Surviving in a Frozen Dark Fantasy as a Genius Mage - Chapter 48

WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Mordor

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ Surviving the Frozen Dark Fantasy as a Genius Mage ◈

Chapter 48: The Second Research

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“You're really going to eat it?”

Inside the quiet inn room, Elena knelt before me and gulped.

“Haah...”

Her ears twitched, and a strangely suggestive breath escaped the nervous elf's lips.

“You're really going to suck on it...?”

...

“Ah! This is so damn frustrating! Just eat the damn thing!”

Frowning, I grabbed Elena's face and shook it.

“Mmh.”

Smack.

“It's my first time eating a gem!”

Elena pulled away from the object and shouted, still holding the Grace Stone in one hand.

Fuck, someone might get the wrong idea if they heard this!

I was currently researching Grace Stones. In the game, you could absorb one with a simple click, but I wanted to know how they worked in reality.

I'm curious. So curious!

A mage's thirst for knowledge is burning!

“So hurry up and eat it, you indebted elf.”

Why was she hesitating when I was giving her something this good?

She usually ate anything.

“I'll start a revolution... Just you wait. A revolution... Take this!”

Crunch!

Elena squeezed her eyes shut and bit into the Grace Stone. Her mouth moved adorably as she chewed, and a faint light bloomed from her body.

“Elena?”

After absorbing the Grace Stone, Elena's green eyes went blank.

Hee...

“Elena!”

When I shook her shoulders, Elena, who had briefly gone vacant, came to her senses.

“Hup!”

“What happened?”

“I... saw something.”

Still looking dazed, Elena told me what she had experienced.

The world before her had suddenly gone dark, and then a battlefield appeared. A massive warrior had been tearing through it. When he let out a roar, the greatsword in his hand glowed, and he swept the soldiers away with it.

“Hmm...”

Was that how it worked?

From the sound of it, it was like inheriting a memory...

Then Elena drew the sword she had left beside the table. She closed her eyes and focused.

“Hup!”

A pure white light bloomed along the blade.

It was Smite, one of the warrior's skills.

“Ooh.”

Seeing it in person was pretty fascinating.

It looked like an aura blade.

I touched the shimmering white blade.

A sharp tingling pain shot through me. Blood spurted from my finger.

“Kieeeek!”

“Hey! You idiot! Be careful!”

I sucked on my finger and whined.

“It hurts like hell!”

“You're always stupid in the weirdest places.”

Elena flicked her sword, extinguishing the light, then looked at me like I was pathetic.

Damn it.

How dare this stupid elf look at a genius mage like that?

After that, I started feeling Elena all over. I was going to test her flexibility and strength to see whether the Grace Stone had only given her one skill or awakened some other hidden ability.

“Nothing changed besides that power? Isn't there anything else that can grow?”

“Ah! I said there isn't! Aren't you being a little too much?”

Rub, rub.

“Mmh.”

I was enthusiastically continuing my experiments when...

Knock, knock.

Someone knocked.

“Ian, are you in there? I came to repay at least a little of what I owe for the magical equipment.”

It was Hans.

“Ah, Hans.”

“I'll come in.”

No, wait...

The door opened.

Hans saw Elena and me rolling around on the bed, then cleared his throat.

“Ahem, it seems I have poor timing. My apologies. I'll leave the money here.”

Hans set a pouch of money on the table and awkwardly left.

It seemed like he'd gotten the wrong idea.

I jumped up from the bed and ran an annoyed hand through my hair.

“This is annoying.”

“Who are you to talk?”

...

Thud!

Elena and I glared at each other, then started throwing punches at the same time.

“Urk.”

Spells couldn't be used inside the inn, so I barely lost again.

“Hmph, a weak little punk like you shouldn't get cocky.”

For some reason, Elena's ears were bright red as she shook out her hands.

* * *

Since we'd pushed ourselves so hard, our party decided to stay in the city for a while and recover.

Elena went to practice swordsmanship, and Daisy went to the temple.

