WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Mordor
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Surviving the Frozen Dark Fantasy as a Genius Mage ◈
Chapter 56: I Took the Treasure, But You Can't Easily Take It
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A gloomy underwater cave littered with fishfolk corpses.
A man vomited blood before a grotesque altar made by creatures of the abyss.
“You fucking dark elf bastards... Cough!”
The man gripped the blade lodged in his stomach with trembling hands. His fallen companions lay all around him.
And the owner of that blade.
A dark elf with pale skin, long ears, and a decadent appearance moved his hand without expression.
“Cough!”
The man collapsed, spilling his entrails.
“Ugh, what a pain. I can't believe I have to do this because of that bitch Darnen.”
The dark elf man grumbled as he put on a mask.
This mission had originally been assigned to Darnen, not him.
But Darnen had refused, leaving him no choice but to step in.
“Lady Darnen is too weak. It can't be helped.”
Another dark elf said as they gathered the entrails of a fallen man nearby.
“That bitch is weak?”
“I meant her personality. Unlike the rest of our kind, she's far too softhearted.”
“That much is true. Maybe she's just half-baked?”
In less than a year, Darnen had achieved incredible mastery of dark magic and reached the fourth floor.
Their clan had taken notice of her abnormal growth and accomplishments.
Everyone expected her to become the next clan chief.
Though she didn't seem to realize what an incredible blessing that was.
“Arrogant bitch. She's spoiled by good fortune.”
“Well, the Elder gave the order. We have to follow it.”
The male and female dark elves cut open the stomachs of the fallen Expedition Party members, removed their organs, and offered them to the unholy altar made by the fishfolk.
Whoooooo.
“If those elf bastards hadn't caused such a fuss, we wouldn't have needed to go this far.”
“Exactly. Idiots. Why make such a big deal over one stolen seed?”
The dark elves, who had shown at least some sense of kinship while insulting Darnen, now wore expressions gleaming with cruelty and excitement.
“This should be enough.”
The dark elves tapped the altar a few times, then vanished in a blur.
Whoooooo.
Soon, altars scattered throughout the Salt Cave began to glow and cast an ominous light.
* * *
The mood that had begun to ease froze over again.
Only Elena asked calmly, “Why? What's the problem? We can just both choose cooperation.”
“I'm saying that because I don't think both sides will choose cooperation.”
“Why? We already agreed to split it evenly before opening the chest.”
“Fuck, I wish my brain were as innocent as yours!”
“Why are you picking a fight with me, you dwarf bastard?!”
Elena grabbed Gimlius by the throat.
The dwarf flailed his short legs and shouted, “Like you said, it'd be simple if both sides chose cooperation! But we were about to start cutting each other down until just a little while ago! Do you think it'll be that easy? If we choose cooperation and they betray us, we're finished! They could even take all the treasure! Weren't you the one sending the strongest killing intent at them?!”
...
“Hmm... So it's a matter of faith.”
Elena let go of Gimlius as though she were dropping a piece of luggage.
“Fuck! God is testing my faith!”
Gimlius glared through the fog toward the elf party.
“That halfling bastard. Figures he's a thief. I didn't like the look in his eyes from the start. And that elf bitch too! Unlike Elena, who looks dim-witted, she looked all gloomy, like she was ready to stab us in the back!”
That was a racist remark.
“You dwarf bastard, you did it again!”
“I need, I need alcohol...”
Overwhelmed by stress, Gimlius began to panic again.
“Ah! Why did I come empty-handed because I thought I'd listen to those praying bastards?! Aaargh!”
Before Gimlius could have another fit, I tossed him the half-empty liquor bottle the skeleton captain had thrown away after drinking from it.
Gulp. Gulp.
“Keuh.”
The moment alcohol entered his body, Gimlius came to his senses.
“Right, every dwarf dies someday. I'll just think mine came a little early! Hahahaha! I didn't break my vow of abstinence with my own hands, so it's not my fault!”
“You crazy dwarf bastard.”
“Stop joking around, Gimlius.”
“I wasn't joking...”
Hans spoke with a serious expression.
“Cooperation or betrayal. We must think carefully. We only have one life.”
Alejandro narrowed his eyes.
“The problem is that there is no correct answer. We don't have mind-reading magic, so how could we know what they intend?”
“What about judging them by who they are? Are any of them famous Expedition Party members?”
“If they were, they wouldn't be playing around on the second floor.”
“Any familiar faces? Have you entered the Labyrinth with them before, or heard rumors about them?”
“No.”
“None.”
...
“At this point, maybe we should just break the rules outright and fight those ghost bastards.”
