Wizard of the Deep Sea

TL/ED – Miso

I glanced at the dagger on the table.

The blade was a clear grayish-white, looking as though it had never been used. Given that it was likely meant for self-defense, the chances of Sharmia having actually used it herself were infinitely low as long as Karos was around.

Even so, if what she said was true, it was probably the tool that had killed the Princess the most.

A reasonable question came to my mind.

“Why is that the price of prophecy?”

“Huh?”

“If what you’re saying is true, isn’t that ability close to invincibility?”

If the Princess possessed a literally infinite Regression ability, returning to a fixed point in time and coming back to life every time she died.

Wouldn’t that be the same as saying defeat was impossible? I couldn’t easily accept the Princess calling that a price.

Sharmia nodded as if in agreement.

“It’s true that my ability has helped me a great deal. Without it, the Empire would probably have been a far more terrible place and might have fallen much more easily.”

“Then why…?”

“Jern, what would you do if you were an ordinary person with no power at all, traveling along, and you suddenly just knew that there was a band of bandits ahead? No warning, no reason, you just knew?”

“I’d avoid them, of course.”

“Yes, you would. But what if, while avoiding the bandits by going through a canyon, you were suddenly crushed by a falling rock? What if you suffered for an entire week before dying of dehydration, a death far more terrible than being killed by the bandits’ swords? Wouldn’t it have been better to just die to the bandits?”

“…?”

I tilted my head. I couldn’t quite grasp what she was trying to say.

“Isn’t that just hindsight? If you didn’t know the rock was going to fall…”

“You’re right. Then what if you knew the rock was going to fall?”

“Then I’d take a different path, not through the canyon.”

“And what if, as a result, you fell into an acidic swamp this time and met a death far more painful than dying of dehydration?”

“What?”

“Forward, sideways, backward, standing still… What if, no matter what choice you made, no matter how you moved forward avoiding dangers, dodging accidents, escaping disasters, what remained at the end was always a nightmare more terrible than what you’d avoided, stretching on endlessly?”

“…”

“After confirming all of it, every single disaster you’d inevitably face no matter where or how you went, you realize you haven’t even taken a single step yet. And then you think, ‘Wouldn’t it have been best to just die to the bandits?'”

Sharmia asked her question in a casual tone, as if wondering what to have for dinner.

“Jern, would you choose to die to the bandits?”

“No.”

“Then would you choose to be crushed by a rock, dissolved in a swamp, or burned to death in a desert?”

“None of those.”

My answer was already decided, of course.

“I understand why you consider it a price. And that it’s not something I, who knows nothing, have any right to comment on. But if I may answer without knowing my place, I’d struggle to the very end.”

“As I thought.”

Sharmia smiled brightly and sipped her tea. I felt a sense of déjà vu from those words.

As I thought?

“…Have we had this conversation before?”

“Dozens of times at the tea house? You always give me the same answer.”

“…”

“Thanks to that, Jern, I was able to trust you.”

I struggled to keep my expression from souring.

The Princess’s repeated declarations of trust in me had felt uncomfortable and strange, but it seemed I had passed all of the regressor’s numerous tests.

No wonder she had been trying to win me over by any means necessary from the start. I gathered my thoughts and asked again.

“So, you’re saying I can borrow that price as well?”

“Once is possible. But…”

Sharmia cupped her cheeks and looked at Dersia with an embarrassed expression.

“The method is a bit, well… It would be awkward if Jern’s master, Lady Dersia, found out, could you perhaps step outside for a moment?”

“Do you think I could leave after hearing that?”

Dersia had looked displeased ever since we began this conversation.

“Jern. Using that price means you’ll have to die at least once. Our benevolent Princess is essentially ordering your death.”

“B-but… I thought it was Lady Dersia who ordered his death…”

“What did you just say?”

Sharmia seemed cowed by Dersia’s razor-sharp gaze, tapping her fingers together as she replied.

“I’m willing to go back anytime if Jern is in danger. That way, he wouldn’t actually have to die…”

“The idea that the world ends immediately after your death is absurd. You may stand above all others, Your Highness, but that doesn’t make you the protagonist of the world.”

“Of course I don’t have such delusions. The world doesn’t end. It goes back. Like turning a cartwheel in reverse.”

“…Unbelievable. It would make more sense if it ended and then went back.”

“Lady Dersia, you change your words quite often, don’t you? That doesn’t seem like proper conduct for a master…”

I take back what I said about her being cowed.

Her expression might have looked subdued, but she still said everything she wanted to. Sensing a fight brewing, I calmed Dersia down first.

“Let me at least hear her out. Master, the fact that you didn’t stop this meeting means you agree to some extent, doesn’t it? From what I’ve heard, it doesn’t seem entirely bad.”

“…Jern. While you were away, I looked into the First Wizard and this bloodline of his.”

Dersia calmed slightly and met my gaze.

“His story only appears in fairy tales and folklore. Most historical records did’t survive. Even the Elves barely know who he was. They only knew of him as some peculiar human.”

