The Price of a Curse
A long time ago. Back when I was a young man who had just graduated from medical school in 21st-century South Korea, I went on a camping trip with a few close classmates for our graduation trip. During that trip, one of my peers had said something like this:
— "I think this firesteel is defective. It won't spark."
— "You idiot. Who tries to scrape a spark against raw, green wood?"
— "What are you talking about? It's camping, so obviously I have to light the wood. Where else am I supposed to light it?"
— "Gyeongjun, do you really think wood that was just snapped off a tree is going to catch fire? If it did, why would the concept of fire-prevention forests even exist?"
— "What's a fire-prevention forest?"
— "Sigh, damn it. Forget it. How on earth did this guy pass the national licensing exam?"
The guy in charge of the fire had prepared firewood that was nothing more than branches he’d snapped off a tree in front of the campsite that very morning. Naturally, fresh, green branches snapped off just that morning wouldn't catch fire. Thanks to that one fool, our group almost ended up unable to eat the meat we had prepared. Fortunately, thanks to a kind-hearted newlywed couple at the neighboring campsite, we were able to trade some meat for their charcoal.
'What’s even more absurd is that the guy was the son of a barbecue restaurant owner.'
It was a truly ridiculous incident. And the reason I suddenly recalled that memory was because I could compare the current situation to that one.
Magic, in the end, is not much different from science. The fewer the conditions or symbols available, the more mana is required to trigger a spell. It can be compared to how it takes more mana to cast fire magic in a humid place. Curses are the same. The higher the mana of the target being cursed, or the more sacred their status, the mana required for the curse increases exponentially. The reason black mages prefer the plague curse is closely related to this.
Just as disease visits people regardless of their status, the plague curse is unaffected by the target's position.
'It’s just that the concept of total immunity hasn't been discovered yet, which is why this is happening.'
Considering that even basic hygiene concepts are lacking, it’s a natural conclusion, if one can call it that.
It seemed this was the reason Belgian, a 2nd-Circle mage, had specifically chosen the plague curse. The title I held, "Angel of the Brothel," could act as a sort of sacred status. On top of that, using smallpox as a catalyst for the plague was a highly efficient choice. Even in my past life, smallpox was a brutal disease, so much so that it was used as a biological weapon. The problem was that he didn't know we were immune to smallpox.
'Because I secretly vaccinated everyone.'
The first thing I did after opening the clinic was to administer smallpox vaccinations. Modern medicine, after all, requires smallpox prevention as a prerequisite before discussing anything else. The method was cowpox inoculation. I secretly applied cowpox pus to the arms of every patient who visited. By the way, the reason I did it secretly was that in this world, if I explained the cowpox method honestly, I’d be branded a black mage and burned at the stake. They say it’s easier to ask for forgiveness than permission, don't they? I’ll get the permission later, once I’m more famous.
And Eri and Wangcho had also acquired immunity to smallpox in this way.
'I was curious how the plague curse would affect someone with immunity, but I didn't think I'd find out like this.'
I thought this while looking at their skin, which was as smooth as ever, not at all like people who had just been cursed. To be safe, I even had Eri check.
"Do you feel anything strange from me?"
"Nope? I feel healthy."
Okay. So it wasn't even an incubation period. Only after receiving that confirmation did I make eye contact with the black mage in the distance, who was staggering from mana motion sickness. The look of panic in Belgian's eyes was evident.
"What on earth did you do...!?"
"Who knows."
"Please, I beg you, tell me! How did you dispel my magic!?"
Dispel. It refers to a phenomenon where, if the conditional statements of a spell are inserted incorrectly, only mana is consumed and the magic fails to trigger. Taking fire magic as an example, to trigger the spell, one must accurately input the humidity and temperature into the formula. If the margin of error is too large, mana is consumed but the fire doesn't ignite; this is called a dispel. And in battles between mages, there exists a technique to neutralize an opponent's magic by exploiting this phenomenon. By disrupting the conditions or environment the opponent overlooked, one prevents the magic from triggering in the first place.
