Wizard of the Deep Sea

TL/ED – Miso

“Please follow me.”

The man who said that staggered, and then collapsed with a thud and died.

Literally. As we looked at his unsettling figure with his tongue lolling out, we turned to each other in stunned silence.

“Was she telling us to die?”

“Seems like there was some kind of mistake-”

Before we could figure out what her intention was, the man stood up again.

But this time, instead of standing demurely as he had before, he looked grotesque, like a doll hanging by strings, his arms and legs flailing.

Piercing Blood watched the man lift his foot to chest height and flail as he walked, and his mouth dropped open.

“This is absurd. To re-servituded him…”

“Is that what you call Servitude?”

“Yes. It seems Number 9 doesn’t have time to guide us personally.”

“Hmm. Is that so difficult?”

“You, being a Puppet type yourself, would know better than me whether it’s easy or hard. What surprised me is the fact that Servitude was used at all.”

Piercing Blood looked up at the sky, trembling around his eyes.

“From here to the Manganji Kingdom, even on horseback, it takes a full month. And yet from that distance, she’s still exerting influence all the way here.”

“…What?”

It was such nonsense that I frowned in disbelief.

“That sounds like you’re saying Dark Night’s world is the size of a continent.”

“That’s exactly it. How else would you explain that?”

“…”

If that were true, the scale was on an entirely different level.

Her World was, literally, a world.

As I stood in shock, Piercing Blood patted me on the shoulder as if he’d been expecting this reaction.

“It can’t be helped. Even if they’re the same type of ‘world’ there’s no rule saying they have to be the same size. If it’s just a matter of scale…”

“Right.”

No, Piercing Blood didn’t understand just how absurd this really was, since he wasn’t a Great World type.

Dark Night, if she wished, could exercise that power on us too.

And it wasn’t just that. It meant she had the power to extend her demonic hand to every single person in her empire, literally, at any time.

“…”

Now that I knew this, I no longer had a choice.

Before even considering the Three Evils or anything else, I couldn’t even begin to imagine the level of threat.

I stared coldly at the man, steeling myself.

I must kill her.

*

The man was slower than expected. We followed him for nearly a full day without sleeping, but in the end, he never moved faster than a running human.

Naturally. Just because someone is under Servitude doesn’t mean a human can become a horse.

Eventually, we arrived not at the Manganji Kingdom, but inside a massive cave.

Scattered skulls lay in pieces ahead, dried bloodstains turned brown, and several signs stuck in the ground read: “Do Not Enter.”

I picked up a rusted sword hilt and, seeing the blade’s tip had melted and hardened again, looked into the pitch-black cave where not even an inch ahead was visible.

The cave’s appearance alone was enough to make anyone not want to go in.

“We’re supposed to go in there?”

“The Servituded guy died, so… this must be it.”

Piercing Blood glanced down at the fallen man and let out a sigh.

With no other option, I took the first step and activated my current sense.

And then.

“…!!”

My heart nearly dropped. Piercing Blood tilted his head as he saw me hesitate.

“What is it?”

“…Ah, no. It’s nothing…”

Right.

I had forgotten, but this wasn’t just the Middle Ages.

I sighed and answered.

“There doesn’t seem to be any particular danger, so let’s go.”

“? All right then.”

Piercing Blood and the team entered, along with Damyu, who looked absolutely miserable, as if she really didn’t want to go in.

We had barely stepped inside, and yet nothing could be seen. Apparently, there wasn’t even a crack to let sunlight through.

“Light a fire.”

“Yes.”

One of the team members held up a wooden stick and lit it.

As a result, they too saw what I had seen with current sense.

“Huh- Huaaaack…!”

“Fuck! What is this?”

At first, it was just eyes.

Pale green, flickering eyeballs, the problem was, they were far larger than any ordinary human’s.

The black leather gleamed as if it had been rubbed with oil. Claws sharp enough to tear apart several cows with ease, and massive wings covered with a membrane.

A winged lizard. In other words, a Dragon.

It was quietly looking down at us.

“Tch, what the hell is this… kill it!”

I stopped Piercing Blood, who instantly clicked his tongue and prepared to fight.

“Doesn’t seem like we need to.”

“What did you say?”

I carefully stroked the Dragon’s face.

It didn’t resist or react in any way.

It was certain. This one was also under Servitude.

…So it’s not limited to humans.

“This must be the means of transportation.”

When I turned and looked at Piercing Blood and the others, they stood frozen, staring up at the Dragon, muttering one by one.

“Shit…”

“How the hell did she tame something like this? Even during my mercenary days, I never hunted anything like this.”

“You were a mercenary?”

“Long ago, but yeah. Anyway, how do we ride it?”

-Crack… The blinking Dragon suddenly stepped forward with one foot.

“Ugh…”

Seeing that massive body, Piercing Blood raised his hand in alarm, but since it was simply moving to go outside, he stepped aside.

