WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Haruto
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ The Dark Fantasy Doctor Was Mistaken for a Saint ◈
Chapter 65: What’s Your Name, You Bastard? (3)
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* * *
“Mmh... mmh...”
Freya groaned as she opened her eyes.
The first thing she noticed was the smell.
A stale, bitter smell.
Then came the cold feel of the stone floor beneath her.
“...Where am I?”
Freya looked around.
At first, all she could see was darkness.
But as her eyes gradually adjusted, shapes began to emerge.
As her vision cleared, Freya finally noticed someone lying beside her.
“Senior?”
Freya sat up.
The person beside her was Valeria.
The hair tie that had neatly bound her black hair had come loose, leaving her hair scattered over her face.
Freya was briefly startled to see the student council president she so greatly admired collapsed like that.
Only after confirming Valeria's breathing was faint but steady did she let out a sigh of relief.
“You’re awake.”
A voice came from behind Freya.
She knew whose voice it was.
“Senior Kal. Is that you?”
“I never expected our head of the discipline committee to end up here too.”
Kal, the top student in the Swordsmanship Department.
As a member of the student council, Freya had met Kal several times at award ceremonies.
Kal was sitting with their back against the wall.
Their uniform sleeve was torn, and their face was badly bruised.
“Senior Kal... What happened to you?”
“Who knows? The moment I got here, they took my sword and beat me until I looked like this. I didn’t even have time to resist.”
“How could they... Do you know where the other person is?”
“Over there.”
Kal lightly gestured with their chin into the darkness.
Another girl was curled up in that direction, hugging her knees.
She wore Kal’s coat over her shoulders and remained as still as if she were asleep.
Her face was hidden as she looked down, but Freya could faintly make out the green tie that marked the Alchemy Department.
Freya thought she knew who the girl was.
“Senior Eli?”
Eli slowly raised her head.
Her unfocused eyes turned toward Freya.
“That voice... Lady Nihirit?”
“That’s right. Are you all right?”
Eli slowly shook her head.
Unlike Kal, she did not appear to have any visible injuries.
Still, the space itself seemed too much for her, and she did not look well.
Seeing that even speaking was difficult for Eli, Freya did not press her further.
Instead, she continued questioning Kal.
“Senior Kal, do you know where we are?”
“If I knew, wouldn’t I have escaped already?”
Kal gave a bitter smile.
“How long has it been since we disappeared?”
“Two days.”
“Two days...”
“Have you learned anything during that time?”
Kal shrugged.
“I don’t know much either. Only two people have come and gone from this cell.”
“Do you know who those two people are?”
“No.”
Kal shook their head.
“One was a huge man. He didn’t speak, so I don’t know his name, but he had inscription marks on his body. I think he received augmentation treatment.”
“What Rank was he?”
“Rank 0. But the augmentation treatment makes him stronger than me even with his bare hands. These bruises are proof.”
Kal lifted their head to show the bruise on their chin.
“One hit was enough to leave my head spinning.”
“And the other person?”
“That one is the bigger problem. I could do something about the big guy if I had my sword, but the other one was a Rank 1 spellcaster.”
Freya rested her chin on her hand and thought.
A Rank 1 black mage and someone at Rank 0 who had received augmentation treatment.
Even if Kal was the top student in swordsmanship and could use battle aura, they were still a student.
Facing a Rank 1 spellcaster after losing their sword was nearly impossible.
“Did you try to escape? It seems like you could at least break the lock with battle aura.”
“Unfortunately, I tried that too. But as you can see, this is how it turned out.”
Kal shook their head and pointed to the floor.
Freya lowered her gaze.
Even with eyes accustomed to the dark, it was difficult to see, but something had been lightly scattered across the stone floor.
When she brushed her fingers over it, a fine powder clung to her fingertips.
“What is this?”
“Opium powder.”
Kal sighed.
“It’s scattered across the floor and floating in the air too. Breathing normally isn’t a big problem, but if you take deep breaths, your head gets foggy. That’s why I can’t use battle aura.”
Freya’s expression darkened.
Just as magic required knowledge and symbolic resonance,
battle aura required meditation and willpower.
That was why battle aura was called the miracle of fools.
Even someone unintelligent could use it if they had enough will.
But that miracle had a fatal weakness.
To draw up battle aura, meditation and breathing had to come first.
You had to calm your mind, draw in deep breaths, and gather your will in one place.
An expert could draw it up with a single breath, but a student like Kal needed long, deep breaths.
“I tried to raise my battle aura and break through when the guard opened the door. But after two deep breaths, my vision began to swim. My legs gave out before I could even gather my strength.”
Kal pointed at the large bruise on their face.
“That’s where this came from.”
Freya’s gaze returned to Eli.
