WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Haruto
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ The Dark Fantasy Doctor Was Mistaken for a Saint ◈
Chapter 68: What’s Your Name, You Bastard? (6)
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* * *
While Director Schun was busy correcting the misconception that surgery was a secret art of black magic,
Igor, who had escaped, staggered through the hideout’s underground corridor, bleeding.
Drip. Drip.
Every step he took left a bright red trail across the stone floor.
Igor gritted his teeth and hurried onward.
‘Damn it. That girl...’
He recalled the red-haired girl dragging her palm across the blade of an axe.
She had definitely chanted something.
And after that axe grazed his leg, it had gradually begun to fail.
Even though the wound had not been nearly that deep.
‘Did she use blood as poison?’
He did not know what kind of poison it was.
That was not his specialty.
But one thing was certain. The poison in the girl’s spell was exceptionally vicious.
Right after escaping, Igor had been able to run. Now, however, he could barely walk without supporting himself against the wall.
‘Damn it.’
Igor hurried even faster.
Limp. Drag.
His right foot struck the stone floor, and his left dragged behind it.
Then, amid those uneven footsteps, the regular sound of military boots joined in.
Captain Shen’s pursuit team was following him.
At this rate, Igor would inevitably be caught.
But he had a plan of his own.
Screeeech.
Somewhere in the darkness, metal scraped against metal.
The rhythm of the boots immediately fell apart.
Bang! Bang, bang!
Gunshots rang out.
Hearing them, Igor’s lips curled upward.
‘Good thing I converted an abandoned prison into a hideout.’
Ghouls.
They still remained underground.
The bodies of prisoners abandoned without funerals or rites for the dead.
For hundreds of years, the symbolic resonance of deaths beyond God’s gaze had accumulated here, turning this place into a breeding ground for ghouls.
All Igor had done was drive lead rods into their heads, making them his servants.
And now, those ghouls were holding up the pursuit team.
‘The brats took care of some while coming up, but there are still enough left.’
He did not expect the ghouls to defeat the pursuit team.
He only needed them to buy him a few minutes.
By then, he would already be gone.
‘Almost there.’
Leaving the gunfire behind, Igor descended the final staircase.
On the lowest level, he saw open cells, along with ropes and gags scattered across the floor.
It was the prison where the students had been held.
Igor passed through it.
Nearly dragging his left leg now, he headed deeper into the prison.
Beyond an arched entrance, he switched on a lamp with glowworms, revealing why he had come this far.
‘I’m here.’
There was a circle.
Colorful mushrooms grew densely along its boundary.
Vermilion, mustard yellow, purple, spotted white.
Fine spores traced a circle across the floor beneath the colorful caps, which stood at regular intervals.
The inside of the circle was thick with dead grass.
Igor’s hollow eyes fixed on its center.
‘A fairy ring.’
Fairies possessed a peculiar ability.
When they danced in a circle, mushrooms grew there as though forming a magic circle.
Spellcasters could use that circle to leap through space.
Igor had used this effect to abduct only the students bearing Director Schun’s signature and bring them here.
And this time, he intended to use the ring to escape danger.
‘Where did I put the catalyst?’
Igor searched his trouser pocket.
His fingertips moved through the coarse fabric until they found a small pouch.
He pulled out a sugar cube.
Igor placed it on the edge of the circle, atop a vermilion mushroom cap.
Then his lips moved.
“Come.”
The moment the sugar touched the mushroom cap, a faint tremor ran through its gills.
The folds of the vermilion cap parted, and a tiny hand poked out.
It resembled a human hand, but it was not one.
It was too short, too thick, and every knuckle was covered in fuzzy threads of mycelium.
The hand seized the sugar cube and pulled it inside.
Rustle.
The mushrooms forming the circle’s boundary all trembled at once.
Then tiny fairies, barely thirty centimeters tall, sprang out from the mushrooms.
“Brownie Number One.”
“Yes, Master!”
Number One crawled out between the mushrooms, kicking its short legs.
“Did you call?”
Several more fairies appeared behind Number One.
Eleven in all.
