WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Mordor
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Surviving the Frozen Dark Fantasy as a Genius Mage ◈
Chapter 67: The Wronged Genius Mage and a Proposal
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[Heads/Tails]
A coin that divined someone’s fate spun, then vanished.
Crackle!
Lightning shot from my hand, piercing through the laboratory furnishings and the Draugr. It zigzagged across the room before instantly charring the evil robed spellcaster.
Kehehehe. This was it. This was the feeling.
Ever since coming out to the snowfields, I’d done nothing but support work. My hands had been itching.
As I smiled and shook the lingering electricity from my hand...
Clap, clap, clap!
“As expected of the Astrafe School. Its power and speed are exceptional.”
Kulkin applauded in admiration.
His two guards, who had been dealing with the monsters, stared at me with their eyes wide open.
“...!”
Hey, watch the front. The front.
They hadn’t said anything, but they must have looked down on me for not doing much until now.
“You’ve reached an even higher level in the meantime, Mage Ian.”
Even Darnen, a powerful dark mage, looked at me with interest.
I met her violet gaze, then shook my head.
“No, I’m not Mage Ian.”
“Then?”
“I’m Super Genius Mage Ian.”
“...”
Her violet eyes widened, then slowly settled.
“I see.”
As Darnen nodded, Daisy pulled out her mace.
“That was Meia’s divine punishment itself! As expected of Ian!”
Even kind-hearted Daisy must have been angered by such a heinous dark mage.
We finished off the monsters freed from the Witch’s control.
“Hey, was it okay to kill that thing? Shouldn’t we have kept it alive if we wanted to find out who was behind this or get a confession?”
Elena pointed at the fallen dark mage.
“Huh?”
Come to think of it, she was right.
No, she had to still be alive.
I hurriedly examined the dark mage.
Wait, I’d thought it was a man, but it was an old woman?
And...
“She’s dead?”
The toad-faced old woman had long since become a thoroughly roasted corpse.
“Idiot. You should’ve held back a little.”
Elena had been impressed just moments ago, but now she looked at me as if I were pathetic.
This elf...
“No, she died from one hit? She was that weak?”
It was her fault for being so weak!!!
“Ian... I think you’re being a little shameless...”
I tried to defend myself.
No, wait! There was a way!
I called Darnen.
“Darnen!”
“What is it, Super Genius Mage Ian?”
“You’re a Necromancer, dark mage, and Witch. Can’t you hold onto someone’s soul and find out who was behind this?”
Huh? I mean, someone as versatile as you.
I asked hopefully.
“...Hmm.”
Darnen examined the Witch’s corpse, then shook her head.
“It’s impossible.”
“Why?”
“Her soul is gone.”
It disappeared this quickly?
Wait... then?
I looked at Darnen, having an idea, and she explained.
“She likely made a contract with some evil being, offering her soul as payment. When she died, the contract sent her soul to that being.”
Fuck.
As I stood there disappointed, Kulkin patted my shoulder.
“It couldn’t be helped. We might have lost her otherwise. We’ll have to investigate her head and belongings.”
He really was a good senior.
I decided to let go of my disappointment.
“Let’s get out of here quickly. This place could collapse at any time.”
We gathered the Witch’s belongings and left the mine.
‘Oh? These really are a mage’s possessions.’
Every item looked unusual.
My eyes gleamed as I looked over the Witch’s spoils.
* * *
“So that fucking bitch Isanna was the culprit?”
After returning to the territory, we reported the incident to the lord.
The lord looked at the old woman’s head wrapped in cloth with disgust and revealed the circumstances.
“She was a wandering Shaman who visited the territory some time ago. She stayed in the city for a while and gave advice about the pond. But she stabbed me in the back like this? This is why spellcaster bastards are all so sinister and fickle...”
The lord insulted the dead Witch, then noticed us watching and cleared his throat.
Ahem.
“I wasn’t referring to you. There’s a difference as vast as the sky between wandering mages and mages of the Magic Tower.”
“We understand.”
“But is this all she had?”
The only evidence we submitted was the Witch’s head and a few blasphemous catalysts.
We had set aside anything valuable or carrying magical energy.
The lord’s eyes gleamed as if he suspected we had skimmed something off the top.
Kulkin, though, smoothly talked his way out of the suspicion.
“There were a few small coins, but nothing else. The battle was so fierce that everything burned.”
The lord looked at the soldier assigned to watch us.
The soldier, who had lost his father in the ruined mine and witnessed the monstrosities and evil spirits firsthand, was half out of his mind and couldn’t answer.
‘Even if the lord questions him privately later to get the truth...’
