WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Mordor
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Surviving the Frozen Dark Fantasy as a Genius Mage ◈
Chapter 89: To Avoid the Tiger, Enter the Snake's Den
──────
The northern district, home to nobles and former royals, where the City Administration and Expedition Party Guild headquarters were located.
The eastern autonomous district, where the various races living in the Labyrinth maintained their own cultures.
The southern and central districts, where the Expedition Party Guild's branch offices stood across all four cardinal directions and commerce had flourished around them.
And finally, the Western District.
The Western District, where Mauk had once been exploited as a beggar, had the worst public safety in the entire city.
The entrance connected to the other districts looked ordinary at first glance, but the deeper one went past the city gate, the more streets worthy of being called a lawless zone appeared.
Squeak.
The uneven streets were littered with foul-smelling filth and rats. Beggars sprawled in the alleys, casting sinister looks our way.
Two out of every three people walking through the streets had tattoos somewhere on their bodies.
Houses were crammed together like an anthill.
Even Fire Mages didn't come this deep to light fires, so it was dark enough to feel as if sunlight never reached it.
"This is hell. The rumor that the Western District is a labyrinth above ground fits perfectly."
Gimlius, who had never backed down against Marauders or monsters, kept scanning the area without a moment's rest.
He looked afraid someone would rip out his beard.
He couldn't help it.
"Dieeeee!"
"Ghk!"
Screams and the sounds of blades clashing rang out from the alleys every moment.
Two people who had been smiling and shaking hands suddenly turned around, pulled daggers from their clothes, and stabbed each other.
"If you don't meet your quota, you're dead!"
"Hehehehe!"
Dozens of gaunt, half-starved children followed a large pimp out past the city gate in a line, bowls in hand.
It was the dark elves' autonomous district, but dark elves weren't the only ones here.
There were groups associated with them, people like Mauk who had been forced into this place because they lacked money or power, people who had angered the City Administration, and those with dangerous ideas. Humans and other races actually outnumbered the dark elves.
'The Western District is divided between the eight dark elf families and four vampire families.'
Temples sometimes ran poorhouses in the Western District, but this was Daisy's first time entering the dark elves' autonomous district as well.
"I didn't know it was this bad..."
Daisy looked devastated by the filthy state of the western autonomous district.
"Why are the nobles and the City Administration leaving this place like this?"
"Because they made it this way on purpose."
"What?"
"People feel relieved and superior when they look at those worse off than themselves. The Western District is perfect as a cautionary example. They can think, I shouldn't live like that. If I fall that far, I'm fucked."
The Labyrinth was a prosperous, warm city, but it was just as closed off.
When people were well-fed and comfortable, they were bound to start having strange thoughts.
That was when the Western District entered the picture.
'If you anger the City Administration, you'll either be banished or thrown into the Western District.'
It was a means of keeping control.
'From the nobles' perspective, the criminals here were useful in plenty of ways too.'
"That's..."
Still, this wasn't the time to worry about others.
We were being pursued by the Secret Society, and we needed to push through this chaotic crowd and meet Darnen as soon as possible.
Yet, strangely enough, we had no trouble at all.
Because we had a dark elf with us.
"Elena. You're adapting disturbingly well."
"You're right..."
"Fuck, fuck, fuck. Why does a noble and kind elf like me have to look like this and do such vile things?"
Elena, who had been half-forced into a second class advancement as a dark elf, took the lead while radiating a murderous aura in every direction.
"Hey, I've never seen your faces before. You know this is territory managed by our Redbeard Gang..."
Even when thugs blocked our way...
"Eek?! A dark elf!?"
"Just die."
Elena cleared a path by beating them without mercy.
Thud!
Yellow teeth pattered onto the ground with the punch.
"I'm confiscating this."
"N-No! That's my mother's medicine money..."
"Then die with your mother."
"Ghk."
She even robbed them of their money pouches with ruthless efficiency.
Get lost, die, hand over your money, want me to cut off your wrist?
Such violent words flowed from Elena's mouth far too naturally.
No con artist, pickpocket, or criminal could block our path.
"Could Elena perhaps be mixed-blood with a dark elf?"
Gimlius whispered the question to me after watching her.
'That might actually be true.'
It sounded plausible.
Elena was an orphan, so she didn't know much about her bloodline.
She claimed her parents were kind and noble elf heroes who had saved the world, but...
'No matter how I look at it, her personality is nothing like an ordinary elf's.'
As I nodded, a pair of pale ears twitched.
"You fucking dwarf! Want to die?! Why would dirty blood like that be flowing through me?!"
"Well, perhaps wipe the blood off your hands before saying that... Ghk! M-My apologies! Please spare me!"
Elena became even more vicious and shook Gimlius by his beard as if she were trying to tear it out.
As we moved deeper into the dark elves' autonomous district, the atmosphere gradually changed.
First, the messy streets became clean.
Like the southern, northern, and eastern districts, stone slabs covered the roads, and the surrounding houses had neat exteriors.
Several huge mansions came into view.
Above all, the noisy surroundings had gone silent.
"Is this the place?"