Once the Dragon stepped out of the cave, it looked twice as big and three times as vicious as it had inside.

Behind its fully stretched wings was a saddle for riders. But there weren’t even seatbelts, and the only thing that could act as a substitute for a chair was a slight raised bump, making it look completely unsafe.

“…”

“…”

Piercing Blood, glaring at the creature as if it was utterly detestable, was the first to climb on and take the front seat.

“Get on. There’s no other choice.”

At his words, the others gulped and climbed onto the uncertain seating.

Damyu, the last one remaining, looked up at me with a pleading expression.

“I-I’m scared of heights…”

“Then you’ll have to overcome your weakness.”

Having a Keeper around is extremely convenient. Unlike workshops with limited capacity, they can carry several massive wagons and more with ease.

Over the past year, I had stored a lot inside Damyu. Leaving her behind wasn’t an option.

“Uweeeh…”

Crying or not, I grabbed her by the nape and forced her to sit next to me.

-Grrrrr….

Once everyone was seated, the Dragon let out a low growl from deep in its throat… then leaped.

“?”

Thud thud thud thud, flapping its wings while running on the ground like a horse, it startled everyone.

We had all expected it to fly straight up, just as that thought crossed our minds, white clouds came into view.

“Ahh… Kyaaaaah!!!!”

There was a cliff.

A 90-degree plunge that was indistinguishable from freefall. As I clenched my teeth and gripped the leather tightly, repeating to myself that falling wouldn’t kill me, the extended wings gradually began to catch the wind and lift us.

Soon, as we alternated between gliding and flying, we slowly drew closer to the sun.

“Fuck… Everyone get down!”

However, flying on a Dragon’s back was anything but romantic.

To survive the brutal wind and cold, we had to stay flat and trembling, clutching the leather for dear life.

Thankfully, I didn’t feel the cold as much, and the air pressure helped secure my body precisely in place, so it wasn’t too bad for me.

“This is… prettier than I expected.”

Clouds beneath me. Unlike on Earth where you could only see them through a plane window, this gave a full 360-degree view, a completely different kind of experience.

The others didn’t seem to feel the same.

“Argh… I-I’m gonna fall…!”

The Dragon’s flight continued for about three days. At night, it flew a bit slower, giving us time to rest.

“I-I can’t sleep at all.”

“Hang in there a little longer. Judging by the terrain below, we’re almost there.”

Of course, hardly anyone was strong enough to fall asleep so easily while suspended in the air.

On the last day, everyone had gotten used to it, and some even vomited over the Dragon’s side.

“Ugh, blaaargh…”

Why puke after getting used to it? Because when they weren’t used to it, they puked right in front of themselves.

“I’ll kill them… I swear I’ll kill them…!”

Unfortunately, the one who had suffered that was Piercing Blood, so the motivation was intense. Even the squad members, and Damyu herself, had a dangerous gleam in their eyes.

As he wiped the corner of his mouth, the dragon slowly descended.

And just like that, the Manganji Kingdom came into view.

First impression? Hmm.

“Hmm, quite diverse.”

What was likely the capital of the Manganji Kingdom had no walls.

And with countless buildings constructed in incredibly diverse styles, and people of many different races, each with their own distinct skin colors and appearances, visible even from a distance, it felt less like a single nation and more like a borderless city where many kinds of people lived together.

It was a literal realization of the beautiful sight that perhaps every person on Earth might have wished for at least once.

The Dragon sat down on the ground, then soon closed its eyes.

The freed squad members stretched their stiff bodies and muttered to themselves.

“The ground feels like it’s swaying…”

“Never thought I’d get airsick, not from a boat, but from a Dragon.”

The condition of Piercing Blood and the others, who were grumbling, was a complete mess. If they had been children, they might have fallen from the trauma of the experience alone.

Since there were no city walls, there were also no guards, allowing us to naturally observe the people of the Manganji Kingdom.

“Fresh hairtail just in today! It’s cheap, really cheap!”

“Hmm, how much is it?”

“Recently, my neighbor’s been knocking on the wall every night…”

“Mister, want your shoes shined?”

The last one, a shoeshine boy, looked up at me with a bright, innocent face.

I shook my head.

“No thanks.”

“Aww, cheapskate.”

As I watched the boy puff his cheeks and walk away, Piercing Blood gave a warning.

“Remember this. There’s not a single living person here. They might all look human…”

“I just figured that out from the conversation just now.”

“…Hmm.”

He glanced down at my shoes and nodded.

I wasn’t wearing dress shoes, but leather boots.

The people were clearly talking, trading, and living as if everything was normal, but it was all one grand performance.

The only living beings here were us, and Dark Night inside.

Watching the back of the boy, who had likely died and become one of Dark Night’s marionettes, I suddenly grew curious and asked,

“Why would she make a country like this? Wasn’t she already a monarch? Even without all this, the people would’ve served her.”

