WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Mordor
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Surviving the Frozen Dark Fantasy as a Genius Mage ◈
Chapter 17: Guide of the Labyrinth
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Why had the coin started spinning?
Had the archer drawn the monsters here?
No, that wasn't it. This was probably...
[Help Narita.]
[Do Not Help Narita.]
It was forcing one of those two choices on me.
[Heads/Tails]
But I chose neither side of the coin.
The coin vanished into thin air, and a third option appeared.
[Assess the situation.]
“Ugh...”
Narita collapsed.
“H-Hey!”
Dize and Daisy rushed over to help her.
‘She doesn't seem to be parasitized by a Corpse Spider.’
Her body was covered in stab wounds, and she was burning with fever, but she was still alive.
It was a shame to use them, but after we treated her with our emergency supplies, she regained consciousness before long.
“Help... Help me...”
Her first words were a plea for rescue.
“My companions... The monsters... We all got separated... They must still be alive...”
“Did the monster spiders get you?”
“We were fighting them when... Hngh, catlike things in strange masks attacked us too...”
‘Karakans.’
I understood the situation.
Karakans were among the monsters that inhabited the first-floor Warm Forest alongside giant spiders.
They were intelligent enough to use tools, lived in packs, and defended their territory.
With luck, you could pass through the forest without encountering them. But if you did run into them, they were more troublesome than the giant spiders.
‘They must've been confident if they boldly suggested a drive hunt.’
‘They drew too much attention from the monsters, and everything went wrong in an instant.’
I took Mauk's Hourglass back from Elena.
“It turned six and a half times.”
We had gone to sleep at eight in the evening, so...
“It’s two thirty in the morning.”
I looked around.
The forest that had been so bright was now nothing but darkness.
The danger had increased severalfold.
‘Should we help them or not?’
I considered it, but Narita seemed to read my hesitation.
“We treated you. We even used a healing spell.”
“You did it for payment.”
“It was practically free! If we hadn't wasted a single spell on you... Cough, cough. We could've saved Arthur, Rami, or Babeyo!”
Why the fuck was she yelling?
She was going to draw every monster here!
“Hey! Shut up!”
Elena warned her.
It was irrational behavior typical of a rookie, but I could understand Narita's outburst.
Her friends, who had grown up with her, were in danger. It was only natural that she was upset.
“If we're keeping score, we treated you too. We used bandages, medicinal herbs, and even a basic antidote.”
Narita ground her teeth at my thoroughly logical reply and glared at us.
“...”
Her eyes were full of betrayal, and her fingers twitched around her bow.
She looked ready to put an arrow through us at the slightest provocation.
“Look at her glaring at the people who saved her life. Should I pluck those eyes right out?”
Elena noticed and raised her sword.
Perhaps because of the experience she had gained fighting monsters in the Labyrinth, she gave off far more killing intent now.
‘Killing her wouldn't be a problem.’
Unless you caused a huge scene or there were witnesses, minor incidents between Expedition Party members in the Labyrinth went unspoken.
Besides, how could some lower-floor Expedition Party member avoid magic?
Still, I was an enlightened twenty-first-century man who loved freedom, democracy, and peace.
‘Arthur's group had shown us kindness. That much was true.’
“Wait a moment. I'll talk it over with the others.”
I decided to discuss the situation with my companions.
“What do you all want to do?”
“Um...”
“Don't look to me. Tell me what you think.”
Thanks to what I'd done so far, they would follow me even if I made the decision alone.
But as we continued entering the Labyrinth, situations that forced choices like this would happen all the time.
It could happen when we were separated from one another, too.
Being too passive was a problem in the Labyrinth.
You got dragged along by events, wondering what was happening, then died in an instant.
To deal with abnormal environments and extreme situations, they needed to remain rational at all times, think actively, and keep an open mind.
“I... I want to help... They weren't bad people...”
Kind-hearted Daisy was the first to share her opinion.
“I'm against it. Maybe if it were daytime, but it's too dangerous now.”
Elena made the rational choice.
“I-I...”
