WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Haruto
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Even in a Dark Fantasy, You Still Have to Eat ◈
Chapter 45: Romance Scam # 1
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Hermit grabbed my shoulders and shook me back and forth.
“Why are you only getting back now? I thought you’d voluntarily leave training early and come back! Why did you stay for the full two weeks?”
“Ugh.”
Hermit only calmed down after shaking me for about five minutes.
What the hell had happened?
“I heard the Thieves gave you a hard time while I was gone?”
“Don’t even get me started!”
Grit.
Hermit ground her teeth so hard I could hear it.
Then she began to complain.
“While I was bathing, she stole the wallet from my clothes! She stuffed all my cosmetics into her pockets too!”
Her face turned bright red.
Apparently, a female Thief had come while I was gone and made Hermit’s life miserable.
“She even tried to steal the Familiar Egg we barely managed to get!”
“Seriously?”
“I got stabbed in the back while trying to stop her.”
She dared to go after the Familiar Egg I had risked my life to get.
The thought that my dream of having a magnet pet almost got ruined made my blood boil.
“She’s a real bitch!”
“Exactly! She was only here as a substitute for two weeks anyway, so she acted however she wanted!”
Huff, huff.
Hermit was red like an overheated steam engine.
“She even stole my thesis! That fucking bitch! I’ll kill her!”
Flames flickered around her.
She looked seriously pissed off.
I should calm her down first.
“Hermit, I’ll help you catch her, so enhance this for me.”
Item enhancement.
I had experienced its efficiency firsthand, so I could barely contain my excitement.
“You got two Refining Stones?”
Hermit seemed to calm down a little after taking the stones.
She even glanced at me cautiously.
“...Ahem. I told you before, but these Refining Stones don’t always enhance equipment.”
“If it fails, the item could break, right?”
“Exactly!”
It was a huge risk.
But the payoff was just as huge, which was why people got addicted to it.
So what should I enhance?
Two Refining Stones.
I had my bracers, shuriken, and dagger.
It did not take long to decide.
“I should enhance the shuriken twice.”
My bracers were still useful enough that they did not need enhancement.
The Golden Pillar Dagger I had just obtained was the same.
‘But the shuriken is a ranged weapon.’
I could hit the enemy while the enemy could not hit me.
There was no need to explain the advantages of a ranged weapon.
Hoo. Hoooh.
Hermit kept taking deep breaths.
“Don’t be nervous. Hoo.”
Seeing her so tense made me nervous too.
Swish, swish, swish.
Hermit dipped the tip of her staff in strange paint and drew a magic circle.
“Empress of Blue Eyes and the Anvil. Your servant begs you to grant a miracle here.”
Boom!
Crackle!
“Empress of Blue Eyes and the Anvil. Your servant begs you to...”
Boom!
Crack!
After the hazy smoke cleared, a shuriken wrapped in a fierce aura gleamed atop the magic circle.
“Ooooh! The enhancement succeeded! My alchemy is a huge success again!”
Hermit was delighted.
I happily picked up the shuriken too.
“Aah! It really worked!”
「+3 Thunderbolt Shuriken」
「A steel shuriken tempered with lightning.」
「Skill: Keraunos +1」
「Imbues the weapon with the power of lightning for a set duration.」
“Ooh, what? It has a skill now?”
Hermit puffed out her chest while I was celebrating.
“Ahem. You should think of it as my alchemy drawing out the latent potential in your weapon!”
I had no idea item enhancement could do something like this.
If I kept enhancing my bracers or dagger, would they gain skills too?
“Then, Hermit, let’s head out!”
At this rate, I could probably one-shot the Stonefolk we encountered in the volcanic region.
That meant my Ether farming efficiency would rise dramatically.
I wanted to test out my enhanced weapon as soon as possible.
But Hermit shook her head.
“Our party is in conflict with the Thieves’ Guild, so we need to lie low for a while.”
“It’s that bad?”
“I don’t want to get stabbed in the back again!”
What? Did that mean we could not head out?
My excitement suddenly disappeared.
‘Should I go to the Thieves’ Guild and have a talk with them?’
