WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: nemui
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◈ The Forgotten Curse Knight ◈
Vol. 2 Ch. 16: The Lonely Choir
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“Curse Armament Manifestation: Serve the Sacred Hymn.”
Beneath Hugo’s outdoor choker, a thick red-black curse oozed from the Curse Sigil on his throat as he looked up at the night sky.
It swiftly enveloped his body, becoming the gown worn as the choir’s formal attire. Hugo scooped up the curse dripping from his sigil with his fingertips and pressed it flat against his head. That became his hat.
The moment he let go of the hat’s brim, Hugo’s expression clearly changed.
Usually, he wore the twisted expression of someone whose entire face proclaimed, I’m mean. But now, he looked serene, even solemn.
Deep in his eyes as he stared ahead was the same red glow that appeared whenever other Gray Knights performed Curse Armament Manifestation.
Theo swallowed.
（...This is the face of a clergyman conducting a rite.）
Hugo opened his mouth. His singing voice rang out, trembling through the air.
“God sends forth angels. They provide sustenance to the people, heal the suffering, and drive away evil with their lightning.”
Unlike a soprano’s clear high notes or the powerful tones of a tenor or bass, Hugo’s countertenor was gentle.
His sustained high notes quivered more finely than grains of sugar, carrying the song onward through delicate variations.
（What a soft voice. What a rich song.）
The mouth and tongue that usually produced nothing but insults and sarcasm could weave such a delicate song.
Theo finally understood why Hugo had become furious when Theo said he had one thing he excelled at.
This voice was a skill that could only be attained by sacrificing everything else to polish it. It belonged to that supreme realm.
His voice seemed capable of changing even the visible world.
The scent of the wheat field swaying in the wind, the evening breeze against Theo’s cheeks, the fleeting beauty of the setting sun, the gleam of the first star. The world’s beauty felt clearer than usual.
“The sea of blessings becomes our protection and promises peace. God sends forth angels and grants the people rest and blessings.”
It made Theo think, So this is what rest and blessing sound like when turned into song.
It was not merely technically or artistically superb. It had a warm, gentle quality, like a mother’s loving kindness. His song rose into the sky as a prayer.
And yet.
Despite being such a gentle, loving voice.
His song was a curse that dominated its listeners.
The Cursed below, turned into puppets, stopped moving. Hugo had said that if any villagers heard his voice, they would stop in the same way.
Hugo’s curse was the Domination Curse. It stole the consciousness of those who heard his singing and controlled them.
However, just like Theo’s Oblivion Curse, the song had no effect on Blessed or Mad Walkers.
It also apparently did not work on Termea or animals. This sacred hymn of domination only affected opponents intelligent enough to understand the song. That was why Hugo had checked whether the puppets possessed enough intelligence to use bows and hunting rifles.
“Carla, let’s go.”
“...Mm.”
Carla spread her black wings.
Her bat-like silhouette stood out against the faint sunset still remaining on the horizon.
Theo gripped Carla’s feet with both hands and hung from them as she took flight. Carla’s ability to fly could barely carry someone as small as Theo while he hung beneath her.
Theo would not use his Curse Armament Manifestation yet. He had already used it once today, even if only briefly, and wanted to conserve it.
（By now, Captain Gregory and the others should have started moving too.）
They would lure the puppet-like Cursed in as close as possible, then stop them with Hugo’s song.
While that happened, Oswald and the others would circle behind the puppets from both sides on horseback, while Theo used Carla’s flight to come around from the front. Then they would strike the Termea controlling them. That was the plan.
Hugo’s song would last ten minutes at most. From here on, it was a race against time.
“A shadow that looks like a Termea... No, I can’t see anything.”
Theo narrowed his eyes in the gathering darkness, but he could not spot anything resembling a Termea.
Even so, if anything happened to the puppets, the Termea should make some kind of move.
The worst possibility was that the Termea would abandon the puppets and flee. But Oswald predicted that, in that case, it would most likely come back to recover its offshoots.
Those offshoots were part of the Termea itself. And a Termea died once its volume was reduced to half or less. In other words, creating offshoots was a dangerous act that wore away at its own life.
（Even if they’re small spheres, there are one hundred and fifty of them. That’s a considerable amount of mass. If a Termea’s very survival depends on its volume, it has to come retrieve them.）
“There.”
Carla suddenly called out sharply. In the direction of her gaze was a black mass writhing on the ground.
Carla temporarily lowered her altitude. When the ground drew close, Theo released her feet and landed.
