Original subtitles

NORTHERN LANDS, RUINS OF THE KING'S TOMB

Eighteen of you have passed the first stage of the exam.

First of all, congratulations on passing.

I've been told that there is all sorts of

speculation going around

about the exams which I oversee, based on past results.

I'm sure some of you have heard of the rumors.

But there is no need to be nervous.

The exam is very simple.

Those aiming to become a first-class mage

should be able to pass it with ease.

Now then,

here are the details of the second stage.

ORIGINAL STORY BY KANEHITO YAMADA / TSUKASA ABE

The second stage will be a dungeon raid.

I will have you raid the Ruins of the King's Tomb.

There is only one condition to pass.

It's to reach the deepest chamber of the Ruins of the King's Tomb.

I am a pacifist.

So I don't like fighting.

Therefore, all of those who reach the goal will pass the exam.

Wait a minute.

Many adventurers have entered here and not come out alive.

It's an uncharted dungeon.

Do you not want anyone to pass again?

What are you saying?

All of you are aiming to become the highest rank of mages.

First-class mages make the impossible possible.

Whether it is uncharted or unprecedented,

you must conquer it and move forward.

How are we supposed to prove that we made it

to the deepest chamber?

Should we bring back some sort of treasure?

You do not have to prove it.

I will go down there too.

Of course, I won't help any of the examinees.

One more thing. I will give each of you this bottle.

It's an evacuation golem developed by

the first-class mage Lernen.

When you break the bottle, a golem will appear

and carry you out of the dungeon.

It's still a prototype, but it's safe enough.

If used, the user will be disqualified,

but don't hesitate to use it if you are wounded and cannot continue with the exam.

Letting up-and-coming mages die here is not permissible.

Also, at dawn tomorrow,

the bottle will break automatically.

That's the time limit for the second stage.

Well then, the exam begins now.

There are multiple entrances.

It seems to be a dungeon from the Unified Dynasty era.

Dungeons from that era have multiple entrances,

but all of them lead to the innermost depths.

If we examine each entrance,

we will get a gist of its inner workings to some extent.

We can all split up and...

Why are you talking as if we're all going to cooperate?

There is nothing to fight over in this stage of the exam.

It's better for all of us to work together.

That's not possible.

Unlike the first stage, our teammates

don't have to be alive to pass.

Even if we band together, there's no obligation to help each other

and there's even a risk of becoming a sacrificial pawn.

Especially since you seem to be knowledgeable in dungeons.

I'm going alone.

Well, the first stage sure complicated our relationships.

It'll be hard to team up with people you don't know.

Let's go.

Hey, wait.

Idiots.

How do they not see the advantages of cooperating?

Let's go, Fern.

Are you sure, Mistress Frieren?

We can't cooperate.

It's not possible anymore.

Hmm...

Well then, I will follow you two.

I believe you two will be the safest ones to follow to the innermost depths.

Don't get in our way.

I will not get in your way nor help you.

This is the safest route.

Let's move forward with caution while mapping it out.

The floor right there

is a trap, so be careful.

As always, you are so knowledgeable about dungeons.

I wasn't always like this though.

Himmel liked dungeons.

So we did a lot of dungeon raids and took down monsters.

He liked dungeons? What do you mean by that?

Exactly what it sounds like.

According to him, they're exciting.

It's baffling, isn't it?

These stairs lead to the next level.

I see. I guess this was the wrong route.

Let's go back to that fork from earlier.

Let's do that.

But why?

Our goal is to find the monster in the deepest chamber.

When will you learn, Eisen?

In dungeons, you have to explore every corner of a level

before moving on to the next.

That's common sense among adventurers.

No, it's not.

You must be thinking, "How foolish."

If you can have fun while helping others,

isn't that the best?

You can't be like this forever.

Dungeons will become more dangerous down the road.

That's right.

I'll have fun until the end.

I'll enjoy my adventures, explore dungeons,

defeat monsters, find treasures,

and realize later that I've saved the world.

That's the kind of journey I wish for.

Plus...

that fork may lead to a rare grimoire.

What are you doing? Let's hurry up and go back.

What...

It's really baffling, isn't it?

Kanne, let's go.

In the end, only five stayed behind.

If we all cooperated and divided up the work, it would've been

more than possible to successfully raid the dungeon.

We had enough talented people to make that possible.

Denken, not everybody can think logically like you.

Remember what you said at the end of the first stage?

They're just irritated, that's all.

The smarter ones stayed behind.

