WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Mordor
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Surviving the Frozen Dark Fantasy as a Genius Mage ◈
Chapter 60: No One in This World Is Without a Story (Paid Episodes Begin)
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The advance payment alone was sixty gold coins.
Another sixty upon completing the request.
Was it because it was a request sent to the Magic Tower? It was an enormous sum.
‘If I finish this, I'll be free from debt in no time.’
My eyes lit up as I headed to the Astrafe School's district.
I went to a senior mage who also served as an assistant instructor at the Magic Tower and applied for field training.
For requests like this, they sometimes checked whether you were suitable for the job...
“Hmm, Ian, you can't do this one.”
That was the answer I got right away.
“What? Why not?”
Why couldn't a super genius mage like me do it?
“It's a job that takes you outside the city. Usually, fire mages or Alchemists handle those. And since it's an investigation mission, experience matters too.”
Fuck. Those fire mage cartel bastards had stolen my livelihood.
What could I do?
The pay was lower, but I should look for something else...
Just as I was feeling disappointed...
“Let him do it.”
“Ah, Master Castlelight.”
Castlelight suddenly appeared and said that.
“The other schools will complain about this... Haah. All right.”
The senior mage let out the weary sigh of a middle manager, then explained how the field training worked and gave me the schedule.
“You'll go with another mage. You may also bring a porter or personal guard.”
The Magic Tower really was organized.
Compared to the Expedition Party Guild, which only thought about grinding people down and finding new ways to scam them, the Magic Tower valued its members far more.
“Yes.”
Once my application was complete, Master Castlelight called me aside.
“You seem to spend more time wandering outside than researching magic.”
“Not at all.”
It was a misunderstanding.
I needed money to learn new spells.
To make money, I had to go into the Labyrinth.
I was only maintaining the cycle.
“With your abilities, you could secure as much research funding as you wanted without going to the Labyrinth.”
The old mage's insight was impressive.
“...”
He was right.
I could learn plenty of new spells through safer methods.
But...
Those bastards were operating inside the Magic Tower.
Besides, I had to conquer the Labyrinth to achieve my goal eventually.
Spells were also a means for me to return home.
“Do you wish to see the end of the Labyrinth?”
“Yes.”
“Hehe. Good. That is youth. I was the same once. All right, be careful and come back safely.”
Castlelight, who had once explored the Deep Zone himself, understood me.
Then he dismissed me.
Mages might be individualists, but after giving me that lightning staff before, I had expected him to give me something this time too. I was a little disappointed that he gave me nothing.
‘No, he already helped me get into the field training.’
Let's think positively.
Getting upset over this would be pathetic.
The Magic Tower's request was in three days.
I decided to spend the time preparing.
Wouldn't the snowfields be even harsher for me than the Labyrinth?
‘A place where every affinity except Arcane puts me at a disadvantage.’
‘I’ll hire Elena as a porter and Daisy as a guard.’
I had no money for magic experiments, so I looked through the available materials and books before leaving the Magic Tower.
That was when I spotted someone familiar.
It was Alejandro, the golem mage who had gone on the expedition with us last time.
“Alejandro?”
“Ah, Ian.”
He seemed to be planning some research and was buying various catalysts at the Magic Tower's entrance.
As an official mage, I showed some generosity to my fellow mage.
“You should've told me. I could've bought them for you at a discount.”
“Thank you for the thought, but it's fine. I have connections at the Magic Tower too.”
Was that so?
His skill had been too impressive for an ordinary wandering mage.
‘Not as impressive as this genius mage, of course.’
We were headed in the same direction, so we walked together. Then Alejandro suddenly spoke to me.
“I owe you an apology.”
“Out of nowhere?”
“I joined your party because I intended to test you. I thought it was ridiculous that such a young man could handle three types of spells.”
Hmm, so that was it.
Gimlius's guess had been right.
Alejandro's stern face changed quickly, even as he carried bags full of catalysts.
“But I soon realized how arrogant I had been. You were truly remarkable. Your insight into the Guardians' intentions, your courage, and those powerful, versatile spells. The title of genius wasn't wasted on you at all.”
This old man spoke only when necessary, even more so than Hans. If he was praising me this much, it was genuine high praise.
Being acknowledged by another combat mage made my shoulders rise.
Puhuh. Right.
Honestly, I had been fucking amazing on that last expedition.
“There is something I would like to discuss with you. Would you be willing to come to my home?”
Alejandro's eyes gleamed strangely.
“Sure!”
Without a shred of suspicion, I followed Alejandro.
* * *
It was a small house on the eastern outskirts.
Though old, it was well maintained. Rare magical materials and experimental tools filled the interior.
It felt exactly like a mage's laboratory.
The most eye-catching things were the various magic formulae and clay dolls molded into all kinds of forms.
“Are these all golems?”
“They are models. I am researching which forms conduct mana best, and how to control them as smoothly as human muscles.”
Oh-ho.
After asking permission, I touched the golem figures.
A mage's secrets were as precious as life itself, yet Alejandro even showed me the blueprints for several golems.
I see. So this was how they moved.
Even a quick look told me how intricate his designs were.
Then Alejandro carefully pointed to the iron door of an inner room.
“There is something I want to show you.”
Alejandro led me to a tightly sealed room.
An oddly dense concentration of mana leaked through the gaps in the iron door.
‘What is this?’
As I narrowed my eyes at the strange sight, Alejandro opened the door.
Clank.
Though no sunlight entered the room, a soft glow spilled from within.
The walls were lined with meticulously crafted ball-jointed limbs, organs, and bones.
Fuck, what was this?
It looked like the horrible laboratory of an evil dark elf necromancer or Witch. I was about to raise my guard when I froze.
“Oh, they're models.”
