The Cursed Child (3)
"You want me to transfer my curse to you, Karl?"
Maria's eyes went wide.
It was the first time I had seen her without a smile.
"I need the Curse of Emotionlessness."
Every time Karl's body beheld an illusion, terror locked it rigid. With the Curse of Emotionlessness, that problem might finally be solvable.
Unlike Karl, I could clearly distinguish illusion from reality. That alone reduced how often the phantasms appeared. Even so, an innate curse never truly vanished — not until death. Fewer episodes still meant seeing them several times a day. Every single day, I would face moments when I could neither move nor breathe.
Maria nodded, and the smile returned to her face.
"Hmm. I think I understand. It's because of the Curse of Illusion, isn't it?"
"…I should have asked this from the start. How do you know so much about me?"
From our very first conversation, Maria had already known my family name. Unlike the universally renowned Caligosa ducal house, the Manfred barony was utterly obscure.
"I snuck in at night and read the files on Karl."
"Why would you do something like that…"
"Because Karl is handsome. I got curious?"
She was clearly saying it just to fluster me. She had no intention of giving a real answer.
"You're one to talk, Karl. You seem to know quite a lot about me as well."
"Well, the Caligosa ducal house is…"
"No. Not the family. I never told you I was under the Curse of Emotionlessness, did I?"
"I've been interested in the Curse of Emotionlessness for a long time, so I've researched it extensively. The moment I saw your expression, I was certain you were afflicted by it."
It was a smile that looked, quite literally, like a mask. Even someone with no knowledge of the curse would have felt a chill looking at it.
"Is that so? My expression isn't natural?"
"Not in the slightest."
"Hmm. I didn't know. That's a bit of a shock."
Despite her words, the mask-like smile never shifted.
"You'll end up in the same state I'm in now, Karl. Are you sure you're all right with that?"
"It doesn't matter. Besides, a curse weakens when transferred. It won't be as severe as yours."
A curse was designed for a single, specific person in the world, its formula tailored precisely to that one host. Change the target, and its power diminished considerably. Even if I took Maria's curse, the most likely outcome was nothing more than a somewhat blunted temperament.
"Even weakened, a curse is still a curse. You don't want to live a long life, I take it?"
A curse sustained itself by consuming its host's life force. The result was a shortened lifespan. Stacking another curse on top would only accelerate the drain.
"…I have no particular desire to live a long time."
People only grew uglier with age. That was a thought that might change as I lived. And even if it did, recalling the lore of Luke's Biography, this world had no shortage of ways to extend one's life.
"Hmph. Fine. But do you know how to transfer a curse?"
Don't tell me she knew how to break a curse but not how to move one? In the game, dark mages could undo a formula, but the process was never actually shown. The system handled it automatically.
"Isn't it similar to a curse-breaking ritual?"
"It is similar. There's just one extra step required…"
Maria seemed to consider something for a moment, then continued with a little giggle.
"It's nothing major, but I think it'll be more fun if I don't tell you just yet."
"Can't you just tell me now?"
"Heh. No."
An ominous feeling made me want to hear it immediately, but she was firm.
"So get ready for your dark magic lessons. I'll be back soon."
"…What kind of preparations should I make?"
"Just mental ones. Don't even think about taking notes. If anyone catches you, it'll be a disaster."
"Understood."
Maria rose from my bed and left the ward. She opened the ordinarily locked door in the normal way on her way out, so I never got to see whatever dark magic she had used to enter.
About a week passed.
In that time, I sent a letter to the Manfred Barony requesting my discharge. The reply came from the Baroness Manfred — Karl's mother, and now mine. She wrote that she wasn't sure discharge was truly wise, but since it was what I wanted, she would send someone.
I timed my discharge for tomorrow, to coincide with the arrival of the person from home.
I was walking the corridor toward the storage room. A priest from the sanitarium accompanied me so I could reclaim my belongings.
"Are you sure about this? You do seem a little better, but… I can't help worrying."
"Staying here won't make the curse go away. Even if it's hard, I've found myself wanting to spend time in my hometown."
The middle-aged priestess, Jeina. The other clergy here treated the cursed patients with nothing but bureaucratic detachment, but Jeina was different. She always wore a kind smile and offered genuine encouragement. She had been the only person the original Karl trusted and relied on in this place, before I possessed him.
