Wizard of the Deep Sea Chapter 23

TL/ED – Miso

Seeing it from the hallway, the prison was an even more horrific place.

Here and there were puddles of stagnant, rotten water, creating a dampness that went beyond humid to an unpleasantly sticky feeling.

In the pitch-black prison, the torches connecting the corridors looked like they might go out at any moment, and in the other prison cells, rotting corpses or scattered skeletons were strewn about.

This was not a place noble children could possibly endure.

Naturally, the children, desperate to leave even a second sooner, begged me.

“An-answer the question! How did you get out?!”

“If you’re curious, try being quiet first.”

“Why…”

Instead of answering, I silently glared at Huins.

At the same time, a bizarre crying sound came from nearby.

“Grrrrk…”

“Hiiik-”

Huins, who had been shouting, immediately turned pale and covered his mouth. Seeing his legs trembling, it seemed the memory of being kidnapped by the mummy had become a trauma.

…Anyway, this guy has seen me once before. I was going to feign ignorance if he recognized me, but he didn’t even notice.

Well, I guess no one would imagine a commoner acting so confidently while dressed like a noble.

While the other children were similarly hunched over, barely able to breathe,

“Uh…”

Only Elysia looked at me with wide eyes and open mouth, shocked.

There was an obvious emotion in her eyes, “Why are you here?”, so I gave her a wink as a signal.

From now on, I would need to take control of the situation, and if Elysia revealed that I was a janitor with some careless remark, it would become troublesome.

“…”

She seemed to understand roughly and nodded her head earnestly, miming sealing her lips. Cute.

“Grrrk?”

Before long, the mummy appeared.

I made eye contact with the mummy. I was confident it wouldn’t be particularly interested in me.

“…”

The result was immediate.

Despite an obvious detainee being outside the cell, the mummy didn’t run or scream but simply walked forward with heavy steps.

It meant it hadn’t received orders to capture escaped children. They must not have considered the possibility that kids who couldn’t even use magic would be able to escape.

An unexpected outcome. Because I didn’t provoke it and stayed still, the children became even more frightened and gestured frantically.

“You, you, hurry… run away! Anywhere!”

“Ca-can’t you come back in?? You’ll die like that!”

“Why?”

“What do you mean, why?! That’s… that’s an enemy!”

“Don’t think so simply. It’s just a puppet.”

The mummy slowly passed me by.

In the process, its hand brushed the top of my head. It’s a hand capable of killing even a knight. It could easily crush a child’s skull.

Of course, I wasn’t the least bit shaken.

“…Huh?”

The children looked at me with expressions of shock and disbelief.

“See? I’m perfectly fine.”

“Ho-how did you know…?”

“I observed. These things are like machines that only execute what they’re ordered to do. There’s no need to be so scared.”

Once I had everyone’s attention, I explained the next steps to the now-silent children.

“By now, you should’ve all figured it out. We’ve been kidnapped by some unknown organization. Does anyone here have even a guess why?”

“…I don’t really know.”

“If you remember even a little something, say it. It’s really important to figure out who the enemy is.”

“Ah! Maybe…”

One of the noble children raised their hand with a worried expression.

“My dad… once forcefully took over a small mill…”

“Hmm, I don’t think the mill owner would be dumb enough to kidnap all the noble children over something like that.”

“My dad accepted bribes to decide which mercenary corps to hire…!”

“…No, I mean something bigger than that.”

“My mom is having an affair with Marquis Darpan…!”

“Okay, now that is big but…”

“What? With my dad??”

“…”

It suddenly turned into some kind of confessional session.

But none of it was reason enough to justify kidnapping all these noble children.

…Well, I did get an unexpected harvest. I now know most of the family secrets only direct members of noble houses would know.

I might find a use for this information later. I cleared my throat and calmed the children, who were beginning to spill their secrets one by one.

“Got it. Seems like there’s some other reason behind all this.”

So the only remaining information is what I heard directly.

Crimson Circle.

It’s a name I’ve heard twice recently. Those freaks with that strange name must’ve done something.

Not that I’m particularly curious. Considering they kidnapped nobles, and children at that, there’s no way to assess them as anything other than outright crazy sons of bitches.

What matters is escape. If they’re capable of this kind of madness, there’s no way they’re after something as simple as ransom.

