Surviving in a Frozen Dark Fantasy as a Genius Mage - Chapter 22

WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Mordor

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ Surviving the Frozen Dark Fantasy as a Genius Mage ◈

Chapter 22: Plaza of Blessings and Encounters

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Yeah, there you are, you vicious bastard of a coin.

You really screwed me over with the ghosts, didn't you? The odds are fifty-fifty, so it's about time I succeeded.

Like a gambler confident in his next bet, I tossed the die.

‘Heads.’

[Tails]

‘What?’

The bastard coin betrayed even my last shred of hope.

Then this will probably...

[The Goddess of Fate intervenes.]

[The Goddess of Abundance's grace fades.]

“Ghk!”

“What? Ian, what's wrong!?”

“Did a monster show up!?”

“N-no, it's nothing...”

“Doesn't the light from that statue seem weaker somehow?”

“Maybe there's a time limit.”

I could never tell them this happened because I'd failed a coin toss.

‘The odds got even lower!’

I should've just left it alone.

Putting my regret aside, I spoke to my companions.

“One at a time, dunk your faces in the fountain.”

If they were lucky, they could receive a revelation from the gods, awaken Divine Power, and overcome this crisis.

“Fine, I'll go firs...”

Elena stepped forward eagerly, ignoring the pain from her wound.

Thud!

“Ah!”

Narita shoved Elena aside and plunged her face into the fountain.

“You rude bitch... Ahk.”

“Calm down. When you get worked up, your blood flows faster, and your wound gets worse.”

“Wh-what?”

As Elena tilted her head, Narita pulled her face from the fountain with a gasp.

Contrary to our hopes, her wet face was completely blank.

“I don't feel anything.”

She seemed to have wished for her friends to come back to life, or for Bapeyo to be found. She probably wanted to grasp at any straw she could.

‘Tch.’

I understood, but wishes like that were impossible.

Maybe in the Deep Floors, but not here.

“I'm next!”

Elena dunked her face into the fountain.

No, she slammed it in.

Gurgle!

Thirty seconds.

One minute.

Two minutes...

What?

Why wasn't she coming out?

“E-Elena!?”

Did it actually work?

Half hopeful and half afraid, I grabbed Elena by the shoulders.

Gasp!

The moment she pulled her head out, I rammed my nose into the back of it.

“Khk!”

“What? Why are you doing that?”

This insane idiot elf.

As I wiped away the blood running from my nose, Daisy asked urgently.

“Did it work, Elena?”

“My stomach.”

“What's wrong with your stomach?”

Was it because she was an elf?

Elena, drenched in holy water, did look strangely mystical.

Ignoring everyone's expectations, Elena tilted her head, wiped her wet face, and said,

“I'm full. I think I drank too much water.”

Burp.

“Pfft!”

“Khk, damn it! Don't make me laugh in a situation like this!”

Everyone was exhausted. Dize had lost a finger, Elena had a hole in her stomach, and yet laughter burst out.

“Fuck... Ahh.”

Unable to become an extraordinarily beautiful elf Paladin, Elena tried to get angry but clutched her wound and groaned instead.

“Why? Why didn't I get anything? Whyyyy... Urk!”

I want Divine Power tooooo!

Sigh. You crazy bitch.

You're standing at the crossroads of life and death. At this rate, your injuries will get worse and you'll die. Can you be serious for once?

As the only one keeping it together like a proper leader, I spoke.

“Dize, you're next.”

“O-okay!”

Dize, who had been snickering, dunked his face into the fountain with a tense expression.

Gurgle!

Gasp!

“Huh?”

“Did you receive a blessing?”

“N-no... But...”

Dize looked bewildered.

It wasn't what we'd expected, but he'd gained something unexpected.

“A-a map!”

“A map?”

“A map suddenly appeared! In my head!”

This was...

‘A random blessing!’

If awakening Divine Power was a jackpot, this was a decent reward that would help with exploring the Labyrinth. Part of the reason I'd sought out the Shrine was to gain effects like this.

It was a single-use blessing that applied only to this map.

‘If I'd succeeded on the coin toss, wouldn't I have gotten something better?’

No.

No, probably not.

“Good, Dize. Draw it here.”

“Leave it to me!”

Dize, missing his index finger, began drawing the map on parchment with his clumsy hand.

Then it was Daisy's turn.

“Daisy.”

“...Okay.”

Daisy approached the fountain with a solemn expression.

Gulp.

Rather than wanting to awaken and improve her own situation, she seemed to want to heal Elena and Dize. It was admirable, but I didn't expect much.

‘We need to find another route quickly...’

The coin toss had failed, weakening the blessing.

Still, I was stunned the moment Daisy dunked her face into the fountain.

Fwoosh!

The statue shone brightly.

“Gurgle?!”

“Huh!?”

Daisy, the textile worker's third child and Village Girl No. 1, had awakened.

* * *

“It feels mysterious. Like... I can't put it into words.”

She said it felt as though someone was watching over her, and that she could feel warmth.

That was Daisy's impression after awakening as a Priest.

‘Jackpot!’

I clenched my fist.

She hadn't received a revelation directly from a god. Instead, she had awakened through the statue.

