The Forgotten Curse Knight - Chapter 31

WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: nemui

◈ The Forgotten Curse Knight ◈

Vol. 2 Ch. 12: Designated Oblivion

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（That’s... Mylene’s older brother!）

Mylene’s brother, Simon, staggered toward them.

The left half of his face was stained red-black. His expression was blank, his eyes clouded. His mouth hung open, his tongue lolling out as drool ran down his chin.

“Aaaaaaaah!”

Simon shook his head violently and reached for Mylene, screaming in a voice like he was coughing blood.

Mylene gave a small shriek and collapsed where she stood.

Theo sprang in front of her and put a hand over his heart. He focused his mind.

“‘Curse Armament Manifestation, Be Thou a Knight.’”

His heart flared hot. Curse power poured from it like blood, changing shape as Theo wished. A one-handed sword, shield, cloak, and boots.

Theo struck Simon’s reaching hand with the flat of his sword.

Simon did not flinch or cry out. He kept advancing on Mylene.

（This is bad.）

Theo could not cut Simon down. Yet Simon attacked without hesitation, as though he could not feel pain.

Then Oswald circled behind Simon, drew the sword at his waist, and brought it down across Simon’s back.

“Hngh!”

“Captain Gregory!?”

Simon convulsed and fell to the ground.

Theo stared in shock. He had cut down Mylene’s brother right in front of her...!

Theo looked at him accusingly, but Oswald spoke calmly.

“Look closely.”

Beside Simon’s fallen body lay a red-black lump. It was a sphere, perhaps one or two sizes smaller than a human head. Vein-like tubes bulged across its surface.

“This sphere was attached to his back, so I cut it off.”

The sphere had already begun to harden. Did that mean it was a spherical Termea?

（...No.）

The Curse Marks across Simon’s body had not disappeared. The Termea that had cursed Simon was still alive.

（Simon was moving around even though he was cursed... Just like a Mad Walker.）

But Simon was probably not a Mad Walker. The Curse Marks over his body were clearly different from a Curse Sigil, and now that the sphere had been cut from his back, he lay limp and motionless.

Oswald checked Simon’s pulse as he spoke.

“This young man is not a Mad Walker. He is an ordinary Cursed. By attaching this sphere, someone may be able to control Cursed people.”

A scream rang out behind Theo. Mylene was sobbing loudly.

Theo turned to reassure her.

“Mylene, it’s all right. Your brother is still...”

“Don’t come near me! The black person is scary! Scary! Scary!”

The black person.

Theo did not understand what she meant at first.

But she was looking at him.

Black sword, shield, cloak, and boots. A monstrous knight clad in the power of a curse.

“The black person hit my big brother!”

Only now did Theo remember. A Gray Knight clad in a Curse Armament was an unknown, frightening thing. Of course she would be scared.

Theo did not know what to say to the young girl, who was crying as though she had caught fire.

（Right, I’ll dismiss my armament...）

“No.”

As though she had read his mind, Carla whispered.

Red-black wings burst from her back. A great scythe of the same color rested in her small hands. It was her Curse Armament.

“There are still more.”

With that, Carla kicked off the ground and flew toward the depths of the trees.

A figure emerged from there. Like Simon, it was a human whose entire body was mottled red-black with Curse Marks.

Carla deftly circled behind the man and severed the sphere from his back with her scythe. Just like Simon, the man fell to the ground.

“Three more.”

Just as Carla said, figures that looked like villagers swayed out from among the trees. Every one of them bore Curse Marks on their bodies and had a sphere attached to their backs.

Oswald raised his sword and shouted.

“Hugo, you good-for-nothing, protect the uncursed civilians! Nicola, protect the Cursed! Everyone else, cut off the spheres!”

The uncursed civilian meant an ordinary person who had not been cursed. In this case, that was Mylene.

Hugo, who was not joining the battle, called out to Mylene.

“Come on, let’s get out of here. Bring Fluffy along too, okay?”

“Nooo! I want my big brother!”

Mylene tried to run to Simon, who lay on the ground. Hugo hurriedly held her back.

Meanwhile, the holy knight Nicola stayed beside Simon, Mylene’s fallen brother and one of the Cursed, checking his condition.

Theo and Carla joined Oswald in dealing with the attacking villagers.

Theo faced the nearest villager. He was a well-built middle-aged man clutching a hoe.