"Yeah."
"Are the guards this tight because they're fighting a war under the table with the elves...?"
'If we go a little farther out, we'll reach the land ruled by the vampire masters.'
This was the territory ruled by the eight dark elf families that divided the Western District with the vampires.
Together, the eight dark elf families and four vampire families, known as the races of darkness, were called the Great Twelve Families.
Clank. Clank.
Unlike the filthy streets where punks pretended to be guards, actual regular soldiers stood watch here.
They were dark elf soldiers wearing metal armor engraved with each family's crest.
'The head of the snake the City Administration had released to control this den of monsters.'
The countless criminals and dangerous thinkers swarming through the Western District submitted before the overwhelming violence of the races of darkness.
'The Veliar Family is the strongest of the eight families.'
I had knowledge in my head, but I also had the map Darnen had given me.
We headed for the largest and grandest mansion nearby.
"Who are you bastards?"
The guards at the mansion were dark elves.
Not mixed-bloods like the ones we had seen until now, but pure-blooded dark elves like Elena.
'Every one of them is well-trained.'
They radiated considerable force. Even when they saw Elena, they only frowned and looked at us with suspicion.
"We are visitors here to see Lady Darnen Veliar. This is the letter we received from her."
I held out the letter Darnen had given me.
The guards' sharp wariness, as though they might draw their swords at any moment, faded at once.
"From Young House Head Darnen?"
Another guard quickly went inside, then returned and signaled to the others that it was genuine.
"Enter."
We entered the mansion with the guards leading the way.
Step. Step.
Within the Labyrinth, no noble was allowed to build a castle.
The City Administration and the old royal family had imposed strict regulations because anyone with rebellious ambitions could throw the city into great turmoil.
That was why some powerful people built mansions like this instead, then remodeled them to resemble castles.
This mansion was no exception.
Walls surrounded it like an iron fortress, and sharp spikes covered the top to prevent anyone from climbing over.
Woof! Woof!
Fierce dogs had been let loose in the garden, and guards were stationed there around the clock.
The mansion looked beautiful at a glance, with red carpets and hallways lined with finely crafted art, but it was completely fortified inside.
"That dark-skinned bastard sure lives in a place like this."
"Just looking at it makes me feel suffocated."
No, more than anything, this place felt dangerous because of the atmosphere.
Those sinister gazes I felt in the darkness, as though they could see straight through a person.
'We're being watched.'
The servants walking through the halls, the soldiers, the maids cleaning, the gardeners. Everyone here was watching us.
"Young House Head, I have brought the inferior races... I mean, the guests you mentioned."
Following the guard, we met Darnen inside the fortress-like mansion.
"Welcome, super-genius mage Ian. And his friends."
Perhaps she had been studying the Ogre corpse I had sold her. Darnen welcomed us in a disheveled state inside her private laboratory.
With a flick of her hand, she sent the guards away and closed the door.
The watchful gazes I had felt around us disappeared.
She asked me.
"So, what brings you here this late at night?"
"Well..."
How was I supposed to say this?
Actually, we're being pursued by dangerous people called the Secret Society. They seem uneasy around dark elves, and since you're a powerful dark mage, we came here to hide.
Was that what I should say?
'I'll be lucky if she doesn't kick us out... No, if she doesn't kill us.'
Had she read my hesitation?
"You're hiding something."
Darnen stared at me with penetrating violet eyes.
"But I won't pry. Just like me, everyone has their own circumstances. Stay as long as you wish if you need somewhere to rest."
She actually said that.
An angel. She was an angel.
There was a reason kind dark elves were so rare.
Coming here had definitely been the right call.
Relieved, I spoke.
"You won't change your mind later, right?"
"..."
"Ian, this is when you just say thank you..."
Daisy whispered.
"Thank you."
"Fine."
"But I've never seen this one before."
Darnen's gaze moved to Elena.
"Can't you tell? It's Elena."
It seemed she hadn't recognized Elena beneath the dark elf disguise, even though all we had done was paint her skin.
"Elena? That elf?"
Elena put her hands on her hips and grumbled, as if she didn't like Darnen.
"I disguised myself for a bit so I could enter this sewer you bastards live in. What, you got a problem with that?"
"Elena! That's rude!"
"Yeah, Elena. Watch your mouth."
Despite Elena's harsh words, Darnen answered kindly.
"If that upset you, I apologize. I'm only curious."
She looked at Elena with a questioning expression.
"Curious?"
"Well..."
Darnen explained.
Ordinary dark elves had a distinctive aura.
The energy only the sinister, cruel, and vicious race of darkness could give off.
That was why it wasn't easy for even an ordinary elf to imitate a dark elf, no matter how well they disguised themselves.
"That's why, even though we're at war, neither side can plant spies among the other."
It made sense.
Darnen was unusually kind for a dark elf, but a sticky, sinister aura occasionally flowed from her.
Which meant...
"Elena gives off the aura of a dark elf even though she's an elf?"
"Exactly."
...
Pfft.
"Bwahahahahahaha!"
The moment I heard that, Gimlius and I burst out laughing.