I didn't know what Gimlius was doing, while Hans entered the Labyrinth again with other Expedition Party members to make up for the magical equipment he had bought.

‘He's such a hard-working old man.’

Since we weren't a fixed party, we might continue exploring as we were, or the members might change.

Though if we were going to continue, Gimlius needed to fix that drunkard habit of his.

Boom! Boom!

Flames raised by Fire Mages burned like signal fires throughout the city. Falling snow melted and scattered as warm steam, while damp, musty air rose from the wet streets.

Splash.

Expedition Party members in cloaks and boots thickly coated with oil walked through the muddy streets. Women carried baskets as they bought groceries. By the wells, laborers wailed as they scrubbed blood-soaked cloaks and armor left by Expedition Party members with harsh detergent until the stench was gone.

Labyrinth was peaceful and damp as always.

“Hmm, it feels a little like nineteenth-century London.”

I'd never been there, but wasn't Britain probably like this?

If you added steampunk to it, the atmosphere would be insanely romantic.

“Hehe.”

Had I gotten used to life in the Labyrinth and the city?

I could no longer remember how cold the snowfields had been.

Still, could they have been worse than a Drake's breath?

On my way to the library, I stopped by a nearby shop and bought lunch.

I was rich now, so instead of my usual hard black bread, I bought a soft wheat-bread sandwich stuffed with bacon, vegetables, and cheese!

It cost three copper coins.

Food was expensive in a world where everything had frozen over.

Lodging and equipment were fairly cheap, though.

Munch, munch.

The bacon's richness, the freshness of the vegetables, and the salty, savory cheese made it worth the money.

“Sir. Please, just one coin...”

“Get lost! You damn beggar!”

It felt even more worthwhile when I saw beggars getting beaten in the streets because they couldn't afford a single loaf of bread.

“Hmm.”

‘If I hadn't had talent, if I'd hesitated to enter the Labyrinth, that would've been my future.’

People live to eat.

They live to have fun.

That's why they have no choice but to earn money.

That was my philosophy.

The reason I struggled to learn new spells and knowledge, and descended into the Labyrinth, was all for the sake of a happy life.

To return to my home, the twenty-first century, and reclaim a cozy, convenient life.

‘I want to eat seafood fried rice while watching YouTube. I'm craving sweet and sour pork so badly. And fried chicken... Could I figure out how to make that too?’

By the time I finished thinking about nonsense, I had reached the library.

“You've returned after a long time.”

Renia, the library's reclusive librarian, looked up from her book. She was an intelligent-looking black-haired woman with a monocle.

“Yes. This expedition took quite a while.”

As I was about to head in to find books, Renia stopped me.

“Wait.”

Ah, had she noticed?

That my level had risen again.

With a smirk, I held out my hand so she could clearly see the Spellcaster’s Ring I wore.

“Heh. As expected, a genius mage recognizes another genius...”

“Eating is prohibited inside the library.”

“...”

I slowly lowered my hand and held up the remaining wrapped sandwich.

“I was saving it for lunch... I was going to eat it outside. Really.”

“Bringing food inside is prohibited as well.”

How strict.

If I got full, I'd have a blood sugar spike and wouldn't be able to focus.

“Urgh.”

In the end, I finished the sandwich outside. When I returned, rubbing my bloated stomach, Renia spoke.

“Are you looking for books related to magic again?”

“Yes. I also want to learn about Grace Stones.”

Flash!

“You'll be able to find them now.”

After receiving the indexing spell, I selected several books from the shelves.

First was a book related to the Grace Stone Elena had eaten.

The title was as straightforward as it could be: The Relationship Between the Labyrinth and Grace Stones.

[Among those who study the mysteries of the Labyrinth, the origin of Grace Stones remains one of the greatest enigmas.]

[The Luminous School claims that Grace Stones are crystallized essences formed when the souls of Expedition Party members who died in the Labyrinth, along with the causal talents they honed throughout their lives, react with the Labyrinth's mana. Their logic is that the souls and experiences contained within them are transformed into physical gemstones through the Labyrinth's mysteries.]

