STM 193

Could life be a well-written script heading toward a predetermined future? It was that hard to believe that a coincidence would appear right before my eyes when I needed it.

“Do you know what kind of poisonous plant the blood of the sacred land is?”

Baron Owick gave a rare vigorous nod in response to my question.

“Yes yes!”

Wow, she really knew?

She was still living in the Adeye family’s greenhouse, and before coming to see her, I had asked others just in case.

However, the healers and mages I met all said they had never heard of it.

“The-the blood of the sacred land is a name written a very long time ago, so, ah, hardly anyone knows it.”

Baron Owick looked embarrassed yet proud.

Well, she had every right to be proud.

“Th-this plant is especially cherished by Lord Uturainu. He-he wished for the whole world to enjoy it, but unfortunately, it was forgotten for a long time.”

…Enjoying what?

The extinction of humanity?

My vigilance against the Spirit of Poison rose again.

“Come to think of it, I don’t see Lord Uturainu?”

“He… he went back to his hometown. It seemed like he had something happy to do.”

Ah, is it because the Montaine divine beast has returned?

The divine beast itself wasn’t particularly happy, but it felt good to know that even the Spirit of Poison was glad.

Come to think of it, the Spirit of Poison was surprisingly sociable…with that personality?

The question that had flared up like a flame vanished as I thought of other non-human beings. Well, the others were all just as strange.

I was planning to ask about that being, Hyuwik or Huruluk, again if I met Uturainu. What a shame.

“Then, can we get that poisonous plant?”

I was willing to go no matter how far away it was. However, Baron Owick suddenly glanced at me and started running into the greenhouse.

What?

I followed her in surprise, and Baron Owick stopped at one spot in the huge greenhouse and stretched out her hand.

“He-Here it is!”

Where she pointed, there was an abundance of plants covered in pink leaves.

There’s this much?

“Did you raise it for your research?”

“No.”

Baron Owick shook her head and mumbled softly.

“My-My snacks…”

For a moment, I couldn’t believe my ears.

Her face flushed shyly, but I felt a shiver down my spine.

Maybe Baron Owick was the strongest in Tubain?

I was taken aback that I was able to get everything so easily thanks to her.

Tairok had struggled for so long to break the curse but failed, yet suddenly everything started going so smoothly.

It felt as if a stream flowing elsewhere had changed direction toward land parched with despair.

This was exactly why I claimed to Tairok that I could break the curse.

Because I had obtained the ‘blood of the sacred land’ to verify the curse so easily, I had a strong premonition that I would proceed without any obstacles from then on.

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Tap, tap.

With every step taken down the stairs leading to the dungeon, the sound of footsteps echoed through the dark interior.

This was because black magic was swirling like a net even on the stairs, forcing me to move cautiously with each stride.

The stairs were wide enough that there was a safe place to step.

Thanks to that, I was able to safely reach the front of the room where the curse was said to have started.

“While searching for the cause of the curse, I heard that the caster might be inside the castle. They said people turning to stone was due to a curse written in blood. So I searched the dungeons. But this room was different.”

The reason Tairok had mentioned could be understood by looking inside.

This was the only room not covered in a black net.

In the center of the room lay a corpse that had turned into a skeleton.

However, just as Ariona had said, the spell said to have been written in blood could not be found inside the room.

“You mean if I spray this, the spell will be revealed?”

“Yes, probably.”

As I nodded at Tairok’s question, he put down the barrel he had been carrying on his shoulder.

However, he could not bring himself to open the lid and just stared down at it for a moment.

I suppose it must feel strange.

After all, he had lived his entire life focused solely on breaking the curse.

At that moment, I wished I could reassure him by saying things like, “It will be alright,” or “I will definitely break the curse,” but I couldn’t bring myself to speak.

It wasn’t because I lacked confidence, but because I felt I needed to suppress my desires right now, at this very moment. So that I could cast aside emotions like anxiety or greed and pour all my strength into concentrating my mind.

“Lu.”

When I turned around at the sound of the name, I saw Tairok looking at me as if he were asking if he should do it now.

Spraying poisonous herbal liquid across the entire wall was a dangerous and difficult task, but fortunately, Tairok could control water at will thanks to the serpent divine beast.

All that remained was for me to do well.

It was a simple task of reading the spell exactly as it was written, but he said that if I got even a single letter wrong, it would be impossible to lift the curse.

“He said it appears for just a brief moment and then disappear. Please begin.”

And a moment later, blood-red poisonous herbal liquid flowed down all four walls of the prison.

I opened my eyes wide and looked carefully to see where the spell was…

My firm resolve was rendered meaningless, the spell was easy to find.

It wasn’t just easy to find, the spell was densely written on all four walls that had been touched by the poisonous herbal liquid.

This is insane! It would take a whole day just to read this!

However, my dissatisfaction soon turned into urgency.

The red letters that had been revealed by the poisonous herb liquid were disappearing in an instant. I hurriedly took in the entire wall, again and again. But I could only turn my head a few times before the writing on the wall had completely vanished.

“Ha, the one who cast this curse is a real villain.”

I squinted as I looked at the skull on the floor.

“You deliberately wrote it long so that even if the order is revealed, it will disappear immediately and become unreadable. That’s some serious bullshit.”

I couldn’t help but swear.

I clicked my tongue and looked up, but paused at the golden eyes staring silently at me.

