Wizard of the Deep Sea Chapter 69

TL/ED – Miso

In the end, we failed to stop the disaster.

Because we became the disaster.

“You really did well.”

“Find them! They headed somewhere around here!”

“There’s nowhere to run!”

“…Exactly.”

An attic room in a certain mansion.

Karos and I were hiding in that cramped space, watching as Imperial soldiers swarmed in like a hive below.

But judging by the result, we pulled it off.

We ran around like mad all night, knocking out every noble, firmly instilling awareness of the brainwashing, and fabricated a reason that forced the Princess to tie the nobles up under the charge of treason.

Compared to that, the fact that people woke up thinking war had broken out and cried in fear, and that a few garden trees got scorched, was hardly an issue.

Watching the Imperial soldiers slowly heading our way, I sighed and made a request to Karos.

“It’s all over now, so please drop me off at the cabin outside the Empire. I did everything I was told, so I think it’ll be fine.”

“No.”

“What now.”

“Her Highness the Princess has summoned you.”

“…”

Hmm. So it came to that, after all.

As I let out a quiet sigh, Karos broke open the small door, embraced me, and lightly ascended to the rooftop.

“I can’t just walk away, can I?”

“No. Regardless of anything, it’s a fact that you resolved this situation. Though I still don’t know, how you did it.”

Looking at the soldiers below, Karos sighed and bent her knees.

She was getting ready to jump. From here, to another roof.

“Can you actually do that?”

“You’ll see.”

-Boom! Leap.

With physical power hard to believe of a human, she turned the impossible into possible.

We reached the Imperial Palace in an instant. The guards opened the gate the moment they saw Karos, as if they had been waiting.

As I walked down the beautiful path of the palace, I tried to resist, albeit weakly.

“I’m really quite exhausted.”

“Endure it.”

With those merciless words, Karos took me all the way to the top floor of the palace and stood before the largest and most luxurious door, fixing her armor.

-Knock knock knock. A regular knocking sound.

[Come in.]

It was different from before, but still, a gentle voice was heard.

When the door opened and I entered, there was the Princess.

It was our first meeting in the palace, yet her face was different.

Not that she was ugly before. But now, her blond hair, soft eyelashes, and overall features were so beautiful, she could be mistaken for a doll.

It was almost hard to breathe, but I forced myself to act nonchalant as I walked in.

“I heard the detailed report, Jern. You did it.”

“…Yes.”

“You really did well.”

“You flatter me.”

Fortunately, she seemed to have chosen to ignore the finer details.

Glancing around, it was surprisingly modest, considering it was the Imperial Palace. On the desk were just some paper and a pen for writing, documents, and a dagger presumably used to open them.

Just as I was thinking it might be time to leave and tried to find a moment to get up, the Princess beamed at me.

“…Do you have something to say?”

“Jern, is there anything you wish for?”

“…? Something I wish for?”

“Yes. I am the Princess of the Empire, and though it may be an irreverent statement, I’ve already surpassed my father in several fields.”

It made sense. A Princess with prophetic powers would be gladly accepted even by the Emperor.

Sharmia, with a bright expression, held out a sheet of paper.

“You’ve been an incredible help in resolving this situation, haven’t you? I couldn’t just send you away empty-handed, so I thought about what I could give you, and I wrote up this contract last night.”

“Hmm…”

I took the contract and let out a quiet sigh.

Because this wasn’t a contract. Although it took the form of a contract, nothing was actually written on it.

“So this is…”

“To be honest, I still don’t really know what Jern would like.”

With that, the Princess spun the pen and handed it over.

“So, please write what you wish.”

“…”

I’ve heard of blank checks, but this was the first time seeing a blank contract.

The only thing written at the bottom was that this contract was guaranteed by Princess Sharmia.

It was a declaration, a mixture of arrogance and foolishness, that she would give whatever I wrote down.

There’s no way a Princess wouldn’t understand the importance of a contract. Even if I were to stuff it with dozens of toxic clauses into an absurdly unfair agreement, she was expressing her intent to accept it.

For me. It meant she would give everything.

And Sharmia had the power to fulfill anything written on this, as long as it wasn’t something utterly ridiculous like “I want you, Princess.”

I hadn’t known her long, but she wasn’t the type to make empty promises.

