Wizard of the Deep Sea

TL/ED – Miso

“To be precise, I wish to take her in as my disciple.”

Seeing Alletus’s expression, I quickly added more.

“…Disciple?”

“Yes. Your daughter possesses incredible talent. I want to nurture that at all costs.”

Even if it’s for my own sake.

Alletus, with a puzzled expression, patted Elysia’s head as he asked again.

“What do you mean? You must have heard, but my daughter has no talent for magic. We’ve brought in so many teachers-”

“You didn’t tell him?”

“…No. I haven’t had the time yet.”

“??”

In front of Alletus, who looked utterly confused, I unraveled the bandages and floated them using wind magic.

Alletus narrowed his brows slightly in admiration.

“…It’s elemental magic, but quite well-practiced. You must have put in a lot of effort.”

Well, I need it for my windpipe.

“Elysia. Would you come here for a moment?”

“Okay!”

Elysia brushed aside Alletus’s hand and ran over to my side with light steps.

The wind magic was disrupted along with the wounded expression on Alletus’s face. The bandages fluttered here and there, then slipped from my hand and fell to the floor.

“…!”

Alletus, witnessing this, furrowed his brows.

“What was that…? What just happened?”

“…Don’t you think it was me deliberately disrupting the wind magic?”

I thought I’d have to show it a few more times, but he immediately realized.

Alletus shook his head.

“No, the flow of mana shifted. That wasn’t it.”

“Flow?”

It was a term I had never heard before.

“It’s natural you don’t know. It’s the stage after elemental magic. Anyway, can you explain what just happened?”

“Yes. I believe your daughter was born with the talent to interfere with the magic around her.”

Alletus widened his eyes as large as his fist and gasped.

Maybe I was too blunt. It took a while for him to come back to his senses. When he did, he asked again with a confused expression.

“But there’s never been any sign of that until now. I’ve always believed my daughter was just a regular person…”

“It’s still just elemental magic. And I think it only applies to cadets of a similar level. So the other teachers wouldn’t have known. Naturally, as first-class wizards, their magic wouldn’t have been interfered with. And since your daughter couldn’t use magic, there was no way to discover what made her different from an ordinary person.”

“I see… If that’s the case, it makes sense.”

Alletus nodded and once again expressed his gratitude.

“It seems I owe you even more now. But to become my daughter’s teacher, you seem intelligent so don’t you know that I have no choice but to refuse?”

“Yes, I do.”

I refuted my own ridiculous proposal.

“From the perspective of someone like Count Alletus, who can bring in outstanding teachers with a single word, entrusting his daughter to someone like me, of low status, is unthinkable.”

“Ahem, I wouldn’t say I thought that far…”

“However, I also believe Count Alletus is a wise man. You must understand the danger of that talent.”

“…What do you mean by that?”

Meeting Alletus’s slightly darkened gaze, I replied straightforwardly.

“Isn’t it similar? Unable to use ordinary magic, and without even using mana, she influences the surroundings. What would people call this?”

“…”

An awkward silence followed.

-Because it was obvious. Elysia would be considered fallen.

That’s how it would be known.

After a moment of hesitation, Alletus shook his head as if to deny reality.

“…That can’t be. The reason she can’t use magic must simply be that she hasn’t yet learned to control the ability that suppresses magic.”

“I think so too. However, what matters is public perception, isn’t it?”

Alletus let out a growling sound. Because it was true.

“What are you trying to say?”

“It’s simple. Entrust your daughter’s talent to me.”

“I’m repeating myself, but I can’t allow that. If it’s a matter of secrecy, that can be arranged. And there are plenty of outstanding individuals to help her develop her talent.”

“I’ll repeat myself too. Yes, I believe the same.”

I lifted the bandages once again.

But in my eyes, no stars appeared.

I couldn’t even see this ‘flow of mana’ thing.

“I cannot help your daughter grow.”

“…!”

Alletus was briefly taken aback, then recognized what was before his eyes as reality.