So what?
The victor had the right to the spoils.
The lord only needed to be relieved that the problem was gone.
Ah, after paying us, of course.
“Hmm, I see.”
The curse that had made the water rot and killed the fish had disappeared.
The lord didn’t look entirely satisfied, but eventually accepted it and had a servant give us two money pouches.
“Either way, thank you. As expected of the Magic Tower’s mages, your skill is unquestionable. Here is the reward I promised.”
Gold glimmered through the slightly open pouches.
‘Ohhh!’
One for Kulkin and me.
One for Darnen, who had taken a separate request.
The pouch we received was thicker than Darnen’s.
Ours was an official commission placed with the Magic Tower, while Darnen must have used a secret route.
‘Nobles really are rich!’
“It’s correct.”
Darnen immediately opened her pouch and counted the gold coins.
Kulkin seemed to think that lacked dignity, so he handed his pouch to one of his porters.
The lord smiled in satisfaction.
“I intend to hold a banquet to celebrate the return of the Sacred Lake. I would be honored if you heroes who saved the territory attended as well.”
A banquet was held.
Delicious food and alcohol covered the tables in the vast hall.
Hahahahaha!
The lord and his spouse, the major retainers, the captain of the guard, strategists, heralds, and wandering mages belonging to the territory all laughed and enjoyed the feast.
“Thank you, esteemed mages.”
Even the maids and servants carrying food and alcohol thanked us happily.
“This is so good~”
Since she wouldn’t be able to afford it once we returned to the Labyrinth, Elena stuffed herself with Shirinwind Territory’s fish dishes.
“Elena...”
Daisy felt uneasy and tried to stop her, but Elena didn’t care.
“We already ate Elizabeth, so what’s the problem?”
“That is true.”
My gaze then turned elsewhere.
‘What’s wrong with her?’
Everyone was happy, yet one maid alone looked pale.
She wasn’t as beautiful as Elena or Darnen, but she was still quite pretty.
As I tilted my head, Daisy whispered to me.
“Ian.”
“Hm?”
“Everything’s all right now, right?”
Daisy looked uncertain.
Why had the mine’s Witch, who had been hired by the lord, targeted the lord’s lake?
Was the lord truly more corrupt than he appeared in public, just as the Witch had claimed?
Nothing had been clearly resolved.
“How would we know? The idiot here turned that Witch into a roast without asking a single question~”
Elena sneered.
Damn it.
This elf bitch...
“What? What is it? Did I say anything wrong?”
Just as I started bickering with Elena...
“It ended in an unpleasant way, didn’t it?”
Kulkin, who had been sipping from his wineglass, joined in.
What? Were you going to blame me too?
“Hehe, that’s not what I mean, so don’t look so scary, junior. I’m talking about something broader.”
“Yes.”
“When you go on field training, you’ll run into situations like this often. Most people in power are dirty, and they have complicated pasts.”
Kulkin offered advice as my senior.
“It’s important to know what to ignore. If you worry over every little thing without knowing what’s true and what’s false, you’ll get tangled up too deeply. At that point, even the Magic Tower’s name won’t save you.”
It was advice from a mage who had gone on countless field training assignments and met many nobles and powerful people.
“If you want to aim higher not only as a mage, but as a person, those connections are valuable too.”
“I’ll keep it in mind.”
“Good. You’re smart, so you’ll do well.”
Kulkin smiled with his usual arrogance, though it was strangely likable now, and patted my shoulder.
I turned toward the commotion.
“Ohhh!”
“And then? What happened next?”
“So then, bam! I cut that bastard’s head right off!”
Elena was already drunk and boasting about her heroic deeds before the retainers.
“Incredible! Elf swordswoman!”
“You defeated that evil Witch and thousands of monsters like that!”
“Kekekekekek!”
“...”
Darnen only ate enough to fill her stomach, then slipped away, out of place at the feast.
I drank honeyed wine and thought about this request.
The Witch’s minions had been troublesome, but the Witch herself hadn’t been all that impressive.
She should have prepared some way to deal with surprise projectiles or spells.
‘If it had been me, I would’ve put up a barrier the moment I sensed something strange.’
Battles between mages required careful mind games and split-second judgment.
‘The minions she controlled were harder for me than the spellcaster herself.’
What if I had done this?
What about in that situation?
I reviewed the battle in my head, imagining different possibilities.
[Level Up]
As my thoughts expanded, the potential within me grew another step.
The space available for spells expanded.
That made eight slots.
Good.
As I observed my inner self, I clenched my fist.
* * *
I leveled up and made money too!
