Water Magician

Editor: Tseirp

After the summit meeting in the eastern part of the Kingdom and the western part of the Union.

Duke’s Mansion Annex in Wingston, the largest city in the eastern part of the Kingdom. Office of the new lord.

There, although the ducal authority remained under the guardianship of the royal family, the head of the Shrewsbury Duchy, Erwin Ortiz, had begun to learn governance as a lord.

He appeared to be about thirteen years old…

Although he appeared to be Erwin Ortiz…

In this world, appearances and reality do not always align…

“Why! It’s been six days already, why hasn’t the war started yet!”

The person who appeared to be Erwin shouted.

“Garwin-sama. Even though you’ve been resurrected, perhaps it was a bit too soon? Shouldn’t we wait a little longer… until your power is fully restored…?”

“Be quiet, Oranj! My power has already returned to about eighty percent! But the remaining twenty percent… for this, the blood of many humans must flow in the east!”

“As expected, dealing with King Richard’s yoke is troublesome.”

“Silence, Oranj! Don’t speak of him!”

The boy named Garwin, who appeared to be Erwin, yelled back.

The man called Oranj, who was yelled at… was a huge figure with a rough and rugged appearance, as if he embodied boldness and roughness.

His long, dark orange hair and eyes of the same color stood out even more than his massive frame.

“Isolda, don’t you have any plans?”

Garwin shouted, looking at one side of the room.

Seated on the sofa where he shouted was a woman with long black hair, leisurely sipping tea.

After taking a sip, she spoke slowly.

“As I mentioned before. A plan like that won’t start a war. And it turned out as I predicted.”

“Ugh…”

With a composed expression, the woman named Isolda asserted.

And Garwin was at a loss for words in response.

After a while of silence, Garwin frowned and spoke.

“…I admit it. I was wrong. I should have listened to your advice.”

Garwin admitted his mistake sincerely.

Garwin may not have had an exceptional intellect, but because of his awareness, he didn’t have much resistance to admitting his own mistakes.

In response, Isolda nodded and continued.

“First, filling the last twenty percent of Garwin-sama’s ‘power’ as a Djinn is extremely difficult. Gathering magic power with your servants Jaya, which the humans call ‘djinn bug’ is ineffective for this purpose. Realistically, the only options would be the usurpation of magic power from a very special species or the mass collection of ‘Fragments of God’ through human deaths.”

Isolda paused here to take a sip of tea without saying a word.

Garwin waited silently for her to continue.

“Most likely, Finn-sama, who was sealed to the south, completely broke his seal before Garwin-sama using the former. However, this likely involved a considerable element of chance. So, if we were to plan it strategically, it would be the latter. And the most effective way to do that is through war…”

“Yeah, that’s right.”

Garwin chimed in on Isolda’s words.

“However, wars between nations don’t happen so easily. Therefore, it seems best for us to take the initiative.”

“Take the initiative?”

“That’s right. Instead of engaging in wars between nations, we can simply slaughter the humans on our own.”

“That makes sense.”

Garwin nodded emphatically in agreement with Isolde’s suggestion.

“But there is one thing I must warn you about.”

“Hm?”

“That is the fact that Garwin-sama’s ‘body’ is located in the basement of this mansion.”

“That’s… true, but… even if they find it, ultimately, the humans won’t be able to do anything, right? I’m immortal…”

Garwin frowned at Isolde’s point and questioned.

“Of course, no one can kill Garwin-sama… but if it were to be destroyed in its current, soulless state, it would take quite a long time for you to revive.”

“How long exactly?”

“Probably around five hundred years.”

“…That’s a long time.”

Garwin remained lost in thought with a frown on his face.

After about thirty seconds of contemplation, he spoke up.

“In that case, what would happen if I were to discard this Duke of Shrewsbury’s body and return my soul to my original body?”

“You would likely remain trapped by King Richard’s seal until your power fully recovers…”

“For how long?”

“It could take a hundred to two hundred years.”

“…That’s still quite a long time.”

“The best course of action is for many humans to die in the eastern part of this Kingdom and the western part of the Union without anyone knowing about the ‘body’ or Garwin-sama. To that end, it would be best for Oranj and Vim Lowe to move around conspicuously, killing humans.”

“Me?”

When Isolde said this, the giant Oranj pointed to his face, asking for confirmation.

The other man, Vim Lowe, stood silently against the wall in the corner of the room, nodding in agreement.

“Both of you should move prominently within the Union’s territory so as not to attract attention to Wingston. Initially, you should focus less on the eastern part of the Kingdom. Not to say not to engage at all, just you know… And this time, instead of the ‘phantom troops’, Garwin-sama will provide you with ‘physical troops’ to lead.”

“Physical troops…”

Garwin responded with a more troubled expression than before to Isolde’s words.

However, he didn’t argue.

He understood that physical troops were necessary in this situation rather than phantom troops.

“Unlike last time, Oranj and Vim Lowe will be acting away from Garwin-sama for an extended period, so ‘physical troops’ are necessary. Of course, they won’t be like the ‘phantom troops’, so make sure not to mismanage them.”

Both Oranj and Vim Lowe nodded at Isolde’s words.