Igor looked down at the innocent little fairies and frowned.
‘What is this?’
The brownies were unusually lively today.
For the past several months, the brownies he had seen had been annoying, whiny, and listless little creatures.
They had resembled old dogs being dragged along.
Yet today, they seemed strangely excited.
‘...Fickle little things.’
But Igor gave it no more thought.
He had no time to think about it, and fairies were fickle by nature.
Step. Step.
The boots had already caught up to him.
Igor hastily placed two more sugar cubes on the edge of the circle.
One brownie marched over, picked up a cube, then looked back up at Igor while hugging the sugar lump, which was as large as its own body.
Igor gave the order.
“Open the ring. Send me to the estate.”
“Understood.”
Brownie Number One moved briskly.
Normally, it would have hesitated and dawdled, but today it looked to be in a very good mood.
Ignoring the unease that kept rising within him, Igor stepped into the center of the circle.
All eleven brownies climbed atop the mushroom caps.
Like tiny dancers taking their places upon a colorful stage, each found its spot.
Then the dancing began.
「'S truagh nach tigeadh (Shame that no one comes.)」
「Hé mandu!」
「Siud gam' iarraidh! (What I need is someone to take me from here!)」
「Hé mandu」
「Dealan-dè sgeòil, no gealbhonn, Feòrag gam' ghiùlan, 's diollaid. (No butterfly to carry news, no little sparrow, no squirrel to bear me away, not even a saddle.)」
「Hé mandu, hì ri oró, hó ro hù o!」
Thump!
Eleven pairs of feet stomped down on the mushroom caps at once.
Spores burst upward together, and a golden band spread along the edge of the circle.
Standing in its center, Igor felt the soil beneath his feet tremble faintly.
‘It’s opening.’
The circle was gradually responding.
The song was also reaching its climax.
Then it happened.
The lyrics suddenly changed.
「Gu h-ait thàinig duine uasal! (Gladly, a noble patron has come!)」
「Hé mandu!」
「Gus mo thoirt a-mach à seo! (To take me out of here!)」
「Hé mandu!」
「Le siùcar is pìosan meala, 'S shin e dhomh an t-aodach fhìn! (With sugar and pieces of honey, he gave me clothes of my own!)」
「Hé mandu, hì ri oró, hó ro hù o!」
“What?!”
Horror filled Igor’s face.
Those were not the usual lyrics.
The song the brownies were singing had changed.
If they had merely altered the words a little, it would not have mattered.
Fairies changing lyrics to suit their mood was common enough.
But the lyrics contained something that should not have been there.
「Le siùcar is pìosan meala, 'S shin e dhomh an t-aodach fhìn! (With sugar and pieces of honey, he gave me clothes of my own!)」
Clothes.
The moment brownies received clothes or wages from their master, their master-servant contract was dissolved.
That was why black mages who used brownies were careful not to accidentally give them clothes or money.
‘Escape...’
But his body would not move.
As if his legs were fixed to the ground, as though they no longer belonged to him.
They refused to leave the circle.
Perhaps the brownies had slipped beyond his control.
That vague terror had taken concrete form.
‘When? Why now, of all times?’
Had he given them clothes without realizing it?
Come to think of it, he had thrown off his cloak while fleeing here.
‘But that couldn’t possibly free them...’
At that moment, one person flashed through his mind.
Director Schun.
If that man had known how to imbue that cloak with meaning, freed the brownies, and already won them over...
Then these brownies were not dancing for his sake...
Igor’s thoughts began to break apart there.
In their place came an indescribable pleasure.
“Hehe...”
A laugh escaped Igor’s lips.
His thoughts gradually grew hazy.
As if he were drunk.
Thump. Thump!
As the refrain burst forth, a pillar of light rose from the center of the circle.
At the heart of that warm column of light,
Igor suddenly felt like dancing.
That was right.
He was shaking off his pursuers.
Would it not be fine to dance once in a while?
As though he had thought exactly that, he began to dance.
His clear thoughts gave way to revelry. Forcing his dead leg to move, the black mage danced.
Among the fairies.
