Breaking the Curse

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"Master."

"Hmm? Oh, Aquaril. What's up?"

I'd just finished washing up at a nearby lake and made my way back to base camp when Aquaril came looking for me. Heh heh heh heh. Would you look at this adorable little bitch. Coming to find ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠me the second I got back — she must have missed me that badly.

"I have something to tell you."

"What is it? Want me to fuck you real quick?"

"....."

I made a circle with my fingers and jabbed my other thumb through the hole. Aquaril's face went stiff. Huh? That reaction was... off.

"I've switched the watch rotation with Oralisa. Tonight, I will be standing watch with you, Master."

"...You switched the rotation?"

This time it was my face that went stiff. What the hell did she think she was doing?

I'd already been planning to educate that idiot Oralisa for putting an arrow through the mask I'd been wearing. If they switched the watch, I wouldn't get the chance. What pissed me off even more, though, was that Aquaril hadn't asked permission. She'd just informed me. A woman who was nothing more than a tool had gone and done as she pleased without even asking.

This fucking bitch... I go easy on her and now...

She was trying to climb right over my head.

"Ha... life is fucking bullshit."

I only had two fairies to my name, and both of them were willful, stupid, and arrogant beyond belief. You really shouldn't reuse someone else's leftovers.

...No. Yeah. This one needs a lesson too.

Come to think of it, I still hadn't done anal with Aquaril. I'd gotten it in, but she'd been in so much pain I'd stopped.

Fuck, thinking about it now is just ridiculous. If you're a fairy, act like a fairy — just present that ass even if it hurts.

This was all because I'd been too nice to her. Fairies were tools. You treat a tool like a tool. I'd been treating her like a human being.

Today I'm going to educate her properly.

I'd teach her a lesson she'd never forget — so she'd never dare climb over my head again.

"Fine. Do that. See you later, then."

"...Yes, Master."

I nodded with a big, bright smile.

Tonight Oralisa would take first watch alone, then Aquaril and I, and last Kanisia and Abraham.

"M-Master... it's time for your watch..."

"Yeah."

When the watch changed, Oralisa woke me. I sat up, stretched, nodded, and walked right past her. I didn't say anything warm. No "good work." Kind words were a luxury a tool didn't deserve.

"...Hic!"

I heard Oralisa sniffling behind me.

Wow! Tools cry these days? The world's really gone soft!

I sat down in front of the campfire. Before long, that arrogant Aquaril came over and sat across from me.

Oh? Now she's trying to put herself on equal footing with her master?

A fairy, sitting across from me. The seat that suited a fairy wasn't across from her master — it was the floor. On her knees. That was how a fairy ought to sit.

How should I educate this arrogant bitch?

I sat there turning it over, wondering how to make sure Aquaril finally learned her place.

"...Master."

"What?"

She spoke up while I was still thinking. Interrupting her master while he was lost in thought. Arrogant, just like I figured. Aquaril looked at me with trembling eyes, then squeezed them shut and opened them again. Her expression was resolute.

"Why... why have you changed?"

"What? The fuck are you talking about all of a sudden?"

"As we've been clearing the Catacomb, Master... you have changed. The Master we knew is nowhere to be found."

"Ha! I've changed?"

A snort of laughter escaped me. She didn't even think about how she'd tried to stand on top of my head — she just claimed I'd changed. Classic double standard.

"I haven't changed. I just figured out how I ought to be treating you."

"Master..."

"A piece of trash that isn't even worth recycling."

"....."

I stood up, pulled a sword from my inventory, and leveled it at Aquaril.

"I knew it. You shouldn't reuse someone else's leftovers."

"....!"

Aquaril's eyes flew wide. I pressed the blade to her throat.

"If you don't want to die right here, get on your knees, you fucking bitch. Today I'm going to teach you your place."

"....."

The look on Aquaril's face... it was the look of someone watching the sky collapse. Deep despair. Deep grief.

"You fucking bitch, looking at me with those—"

...No.

This wasn't right.

What had I just said to Aquaril? To my fairy — to the woman I loved more than anything in this world — what the hell had I just said to her?

Fairies aren't women, they're tools... No! I've never thought of Aquaril and Oralisa as tools!

It was as if a devil were whispering sweet poison in my ear.

"...Master."

Aquaril, looking up at me with those sad eyes, rose to her feet. The blade was still at her throat. She took a step forward. The tip of the sword touched her slender neck.

"If you would just go back to the way you were, Master, I would have no regrets even if I died right here. I could die smiling."

She took another step. The blade sank into her neck. Blood welled up.

"W-wait...!"

If I stayed where I was, Aquaril was going to die. I scrambled backward. But she didn't stop. She kept walking toward me.

"Don't come any closer!"

Kill her.

"I don't care what kind of person you are, Master. If you tell me to die, I will die whenever you ask."

"I said don't come closer!"

Kill her. Isn't she too arrogant? She's ignoring her own master's words. A bitch like that deserves to die.

"But the Master standing here now is different. If you stay like this... something terrible will happen. And that terrible thing will leave a deep wound in your heart."

"I told you not to come closer!"

"I don't mind dying. But I cannot watch you fall apart, Master."

"Y-you fucking bitch! I said stay back!"

Kill her already!

"You shut the fuck up too, you piece of shit!!!!!"

Thuck—!

"...Ah."

I swung the sword. The blade punched through soft flesh and sank in. Aquaril's eyes went wide.

"Master!"

"Ha, fuck... finally some peace and quiet."

She rushed over and caught me.