It had been a gamble, but it actually paid off.

“Daisy! Can you use Heal!?”

“Yeah, I think I can!”

With her eyes closed, Daisy placed a hand over Elena's wound.

A moment later, healing Divine Authority, just like Lami's, flowed from her hand.

[Heal]

Elena's pained expression relaxed considerably.

“Haa, haa.”

“Elena, how is it?”

“I'm okay. It hurts less. Yeah.”

‘The inflammation is gone, and new flesh has grown back.’

‘Priests really are as overpowered as mages!’

As I marveled at Daisy's divine blessing, Daisy looked uneasily at Dize.

“What about Dize’s finger...?”

Having only just awakened, Daisy had enough Divine Authority for one use of Heal, and that was all.

“I-I'm fine. Hehe, we need to save people first.”

If we took that sacrifice for granted, the party's bond would fall apart.

I spoke to Dize.

“Thank you for giving it up, Dize.”

“N-no! Elena's more important than someone useless like me, so of course!”

“No. Your sacrifice means something. Thank you, truly.”

“...Ian. Sniff.”

Not very manly, Dize sniffled.

“Thank you, Daisy. And I'm fucking jealous.”

Elena grumbled, grateful to Daisy but apparently jealous too.

What a petty knife-ear.

“It's nothing! I'm just glad I could help!”

Daisy seemed happier about saving her friend than awakening with Divine Power.

It was only one Heal per day, but Elena survived.

Thanks to having a healer, our gloomy mood brightened in an instant.

“...”

Except for Narita.

Perhaps because she was thinking of the dead Lami, she looked even more depressed.

‘Maybe it'll give me something too?’

Just in case, I dunked my face into the fountain.

Gurgle.

But like Elena, I only ended up drinking water.

‘Tch. I guess not.’

After giving up, we made a brief stop to reorganize.

I examined the map Dize had drawn on the parchment.

“I see. So this is where we are. Good, let's move.”

We began moving again in search of the Escape Portal.

‘We're almost there!’

“There are only a few rooms ahead. Ten more minutes, and we'll reach the Escape Portal.”

Elena had recovered, so we could continue exploring. Maybe we could even aim for a Treasure Room.

But...

‘We're carrying too much.’

The loot from the Human Breeding Tree, as well as the Mana Stones we'd gotten from the monster spiders and skeletons, had already filled our bags. We couldn't carry any more.

More importantly...

‘We're out of torches!’

Fwoosh!

The one I held now was our last.

I still had one use of my Light spell left, but it didn't last very long.

We needed to get out before the darkness and madness of the Ruined Prison swallowed us.

“Who knew having too much money could be a problem?”

“It'd be better if we had an Expansion Bag or a Spatial Pouch, but let's not get greedy.”

I tried to calm them down.

“We've already done enough and made more than enough profit.”

Excessive greed leads to ruin.

It was a rule Expedition Party members exploring the Labyrinth had to follow.

‘Once we pass this room, the room with the portal is close.’

There were no monsters nearby, either.

Thanks to the map in Dize's head, we'd found the best route.

Under the gods' protection, luck was on our side.

With Elena in the lead, we threw open the door.

“...”

Unlike before, we stopped dead at the horrible sight inside.

“Ghk...”

A group of Expedition Party members were inside, where torchlight and pure white light flickered.

Some were sprawled on the floor, while others remained standing. One person reached out with a trembling arm, then collapsed with their eyes wide open.

The one who had stabbed the man was a man with a filthy beard spilling out beneath his helmet, making him look like a bandit.

Blood dripped from the man's sword.

“Hm?”

A treasure chest gleamed among the corpses and the living.

“...”

Beep beep.

My brain went into overdrive.

Let's analyze this situation.

Treasure Rooms rarely appeared in the Ruined Prison.

The people lying on the ground must have found it, and the people standing must have found it too. They both claimed ownership, then fought over it out of greed.

And now we'd stumbled onto the aftermath.

That seemed to be the situation.

‘Looks like we're caught in a shitty situation.’

“They saw what we did.”

“Yeah, they saw us.”

The creepy part was that the people standing there weren't surprised we'd witnessed what they did. By my calculations, they were Marauders. Their equipment was good too: iron or leather armor, metal shields, and crossbows. They were second-floor Expedition Party members.

“Everyone, be careful...”

“Wait.”

Trusting Elena as she readied herself to fight, I stepped forward. ‘A battle with second-floor Expedition Party members is the worst possible outcome for us. Let’s try negotiating.’

“I don’t know what grudge you had against each other, but I have no intention of reporting you.”

Killing a fellow Expedition Party member was a serious crime. They would be punished if they returned to the city.

But did people really have to live so rigidly? I proposed that we keep what had happened here to ourselves and go our separate ways.

The Marauders, who had seemed ready to rush us, tilted their heads at my words and began discussing it.

“What should we do?”

“They're still a risk. Better to reduce it.”

“True. That's the rule.”

“I was hoping to sate my urges anyway.”

What rational bastards.

‘They think we're easy prey, so they're planning to kill us without any trouble!’

They also intended to exploit Elena and Daisy.

“U-uh...”