I would have to wait until night to contact the guild.
It was still bright noon.
I decided to spend my time hitting training dummies in the Training Ground until evening.
# # #
“Let’s see how strong this +3 shuriken is.”
Whoosh! Crack!
The shuriken pierced through the training dummy with a sharp whistle.
I had finally managed to pierce one.
‘It’s definitely stronger! Then I’ll move to the next stage.’
Whoosh! Thunk!
This time, it was an armored dummy.
The shuriken buried itself deep inside, but did not pierce through.
They said this armored dummy had defense similar to that of a Level 10 explorer, right?
“《Keraunos》.”
I retrieved the shuriken and activated the skill.
Crackle.
Strange static electricity flowed over the shuriken.
If I threw it now...
Pshoo!
‘Fast!’
‘Even the sound it makes is different!’
The shuriken flew in a straight line.
Then it pierced through the dummy and buried itself in the wall behind it.
Crackle!
“Hehehe. At this rate, I won’t even need to use my dagger!”
While I was at it, I activated Shadow Companion too.
What if I used Shadow Companion while the shuriken was wrapped in lightning?
Pshoo, pshoo.
Crackle!
Crack!
Two holes appeared in the armored dummy.
My shoulders felt lighter at the incredible result, and I clenched my fists.
“Now I can earn loads of Ether!”
“Wow, that equipment is nice.”
I turned toward the voice behind me and saw Hammer standing there with their arms crossed.
It seemed Hammer had been watching my training.
“What good is nice equipment if I can’t head out?”
Hammer chuckled.
“Ishtar’s party still has a little of their quota left. Want to join them?”
“Really?”
Ishtar was a Priest from the neighboring unit.
It did not take long to find her.
“Ms. Ishtar, Yore from Hammer’s party came because he wants to earn Ether!”
“Hic. Whooo?”
A woman with long hair tied into two tails looked at me.
She held a bottle of alcohol in one hand.
“You’re the youngest member of Hammer’s party, aren’t you? Hic.”
“Yes! Would it be alright if I tagged along with your party today?”
“That’s what he says. What do you all think?”
Ishtar turned her head.
A blonde female warrior with long straight hair shrugged.
“Hah! Should I sit this one out? The place we’re going today is full of trash mobs, so I’m not interested.”
“No, I wanted to rest today because it’s that time of the month. This works out. I’ll take the day off.”
The female spearwoman put her hands behind her head and left.
Then a female mage swung her staff around and grinned wickedly.
“Party. Male. Thief. Joining. Been a while.”
Wait.
Was something strange here?
‘...Why is everyone in Ishtar’s party a woman?’
‘Something is wrong.’
“Never trust women.”
I remembered Jermain’s advice.
A sense of unease came over me.
“Um, I think I’ll just head back. Goodbye.”
“Then we’re heading to the volcanic region! Hic!”
Swoosh.
It felt as though we were pushing through fog.
When I came to my senses, we were standing partway up a volcano.
Whoosh. Sizzle!
The lava boiling beneath the broken earth was incredibly hot.
“Geez, it’s hot. This place is way too hot.”
Priest Ishtar fluttered the collar of her clothes.
“Fuck, it’s hot as hell. I can’t take it. I need to take off my outerwear too.”
The foul-mouthed female warrior took off her cloak and tied it around her waist.
Her scar-covered upper body was exposed, with only bandages wrapped around her chest.
It was extremely distracting.
“Ahem.”
I had no idea where to look.
As I stood there awkwardly, the older mage with shark-like teeth took off her hat and chuckled.
“You’re really flustered. Virgin?”
“Yes?”
“Virgin Thief. First time seeing one. Aren’t kids from the streets usually promiscuous?”
“...Well, I dream of having a happy family.”
“Happy. Family. Pfft.”
“Hehehe, you’re at that age, huh?”
“What’s there to laugh about? It’s nice!”
They burst into laughter.
My head spun.
‘I thought I had gotten a little more used to women these past few days!’
‘But I’m the only man here. What the hell is this?’
I could not help feeling tense.
