The Curse That Kept Me Silent Was Lifted
The party was holding a celebratory banquet for those who had helped defeat the Dark Withered Tree.
People laughed and chatted with pure joy over the gift of life.
Yet Megus and the others sat with faces that remained infinitely dark.
Under the bright lights and festive atmosphere, their gloomy expressions stood in stark contrast.
In the end, Edgar Frost had never personally felled the monster.
No matter what the truth about the curse was, he had no reason to bear it.
‘ But… ’
The image he had shown everyone still resembled those chained to the abyss-like curse.
Thinking back, even then…
*
[Is this some kind of sudden misunderstanding?]
[Huh…? What do you mean?]
On one day of the journey to slay the Dark Withered Tree.
Megus had stared at Edgar with contempt in her eyes.
While Edgar’s expression, when answering, revealed only darkness and hardship.
Breathing through the pain inflicted by the curse.
Back when they had set out, he had been diligent and brave—picking out the right items from the carts and helping them navigate between the corpses.
At some point, he had started slipping away, trailing behind with slow steps that dragged on the others’ heels.
Then the accumulated stress finally exploded, and that was exactly when it happened.
[Why are you acting so lazily all of a sudden? Were all those good impressions you showed us at the beginning just acts?]
[Ah… that’s…]
He carried the full weight of the four curses.
But revealing the truth meant death.
It was a situation Edgar could hardly answer.
Since Megus had no way of knowing the facts, she could only lash out at him.
[Of course it shouldn’t be rushed, but it can’t be too late either. The longer we delay, the more people suffer. You knew how important this was, didn’t you?]
At the time, Megus had pressed her irritation down as she asked.
Even as the image of the good man he had shown at the start began to fade.
Out of respect for the companion she had traveled with for so long.
[Yes… you are entirely right.]
Edgar had known the whole group felt dissatisfied.
Yet he could not offer a single excuse.
To him, making excuses was the same as death.
Therefore, it was only natural that his heart had rotted with gloom and anger.
The healing by holy power had only been applied a few times at the very beginning.
It was such a waste to spend it on someone who did not even fight in battle.
Such a precious mercy wasted on a mere complainer.
[What exactly do you want? Why are you acting so lazy? We can’t just abandon you…!]
[…I’m sorry.]
All Edgar could say was that he was sorry.
But that very obviousness had only fanned Megus’s anger.
[Stop just saying you’re sorry! Come on! If you want something, say it! Just sitting there with your head down like some coward—does that solve everything?!]
Whoosh! Megus turned her back on Edgar as if she could not bear to look at him any longer.
Then she vented the rage she could not suppress.
[Ugh…! I’m so angry! What is it that you’re trying to do by acting like that?!]
[Let’s think simply. You probably just wanted to get a share somehow. Even if you didn’t participate in the battle, you could have gained fame and wealth by holding out to the end.]
While Megus stomped the ground with furious steps, Olivia answered with a twisted smile at the corner of her mouth.
The contemptuous smile was not aimed at Megus, but at Edgar.
[Whoosh…! Is that really your aim?]
Only then did Megus calm herself and ask calmly.
She and Edgar were far apart.
[I think so. The plan to enjoy honor and a big haul in such a safe place.]
[Then what about the reason you first stepped forward?]
[It was because it seemed worth a try. Now that stronger monsters keep appearing, I was scared and didn’t dare.]
[Now that you mention it… it makes sense.]
[Right? Either way, we should be grateful that you at least carried our loads. Even if you only watched from afar, it was still a dangerous path.]
[…Tsk!]
Yes, it was a dangerous path.
That was why no one had stepped up.
Megus clicked her tongue while recalling that dismal reality.
Because of the stress of having to drag along such a worthless man to the very end.
[But why does that man keep chewing on herbs? Are herbs that delicious?]
After her anger subsided, Megus took herbs from her pouch, watched Edgar chewing them, and asked.
She had noticed he had started doing this recently, and it was strange.
[I don’t know. But thinking about it, we paid for them with the rewards we earned…]
[Ah, never mind. Let it go. How much do herbs cost? If we accuse him of stealing money because of them, we’ll look cheap!]
Edgar’s actions and mere existence had been a source of dissatisfaction, yet they had been overlooked.
Because the reality they faced required him.
*
Late at night, after the banquet had ended.
Megus went to find the vice-chancellor’s room in the palace.
