Wizard of the Deep Sea

TL/ED – Miso

I made my judgment as fast as I possibly could.

The moment I saw that creature, I immediately reversed the world.

-Bwogrrrr…

I didn’t think about anything else.

I immediately raised the real world even stronger, thinking of nothing but escaping the Deep Sea.

[……….]

Faster.

Feeling that monster’s gaze, I gritted my teeth and pushed even faster.

Only after the Deep Sea blurred away and the sky became visible, -Splat!

“Guh-”

did I realize I was lying flat on my back on the ground.

After spending a while blankly catching my breath, I dusted myself off and got to my feet.

“…Where am I now?”

A quick glance around revealed grimy walls.

This wasn’t the forest where I’d entered the Deep Sea.

When I lightly activated Current Sense, I could faintly hear people’s voices. A quiet town not far from the Capital. I was in one of its back alleys.

After the stillness of the Deep Sea, hearing people chattering away for trade and business made my head ring.

I rubbed the bridge of my nose and stood up. Had I been moving in reality while traveling through the Deep Sea?

No, but if that were the case, I should have ended up farther away. I quietly left the alley and headed toward the gate.

First, I needed to return to the Capital to report the situation and request help.

“Haha, so then I said…”

“…Huh? Uh?”

Even as I walked, my racing heart wouldn’t settle.

That Deep Sea Creature’s eyes simply refused to leave my mind.

‘What the hell was that thing?’

If it were merely a matter of sheer size, I’d seen plenty.

The Deep Sea Creature that tried to swallow the orphanage whole, the octopus that the canyon couldn’t contain. All of them were terrifyingly massive.

But that thing. That unidentifiable monster whose shape I couldn’t even begin to guess from its eye alone was on an entirely different level.

The eye alone dwarfed the Capital by an incomprehensible margin.

If the pupil hadn’t moved, I still wouldn’t have been able to assume it was a living creature.

An area vast enough to encircle an entire continent and then some.

Could something like that even be called a living thing?

“What does it think it is, a leviathan?”

It was a word from Earth, but now that I thought about it, the resemblance was uncanny.

The king of all proud things that cover the world. Hadn’t it crushed my arrogance for thinking I’d seen the bottom of the Deep Sea just by looking at its eye?

I let out a hollow laugh at my own thought. The bottom, my ass. If something like that lived down there, could I ever reach the bottom even if I spent my entire life devouring every creature with a Water Barrier?

Absolutely impossible. Even if the sea had no Water Pressure and I descended without rest every single day, it might take years.

Hunting alone wouldn’t be enough. I needed something else…

As I was walking toward the gate with that thought,

a strange sense of déjà vu suddenly washed over me.

“…?”

I paused, tilting my head in thought, when…

I realized the surroundings had gone far too quiet.

No. That wasn’t all.

“…”

“…Gulp.”

The bustling weekday boulevard. A melting pot of all sorts of merchants, mercenaries, pickpockets, guards, and more.

The shouting and haggling that burrowed into your ears even when you covered them had gone dead silent.

Merchants were quietly pulling their stalls back, mercenaries were backing away, and the guards were urgently and silently issuing orders to someone.

All while looking at me.

“What-”

Only then did I notice that everyone was clearing a path wherever I walked.

Why? This wasn’t the kind of reaction my cute, youthful face would provoke. I looked around for a moment, and then I saw it.

My footprints.

Water was welling up from the footprints I’d left on the ground. As if stepping on a lawn the day after rain and watching water seep out.

“What in the…”

“D-don’t touch it!”

People recoiled from the footprints where water was steadily bubbling up, refusing to go near them.

…The people of this era had become extremely accustomed to the Crimson Circle.

To those bastards who regarded human life as less than a fly’s.

Naturally, when someone who didn’t appear to be a wizard used something resembling magic, people went into a panic.

And the bizarre miracle of seawater springing from footprints fit perfectly into what they defined as “sinister”.

In less than a second I assessed the situation and confirmed that I’d been handling my newly changed Water Barrier far too conservatively.

I’d treated the now vastly expanded barrier as the same feeble thing it used to be and set its range too narrowly, so the overlapping state between the Deep Sea and the real world at their boundary hadn’t fully resolved.

It was a simple matter. The moment I recognized that my Water Barrier was wider than I’d thought, the water stopped seeping from the footprints.

But it was far too late for that.

-Clatter, clatter!

“Where?”

“Th-there!”

Pushing through the crowd of people slipping away, young knights appeared on horseback with stern faces.

About five of them. Could I explain myself?

Impossible.

“…”

The knight who confirmed the guard’s finger pointing squarely at me dismounted as cautiously as if approaching an explosive, then drew his sword.

This was my fault. It would cause a slight delay, but I raised my hands.