Sixty gold coins as an advance payment, another sixty for completing the request, and thirty more as a bonus I got by maybe threatening the lord.
A total of one hundred and fifty gold coins came into my hands.
Of course, I had to split them with Kulkin, but seventy-five gold coins was still an enormous amount!
And that wasn’t all.
There were also the spoils taken from the Witch who owned the mine.
Various blasphemous catalysts.
A few gold coins and a scratched gemstone.
Two worn-out books.
A dagger with a darkened blade.
A strange pouch that carried magical energy.
‘I’ve felt this since the first expedition, but mages really are rich mobs!’
“Hehehe!”
“Hehehe.”
We grinned broadly as Kulkin’s group and ours gathered in one room to divide the spoils.
“The dagger seems to have a vicious spell related to corruption engraved on it, but I don’t know about the pouch. Hmm, is it related to summoning?”
One of the two books was the Witch’s sinister research journal, while the other...
“This is the Book of Blasphemy.”
Kulkin flipped through the Witch’s records before speaking.
“Blasphemy?”
Elena tilted her head.
“It reinterprets history in a different way.”
“...”
By coincidence, that caught my interest.
I recalled the history that formed the foundation of Dungeon of Death, this world where eternal winter continued.
[The Dwarf King, Human King, Elf King, Beastfolk King, Dragon King, Giant King, and King of Serpents.]
In the beginning, there were Seven Kings.
They ruled the world prosperously with the Ever-Burning Brazier given to them by the gods.
Then the Giant King and King of the Naga grew greedy and tried to steal the brazier.
The gods’ wrath descended because of that, and the Giant King and King of Serpents received terrible curses. Eternal winter came to the world.
The five kings tried to revive the brazier by burning their own lives, but it wasn’t enough.
Yet the gods took note of their sacrifice and gave the foolish mortals one more chance.
They said that if the Labyrinth was conquered, spring would return to the world.
“That’s the birth of the Labyrinth, isn’t it?”
“Right. This says the opposite.”
“The opposite?”
“It describes the Giant King and King of Serpents as the good side, while the other five kings are evil. It also includes a story about a being the dark elves worshiped besides the God of Darkness. A hidden eighth king.”
* * *
Meia, Goddess of Abundance.
Oldimara, God of the Labyrinth and Chaos.
Lu, God of Justice.
Groggos, God of Hunger and Fear.
Nox, God of Darkness and Death.
Gromash, God of Wrath and War.
There were more gods in this world than I had expected.
Yet the five kings who had made their noble sacrifice were revered just as much as the gods.
‘They protected the world from the King of Serpents and Giant King, then sacrificed themselves to bring the Labyrinth into the world and protect the remaining people.’
Even if only some people believed in each god, every race believed in the first king of each race.
Humans respected Gwyndlin, the first Human King.
Elves respected Kalasutra, the Elf King.
But all of that was bullshit?
“That’s why I called it heretical scripture.”
Kulkin smiled and waved the book.
“Those who can’t live under the light. Dark elves, Shamans and sorcerers who use dark spells, people who are sick of this world and simply want to destroy it. Criminals who don’t want to follow the laws of the forgotten royal family. Those are the people who revere things like this.”
That was something I hadn’t known.
Dungeon of Death had occasionally received updates even when I played it.
Most routes ended when you reached the end of the Labyrinth and obtained the Orb of Wishes.
‘But this is reality.’
‘Could there be something different?’
Perhaps my curiosity as a mage had shown, because Kulkin showed his generous side again.
“I only need the gold coins and this book, so you can take care of the rest, junior.”
“Oh! Thank you, Senior!”
That meant the rest of the spoils were all ours!
‘I should ask to borrow it later!’
A few gold coins and a scratched gemstone.
One worn-out book.
A dagger with a darkened blade.
A strange pouch that carried magical energy.
“I’ll take this dagger~”
Elena chose the dagger with the curse of corruption.
“Go ahead.”
“What about you, Daisy?”
...
Daisy looked at the spoils uneasily, then smiled faintly and shook her head.
“I don’t need anything.”
“Rules are rules. If there’s nothing you want among the spoils, we’ll divide the money instead.”
“I’m really fine, but... all right.”
Elena seemed to think Daisy was being pretentious and started picking at her again.
“Daisy. Don’t act so modest just because you became a Priest. It’s kind of annoying.”
“...That’s not it.”
“You should take what’s offered. You have to look after your own share.”
“Ian isn’t a stranger.”
“...What?”
That must have rubbed Elena the wrong way, because she furrowed her brow at Daisy.
Yet perhaps because of the alcohol, Daisy, who normally would have backed down, smiled and faced Elena.