“Really? That’s quite strange.”

If even the Elves, who lived for such long ages, didn’t know, did that mean it happened that long ago?

Dersia shook her head.

“No. The Elves existed long before this First Wizard ever did. However…”

After choosing her words carefully, Dersia spat them out.

“I’d never thought about it before, but the the period when the Elves claimed to have suffered from madness and burned the entire continent was, for some reason, also around that time.”

“What?”

“I don’t believe he created magic. The magical arts are too deep and profound. It would be like saying an individual molded the clouds in the sky or predicted the shape of every crack in the earth. I suspect he was simply a primitive who mistook discovery for creation.”

“Ah, I think the same way.”

“But something is certainly strange. The timing of the Crimson Circle’s emergence coincides exactly with when the Princess’s Atavism awakened.”

“Hmm…”

“You don’t need to make the right decision.”

Unexpectedly, Dersia opened the door and stepped out without resistance.

She glanced back one last time, leaving behind a gaze tinged with worry.

“—Just make the correct one.”

Thud.

As I stared blankly at the closed door, a gentle hand suddenly touched my shoulder.

When I turned around, I saw the Princess beaming now that the obstacle had left.

“Now then, shall we begin?”

“Let me say this upfront. If the method isn’t proper, I won’t do it. Especially if it violates Imperial law.”

“I have absolute power right now, so I can change the law whenever I want?”

“…”

Sensing my gaze turn cold, she hurriedly raised her hands.

“I’m joking. Actually, it’s already done.”

“Already done?”

“Yes. It’s a bit of a loophole, but if you tell your master, she’ll explain the details. The method itself is really simple, so it’s not difficult.”

“Then why did you ask my master to leave?”

“It’s nothing major, but there’s something I’m curious about that would be a bit awkward for Lady Dersia to hear. You said you met someone from the Upper Tier and killed them, right?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“What kind of person were they?”

Sharmia tilted her head, her gaze filled only with curiosity.

“I can’t say that I really know a lot about her. The one you defeated was definitely the person who raised corpses and covered the Empire in plague in my memories. But… why did she do such things? Could I have done something wrong?”

“What else could it be?”

Whether human or world. In the end, the purpose behind such acts was the same as mine. Only the methods differed.

I answered with self-deprecation.

“To survive.”

“Ah, I see.”

She nodded as if she understood.

Watching her silently, I also spoke up.

“I also have something I’d like to ask before I infiltrate.”

“Oh, yes. Please, go ahead.”

“If the bloodline of the First Wizard is born with such abilities, does His Majesty possess something like teleportation magic?”

“Pardon?”

Seeing the Princess’s bewildered expression, I asked more specifically.

“What I mean is, His Majesty the Emperor came to see me last time using some kind of teleportation. Was that something you’d arranged?”

“What do you mean?”

Sharmia asked back, looking dumbfounded.

“Father hasn’t been able to get out of bed for three years now. It’s treated as top secret, but most people in the know are aware. He hasn’t appeared at any official events.”

“…?”

What was she talking about?

“It seems someone with the ability to impersonate others came to see you, Jern. You weren’t hurt in any way, were you?”

“No, I wasn’t.”

“That’s a relief. If you meet them again, run away. Impersonating the Emperor, of all things. There are limits to lèse-majesté.”

…I see.

Come to think of it, there was no reason for the Emperor to come see me in person. The odds of it being an impersonator were high.

Watching Sharmia puff out her cheeks, I slowly nodded, then remembered something and pulled out the book the fake Emperor had given me from the Workshop to show her.

“The impersonator left this book behind. It has something like imperial etiquette guidelines written in it.”

“Honestly, whoever it was, they prepared thoroughly. This certainly looks like the real thing…”

Sharmia looked exasperated as she casually opened the book and flipped through it quickly.

“…?”

Her expression gradually hardened.

“Your Highness?”

“…Wait a moment.”

-Ding!

She rang a bell to summon a servant and asked with a somewhat serious expression.

“Bring me Volume 3 of the etiquette guidelines from Father’s study.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

The servant headed for the study immediately despite the sudden command.

About ten minutes later, she returned with a flustered expression.

“Your Highness. No matter how much I searched, I couldn’t find it. It seems to have been stolen… According to the guards, there hasn’t been a single entry in nearly three years. Shall I start disciplinary action?”

“…It’s fine.”

After the servant left, Sharmia tapped the cover of the book and sighed.

“It seems that impersonator is no ordinary person. To actually steal a book from Father’s study.”

“This is real?”

“Yes. I’ll handle this matter. Jern, don’t worry about such trivial things. Just focus on the Upper Tier.”

“Understood.”

If I thought about it simply, there was a high chance it was the Crimson Circle’s doing.

I bowed my head and stepped out into the corridor, then glanced up at the Emperor’s portrait hanging above.

“Hmm.”

The resemblance was so exact it gave me chills.