Of course, I didn’t tell the kids that. Saying it would only cause mass panic.

I calmly explained to the children.

“First, let’s get out of here. That guy, Parse, is still fighting the teachers and probably hasn’t come back yet. We have to use that gap to get out. Once he returns, there’s no hope.”

“Yeah, we know that! Just do something about these bars first!”

“But I can’t take everyone with me.”

“…?”

I explained step-by-step to the children whose mouths had dropped open.

“Right now, that magic-suppressing device… whatever it’s called, you’re wearing it. Anyway, with those on, you’re basically just regular kids. You won’t be any help.”

“You’ve got a shackle around your neck too! What makes you different?”

“I am.”

Swoosh-! I lifted the child who said that using current and set them back down.

The reaction was explosive. The children were so shocked they were practically fainting as they stared at me.

“Telekin…? What are you?!”

“How did you learn Telekinesis at your age?? Even my dad can’t do that!”

“Now you get it? Honestly, I’d prefer to just leave you all behind and go on my own. So I’ll only take people who meet the conditions.”

As soon as I finished speaking, the kids’ eyes started darting around.

Even at their age, noble kids know how to think. A hopeless situation of abduction, traveling with a wizard who’s learned Telekinesis, and selection.

They immediately became obedient and began promoting themselves one by one.

“My dad owns the rights to a mine.”

“My mom owns the rights to a river!”

“I don’t know who you are, but if you take me, I promise I’ll reward you!”

“Not that kind of stuff.”

I shook my head.

“There are still a lot of mummies out there. I don’t know the layout in detail, either. No matter what happens, you’ll have to follow my orders. That’s the first condition.”

“I’ll do whatever you say!”

“And no matter what happens here, don’t go questioning things once we’re outside. Can you do that?”

“Y-yeah!”

“Good. Then, anyone who wants to stay in this damp prison and get eaten by mummies instead of following those conditions, step back.”

No one stepped back.

Of course, I never planned to selectively take them anyway. If I was going to save them, I’d save everyone.

I put on a stern expression and made them swear.

“Then I’ll take it that everyone will listen to me. Got it?”

“”Yeah!!””

“Good.”

Clank! I reopened the cell bars I had removed earlier.

“Come out one by one.”

The children scrambled out and gathered in front of me.

They suddenly looked at me like I was some kind of teacher, which caught me off guard, but I understood.

They were in a hellish place with no idea where they were. Of course they’d need someone to rely on.

“Alright, let’s go. I can figure out the path with my magic, so don’t worry.”

“O-okay. But…”

Along the way, one child raised his hand.

It was Huins. His previous pitiful behavior was nowhere to be seen, and he now spoke with utmost politeness.

“Got a question?”

“Um, that is… which family are you from?”

“…”

Naturally, I couldn’t answer.

The other children slowly nodded, clearly wondering the same thing.

“I’ve never heard of anyone our age getting past the Elemental Magic course. Is that even possible?”

“It’s not possible. If it were, there’s no way we wouldn’t know…”

“Which family are you from?”

“Hmm, guess I didn’t tell you.”

As I gave off the impression I was about to say, all eyes turned toward me.

I held up a finger and smiled lightly.

“That’s the third condition, don’t ask that question.”

“…”

Thank god I’m the one in charge here.

The underground prison was, quite literally, a dungeon.

‘…How the hell did the guards even survive down here?’

I walked through the dark, damp corridor with a grim expression. The children followed closely a few steps behind, doing their best not to fall behind.

I couldn’t afford to relax for even a moment. The place was filled with traps.

And not just any traps, deadly ones that could kill you if you made even a single misstep.

“Oh, a fork in the path.”

“There’s a breeze from this side. If wind’s blowing, that means there’s an exit… Let’s go this way!”

“No. It’s the left path.”

“B-but there’s blood smeared over there! That means it’s dangerous!”

“You didn’t forget the conditions, did you?”

“Ugh…”

I easily shut that down and headed toward the left path.

Had we gone right, we would’ve hit a sudden cliff in the pitch-black darkness where the torchlight didn’t reach.

Anyone in the lead would’ve fallen without question. That’s what kind of place it was.

