Chapter 10
Chapter 10
How to Break a Curse
When I opened my eyes again, I was lying somewhere completely different from the underground bathhouse.
The sticky sensation of the silver holy water was gone, replaced by smooth white marble beneath my fingertips.
The damp, warm air mixed with steam and incense smoke had disappeared too. In its place was a cool, refreshing atmosphere.
Yeah, this place was definitely…
“What the hell? Where am I?”
I had no idea.
Blinking a few times as I tried to process the situation, I shot upright and looked around.
An endless floor of white marble stretched into the distance. Massive pillars rose straight upward as if supporting the heavens themselves, while an arched ceiling towered so high its end couldn’t even be seen. Golden sunlight poured down between the pillars.
Even the Grand Cathedral of the Order looked shabby compared to the overwhelming grandeur of this place.
And outside…
There was a clear sky and clouds spread beneath the floor.
Clouds beneath the floor?
There was no doubt about it.
This wasn’t the human world.
“Welcome to my temple, Trixie.”
The familiar voice called me by the nickname only those close to me used.
Turning around, I saw the goddess herself walking toward me with a smile, dressed in a pure white gown that looked woven from particles of light, embroidered with intricate golden patterns.
“My temple? The Goddess’s temple?”
“That’s right.”
“…Isn’t that in the divine realm?”
“Correct.”
“Oh, damn. Did I drown in the bath or something?”
I vaguely remembered hearing stories about people who fell asleep in bathtubs and died. Surely that hadn’t happened to me too?
The goddess laughed softly.
“Of course not. I merely summoned your consciousness to the divine realm for a short while.”
“That’s possible? I didn’t know a living human could come to the divine realm.”
“Normally, it is impossible. But our little Trixie is very special, isn’t she? Only those with souls pure and powerful enough to endure the atmosphere of this place are allowed to visit. In other words, only Popes and Saints possess that privilege.”
“Oh?”
I glanced down at myself in amazement.
Since she said only my consciousness had been summoned, I expected to look like some translucent ghost, but I felt exactly the same as usual. My appearance and bodily sensations were completely intact.
…Though I had no idea why I was wearing my holy vestments.
“Of course, it would still be impossible without the proper preparations. The scented oil, the incense burner, the holy water bath…”
“And what happens if someone comes here without all that preparation?”
“Their brain overloads, and they become an idiot. If their physical body were brought here as well, they would burn away in divine radiance and crumble into ashes without even leaving behind a soul. Fufu. Isn’t that terrifying?”
“…Could you please stop smiling while saying horrifying things like that?”
So this “bath” thing had actually been insanely dangerous.
If this was so dangerous, couldn’t they at least have warned me beforehand? The Pope, the old man, the goddess herself—seriously?
Still, there was no point complaining about something that had already happened, so all I could do was sigh.
“So, what do you think of the divine realm?”
“It’s bright. Don’t you find living here inconvenient? Feels like it’d be daytime even at night.”
Honestly, the scenery was grand and mystical, but everything was so overwhelmingly white and bright that it felt like my sanity was slipping away.
Anyone living in the divine realm probably needed blackout curtains and sunglasses.
“You are probably the first child ever to come here and say something like that.”
“The scenery’s pretty, but the lighting’s too strong. I’ll give it four stars.”
“…Out of how many?”
“Five.”
The goddess stared at me in disbelief.
Well, it was understandable. A mere mortal was giving ratings to the divine realm.
The irreverent bastard who reviewed heaven itself—that was me.
Anyway, I wanted to get out of this blinding light pollution as quickly as possible, so I decided to stop joking around and ask the important question.
“So why did you bring me here? I doubt this is some divine sightseeing tour.”
The goddess’s expression became slightly serious.
“Because your body had been contaminated. I wasn’t certain before, but now that I can see you up close, I know for sure.”
“Contaminated? My body?”
Contaminated?
How could a Saint’s body even become contaminated?
Well, sure, if someone got assaulted while defenseless, maybe, but I definitely didn’t remember anything like that happening.
“Haven’t you been fighting many beasts under Lust’s command recently?”
“Yeah. Those bastards have been throwing themselves at us nonstop lately.”
“And you didn’t find that strange?”
“Our Order and Lust are mortal enemies anyway. I just assumed they kept targeting us because of that. Personally, I didn’t mind. It meant I got to kill more of them.”