The knight tilted his head with a puzzled expression, and I tried to explain as peacefully as I could.

“I think there’s been a bit of a misunderstanding. I won’t resist, so please.”

“Everyone, cover your ears.”

The knights expertly pulled out what appeared to be earplugs from their armor.

“Don’t listen to a word it says. Don’t fall for anything it does. If a comrade falls before you, cut it down without a moment’s hesitation. These creatures are devils filled with deceit and mockery, so fear not the sacrifice!”

“Yes, sir!”

Unfortunately, their hatred for the Crimson Circle had shut down any possibility of dialogue.

Their blazing eyes held nothing but killing intent, so I sighed and watched them slowly close in.

These were men who would lay down their lives solely to protect the citizens.

That made them strong. Resolve and conviction have a way of giving people strength.

I didn’t want to hurt them, and I didn’t want to get hurt either, so I activated Current Sense at full power first…

“-Ugh?!”

A flood of sensations poured in and rattled my brain.

I clutched my head at the sudden onslaught. Thump, thump… It felt as though my own heartbeat was dozens of times louder.

‘Too much…’

I dropped to one knee and hunched over, beginning what was closer to resistance than adaptation.

The Current Sense I’d used until now had also delivered a wealth of sensory information. I could distinguish every individual strand of hair. I’d thought that was the limit, that I couldn’t go any further.

But that wasn’t the end of it.

“…Captain, something’s wrong…”

“I can’t hear you.”

The knights, startled by my sudden collapse yet still beginning their encirclement, appeared to me in a different way now.

When they moved an arm, I could feel the skin covering it.

I could feel how the muscles beneath the skin were contracting and shifting.

Based on that, I could feel the shape of the bones those muscles wrapped around.

The bones, flesh, and blood composing the human body, all of it. I could even feel the hairline fracture in the left kneecap of the man they’d called Captain.

It felt like gaining the vision of a precision X-ray.

‘…It’s not that I can literally see inside, but…’

The firmness of flesh, the texture of skin, every sensation generated by their movements revealed the composition and structure within, whether I wanted it to or not.

The volume of information was incomparable to before, naturally. I had no choice but to dial Current Sense down to a less precise setting, bringing it roughly back to its previous level, and only then did the splitting headache subside.

“Gkh…”

Could I even still call this Current Sense?

As I clutched my head violently and trembled from the pain, an action detectable even with basic Current Sense approached.

“I don’t know what you’re doing, but if you think you’re buying time…!”

The scowling captain charged and swung his sword.

The blade lashed out like a whip, going for my neck without an ounce of mercy from the very first strike. To survive through the agonizing headache, I activated Water Pressure almost on instinct.

-CRUNCH!

“…???”

It happened in the blink of an eye.

The sword crumpled as miserably as if a sheet of paper had been smashed against a boulder.

So effortlessly that no one who saw it would have believed the sword was made of metal.

But seeing the mangled blade glow red-hot, dripping molten steel with a hiss, would change anyone’s mind.

The captain and I stared at the sword in a daze, almost at the same time.

“No, how-”

How am I still alive?

I’d applied enough Water Pressure to crush a sword. By all rights, I should have been crumpled to death on the spot.

I was fine. It wasn’t that I’d felt no Water Pressure at all, but it was just the right amount. Similar to the level that had broken a wooden chair before.

It felt like something I could do again and again.

“Get back!”

“Tch, all-out attack!”

It was the other knights who reacted quickly during the brief opening.

They were just as shocked, but seeing their captain stumble backward, they drew their swords and charged to protect him.

After a moment’s hesitation, I applied Water Pressure in a different way.

This time, a little less gently, binding all of them at once.

“Gah, gahhk…!”

“Ngh…”

The knights froze mid-charge, locked in place exactly as they were.

All four of them. As if turned to ice sculptures.

“…Tch.”

I had gotten stronger.

Whether it was because reinforcing the Water Barrier had increased the pressure I could endure, it felt like a limiter had been released.

Strong enough to turn every one of these knights into something like that sword, if I wanted.

It was undeniable growth, but the moment I saw their faces drained of color, I released them immediately.

Until now, Water Pressure had been an ability I could only use on a person if I was prepared to die myself.

Not anymore.

‘It’s like holding a shotgun to someone’s head.’

That didn’t mean I’d become invincible. The world was vast, and if I ever encountered a truly powerful knight like Brimdal, I’d lose my life without much trouble.

But even Brimdal couldn’t kill every person within hundreds of meters all at once.

I could.

Always, every day, even now.

I was now living with a gun aimed at the heads of innocent people, observing them every single moment.

“I’m becoming more like it.”

There was nothing to be done about it. The Deep Sea was dark, cold, and lonely. I had no one on my side.