“Did I say anything wrong? Are ‘we’ strangers? Ian, you, and I have been through all of that together.”
Her smiling eyes didn’t feel like they were smiling.
Elena’s ears, which had perked up, lowered.
“...”
A strange air filled the room, and the mood turned cold.
What was wrong with them?
As I looked between the two in confusion, I realized.
Ah! It was because of the alcohol!
Well, they were young, and alcohol made emotions boil over.
As a wise genius mage and an adult who had lived several times longer than them, I mediated between the two.
“Come on, why are you both like this over something so small? Elena is right, and Daisy, you’re right too. We have to make another grueling march tomorrow to return to the Labyrinth, so let’s sleep!”
The two of them looked at each other, then reluctantly stood up and went to their rooms.
Phew.
I frowned from exhaustion, then grinned.
“Hehehe.”
With my share of the gold, and once I sold the remaining equipment, it would be enough to pay for Oldimara’s Dice.
I would be able to repay all the debt I owed my party members.
‘There might even be some left over?’
‘Either way, I’m finally free of debt!’
The settlement was over, but I took the remaining spoils and quietly stepped out into the hallway.
“Hey, are you there?”
“Super Genius Mage Ian?”
Hmm, having her actually call me that sincerely was a little embarrassing, even for me.
A low, beautiful voice came from behind the door.
I had come to dark elf mage Darnen’s room.
“What is it?”
“I have something to say about this request...”
“Come in.”
I opened the door and was startled.
What the fuck? Why was she naked?
Darnen was changing clothes at that very moment.
Dim candlelight and moonlight shone over her.
Her smooth gray back lay completely bare beneath the moonlight.
Rustle. Rustle.
Her silver hair gleamed like moonlight in the light.
The graceful curve of her shoulder blades shifted with each tilt of her head, movement of her hands, and sway of her waist.
Even partially hidden by her slender back, the full curves visible there were devastatingly alluring.
I swallowed hard but couldn’t look away.
“Uh, I wasn’t trying to look...”
“I don’t mind.”
Darnen spoke calmly as she pulled her top down into place.
In the center of her back was a tattoo symbolizing Nox, the God of Darkness.
‘So that’s the mark.’
While I studied it carefully, Darnen, now wearing a thin sleeveless top over leather pants, asked me.
“So, what is it?”
“You know the spoils we got from finishing this request. We need to divide them.”
“I already received payment from the lord.”
“That is that, and this is this.”
Rules had to be followed.
“...”
After a brief silence, Darnen nodded with an unreadable expression.
“That’s right. You were like this back then too.”
Darnen picked up one item from the Witch’s spoils I had offered.
“I’ll take this.”
It was the other book the Witch had left behind, alongside the Book of Blasphemy.
It was a research journal the Witch seemed to have compiled over her entire life.
It detailed things like adjusting mixtures for potion-making, applying ritual treatment to tame Draugr, and information about ghoul curses.
Was it because she was a Necromancer?
Something like that would be impossible to obtain even with money for mages who worked in the shadows...
As I thought that, black flames suddenly rose from Darnen’s hand.
Whoosh!
The Witch’s records became ash.
What?! Why did she burn it?!
I stared in shock, but Darnen casually brushed off her hand.
“Words and writing have power. Simply encountering such a secret text could create another Witch. Things this evil should be burned.”
They were words unbefitting a notorious Necromancer or a dark elf.
But they made sense coming from a half-blood struggling to preserve her own beliefs, caught between both sides.
Still...
“What a waste. If you were going to burn it, you should’ve given it to me. I could’ve sold it.”
I spoke sincerely as I looked at the ashes.
“...”
Darnen looked at me.
Her gaze was as calm as always, but it somehow seemed to hold contempt.
What was with that look?
Was a Dark Kkanp really looking down on a genius mage?
I folded my arms and thought.
‘This battle went easily because Kulkin and Darnen were here.’
I might have had to use Oldimara’s Dice otherwise.
The snowfields definitely weren’t an easy environment for me.
I needed to learn more Arcane spells that weren’t bound by compatibility, or find more companions like Elena and Daisy who could make up for my weaknesses.
If that was the case...
‘Wouldn’t this one make an excellent companion?’
A genius dark mage on par with a fourth-floor Expedition Party member.
No, perhaps even fifth-floor level.
I offered Darnen a place in the party.
“Hey, if you’re okay with it, would you like to enter the Labyrinth with us?”
“You want... to accept me as a companion?”
Her violet eyes widened as if she had never expected to hear that.
Whirr.
A coin spun over her head.
[Heads/Tails]
Footnotes:
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