Alice Tale in Phantasmagoria Vol 1 Chapter 12

Chapter 12 Ilya

After returning to the town after noon, s.h.i.+on-san and I split up.

s.h.i.+on-san's adventurer comrades dragged her off saying they needed her on the frontline no matter what.

s.h.i.+on-san seemed really reluctant to let me go, but after finally giving me the 1000 Rook to register at the guild, she was dragged to work.

 

"Right, Onee-chan doesn't belong to me. That's the problem..."

 

One day I'm going to leave this town and travel the world.

However, s.h.i.+on-san has family here as well as her adventurer comrades.

Not to be conceited, but if I asked her, I think she would come with me.

But I only want to do that if there's no other way.

 

"Uhhm, guess for now I'll start by registering at the guild and saving up money."

 

At present, I'm receiving too much support.

I have to pay back all the favors I have received.

I'd asked about the general location before, so I made my way to this town's guild.

The town wasn't that big so I found it right away.

They had put a sign outside saying 'Guild, Rinnal Branch.'

As always, I can read and I can converse.

This conversion into j.a.panese is too useful.

Mulling over those thoughts, I crashed into someone.

Someone about to leave the guild.

 

"Ah! I'm sorry——ah."

 

I looked at the person I'd run into and was in for a surprise.

Mean-Look-In-The-Eyes!

 

"...it's alright."

 

I'm not going to get involved with this person.

That's what I thought, bowed my head once more and tried to go past him.

 

"Hey."

 

Don't talk to me!

I reluctantly stopped and turned around.

 

"... what is it?"

"Are you an elf?"

"I'm not."

"... I see."

 

Not because I'm a halfelf, but because my family told me not to reveal my race.

You should listen to people's warnings.

Only fools don't learn from failure.

The man said nothing else and tried to leave, but this time I remembered something.

"Ah, wait a moment!"

"What?"

 

The man turned around, annoyed.

Hey, why don't you show some more sociability?

 

"You, you're from the carriage yesterday, right?"

"Right."

 

Well, I wouldn't easily mistake a person that unsociable and dressed all in black anyway.

 

"The person on that carriage, uhm.... that is..."

"The slave."

 

While I was hesitating to say it, he easily did.

I see. So she really is a slave.

 

"Are you going to stay in town for a while?"

"For a week, I've heard. What about it?"

 

One week.

One week, to earn a fortune of 500.000 Rook.

Talk about unrealistic.

 

"That girl... was she bought by someone already?"

"No, not yet. We need to go to the capital to find a buyer. She's a prize."

 

Prize?

What's that about? Does he mean out here in the boonies n.o.body can pay the 500.000 Rook for her?

 

"What, do you want that?"

 

A slave.

A being that prioritizes their master over anything else.

I don't plan to be unreasonable in my demands, but they would always follow me, no matter where I go and what I do.

To be honest? That would be a great help.

 

"... I'm thinking about it a little."

"Do you have money?"

"Not enough to buy her."

 

There's no need to tell him I almost have nothing with foolish honesty.

The unsociable man went pensive for a while and kept his mouth shut.

 

"Oh, well. Just meet the real thing once then, to get into the mood to buy it."

"Eh!?"

"We're renting a room for it at the slavery firm down the street. If you're interested in buying after all, you can also have a look at other slaves."

 

The word slavery firm alone is suspicious already.

Will I really be alright if I go alone?

I'm not going to end up on the wrong side of the cage bars myself, am I?

 

"... I don't look it, but I'm a mage. You'd better be prepared for the consequences if you make a weird move."

"We're not that impolite to customers. Trust is important in business. Make light of it and the firm crumbles."

 

What he says makes sense, but what he does is still suspicious.

 

"Can I go home once and inform them where I'm going first?"

"Of course, I don't mind. I'm going to kill time in the guild for a while. Just come back when you're interested."

 

According to s.h.i.+on-san, I'm worth 500.000 Rook.

Actually, I don't agree with slavery, but... I'm interested, in that girl.

 

 

 

Thus I went home once and informed Aunty.

It goes without saying that she was worried about me, but it seems the slavery firm, contrary to my thoughts, is doing an upright business.

That's what Aunty said.

They also shouldn't do something weird all of a sudden.

Just in case, I checked my own Status.