Elena suggested breaking the rules outright.
Saaaah.
Even as they spoke, the Hourglass continued to run.
Less than twenty minutes remained.
“Ian, don't you have any good ideas?”
“That's right! If anyone can find a way, it's a super-genius mage like you!”
My companions' faint hope turned toward me.
They must have thought that since I'd shown miracles several times, I would have some answer.
“You're all being selfish.”
Alejandro frowned as he watched.
He probably thought they were placing too much pressure on me as the party leader.
“...”
After remaining silent, I sighed.
No matter how gifted I was, how could I solve this without mind-reading magic?
They weren't even famous NPCs whose personalities I could identify.
But...
‘There is a way.’
One idea came to mind.
Something other than the final option of using every trick I had to fight the Treasure Guardians.
‘I have the coin.’
A special ability that only I possessed in this world.
I never knew when it would appear, and it was fickle as hell, but it always appeared whenever a major crisis hit or fate was about to change.
And I didn't necessarily have to choose either heads or tails.
Could I use it in this situation too?
‘Nobody else seems to have a solution.’
‘No matter how I think about it, this is the only way.’
“Can you all leave it to me?”
“Do you have a way?”
How was I supposed to explain that I could see something no one else could?
I shrugged.
“I'll have to trust a genius's instincts.”
It was an incredibly irresponsible thing to say in a situation like this, but Elena calmly nodded.
“Sure.”
“I'm counting on you.”
“I'm sorry to put such a heavy burden on you.”
Even Gimlius and Hans nodded.
Bang!
“Have you all gone mad?”
Alejandro couldn't understand.
“Our lives are at stake. You're making this decision without even hearing what his plan is?”
“Heh, it's my first time seeing you this worked up, Mr. Bones.”
Elena looked at the agitated Alejandro as though he were amusing, then said, “I'm an idiot anyway, so it's better to let the smart one handle it.”
“If I fail, the guilt I'll feel before I die will be even more fucking awful. Hahaha!”
Gimlius forced out a laugh with a resigned expression.
“I made this choice because I half agree with Elena and half agree with Gimlius,” Hans said as solemnly as ever.
“Ian showed us a miracle during the last expedition too. Luck is also a major factor in the Labyrinth.”
Alejandro repeatedly stamped his prosthetic leg against the floor and shook his head.
“I can't accept that kind of reasoning. Convince me.”
“Convince you...”
There was no way to logically explain the coin.
With my arms folded, I studied Alejandro and smiled.
“Then would you like to make the choice, Alejandro?”
“...”
His prosthetic leg trembled.
Even a rational, logical mage couldn't bear the weight of five lives, including his own.
Alejandro fell silent.
Phew.
I stood before the ghost captain.
Just then, the sand in the Hourglass ran out.
[Time is up. Now choose. Cooperation? Or betrayal?]
“Wait.”
First, I pictured betrayal in my mind.
The coin spun.
‘Good.’
It spun when I pictured cooperation too.
[Heads/Tails]
‘What the fuck?’
But the coin that appeared when I imagined betrayal stayed in the air for a long time, while the coin that appeared when I chose cooperation vanished quickly.
Then...
‘I thought they'd betray us, but they wouldn't?’
I looked toward the elf party beyond the fog and clenched my fist.
I couldn't be certain.
A bead of sweat rolled down my face.
‘Some of my companions might die.’
I had even made a plan to unleash every spell I had and fight if necessary.
Phew.
After a short, deep breath, I made my decision.
“Cooperation.”
[Oh?]
The ghost captain's face twisted grotesquely.
Creeeak!
The atmosphere turned frightening, as if I'd given the wrong answer.
But then...
[Keuheuheu, kuhahahahahaha! How interesting!!! Such a sight is rare in this filthy pit! Hahahahahaha!!!]
Loud laughter burst out.
[Correct. Expedition Party members overflowing with Faith, I will give you the treasure as promised.]
The ghosts disappeared in a cloud of smoke, and the treasure chest slowly opened again.
* * *
The fog separating the two parties vanished, leaving only a chilling cold.
This mess had happened because of the coin, but ironically, the coin had also solved it.
Whew, we really made it.
I thought we were dead.
‘This shitty coin. Would it kill you to only give me good things?’
As I grumbled to myself...
“You got it right, Ian!”
“Phew... Cough!”
Elena pounced on me and hugged me, rubbing my head with her chin. Gimlius and Hans collapsed to the floor with sighs of relief.
“I trusted you, damn it!”
“To be honest, I had my doubts... but this is a relief.”
...
“Elias! You did it!”