Blood trailing from him.
Limping on stiffening legs.
A smile hanging from his lips.
His shoulders swayed.
Like a man standing at the center of a festival.
Like someone hearing the songs of a hometown left behind long ago.
Like someone entranced after eating colorful mushrooms.
He danced.
Forcing his unresponsive legs to move.
Forcing the corners of his twitching mouth upward.
Forcing a cracking voice from his throat.
He sang.
At the center of eleven pairs of black, bead-like eyes gazing up at him with smiles, the black mage danced and sang.
Then the light swallowed him.
A short while later.
Step. Step.
Military boots crossed the arched entrance.
Captain Shen entered Igor’s empty room with a gun raised.
There was no one inside.
Captain Shen’s gaze lowered to the floor.
Only red mushrooms and dead grass soaked through with blood remained in the room.
* * *
“When we arrived, only red mushrooms and bloodstains remained. We were unable to confirm the mage’s whereabouts.”
After treating Kal and checking the other children’s conditions, we had been preparing to leave when Captain Shen returned with a gloomy expression and gave the report.
“I’m sorry, Director. We lost him.”
Self-reproach was evident in Captain Shen’s voice through the gas mask.
As I removed my bloodstained gloves, I asked, “It’s all right that you lost him. Did anyone step into that circle?”
“As you instructed, we did not pursue him any farther. But why do you ask?”
I delayed my answer and discreetly looked around.
Eli, still refusing to let go of Kal’s hand.
Valeria, some distance away, watching us with interest.
There were too many ears around.
“...Julian gave me a warning. I’ll explain the details in the car.”
The moment I said that, Valeria reacted.
“Excuse me, Director. By Julian, do you mean Miss Freya’s older brother?”
“Yes. I received his help on the way here. He works in areas involving black magic and unsolved cases.”
Freya, who had been quietly listening in, turned her head unnaturally.
But she showed no further reaction.
Instead, Freya put on a straight face and joined the act.
“Won’t my brother be coming?”
“No. He’s very worried about your safety at the estate. I think it would be good for you to contact Julian on the way back. Would that be all right?”
“All right.”
She did not seem to know why I was establishing Julian’s alibi, but she went along with it for now.
“Good. Let’s head to the car. Student Kal needs proper treatment as well.”
After getting the scene under control somehow,
we cut the unconscious lizard’s limb tendons and loaded it into the cargo compartment,
then divided the students among the vehicles we had arrived in.
Captain Shen, Eri, and Freya boarded the final vehicle with me.
Only after confirming that the door was fully shut did I take off my fedora.
With that, the perception-obscuring magic was released.
“Phew.”
Freya looked up at me.
“Brother.”
“You did well, Freya.”
“But what was that just now...?”
“There was a need to draw a line between Director Schun’s identity and Julian’s. Discovering this place had to be credited to Julian. I’ll explain the circumstances properly later.”
Freya thought for about a second before nodding.
“If you’re doing it, Brother, then you must have a reason.”
After our brief exchange, I turned my gaze to Captain Shen.
Captain Shen had looked as though there was something to ask ever since before getting in the car.
“Then let’s continue what we were discussing, Captain.”
“Does the circle have something to do with why we did not pursue the black mage?”
“Yes. Because it was a fairy ring.”
“A fairy ring?”
Captain Shen seemed unfamiliar with it.
Well, Captain Shen specialized in flame magic.
Fairy rings belonged to the domain of black magic, so it was only natural not to know.
“That circle where the black mage vanished. You have seen something like it before, right?”
“Yes. There was also a circle made of mold in the laundry room where the students disappeared.”
“That was a fairy ring. When fairies dance, mushrooms grow in a circle where they danced. Fairies can leap through space using those circles.”
A fairy ring was the trace left behind when fairies danced.
If a person stepped into one, they would briefly lose consciousness, then wake somewhere unfamiliar.
“So such magic exists.”
“The black mage likely used fairy rings to abduct the students. He was probably trying to use one to escape as well.”
“Then did the mage escape successfully?”
I shook my head.