That was why Eli looked so listless despite having no visible injuries.
It was probably why Kal had given Eli their coat and seated her as far from the powder as possible.
Freya bit her lip.
“Then how do we get out of here...?”
Just then,
“Mmh...”
Valeria groaned softly and opened her eyes.
She sat up.
Freya approached to support her, but Valeria lightly raised a hand to show that she was fine.
Leaning against the wall, she ran both hands through her disheveled black hair.
The student council president held the loosened hair tie between her teeth and tied her hair again with practiced movements.
After lightly tugging at her tied hair to check the knot, she looked around.
Her gaze moved from Kal to Eli, from Eli to Freya, and from Freya to the iron door.
Apparently, that was enough.
Valeria nodded once and spoke.
“Another black mage?”
“Another?”
“Ah, you wouldn’t know, Head of the Discipline Committee. Something like this happens at the Academy High Division once every three years. The world is dangerous these days. There are occasional kidnappings for the ransom money of noble children.”
Then Valeria looked at Freya and suddenly gave a bitter smile.
“Though now that I think about it, you’re the only noble here.”
Valeria lightly shook her head and smoothed her hair one last time.
“Kal. Could you tell me about this place?”
Without showing any displeasure, Kal repeated everything they had told Freya.
“...That’s what happened.”
“Thank you, Kal. It seems you already told the head of the discipline committee too.”
“Not at all, President. But may I ask you something?”
“What is it?”
Kal said to Valeria, “How did you and the head of the discipline committee end up here?”
“Probably in the same way as you and Eli.”
Valeria turned toward Freya.
“Lady Nihirit was the first to notice something was wrong. When the two of you had been absent for two days, she immediately reported it to your homeroom professors.”
“What did the professors say?”
Valeria narrowed her eyes.
“They did not seem very interested in the disappearance of commoners.”
“I knew it. It always comes down to status.”
Kal gave a bitter smile.
Valeria, Kal, and Eli were not top students welcomed by the Academy.
Many people in high places did not like seeing commoners surpass nobles through skill.
“Haha...”
Freya, the only noble young lady in the room and someone who understood that background, gave an uncomfortable laugh.
Kal hurriedly lowered their head, saying that was not what they meant.
“I didn’t mean it that way, Lady Nihirit.”
“It’s all right. I feel the same way.”
Valeria continued.
“Anyway, the head of the discipline committee was the first to notice the two disappearances. But the Academy did not seem willing to act, so the student council investigated.”
“The president and I went to your dorm rooms first. Your belongings were still there, but neither of you was anywhere to be found.”
“So the president and I widened the search around the dormitories. We were passing through the corridor leading to the laundry room when...”
Valeria shrugged.
“I suddenly became dizzy, and when I opened my eyes, I was here. I imagine the two of you were brought here in a similar way?”
Kal nodded.
“Actually, Eli made some laundry detergent and wanted to test it on my clothes. We were on the way to the laundry room together when we were abducted.”
“Then was the corridor to the laundry room a trap? But if that were the case, only the two of you would have disappeared...”
Valeria tilted her head.
What did the abducted people have in common?
For a moment, the thought of Director Schun’s scholarship students crossed her mind, but she shook her head.
As far as Valeria knew, Freya had no connection to Director Schun.
There was no reason for a half-elf Director to support the wealthy baronial House Nihirit, so she must have imagined it.
“I still don’t know.”
“I initially thought only Director Schun’s scholarship students were targeted too, but seeing the head of the discipline committee makes me wonder.”
“...”
Freya tightly shut her mouth, watched the other students, and quietly edged toward a corner.
Silence fell for a while.
Unable to find anything in common, the conversation eventually stopped.
Valeria changed the subject.
“Kal.”
“Yes.”
“When did you become so close to Eli? When you first met, I thought there couldn’t possibly be a worse first encounter. Now you’re close enough to give her your coat and go to the laundry room together?”
Valeria’s gaze moved from Kal’s torn sleeve to the coat draped over Eli’s shoulders.
The tips of Kal’s ears turned red.
“...It’s chivalry.”
“Really?”
“...”
Valeria snorted.
Freya gave a quiet laugh too.
She knew this was not a situation to laugh in.
But in a dark, cold prison, even a brief bit of teasing was necessary.
Otherwise, it felt as though they would not be able to endure the situation.
But only for a moment.
Valeria’s expression turned serious again.
“More importantly, how do we get out of here?”
Valeria returned to the main issue.
Kal shook their head first.
“As I said before, battle aura is difficult to use here because of the opium powder.”
“What about magic?”
“That will be difficult too. There are no symbols or catalysts. There’s nothing here that could be given magical significance.”
Valeria nodded.
Kal was right.