“I simply mean that I can ensure she doesn’t end up the way I did. And that is something no one else can do. There isn’t a single wizard you could hire who can help with this.”

“You…”

Alletus, looking at me as if he couldn’t believe what he was hearing, soon slapped his forehead in realization.

“I-I see! That must be it, the purpose of the abduction, the fact that you were being tortured… You must have fallen after being tortured in that place!”

…That’s not it.

It was too much trouble to explain, so I just let him think that. It’s easier this way.

“Being here, you come to see many things. Elysia is not in a good state right now. If she’s forced to learn magic or continues to torment herself thinking she’s useless, even if not now, one day she could end up where I did.”

“…”

“Even if she never learns magic in her life, shouldn’t we at least prevent that?”

“…Elysia.”

After some hesitation, Alletus turned to Elysia and asked.

“What do you think?”

“I want to learn!”

With not even a 0.1-second delay, her bright answer made Alletus furrow his brows.

“A-Are you serious?”

“Yeah! I can trust Jern! He risked his life to save us!”

It seemed I had earned more trust than I expected.

“…Even if she never learns magic, I just wanted her to grow up healthy.”

“Among nobles, trying to live an ordinary life without being a wizard is difficult.”

“Fine. However, all teaching must be done here. I’ll make sure you’re treated as her teacher.”

“Thank you.”

“So- Is that really all you want?”

Alletus looked at me with an utterly drained expression.

“Is becoming my daughter’s teacher your only request? I hate to say it, but if you fell, you probably don’t have long left to live…”

“J-Jern is going to die?!”

“No. I won’t die that easily.”

I reassured Elysia.

This whole bullshit is so I don’t die.

“…In any case, you’re giving up all the money and honor that could change your remaining life just to teach my daughter?”

“There’s one more thing.”

I shook my head.

“What is it?”

“Please reverse the sequence of events.”

“?”

“Let it be known that I was at that place because I was Elysia’s teacher, and that I couldn’t reveal my identity because I was a commoner. And please make that fact public.”

“Hmm, I suppose it doesn’t matter much… But why?”

“I need a status.”

A clear status and address as a noble’s teacher.

Up until now, I was nothing more than a janitor at the Orphanage, so I had no choice but to live in hiding, but now I’d be able to move much more freely.

Well, being treated like a commoner, I’d obviously still be looked down on.

I didn’t care.

Money, family, those are things I can only obtain after surviving.

“And also…”

Looking out the window, I recalled my goal and smiled broadly.

“There’s someone who needs to hear this news.”

I figured I’d be able to deliver it to that stuck-up Elf at the Library sooner than expected.

As I smiled, Alletus said something strange.

“Haa, very well… First, let’s go to treasure storage.”

“…Treasure Storage?”

Now it was my turn to be confused.

Alletus shrugged as if wondering why I didn’t understand.

“Did you think you’d teach my daughter with your bare body?”

“That’s not what I meant.”

Actually, that was right. What more is needed?

Alletus explained that for me.

“Of course, you’ll need at least some magic books to use as teaching material and some elixirs for yourself. You’re also my daughter’s savior, so… let’s see…”

After observing me for a moment in thought, Alletus replied as if it were no big deal.

“Well, take whatever you can carry.”

I had forgotten.

Nobles were far more generous than I had imagined.

*

One late night.

A coronation was held in a small royal palace.

“…”

“…”

Clap clap clap clap- weak applause echoed through the palace. 𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂

Countless ministers, their wives, and even young children had gathered to celebrate the birth of a new king with all their might.

The king, stepping down from the throne, placed the crown he had been wearing onto the head of the new monarch.

In the coronation where even breathing was silent,

The only ones truly alive were the king himself and the ‘lump’ grinning beside him.

“Looks good. How does it feel to be queen?”

“Not great. Doesn’t suit my head.”

A woman with black hair, black eyes, and a height not even reaching half of the king’s tossed the crown aside with a sullen expression.

The applause stopped immediately.

It wasn’t out of anger at the sacrilegious act. It was simply because that was what the woman wanted.

