Chapter 30
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 30
Chapter Title: The Cursed Relic
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"Uh... If it's the tulip garden, just head out that way and follow the path to the right all the way."
"Got it. Good work."
Problems within the Cascadia County were one thing, but the royal palace was outside my sphere of interest, whether it involved scheming or infighting.
If I had any intention of getting involved, I would've sorted out the king's issues from the start.
Still, I couldn't just let his rude attitude slide.
Kwajik...
I slipped a bit of my death spirit mana into one of his magic circles.
Just like wedging a foreign object between gear teeth.
If he didn't notice, that guy would never dream of reaching five circles.
At least he still had enough sense not to make a fool of himself in front of others.
"Eup... Urp... I'm gonna die, for real."
I clicked my tongue while patting the back of Melissa, who was vomiting her guts out in a secluded spot.
Now that she was the countess, she'd been schmoozing with as many nobles as possible—especially those who hadn't allied with Tibel Cascadia—to build her faction.
Chatting and clinking glasses with dozens of them had led to this mess.
"Alright, catch your breath. This might sting."
"Hup!"
I stimulated her detoxification ability with my aura, like injecting medicine with a needle, and she groaned, staggering.
"Ugh... S-stop!"
"No can do. Can't have a countess going around puking and embarrassing herself. Rumors like that, and you'll never get married. Come on, one more time."
"Hngh!"
She tried to squirm away from me, but I held her firm and infused more aura.
"Mp... Urp..."
She resisted as best she could, but soon clamped her mouth shut—only to hurl again anyway.
"Hoo... Hoo... This is no way to treat people."
"Believe me, I know."
"Kyaa!"
Smack!
I swatted her back and asked.
"You done?"
"Yeah. Let's head to the inn, rest up, and head back to the county tomorrow morning. I'm beat."
She wobbled along, apparently having made some good connections.
"Leon, you didn't cause any trouble while I was gone, right?"
"You're the one who's trouble waiting to happen. Quit yapping and hop on."
"Have you lost your mind? What's with the sudden niceness?"
Before she could protest, I hoisted her onto my back. She struggled at first but soon went limp from exhaustion, no more resistance.
"You know... you're surprisingly well-built."
"Think so?"
"Yeah. Thought you were all skinny and scrawny..."
To her, I was just the guy we always fought and tormented each other over.
But did she know? To me, Melissa was more than a little sister to tease—she was the final pillar I had to protect at all costs.
I slowly looked up at the sky.
The night sky in this world was worlds apart from my previous life's.
Stars so dense they lit up the night like daylight.
Gigantic planets floating as if physics meant nothing, ringed with bizarre halos of light.
It felt like looking up from Earth to see Saturn dominating the night sky.
And yet, tides, gravity, the size of animals and humans—countless factors matched my old world perfectly.
As if the laws of gravity had been tossed aside, yet this continent somehow blended various rules to mimic Earth's environment.
With Melissa asleep on my back from fatigue, I strolled leisurely.
Mu-yeong, the shadow wraith wolf born from a monster, popped out of my shadow and darted around like it had been waiting for a walk.
Despite its origins, its antics made it look no different from a puppy begging for affection from its owner.
Invisible to others anyway, I didn't bother stopping it.
"Maybe a short detour."
I'd planned to return to the carriage and go straight to the inn, but the beautiful night sky stirred something sentimental.
-Woof!! Arf arf!!
That's when it happened.
Mu-yeong, who'd ventured into the garden woods, rushed back with something in its mouth.
"What the hell is this? I told you not to pick up random crap."
This guy had fetched Parel's soul before—who knows what junk it'd grabbed now.
It promptly showed me the black stone-like thing in its jaws.
"What is this? An artifact?"
No way—it hadn't nabbed a royal palace defense artifact, had it?
"Hey! Spit it out! Come on, spit!"
At my shout, it spat without hesitation.
Messing with this could land me with royal assassination charges.
Absolutely not.
"Put it right back where you—hold on."
The barrier over the palace seemed fine, so replacing it shouldn't cause issues.
I was about to order Mu-yeong to return it when...
Something eerie entered my vision.
[Hostile mana detected.]
"Huh. Figures."
This wasn't a barrier artifact.