As though it had been built with spellcasters in mind, the bare prison maintained an environment so devoid of distinguishing features that it bordered on obsessive.
“Cold magic would be difficult too...”
Valeria briefly considered cold magic based on the symbolism of coldness and gloom, but soon shook her head.
There were not enough catalysts.
Then Freya silently walked toward the iron door.
She knelt down and quietly examined the lock.
Kal spoke from behind her.
“Head of the Discipline Committee. I tried to undo that too, but...”
Click.
The lock opened the moment Freya touched it.
Kal’s mouth fell open.
Valeria’s eyes widened slightly.
Even Eli blankly lifted her head.
Freya stood and turned around.
“It’s arcane magic, so I can’t explain the details. But I can tell you that it works well against magical locking structures like this.”
After speaking, Freya took two items from her inner pocket.
One was a self-defense sword.
Clack, clack, clack.
When she pressed the locking mechanism on the folded hilt, the blades nested inside unfolded in three sections.
A blade as long as a straight sword sprang from a handle only slightly longer than her palm, and Kal’s eyes widened.
“Lady Freya. What is that?”
“A self-defense sword. Nobles usually carry one.”
Freya handed the sword to Kal.
“You’re better with a sword, Senior Kal. You should use it.”
Kal took it reflexively.
They tested its weight in their hand, then cut through the air a few times.
The sound of steel briefly echoed down the corridor.
“It’s not bad. The balance is decent too. But what will you do, my lady?”
“I have this.”
Freya then showed them a self-defense pistol.
Kal gave an understanding nod.
“How many shots do you have?”
“Ten regular rounds and one special bullet.”
“A special bullet?”
“I’ll use it on the black mage. It’s a special bullet, so it should work against that black mage too.”
Freya recalled what Erika had once told her.
The story of defeating a Rank 2 black mage with a consecrated silver bullet.
A gun did not become weaker depending on who fired it. If their enemy was a Rank 1 black mage, Freya’s silver bullet should be enough to deal with them.
“President, you have something for self-defense too, right?”
Valeria nodded and drew a wand from her clothes.
Once they escaped the prison, Valeria would no longer be a helpless mage.
“I’ll support Eli.”
Valeria stood, lifting Eli by the shoulder.
Eli weakly leaned against her.
“Head of the Discipline Committee, do you have a plan?”
“Senior Kal, what are the guards like?”
“I think ghouls controlled by the black mage are guarding the place. I can handle that much without battle aura.”
“Then please handle the guards whenever possible, Senior Kal. I think we should use the gun and magic only as a last resort.”
“Leave it to me.”
After confirming it with Kal once more, Freya placed her hand on the iron door’s handle.
Kal stood before the door with the sword in hand.
Ready.
With that meaning, Kal nodded.
Freya pushed open the door.
Creeeak.
The sound of rusted hinges echoed through the darkness.
* * *
At the same time the students escaped the prison.
While the students carefully climbed the stairs and silently dealt with the guards.
Farther up the staircase stood a room used as a run-down office.
And inside that room,
Crash!
A desk split in half.
Wood chips flew from the broken desk leg, and documents scattered across the floor.
“What the fuck is going on here?”
The person who had struck the desk was a hulking, dark-skinned man with a shaved head.
Dense black inscriptions covering the left side of his face and his forearm writhed with his anger.
In one corner of the room, a man sitting against the window frame with a cigarette in his mouth slowly lifted his head.
The thin man with sunken eyes calmly looked the giant over.
The shadows beneath his eyes seemed to consume half his face, and a hoarse voice came from his mouth.
“...What?”
“I mean the new people brought to the prison below. I saw the black-haired one, but did you see the silver-haired brat lying beside her?”
The gaunt man shook his head without removing the cigarette from his lips.
The giant braced a hand on the broken desk and leaned forward.
“There was a crest on her cape. Do you know what that means?”
“...”
“She’s a noble, bastard.”
The tip of the thin man’s cigarette trembled slightly.
“Are you sure you saw it correctly?”
“Hey. Before coming here, I spent plenty of time on the battlefield. I spent years cleaning up after those fucking nobles when I was a mercenary. Do you think I can’t tell the crests on their capes apart?”
The giant pointed to his left eye, the one that was not blackened.
“This eye still works fine. That crest definitely belonged to a baronial house. I don’t know which one.”
“...”
“Those fairies you use. What the hell were they doing? Didn’t we agree to bring in only Director Schun’s scholarship students?”
“Fuuuu...”
The thin man slowly exhaled cigarette smoke.
The smoke brushed over the moldy stone ceiling and disappeared.
Then the gaunt man slowly shook his head.
“Magic is absolute. It does not lie.”
“Then why did a noble get caught up in it?”
