Wizard of the Deep Sea

TL/ED – Miso

After hearing the things I absolutely had to follow from the Sharmia of the future,

what I chose was to live in the room next to the current Sharmia’s.

There weren’t any particular problems. As long as my Current Sense existed, no guards could ever catch me.

Like some famous movie, my life became one of hanging around in the ceiling or slipping into rooms that happened to be empty.

It wasn’t especially painful. In fact, being in the Imperial household made it remarkably convenient to get food and drink, and if I had to say, my mind was on the comfortable side of things.

Sharmia, however, was not so fortunate.

“Your Highness, I’m sorry to disturb you while you’re sleeping, but I think we need to move.”

“Mmm, they’re here again…?”

Right below me. A distance of barely a few meters. Sharmia, rubbing her sleepy eyes, was led somewhere by the hand of the head lady-in-waiting, still in her nightgown.

Somewhere safe, no doubt. Since this bedroom had become a target.

“…How is she still alive?”

It was absurd.

Only three days had passed, and excluding myself, there had been a full three attempts.

Three unmistakable assassination attempts targeting the Princess.

“You must stop them. This time, do not let them esca, gkh!”

Through my Current Sense, I could see masked assassins with daggers charging toward the room even now, cutting down guards as they came.

Not all of them were that brutish. The other two had involved poisoning the food she ate, or attaching poison-laced needles to her clothes.

It was truly unbelievable. Both the sheer number of three attempts and the fact that all of this was happening brazenly inside the Imperial Palace.

Was this even possible right now? Having only ever seen the Empire as the mature nation the Princess had built, suddenly witnessing something that wouldn’t even happen in a developing country left me completely speechless.

In the Empire I had known, you’d be arrested just for lingering near the Imperial Palace. Security wasn’t just broken; it was shattered beyond recognition.

No wonder she’d taken it so calmly when I told her I’d gotten in.

“…She’ll be fine, right?”

To be honest, it was none of my business. All of these attempts were recorded as failures anyway.

In the end, the Empire would be set right by an awakened Sharmia. Right now, it was simply enduring the darkest hour before dawn.

The one thing I had to be careful about was…

Today.

“Your Highness, today you look truly… truly beautiful!”

“…Thank you.”

Today was the Princess’s tenth birthday, the day she would awaken as a Wizard.

After that day, if the Princess died, she would return to the past.

This world would be unable to sustain itself and collapse, and I, too, would be unable to return.

‘I think this is what he was aiming for…’

It seemed Void had known from the start that I could return through death, and had laid this trap accordingly.

So that no matter what information I carried, I wouldn’t be able to pass it on. That was why he had been completely open and focused on persuasion.

No matter how many times I thought it over, what a rotten bastard. I let out a sigh and watched Sharmia’s retreating figure as she walked down the path, escorted by dozens of ladies-in-waiting.

“Your Highness, please don’t go too far ahead.”

“Oh, I’m sorry. This dress is so uncomfortable to walk in. I keep taking longer strides.”

The result of observing the young Princess for nearly a week was, well…

Aside from being accustomed to assassination attempts, she was a child typical of her age.

One slightly unusual thing was that she loved growing trees so much that she personally watered and fertilized them despite everyone’s attempts to dissuade her. Other than that, there really wasn’t much to note.

She held up the hem of her dress and walked toward the largest Cathedral in the Imperial Palace, passing rows of lined-up soldiers and cannon salutes with an expressionless face.

The moment she entered the Cathedral, nobles who had been tensely waiting rushed forward and bowed their heads.

“Your Highness, Sharmia. Have you been well? I am Clozet of House Ladria.”

“Congratulations on your birthday. I am…”

“Ah, yes. Thank you, everyone.”

Sharmia herself brushed them off as though she found them tiresome.

Still, as she exchanged light greetings with the throngs of nobles who had gathered, the Imperial Palace musicians began playing gentle music.

Perhaps because it was the Princess’s tenth birthday, countless servants bustled about, serving food and drinks, and…

“What’s this? I’ve never seen this food before.”

“It’s a grape crepe. I’d recommend pairing it with apple cider.”

I was among them.

I had roughly dyed my hair blonde using hair dye I’d found near a vanity, and thrown on some clothes I’d stolen from nearby.

Children around my age were also being put to work, so I didn’t attract much suspicion. The guards might have found my face suspicious if they saw it, but this was not a place they could simply enter.

