CH 175

Chapter 175

When Peaceful Times Cease To Exist : To The Swamp, Part 13 — The Curse Marks' Mystery

Translated by KaiesV

Edited by KaiesV

「Lanna, how is Alfiris doing?」

But the woman called Lanna did not answer a single word, but only surreptitiously gave Fairtuse an earful.

「Hmm. I was able to give her first aid, but it’s not so good… she’s still very sick.」

「What the hell is wrong with Alfiris?」

Miranda’s question was also plausible. Fairtuse was also thinking about it for a bit, but just shook her head.

「I don’t know all the details.」

「Such irresponsibility!」

「That being said, I never know. But what is certain is that she is tainted by a terrible curse. No, I think it is too easy to simply call it a curse… but that is the closest I can come to describing it. Who was the one who applied the Cursed Marks?」

「She said she did her right arm and her left arm was Aldreus.」

「I see, so they have different techniques. Either way, they are both geniuses. I’ve never seen a technique that complicated. And that’s all Miranda is asking?」

「Alfiris said that Aldreus stopped her magic when it got out of control a long time ago. She said that was the Curse Mark on her left arm, but he has no detailed memory of it, and neither does Alfiris.」

「Hmmm…」

Fairtuse was once again lost in thought. Miranda slowly waits for her response.

「…I honestly can’t say much more without asking the person who applied the seal, but what about this Aldreus person?」

「If I recall, he’s dead.」

「Well, that makes it even more problematic. That Curse Mark is an excellent thing that even repairs itself, but the magic power emanating from within is stronger. In other words, the weight of the pot’s lid is stronger than the hot water spurting out of it.」

「…What should we do then?」

Miranda asks with a serious look on her face.

「I can’t help her. Of course, I could counteract the Curse that would erupt by striking her with holy magic, but the burden on her would be too great. I’m telling you that such a thing could kill that girl, and that this Lanna, a rare user of dark restorative magic in the world, is still doing her best just to halt the progress.」

「You think there’s nothing we can do?」

「Not here. Any other leads?」

「As I recall, Alfiris was told by her master to head east after his death. She didn’t tell me which town, though.」

「Hmm, the East, huh. Perhaps…」

「Does it ring any bells to you, Fair?」

However, Fairtuse never answered Miranda’s question.

「Either way, she’s more than I can handle. Besides, I’ve got other things on my mind.」

「Like what?」

「How many different types of elemental magic can that girl use?」

「As I recall… she said everything but Holy.」

「I doubt it. She can probably use Holy Magic too. I’m the White Witch, I know that much.」

「Eh, then…」

「Yes, that girl shows an affinity for all kinds of magic. That would never happen to a human being.」

Fairtuse speaks as she looks around at everyone.

「There are five elements of magic, each correlated to the other, and Holy and Dark are also opposing attributes. Usually, as the affinity for any one attribute increases, the magic of the opposing attribute weakens. That is Spirit Magic. The Magic Association researched Logic Magic to break that limit, but it usually doesn’t produce much output. Eventually that may be resolved, but the Magic Association lamented that it’s not possible with the current theories. So it’s certainly not impossible that she can’t use all of them, but usually there will be some that she’s not good at. And that girl can use all the attributes almost equally at high output.」

「That does mean…」

「You can guess. At least, I’ve never heard of her. Well, that doesn’t make it any less important, but the other question is takes more weight.」

「One more?」

「The Curse Marks aren’t just those two. There are others.」

「!」

This startled everyone, including Miranda. Euthy almost slid off Lisa’s shoulder and into the pot because Lisa had unexpectedly leaned forward.

「By others, does it mean…」

「A Cursed Mark is a common name. All the marks made by a curse are called so. There are many ways to cast a curse, from good to bad, but the one that she and her Aldreus and many others cast was simply a sealing spell. But the other is…」

「What is it? Don’t waste it!」

「I’m not sure about that.」

Miranda slipped unexpectedly.

「You’ve been holding out for so long and now you’re doing that!?」

「I don’t have a choice, do I? I can’t know what I don’t know! All I know is that Aldreus is a genius, and that there is one more mark of the curse. After all, he was able to decipher Curse Marks that even I, a Witch, cannot understand, and he’s applying more Curse Marks to counteract them!」

「Eh, does that mean…」

「I guess the original Curse Mark was not a good one. Well, that’s all for me for now. I’ll be out running a few errands, but never go near that Lanna, got it!?」

Everyone looks at Lanna. Lanna remained downcast.

「Lanna, let me see a little of your face.」

Lanna nodded her head, and then she shifted her hood a little to the side to show everyone a part of her face.

「Ugh!」

「That…」

「Hiieeeee!」

Her face was rotting. Some of her bones were visible, her face was deformed, and her eyes were completely blocked. The sheer deformity caused everyone to involuntarily turn away.