I answered casually.
The goddess smiled softly.
“What a good child.”
“So what’s the problem?”
“The power demons use is called sorcery. And sorcery is always complicated and difficult to understand.”
“Yeah… that’s true.”
I’d fought against sorcery several times before. High-ranking demons and magical beasts used that bizarre power often enough.
And I knew exactly how annoying and bullshit it was.
So I nodded in agreement.
“And the curses that bitch Lilith uses are the worst among all demons.”
“…Huh?”
I stared blankly at the goddess after hearing such vulgar profanity suddenly come out of her mouth.
“That bitch?”
Could those words really have come from the same goddess who always spoke so gently?
“Ahem. Are you surprised? I am still a goddess of battle, after all. Besides, it would be absurd to speak politely about the sworn enemy of our Order.”
“Still, I didn’t expect you to use words like that.”
The goddess looked slightly embarrassed.
And seeing her like that made a certain theory pop into my head.
“Oh? Wait. Is my personality and way of speaking like this because I resemble you?”
“……”
Ever since becoming a Saint, I’d found it harder and harder to control my temper, and my speech had become rougher too. If all of that came from resembling the goddess, then suddenly everything made perfect sense.
So I wasn’t the problem after all. The goddess wa—
SMACK!
“Gah!”
My vision flashed white as stars exploded before my eyes.
I immediately crouched down and grabbed the top of my head.
Now I finally understood why Leonid always reacted like that after getting flicked in the forehead.
This wasn’t something logical.
It was pure human instinct.
“Ughhh… why’d you hit me all of a sudden?!”
“You looked like you were having irreverent thoughts, so my hand moved on its own.”
“That makes absolutely no— hehe, I guess that happens sometimes.”
Seeing the goddess slowly clench her fist again, I immediately changed my tune with an awkward laugh.
…This was unfair.
Violence bad. Boo. Reform the delinquent goddess.
As I grumbled inwardly, someone suddenly came to mind.
…Leonid. So this was how you felt.
I’d try treating him a little more kindly from now on.
“Anyway, what exactly did Lilith do to me?”
I rubbed the swelling on my head while asking in a sulky voice.
“Lilith used the blood of Lust’s beasts that covered your body as a medium to activate a curse. More precisely, she engraved a curse upon your body through sorcery.”
“…You’ve gotta be kidding me. That’s possible?”
My eyes widened in shock.
Getting splashed with monster blood in the Demon Realm was as common as eating breakfast.
And she used that blood to curse me?
How the hell did that make any sense?
“If it’s that woman, it’s entirely possible. Rather than fighting directly, she prefers scheming from the shadows or using troublesome curses and sorcery. A thoroughly underhanded woman.”
“…So what kind of curse did I get hit with?”
“I’m not entirely sure. Even gods have difficulty interpreting Lilith’s sorcery.”
“Then isn’t there no solution?”
If even a god couldn’t understand it, then didn’t that mean there was no way to remove the curse?
I didn’t know what had been carved into my body, but it felt incredibly unsettling.
“Don’t worry too much. The curse Lilith placed on you has already been completely erased through the bath.”
“Oh? That’s possible?”
“Indeed. Let me explain the principle of curse-breaking in simple terms.”
“…Feels like I won’t understand even if you explain it.”
“That’s probably true. Our Trixie isn’t exactly smart.”
“Could you maybe not agree so quickly? I’m smart, okay?”
…That actually hurt a little.
I’m not bad at studying. I just don’t do it.
“A curse is like mathematics, in simple terms.”
“Ah. My head already hurts.”
But I hated math.
I deliberately ignored the dumbfounded look in the goddess’s eyes.
“To put it simply, curse-breaking is reverse calculation.”
“Reverse calculation?”
“Yes. Imagine the number 8 is the final result of a curse. Would you be able to determine what calculation produced that result?”
“Well… no? You can’t tell from the answer alone, can you?”
I tilted my head as I answered.
If someone just gave you the number 8 and asked what calculation produced it, how was anyone supposed to know?
It could be 2×4, or 1×8, or if you really twisted things around, maybe even 2+2×2. (That’s 6.)
“And that is why curse-breaking is so difficult. If you fail to follow the exact process, severe backlash strikes the cursed body.”
“What kind of backlash?”
“No one knows. Anything could happen.”
