WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: nemui

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◈ The Forgotten Curse Knight ◈

Vol. 1 Ch. 11: Allen's Guess

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Allen watched in silence as Elbert went after Theo on the hill where Theo had run off in tears.

He wanted to go after Theo too, but he felt that would only make things worse.

（...I really am bad at this sort of thing.）

Allen did not want to point his sword at anyone but Termea. Least of all did he want to fight in a way that hurt Theo, if he could avoid it.

Allen Lawrence, son of the Holy Knight Duncan Lawrence, had lived in the Reyel Holy District of Erington until his father left the Holy Knight Order.

Back then, Allen had trained with the Holy Knight apprentices. Because of his talent, people had called him a prodigy.

Allen could objectively observe both his own movements and those of others. He could always adjust his movements into the optimal form. His precision was exceptional, so he could see no point in training that consisted of repeating sword swings over and over.

Why could no one around him manage something so simple? That honest feeling showed plainly in his attitude, making him an unpleasant child who looked down on everyone around him. Needless to say, he became isolated.

Then one day, during sword training, Allen seriously injured a promising young knight apprentice. Allen had been nine at the time, while the other boy had been fifteen.

Allen's mother, Olivia, spoke to him with a stern expression.

"Allen, learn how to control yourself so that your talent does not control you. Whether you live by using that power or spend your entire life without using it, I will respect that choice if it is yours."

His mother neither told Allen to become a Holy Knight like his father nor told him not to.

She taught him that he was free to choose any way of life. That freedom had been given to Allen, and taking responsibility for it was what it meant to become an adult.

After his mother, his father also spoke with an unusually serious expression.

"It is true that you possess greater strength than other people. So at least learn how to control it. Through sword training, understand how much force it takes to break a human body."

That was why Allen had continued training with the sword. Not to grow stronger, but to drill control over his strength into his body.

He was different from other children. Rather than giving young Allen a sense of superiority, that fact had made him feel inadequate. He did not want to become a Holy Knight. He had no particular goal. His days were spent training for no reason other than learning to control his strength.

Then, some time after his father retired as a Holy Knight and returned to Worg, his hometown, Allen met Theo.

The child sitting in the corner of an alley was dressed in such ragged clothes that anyone could tell he was homeless. Yet his vivid blond hair, which had not lost its luster, caught Allen's eye.

Despite standing out so much, the child received no notice from anyone as he stared vaguely into empty space.

"Can you tell me your name? Do you have family?"

The moment Allen spoke to him, long golden lashes fluttered.

As though a cloudy gem had been polished, bright green eyes regained their shine and reflected Allen.

"Do you want to come home with me?"

The boy timidly took Allen's outstretched hand.

Allen still remembered how the warmth of that small hand had slowly warmed his chest.

At that moment, he had thought, I'll do it for this child.

The great power he had been born with was something he had never known what to do with. Then, like a revelation, it struck him that he could use it to protect this child.

From then on, Allen looked after Theo. He had thought of Theo as a precious younger brother.

（...And yet.）

Of all people, he had turned that power on Theo. He had had no choice. That was what angered him.

As he silently swallowed his bitterness, a voice came from behind him.

"Wow. You're strong, boy."

It was Beryl, the Gray Knight, a woman with dark skin and a wrap skirt. She patted Allen on the shoulder as if he were a close friend, then brought her lips close to his ear and whispered.

"An Angel's Grace of the Angel of Destruction, perhaps. It's the type that's good at enhancing physical abilities."

"............"

She was difficult to read. Her easy, natural manner made her approachable, but Allen felt that once she got him talking, he would carelessly reveal what was in his heart.

Allen smoothly looked away.

"Shouldn't you be looking for your companions?"

Apparently, she understood from his curt tone that he wanted her to leave.

Beryl lightly swished her wrap skirt and turned her back to him.

"Well then, maybe this big sister will go look for the lost child."

She looked back once and winked at Allen. She was an attractive woman through and through. Troublesome, but impossible to dislike.

Beryl waved one hand as she headed toward town. Only Allen and Olivia remained on the hill.

"Allen, why did you do such a thing?"

Olivia glared at him reproachfully.

Allen understood that his mother loved him and Theo equally. He had no complaints about that. He thought she was a good mother.

It was not as though Allen was simply putting on adolescent rebellion.

"Theo cannot become a Holy Knight. We must not let him become one."

"You knew Theo aspired to become a knight!"

"If he insists on being a knight, it does not have to be as a Holy Knight."

If Theo truly wanted to be a knight, he could serve a lord or noble family, or become a knight stationed in the countryside.

If he wanted fame, there was also the Royal Feather, a guard infantry regiment as popular as the Holy Knights in Erington. Of course, all of those paths were difficult to enter.

"...You've thought about it too, haven't you, Mom?"

Olivia fell silent. As Allen suspected, his mother had considered the same question at least once.

"It is strange that Theo does not remain in people's memories. Blond hair that vivid should stand out on its own."

That deep blond color was common among Erington nobles and people from the south. Here in Worg, in the central western region, Legato, most people had black or brown hair.

Dull blond and pale blond hair could be seen from time to time, but vivid honey-colored blond hair like Theo's was rare around here.

That was why Allen had assumed Theo was probably the illegitimate child of an Erington noble.

"Even apart from that, Theo works hard, is smart, and never hesitates to help people..."

Honey-colored blond hair. Bright eyes the color of new leaves. Features that seemed spirited, yet carried a certain refinement. Cheerful expressions that changed often.

He worked hard and was diligent. He always tried his best to make people remember him, greeting them loudly and helping those in trouble.

Theo probably believed that he was kind to people so they would remember him.

But as far as Allen, who was only good at keeping up appearances, was concerned, Theo was simply too kind for his own good. He was the sort of person who could not leave someone in need alone.

"Normally, someone like that would stay in people's memories."

If Allen and Theo stood side by side, most people should have paid attention to Theo first.

And yet, for some reason, Theo did not register in people's sight. Or rather, perhaps it was more accurate to say that he was easily excluded from their awareness and recognition.

（There is something unusual about Theo.）

Still, it was probably different from the Three Angels' Grace.

The Three Angels' Grace governed 〈Destruction〉, 〈Regeneration〉, and 〈Creation〉.

Strengthening the body, healing wounds, creating weapons. The direction of those miracles felt different from the something Theo possessed.

Allen had spent years unable to identify that something, but after hearing Beryl speak about Gray Knights, he realized it.

"People like me, whose Curse has stopped progressing, are called Mad Walkers. It isn't like the grace or blessings of the Holy Knights, but by controlling part of the Curse... well, we can do all sorts of things."

"Strengthen our bodies, make the Curse into something like our limbs or weapons, interfere with people's minds... all sorts of things, really."

The moment he heard that, it clicked.

"...Theo is a Mad Walker, isn't he?"

A Cursed person whose Curse had miraculously stopped advancing.

If Theo was one, it was not difficult to imagine why his parents had abandoned him.

"Mad Walkers can apparently use mental interference... Could that power be manifesting in Theo without his intending it to?"

Olivia looked as though she were enduring pain. Conflict. As Allen had thought, his mother must have considered the same possibility. Unlike Allen, Olivia had been a nun and knew that Mad Walkers existed.

"It is true that I have considered that possibility. But it cannot be."

"Why not?"

"Theo has no Curse Sigil. A Mad Walker should always have a Curse Sigil somewhere on their body."

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