"Tell me, Teacher Schnabel! Do you possess some black magic knowledge I am unaware of!?"
Belgian seemed to be under the firm delusion that I had performed that dispel. In reality, it was just that a single condition—immunity—had been coincidentally added.
"Please—"
"Wangcho. Shoot."
I didn't answer Belgian's plea and handed the gun to Wangcho. Wangcho pulled the trigger without hesitation.
Bang!
The muzzle of the revolver spat out blue flames. The silver bullet left a blue trail in the night air as it headed toward Belgian.
"Gah!"
Belgian’s body was blown to the other side of the alley. A red flower bloomed on his shoulder where he had collapsed.
"Oh, I missed. My apologies. I'm not used to handguns."
"It's fine, Wangcho."
The reason I told Wangcho to shoot instead of Otto was because the opponent was a 2nd-Circle mage. Since I didn't know what kind of defensive measures a 2nd-Circle mage might have, I had Wangcho, a 1st-Class superhuman, pull the trigger.
"I never thought Wangcho would be able to finish him off in one shot from the start."
And Wangcho's role wasn't to finish Belgian off. It was to significantly weaken him.
"Otto."
Bang!
A follow-up shot for the finish was fired immediately. Another blue trail headed toward Belgian. But the second bullet didn't reach him.
Splat!
Black liquid erupted from Belgian's shadow like a fountain, swallowing the bullet. The liquid that had swallowed the bullet then engulfed Belgian himself, disappearing into the darkness of the city.
"Damn it!"
Wangcho clicked his tongue in frustration. "They say you should catch a lion in one shot, don't they? It leaves a bad aftertaste when you let a 2nd-Circle mage get away..."
"I think it will be fine."
I said, trying to soothe the disappointed Wangcho. "You hit him once, so there's no need to be so regretful."
"But he's still alive."
"It’s a bullet that can leave even a 4th-Circle Count-level powerhouse with permanent disabilities if hit incorrectly. Even if he survives, he won't be a threat to us anymore."
The ability of the silver bullet wasn't just to neutralize magic. When this bullet hits a mage, it injects holy power into their mana circuits. This holy power remains in the mage's mana path like a blood clot in a vein, interfering with the casting of magic for the rest of their life. Furthermore, holy power isn't naturally expelled, so the only way to remove it is to join the Church and learn holy magic. The problem is that the Church would never teach holy magic to a black mage. In other words, Belgian had effectively become a constitutionally incapable of casting magic for the rest of his life.
"For all practical purposes, he's dead as a mage."
He might be able to study magic in some back room, but he would never be able to fight in the battlefield or the back alleys again. Therefore, I didn't think Belgian, who had fled into the darkness, would be a threat to us anymore.
"If that's the case, then that's a relief."
Even so, Wangcho smacked his lips as if he were still unsatisfied. He returned the empty pistol to me. I put the gun away and walked to the spot where Belgian had been standing moments ago. On the muddy ground where the black liquid had swallowed him and vanished, a worn, thick leather notebook lay alone.
I crouched down and picked up the notebook, which was stained with mud and blood.
"Huh? What’s that?"
Eri, who had been trotting along behind me, tilted her head as she looked at the notebook.
"It's a grimoire."
"What's that?"
"A mage's cheat sheet. You have one too."
"This?"
Eri pulled a crumpled piece of paper from her pocket. It was a scrap of paper filled with notes she had written to memorize exception handling. I nodded as I looked at it.
"If that counts as a grimoire, then I suppose you could call it one."
"Then what’s written in that guy’s grimoire? Is it something like forbidden knowledge...?"
"There's no such thing."
Just because it’s a black mage’s grimoire doesn't mean it contains anything particularly more profane than other mages'. It just contains the secret methods they use to memorize their incantations. It’s like how people memorize the periodic table of elements by saying 'H-He-Li-Be-B-C-N-O...'
"On top of that, it probably contains the research results Belgian discovered."