“Oh. Wonderful.”
The more I listened, the more absurdly complicated curse-breaking sounded.
And if it was a curse from a Great Demon like Lilith, it was probably even worse.
“However, backlash cannot activate if life has already reached the threshold of death. Curses are designed to harm the living, after all. That is why we fixed your body at the boundary of death.”
“…Ah.”
It was an incredibly brute-force solution.
They’d basically put my body into a near-death state just to remove the curse.
“That is why you must always wear your holy vestments in the Demon Realm. A Saint’s body naturally resists demonic energy, but against the schemes of Great Demons, one can never be certain.”
“Ugh…”
I grimaced at her words.
Outside of combat, I almost never wore the holy vestments. And even during battle, I avoided them unless things were truly dangerous.
Because as a man, my pride simply couldn’t tolerate walking around in something that embarrassing.
No, honestly, even women would probably feel embarrassed wearing something like that.
“Don’t make that face. Your body nearly fell victim to Lilith’s schemes this time, didn’t it? The holy vestments would completely protect you from such things.”
“…Fine. I guess I don’t have a choice.”
I answered with a quiet sigh.
…Seriously, I hate those clothes.
But now I had no choice except to wear them.
“Judging by the form of the curse, it appears to activate only when exposed to other corrupt energies. If you simply remained inside the temple, the curse would likely never activate.”
Corrupt energy couldn’t enter the temple grounds.
Just as the goddess said, if the curse required contact with some other power, then hiding in the temple forever would prevent it from activating.
Which brought up one important question.
“Then didn’t we not need to rush this whole bath thing?”
“Do you really think you’re the kind of child who quietly stays put when told to?”
“……”
Fair point.
Unable to argue, I silently nodded.
“The important thing is that someone managed to engrave a curse upon the body of a Saint. You absolutely must not lower your guard, understood?”
“Yes. I’ll be careful.”
I sighed quietly and accepted her warning.
“Now that the urgent matter is settled, I feel much better. There is still a little time left before you must return. Would you like me to show you around the temple?”
“Sure. Sounds good.”
Apparently all the important business was finished.
The divine realm was painfully bright, but getting to explore it was such a rare opportunity that I couldn’t pass it up.
So I followed after the goddess through the temple.
And while walking, I decided to bring up the thing that had been bothering me this whole time.
“By the way, Goddess. Couldn’t you redesign the holy vestments a little?”
“No.”
Wow. That was immediate.
“Why not? Are you saying it’s fine if your Saint dies of embarrassment?”
“Didn’t I already explain? Covering that body is a sin, and as the highest-ranking woman in the Order…”
The same endless lecture about “the beauty of exposure” began all over again.
I listened with one ear while letting it pass out the other.
But as I walked behind her, I noticed something.
A very sharp contradiction.
“Goddess.”
“Yes?”
“You said I’m the highest-ranking woman in the Order. But technically, wouldn’t that be you?”
“That is true.”
The goddess’s dress covered her completely. It was buttoned up to the neck, the sleeves covered the backs of her hands, and the skirt swept across the floor.
The only visible skin was her face and fingertips.
“So why are you all covered up? Didn’t you say women of high status should proudly display their beauty?”
“……”
The goddess flinched and stopped walking.
After hesitating for a moment, she finally answered.
“…Because exposing that much skin is embarrassing.”
…Excuse me?
I stared at her in utter disbelief.
“Then what about me?”
“Hm?”
“Am I not embarrassed?”
“Ah…”
I’d suspected it ever since receiving those outrageously fetishistic holy vestments, but seriously—
“Ahem. It seems it’s already time for you to return. Even a Saint’s soul should not remain in the divine realm too long…”
“Goddess?”
“And there are children waiting anxiously for you to awaken…”
“Excuse me? Would you mind listening to what I’m saying? I think we should have a proper discussion about the design philosophy behind my holy vestments. I’m pretty sure you just said there was still time left.”
“It is time for you to return now.”
“She’s completely ignoring me.”
At this rate I’m going to go full supervillain clown mode, you know?
“Oh, right. There will probably be some aftereffects from visiting the divine realm. Prepare yourself.”
The goddess snapped her fingers.
And at that exact moment—
I woke up back in the underground bathhouse.
“…What.”
I could only stare blankly at the ceiling of the bathhouse in utter disbelief for a long time.