[Presumed to be a curse doll.]
It was a method you naturally picked up learning death spirit magic.
The medium and structure matched curse magic perfectly.
I unceremoniously dropped Melissa off my back.
Thud!!
"Ack!!"
She yelped at the sudden impact, rubbing her butt.
"Ow ow! What the hell, you psycho?!"
"Hey, Melissa."
She glared up at me, scowling.
"What! Why! I thought you'd finally lost it when you gave me a piggyback..."
"Why's this in the royal palace?"
I picked up the curse doll from the ground and showed it to her.
"What is it?"
"A people-killing tool."
A rather sophisticated curse medium, at that.
Melissa stood and eyed the object I'd held out.
What, can't you tell?
I stared at her, and she coughed awkwardly.
"Ahem! Uh, it does look like something, but where'd you get this?"
"Found it on the way."
She made a face at "found."
"You found it?"
"More like it found me."
"And how'd you know it's a people-killing tool?"
"With death spirit mana configured this maliciously? Obvious."
Death spirit mana split into two main fields: life force and grudge energy.
This curse doll brimmed with vicious grudge energy alone.
"How do you even... Sigh. Never mind."
She'd long given up trying to understand me.
"So, what happens if it's here?"
"Not sure exactly. Jumping to conclusions from fragments is risky. I'd have to investigate directly, but honestly, it's a hassle."
"A hassle? Be real—is it just lazy?"
"Caught me."
She let out a disbelieving chuckle.
If this turned up in House Cascadia, I'd tear the place apart to investigate.
But one key fact couldn't be overlooked here.
"Not just lazy, huh?"
"Weird, right? This ends up in my hands out of nowhere in this situation."
Trap potential.
"Yeah. Could be. If it's really a curse harming people, they might pin attempted assassination on you."
"Exactly. Gotta check the target and if it's activated already."
Hard to tell from the medium alone. I'd need to trace the full path and see for myself.
The issue was this world's knowledge of death spirit magic and curses.
My death spirit magic circles numbered five—slowed by a unique method that didn't spin fully.
"Still, let's check it out. Can you?"
After some thought, Melissa decided to investigate.
Her call? I'd adjust course accordingly.
"Not hard."
I tossed the curse doll into the air.
And lightly flicked my hand.
Purple magic circles bloomed around it, suspending it midair.
At the same time, a circular purple array spread from my feet, runes spilling out like ribbons to wrap the doll once more.
Fwaah!!
Linked to curses, I wedged death spirit mana into the gaps, resonating and hijacking control bit by bit.
Like simple hacking.
Slipping into remote mega-magic systems to steal control or info.
A trick I'd used plenty.
Hell, I'd reverse-stolen opponents' magic with it often.
Though I'd reached the pinnacle of death spirit magic before, my current level topped at five-circle spells.
Aware this world's death spirit magic differed from mine, and my arsenal was limited, I'd approached cautiously.
"What the...?"
"Problem?"
"Nah, too easy?"
"Huh?"
It was like they'd left the door wide open on purpose.
Playfully, I floated the curse doll's magic circles in the air.
And tweaked them to my liking—like coding.
"Look at this. Poke it and it crumbles. What, not even a cookie?"
"Leon."
"Quiet, concentrating."
Despite my nonsense, she asked patiently.
"When'd you learn magic?"
"Recently."
Her eyes narrowed.
"How many circles, for reference?"
"Five, for now."
"Unbelievable. You know five circles is just below archmage, right? Sword aura was wild enough, but magic too?"
"Fortuitous encounter."
"What kind of encounter jacks you up to that insane level?!"
I knew six circles meant Sword Master tier—archmage realm.
Equivalent to Sword Master for swordsmen.
By raw scaling, Sword Master was harder, but magic? No talent, and even one circle could take forever.
Soon, the array fell fully under my control.
I extended death spirit mana to map the whole structure in miniature.
"Done."
"Ooh, cool. Looks like a spider."
"More relays in the palace. All connected, easy to find."
"And that?"
She pointed to where the mediums converged.
The spider's body.
"Curse target, probably. No clue who they're trying to kill or why go this far. Easy to dispel—no need to hunt the rest; I can stop it now. It'd just be a discarded rock."