This was a golden opportunity that couldn’t be missed. After engaging in a sort of silent staring contest with the smiling Sharmia for a while, I picked up the pen.

“You clearly said so.”

“Yes, but… this is a little scary, you know? You’re not usually the type to confirm things this thoroughly, Jern~”

Trying to act all friendly now, huh.

Perhaps in another timeline I don’t know about, we really were close.

But not here. Not now.

“I’ve written it.”

“Oh? Already? It hasn’t even been a minute…”

“I figured Your Highness might have seen it in a prophecy.”

“I don’t do that, for something like this…”

She smiled as she accepted the contract, but her smile slightly faded.

I straightened my posture and waited for her response.

“Is it possible?”

“…Hmm, it’s not that difficult. Well, maybe slightly difficult…”

“Please.”

I bowed deeply and pleaded.

Because this was something I had to secure.

“Then please explain your reason.”

The Princess wasn’t angry, or speechless, or happy, she simply seemed curious as she pointed to the single clause written in the contract.

[Forget everything about Jern Aspandal. Do not interfere, do not attempt conversation. Do not accept requests even if made. If circumstances on either side require intervention, both parties shall respond with thorough disregard for each other.]

“Do you think I wouldn’t be of help?”

“From the beggar in the back alley to His Majesty the Emperor himself, there’s no one in the Empire who wouldn’t benefit from Your Highness’s help. I would never say such a thing.”

“Then… do you dislike me?”

“Thanks to Your Highness, I was able to protect someone precious to me. If anything, I feel indebted, I do not hate you.”

“…Why?”

Sharmia looked genuinely confused, as if she hadn’t anticipated this situation at all.

I answered calmly.

“Because of that very reason.”

“Yes?”

“Your Highness is hiding many things from me.”

“…”

Sharmia’s expression darkened slightly.

“I… can’t deny it. Did that hurt you?”

“No. I don’t think it’s bad in the slightest. On the contrary, that aspect changed how I view Your Highness quite a bit. Even when playing a card you must play, to not reveal everything, that is why I believe you’ll become an exceptional Empress.”

“Then why-”

“I will probably figure it out.”

“What do you mean?”

Taking that opening, I took a sip of tea and murmured,

“Though Your Highness tried hard, you’ve already told me a great deal. Your visions that cannot see the end, the current situation’s design. You’ve peeked into countless possibilities, hundreds of times. Even that ability of yours.”

There was sediment left in the teacup.

Once steeped, it was nothing more than an impurity, no longer needed and meant to be filtered out.

Otherwise, no matter how dark the tea, it becomes visible after drinking.

The trace left at the bottom.

“In this situation, Your Highness did not truly need my help.”

“…”

“Most likely, the card shown to me was but a tiny portion. I determined there was no reason to go through such troublesome, luck-reliant methods. Though you portrayed yourself to me as a cheerful, thoughtless woman, someone like that couldn’t possibly have faced disaster alone hundreds of times over ten years and brought peace to the Empire.”

“Hmm, Jern. Are you trying to make a guess?”

The Princess looked down at me with a benevolent gaze.

It was the look of someone saying, “This is all just your delusion.”

It was so natural that if I hadn’t been certain, I might have fallen for it.

“Yes, you can think of it as simple paranoia. Or delusions of grandeur, or even the compulsive lying of an orphan who doesn’t understand his place, but the reason Your Highness handled this situation the way you did, there seems to be only one.”

Jern Aspandil.

The only Fallen that the Princess can use.

A means to counter the Crimson Circle. Isn’t that what this is?

It’s just speculation. At the very least, I couldn’t find a reason why anyone would go to such lengths just for someone like me.

But the outcome pointed that way.

The truth is always the last one left standing.

“Your Highness left all other usable means untouched, assigned hundreds of prophecies to an unknown orphaned Fallen, and took a long detour. And in the end, believed everything that child said and handed over a contract like this.”

“…”

“Even if it’s not true, you must be disgusted by someone who came to such a stupid conclusion. So just sign and send me off. Then forget about me. That shouldn’t be too hard.”

I said that and held out the contract.

Sharmia accepted it with a composed expression and then.

-Riiip!

Still smiling softly, she casually tore it apart.

As I narrowed my brow, Sharmia opened her mouth.