Dize, who had always been passive since the snowfield, couldn't make a choice this time either.
“I-Ian. I'll follow your decision.”
Phew.
An overwhelming monster.
A malicious trap or raiders.
Or a test of conscience.
Below rock bottom, the Labyrinth always presented choices to the Expedition Party members venturing into its depths.
What was right, and what was wrong?
That depended on experience, or sometimes just luck.
You could act, certain it was the best choice, only to realize later that there had been a better option and regret it. That happened all the time.
As I considered it, Elena's ears perked up, and a rancid smell reached my nose. I let out a sigh.
‘We had to break out anyway.’
I gripped my staff tightly and stared at the orange shadows cast by the torches we had planted around us.
Rustle, rustle!
Something was hiding where the light met the darkness.
* * *
“Ian, this...”
“Shh. Everyone, grab your things.”
As I carefully slung my pack over my shoulder, I spoke to Arthur's archer.
“You said your name was Narita, right?”
“Yeah.”
“From now on, we'll move while looking for an Escape Portal.”
“What...!”
“Hear me out. If we find any trace of your companions along the way, we'll do our best to rescue them. How does that sound?”
She had no choice but to accept.
What could she do if we said we wouldn't help at all?
“...You'd better keep that promise.”
She had quite the attitude.
When I nodded, Narita nocked an arrow and drew the bowstring.
The drawn arrow flew into the darkness, followed by a brief, animal-like groan.
Screech!
That chilling scream marked the beginning. Accompanied by the rustling of brush, they appeared around the clearing where we had planted the torches.
Their filthy, overgrown manes resembled human hair.
Their bodies were gaunt with starvation, with scraps of cloth covering their genitals.
Some wore ornaments made from human bones, suggesting that even they had some form of civilization.
They all wore smiling masks carved from wood or clay.
The masks were crude beyond belief, but unlike their clumsy expressions, the yellow eyes behind the eyeholes gleamed with a beast's murderous intent.
It felt like facing cannibalistic natives crawling on all fours with sharp claws.
Those traces of crude civilization were unsettling in a way the monster spiders weren't.
“Monsters!”
“They're Karakans.”
Now that I looked at them, there were far too many.
‘Dozens, at a rough estimate.’
I didn't know whether Arthur's group had angered them by entering their territory, or whether we had set up camp on the border of their territory from the beginning, but we were completely surrounded.
‘My remaining offensive spells are just one Frost Burst and one Magic Missile.’
This wasn't good.
“Everyone, grab a torch!”
At my words, Elena slung her shield across her back, then she, Dize, and Daisy, aside from Narita, lifted the torches from the ground.
“There are... too many...”
“Ugh...”
The others except Elena seemed intimidated by their numbers.
...
Like beasts herding prey into a corner, the Karakans hanging from trees like monkeys or moving through the brush on all fours looked at one another and tilted their heads.
Tsk!
At the same time, a larger one wearing more elaborate ornaments made that sound.
That was the signal.
Kyaaaaaaak!
“They're coming!”
The creatures twisted their heads grotesquely and charged at us all at once like starving beasts.
“Argh!”
At that critical moment, I burned the parchment within me and unleashed the spell.
[Faint Light]
The light spell.
“Everyone, close your eyes!”
“What!?”
Flash!
Screeeeech!
A powerful magical light, unlike the gentle glow of the torches, drove back the darkness.
The Karakans covered their masked faces as they staggered back beneath that brilliant radiance.
They knew how to handle fire, so torchlight didn't affect them, but magical light was different.
‘Thanks to training, Faint Light has become much stronger!’
‘Even if it isn't an offensive spell, there are plenty of uses for it depending on the situation.’
“Let's go!”
I had already checked the path before going to sleep.
If a guide served as the party's eyes, then a mage handled the variables the Labyrinth created.
They protected and led the party through all kinds of malice and mystery.
“Follow Ian! Hurry!”
Leaving the blinded pack of cannibalistic beasts behind, I held out my brightly shining staff and led the group forward.
Footnotes:
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