Wizard of the Deep Sea

TL/ED – Miso

After making the decision.

I asked Ciel for the details.

“When do we depart?”

“We’ve set it for tomorrow. The suggestion to bring along Brimdal was half a joke, but the other half is sincere. The place where the Elves live isn’t somewhere you can easily go to.”

“Ah.”

So I’ll have to go by carriage myself.

Looking at it this way, I could now grasp just how absurd a magic it was that Dersia could fling open a door and instantly travel kilometers away.

As I nodded, Ciel provided additional details.

“I’ll rent the fastest dragon carriage, but even with that, it’ll take about a week. More than half of the journey will be through remote areas, so there’s danger from bandits and wild beasts.”

“If it’s just that, I can take care of it.”

“And it’ll also be necessary in case Master decides to resist.”

“…Understood.”

Is she really a maid?

Of course, I couldn’t afford to skip long sessions of Enhanced Mana Body training either, so I had to bring Brimdal. He’d be helpful in emergencies too.

The problem was, I doubted he’d give a hopeful response like, “Sure, I’ll come along,” just because I asked.

Still, I had to try. So I arranged to meet Ciel tomorrow and headed to the cabin.

“…”

“Linmel?”

Along the way, I ran into Linmel trudging back through the forest path with a tearful expression.

Something must’ve happened. When I spoke to her, she came right up to me, eyes red and puffy, and asked,

“Je-Jern.”

“Yeah, what is it?”

“Are you really living with Elysia?”

Had they gotten close enough for her to call her by name?

No, more importantly, what the hell is this about?

“Well… for now, yeah?”

“Have you ever met with Elysia’s father, just the three of you?”

“That did happen.”

“Did you save each other’s lives?”

“Ah… sort of?”

They were extremely vague statements, but they weren’t wrong.

It felt like one of those truths nobles used, twisting the line between truth and lies.

“No, but if we’re going to break it down one by one-”

I tried to speak to manage the situation, since Linmel’s eyes were welling with tears, but when I blinked, she was gone.

She’s developed quite a bit. I shook my head as I pulled back my bewildered outstretched hand.

Elysia must’ve said weird things to emphasize she was closer to me than others. I’ll just have to clear it up the next time we meet.

Right now, there was something much more important.

When I arrived at the cabin, Brimdal was, as usual, sharpening his sword, and he glanced at me.

“What is it?”

“What do you mean?”

“You’ve got that sulky look. You look like you’ve chewed on a bug.”

At his words, I touched my face, but it felt like my usual expression.

Maybe knights at his level could read even the slightest changes. Since there was nothing to hide, I just said it.

“You know I’m a wizard, right?”

“It’s necessary to distinguish between the Fallen and wizards, yes.”

“And you know I had a teacher in magic too, right?”

“I knew that. What are you dragging this out for?”

“…Do you know someone named Dersia Aspandil?”

“…”

Brimdal, who looked puzzled, furrowed his brow as he traced the connection in my question.

But soon he shook his head in denial.

“No, that’s impossible. That monster would never take you as a disciple.”

“I find it pretty strange myself.”

“…You’re serious?”

He really could read expressions well.

Noticing there was no lie, he seemed flustered, then rubbed his chin and nodded to himself.

“No… it might be because of that, rather…”

There must’ve been something that made him accept it internally.

I used the opportunity to share another fact.

“And right now, she’s run away from home, but there’s a lot I need to ask her, so I think I need to go find her.”

“What kind of nonsense is that? Run away from home?”

“Yeah. I’m not too sure myself.”

It’d be one thing if a disciple left their teacher, but a teacher running away from a disciple, what kind of joke is that?

“Wait a moment.”

Wearing a stunned expression, Brimdal let out a deep sigh and went into the cabin.

A few minutes later, he came out carrying a bag.

“When are we departing?”

“I’ve set it for tomorrow.”

“That’s tight. I’ll just pack the essentials.”

“…?”

Judging by how things looked, he really seemed to be planning on coming, so I ended up asking in surprise.

“You’re really coming with me?”

“If the land of those pointy-eared guys is the destination, it’ll take a week to get there, two weeks to persuade them, and another week to return. Are you planning to skip all of your Enhanced Mana Body training during that time?”

“That’s not the plan, but… are you sure you’re okay with it?”

“Okay with what?”