「Hideous, isn’t it? She got very sick when she was little. She’s had a face like that ever since. She even lost her voice. And yet, even here for Lanna, the swamp people were insistent,『If you can have a child, no problem, give it to us.』They are a race that has an extremely low birth rate for women, so they have to get them from the outside. I have no intention of giving them this Lanna, though.」

Fairtuse shook her head sadly. Lanna just turned over and fell silent.

「So Fair stays in this swamp all the time…」

「Well, that’s not all. Well, now you know what I mean. Well, take the rest of the day off. As long as you’re here, you’re safe. You guys must be tired, you look pretty bad. Lanna will clean up and take care of you.」

「Ahh, I’m in your debt.」

The group was finally able to rest their weary bodies.

＊＊＊

That evening.

「Aaaagh!!」

Alfiris woke up with a cry.

「Urk… What did I do…?」

She thought she had a very bad dream, but she can’t recall it. She have very fragmented memories of what happened after she fought Lifeless and dipped her arm in the river. But what she remember for sure is that she hurt Miranda.

「Oh, my God, I…」

Alfiris cried out with her hands over her face. She had been told so many times that the power of the Curse Mark was dangerous, but she was swallowed up. And to top it all off, she would hurt her own best friend. Miranda is alive because she’s immortal, but what if that had been Lisa or Aerial? Alfiris shuddered as she imagined the sight of herself hurting her dear friends.

「Ugh, I don’t even know how to face them anymore…」

Alfiris mumbles something. She is dazed, perhaps with a fever, and very sluggish in her thinking. However, in her current state of mind, she probably couldn’t even sleep, and at a loss for what to do, Alfiris felt as if someone was calling her from outside.

「Who…?」

Alfiris staggered out of the room with awkward gait. Looking closely, she can see that her clothes was taken off and is dressed in underwear, but that doesn’t matter now. When she left the room, Miranda and the others were sleeping at their feet, but that didn’t bother Alfiris too much. They were all tired and sleeping like mud.

「Nhn, Alfie…?」

Miranda seemed to sense a bit of her presence, but on the contrary, Alfiris left the place as if to escape. And as she stepped outside, the voice calling her seemed to get stronger.

「Is it here…?」

Alfiris starts walking barefoot. Her footing is still a bit dizzy, but she is strangely not lost and doesn’t stumble, despite the pitch-dark surroundings. It was as if something invisible was guiding her.

She wondered how long she had walked before she realized that the road had gone and she was at a cliff-like place. In fact, it may be only a little elevation, but it’s too dark to make out anything. No, it may not have actually been that dark, but she could only assume so, since Alfiris’ consciousness was also fading.

「I… I don’t know what I’m doing here… I don’t care anymore. I just want to disappear from Miranda and the others…」

Then, out of the mud at their feet, a huge creature stretched its neck. This is the Serpent feared by the swamp people, although Alfiris and the others didn’t see it. The darkness and fog made it difficult to see its form clearly, but even just out above the swamp, it looked like a huge serpent, 7 to 8 meters long.

「Are you… going to eat me? Go ahead, I don’t mind…」

Alfiris held out her hands to indicate her willingness to lean in. And as if in response, the Serpent opened its mouth wide.

＊＊＊

「Nhn, nhhn… huh, I think Alfie just passed by.」

Miranda suddenly woke up in the middle of the night. The immortal Miranda was actually not that tired, and the sleep was not as deep as everyone else’s, only a little more painful because she hadn’t slept. She had a dream that Alfiris left here with a sad look on her face…

「No way…」

But she have a bad feeling. She went to the next room just to be sure, but Nia is the only one there. Before she knew it, Lanna was gone too.

「Then, what I just said… everybody, get up!」

Miranda shouted and ran to wake Aerial and others in a hurry.

＊＊＊

「Alfie, Alfie… where are you!?」

「Miranda, relax. She couldn’t have gotten that far.」

「How can you know that! I’m sure she left with regrets… We can’t leave her alone like that!」

「This is where Lisa comes in. Even though the Sensor is ineffective, the soft ground will sink when that big woman walks on it, and if we can trace it…」

「Lisa! Skip the “possible” part, hurry!」

「…There it is, it’s this way.」

Lisa senses the impatient look on Miranda’s face and guides her. Aerial pulls out a torch and runs across the pitch-black swamp. There are probably fiends around, but she wasn’t in the frame of mind to worry about that right now. Even Euthy is following along silently, not complaining about being knocked up.

After a short run, the torchlight shone a little further away, just as the Serpent was about to put Alfiris in its mouth. The monster quickly withdrew into the swamp.

「Ahhh!」

「O–Oh no!」

「Alfie, Alfie—!!」

The cries of Miranda and the others echoed through the swamp, with no way to follow them.