Just think of it that way.

At least we don't have any

stupid people who would fall for a simple trap like a mimic and slow us down.

Isn't that good enough, Denken?

Someone as stupid as that wouldn't be taking this exam.

Let's go.

This mana...

It might be a grimoire.

Mistress Frieren, didn't you see the results from Mikheit?

It's a mimic.

Fern,

the accuracy rate for that spell is 99%.

What are you trying to say?

Many historic discoveries

were made because of great mages who

saw through the remaining 1%.

As I expected.

There is a precious grimoire in here.

My experience as a mage is telling me so.

It's dark! I'm scared!

So dark! So scary!

It's dark! I'm scared!

Maybe I chose the wrong people to follow.

Don't step on the floor in the middle.

The ceiling will come falling down.

Don't tell me that stain shaped like a human is...

How brutal. It doesn't even leave behind any bones?

They're gargoyles!

Denken, one person got trapped inside.

I know.

She's behind that wall.

Stand back.

It didn't work, huh?

We've no choice. Break the bottle!

Wow...

One person is out of the game already.

Letting your guard down for a second can kill you.

So this is the Ruins of the King's Tomb, huh?

Hey, Fern. Hang on a minute.

Can you stop pulling for a second? I'm going to tear apart.

Okay.

In these situations,

you actually have to push.

Then the mimic will gag and stop biting.

What is it, a dog?

You saved me.

My goodness...

How were you getting by when you were alone?

I would make it explode from inside using offensive magic.

But I don't like doing that because my hair gets fried.

I'm back.

My hair turned into ringlets...

So that's the reason why your hairstyle

would change from time to time?

Why?

All right, back to business.

Let's continue our raid.

They're gargoyles.

Let's take them down before they move.

This medal

is all over the place.

Apparently, some dilettante is collecting these.

This seems like the correct route, so let's go back.

Why?

It's going surprisingly smoothly.

Yeah, that's strange for an uncharted dungeon.

Especially since we should be near the deepest chamber by now.

Either way, we can't let our guard down.

Let's take a break once we find the next burial chamber.

I found some great items.

They look like useless junk to me.

Hmm...

I don't understand.

I know, right?

Why do those things make her so happy?

She's rubbing her cheek against it...

Fern, you are the one I can't understand.

I've never seen a mage as skilled as you at your age.

I'm sure you went through intense training.

But I don't detect any passion or obsession from you.

You're a strange girl.

I became a full-fledged mage in order to repay

the kindness of a certain person.

At the time, it was my goal in life.

I gave it my all.

I never even thought about what I would do after that.

I probably

used up all of my passion

and obsession during that time.

Then why do you

continue to explore magic?

Doesn't Mistress Frieren look like she's having fun?

She does.

The first time I explored a dungeon,

Mistress Frieren was collecting magical items that looked like junk

and was smiling so happily.

I couldn't help but smile too.

I think

I am pursuing magic with Mistress Frieren

because I like seeing her like that.

I think it's time to move on.

I made the right choice in following you two, after all.

I am sure you two

will be able to have fun in this merciless dungeon.

The atmosphere has changed.

We might be near the innermost depths.

Wirbel.

What? You can't walk anymore...

I'm restrained.

There are three mages who are hiding their mana.

We were ambushed.

Really?

Scharf, block their vision.

The spell they used on Ehre is Sorganeil.

I know.

No wonder the Ruin of the King's Tomb was impregnable.

Who knew we'd run into something like this?

Scharf, you target me. Ehre, you target Scharf.

I will attack Ehre.

We'll get past this.

It's a clone made from magic.

A demon or a monster must be behind this.

But I've never seen anyone clone another being so perfectly.

It had the same level of mana and skill as Laufen.

It even copied her behavior.

It's possible that they even took advantage of her memories.

That's a bit unsettling.

The only good thing about it

is that you can tell that it's fake at first glance.

At least we don't have to worry about friendly fire.

If the user of this spell

can manipulate multiple clones at the same time,

it could be very dangerous.

Either way, it was a good idea that we banded together.

We have more options when dealing with these.

Denken, is that something you can deal with?

There's one thing I can say for certain.

If this weren't an exam, I would've already broken my bottle.

All right...

-It's time to call it quits. -You smell nice.

-If we're equally skilled, -What shall we do?

-winning or losing -That's not funny.

-is up to fate. -Look at my eyes.

-It's not impossible? -How much time do you need?

"A Perfect Replica."

Subtitle translation by: Kiko Morita