WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: nemui

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◈ The Forgotten Curse Knight ◈

Vol. 1 Ch. 16: The One Who Spread the Curse

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Theo woke up somewhere that was clearly not home. He was in a bed in what appeared to be an expensive inn.

He recognized the wallpaper and decor. It was the inn Elbert had used. This was not the same room where Theo had once had his injured hand treated, but it was probably another room in that inn.

The moment Theo regained consciousness, he sprang up and lined up his daily routine and schedule in his mind.

It was Theo's habit to go over the day's plans first thing in the morning. He also made a point of remembering Allen's schedule. Otherwise, careless Allen would forget it right away.

He would wash his face after getting up, get dressed, train for about an hour, then eat and head for the mine...

At that point, Theo covered his face with both hands.

He was not at the Lawrence home, but in an expensive inn. He was still caught up in something outside his ordinary life.

"Meu."

A cry came from near Theo's feet as he sat up in bed.

A white ball of fur was rolling around on the bed.

（The ball of fur that came out of me...）

The sword and shield that had manifested then were gone, but the ball of fur was still cheerfully rolling over Theo. It really was a bizarre creature.

（Oh, it has eyes, at least.）

As Theo vaguely watched the ball of fur, a voice spoke close by.

"Good morning, Theo."

Theo turned around with a start.

Elbert was sitting at the desk beside the bed. He stopped writing and looked at Theo.

"Lord Elbert..."

"If you're in pain, you may lie back down. You used that much power, so it must have put a great strain on your body."

Theo glanced out the window. It was probably still morning. There seemed to be an unusual number of military police among the people on the street, giving the town a tense atmosphere. That was likely because of the appearance of the large Termea.

When a large, powerful Termea appeared, smaller Termea sometimes gathered around it.

"If you'd like, would you eat?"

Elbert took bread, boiled eggs, cheese, and other food from a paper bag on the desk and laid them out before Theo. Then he picked up the pot sitting on the table.

Theo panicked. He could not let the hero Elbert wait on him.

"Lord Elbert, I'll do it."

"If I make a child who collapsed and was laid up do work, the Angel will scold me."

"Ugh..."

"Those granted Angel's Grace are expected to have all the more spirit of service. So don't worry about it."

Elbert poured tea from the pot into a cup and offered it to Theo.

Theo quietly thanked him and accepted the cup. Perhaps it had rained last night, because the morning was a little cold for March. He was honestly grateful for the warm tea.

"...Would you like some too?"

Theo spoke to the ball of fur, but it cried, "Meu," rolled off the bed, then rolled back and forth across the floor. It was probably playing. It did not seem dangerous, so Theo decided to leave it alone.

As he drank the refreshingly scented tea, Theo recalled what had happened yesterday.

Meeting the hero Elbert and the Gray Knight Beryl. His duel with Allen over the position of Elbert's Squire. Searching for a mask with a girl named Carla. Then encountering the large Termea.

Theo moistened his tongue and throat with tea, then asked what had concerned him most.

"How badly was the town damaged...? What happened to Mom and Allen?"

"Part of the mine and town collapsed, and there were injuries, but no deaths. Every person who became Cursed was freed from the Curse before turning into Termea. Mrs. Olivia Lawrence also had the blessing of Regeneration, so nearly all her wounds have already closed."

Theo let out a breath of relief, set the cup on the table, and folded his hands in prayer.

"Thank you... for saving Mom... and everyone at the mine."

When a Cursed person's entire body was consumed by the Curse, they turned into a Termea. Once that happened, they could no longer be saved.

If Olivia and the miners had turned into Termea... that was what Theo had feared most.

Elbert spoke gently to the grateful Theo.

"The damage was kept to a minimum only because you and Allen fought so hard. Let me thank you. Truly, thank you."

His admired hero had thanked him. It was a deeply joyful and honorable thing.

But Theo had a reason he could not simply be happy.

He had only been able to hold the Termea back because of that power.

"I was... a Mad Walker."

Among the Cursed, Mad Walkers were those whose Curse had miraculously stopped progressing and who could turn their Curse into a weapon.

