"Finally, something good. But what’s this strange aura around me?" Lucien questioned, scrutinizing his entire body. "And these new clothes."
His levitating body gradually lowered to the ground, and the pressure he felt from within began subsiding, but his clothes remained unchanged.
He approached the men in cloaks to check their pulse, but an overwhelming urge took over his consciousness. Before he could realize it, his hands had reached out for the men, and he dressed himself in the cloak and uniform of one of them.
At this point, Lucien didn’t feel like a player—but a spectator, watching his life play out as planned.
’What was that just now—,’ Lucien thought, interrupted by the crest on his breast pocket.
[Royal Army: Curse Eradicators]
"So there are forces against these curses. Throughout both my lives, the thought never once crossed my mind."
Lucien proceeded to pick the 3 men up and toss them into the storage facility. He picked the lock up and, surprised at its durability, he locked the entrance with it.
Distant footsteps began resounding, the ground vibrating with each march. Not too long after, a squad of men in the same style of clothing as the one Lucien had stolen emerged.
Lucien froze, frightened of the consequences of his actions. ’What should I do now? Take them all out?’ He thought, sweat pouring down his face.
"Soldier! Are you also in search of the 3 missing soldiers? Their Mana suddenly disappeared," one of the soldiers called out.
Lucien looked back at him, confused, although his face was slightly covered by the cloak’s hood.
"Uhh, yes sir. I sensed their Mana depleting and rushed over to check on them, but I was too late," Lucien replied. A deafening silence followed, and the soldiers just stood there, as if trying to process something.
’I checked their pulse, and I’m sure they’re alive. Either these soldiers suspected me and successfully caught me, or the way Mana works here isn’t the same as those traditional fantasy novels I saw in our old library,’ Lucien thought, staring intensely at the soldiers, monitoring every motion they made.
’I have to think of an escape plan soon, before things get bad.’
"Let’s go! Maybe we’ll find the culprit," one of the soldiers commanded, and the other followed.
Lucien hesitated but eventually followed the squad, hoping not to draw more attention to himself. "If anything crazy happens, I can just knock all of them out."
Still marveled by his body’s newfound durability and overwhelming strength, he thought about it continuously, trying to link the demon’s motives with his new awakening.
’A fraction of his power? I’m sure I heard that correctly. What is he plotting by lending me his power, and how does it even work?’ Lucien thought, abruptly brought to a stop by the squad’s sudden halt.
"Spread out, soldiers! We can’t leave our brothers behind! After a few hours, report to the capital immediately," the same soldier who gave commands previously said, and they all executed his commands swiftly.
Lucien followed, but he made sure to maintain proximity to one of the soldiers. He was completely unaware of the existence of a capital or where one would be.
A few hours passed; the soldiers returned with no clues. Their hands fell to their knees, panting as the sun slowly disappeared below the horizon. Lucien twisted and turned his neck around, trying to find any traces of his brethren at the village.
It seemed they had gone, and a long time ago too. Lucien, feeling relieved, suggested they report back to the capital at once. "That way, I’ll understand how the world really is. If this isn’t the capital, I wonder how rich the people there are.
The squad started marching forward, and Lucien followed, holding his hood as the chilling winds grew stronger. Eventually, a tall castle came into view, its apex towering above the heavens themselves.
’I just wish the others could see this,’ Lucien thought, trying to hide his excitement between the oversized clock that covered his head.
At the main entrance stood a sturdy door, too strong to be broken by even the demons. Three shackles ran around it, pinned at separate areas with red, purple, and blue needle-like items. At the bottom was a long folded piece of cloth that seemed decorated with distinct colors in an unusual pattern.
"After spending a year here, it’s still surprising that the rumors about the colors of The Dark Triad from those commoners turned out to be true," one of the soldiers said, lifting his hood and seemingly passing through the door.
"Right? At least they were useful for once," another said, and his body seemed to enter the surface of the door, but his voice was heard soon after within the confines of the castle.
’I’m cursed by a demon, so I hope this works,’ Lucien thought, unbothered enough not to take the words of the other soldiers seriously.
Lucien’s body phased through the door just like the others’ did, and behind him were the 2 remaining soldiers. Lucien was amazed by the sheer number of soldiers relaxing and walking around.
A hundred—No, a thousand or even more all seated in different areas in the castle or standing and chatting. Lucien immediately rushed to a corner, lifted his hood and cloak, and blended in with the crowd.
"Oh hi there, how are you?" he greeted every 10 seconds until he left where the squad that had dropped him off was.
"Where do I even sleep without people having suspicions about me?" Lucien muttered to himself, immediately cut off by his new idea. "Maybe I can take the rooms of one of the soldiers I beat up, and because of their share numbers, they probably wouldn’t notice. They didn’t look like they had friends either."
Lucien took a plate and served himself at the castle’s eating place. "Later, I’ll think of how I can cover up my tracks. But for now, this food is miles better than the shit I ate at the village."
Sweet potatoes, wheat, corn, and some people even ate their faeces after seasoning it whenever their farms had no returns for a prolonged period. They saw the dogs do it and decided to try it as well.
The thought of it always disgusted Lucien, but finally, after a total of around 40 years, he could finally eat real food.