To survive while constantly brushing against Deep Sea Creatures that could come from anywhere at any time, I had to keep honing Current Sense and stay ready to crush them with Water Pressure.

These abilities weren’t needed in the real world, but…

Today, tomorrow, the day after.

Continuing to refine this terrible power was the only way to survive.

“I’m sorry.”

I bowed politely to the knights sprawled on the ground and held up my key for them to see.

“Jern Aspandal, Apprentice of the Black Magic Tower. My identity is vouched for by Her Highness the Princess. My magic happens to be rather unusual, so being suspected as Crimson Circle is inevitable. I only ask that you verify it. I’ll stay right here and wait quietly in the meantime. You may restrain me if you wish.”

I had already removed the earplugs using Current.

The captain, upon hearing the word “Princess,” pondered briefly before replying with a sour expression.

“…Understood. But did you say you’re an acquaintance of Her Highness the Princess?”

“Yes. I was in the middle of carrying out a secret mission for Her Highness Sharmia.”

“Hmm… Could we not just kill him anyway?”

“No.”

From the terrified look on the captain’s face…

…I could get a rough idea of what kind of image Sharmia had among the knights.

***

The Capital.

The heart of the Imperial Palace. In a room cluttered with every kind of document, an elf with deep dark circles under her eyes scolded me.

“What on earth did you do? The knights were practically begging me to understand the circumstances.”

After returning to the Capital, Sharmia seemed too busy with the information I’d delivered, so I wasn’t able to see her.

Naturally, I ended up meeting Dersia instead, and got to experience her cold gaze for the first time in a while.

Since it was clearly my fault, I shrugged and apologized.

“I’m sorry. I never imagined something as strange as water seeping from my footprints would happen to me.”

“Sigh… At least it was near the Capital, so that’s something. If the rumor that the Princess is raising a Fallen spreads any further, we’ll have a real problem on our hands.”

“…Excuse me?”

“So.”

Dersia deftly changed the subject.

She looked me up and down, muttering with a scrunched-up expression.

“It seems you’ve found some sort of method.”

“I was lucky.”

“Lucky.”

She smiled as if to say ‘give me a break’, then perched on the edge of her seat and tilted her head.

“Tell me, then. What this so-called luck of yours was.”

“Well, it turns out there are more terrible things in my Deep Sea than I expected.”

Since there was no reason at all to hide anything from Dersia, I started from the octopus, moved on to how I’d caught Ji-eo, explained that doing so had reinforced my Water Barrier, and described in as much detail as I could how strange things had dissolved into my world.

By the time I finished, it was early evening.

“Hmm…”

She listened to my story attentively, occasionally frowning and chiding me.

“So wait, you decided to go after this Ji-eo thing because it could withstand Water Pressure? Are you out of your mind? If it were me, I’d have checked how other Deep Sea Creatures endure the pressure first and consumed them one by one.”

“I felt that would be pointless. And honestly, I’d rather risk my life in a fight than sprout tentacles all over my body, wouldn’t you agree?”

“…Fine, I understand.”

Only after hearing everything did Dersia arrive at her conclusion, wearing a reluctant expression.

“So. You’ve bought yourself time, but the depth turned out to be far greater than expected, so you haven’t found a fundamental solution.”

“Yes. It’s hard to believe, but it seems I’m only at the very entrance of the Deep Sea.”

“I understand what you’re saying.”

Deep.

Deep, far too deep. It was clear that simply reinforcing the Water Barrier alone wouldn’t be enough to endure it.

“For now you’re fine, but… ultimately it’s only a brief reprieve. There’s no guarantee you’ll find another Deep Sea Creature with a Water Barrier on the way down.”

In the end, it was a stopgap.

Rather than using the time I’d bought to search for the next stopgap, it made more sense to set a clear goal.

Maybe, just maybe, Dersia could come up with a brilliant solution in a situation like this.

With that thought, I looked up at her with an expectant expression. Dersia turned my head away, seeming uncomfortable, and answered.

“I think I might have an idea. Though I’m not sure it’ll be to your liking.”

“I have absolutely no ideas of my own, so what is it?”

“In the end, looking at how you dealt with Ji-eo, you borrowed the power of a world called Puppet, didn’t you?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“And the fact that Deep Sea Creatures develop those traits because of the Upper Tier worlds is also correct?”

“…? Yes.”

I tilted my head, unable to see where Dersia was going with this.

“Are you saying I should make better use of Puppet?”

“Similar, but not quite.”

She answered as though it were the most obvious thing.

“Why not simply sink every Upper Tier world into your Deep Sea?”

“What?”

“If you make use of the Upper Tier worlds, I believe they could help you descend to greater depths.”

I studied her expression, wondering if she was joking.

“If you kill the Crimson Circle off one by one, wouldn’t that bring you closer to your goal?”

Unfortunately, she was…

…dead serious.