‘They haven’t returned yet.’
Hess casually looked around the empty room belonging to Saya and her subordinates.
An unfinished card game lay on the table, while a great pile of books stood in the far corner.
‘Traces of the Three Idiots and Aike, I suppose.’
Around the room’s finest bed, everything was arranged without a hint of disorder.
‘At that point, Saya’s tidiness is a sickness.’
Even in the novel, there was only one instance late in the story when Saya’s room was not in order.
‘It was in the episode where Saya betrayed Hess and ultimately had her head severed by Hess’s sword.’
Nightmare’s scheme had been meticulous and cruel enough to change even loyal Saya.
‘Even Saya had no way around it.’
Just then, the door to the Hideout flew open with a BANG—!
“Bring every potion! Bandages too! Hurry!”
Saya’s shout came with it.
‘…Something has happened.’
Hess headed toward the sound at a brisk pace.
When he arrived, the Three Idiots had just laid Aike on the floor, where he was trembling and drenched in a cold sweat.
Beside him, Saya bit her lower lip with an anxious expression.
“Saya, what happened?”
“…I’m sorry.”
Saya lowered her head deeply.
‘Aike was injured with this group?’
Even for Aike, the operation had been easy. If so, an unexpected variable must have arisen….
There was no bleeding at all on Aike’s body. He was shaking as though he had caught a severe cold, but it was probably not an illness.
‘Magic is the likeliest possibility.’
After hesitating, Saya slowly opened her mouth.
“It happened so quickly that I did not even see Aike being attacked…. I believe it was poison or magic.”
“How was Aike immediately afterward?”
“He was in this state right away….”
Then it was not poison. The reaction could not have been that fast.
There could not have been a mage among guards who worked for such a pittance, so—
“The target. That vicious moneylender bastard could use magic.”
“…It appears that our intelligence was insufficient.”
The Dark Order’s information network was not one that overlooked such an important characteristic.
‘Then perhaps….’
Hess concentrated and inspected every part of Aike’s body.
Before long, he detected traces of lingering mana left in a distinctive pattern.
‘…So that’s what it was. It’s a good thing I read the side story. A lot of people skipped it because it was a breather episode, but this matches what appeared there.’
Subordinates came running with potions and bandages, but Hess gestured for them all to stand back.
“It is no use. Aike is under a curse.”
“A curse…you say?”
Saya’s brow furrowed deeply.
The Three Idiots were massaging Aike’s arms and legs, not knowing what to do.
“Urgh…. Your big brothers are sorry they couldn’t protect you!”
“We’ll let you join our card game when you wake up! All right?”
While they did so, Hess finished determining the identity of the vicious moneylender who had been the target.
‘The target was a Curse Mage. The kind who hides his power thoroughly.’
Those who worked curses were prime targets for witch hunts, because people believed they brought calamity.
He would never use magic in front of others, and if anyone witnessed it, he would have lived by killing them all.
“A vicious moneylender who was also a Curse Mage. He has done well to live this long without exposing his identity.”
“We should have gathered information beforehand with a Mana Detection Agent…. I’m sorry.”
“It was too insignificant a commission to go that far. Do not blame yourself. There are days like this.”
It was a rather gentle response for Hess, yet Saya still could not raise her head.
That was how important this operation had been to her.
Meanwhile, Hess realized what Aike had been struck by.
‘Saya did not see Aike being attacked… She could not have.’
Aike had been the only one to attack.
“Saya, carry Aike on your back and follow me.”
“Ah, understood.”
It was past midnight.
After leaving the Hideout, Hess began moving swiftly toward the village.
As Saya followed behind with Aike on her back, guilt continued to well up in her despite the difficulty of running.
“I’m sorry. I should have taken the target myself, but I gave him to Aike, who is still inexperienced….”
“Then the one on your back right now would not be Aike. It would be you.”
“…What?”
Aike had succeeded in cutting the bastard’s windpipe precisely. That was what had brought this on.
“It is magic placed beforehand on a fatal weak point. Aike struck it correctly.”
“How could that be….”
It was a rare kind of magic.
It did nothing but curse the person who killed its caster. It had no function that protected its caster at all.
Despite being that sort of magic, it needlessly had to remain constantly cast, continually consuming mana.
It was the sort of magic that made one wonder why anyone would use it.
“He probably had many enemies in his ordinary life. To the point that he needed such magic because he did not want to die alone.”
Fortunately, a curse placed in this way was not very strong. The caster died immediately, so its supply of mana was cut off before long.
“Saya.”
“Yes….”
“Forget what could not be helped. Think only of what succeeded.”
“What succeeded…?”
“The fact that Aike was cursed means that he cut the target’s windpipe precisely. It means you have guided him properly all this time.”
Hess glanced back at Saya, who was running after him, and continued.
“You worked hard, Saya.”
“…!”
Hess had never once told his subordinates, ‘You worked hard.’
‘But there is no other suitable thing I can say to her in this situation.’
Hess gave Saya a hand signal to wait here for a moment, then disappeared into the village.
Following his words, Saya froze in that spot, standing blankly still.
***
Lucy had been sleeping soundly in the basket when a flashing sensation woke him.
The sun had not risen yet, but Lucy realized that something needed doing.
‘That Hess bastard has figured out how to call me.’
Careful not to wake Lloyd, Lucy hung from the doorknob.
After several jumps, Lucy made it outside the inn.
“You’re openly releasing mana now?”
“I need to get a feel for how much I need to control it for you to wake up.”
“You fucked Margaret up yesterday, and today you need something from me?”
“Do not worry. I will not fuck you up.”
“As if I could believe that. Hah-hah-hah!”
