire.”

“…”

“Countless cases exist of people living without knowing they’re wizards, only to Fall later. And even if they do know, we can find them again and make them our allies. We considered it an investment worth the minor losses.”

“I could be one of them, then.”

I knew I wasn’t, but what a tasteless thing to do.

Come to think of it, Natural-born wizards, who supposedly could only exist with noble blood, were far more common than expected. It seemed the Crimson Circle’s trivial schemes were behind that.

“…Tch.”

When I showed no significant reaction, Cheon-hwa clicked her tongue as if displeased for some reason and headed to the next location.

Beyond the pits of hell lay a space cluttered with countless books, maps, swords, and tables strewn about in disarray.

Cheon-hwa lit the lantern in the center and murmured.

“Making every wizard Fall or killing them. That is what you, what we must do. And deciding how that’s done is my role.”

“You?”

“Yes. Every action the Crimson Circle has taken was chosen and commanded by me personally. Come sit in front of me.”

When I sat before her, she began staring at me intently.

“This will be repeating what you’ve heard, but I am the Priestess.”

“Yes. I’ve heard. That you’re the same as Sharmia.”

“No. Two Priestesses cannot exist in one era.”

Cheon-hwa shook her head lightly as she answered.

“I am a fake Priestess that Void created in collaboration with Dark Night. Since there can only be one flower hanging from the cliff, I was given the name Cheon-hwa, meaning ‘hang from the sky’ instead.”

“…Fake?”

“Yes. Does my appearance make sense now?”

“…”

It felt like lightning struck my head.

Indeed, I too had been created because of my brother the prince, which was why I had a twin-like appearance to him.

So Void had used his teleportation ability to somehow create a doll of Sharmia.

‘…Why didn’t he kill her?’

Thinking about it, Void’s ability should have allowed him to kill or kidnap the princess at any time. Instead, he made a doll?

The fact that he didn’t meant—

‘He already killed her multiple times.’

Sharmia had died at Void’s hands multiple times and countered each time afterward.

Only after seeing his absolutely unavoidable assassinations get blocked did Void realize Sharmia could see the future, recognize her as the Priestess, and shift his approach to creating a replica instead.

I wasn’t certain, but the probability was high. As I clenched my fist under the table, Cheon-hwa looked down at me with those hazy eyes of hers.

“Being a fake, my abilities fall far short of the real Priestess. But I can at least determine what you need to do.”

“…”

This was dangerous too.

If she saw in my future that I would destroy the Crimson Circle, she might become hostile.

…Should I try to kill her here?

No, if I steeled my resolve, would she prophesy that as well?

As each second stretched into what felt like ten minutes, Cheon-hwa calmly placed her hand on my head. Before long, she nodded.

“You’re… hmm, you have an illness.”

“…Pardon?”

“Haven’t you experienced chest pain or dizziness every time you use your abilities?”

“Ah, yes.”

“That’s probably Decompression Sickness. Commonly called Diving Sickness.”

“…Ah.”

“It seems to occur as your ability moves between the Deep Sea and reality. You’ll need to slow down a bit.”

“Ah, no. Wait a moment.”

When I expressed my confusion, Cheon-hwa asked with a puzzled expression.

“What is it?”

“Aren’t you going to prophesy my future?”

“Didn’t I say I’m a fake Priestess? I exist to understand the suffering and pain of the Fallen and provide countermeasures.”

So she was essentially a doctor exclusively for the Fallen.

“Then what should I be doing?”

“Getting better.”

Cheon-hwa declared.

“Listen well. Our grand plan won’t be completed in a day or two. If you, an Upper Tier member, die from Burden in the meantime, that would be absurd. Once you’re here, the first thing to do is learn about your Burden, reduce it as much as possible, then find and assign work that best utilizes your abilities.”

“…Hmm, then.”

“What you need to do right now is rest and recover. Void knows this too, which is why he hasn’t given you any tasks.”

I blinked a few times and fell silent for a moment.

Dealing with the Dark Veil was the most urgent priority.

Urgent as it was, but…

“The only untreated Burden right now is this one, but it seems other things can improve to some degree as well.”

Cheon-hwa rummaged through a nearby bookshelf and pulled out a very old book.

Glancing at her as she opened it, I was shocked.

[Blood Sky: Blood never stops flowing. Even a single wound causes all the blood in the body to drain, resulting in death. Cover the entire body in soft beeswax and…]

Even a cursory look revealed countless Worlds, their countermeasures, and precautions.

As I stared in astonishment at what looked like a medical text for the Fallen, she finally stopped near the last page.

There, the Deep Sea was written.

[Deep Sea]

[One of The Three Evils. Death upon Falling.]

[If a Fallen becomes a clump of compressed flesh, classify as Deep Sea.]

[Occasionally observed: the clump being consumed by something invisible. Treat as a type of ocean and part of The Three Evils, but no method of utilization exists.]

“As expected, there’s nothing useful.”

She sighed and dipped a quill pen into ink before beginning to write something on a separate parchment.

“That doesn’t mean there’s no method at all. How are you currently dealing with the pressure, which must be your most severe Burden?”

“I’d like to keep that a secret.”

“Tell me.”

Cheon-hwa looked up at me as if in disbelief.

“You still don’t trust me after coming this far?”

“Yes. A little.”

“Unbelievable…”

She replied with a frown.

“Listen. I’ve reduced the Burden of tens of thousands to survivable levels, and among them were even cases of The Three Evils. I don’t know how you’re enduring, but I can make it much easier.”

Hmm.

I was going to leave anyway.

After deliberating, I answered.

“Actually, I can use magic.”

“…What?”

“Perhaps because of that, I also have my own World. Not the World I Fell into, but a wizard’s World.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

I quietly summoned a flame above my hand.

Cheon-hwa’s dismissive eyes grew wider as she watched.

“I use this to create something called a Water Barrier to partially isolate myself from the Deep Sea. That’s why I wasn’t instantly crushed to death by the pressure’s Burden, and how I’ve managed to survive until now.”

“…Hmm.”

Her gaze fixed on the two stars swimming within my eyes.

“Two stars…”

“Am I going to be expelled from the Upper Tier for being a Half-Fallen Half-Wizard or something?”

“…”

Cheon-hwa thoroughly ignored my joke and sank into thought.

Ten minutes passed as I nursed my wounded feelings.

“…Perhaps.”

After a long while, Cheon-hwa slowly raised her head.

“You might be able to be loved by the Deep Sea.”

Hmm.

That wasn’t exactly the kind of love I was hoping for.