Just as when he had first manifested his Curse Armament and faced a Termea, Theo could use the curse of 〈Self-Forgetfulness〉 to make someone temporarily forget who they were.

But it took several seconds to activate, making it unsuitable for this situation. Cutting off the sphere would be faster.

“Yaah!”

Theo readied his sword and kicked off the ground with his black boots.

Enhanced by the power of his Curse Armament Manifestation, Theo was fast. At first, he was not used to moving so quickly and fell over several times. But his training with Beryl had made him accustomed enough to use it in real combat.

（I should think of it not as my legs moving quickly, but as wearing boots that run incredibly fast.）

He kicked off the ground, matching his awareness to the rhythm of the boots, and circled behind the man.

（Don’t misjudge the distance.）

Allen had told him that countless times during sword training. Your arms are short, Theo.

Remembering Allen’s harsh words, Theo carefully brought his sword down between the man’s back and the sphere.

Slice!

A light sensation traveled through the sword. The sphere fell to the ground and began to harden.

At the same time, the villager collapsed. It would be terrible if he fell and his hoe lodged in his head. Theo quickly caught his body.

（The other two...）

When Theo turned around, Oswald had already subdued one of them. Carla subdued the other a moment later.

After confirming this, Oswald gave Carla an order.

“We’re done here. Winged One, search for the Termea from the air. If you find any other holy knights, summon them.”

“...Understood.”

Carla gave a small nod and looked at Theo for only a moment. Then she silently kicked off the ground and flew up.

Oswald came over to Theo and examined the man at his feet.

“This one is the same. The Curse Marks remain even after the sphere is cut away. The main body of the Termea that planted the curse must be somewhere.”

“...Yes.”

“Some Termea of Third Grade or higher can release offshoots of themselves. Such types often cannot put much distance between their offshoots and their main body. We can assume the main body is nearby.”

Oswald carefully surveyed the area before sheathing his sword.

“We’ll finish it before it can escape far away. No matter what.”

Since Simon and the others had become Cursed, little time remained. Unless they defeated the Termea’s main body as soon as possible, Simon and the others would become Termea.

If they were about to become Termea... they would have no choice but to kill them first.

As if driving their impatience further, Mylene’s crying echoed through the forest.

“Big brother! Big brother! Nooooo! Waaah!”

Hugo held Mylene from behind while Nicola soothed her, saying, “You can’t go near him,” but Mylene thrashed her arms and legs.

Lenny fell at their feet, rolling helplessly as it gave a small, “Meu.”

“Hey, Theo!”

Hugo called out to Theo while holding Mylene back.

He probably wanted Theo to help calm her down. Theo dismissed his Curse Armament and hurried over.

“You can make people forget, right?”

“...”

“Then make her forget what she just saw. Being attacked by her changed brother would be enough to traumatize anyone.”

A familiar person, their body half stained red-black, stripped of reason and sanity, attacking them.

It certainly was a sight that would tear into a young girl’s heart.

Hugo’s suggestion was the natural kindness anyone should show a young girl.

“...You’re right.”

Theo’s mouth twisted into a bitter smile.

Mylene was sobbing loudly. A young girl should not have to bear such a terrible sight. Theo knew that.

（I know, but...）

Theo forced down the selfish scream rising within him and touched Mylene’s forehead with his fingertips.

〈Designated Oblivion〉 was like tearing a page from the diary in someone’s heart. But that diary had an enormous number of pages, making it difficult to find a particular memory. So first, the person needed to think about that memory.

In Mylene’s case, there was no need to tell her, “Think of your most painful memory.” The painful memory was already filling her mind.

Theo confirmed the memory he wanted to erase and touched the relevant page of the diary with his fingertips. White mist flowed from the fingers against Mylene’s forehead.

“‘Oblivion, be.’”

He imagined tearing the page from the diary. The torn page crumbled away in Theo’s hand and disappeared.

（That memory no longer exists anywhere.）

Mylene, who had been screaming and crying, stared blankly ahead. Then she pitched forward.

Theo caught her from the front.

“...When she wakes up, I think she’ll have forgotten the frightening memory.”

“Huh. It really is convenient.”

Theo swallowed the retort he wanted to make to Hugo.

If he could save someone with his hateful curse, then surely that was a good thing.

（But this girl...）

Suppressing the selfish scream rising within him, Theo lifted Mylene onto his back.

Her sleeping face was peaceful, and that alone was a comfort.