Theo had not become a Mad Walker when the large Termea pierced his chest yesterday.

"While you were asleep, I examined your body a little. You have a Curse Sigil on your chest, don't you?"

Theo lifted the front of his shirt.

Directly above his heart, a reddish-black pattern had emerged. Unlike a Curse Mark, which merely stained the skin unevenly, this mark formed a pattern. It was the Curse Sigil, proof of a Mad Walker.

"That Curse Sigil appeared yesterday, correct?"

"...Yes."

"Beryl said that you likely had a Curse Sigil in your heart even before this."

If the Termea that planted a Curse died, the Curse vanished. A Mad Walker should be freed as well.

But even though the Termea that pierced Theo's chest yesterday had died, the Curse Sigil remained in Theo's chest.

"The Curse Sigil that was already there was probably drawn to the surface of your skin when you were struck by the Termea yesterday."

"It is a rare case," Elbert added modestly.

Theo pressed a hand to his chest over his clothes. There was no change in the heartbeat beneath his palm. Yet now he somehow understood that a Curse Sigil had truly been carved into his heart.

In other words, Theo had been a Mad Walker since before Allen found him five years ago.

And the Termea that had planted the Curse in Theo was still alive somewhere.

"You said that people around you had difficulty remembering you. That is probably because you are a Mad Walker. Some Curses affect the minds of those nearby."

Now Theo understood why his parents had abandoned him.

It was because he had been a dangerous existence carrying a Curse.

"Curses that interfere with the mind do not affect the Blessed or Mad Walkers as easily. That is probably why I, Beryl, and your family could recognize you."

I see. Elbert was Blessed. Gray Knights such as Beryl and Carla were Mad Walkers. Every member of the Lawrence family, including the late Duncan, was Blessed.

"I've been..."

Theo murmured, then could not continue. His eyes burned.

"I've been spreading a Curse among the people of this town all this time..."

A tear rolled down his cheek along with a bitter laugh.

Only now did he fully realize it. His own foolishness. His ugliness.

"I cursed the people who were kind to me. And still, somewhere in my heart... I resented them, thinking, 'This town won't remember me'...!"

Ah, Worg, the mining town that was the home of my heart.

Why did you forget me? Why could you not remember me? Why did you leave me alone?

...He had thought that for so long, without knowing that he himself was the cause.

"Theo."

Elbert called Theo's name. This kind hero surely understood.

How special it was for Theo to be called by name.

"There is only one way for a Mad Walker to be freed from their Curse. Find and kill the Termea that cursed you."

"...Yes."

"For that reason as well, you must face your own power."

Hearing those gentle yet sorrowful words, Theo understood what would happen to him.

Beryl had said that Mad Walkers joined the Gray Knights, but she had not said what happened if they refused.

A Mad Walker's Curse had miraculously stopped progressing for now, but no one knew when it might spread through the whole body and turn them into a Termea.

That was why Beryl and Carla were forced to wear Collars (chokers).

"...What will happen to me?"

"You will be taken to Grandrium, the capital of Erington, and registered with the Gray Knights."

"...And if I refuse?"

Elbert closed his eyes once, then opened them.

Theo hated it. It made him sad that he had forced his beloved hero to say something so cruel.

"Mad Walkers who refuse registration with the Gray Knights are, depending on the severity of their Curse, to be confined by the Holy Knight Order or exiled to an island."

Island exile was the second-heaviest punishment after execution. In a time when Termea attacked from the sea, being exiled to an island was the same as being isolated and waiting to die.

The moment Theo became a Mad Walker, he had no choices left.

"Does a Gray Knight need a surname?"

"...No. It is the opposite. Gray Knights are not permitted to use surnames."

Ordinary knights and Holy Knights always required a surname when they were knighted. If they had no surname, their lord would grant them one, or they would be adopted into a family to obtain one.

But the Gray Knights were a collection of troublemakers who were knights in name only. Therefore, they did not need a surname to bear. It was said that some were even cast out from their homes and stripped of their surnames.

（Ah... That's a relief.）

That way, he would not tarnish the Lawrence name.

Theo smiled, even as he felt like crying.

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