“I mean, you must have things to do, right?”

“Teaching you is what I’m supposed to be doing right now.”

“…”

Since when was he this devoted?

Things were going ten times better than I expected, but I couldn’t easily accept it. Because the intention was unclear.

For example.

“If your teacher is Dersia, then there’s something I need to say.”

If it’s something like that, it’s a big problem. Alarmed, I quickly tried to stop him.

“I’m sorry. If you’re going to fight her, I can’t take you with me.”

“I’m not going to fight. There’s nothing to gain from that, and we’re not that close anyway.”

“Then what is it you have to say?”

“I’ll tell her when I get there.”

“…”

Receiving my suspicious glare, Brimdal spat out in annoyance.

“Fine, I swear on my knight’s name that I won’t fight. Satisfied?”

“Thank you.”

I don’t know what it is, but if he made a vow, it’s good enough.

Still, I had some lingering doubts. No matter how I looked at it, Brimdal didn’t seem like the kind of man who’d swear on his knight’s name for my sake.

It felt weird to say it outright, so I hinted at it.

“You’ve been kind of… nicer lately.”

“That’s ridiculous. You’re imagining things.”

“It’s not my imagination…”

How should I put it?

Unlike our first meeting, he actually treats me like a disciple now?

When was it that he called me a rock or a bug? As I tried to bring that up, a chill ran down the back of my neck.

“Ugh.”

-Whoosh!

I rolled to the side and barely dodged it. A sword had just been thrust vertically into the spot where I had been standing a moment ago.

“Your reaction to overhead attacks is slow. Train more thoroughly. No matter how good your eyes are, if they’re closed, they’re useless.”

Brimdal, having flung the sword, left behind that cool-sounding line and walked back toward the cabin.

Staring in disbelief, I let out a sigh and pulled the sword out.

No matter how you look at it, it felt like he was just using training as an excuse to end the conversation once it turned unfavorable.

…There was no way to prove it.

*

The next day.

“You really brought him.”

“…I didn’t think he’d actually come either.”

Ciel widened her eyes at the sight of the unusual creature that was the burly Dwarf.

Brimdal looked at Ciel with an unreadable expression, then let out a sigh.

“You-”

“Yes? What is it, Sir Brimdal?”

“…Do as you please.”

Leaving behind those words, Brimdal squeezed himself into the dragon carriage.

It was clearly a conversation between people who knew each other, so I got a bit curious and asked,

“Did you know each other before?”

“Of course not. We only ever had a very slight acquaintance long ago, that’s all.”

“…”

It didn’t seem like that, but for her to say that so firmly meant she didn’t want to talk about it.

I didn’t feel the need to dig any deeper. Once I got on the dragon carriage too, the destructive lineup was complete: Dwarf, Fallen, and Head Maid.

“Then we’ll depart now. Have you spoken to your acquaintances?”

“I’ve already finished on my end.”

I explained the situation to Alletus, and as Elysia would definitely throw a fit trying to come along, I asked him to tell her after I’d already left.

I also asked the Orphanage director to look after things if Linmel came to visit.

Even counting generously, that about summed up my personal relationships… so it only took an hour.

At least it was good that it wrapped up quickly.

“Why would I need to inform others that I’m leaving?”

Well, I guess I’m still better off than Brimdal.

-Clop, clop. The dragon carriage began to move like a horse, and we were soon engulfed in endless silence.

Thankfully, Ciel was driving the carriage and served as a bit of a lubricant, but since she and Brimdal had no common ground, there was nothing for the two of us to talk about.

The fortunate thing, at least, was that we weren’t the type to care about things like that.

Brimdal was rubbing his sword with a cloth, and I was observing the deep sea creatures.

What I was prioritizing the most was finding the yellow jellyfish. 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ𝑤𝑒𝑏𝑛𝘰𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝒸𝑜𝘮

That thing is definitely useful. In one way or another.

“…Oh.”

And then it happened.

For the first time, I witnessed the death of a deep sea creature.

[……——!…!….—…..]

It was something like a giant shark mixed halfway with a snake. But it seemed to have been attacked from somewhere, as part of its torso had been torn off.

It was a bit far away, so my current sense didn’t work properly, but I could still confirm it was thrashing around.

[–…]

In the process of thrashing, I noticed some curious things.

Parts of its body would cave in, then return to normal, over and over again.