“Listen. A fairy ring is a spell formula that filters targets through conditional statements. I set it to bring in people marked by Director Schun’s signature.”
“Then why did a noble young lady get caught?”
“Magic is absolute. But it is people who ultimately fulfill the conditions.”
The man flicked cigarette ash onto the floor.
“That young lady must have either signed some contract with Director Schun or received one of his checks.”
“Fuck. So your magic caught the wrong person.”
“Let’s call it my mistake for failing to exclude that possibility.”
“It’s the same thing. You sure do love talking.”
The giant spat onto the floor.
As he kicked the scattered wood pieces into a corner, the gaunt man asked him a question.
“So, what did you do with that young lady?”
“What else would I do? The moment I confirmed she was a noble, I came straight up here before she woke.”
“She didn’t see your face?”
“I came up here as soon as I confirmed she was a noble, so she wouldn’t see my face. I couldn’t even inspect her belongings properly.”
“That’s fortunate, at least.”
The thin man slowly nodded.
He took another drag from his cigarette, exhaled smoke, and spoke.
“We should retreat.”
The giant’s eyes widened.
“What did you say?”
“Taking Director Schun’s scholarship students was acceptable. They’re commoners. Even if there’s trouble afterward, our backers can deal with it, and in the worst case, we can negotiate with the trading company.”
The man continued as he crushed out his cigarette against the window frame.
“But nobles are different. Even a baron looking for us would make things complicated.”
“Can’t we fight? Didn’t the two of us take down a knight last time?”
“A baronial house is at least Rank 3. It’s on a completely different level from a Rank 2 knight.”
The man looked up at the giant.
Deep exhaustion showed in his eyes beneath the heavy dark circles.
“Nobles are beyond what we can handle.”
“Then we return empty-handed? Do you think that crazy bastard Belgian will just sit still?”
The giant gripped the handle of his warhammer and scratched the back of his head.
He did not seem afraid so much as thoroughly disgusted.
The thin man gave a short laugh.
“He lost his backing long ago. Ever since Director Schun defeated him, he can’t even use his curses properly. He’s nominally Rank 2, but practically, he’s barely Rank 1 now. What can someone like that do to us?”
“What about those elders? Those old men who’ve been making a nice profit by getting involved in succession disputes. Arranging behind impotent heads of house for their concubines to produce heirs. They made a tidy profit from it.”
“Come to think of it, there are those people.”
“Ah, those old fools. Their faces turned red while they made a scene at the last meeting. They won’t leave us alone either.”
“Then we’ll blame Belgian.”
The giant raised an eyebrow.
“Blame Belgian?”
“It’s the truth. The information Belgian gave us about Director Schun was full of useless things from the start. The fairy ring spell formula was poorly made too. That poorly made formula is why the young lady got caught up in this.”
The thin man exhaled smoke.
“The responsibility belongs to the side that failed to give us enough clues. We owe them nothing. The same goes for them.”
“Your tongue sure works well. Are all spellcasters like this?”
“To survive as a black mage in this line of work, it has to.”
The giant blew his nose.
Perhaps he had accepted it, or perhaps he simply did not think there was anything more to argue about.
Either way, he offered no objection.
“Fine. Then should we burn this place?”
“That would be the cleanest way. Leaving no evidence...”
Crash.
At that moment, a noise came from the floor below.
Both men turned their heads at once.
“Damn it...”
The giant clicked his tongue and pressed a hand to his forehead.
“Was it a mistake not to cuff them because they were supposed to be sacrifices? It was already a chore bringing them here.”
“Don’t regret the sacrifices.”
The gaunt man calmly spoke as he rose.
“As long as people live in the light, they will eventually form connections that can be used as sacrifices again.”
The man took a folded cloth from his pocket and covered the lower half of his face.
“The commoners saw your face, so deal with them. As for the young lady, focus on keeping your face hidden.”
“They say call a pigeon and it circles over your head. Of all times, they had to escape now.”
“It’s a crow, not a pigeon.”
The giant grumbled as he pulled up his hood.
The gaunt man rose from his seat.
The two men pulled up their hoods and walked toward the door.
Just before leaving the room, the gaunt man lightly flicked the cigarette in his hand.
The burning tip traced an arc through the air and landed on the documents scattered across the floor.
Flames rose from the pile of papers.
The broken desk pieces became kindling.
“Ignus.”
After the gaunt man’s brief chant, the sound of wood burning rang clearly through the empty room.
“Let’s go.”
The gaunt man did not look back.
Neither did the giant.
As their footsteps descended the stairs, the flames in the office began crawling up the walls.
Footnotes:
The giant mangles a Korean expression roughly meaning “speak of the devil,” saying pigeon instead of crow. The black mage corrects him, with crows carrying a darker omen.
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