“Undercurrent, you seem to like rational things, so let me give you one piece of advice.”

“?

“Never try to understand the minds of the Upper Tier. You’ll go crazy too.”

In other words, there was no reason.

As we walked through this country, beautiful only on the outside but horrific in truth, a man wearing an inappropriately refined butler’s outfit stepped out.

“Good day. Are you visitors?”

“Yes. We’ve come to see Lady Dark Night.”

“I am her uncle.”

What kind of introduction was that supposed to be? After offering it, he bowed gracefully and led us.

“Please follow me. I will guide you to your lodging.”

We hadn’t walked far before arriving at a massive hotel. Soft beds, warm water. Damyu, upon seeing the fruits placed on the table, walked over without the slightest hesitation and threw herself onto the bed.

“I-I seriously feel like I’m going to die…”

“Hmm, seems the journey has tired you out.”

Everyone else stayed silent. They knew they’d start cursing if they opened their mouths.

The one who introduced himself as uncle lightly handed a bundle of keys to the squad members.

“Please choose whichever room you like and rest well. However, Piercing Blood and Undercurrent, it seems you must meet with her.”

“Understood.”

Piercing Blood rubbed his tired eyes and responded as if it were only natural.

He then looked toward the other members. They nodded and returned to their rooms with hardened expressions. Judging by their looks, it seemed no one would be getting proper rest, except for Damyu.

I calmed my slightly tense chest and followed behind the man.

Surprisingly, the palace wasn’t that large. It was more like a small mansion rather than a castle, no different from Alletus’s residence.

We entered through a door and walked a short distance until we came to a massive oak door.

“Please enter.”

-Creak. Beyond the opening door, a line of butlers came into view.

They bowed their heads in silence like mannequins, completely motionless as they stared at the floor. Beyond them was a white curtain.

A shadow was visible through the curtain. The silhouette of a small-framed woman, half-reclining.

“I’ve brought them.”

“Good work, uncle. You can go now.”

“Yes.”

The voice, far gentler than expected, sounded very young.

With a tone you’d expect from a simple country girl, it was enough to make one forget this was the infamous villainess who had slaughtered her entire population and turned them into puppets.

“Now then- hmm. Piercing Blood, you said this one holds value equivalent to 350,000 World-Sealing Pills?”

“Yes.”

“I don’t really understand. What makes him worth that much?”

Should I kneel?

Piercing Blood also looked like he was debating whether to kneel or bolt out of there immediately, but I stopped him for now.

There would be a more definite opening. To pinpoint the exact moment, I poured all my strength into activating current sense.

And current sense didn’t betray me. As expected of Deep Sea’s greatest ability, it grasped everything in an instant.

That we were completely screwed.

“Oh?”

A small murmur of admiration was heard. Then, Piercing Blood quietly whispered into my ear.

“Should we go?”

“…”

Instead of speaking, I wrote a word on his back.

[Piercing Blood, the assassination plan is canceled.]

He flinched, but realizing I was the one who had written it, he blinked and silently asked for a reason.

I also gave a brief explanation.

[We’ve already been subdued. If we act strangely, we die.]

“?”

He seemed to want a more detailed explanation, but that wasn’t possible.

How could I even begin to explain this?

Threads.

So thin they were nearly invisible, with a faint pink hue, threads were descending from the ceiling and wrapping around our arms and legs.

And we were actually on the lucky side.

“…”

Just a glance showed the officials lined up behind us, they weren’t merely bound around their limbs.

The threads had burrowed into their ears, into their eyeballs, writhing into their brains.

This was the true nature of Servitude. This was how Puppets operated.

If we made one wrong move, we would probably end up just like them.

‘…What is this?’

I clenched my teeth, horrified.

Not at all, not even a hint had I sensed this.

Until I activated current sense this seriously, I hadn’t even known such threads existed.

But to put it another way.

‘There must be an unbelievable Burden here.’

Even from a commonsense perspective, and by the Fallen’s instinct,

It was obvious that using this ability came with an overwhelming cost.

And the moment I saw these threads, I had a rough idea of what that cost might be. That’s why we had to scrap the direct confrontation plan and coordinate an excuse to leave.

That gave us a much higher chance of success.

Seeing the firm resolve in my eyes, Piercing Blood nodded and stepped forward.

“Ahem, Lady Dark Night. On second thought, it seems that may have been a bit of an overstatement.”

“…”

“I did say 350,000 World-Sealing Pills, but thinking about it now, I realize I may have asked for too much. Would it be alright if I discuss the terms briefly with my men and return?”

A flawless maneuver. Take a step back like this, and then.

“No.”

?

Suddenly, the silhouette beyond the curtain stood up.

“I’ll give you 700,000.”

“…Excuse me?”

“I’ll double it, so just hand him over.”

At the voice soaked in thick desire, I fully understood what Piercing Blood meant earlier.

That when dealing with the Upper Tier, seeking reason is a mistake.