Multiple times.

Gradually, the frequency of the caving increased. And some areas failed to restore.

At one point, dozens of spots caved in all at once.

Cave-cave-cave-!

Pop.

With a small popping sound, it suddenly vanished.

It literally disappeared from the deep sea.

“…?”

While scanning with current sense, I was shocked.

It didn’t disappear. That enormous body had been compressed to the extreme, transformed into a lump the size of a fingernail.

So, that’s how it had been enduring?

I had assumed it used some method like filling its body with liquid to withstand the pressure.

But it had simply been enduring the water pressure head-on.

…Just like me.

I couldn’t understand it at all. Why would it adopt such an inefficient method during evolution? Simply enduring the pressure was one of the worst possible strategies.

Even while questioning this, I kept scanning with current sense, and soon a small anchovy swam in, swallowed that chunk of shark meat, and leisurely swam away.

This too was the first time I had seen a deep sea creature eat something.

No wonder I’d never seen them fight. They all just wait for others to fail under the water pressure and die, then feed on the loser, such a bizarre food chain.

All of this happened in a matter of seconds. If I hadn’t trained my current sense to the extreme through my sparring with Brimdal, I might never have known this my whole life.

Calming my shock, I recorded today’s findings again.

“What the hell are you drawing?”

While I was drawing the scene I had just witnessed like I was possessed, Brimdal frowned in alarm.

The process of the shark being compressed must have looked quite grotesque on the notebook.

“This is where I am right now. I’m trying to draw it as detailed as possible.”

“What?”

Brimdal glanced through the notebook and then clicked his tongue.

“Are all the Fallen like this? It’s literally hell, isn’t it?”

“It’s a bit cold to be called hell.”

The burdens kept increasing by the moment.

The most important one, the water pressure, was still manageable as I trained my body to endure it, but now the cold, which I had been ignoring, was becoming extreme.

The fortunate thing was, I had the robe. When I took it off last time, I was so shocked I thought I was suddenly in the middle of a snowfield.

Apparently, this robe didn’t just reduce water pressure but also minimized other burdens like the cold. I should ask more about that at some point.

“Hmm…”

Brimdal started scanning the notebook and began contemplating something.

“Do you have something to say?”

“You, by any chance-”

Just as he was about to bring something up.

Clunk. With a large jolt, the dragon carriage shook.

“Hmm, everyone. It seems we have a problem.”

“…?”

The conversation came to a halt with Ciel’s troubled voice.

When I stepped outside to check, I saw that one of the wheels was badly damaged.

“Oh no, it’s broken.”

“I made a mistake…”

Ciel stared intently at the wheel and let out a sigh.

“I definitely replaced the wheel before we left. For it to suddenly crack… Looks like I bought a faulty one.”

“I could probably make another wheel, but given the distance, it’d be faster to go back and get one.”

“No, we do have a spare wheel.”

“…What?”

At my remark, Brimdal and Ciel looked at me with strange expressions.

“It’s true. I stored it inside the workshop.”

“Wait, why did you pack a wheel?”

“You know what they say, better safe than sorry.”

“No, I mean, why specifically a wheel…?”

“To be precise, I stored a small carriage inside the workshop. Just in case.”

“…”

The workshop was unnecessarily spacious, so using it this way was convenient.

Besides the carriage, I had also stored all kinds of long-lasting food, clothes, and survival tools. That’s when I realized.

This is why a workshop is considered essential for a wizard.

Unless you’re at the level of Dersia, opening doors at will, this thing is incredibly useful. I understood why Dersia went so far as to pressure the Magic Tower into getting me one, as I opened the carriage door into the workshop.

Ciel blinked at the sight of the carriage sitting squarely in the middle of the workshop.

“You really did store a carriage in there.”

“Yes. Time is precious, and it would’ve been a waste to go back.”

I stepped into the workshop to remove a wheel.

And then, something tripped my current sense.

“…?”

What is this? There’s no way an intruder could be in my workshop.

…No way?

I quickly strode up to the carriage and opened the door.

“Zzz…wheeze…zzz…”

“…”

Inside was a young blonde knight, sleeping peacefully.

Carefully, so as not to wake her, I closed the door and turned to respond to Ciel, who was staring at me in disbelief.

“Sorry, but let’s just go back.”

Wasting time that way seemed better than dealing with this.