WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: nemui

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◈ The Forgotten Curse Knight ◈

Vol. 1 Ch. 18: Theo

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The moment someone grabbed his arm and shouted from behind him, Theo's eyes flew wide open.

Large tears spilled from them.

Allen had called him by name. He remembered.

In this town where everyone had forgotten Theo, Allen alone remembered him.

"Ah... ugh... w-waaaah!!"

Tears poured down Theo's face. He dropped to his knees and looked up at Allen.

Tall, drooping-eyed, and always wearing a gentle smile, Allen was Theo's childhood friend who could casually be sharp-tongued. Now, he looked at Theo with an expression as though he were enduring pain.

"Allen... Allen! Waaaaah... waaah...!!"

Allen knelt before Theo as he sobbed on the ground. He had always done that. Whenever Theo crouched down in despair, Allen would kneel to meet his eyes.

Sniffling, Theo grabbed the hem of Allen's clothes. He knew it was childish. Even so, he did not want to let go of someone who knew him.

"No one remembers me... Not even Mom, Olivia...!"

The miners he had worked with, the children in town he had played with, even his beloved mother, all of them had forgotten Theo.

The despair that had made him repeatedly ask why, why was caused by the curse Theo himself bore.

As Theo pleaded in broken fragments, Allen spoke quietly.

"I remember. I remember the day I found you, Theo."

"Yeah..."

"When you were little, you loved high places. You were always climbing all over Dad. You liked anything Mom cooked, but your favorites were meatballs and mushrooms."

Allen usually spoke slowly and gently, but now he was speaking unusually fast as he talked about the past.

"You loved books, and you got incredibly angry when someone treated one carelessly. Whenever you put a book back on the shelf, you were as careful as if you were laying a baby in bed."

"Yeah..."

"When you were younger, you always spoke so stiffly. It took you a while to loosen up. You'd imitate Dad's way of speaking or blurt out dirty mining jokes without even knowing what they meant, and then Dad would get an earful from Mom..."

"Yeah..."

"Your dream was to become a knight, and you always worked hard at sword training... But maybe you don't fully understand how to use your body. Or maybe you overestimate how big you are."

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

"Your legs are shorter than you think they are, Theo."

"J-Just because you're tall...!"

"There. You're starting to sound like yourself again."

The way Allen smiled with lowered brows was the Allen Theo knew so well.

"Theo."

Once Allen saw that Theo's tears had settled a little, he bowed his head while still kneeling.

"I'm sorry I hit you so hard yesterday."

Yesterday. He must have meant the duel over the position of Elbert's squire.

Right after the duel, Theo had not understood Allen's intentions and cried his eyes out. But now he understood.

Theo wiped his tear- and mucus-streaked face on his sleeve and looked at Allen.

"You heard Beryl talk about Mad Walkers and realized that I was one too, didn't you?"

"...Yeah."

"That's why you tried to make me give up on becoming Lord Elbert's squire."

Allen nodded faintly, his face openly bitter.

"I could tell right away that Mad Walkers have a terrible lot in life."

Beryl had smiled as though it were nothing, but a Mad Walker could turn into a Termea at any time as their curse progressed.

They were naturally fitted with collars and placed under the supervision of Holy Knights. On top of that, they were forced to fight Termea as Gray Knights. Allen must have immediately seen the reality of it.

That was why Allen had tried to get Theo away from it. Though even if he got away, the fact that Theo was a Mad Walker would not change.

"Theo, I'm going to become Lord Elbert's squire and aim to become a Holy Knight."

"What!?"

Allen had proposed the duel to keep Theo away from Holy Knights and conceal that Theo was a Mad Walker.

But Theo had already been exposed as a Mad Walker. There was no reason for Allen to become a Holy Knight.

Even so, Allen spoke in his usual manner.

"Because if I become a Holy Knight, I'll have more chances to fight Termea, right? ...If I kill the Termea that planted the curse in you, you'll be freed from it."

