Chapter 125: The Curse and the Wizard

Chapter 125: The Curse and the Wizard

Mr. Howell dropped me off on the ground and then went somewhere on his own.

Igni was walking toward the cottage, and knocked on the door to meet up with the other three. Nie opened the door and let Igni inside. On top of the table, cards were scattered everywhere. Looks like the three of them were playing together.

Igni: (Oh, Elina's been losing really bad.......)

Elina: "IーIgni! You came at a good time!!"

Igni: "WhーWhat's wrong, Elina?" Elina: "I can't seem to beat these two no matter what! Please help me!!"

Elina came wandering over to him with teary eyes.

But it was more important to relay to them what Igni learned just now.

Igni: "CーCalm down, Elina. I have some shocking news."

Elina: "Shocking news?" Igni helped Elina calm down, and he spoke to the three about everything he saw with Howell.

Rania: "So you're saying that Yoori is a victim of that [Gu] Ritual?"

It was Rania who spoke first.

Igni: "That would be the case."

Elina: "......I see. That's why Yoori is unable to use Attack Spells."

Elina also crossed her arms as she listened and groaned as she digested the information.

Elina: "Then....I....understand what that human stagnation is saying. I do understand, but shouldn't its resentment be pointed against the people of the town then?"

And Elina quietly stated a great argument.

Rania: "ThーThat is true, but maybe it was easier making Yoori the target?!"

And Rania is not as confident in her answer against Elina's spoken doubts.

Igni: "That's probably correct, I think. I agree with Rania."

Rania: "You can call me Big Sister Rania!"

Igni: "........that stagnation is taking its fury out on Yoori. A classic example of misplaced anger."

Igni completely ignores her.

Nie: "So what should we do to help that stagnation complete its revenge?" Nie was collecting and stacking the scattered cards neatly in a pile as she asked. Igni thought about her question and then expressed his own thoughts.

Igni: "......I'm not an expert when it comes to resolving a stagnation's issue. What do you think, Elina?" Elina: "Hm? Why not just ask it?"

Igni: "Ask?" Elina: "That baby can speak words, right? We can ask what it will do when we bring Yoori along, no?" Igni: "......ohhhh..." Igni: (I see.)

And Igni was impressed with Elina's answer. He assumed that the stagnation would try to kill Yoori if he brought Yoori along, but......what if it had other ideas? Now that she said it, Igni remembered that you can speak to [it].

Then talking to it is one option.

Rania: "Ughhhhh, I don't want to go see that thing again."

Nie: "Elder Sister, I feel the same way too, but I also agree with Miss Elina in this instance."

Rania: "Is there a way to deal with it without meeting with it again, Igni?" Igni: ".......hm? There are other ways."

With Rania's question, Igni pulled out all his knowledge about human stagnation from his memory.

Igni: "But it would be impossible for us. We'll need an expert."

If a Wizard is one who reaches the pinnacle of using Magic Power, then there are experts who specialize in understanding human stagnation.

Rania: "An expert?" Igni: "It would be a Curse Caster."

Rania: "Ohhhh....."

Rania realizes what Igni was trying to say. Igni only knows Miss Valia who is a Curse Caster, and she's currently back at her home for summer break, so he wouldn't be able to call upon her help even if he wanted to.

And Igni does not know of any other Curse Caster friends.

Rania: "Hmmmーー Lil' Sis. You don't know about curses, right?" Nie: ".......yes. My specialty is Spells, Elder Sister."

Rania: "Thought soーー"

She probably wanted to reconfirm. Rania would have been surprised otherwise.

Rania: "Why can't we just blast it with Spells to cleanse [that]?" Igni: "Hm? Ohh, that's because it's a concentration of negative human emotion."

Igni answers Rania's question directly.

Igni has spent a full year cleaning out the sewers, and because of that, learned quite a bit about human stagnation. But even then he's only slightly more knowledgeable than the average person. That's to be expected since it's not his specialty.

Igni: "For instance, if you found someone who had so much hatred pent up inside that he wanted to kill someone, do you think punching that guy would erase his urge to kill?"

Rania: "........hmmmmmm.......I don't think so....."

Igni: "Exactly. It's the same with human stagnation." Rania: "I see now. It's a difficult issue"

Rania raised both arms up in a gesture of surrender.

And silence falls upon the group.

Igni also didn't have any solutions and continued to think this and that when Nie suddenly looked outside the window.

Nie: "........isn't that........isn't that Yoori over there?" Igni: "What?" Nie pointed her finger outside the window. There was someone with white hair sneaking into the entrance of the mines.

Igni: "WhーWhy is Yoori here?!"

Rania: "Come on!!"

Rania jumped up, and Igni agreed to her suggestion.

The four of them practically rolled out of the cottage together as they headed to the mines.

Igni: "...........?! Where is Yoori?!"

Looking inside, Yoori was nowhere in sight.

Rania: "Calm down. All these paths eventually lead to the large meeting room, so we just need to go there!"

Igni: "Understood." Rania spoke up first and led the way. Igni also sharpened his five senses, but he could not pick up Yoori's footsteps. Looks like he's gone quite far ahead. He might even be running very quickly.

Rania: "Let's take a shortcut. This way." Rania spoke again as they walked down the winding tunnels of the mines. As they finally got accustomed to the mines distinct odor and darkness, Igni and his group arrived.

Elina: "...........there."

Elina spoke quietly.

Just as she pointed out, Yoori was there in the large, spacious room inside the mines.

And he seemed to be quite on edge as he looked around for people besides himself.......when [that] came.

Igni: "........let's go."

Igni led the group now and headed to where Yoori was.

[Finally here] [Here, here] [Hasn't changed]

[Changed a lot] [I can't tell] [It's an impostor!!]

The fetus with the abnormally large head. Every inch of its head was covered in mouths and eyes, and an umbilical cord extended out from its body.

Yoori: "........I'm.....here..."

Yoori's trembling voice echoed throughout the hall.

[Welcome] [I'm going to kill you] [I'll kill you first!]

[No, don't kill.] [We're doing a do-over] [That's right, a redo!]

[REDO!!]

And the countless mouths continue to shout whatever they please.

Yoori: "........a redo? Do you mean......you mean you want to redo that?!"

Yoori's eyes open wide in shock.

[That's right!] [I'm stronger] [No, I am]

[Kill right here!] [Kill over there!]

[Shut up, all of you. We'll begin now.]

The next instance, all the voices fall silent, and a bone-chilling darkness covers over the ground, and Yoori's body falls into it.

Igni: "Yoori!"

Igni shouted and leaped forward whenーー

[Intruder!] [Let them participate!] [Participate!!]

[It'll be fun!] [We can kill them] [Kill] [Kill]

[ [ [ Let's begin ] ] ]

And the next moment, Igni's body also fell into the darkness.

No, it wasn't just Igni. Nie, Rania, and Elina who was walking right behind him also fell into the deep shadows as well.

And they opened their eyes as heavy rainfall hit their bodies.

It was nightfall, and a warm liquid continued to rain upon them.

Igni: ".......where are we?" There, they saw countless trees planted against a slope. They were most likely on a mountain somewhere.

[Human Stagnation] so dense and thick that it was hard to breathe. There might have been someone fighting in the distance as they sensed Magic Power being manipulated around them.

Elina: "IーIgni! There!"

And Elina pointed to the thing dimly shining before them ー a giant Spell Inscription.

No......a <Curse Inscription>!

Elina: ".........what.........what is going on here?" But the words Elina mumbled disappeared under the heavy rain.