“And be careful not to weaken the power of the Kingdom’s eastern region too much, lest the Union intervenes, leading to incidents like the fall of Wingston.”

“Ah… like in the previous war with the Empire.”

Isolde added, her tone tinged with bitterness, and Oranj replied with a wry smile.

“The Empire didn’t cause any trouble because they weren’t interested in controlling the eastern region of the Kingdom, but with the Union, you never know what might happen. Of course, in the end, this eastern region will also be offered as a sacrifice for Garwin-sama’s resurrection…”

Isolde said as she chuckled ominously.

Oranj glanced at her, shrugging his shoulders.

Vim Lowe nodded quietly in the corner of the room.

And Garwin nodded firmly and confidently.

They were Garwin, the ‘Djinn sealed to the East’, and his four generals.

The King’s office in the royal castle.

“Indeed, as Count Frank de Verde mentioned, it aligns with the description of the ‘Djinn’s phantom troops’ found in the legends.”

The person who answered was Viscount Rashata Debue.

Incidentally, Frank de Verde was a count when he was in the Kingdom….

He has no family, including successors.

Therefore, the title of Count Verde is vacant after it was confirmed that Frank had left for the Union.

The territory is managed by the royal family.

“Phantom troops…”

The one who muttered that was Captain Dontan of the Royal Knights.

There was another Knight Captain present.

“I apologize for my ignorance, but what exactly are ‘Phantom troops’?”

The one who asked was Knight Captain Imogen of the Valkyrie Knights.

But it’s not that she’s ignorant.

Abel and Dontan didn’t know either.

And so they both said:

“I’m curious too.”

“So am I.”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t explain well enough.”

Rashata apologized instead.

And then, he began his explanation.

“Considering that the information comes from documents over nine hundred years old, please listen with a pinch of salt… There is a description that says, ‘The Djinn commanded phantom troops’. After examining several documents, it seems that these are like ethereal bodies created by the Djinn.”

“Ethereal bodies?”

Abel asked, though the other two knight captains also looked puzzled.

“You can think of it as the Djinn’s mysterious power allows them to create soldiers. And soldiers that the Djinn imagines.”

“What the…”

Abel was at a loss for words at Rashata’s explanation.

“However, some documents mention a time limit of one day, it seems. There is certainly a time limit, but the duration varies, ranging from a maximum of five days to a minimum of twelve hours… I’m not really sure about the specifics.”

“I see…”

Rashata explained, and Imogen nodded and murmured.

“If there’s a time limit, it would be difficult to assign these ‘phantom troops’ to tasks like guarding the castle.”

Dontan remarked.

Perhaps they were already envisioning battles against the Djinn in their minds.

“That’s right. However, it is also said that the Djinn also commanded ‘physical troops’.”

“Now it’s physical troops… Ancient folks sure liked using complicated words…”

Abel grumbled.

“These are flesh-and-blood humans. However, they were said to be manipulated at the will of the Djinn and its generals, without their own will.”

“Ah, now that you mention it, the Djinns have officers or generals, don’t they?”

Dontan nodded several times as he confirmed.

“According to the documents, the Djinn sealed in the east had four generals. However, the details remain unclear.”

Rashata said, shaking his head slightly.

If even he doesn’t know, no one in the Central Countries would.

“Wouldn’t the physical soldiers, being human, require water and provisions? Isn’t it less practical compared to the phantom soldiers that can be summoned in and out?”

Abel asked what he genuinely felt.

As a king, one mustn’t let either the people or the soldiers go hungry.

“It is as Your Majesty says. However, while the phantom soldiers have a time limit, the physical soldiers do not. Furthermore, although they are flesh and blood, they are said to be much stronger than ordinary soldiers. Apart from not being able to use magic, they are considered the strongest soldiers.”

“Not being able to use magic is a relief, but being called the strongest soldiers…”

“That’s unsettling…”

“Yeah…”

Abel, Dontan, and Imogen sighed again at Rashata’s explanation.

“What do we know? Do we know if the Djinn has revived?”

In response to Abel’s question, Dontan and Imogen both nodded vigorously.

What the three of them wanted to know was exactly that.

However…

“I don’t know.”

Rashata’s answer was ruthless.

“The appearance of the ‘Phantom Troops’ indicates that the Djinn is quite awake. But if it were fully awakened… to be frank, it wouldn’t end with just that.”

Upon hearing Rashata’s words, the other three swallowed hard.

“First of all, like the Southern Djinn, we don’t know exactly where the body of the Eastern Djinn is sealed. At the time, those who sealed them had various intentions. There were even signs that they deliberately prevented the exact location from being known. We don’t know what kind of seal it is, and we don’t even know the location…”

Rashata himself shook his head slightly.

“Rashata, does it have… any weakness?”

Abel’s question was to be expected.

But Rashata’s answer was also to be expected.

“I’m sorry, Your Majesty. There doesn’t seem to be anything in the legends that could serve as an answer…”

“…I see.”

Abel sighed softly and murmured.

“Confrontation with the Djinn… that’s heavy…”

TLN: Please read my translations at tseirptranslations.com, I did not give permission to any site to host my translations. 

If you like my translations, please support me on Patreon and unlock early chapter releases! 7 day free trial is available for Bronze tier now!