Those eyes were unwavering, yet they felt as if they were repressing a certain emotion. However, that emotion was revealed in the voice that flowed slowly.

“Lu, can you do it?”

His voice trembled slightly. I could not even gauge the depth of regret mixed in that short question.

Even with people around him helping, the time he spent protecting Kun and bringing everything to this point while bearing such a heavy burden all alone must have been long and painful. And yet, that was all the emotional turmoil he displayed.

Strangely, I wanted to cry on his behalf.

This moment, finally faced after all that suffering, couldn’t have been filled solely with joy.

So, even though the answer I had to give was short, I just couldn’t bring myself to say it. I looked at him, slowly nodded, and made it clear.

“Of course. I can break the curse.”

He stood motionless like a statue for a while, then muttered briefly.

“Thank you.”

The dry gratitude felt heavy and hot to me. I took a deep breath and gave Mo an order.

‘You saved it, right? Display it in front of my eyes.’

And soon, a long curse spell flashed before my eyes.

I concentrated on the letters and opened my mouth.

Just you wait, you bastard skeleton.‎

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“The spell was damn long. I swear it was a whopping 120,000 characters! That crazy skeleton bastard wrote a whole novel out of a spell. I mean, how can he scribble out a curse spell that long? Does that even make sense?”

I panted as I excitedly vented my frustration.

There was a reason that bastard Hoiga bragged that only he could break the curse.

Unless you take a picture of it and read it slowly, there was absolutely no way to break it.

By the end, my voice was hoarse and I could barely speak, damn it. Finally, Kun’s curse was lifted. It had even been two days. Yet, my rage against the skeleton bastard still had not subsided.

However, there was no one inside Kun Castle to whom I could freely vent my feelings. So, with no other choice, I grabbed a patient and poured out my grievances.

“He said if I got the spell wrong, the whole thing would fail, so I really had to stay alert to avoid making a mistake, I got a headache just thinking about it! We started at night and didn’t finish until morning. Ugh, damn skeleton.”

Doctor Kim, who had barely opened her eyes at my arrival, was too weak to nod in agreement and spoke with her eyes.

Her eyes trembled with a look of sorrow. As expected, she must have been moved by my struggles…

“Hey, you idiot.”

“Who? Me?”

Doctor Kim mustered her strength and unleashed a barrage of words at me, who was shocked by the sudden attack.

“Why did you read that like an idiot?”

“I’m telling you, I have to read that to break the curse!”

Did Doctor Kim turn into an idiot after getting sick?

I looked at her with concern, but her gaze returned with an even more intense look.

“Why were you the one doing it?”

“Then who was supposed to do it?”

“Who else? The nanorobot. If you had just given it permission to use the body for a moment, it would have finished it quickly on its own.”

“……Ah.”

“The reason Hoiga said only he could break the curse isn’t because he remembers it like a photograph, but because if he orders the nanorobot to do it, it reads it out flawlessly in one breath.”

“……Ah.”

I froze, my mouth agape in shock.

Then all my suffering was just the work of a total idiot? Doctor Kim pressed her hand to her forehead.

“I can’t die leaving this idiot behind. I just can’t. Ugh.”

“Well, there’s no need to keep calling me idiot…”

I mumbled, but only received a fierce glare from Doctor Kim.

“No, but anyway, I did well. Because the curse has been lifted.”

“Yeah, good job. You must have aged ten years doing that.”

Hit right where it hurts, I averted my gaze. When the curse was lifted, I felt like I had aged ten years.

“But since the curse has been lifted, Kun Castle must be in chaos, so why are you just loafing around here?”

Well, it really was chaos. Those they thought they might never see alive again were resurrected. However, on the other hand, less than half were revived. Because of that, people shed tears of joy and sorrow.

If it had ended there, I would have stayed, but the next part was the problem.

How could I not run away when everyone was looking at me and praising me as if I were Salvation?

I forcibly shook that memory out of my head and turned my gaze back toward Doctor Kim.

“Loafing around? I was worried you might be lonely, Doctor Kim…”

“Cough, cough!”

Suddenly, Doctor Kim started coughing hard enough to shake her whole body.

Before I could even call for help, the door burst open and healers barged in.

Several people stayed by her side to check on her, but Doctor Kim’s condition did not improve. Because she was in pain from being unable to breathe properly, they had no choice but to put her to sleep with medication. As I watched that scene, I felt suffocated. All I could do was watch.

“Lord Lu.”

Solongo, who had suddenly come to my side, offered a small word of comfort.

“She has still improved a lot.”

Is that it? How much worse was it before? I barely managed to swallow the question and turned away.

“It is thanks to the healing mage named Nuchir that you sent. It turns out he is from the famous Agan family.”

Ah, the starfish’s friend.

“Is it helpful?”

“Yes, it is a great help. Oh, and he guaranteed it. At least her condition won’t get any worse.”

What kind of reassurance was that?

She should at least be able to jump up and run around on two feet looking for chili pepper.

I knew that I should be grateful for her current condition, just like Solongo, but my heart felt heavy. I realized anew that things in the world didn’t always go the way I wanted.

I sighed and replied.

“Then she just needs to get better.”

“Of course.”

Solongo’s voice was firm, she harbored no doubt.

I looked at her for a moment, then nodded. Yes, I had no choice but to trust and be faithful to the present. And now, I quickened my pace to face reality.

Are you returning to Kun?

“Yes.”

I nodded and answered lightly.

Now I must find the divine beast.