WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: nemui

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◈ The Forgotten Curse Knight ◈

Vol. 1 Ch. 12: The Girl Adrift in Memories

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After parting with Elbert, the hero he admired, Theo ran around the spoil heap. Elbert had healed his wounds with a blessing, so his body no longer hurt. If anything, he felt better than ever.

After running a little more, he would do sit-ups and pull-ups, then practice sword swings. Muscles were important. Whether he was a miner or a knight, there was no such thing as being too strong.

（Besides, I won't get anywhere if Allen keeps pushing me back every time we cross swords.）

When he ran, he paid attention to his posture and breathing. He kept his posture proper and his breathing steady.

Whenever Allen looked like he might leave him behind, Theo would get stubborn and lose his pace. But he was alone now, so he did not need to worry about that.

（From now on... I won't be training with Allen anymore.）

More than frustration, he felt lonely. Allen was his childhood friend, his best friend, and someone like a brother to him.

Allen would go to the Reyel Holy District and take his oath as a Holy Knight. Then, as Elbert's squire, he would probably head for the front lines at the West End.

If that was the case, Theo had to support him.

（When I get home, I'll smile and tell Allen, "I'm rooting for you." It hurts, but a loss is a loss. I'll definitely win next time, though.）

As Theo ran with those thoughts on his mind, he spotted a figure moving near the spoil heap and stopped.

Sometimes people from poor families came to the spoil heap to gather discarded Red Coal scraps. They used them as household fuel or sold them.

The faint shape he could see was small. Was it a child?

"You can't play there! It's dangerous, so come down!"

Even when he called out, the figure showed no sign of leaving. Nor did it seem to notice Theo and flee.

The spoil heap could collapse after long rains. Since it contained Red Coal, even if it was only scraps, it could rarely catch fire.

Frowning at the danger, Theo carefully climbed the spoil heap.

About two stories up the spoil heap, a girl smaller than Theo wandered around while staring at the ground.

She looked about his age. Her white hair had been left to grow wild and did not appear to have ever been combed. Her outer garment and trousers were so filthy that their original colors could not be seen. She clearly looked like a homeless child.

"It's dangerous here. Let's go down."

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

The girl did not answer. Theo grew worried.

He knew there were loving parents like Olivia, but also parents who made their children gather Red Coal scraps.

If children did not bring back enough, such parents sometimes threw them out.

"If there's an adult who'll scold you for not collecting Red Coal scraps, I'll go give them a piece of my mind."

"...Red Coal scraps?"

The girl who had been looking at the ground slowly raised her face to look at Theo.

For a moment, his heart jumped.

The eyes visible through her tangled hair were as red as burning Red Coal.

"...I'm looking for something. A mask."

"A mask? What kind?"

"It's whitish, and it can hide the upper half of my face..."

It was a strange thing to look for. Maybe she used it to play make-believe.

"All right. I'll help you look for it. Did you lose it around here?"

The girl nodded.

"Okay. The weather's getting worse too, so let's find it quickly."

Theo quickly looked around. There was nothing resembling a mask within sight. But if she had dropped it here, it might have slid down the slope.

Theo went a little way down the spoil heap and ran around the area. Carelessly discarded rocks and Red Coal scraps spread across the foot of the heap.

（The things dumped relatively recently should be around here...）

Theo moved the rocks on the ground aside with his hands. He wanted to use a shovel, but whatever was buried might be damaged, so he carefully shifted them by hand.

After nearly an hour of moving rocks, he found a white object unlike any stone.

"Found it...!"

Hearing Theo's voice, the girl hurried over.

When she saw the mask in Theo's hand, the girl let out a disappointed, "Ah..."

The white mask had been carved from wood, polished, and painted. It was split cleanly in two near the center.

Theo cautiously spoke to her.

"Was it important to you?"

"...Not important. Necessary. It's better if I hide my face."

Plop. Plop. Raindrops struck the ground.

They were large drops. With the air this damp, it would soon become heavy rain.

"Let's take shelter from the rain! This way!"

Theo took the girl's hand and rushed into one of the mine's side tunnels.

The coal mine had countless side tunnels. Some connected within the mine, while others did not. Theo knew every one of them exactly. Naturally, he also knew where mining was being done that day.

Theo had chosen a side tunnel where all the Red Coal had been extracted, so they would not get in the miners' way.

"I think rain like this will stop soon."

Even when Theo spoke to her, the girl did not answer. She stared blankly outside.

From the first time he met her, she had seemed vaguely absentminded. Her eyes were unfocused, making it hard to tell where she was looking.

"Um, could you be feeling sick?"

Maybe that was why she seemed so out of it. Anyone would grow absentminded from exhaustion and hunger.

The mine tunnel was not a place with good air, so if she was unwell, they should move somewhere else.

But the girl kept looking outside and gave a small shake of her head.

"I'm not sick."

"I see. You just seemed kind of absentminded..."

"There's an important memory I don't want to forget. So unless I'm working, I keep replaying it in my head."

Her white eyelids closed over her red eyes.

It was as though she were shutting out the world to block out information.

"I'm not very smart, so I forget things quickly. I keep thinking about what I don't want to forget. Again and again."

"Have you tried writing it down? Keeping a diary, maybe..."

With her eyes still closed, the girl slowly shook her head.

Her profile was as beautiful as a doll's, yet somehow lonely.

"I can record the words I was given, but I forget the voice and appearance. They keep fading and blurring. That makes me very sad."

"...I see."

That memory must have been an irreplaceable treasure to her.

That was why she kept turning it over in her mind. Like holding it tight in both arms because she did not want to let it go.

"Whoever gets to be remembered like that by you is lucky."

The words slipped out, a true feeling that had fallen from the depths of Theo's heart.

After all, people always forgot him. They acted as though he had never been there.

The girl's almost compulsive attachment to not forgetting was something he could even envy.

The girl blinked slowly and looked at Theo.

Her red eyes, which had looked vivid outside, were like a red-black swamp in the dim tunnel. He could not see the bottom.

The eyes looking at Theo swayed.

No, the ground beneath his feet was really shaking.

（A cave-in!?）

Miners were sensitive to tremors. Theo immediately took the girl's hand and headed outside.

Rain was still falling lightly, but that was better than being caught in a cave-in.

Once outside, he saw the other miners evacuating as well.

Theo and the girl had been relatively close to the entrance, so they were fine. But he worried about those who had gone deep inside. If a cave-in had truly occurred, they would need help.

Just as Theo thought he should tell the girl to go home and help the miners himself, Gatto's voice, the mine foreman's, echoed from deep in the tunnel.

"Termea! A large Pain Tail! Everyone, runnn... Ghk!"

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