“No. He likely failed. I knew it would turn out that way, which is why I told you not to pursue him to the end.”
Captain Shen’s eyes shifted slightly.
Then Freya raised her hand.
“Brother.”
“Hmm?”
“If you knew that magic existed, why didn’t you use it to come directly? No, I didn’t mean to say you were late or anything.”
“No, that’s a good question.”
In truth, I had thought the same thing at first.
When I heard that Freya had vanished and ran to the dormitory, I found a fairy ring near the laundry room.
The moment I saw the circle, I understood what had happened. I immediately persuaded a brownie through the ring and learned the hideout’s location.
The fastest method would have been to step into that circle and ask the brownies to send me to the hideout.
But I did not.
There was only one reason.
“Fairies dislike it.”
“Pardon?”
“Brownies are fairies that do housework by nature. Folding laundry, washing dishes, sweeping up bread crumbs. That is what these children are meant to do.”
I continued as I looked out the car window.
“It is rude to make children like that dance. Moreover, fairies absolutely hate showing other people their dancing.”
“But we were abducted that way.”
“That’s right. Which is why the fairies hated that black mage too.”
He had ordered the brownies to do things they despised.
He made them dance where people could see them, and ordered them to abduct people rather than do housework.
For months, he had forced them to do the things brownies and fairies hated most.
“Brownies cannot disobey their master’s orders, nor can they harm their master. So even if the black mage ordered them to, they had no choice but to obey. But I could not use the same method.”
It was not because I was a fairy enthusiast.
My little sister had been kidnapped. When would I have had time to worry about that?
There was one reason I had respected the fairies back then.
“You must never make an enemy of a fairy. It never ends well.”
That was something my master had taught me.
“Most mages of the current generation, those born within the last two hundred years, see fairies as tools. But Julian, you must not do the same.”
My master had said that fairies were nature itself, possessed of emotion.
The moment one made an enemy of them, their later years were bound to become miserable.
Even without my master’s warning, that was common sense. It was a cliché.
In countless works from my previous life, protagonists who tormented fairies always came to bad ends in one way or another.
That was why I had treated the brownies respectfully.
“And the black mage demonstrated in person that my choice was correct.”
“The black mage did?”
“Yes. That red fairy ring is proof.”
Brownies fundamentally could not harm their master or act in a way that would harm their master.
But that did not mean they could not harbor hatred.
For months, they had hated their master.
And when the opportunity arrived, the first thing they did after gaining their freedom was take revenge.
“Fairies have a high aptitude for mental and spatial magic. It would not be difficult for them to alter a spell slightly.”
Waking up elsewhere after losing consciousness in a fairy ring only applied when the fairies chose a nonlethal mode.
It was more like a warning, such as throwing an unwelcome guest out of their club.
Then how far could fairies go when they truly intended to kill?
“If that is true, then the black mage...”
“Hmm. The black mage may regret not surrendering to you peacefully, Captain. If he has enough sanity left to regret it.”
Kids are better at tearing off dragonfly wings than adults.
That is how frightening innocence can be.
It was not for nothing that old fairy tales were so brutal.
Was that even the same logic?
Anyway.
That was why I respected fairies.
If I upset them for no reason and the snowball started rolling later, I would not be able to handle the consequences.
“That is also why I told you not to pursue him to the end. It is unlikely, but I could not allow Captain Shen to get caught up in it.”
Gulp.
The sound of Captain Shen swallowing came from behind the gas mask.
Then Captain Shen cautiously asked, “...But one question remains.”
“Go ahead.”
“Why did the brownies suddenly become free?”
“It was not difficult.”
I pointed to the black mage’s cloak, which I had brought back as evidence.
“Did he not leave this behind? I merely helped the brownies accept these clothes as a sign that their contract had been dissolved.”
“...You gave the fairies a push?”
“Wouldn’t phrasing it that way make me sound like a terrible person?”
It was not as though I was some kind of crime consultant.
If I had to explain what I did...
“I see. I merely helped the fairies expand their thinking.”
“...”
The people in the car did not look very pleased after hearing that.
I was not entirely sure why.
Footnotes:
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