On closer inspection, everything had been molded from clay and Mana Stones.
Step. Step.
Alejandro walked toward the center of the mana, a bed that gave off a soft glow.
A beautiful clay doll shaped like a young girl lay on top of it, made to imitate a human with uncanny precision.
Alejandro gently stroked the doll as if singing a lullaby, then spoke.
“My daughter.”
“What?”
“My daughter, Iberis. Say hello.”
“...?”
It was a shocking statement.
Was this old man a doll-fucker?
* * *
“She was a child with a beautiful smile. She said she would become an Expedition Party member when she grew up. She wanted to bring light back to this world. As she got older, her talent truly began to bloom.”
Alejandro spoke bitterly from across the old table.
“Of course, I opposed it. But how could I hold back the fire of youth? Iberis eventually entered the Labyrinth without my knowledge and met a miserable end, like any other Expedition Party member.”
“...”
“The temple handed me nothing but charred skin, crushed remains, and my daughter's head.”
A parent who lost a child.
A child who lost a parent.
In this brutal world, it was common.
“Hehe, hahahahaha!”
Alejandro, whose expression had never changed before, laughed grotesquely.
“I should have let her go. But I couldn't. If I lost my daughter after losing my wife, I would have no reason left to live in this world.”
Alejandro's eyes shone with the gloomy desire unique to spellcasters.
“I began researching how to bring my daughter back. In my own way. The way of a golem mage.”
He wanted to revive his dead daughter as a golem...
It was madness. Or perhaps it was exactly what one would expect of a mage.
The reason he kept entering the Labyrinth despite losing a leg was to correct the mistakes of the past.
The desperate story of a father who had lost his child.
I could roughly guess what he would say next.
I tapped the table and spoke carefully, afraid of hurting him.
“Has your research hit a wall?”
“That is correct. With my meager talent, I cannot progress any further. I broke a taboo and was even expelled from the Magic Tower, yet this is all I have achieved.”
‘It looks like he even tried summoning his daughter's soul.’
No wonder he was so skilled. He had originally belonged to the Magic Tower.
Alejandro lowered his head as if ashamed of himself, then looked at me with reddened eyes.
“That set of dice you have. I want to use Oldimara’s Dice just once. Would that be possible?”
So that was the point.
“...”
After remaining silent, I let out a sigh.
“Phew.”
I understood his desperate wish to revive his daughter.
I had lost someone in my old world too.
But he needed to understand this.
“Alejandro, you're a mage too. You should know this. That set of dice isn't some magical item that truly grants wishes.”
Even if its power brought her back, she would only be an empty doll.
Or perhaps it would come true in some bizarre, terrible way, like a monkey's paw.
If that happened, it would not only ruin the results of his research. It would also be an insult to his daughter, Iberis.
“...You're right.”
Had he tried every possible method over the years while going in and out of the Labyrinth?
Or had he only needed someone at his side to stop him?
He accepted it strangely quickly.
“I'm sorry for making such an unreasonable request.”
Alejandro bowed his head.
His shoulders had shrunk, and his prosthetic leg trembled.
He looked too pitiful to be the mage who had fought beside me in the Labyrinth, so I clicked my tongue.
Tsk.
After asking for Iberis's blueprints, I examined them.
I still lacked experience with golem crafting and alchemy in the real world.
But this body belonged to a genius mage.
Besides, this veteran had knowledge of something similar.
‘An Automaton, a Mutant golem.’
“What if you change section three and section four hundred fifty-seven here?”
“Hmm?”
“And try using this material for the core.”
“...!”
Alejandro's face filled with shock.
With just a few words from me, the fog clouding his mind seemed to clear.
“Ah! I see! Yes! If I do it that way...!”
Joy spread across his gaunt face.
Forgetting I was even there, Alejandro began wildly revising the blueprints with a quill.
I quietly left the house and closed the door behind me.
Tsk.
“I only came because I wanted to learn about golems.”
I had learned the bitter depths of a friend I had thought was simply living happily.
It didn't feel good.
* * *
After returning to the inn, I told Elena and Daisy about the Magic Tower's request.
“You want to go to the snowfields? That freezing place?!”
“Can't we? It pays a lot.”
“No! It's too cold! My ears will fall off!”
Perhaps her experience in the snowfields had been terrible. Elena covered her long ears and shook her head hard.
But our angel, Daisy, nodded.
“If I can help, I'll go with you, Ian.”
Ah, an angel. An angel had descended.
Saving Daisy that day had really been the right choice.
“Daisy...”
She had a much better personality than that messed-up elf, who complained even when a childhood friend asked her for a favor.
As I looked at Daisy with emotion, Elena glanced at her and suddenly said she would go too.
“Hmph. Fine, I'll go.”
What was this idiot doing, changing her mind every second?
“What!? I'm trying to help, so what's with that look!?”
“No, you said you'd be paid anyway, so it's not free...”
I muttered timidly, since I was the one who needed the help. Then the commotion made me turn my head.
“You filthy beggars! Get lost already! How many times do I have to tell you I have nothing for you bastards!?”
The innkeeper was hurling every curse imaginable at the beggars who had come asking for alms.
Normally, I would have thought it was an ordinary day in the Labyrinth, but my eyes widened.
“Please... Just one piece of bread. I'm starving to death, sob!”
“Even food scraps are fine! Please!”
One of the begging faces looked strangely familiar.
He had once been plump, but now he was skin and bones.
Even so, I could still recognize those features.
“Huh?”
That guy was...
“Mauk?”
The village chief's son, one of the eleven people who had left the village for Labyrinth City with Elena and me.
The guy who used to look down on Elena and me because we were orphans was here.
‘Didn't he die to Draugrs in the snowfields?’
Footnotes:
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