I got rid of the apprentice.

I need to know what changed.

I immediately noticed the Magic entry and the Skill entry.

 

Skill: selectable.
Attack Magic: Thunder (Proficiency 10)
Support Magic: Heal

 

It really has increased.

Because Support Magic has shown up among the entries, the entry that has been simply Magic so far was differentiated into Attack Magic.

Okay, let's first have a look at the Skill entry then.

 

Latent Potential, Double Cast, Cast Time Reduction

 

I see, so here is where I can finally use the special abilities I had set in the very beginning.

I can select one among them.

In that case, there's not even room for thought what to pick.

 

Cast Time Reduction

 

That's the only option.

Latent has an impressive name, but I don't have the slightest idea what it does.

 

I can pick that later.

I have an idea for Double Cast, but I feel it would be difficult for the current me to utilize.

I think I'll be able to use it better once I've grown a bit.

I selected the skill Cast Time Reduction.

 

Skill: Cast Time Reduction (special)

 

What's this special?

What makes it's so special from a regular Cast Time Reduction?

Time to verify that!

To begin with, let's check the Magic entry.

 

Thunder: no cast time, 10s cooldown (proficiency 10)

 

T-this is...

Cast time.... none!?

It was this strong!?

Even the 10s cast time so far haven't been that inconvenient?

At least while in a party.

Somehow, I get the feeling the road to being the strongest opening all of a sudden...

 

Support Magic: Heal: no cast time, 20s cooldown

 

I can't choose a support magic.

With a healing cla.s.s, I probably would've had a selection.

But Heal, huh.

Isn't it wonderful to be able to heal myself now?

There's no cast time, either.

Well, the 20s cooldown looks like a heavy restriction.

If I use it along with attack magic, I'd probably collapse before the battle's even begun.

But that's it for the moment, I guess?

 

"But with this, I can resist enough if something does happen."

 

If I activate magic, there's no way to hide the light radiating from my body during the casting.

But they shouldn't expect eating a magic attack instantly.

They don't, right?

I'm not normal, right?

 

 

 

Completely prepared now, I met up with the man and went to the slavery firm.

The building is huge, it feels even more imposing than the guild.

They might be hauling in the money.

 

"By the way, what's your name?"

"... Solt."

 

I'm sorry, I can't bear the silence, so I talked to you.

But that's the only question that came to mind.

 

"..."

"..."

 

Maybe I should introduce myself in return?

Now, that's good manners, right?

Manners, precious.

 

"Uhm, I'm Alice."

"I see."

"..."

"..."

 

The conversaaatiooon!!!

Let's try to have a conversation here!!

You're trying to do business here, aren't you!?

If you can sell anything with that arrogant att.i.tude of yours, the uncles and aunties from the shopping street are going to revolt!

 

"... Solt-san, you're pitch black, aren't you. The clothes, even."

"It is so that I can blend into the darkness, for work."

"... I, see."

 

What's with that answer? I'm scared to ask more.

What are you actually working as in the first place!?

 

"..."

"... isn't it dangerous to travel while showing off slaves, like yesterday?"

 

But I don't lose heart!

 

"Well, we get attacked by bandits a lot?"

 

So what?

That's hidden in his reply.

This blackie... just how strong is he?

 

"... right..."

 

When the awkwardness had reached its peak, I was led into a reception room and offered a seat on the sofa.

I quietly accepted.

Blackie did not sit down but withdrew into a backroom.

I was bored so I looked around the room.

There were paintings and vases, carpets were laid out; an awing room.

It really showed off that deals with a lot of money were made here.

 

"I'm sorry for the wait. Oh, what a lovely lady we have here."

 

The eye-patched man came from the backroom.

The atmosphere around him was somewhat different.

As indifferent as possible, I returned his greetings.

The eye-patched man sat down on the sofa facing mine.

 

"Let us prepare you a drink. Would black tea be alright?"

 

c.r.a.p, I haven't learned Squelch[1].

 

"No thank you. Let's get to the point."

"Very well. Solt told me you are looking for a slave?"

"Indeed. I am adventurer, I think a slave to accompany me would help me greatly."

"I see, a combat slave. An adventurer would certainly need one."

 

Need? Why is that?

It's a bad way to put it, but: Since you can just throw them away, it's good to let them do dangerous things?