Lucy raced after Hess and reunited with a familiar human.
“Hellfire Hair!”
“Lucifer? Hess, even if the cat has learned healing magic, surely the organization’s healing mages are enough….”
“He specializes in curse-type magic. He is a demon.”
Although the probability was very low, curses sometimes left permanent aftereffects.
If someone like Aike had no resistance to magic at all, the chance was a little higher.
Therefore, he needed to be treated well, but the Hideout’s healing mages had their limits.
‘I have never heard of a demon lifting a curse placed on a human, but….’
In any event, he was a demon who knew curses well, and he happened to be a Supporter.
Medicine to a pharmacist, curses to a demon.
“To think that I have to make house calls as a doctor now….”
“It is all for your own good. This one needs to live. That increases the chance that Nightmare will die and you will become free.”
“I feel like I’m being conned somehow…. Fine, so move aside.”
Lucy examined Aike closely.
“Hm, you came to me because you have already figured out what happened?”
“Magic placed beforehand on a weak point.”
“And?”
“A curse was cast on the attacker.”
“And then?”
“The caster died immediately, cutting off the mana supply to the curse.”
Lucy immediately let out a sharp laugh.
“You’re better than most demons, aren’t you? It would be a shame to let a talent like yours rot away as a human.”
“Are you telling me to become a demon?”
“When I become the King of Hell, I can give you a position.”
As Lucy cackled, Hess shook his head and gestured for him to get to work.
Soon, Lucy began infusing mana into Aike.
“Why do humans use this kind of shoddy curse magic?”
“He longs for revenge that much.”
“Magic that activates only when I die? Pfft, revenge only has meaning while I’m alive.”
At those words, Hess fell into thought for a moment before slowly speaking again.
“Lucy.”
“What? Can’t you see I’m busy?”
“Revenge only has meaning while I’m alive. Is that really true?”
“Is that even a question? If I’m dead, what good is revenge?”
As he spoke as though it were obvious, Hess thought of Lloyd, who would be asleep, unaware of the world.
‘Lloyd will die to achieve revenge. Can it really be said that his grand journey has no meaning?’
“Saya, do you agree with what that demon said?”
“I do not. Even revenge exacted after death has meaning.”
Saya’s tone was just as definite as Lucy’s.
“Tsk, tsk. What would humans like you know about revenge? You have something else you like, don’t you? Ah, forgiveness? Go do that instead.”
Saya snorted and replied,
“The Dark Order understands revenge better than anyone. That is our work.”
“You know money well, not revenge. Hess, what do you think?”
“Hmm….”
I had always thought that revenge exacted after death had meaning.
Yet when I looked at this curse magic, the thought that came to me was, ‘Why would anyone use magic like this?’
Of course, I could not place this curse magic and Lloyd’s revenge on the same footing for comparison.
‘…It’s quite a difficult question.’
When Hess seemed to be pondering it, Saya stepped in.
“Hess, you do not need to answer. Do not heed the words of a demon.”
“Hmph, then how about this? When this human wakes up, why don’t we ask him? Seeing how he is reacting to the mana I’m infusing, it seems this guy has done some reading.”
Hess stared at Aike’s face, slick with sweat.
‘I am curious. What would this cool-headed fellow say? Once he has settled down, I will ask him.’
Soon, Lucy’s mana infusion ended.
Aike’s entire body was soaked in sweat, and he had not yet regained consciousness, but his complexion had returned to normal.
“It is done. For now, I have lifted the curse.”
“What is the possibility of aftereffects remaining?”
“I was just about to talk about that.”
Lucy pressed firmly on Aike’s shoulder with his front paw as he spoke.
“This guy showed a faint reaction to the mana being infused.”
“Aike has no magical aptitude.”
“As I thought. Then you know what this means, don’t you?”
When joining the Dark Order, one’s magical aptitude was thoroughly checked. The method was to see whether one reacted to mana.
Those who reacted to mana either had magical aptitude, a curse aftereffect, or were demons.
When he joined, Aike had shown no reaction to mana at all.
That meant….
“…Something that reacts to mana has appeared in Aike.”
“It must be a curse aftereffect. It is impossible for a human to develop magical aptitude that they did not have. I have never seen a human obtain a ‘Demon Trait,’ either.”
Lucy calmly delivered his diagnosis, but Saya’s insides twisted at what she heard.
“Hess came all this way because he wanted to see Aike healed as completely as possible, yet even a demon is nothing special.”
“What did you say? After I worked so hard!”
“Ah~ perhaps I should call you a cat rather than a demon?”
“You bastard! I will rip off your scalp!”
Having grown accustomed to the body of a cat, Lucy now stood on his hind legs and swung his front paws more skillfully than before, but Saya would merely stretch out a long leg and casually bat him away.
It was a fight between a human and a demon, but to Hess’s eyes, it sometimes looked like nothing more than a fight between two cats.
‘…Aike is safe, so it seems Saya’s tension has eased as well.’
Hess looked down at Aike and sighed.
‘A curse aftereffect…. Lucy treated him, so perhaps this is as far as it will go.’
There was no way to know what aftereffect remained or what its activation condition was until they experienced it.
If they were fortunate enough to find out, Aike could live carefully from then on, ensuring that it did not activate until the day he died.
But a curse trait that activated at a critical moment was all too likely to take his life just like that.
‘Lloyd’s swordsmanship training begins as soon as the sun rises, and now there is one more thing to worry about.’
While Hess was lost in thought, and Saya and Lucy squabbled, a red wisp as fine as a single strand of thread slowly seeped from Aike’s limp body before soon disappearing.
No one noticed.