The shark-toothed mage smiled at me.
“I’m Venus of Ice and Lightning. That alcohol-smelling woman over there is Priest Ishtar.”
“Kid, haven’t you heard of Freya of the Shield?”
The large-shield warrior threw an arm around my shoulders.
Her bandaged chest pressed against my face.
“Uuugh.”
“Hammer told us you’re incredibly skilled!”
Such casual contact.
It was my first time receiving this much kindness from a woman I had just met, and my mind went blank.
‘Instructor Roze and Jermain were nice to me for reasons.’
‘I saved their lives and brought them valuable things.’
‘But I only met these people today?’
Kindness without a reason.
What could it mean?
‘The answer!’
‘A scam!’
These women were scammers.
A romance scam!
‘Today, I absolutely cannot let my guard down.’
# # #
We hunted Magma Stonefolk around the lava.
The Magma Stonefolk were more terrifying than the Stonefolk I had encountered before. They were as large as gorillas, and their rock bodies were thick and threatening.
“Grrroooar!”
Boom!
Look at that fist coming down.
If I got hit even once, I would look like an egg dropped from the tenth floor.
Whoooosh.
But they were so slow that it would be harder to get hit on purpose.
I easily widened the distance, then activated all my skills.
“《Shadow Companion》.”
“《Keraunos》.”
Pshoo, pshoo.
Crunch, crunch!
The shuriken struck the enormous rock giant.
Crumble!
Both attacks pierced through it, and the Magma Stonefolk collapsed.
「+200 Ether」
「Magma Stonefolk Fragment: A heavy chunk of rock. It tastes salty.」
“Whoa!”
+200 Ether from one monster!
And a rock that tasted salty!
This place was a complete gold mine!
“Whoa, Ether really is pouring in, just like Hammer said.”
“We don’t even need to hunt those fucking Boss Monsters!”
Ishtar’s party members were delighted by all the Ether pouring in.
What surprised me most was that Priest Ishtar kicked the Magma Stonefolk apart.
“Chaa! Hyaat!”
Crunch!
Crumble!
“Ishtar. Before becoming a Priest. Was a martial artist.”
The shark-toothed mage smiled.
Her name was Venus, right?
Venus pointed at my sweat.
“Your blood. Is poison, right? Then what about sweat? Other bodily fluids?”
“Uh... I’m not sure about that.”
“Experiment. Want to try.”
Hehehe.
Her wicked smile was deeply unsettling.
“Huh, what’s this? A hot spring? Fuck, it’s lukewarm!”
After slaughtering Magma Stonefolk for a while as we climbed the mountain, the women discovered a hot spring.
Venus chuckled.
“Volcanic hot spring. Restores health. Mana too. Very effective. We’re lucky.”
Apparently, hot springs could occasionally be found in this volcanic region.
“I’ve been sweating like crazy and feeling like shit, so this is perfect. Let’s wash up.”
“Hehehe, I agree. I should get another bottle of alcohol too...”
Rustle, rustle.
The women started taking off their shoes.
Was this for real?
“You’re going to wash in the Land of Night, where anything could show up at any time?”
“Virgin. Want to come in too?”
“Kid, scrub your big sister’s back for me.”
“You crazy bitches.”
They burst into laughter.
They were obviously making fun of me.
‘This feels like some kind of trap!’
If I stayed here, I felt like they would keep playing with me like a toy.
“Um, then I’ll go kill some more Magma Stonefolk down there.”
I hurried away from the hot spring.
Only after getting about fifty meters away did I finally feel relieved.
‘My heart has been jumping out of my chest all day.’
Still, I had earned plenty of Ether.
If I hunted for another four hours, I could earn even more, right?
A group of men appeared before me as I grinned.
“The women went this way earlier, right?”
“Hehehe. They’re probably washing in the hot spring.”
“Let’s steal the clothes they took off and make some good money!”
“Who are you people?”
I asked the group of men.
They frowned and shouted back at me.
“We’re the Night Thieves Guild.”
“Quit blocking our way and get lost.”
Author’s Note
September 11...!!!
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