‘What would I have done without Current Sense…’

I let out a sigh, but also felt relieved.

Put differently, as long as I have Current Sense, I’m practically invincible.

“Don’t step on that floor. There’s a switch for something underneath.”

“How do you even know that…? Are you maybe on the same side as the people who kidnapped us?!”

That was enough to get hit with a ridiculous accusation.

“Hmm, try holding out your hand inside your robe and flash some numbers with your fingers.”

“…?”

“Seven. Now four. Oh, you changed it to two.”

“!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! H-how did you know?! Clairvoyance? It’s clairvoyance, right?!”

“Do it with your hand behind your back. Five, six, zero.”

“………………Wow.”

But once I demonstrated current sense, all their suspicions vanished.

At one point, we reached a collapsed bridge that we had to cross no matter what.

Below the bridge, pitch-black darkness stirred with occasional clicking sounds, but I didn’t bother sending current sense down. I didn’t want to know.

Faced with this life-or-death situation, the children huddled together, trying to come up with ideas.

“How about I grab your legs, and you grab their legs, and we make a human ladder, then throw them across?”

“I’m not getting thrown!”

Not that I expected much.

“…No need for that. Come here.”

“Eh?”

I grabbed the confused children.

And threw them.

“Kyaaaaaaah!!!!”

The first I threw was Elysia.

I didn’t have enough strength to toss a child more than ten meters to the other side of the room.

But I could let the current carry her. Elysia flew like a bullet and landed like a feather.

As soon as she confirmed she was safe, she bounced up and down.

“Wow! Can we do that again?”

“No.”

In this way, we crossed the prison, looking for the path to the upper levels.

Along the way, I started hearing what sounded suspiciously like gossip.

“So this is what a real wizard is like…”

“He’s the same age as us, but how can the difference be this huge?”

“Who is he, really?”

The back of my head burned under the warm stares filled with awe.

They probably thought they were whispering, but the prison was so quiet I heard everything.

No need to shut them up. Or so I thought, until Huins, looking like he’d realized something, muttered in a tone filled with reverence.

“You idiots, you still haven’t figured it out?”

“Huins? You think you know who he is?”

“Him? Hey, watch your mouth. That’s obviously His Highness the Crown Prince.”

“…?”

What kind of crazy talk is this?

Huins began calmly spouting his delusional nonsense.

“Look, he doesn’t take classes at the Academy, the place with the best education… What does that tell you? It means he’s being taught by a personal royal court wizard even more elite than the Academy.”

“Isn’t that a stretch? I’ve never even heard that there’s a crown prince.”

“They’ve been hiding him all this time. I bet he got unlucky and got caught with us while doing some experiment with Resurrection Stones.”

“…Really?”

“Look at that magic. Even with a suppression device on, he’s overwhelmingly powerful. That level of talent is only possible in the royal family, specifically the Crown Prince.”

As he said this, Huins kept looking at me with the eyes of a fanboy staring at their favorite celebrity.

“That unique, yet stylish fashion and that handsome face… He has to be the Crown Prince.”

…Should I just toss this bastard into a pit and leave him there?

I wondered why he bullied Elysia, but it seems he just likes pureblooded nobles.

We needed to get out of here quickly. Fortunately, the ground was starting to register on my current sense.

It was the only bit of good news in this hellhole, so I shared it with the children.

“We’ll be out soon. By now, the knights should be spread out all over the place, so as soon as we get outside, scream for help.”

“Really?! Whew… I thought we were going to die here.”

“This is such a relief…”

“And, as I said before, everything that happened here-”

I stopped mid-sentence.

A red mist had begun to fill my vision.

…Blood. Thick blood slowly spreading like it does underwater.

It was clear whose it was.

“…What’s going on?”

“Nothing. It just feels… a little too easy.”

“Ah, well… we did escape almost immediately after coming in.”

“It’s all thanks to how amazing His Highness the Crown Prince is!”

Seeing the anxiety begin to rise in the children’s eyes, I quickly smiled and reassured them.

Right now, I was their guardian. If I showed it unnecessarily, it would only cause unnecessary confusion.

“Alright, let’s get out of here quickly.”

“Yeah!!”

Contrary to my words, I let out a sigh inside.

Most likely, this wasn’t going to be such an easy escape after all.