“No. Don’t belittle yourself.”

“Your Highness.”

“You were right. I didn’t entrust everything to you, but… it’s true that while trying to resolve this incident, I saw you and decided I must recruit you no matter what. You could call it… a test.”

With that refreshing admission, she even said something that one would rarely hear.

“Jern, come under me. I will support every possible method to treat your body. You can refuse any order I give. Truly, just talking with me from time to time would be enough.”

The conditions were beyond exceptional, they were absurd.

That’s why she gave me a blank contract. From the start, the Princess wanted an unfair contract, so no matter what kind I wrote, it wouldn’t have made a difference.

“There will be no one who holds you in higher regard than I do. Because they cannot see the future. Don’t you think this is a contract that both of us can be satisfied with?”

“That’s close to the truth.”

I nodded in agreement.

“In that case, may I ask for one affirmation?”

“Of course. What is it?”

I spoke calmly to the puzzled Sharmia.

“Since Your Highness has shared your secret with me, I will share mine in return. Though it is pathetically insignificant and meaningless in comparison, my world is the deep sea.”

“The deep sea…?”

“Yes.”

The Princess asked in confusion.

“Is this supposed to be a metaphor to describe the dire situation the Fallen are in? But the word ‘deep sea’ doesn’t quite click, hmm…”

“You have only seen small worlds until now.”

It seemed even the Princess had never seen a Fallen of the Great Realm before.

“I live literally in the deep sea. If you promise that you can save me, I will entrust my fate and even my life to you. I will obey whatever you command and devote myself entirely.”

“Ah, yes. I’m already working hard on developing ways to save the Fallen. Could you explain your burden in detail?”

“I cannot breathe.”

“?”

“Because you can’t breathe underwater. It’s only natural.”

“Wait a moment.”

Sharmia pulled out a piece of paper and a pen and began taking notes.

“Then how are you alive right now?”

“With my master’s help, a artifact was implanted in my body. I must circulate mana endlessly for the rest of my life to survive.”

“I see, if that’s the case, I think we can find a solution.”

“That’s not all.”

I shook my head.

“It’s very cold here. I might freeze to death soon.”

“Ah, is that so? The temperature actually drops.”

“It’s getting darker around me. At some point, I might lose my sight.”

“I-I see.”

“Every time I use my ability no, just by existing the water pressure grows stronger. I don’t know when, but eventually, pressure strong enough to crush steel will crush my body.”

“That’s, far too unbelievable…”

Srrrrk. I began to unwind the bandages I had been wearing.

Bruises covering the entire body were revealed. Technically, they were wounds sustained during the brief transfer into the deep sea.

Sharmia’s speechless reaction was visibly evident.

“There are other burdens as well. Your Highness, do you have any means to save someone like me?”

“…If I try hard, it might be possible.”

Sharmia wasn’t lying.

There is no way to save someone who has fallen into the deep sea. That was her judgment.

“Thank you for not offering empty promises. But what you’re saying doesn’t sound much different from my current state.”

“If you’re with me, the quality of that effort will improve greatly.”

“Those who walk with Your Highness are essentially entrusting you with their very lifeline, with the way they live.”

“Pardon?”

“A prophet, or whatever one should call it. The ability to see the future is an overwhelmingly asymmetrical power. You will surely offer the correct path and lead others to the right answers, purely out of goodwill.”

“Yes. That’s right.”

“But that path is not one I have chosen. It’s not my struggle. I can only move forward by putting my trust entirely in you. If I had certainty, that would be different, but unless Your Highness is fully certain, I cannot find meaning in following. If I struggle on my own and fail to defy fate, then so be it. But if I follow someone else’s words without any will of my own and die… I wouldn’t be able to accept that.”

There were other reasons I couldn’t trust the Princess, but I left those out.

I didn’t want to reveal my world, but since she already knew I was a Fallen, whether she understood the details or not didn’t make much of a difference.

Rather, saying it like this would hopefully lead her to devalue me and give up.

“Thank you for holding me in such high regard. But if there’s one thing you’re mistaken about, it’s that Your Highness doesn’t need me. You’ve done well so far, and you’ll continue to do well.”

As I tried to rise from my seat, the Princess added,

“I am not a god.”

“I can tell.”