[On the other hand, the secret records of the Heresy Inquisition, a radical faction within the Church, contain an entirely different and sinister hypothesis.]

[They claim Grace Stones are artificial fragments of power, created after a gloomy and evil ancient mage dwelling in the Deep Zone of the Labyrinth cut out the skulls of living Expedition Party members and carried out forbidden magical experiments.]

You might think those crazy religious fanatics were unfairly slandering good mages, but that hypothesis was entirely possible too.

The Witch of the Great Forest, secret societies, and dragon worshippers had all established themselves within the Labyrinth.

Hmm, Elena had definitely said she'd glimpsed someone's memories inside the Grace Stone.

Then at least part of it seemed like a reasonable theory...

There was no way to know the truth.

“So that's roughly how it works.”

After looking into Grace Stones, I examined books related to magic.

Contrary to my expectations, though, there was no further progress in magic. The magic books no longer reacted to general-knowledge books, perhaps because my level had risen.

‘I need more specialized, advanced knowledge.’

‘Those picky Grimoires, seriously.’

Of course, since I was a genius mage, I might gain a new spell if I sat here for months and did nothing but read books...

‘But that would waste too much time!’

I closed the book and stood up. I thought it would be better to use the money and materials I had gained this time for experiments.

“You're leaving early this time.”

As I returned the books, Renia asked me.

Smiling, I spoke as though it were a shame.

“There aren't any books suited to my level. At least not when it comes to magic. Hehe.”

“...”

“Well then.”

As I was about to leave the library, Renia called out to me.

“Next time.”

“Yes?”

“Next time, I'll make sure to bring in books that might interest you.”

For some reason, she looked angry.

What was that about?

Had I done something wrong?

‘I'm a kind-hearted genius mage, so why!?’

Was she still upset that I'd tried to bring in a sandwich?

‘She's narrower-minded than I thought.’

“Well, I'll look forward to it.”

After leaving the library, I headed for the Magic Tower.

My rattling backpack was filled with Drake bone powder, its heart and blood, and all kinds of magical materials I had bought with the money earned during this expedition.

When I reached the Magic Tower, I was about to line up to rent a laboratory when...

“Huff, huff! I found you!”

Someone suddenly ran over and cut in front of me.

What was this? Was he cutting in line?

Should I let him have a taste of Ice Spear?

As I thought that, the man caught his breath and pushed back his robe.

“Ian... No, Mr. Ian. You're Ian, right? The one who used Laboratory Twelve recently!”

Behind his glasses was a vacant-looking face that seemed like it would be frustrating to deal with if he joined the army as a junior.

“Who are you?”

“I'm Widen, a mage of the Luminous School affiliated with the Magic Tower.”

Ah, I remembered him.

He was the mage who had helped guide me at the entrance when I was researching magic before.

He'd looked down on me for being a wandering mage.

“So?”

Naturally, no kind words came out of my mouth.

Yet Widen wasn't looking down on me like before. He looked visibly anxious and treated me with caution.

“Um, Master Castlelight, one of the masters of the Magic Tower, said he very much wishes to meet you, Ian. If it wouldn't be too much trouble, would you come with me to meet him?”

Please come. You have to come. Otherwise, I'm dead. Please.

His face looked exhausted and desperate.

“He looks like a wandering mage... Why is a regular mage acting so nervous in front of him?”

“Master Castlelight? Isn't he the master of the Astrafe School!?”

“Kieeeek! Is this a recruitment event?! L-look at me too! I have talent too!”

They had sharp ears.

The wandering mages nearby must have heard the conversation, because they murmured as they watched Widen and me.

I realized why Widen was acting this way.

Ah, the traces of my experimental research that I'd left scattered last time.

The Magic Tower had finally taken the bait I threw at them?

Their reaction was slow.

Still, if this went well...