“Now go do your job~”

At those words, the corpses dragged their feet and returned to their respective domains.

Guarding the palace, turning any who came near into the same state as them.

A horrifying fate where even in death, there was no rest.

Black trails of rotting blood were left wherever the corpses had passed. The lump looked at them and burst into loud laughter.

“Uhaha, Dark Night. Can’t you do something about that? It’s so filthy. It gets all over me every time I walk through here.”

“It’s funny hearing that from you. Even my ugliest child is a peerless beauty compared to you.”

“It’s not like I want to look like this? If I could shave all this off, I’d be the most handsome guy in the world.”

“And you dare speak of burdens in front of me?”

Dark Night growled fiercely, glaring at the lump. A creature that looked like a bloated mass of flesh, its obese human-like parts sagging and swelling grotesquely, such a thing insulting her own children was intolerable.

It happened every time. The lump brushed it off skillfully.

“Yeah, you’ve got a point. I mean, if I could die, I’d take that over this. Kheheh…”

“…Forget it. Where is Void?”

“Hmm, he just arrived. Should I bring him out?”

“Yeah.”

At those words, the writhing lump suddenly froze.

Then began to contract.

Crunch… crackle… Several sickening sounds of flesh and bone being crushed were heard, and soon, a human form began to emerge.

Not long after, a man with long hair, so handsome one could hardly believe he came from inside that grotesque mass, remained.

Slowly opening his eyes, the man looked around and grimaced deeply.

“This place is absolutely disgusting.”

“Right? Even if I die, I’m never using it.”

“I respect your choice. I should have done the same…”

Dark Night had no desire to live in a body that had been boiled down like the lump’s.

Void, who had been grumbling, snatched clothes covered in blood from the surrounding corpses and put them on while reporting.

“That blood mass failed.”

“Really? That’s a shame. I lent him quite a lot.”

“It was an expected outcome. I was surprised he even managed to pull off the kidnapping, considering he’s just a Self-Realm, but in the end, he made a mistake and lost everything.”

“I got the report this morning. Those noble bastards are trying to reach even this place. Seems they’re really pissed.”

“It won’t take them long to realize that anger alone won’t solve anything.”

Void wiped off all the mucus on his face and asked,

“How’s the work progressing?”

“You’d better see it for yourself.”

“Sounds like it’s not going well.”

With a sigh, Void followed behind Dark Night down into the palace’s underground.

There, hell unfolded.

Dozens, hundreds of bloated water-soaked corpses.

Or perhaps even more, piled up like a mountain.

Regardless of age, gender, or race, not a single one was spared, every corpse had died with an expression twisted in pain.

Void let out a sigh as he caught the stench of death.

“Not a single one was successful?”

“Yeah.”

“Don’t blame yourself too much. It’s a difficult task.”

“…Honestly, I don’t get it.”

Dark Night frowned.

“What do you mean?”

“Does it even make sense to try and create one of the Three Evils this way? The one success we had last time was just a minor-level one, limited to drowning.”

“Clearly, you don’t fully understand.”

Void blinked.

“…Huh?”

The next moment, all those countless corpses vanished.

Even the stench of death that had filled the space, along with the dampness on the floor, disappeared completely.

She couldn’t catch a single trace of what had happened. Void lightly tapped the bewildered Dark Night on the shoulder and muttered,

“That’s how mine awakened, too.”

“…”

“Prepare again. I’ll send thirty natural bodies in two days.”

“A-Alright.”

“And keep this in mind.”

Void’s gaze turned to Dark Night.

But what he was looking at was something else entirely.

“We cannot proceed with the plan without Ocean.”

“…Okay.”

“Good.”

Just as Void was about to leave Dark Night behind and climb the stairs, he suddenly seemed to remember something and added,

“Oh, and if it’s not Ocean but the Deep Sea that awakens instead, consider the attempt a failure. Don’t try to save it, just leave it be.”

“…Why? Can’t the Deep Sea do something similar?”

“It’s nothing major.”

Void shrugged as he replied.

“That one doesn’t survive no matter what you do.”