The four party members who had competed with us stood across from where the fog had been.
The Elven Archer, who had been celebrating with her companions, looked at me and said, “Fortunately, you chose cooperation.”
“You did too.”
I trusted the coin, but what had they trusted?
I asked the elf leader, “May I ask why you were able to choose cooperation?”
The sensible-looking Elven Archer pointed at Elena and said something unexpected.
“I believed in the goodness of elves.”
Hmm, I see... Some kind of folk belief from pointy-ear racists that had no logic whatsoever.
“If we chose betrayal, but your side also chose betrayal, both parties would be finished.”
Or not?
This problem ultimately required one team to show faith.
Of course, if one side chose betrayal, they could claim all the remaining treasure...
‘They used their sense of kinship as elves as a basis for reasoning.’
‘But since they still couldn't be certain about the other side, they chose faith instead.’
Her name was Elias, right?
Still, it was fortunate that there was a rational person... no, elf, on their team.
...
“Huh?”
It was probably best not to tell them that Elena, a pure-blooded pointy-ear herself, had been planning to chop all of them into pieces.
“What about your side?”
“Me too. You seemed to be the leader, so I believed in the goodness of elves.”
Maybe because we'd solved that shitty problem together, the tense atmosphere from before, like we were about to start slashing at each other, was gone.
“Hehe. Anyway, I'm glad it worked out well.”
But that was that, and this was this.
“Now then...”
Our sharpened gazes turned toward the treasure chest left behind after the Treasure Guardians disappeared.
Mana flowed out from within.
“A magical item!”
“As expected! This is a huge haul! Hwahahaha!”
There were two pieces of magical equipment inside.
One was a sharply honed cutlass, and the other was...
“Dice?”
Two worn-out dice.
‘That...!’
My eyes widened when I saw them.
‘This is here?’
It was a special item I hadn't expected to find here.
As a veteran, I recalled the effect of the dice-shaped magical item.
‘Oldimara’s Dice.’
It had three uses and could grant limited wishes.
It couldn't grant wishes that overturned common sense, like ruling the world or becoming the richest person alive, but it could cause minor distortions in reality.
‘Depending on the situation, that can create an incredible butterfly effect.’
Anyone could use it, and it was especially compatible with mages.
‘I have to get that!’
As I steeled myself, the Elven Archer spoke.
“As promised, let's divide the treasure. Which would you like?”
“You're giving us the choice?”
“No, let's choose first.”
As expected, they weren't going to give in that easily.
I spoke with my companions first.
“The sword is a magic sword with a dark spell on it. I don't know about the dice.”
“But it can't be an ordinary item. We obtained it after passing the Treasure Guardians’ trial.”
“Quite a few items turn out to be disappointing despite raising expectations like that, though.”
“That happens often. The Labyrinth is fickle.”
“Sword! Sword! Let's choose the sword! Swooord!”
Amid the divided opinions, I took control.
“I think we should take the dice. What do you think?”
“...”
“Ah! Nooo! Let's take the sword!”
“I agree.”
“If it's Ian's judgment.”
“...You got the answer right. I'll follow your opinion.”
What I'd done so far was enough to take the lead in the party.
Everyone except Elena agreed, so we made our choice.
“What will you choose?”
“The dice.”
“That's good. Our side was leaning toward the sword.”
It seemed their party chose reliability over a gamble.
Good.
‘That's clearly the Deep-Sea Cutlass.’
It probably had a Sharp Eye spell that inflicted a curse on the target based on chance.
It was a good item too, but compared to Oldimara’s Dice...
‘If it's a sword, I can't use it anyway!’
‘I can't keep letting Elena get all the good stuff!’
That wasn't the only reason, of course.
Hehe, now how was I supposed to get this transferred from my party members?
As I held the dice and laughed to myself...
“I wanted the sword... Hmph.”
Elena smacked her lips in disappointment.
I glared at her.
“You already have the bracelet and a grace stone, and you still want more? How are you planning to repay your debt?”
“By refinancing it...”
“You crazy elf.”
Just as we were about to finish a pleasant round of looting...
Boom!
Creeeak!
The wrecked ship we were riding suddenly shook.
“W-what was that?”
“Was it those ghost bastards?! Did they break their promise?!”
No.
Now that I looked, cracks were spreading throughout the entire lake area.
‘Fuck?’
Of course, as a veteran, I knew exactly what this strange omen meant.
‘The Deep-Sea Altar mechanic has activated!’
‘What kind of dark-elf-like bastards touched it?!’
Kwooooom!
Black shadows began to surge up from the bottom of the formerly still lake.
Footnotes:
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