She wanted to resolve one question that had suddenly come to mind while recalling the past.
[Can the curse of the monster really be shouldered by another person?]
[Yes. I was wondering if such a case might exist.]
Edgar Frost had never personally slain the monster.
Yet he showed the same symptoms as those who had received the curse.
This could only mean he had shouldered the monster’s curse in place of them.
The entire group, including Megus, had reached that conclusion.
The vice-chancellor, facing Megus, stroked his chin for a moment in thought, then slowly answered.
[You, the seeker, may already know, but there are still some unclear aspects regarding the monster’s curse. We only know through experience that the one who kills the monster receives its curse.]
[Yes, that’s right.]
[So I cannot give you a definite answer… but I do not believe it is impossible. In fact, I find myself thinking it might be possible.]
[Ah…!]
The vice-chancellor had merely affirmed the hypothesis.
But to Megus’s ears, it sounded as if he had concluded it could happen.
That was why she had unconsciously lowered her head in a sigh.
The vice-chancellor looked at Megus’s shadow under the bright magic-stone lamp and tilted his head in puzzlement.
[Could it be… that someone planted this idea in your mind?]
[Eh? No… not at all.]
Yes.
But the word “no” actually came out of Megus’s mouth when she tried to answer “yes.”
She feared revealing the hypothesis that had arisen in her head.
[Thank you. It is late… I apologize for troubling you.]
[Eh? Ah… yes. Please be careful when you enter.]
[Thank you.]
Megus left the vice-chancellor’s room with her shoulders slumped.
The vice-chancellor’s eyes, watching her back, were filled with questions.
‘ Really… really?’
She still had not received a clear answer.
It might simply have been a delusion.
Yet somehow, the thought that it might be the correct answer refused to leave her mind.
Thud. Megus lay on her bed in the dark room, staring at the ceiling with dazed eyes.
Despite having no strength left in her body, sleep did not come.
Even though she had been terribly tired from the banquet and all the restless thoughts.
Tock.
[Megus. Are you inside?]
That night, while she could not sleep, someone else knocked on the door.
It was Lora, who had received the greatest shock among the four.
Megus slowly sat up and answered.
[Um… yes. Come in.]
[I’m sorry for intruding.]
Before the permission had even been given, the door opened, and Lora appeared in her flowing nightclothes.
[Reveal it.]
As Megus looked at the ceiling and spoke, the dark room instantly brightened.
The orange magic-stone lamp hanging from the ceiling lit up and turned off with a voice command.
[Sit.]
[Yes.]
Under the bright light, Lora sat first at the table.
Following her, Megus slowly walked toward the table and took the seat opposite Lora.
[Late at night… what is it?]
Normally she would have served a cup of tea, but the night was too deep.
And she was extremely tired.
That was why Megus had gone straight to the main point.
But even as a saintess, that was what she had hoped for, so she had spoken after a moment of waiting.
With no trace of displeasure.
[Seeker-nim. If it is really true… what should we do? If that porter is shouldering our curse and still has not revealed it…]
Everyone who approached the hidden truth had suffered without exception.
Megus had been no different, and Lora was no different.
Even now, Riel and Olivia, who could not sleep in their beds, were going through the same thing.
[Well, I’m not sure. After all, we don’t even know for certain whether our thoughts are correct or not. It might simply be a misunderstanding.]
[That… that’s right? Just a misunderstanding?]
Lora’s voice trembled weakly when she answered.
She was trembling with fear like someone standing on the edge of a cliff, clinging to an empty hope.
That was why she did not want to admit the cruel deed she had done.
Admitting it meant the world was about to collapse.
Admitting it meant she was about to fall from the cliff.
[I hope that… is the case.]
Megus’s answer was filled only with anxiety and doubt.
She had no real certainty.
She had simply wished it might be so.
[…So that’s it.]
Megus, who had once been so confident, had become so defeated.
The possibility of “maybe” weighed heavily on her shoulders.
Instead of hearing the truth from the vice-chancellor.
Instead of ignoring it like someone with earplugs in.
Instead of saying “it’s all over anyway, so it’s fine.”
The late regret and the thought of “what if” weighed down the air inside the room, making it heavy and stuffy.
Within that suffocating swamp of despair, finally someone spoke.
With a glimmer of hope in her eyes.
[Then… why don’t we just ask him directly? If it’s that man, he should have the answer.]