 

"I'm a mage, so I would be grateful for someone I can leave the frontline to."

"Ohh? A mage, at your age?"

 

The eye-patched man narrowed his eyes, impressed.

Eh?

s.h.i.+on-san wasn't that surprised, so I thought it was normal...?

 

"Excuse me, Miss, but... are an elf?"

"I'm not."

 

How many times does this make now?

What's so special about these elves?

 

"Hmm..."

 

The eye-patched man's other eye didn't look convinced, but he calmed his expression right away.

"I'm sorry for derailing the topic. Let me bring some of our firm's slaves that we can recommend to you, Miss."

"About that, today there is only a single slave I would like to see."

"Hoo?"

 

He was acting surprised, but I'm sure Blackie told him beforehand.

Sheesh, adults are cunning.

Disrupting the flow of the conversation for no clear reason.

Well, maybe I'm trying to speed it up too much.

 

"The one you brought on the carriage yesterday, show me that one."

"Ahaha, you have a discerning eye. Very well, please wait a moment."

 

The eye-patched man rang the little bell on the table and sent someone a signal.

Without a wait deserving that name, the door further in opened.

I'm sure everything's been long prepared.

 

"...excuse us, please."

 

Urged by Blackie, She entered the room.

She is about my height?

Seeing her up close, she really is beautiful.

Her face was almost too pretty.

Her s.h.i.+ning, shoulder-length blond hair is floating around it.

Her green eyes are deep and clear like emeralds, but regrettably they're not s.h.i.+ning.

She is overall lacking liveliness.

From her looks alone, I think she doesn't fall short of myself who borrowed the power of the G.o.d called character creation.

Don't tell me, did she get reborn, too, and lose?

Did she make a perfect character, just like me, and I would've shared this fate if I hadn't met Uncle?

 

"The Miss said she wants to see you. Greet her."

"...!?"

 

The girl who had not raised her eyes since the moment she entered the room listlessly looked up. The moment she saw me, surprise showed on her face.

 

"What are you doing."

"M-my apologies! Ilya is my name. Milady."

 

Her curtsy and greeting have elegance.

It is so natural, they couldn't have taught her in a day or two.

 

"Are you... going to buy me?"

 

I can see the hope in her eyes.

I understand the feeling.

I mean, if I were in her place, I'd also prefer this over some greasy old a.s.s. A lot.

 

"I'm considering it."

 

Alright, what am I going to do.

↑ Squelch: A spell to remove Poisoning in the Dragon Quest game series 26 thoughts on “Chapter 12”

slowmoe782014.10.10 at 16:40

Thanks for the translation. This and OSO help to balance out the darkness from Antimagic.

Reply ↓

reyfista112014.10.10 at 03:59

Thanks for the translation.

I like this series

Reply ↓

Rockmosis2014.10.10 at 02:54

Back again. Just so you (Kadi) know, I put up a few more changes on chapters 9, 10 and 11 as replies to my first set of changes.
Thanks for the translation!

'That’s what I thought, bowed my head once more and tried to go past him.' might be better as 'That’s what I thought, so I bowed my head once more and tried to go past him.' (Added 'so I')

'Does he mean out here i the boonies' to 'Does he mean out here in the boonies'

'“What, do you want that?' needs a quotation mark at the end.

'the slavery firm is contrary to my thoughts doing an upright business.' might be better as 'the slavery firm is doing an upright business contrary to my thoughts.' or 'the slavery firm, contrary to my thoughts, is doing an upright business.'

'do something weird all of sudden.' to 'do something weird all of a sudden.'

'If I activate magic, I there’s no way to hide' to 'If I activate magic, there’s no way to hide'

'But they shouldn’t eat a magic attack instantly.' I think the meaning is supposed to be 'But they shouldn’t be able to cast a magic attack instantly.' but some rewording will be better.

If the above is the right interpretation,
'They don’t, right?' might be better as 'They can’t, right?'

'and came to the slavery firm.' might be better as 'and went to the slavery firm.'

'it feels even more imposing that the guild.' to 'it feels even more imposing than the guild.'

'It so that I can blend' to 'It's so that I can blend'

'What’s with thatanswer?' to 'What’s with that answer?'

'if I hadn’t med Uncle?' to 'if I hadn’t met Uncle?'