The chance of being caught was already extremely low, but even if I were discovered, I could easily brush it off and escape, so I had deliberately come in as a servant.

The reason was that the Sharmia of the future still had not appeared in the vanity mirror.

‘She’s too late.’

She hadn’t appeared even though the promised time had passed. This was proof that the situation I was in was quite serious.

It likely meant my stay in this space would grow longer, and that in turn meant I could no longer just sit still.

If the Princess was given her role as the Priestess and died even once, I would die along with her.

Even if it meant altering the future, starting from today I had to follow by Sharmia’s side, identify whoever was behind the assassins targeting her, and stop them.

As I quietly served and carefully surveyed the area around a bored-looking Sharmia,

BRAAAAAM!

“…That startled me.”

Suddenly, a grand trumpet blast blanketed the hall.

I continued serving calmly so as not to look out of place, and I could see the surrounding nobles swallowing nervously and straightening their postures.

From the Cathedral staircase, a middle-aged man descended slowly, flanked by a massive escort.

…It was a face I recognized.

“W-We pay our respects to the Heart of the Empire.”

“We pay our respects to the Heart of the Empire!”

“Mm.”

That firm face, and the intense gaze that brooked not the slightest objection.

And despite his middle age, an enormous build.

It was the Emperor of the Empire.

I had seen him in the library. Sharmia had said it was a fake, but seeing him like this in person, he looked exactly like the man I had seen. Though that one had been a bit older…

The Emperor gave a slight nod and extended his hand toward Sharmia, who looked somewhat intimidated.

“Come here.”

“Y-Yes!”

Sharmia ran over without a word of objection and knelt on one knee.

After gazing at the golden crown of her head for a moment, the Emperor…

smiled gently, as a father would toward his daughter, and stroked her hair.

“You’ve adorned yourself quite beautifully. You look just like her.”

“Thank you…”

Even while receiving the compliment, Sharmia bowed her head with a trace of fear in her expression.

It seemed the father-daughter relationship was not a particularly good one.

When Sharmia rose, gave one more deep bow, and returned to her place, the Emperor looked out at the nobles who dared not raise their heads and spoke in a resonant voice.

“If I am the Heart of the Empire, then the nobility is its blood and muscle. Without you, what would separate a corpse from the Empire? I worry that I have summoned those who should be working even now for a trivial personal matter.”

“N-Not at all!”

“A personal matter? For such a national occasion…”

Having made the nobles, who seemed as though they couldn’t possibly prostrate themselves any further, tremble even more, the Emperor then fixed them with an august gaze and spoke.

“I should express my gratitude to you all for coming to celebrate this fine day on which my child will become a Wizard. If there is anything you desire, speak. I shall reward you handsomely.”

It was just a casual exchange. No noble here would be bold enough to actually step forward.

They’d just go along with something like, “What have we done to deserve such generosity, we need nothing at all~” and move on.

If someone actually came forward, they’d have to be out of their mind…

“There is one thing I would like to request.”

…And yet.

One noble truly stepped forward.

I looked at his face, curious just how bold and reckless this person could be, and once again, it was someone I knew.

It was Alletus, who ten years prior still had at least some black hair remaining.

He wore a serious expression as he walked out from among the nobles, all of whom were looking at him like he was a madman, which was exactly what I had been thinking, and stood squarely before the Emperor.

The Emperor did not seem particularly offended, and nodded as he asked,

“Alletus, is it. I am well aware of the merit you’ve shown, always at the forefront for the Empire. What is it you desire?”

“Yes. I humbly wish to speak regarding a temporary relocation of the capital.”

“…What?”

“The current Imperial Palace is far too dangerous. I beseech you, if only to preserve your sacred person, would you consider leaving the Palace for a time?”

The Cathedral was immediately engulfed in a silence so cold it seemed it might freeze over.

Even the musicians cautiously stopped playing their instruments.

“What manner of nonsense is that?”

The Emperor spoke the exact same words I had been thinking, his expression souring.

Even under pressure that would have made any ordinary noble wet themselves on the spot, Alletus did not falter in the slightest.

“I apologize for overstepping. However, in the past month alone, no fewer than thirteen assassins have infiltrated the Imperial Palace. This is clearly abnormal.”

“The Empire’s lofty glory is bound to attract vermin. Yet even if those vermin challenge us a thousand times, it amounts to nothing more than moths leaping into a flame. How could you not know this?”