“No matter how many times I’ve seen it, I haven’t been able to stop the rise of the Crimson Circle. To prevent it, I would have had to be born at least several hundred years ago. As a ten-year-old, it was impossible.”

“…I see.”

So even with a Princess like her, the terrorist acts had succeeded.

It was because the very existence of the Crimson Circle had been in planning for hundreds of years.

Even if one city could somehow be protected, the Crimson Circle would just target another. It was something even a prophet couldn’t stop.

“To counter no, to at least respond, to the cards they’ve prepared over those long years, I, too, must make every possible preparation. Did you see Karos?”

“Yes. Truly an outstanding knight.”

“She is a knight who doesn’t exist in the original world. Because of the persecution she suffered as an orphan, she became corrupted and joined the Crimson Circle.”

“Was she a wizard?”

“There are those who sympathize, even if they are not Fallen. Soon.”

“…The investment into the orphanage, was that why?”

“Since I don’t know where the key is, I tried that, for now.”

With a gentle smile, Sharmia held out her hand.

“Let me take hold of you. Whether weapon, card, or talent, I’ll make you shine in your brightest form.”

This must have been Sharmia’s true intention.

“I regret to say, Your Highness…”

And so, I gave my honest answer.

Dersia, Brimdal, Elysia…

Would the Princess hold as much value to my survival as they did?

Perhaps she could help me reach them.

But once I had already gained that?

“Your Highness’s offer feels lacking for me to take your hand.”

A crack appeared on Sharmia’s expression.

Even after Jern closed the door and left, Sharmia didn’t lower her hand for quite a while.

Her expression still frozen in a smile.

“…Your Highness.”

When Sharmia’s gaze slowly turned toward the dagger on the left side of the desk, Karos, who had been observing the situation from behind, hurriedly intervened.

“No matter how many times you try, it won’t change anything.”

“You’re right. If he’s still rejecting me after all this, then there’s nothing I can do. Hmph, he’s only hurting himself.”

The slightly dangerous atmosphere quickly disappeared, and Sharmia puffed out her cheeks and ripped the contract to pieces.

-Rip! Rip!

“He’s a fool. No matter how much he struggles, doesn’t he understand that just being with me elevates his standing? Why doesn’t he get it? Is it because he’s still too young, haah…”

“Perhaps it’s because he does understand.”

“What do you mean by that?”

Karos held her words back.

The meeting with the boy named Jern had been brief. But if there was one thing she had come to understand, it was that he and the Princess were fundamentally incompatible.

He trusts only the conclusions he arrives at through his own deliberation.

Even if a prophecy is true, if it contradicts his judgment, he will act in a different way.

“…That was a thoughtless remark. I apologize.”

There was no need to say it. As Karos lowered her head, Sharmia, still slumped over the desk, murmured softly.

“I should be looking for a Fallen as a card soon. But judging by someone like him… nothing I see will satisfy me.”

In truth, it seemed that Sharmia really, truly liked Jern.

Karos, who couldn’t understand that Sharmia at all, knew she shouldn’t, but still, she cautiously asked.

“Your Highness.”

“Hmm? What is it?”

“It’s such a foolish question that even I can’t believe I’m saying it, but… I truly don’t understand your decision. Were you really planning to employ someone like him?”

She couldn’t believe it, even though she had heard it with her own ears.

But Sharmia simply tilted her head in confusion and asked back.

“Why? Is there some kind of problem?”

“…Of course there is.”

This incident wasn’t a true disaster.

At the very most, it would end with the capital burning and a few nobles dying.

It’s a small matter. An insignificant matter.

Compared to the world.

“-Didn’t you say, when you first saw him, that he would become an executive of the Crimson Circle?”

“Yes, I did.”

An affirmation without the slightest hesitation.

Karos gripped the hilt of her sword.

“Then why don’t you kill him?”

“Hmm…”

After a moment of consideration, Sharmia shrugged her shoulders and answered.

“That’s exactly why it would be better to bring him to our side.”

“…”

Karos once again gave up trying to understand her.

It was the most correct judgment she had ever made.

At that moment.

In a certain mansion, the sound of a scribbling pen came to a halt.

Because the conclusion had been reached.

“…Hmm.”

And that conclusion was something truly unpleasant, something she didn’t want to admit.

Dersia let out a sigh.

A truly deep one.