"Well… it's your choice. I suppose there's nothing to be done. May the Lord watch over you even after you return home."
"Thank you."
The words were kind enough. But if God had truly been watching over Karl, he never would have tried to hang himself. He never would have met the girl who would become the Demon King. He never would have been born cursed in the first place.
Thinking of Maria, I glanced down at the floor. Whether it was my imagination or not, my shadow seemed to twitch faintly.
Maria was inside my shadow. A short while ago, I had opened it for her using the dark magic she had taught me. Her plan was to ambush Jeina once the two of us were alone in the storage room — knock her unconscious, then puppet her body to break the seal. The seal on the box containing the catalyst for Maria's Curse of Emotionlessness. Once the catalyst was out, she would transfer the curse to me, just as I had requested.
Attacking the one person Karl had depended on left me feeling a little guilty.
"Ugh…"
"Karl?"
My shadow rose up, violet light blazing from its eyes. Countless arms stretched out from within it and seized hold of me. And that wasn't all. From the shadows of every person passing through the corridor, from every object placed along the walls — the same arms erupted.
I was swallowed by a throng of grasping limbs.
An illusion. This time it wasn't just terror freezing me in place — it felt as though I were being physically bound.
Not now. This isn't real.
"Karl? Karl? You're seeing illusions again, aren't you? Are you all right?"
"Y-yes… I'm… fine now…"
Somehow I shook the phantasm off and spoke while catching my breath.
"Sister… could you… hold my hand…"
"Of course. Come here."
Jeina's warm, thick hand closed around my cold, bony one. Together we made our slow way toward the storage room.
"Oh, you poor child. Such a heavy trial for one so young. Still, at least the frequency has gone down. You used to see them every ten minutes, remember? It seems you can tell now that they aren't real."
"Yes…"
The Curse of Illusion weakened simply from recognizing that the phantasms were not reality. For most people, who acquired the curse later in life, that wasn't especially difficult. For Karl, who had been born with it and seen illusions his entire life, it had been impossible. If I hadn't possessed him, he would still be buried under his blankets right now, discharge nothing more than a fantasy.
We entered the storage room. No one else was inside. There were countless lockers, but the one with my name on it was easy enough to find.
"Go on and check that all your things are there. While I'm here, I should look something over myself."
"…"
"Karl?"
I didn't let go of Jeina's hand. With what little strength my feeble grip could muster, I held on to her.
I felt Maria signaling from within the shadow — asking if she could come out now.
I sent no reply.
Games had choices. Some of them you didn't even need to pick to know they would screw you over. And yet plenty of people clicked them anyway. Because they were too curious. Because if things went wrong, you could just reload a save.
This was not a game. There was no second chance.
And still, that sweet impulse was hard to resist.
I had always loved assigning meaning to things. If I couldn't dig up the truth sitting right in front of me — then what was the point of being summoned into this world at all?
"Karl? Are you seeing illusions again?"
"You're here to check on the belongings of the Caligosa duke's daughter, aren't you?"
"…What?"
"I know the catalyst for her curse is kept here. You're the one who manages it."
I knew Jeina. She was already middle-aged, so her features matched almost exactly what I remembered from Luke's Biography.
Jeina the Curse Eater. A dark mage who drew power from the corpses of the cursed. She, too, had served under Demon King Maria. Unlike Karl the devil-worshipper, who enjoyed Maria's deep trust, Jeina had been nothing more than one of many low-ranking officers. An early-game boss in Luke's Biography. Back then, she had also posed as a priestess, traveling with the hero Luke's party before stabbing them in the back. She could use holy magic, so of course Luke's companions had fallen for the act.
I didn't know what process would eventually lead Maria to take Jeina as a subordinate. That wasn't what I wanted to know right now.
A girl cursed by sorcery. A curse catalyst sealed by holy magic. A being who could wield both sorcery and holy magic. Was it really a coincidence that all of them had gathered in one place?
Letting this moment slip away felt like an enormous waste.
"I have no idea what you're talking about."
Jeina's voice was perfectly calm — and in the same instant, a butcher's cleaver appeared in her hand and came flying straight at me.