Carla immediately accelerated, manifested her great scythe, and sliced through the black mass with the momentum of her flight.
Theo was about to perform Curse Armament Manifestation and join her, but he immediately sensed something wrong.
Carla cut through the large mass with her scythe and murmured, “Wrong.”
“...This isn’t the Termea controlling the puppets.”
Theo looked toward the wheat field. There was no change in the spheres stuck to the puppets’ backs.
That meant the one Carla had just cut down was another Termea, probably the villager who had been attacked first and transformed into one.
（Where is it? Where is the Termea controlling the puppets...!?）
* * *
As Hugo sang the sacred hymn atop the roof, he was angry at himself.
Before, he could have carried his voice farther. He could have spread each note more delicately.
His voice had clearly deteriorated because he had neglected his practice.
Artistry was not what mattered in sacred hymns. Prayer was their essence. Even so, that did not mean it was acceptable to neglect technique.
（Damn it, what else was I supposed to do!? Whenever I sing, I spread my curse around!）
Hugo was the son of the mayor of Leftel City in Erington.
His family consisted of education-minded parents and an accomplished older brother and sister. Hugo was poor at both studying and sports, had nothing he excelled at, and always felt out of place at home.
He had no place in that house. Feeling that way, Hugo ran away and had a fateful encounter at a certain church.
The Mercliff Cathedral Choir was the greatest choir in Erington, and even took part in rites held in the Reyel Holy District. Hugo was captivated by its singing.
This is a song, and it is also a prayer.
Doran, the elderly choir director, smiled kindly at Hugo as he listened, spellbound, and said:
“Would you like to try singing too?”
That day, Hugo gave up on running away and rushed home. He begged his father to let him join the choir.
His parents were devout followers of the Wing Cross faith, so they were delighted by Hugo’s choice and supported him. It was the first time Hugo’s parents had supported him.
Choir practice was strict, but it was fun. Hugo, who always went easy on himself, worked earnestly at singing practice alone. Little by little, his parents began praising him too.
This was a fateful encounter. This was all he had. So even if he was hopeless at everything else, even if others made fun of him, he decided this one thing would be his pride.
A Fourth Grade Termea appeared in Leftel City during last winter’s White Holly Festival, the day Hugo was scheduled to perform a solo.
Doran, the director Hugo respected, transformed into a Termea, stabbed Hugo in the throat with a Blood Tail, and fled.
Hugo avoided becoming a Termea himself, but became a Mad Walker and was sent to the Gray Knights.
（Why does my curse have to be singing? This is all I have. Even if nobody praised me for anything else, I thought at least I had this.）
Having the mayor’s son become a Mad Walker was disgraceful. His parents disowned him, and he was dismissed from the choir. Since then, his days had consisted of being forced to hunt Termea when he did not want to.
But Hugo’s Curse Armament Manifestation was Special. Unlike Theo and Carla’s, it was not a power meant for fighting.
It only controlled people. How was that any different from a Termea that turned people into puppets?
（Damn it, Theo still hasn’t found the Termea!?）
Hugo’s domination through song lasted ten minutes at most. Once that time passed, the puppet-like Cursed would all begin moving at once and attack the village. If that happened, there would be no way to stop them.
（Could the Termea still be hiding in the forest?）
Then... this was a gamble.
Through his song, Hugo changed the command he gave his listeners. From “Stop” to “Run over here.”
Obeying his command, the puppets all began running at once.
Hollow-eyed adults gripping weapons came rushing toward him together. It was enough to make him almost piss himself, but surely this would make the Termea do something.
Then Hugo noticed it.
The puppets were resisting Hugo’s domination. More precisely, the Termea’s offshoots stuck to their backs were resisting.
Both sides possessed the power of domination, the power to control humans. This was a contest of control.
（...Don’t underestimate me, you bastard Termea!）
When Hugo first stood on stage as a member of the choir, Doran handed him a pure white gown and said:
“Hugo, when you wear this white gown, you can help God just like the angels do.”
The gown recreated through Curse Armament Manifestation was red-black and ominous. Even so, he was a singer of sacred hymns.
Once he put his arms through the sleeves of this gown, he would serve God like an angel.
“Angels hold books of guidance and lead the people. The bounty of abundance, the healing of mercy, the lightning of guardians, and the sea of blessings. All things rest beneath God’s care.”
As he considered the meaning of the lyrics, Hugo carried the words on his voice and prayed.
To hold fast to the one thing he could take pride in.
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