"Why... why would you do that?! Why didn't you turn the blade on me instead?!"

Aquaril screamed at me through her tears. A fairy raising her voice at her master. Arrogant, as expected.

But...

Not bad.

The only fairy who'd raise her voice for her master's sake was my Aquaril. Yeah, she was arrogant — but she was also precious. And I loved her.

"I'm sorry, Aquaril. I think I lost it for a second. Cursing at you like that... fuck, I really went off the deep end."

"It's nothing. I'm fine, Master. Ah—ahhh... please wait just a moment. I'll bring a potion right away."

"No, it's fine."

Tears streaming down her face, Aquaril tried to go for a potion. I caught her by the shoulder and shook my head. Then I pulled the sword out of my own gut. Blood gushed out.

"Yeah, use it. Use the damn thing. Augh, this fucking hurts."

The moment I used Molt, my head cleared like I'd just woken from a long, deep sleep. At the same time, the hole in my gut sealed shut.

"Haa..."

I let out ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠a long breath and sank to the ground.

"A-Alan?"

"Lord Alan, just now..."

"M-Master..."

"Ah, crap."

I looked around. Kanisia, Abraham, and Oralisa — all of whom had been asleep — were up. Kanisia and Abraham stared in shock at the wound that had closed in an instant. I had a healing skill, sure, but a regular heal couldn't close a wound like that in a single breath.

Great. Another explanation.

I wasn't some drama-magnet YouTuber. Just thinking about having to explain this to Kanisia and Abraham already made my head hurt. But there was something I had to do first.

"Come here, Oralisa."

"Master..."

"Come here. Now."

"...Hic! Hiiing! Master!"

I smiled and beckoned. Oralisa came barreling into me, tears flying, and threw her arms around me. I held that tiny body tight against my chest.

"I'm sorry, Oralisa. I've been way too hard on you, haven't I? I'm really sorry."

"It's okay! Hic! Because of Master... hiiing! Oralisa did get hurt, sniff! But it's okay! Oralisa's heart is as wide as the ocean, so it's okay! Waaaaah~!"

"Pfft!"

Even with great fat tears rolling down her cheeks, Oralisa answered honestly. It was so funny and so heartbreaking I burst out laughing.

"I'm sorry, Oralisa. I was wrong. I never should have treated you like that... I'm really sorry."

"It's okay! Oralisa's okay, Master! Hiiiiiing!"

"Aquaril. You come here too."

"Master..."

I pulled Aquaril in as well, tears still dripping from her eyes. The two fairies clung to me, and I held them both as hard as I could.

"...That's what happened."

"Ugh, my head... I knew something was off about you."

"Mm... I, too, found something amiss."

Sitting by the campfire, I told Kanisia and Abraham that I'd been cursed by the Catacomb's boss monster — Gigaesingwan, the six-star.

"It cursed you without even facing the boss? That's completely broken, isn't it? Ah — that's not the point. Anyway, you're okay now?"

"Yeah."

I nodded at Kanisia, who was looking at me with worry. Using Molt (Lv.3 / Mythic) cleared every status ailment. The curse Gigaesingwan had put on me was just another status effect. Boss monster or not, it couldn't overpower a Mythic-grade skill — the highest rank there was.

"Um... Alan?"

"Yeah."

"How did you break that curse...? Can you tell me?"

"....."

Kanisia asked carefully. As far as she knew, I didn't have a skill that could lift curses. But I'd just gotten rid of one. That meant I was hiding something — and she was being careful about it.

I gave a wry smile and stroked Oralisa's hair. She'd fallen asleep with her head in my lap. The moment I came back to my senses, my precious fairy had collapsed like a puppet with its strings cut. That was how much physical and mental stress my changed self had put her through.

"I can't tell you everything right now... but I have a Mythic-grade skill."

"W-what?"

"What did you just say, Lord Alan? A Mythic-grade skill, did you say?"

Kanisia and Abraham both jumped. Of course they did. Mythic was the highest skill rank there was — and the higher the rank, the harder it was to obtain.

"Yeah. I'll tell you how I got it once we're back in Littleberry. Anyway, the effect of my Mythic skill is that it clears every injury and every status ailment — but only for me."

"Every injury and every status ailment..."

"Hah..."

They both clicked their tongues in amazement. This world had plenty of healing skills. Almost as many as there were status ailments, in fact — one skill for each. If you were stunned, you needed a skill that ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠specifically cleared stun. A burn-heal wouldn't do a damn thing for it. Everyone else had to carry a whole toolkit of healing skills just to cover their status ailments. I covered all of it with a single skill: Molt.

"...Alright, fine. But what do we do from here? You've got a way to break the curse if it hits you. We don't. If the boss puts that same curse on us... there's nothing we can do."

"Don't worry about that."

I shook my head, shutting down Kanisia's concern in one stroke. The system window had given me the details on Gigaesingwan's curse.

As long as everyone else's level was below mine, they were safe.

Gigaesingwan... you're so fucking dead. I'm not going to kill you clean. I'll kill you, and then I'll kill you again. Even if your rank goes up, I'll come back and kill you all over again.

I couldn't contain my rage at the thing that had turned me into a complete psycho. If Gigaesingwan had been standing in front of me right then, I would have torn its limbs off.

Montblanc, you dog-shit bitch.

And my rage reached all the way to Littleberry — to Montblanc. She owned the Catacomb dungeon, and yet the intel she'd given me said nothing about Gigaesingwan being able to cast its curse across rooms, unbound by any spatial restriction.

That bitch Montblanc had left that information out on purpose.