“Of course, I understand that fact as well. What I wish to call attention to is the fact that those vermin have dared to set foot inside the Imperial Palace itself.”

“…”

The Emperor could not respond to that.

It was certainly strange. Assassins coming after the Imperial family wasn’t so unusual in itself, but the fact that they were getting inside the Palace was something else entirely.

If the security was strong enough to thwart every assassination attempt, there was no reason the security meant to prevent entry in the first place should be that lax.

‘Is he insane?’

Once I grasped the underlying meaning, I could see the true intent behind Alletus’s fiery remarks.

Alletus was saying, right now, that there was a rat inside the Imperial Palace. He was just putting it in roundabout terms.

In front of the Emperor!

…Swallowing hard with the feeling that I now somewhat understood where Elysia got her temperament,

the Emperor slowly nodded.

“A fair point. However, if you are going to raise that issue, surely you are aware that you, who are in charge of the Imperial guard, cannot escape responsibility either?”

“Indeed. This is due to my own inadequacy, so I beseech you, put me to death.”

Alletus knelt as if to say he’d said everything he needed to and was ready to die.

The Emperor pinched the bridge of his nose and shook his head as he replied.

“I will consider the relocation. And I will entrust the Imperial security to someone else. Let that serve as your punishment.”

“I am grateful for your boundless mercy.”

“Now withdraw.”

When the Emperor waved his hand dismissively, Alletus rose and, as he turned to leave, exchanged a glance with someone.

The span of time was so brief that an ordinary person could not have perceived it, but…

“…Ngh.”

I, with my Current Sense running at full capacity, could tell.

It was the head lady-in-waiting of Princess Sharmia.

I could feel the lady-in-waiting’s heartbeat quicken. With a calm expression, she gave the faintest of nods.

“It is a joy beyond measure for an Emperor to have so many loyal subjects who think of the Empire.”

The Emperor raised his glass, declaring the matter settled. Only then did the frozen atmosphere thaw, and the musicians resumed their performance.

“Please, enjoy yourselves. And, my daughter, come up here for a moment. There is something I must tell you.”

“Oh, yes…”

Sharmia trailed after the Emperor, following him up.

…Hmm.

I didn’t follow them myself, but began observing them through my Current Sense.

“Wait outside the door. There are things a father and daughter must discuss.”

“Yes, sir!”

Upon arriving at a room resembling the Cathedral’s confessional, the Emperor dismissed his Knights and remained alone with Sharmia inside.

“…”

As Sharmia sat stiffly in her chair, swallowing nervously, the Emperor suddenly stood up and lit a flame beneath a kettle beside him.

It was a skilled use of magic. Seeing that, Sharmia shot to her feet.

“Oh, let me do it…!”

“It’s fine. Right now, I wish to speak not as the Emperor of a nation, but as a father.”

“…Okay.”

Young as she was, I had never seen Sharmia this intimidated before.

As she didn’t even dare to raise her head, the Emperor, who had been preparing tea, was the first to broach the subject.

“Does the new Empress still make you uncomfortable?”

“Oh, n-no. My stepmother treats me very well.”

“I see. That’s good to hear.”

The conversation died.

Even as a third party, I felt suffocated by the silence that stretched on for what must have been several minutes.

The Emperor glanced back at Sharmia, who seemed to have stopped breathing, and then suddenly performed a strange act of magic.

With a soft rustle, using his back as a shield, a white powder emerged from within his robes, completely hidden from Sharmia’s view.

It was Telekinesis. The white powder was poured into one of the teacups first.

…No.

It couldn’t be.

To confirm the uneasy hypothesis forming in my mind, I seized the moment when the Emperor turned around and lifted a small amount of the powder with a Current.

Then I sent it into my Deep Sea.

[….?]

The Deep Sea Creatures saw the powder but didn’t show any particular reaction.

However, there was a word I had practiced.

[E… eat… eat it. Eat.]

Eat. It was one of the words from the Deep Sea Creature language I had deciphered.

I doubted whether these things would actually eat something just because they were told to, but the eel swimming nearby heard me and immediately darted over, swallowing the powder whole.

What single-celled organisms they were. Just as I was scoffing in disbelief,

[……—!…!! —danger…]

The eel twisted its entire body and died on the spot.

“…”

I clenched my jaw at the sight.

I had hoped against hope it wasn’t true, but…

“Drink. I brewed it with my own hands.”

The one who had been trying to assassinate Sharmia was her own father.