Theo's face crumpled at Allen's words.

Allen had said he had no intention of becoming a knight, yet he was saying he would become a Holy Knight. Only to save Theo.

"Allen... You don't need to become a Holy Knight for me. This is my problem..."

"Theo."

Allen sat on a log used as a seat and gestured for Theo to sit beside him.

When Theo slowly sat down, Allen looked up at the spoil heap ahead of them and began to speak.

"Let me tell you an old story. When I was little, I lived in the Reyel Holy District... I used to train alongside children preparing to become Holy Knights."

Theo had heard several times that Duncan, Allen's father, had been a Holy Knight and that they had lived in the Reyel Holy District until Duncan retired. As the son of a Holy Knight, Allen must have had great expectations placed on his future.

Allen's eyes turned from the spoil heap and looked straight at Theo.

"While I was there, the other children really hated me."

"Because you had a bad personality? ...Ow!?"

Allen raised his arm and flicked Theo's forehead with a sharp smack.

The pain rang through his skull. Theo leaned back, clutching his forehead.

"I'm Blessed, remember?"

"Yeah."

Everyone in the Lawrence family was Blessed. Olivia possessed 〈Regeneration〉, while Allen possessed 〈Destruction〉, the same blessing as the late Duncan.

"I actually have two blessings."

"What!?"

"〈Regeneration〉 from Mom and 〈Destruction〉 from Dad. Well, my 〈Regeneration〉 isn't that strong. I can't heal other people with it."

Still holding his forehead, Theo stared with his mouth hanging open. The shock drove back his tears.

If a parent was Blessed, the same blessing could appear in their child. Allen was exactly such a case.

But it was not common. If anything, it was rare.

At present, there was only one person in the world with three blessings: the hero Elbert Randolph.

There were probably fewer than ten people with two blessings. The Holy Knight Order would desperately want someone with that kind of talent.

"Th-That's incredible!"

Theo swallowed the words, Why didn't you tell me!? before they could escape.

Allen's refusal to show off that power was surely the result of Olivia's upbringing.

No matter how exceptional someone's strength was, Olivia would never approve of them flaunting it.

"Having two blessings greatly enhances your physical abilities... Back then, I seriously injured a knight apprentice six years older than me during training."

"Back then, you were..."

"I think I was around nine."

That meant the other person had been fifteen. And as a knight apprentice, they must have trained quite a bit. Yet nine-year-old Allen had defeated them. He must have attracted a great deal of attention.

"Nine years old and possessing two blessings... To other children my age, I was an unpleasant presence. They probably wondered what all their steady training was for. That got me hated quite a lot."

"No, I still think your personality was part of it... Ow, oof!"

Two terrifyingly accurate forehead flicks struck the exact same spot. His bone tingled painfully, and the inside of his head swam.

Clutching his forehead, Theo shouted through watery eyes.

"You're rude to me! You casually say awful things!"

"Awful things? When did I do that?"

Allen looked as though he had no idea what Theo meant.

Trying to imitate Allen's drooping eyes, Theo pulled down the corners of his own eyes and copied his voice.

"'Your legs are shorter than you think they are, Theo.'"

Allen tilted his head with a blank look.

"...That's true, isn't it?"

"That's exactly what I mean!"

Theo's head was gradually growing hot.

Allen's vicious forehead flicks hurt enough to make him cry, but they seemed to have shattered Theo's timidity.

"So you didn't want to join the Order because you would discourage people your own age."

"Well, that's about right. And I couldn't bear to seriously discourage you by giving it my all."

Allen had thought that if he got serious, the difference in their ability would discourage Theo.

That was true. Theo had certainly compared himself to Allen many times and become discouraged. But discourage him? Allen truly was an enormous idiot.

Theo slowly drew in a breath. He gathered his feelings deep in his stomach, then roared from the bottom of his lungs as though expelling them all at once.

"Don't underestimate me!"

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