"Eh? Then why carry something so precious on his person? Wouldn't it be better to keep it safely at home?"
It wasn't me, but Wangcho, who answered Eri's question.
"You're a kid who studies magic, and you're saying such relaxed things?"
"What did I do?"
"Hey, no matter how talented a 2nd-Circle mage is, how could they cram all those complex conditional statements and incantations into their head? Each formula has dozens of variables attached to it."
Wangcho pointed at Eri's grimoire. "You can't even memorize those, can you?"
"Uh... I guess that's true."
"Tsk. How lightly are you taking magic?"
Wangcho took a pipe from his pocket and put it in his mouth. He didn't light it; he just chewed on it. "Usually, mages only memorize one or two spells they are most confident in, and for the rest, they carry a book under their arm and read it to recall them each time. That's why those who can fire off various spells without a book are called Archmages. You're an aspiring mage, and you don't even know that?"
At Wangcho's explanation, Eri tilted her head. Then, she whipped her head toward me and pointed a finger.
"Eh? Our teacher writes them down on the blackboard smoothly without even looking at a book, though?"
"A-a genius might be able to do that for about five..."
"It was thirty! He even told me I should memorize at least this much!"
At Eri's revelation, Wangcho's gaze slowly turned toward me. I shrugged and nodded. Who am I? I did a three-year course in three months... Anyway, a genius. Wangcho's expression soured as he recalled that fact.
"Damn it. Isn't it unfair to have that face and that brain? Please, let him be three centimeters shorter."
"...?"
"It's nothing."
What was that? I think I just heard a nasty curse. Wangcho unnaturally turned his gaze away from me. Instead, he settled the situation by giving Eri a light rap on the head with his thick fist.
"Ouch!"
"Kid. There's a reason they call a genius a genius."
Wangcho cleared his throat and finished his explanation. I shifted my gaze from them back to the notebook in my hand. It was the precious research journal of a 2nd-Circle black mage. It would be a lie to say I wasn't curious. But checking the contents would have to wait.
"For now, let's head home."
It feels like I've been getting off work later and later these days. I stopped Wangcho and Eri, who were still bickering, and hurried on our way home.
"Otto, you should get ready to head up too..."
That was when it happened. Cough! Suddenly, Otto began to cough incessantly. Cough! Cough! He was shivering like an aspen tree. At the sight of him suddenly starting to cough, Eri and Wangcho slowly put some distance between them and him.
"Could it be..."
"The curse..."
I immediately ended their anxiety. "That can't be..."
Otto had definitely received the vaccination from me. There was no way he could have caught the curse... Ah.
"Otto."
"Yes, *cough*."
"Take sick leave for the time being."
"Yes?"
"I said go home and rest."
Come to think of it, Otto was the only one whose vaccination was late. I remember he kept putting off getting treated by me, saying he was a bodyguard, and only managed to get it a few days ago. When he returned after recovering his scarred face, I was barely able to secretly vaccinate him under the guise of a check-up. That was about four days ago. In other words, he was the only one among us who hadn't yet developed immunity to smallpox.
"Could it be... the curse..."
"It's not that, it's probably just a bad cold."
Because he encountered the curse before his immunity had settled, it seemed the symptoms were appearing slightly. It would be much milder than for someone who hadn't been vaccinated. It probably wouldn't be life-threatening. Still, he would suffer as if he had the flu. Considering it was a curse from a 2nd-Circle mage, it might be a little worse than that. Naturally, in this case, there was no answer other than natural recovery. That was why I prescribed sick leave for Otto. But it seemed Otto didn't like my prescription.
"I am fi... ne..."
Thud. He couldn't finish his sentence and collapsed. I sighed as I looked at my bodyguard and driver who had fallen onto the cold stone floor.
"Wangcho."
"Yes. I'll lend you my contact artifact. You should rest at the restaurant in the meantime."
Sigh. I wonder if he's really a bodyguard.
A few hours later. We were finally able to head home with the butler who had come down after receiving our message.