That violent thug of an elf absolutely could have that kind of aura.
"A masterpiece! A dark elf certified by a dark elf! Kahahahahaha!"
"It suits you, Elena!"
"...I knew it."
Daisy took a step away from Elena with an uneasy expression.
"Whaaaaaat?! How dare you say that about a noble elf?!"
Elena flew into a rage and charged at Darnen.
"I'll kill you! You damn dark elf bitch!"
"C-Calm down, Elena!"
"Hold it in! We're guests who came here for protection!"
Gimlius and I had to struggle to restrain Elena.
Darnen paid it no mind. She only looked at Elena with interest.
"Could you be mixed-blood? Relations between elves and dark elves aren't easy..."
"Are you crazy, bitch?!"
Anyway, since it was late, we decided to rest first.
Just in case, we would all sleep together in one room.
'The chance of Dmitri moving personally is low because Dmitri is badly injured, but...'
'Dmitri's subordinates or others could still come.'
Darnen explained the precautions we should take in the mansion.
"Make sure to lock the windows and doors. Don't trust the guards too easily either."
Gimlius asked in confusion.
"This is your own home, Darnen. Why must we be so careful? Are the elves going to attack?"
Darnen shook her head, and her answer was even more absurd.
"No. The dangerous ones are the dark elves."
"Hm?"
"I'm the Veliar Family's heir, but there are many other claimants within the family. They're constantly after my neck."
"Fuck? What?"
"...?"
While the other three stared in disbelief, I recalled the dark elves' way of life.
The strong devoured the weak.
Since birth, they had made taking and being taken from their creed. Even succession within noble families worked by having the person who killed their rivals take everything.
"A-Aren't they family? How can they commit such terrible acts?!"
Gimlius' jaw dropped.
"I'm not a direct descendant. I was an outsider chosen by the clan elders. Though even if I were a direct descendant, it wouldn't be any different..."
There were no bonds between blood siblings or parents and children among them.
That was why those who survived were stronger, crueler, and more vicious than anyone else.
'Their loss of humanity and their malice are the source of their strength.'
'Calling a dark elf a motherless bastard means nothing!'
"Anyway, think of it as human succession, where people argue and use political power to crush each other, made more direct. So be careful."
Darnen left after saying that, apparently intending to return to her research.
Gimlius and Daisy looked at me as if to ask, Ian, is this really okay?
I only smiled and shrugged.
"Isn't it better if these terrifying people are protecting us?"
"...The more I look at you, Ian, the more I think something's wrong with your head too."
"I agree."
It was a misunderstanding.
This was only because it was the most efficient method.
* * *
The dark elves' autonomous district in the Western District's lawless zone.
The street of the Great Eight Families.
The figures who had barely escaped the watchful eyes of the strict guards looked suspicious at a glance.
They were a halfling wearing a strange helmet engraved with a vine pattern, a human, and a lion beastman closer to a beast than a person.
"Fuck... No matter how I look at it, this is crazy. That's Veliar Family territory."
"Keep your voice down. Dark elves have good ears."
They were subordinates of Dmitri, a member of the Secret Society.
The mage of Thunderfall.
They had gathered from all over the city on their master's orders to deal with the insolent young silver-haired mage.
"How did those bastards get into the dark elves' autonomous district? And into noble territory, at that?"
But a problem had arisen.
Their targets had cleverly hidden themselves after realizing the danger, and of all places, they had chosen dark elf territory, the place most difficult for them to touch.
"What about the master? Has there been no reply?"
"That's right."
"Damn it."
The man holding a strange scripture calmly looked at the worried beastman and halfling before speaking.
"Are you thinking of disobeying the master's orders? If we do, we'll suffer something far worse."
The lion beastman answered with a frightened expression.
"Who said anything about that? I'm saying we should come up with a plan."
The halfling, also an executive of the Thieves' Guild, thought it over.
"I heard the Veliar Family is in chaos right now. The claimant chosen as heir is mixed-blood, so there's strong opposition within the family. The one who accepted those people must be one of the heirs. Why don't we contact another heir and use them?"
"I heard the Veliar Family has many heirs. Do you know which heir is connected to that mage?"
"It's obviously the mixed-blood one who was chosen as an heir this time. Those arrogant pure-blood dark elves wouldn't form ties with humans."
"Oh?"
The lion beastman nodded at the halfling's plausible plan.
But the man holding the scripture spoke.
"Can we be sure another heir will listen to us?"
"...No. Don't they consider everyone but themselves and their clan to be insects?"
Fuck.
Those goddamn dark elves.
In the end, all they could do was try.
"If it comes down to it, we only need to deal with that human mage. I heard he's a Triple Caster, but only at the level of a third-floor expedition member. He's nothing special."
"Let's infiltrate first and make contact with them."
The halfling adjusted the helmet and spoke an activation phrase.
The helmet flashed, and a strange veil covered them.
[Invisibility]
They infiltrated the mansion.
"..."
They did not know that a chilling violet gaze was watching them from somewhere within the mansion.
Footnotes:
Join our discord at https://dsc.gg/wetried
