WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: nemui

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◈ The Forgotten Curse Knight ◈

Vol. 2 Ch. 19: Shocking and Sensitive Things

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After cutting down the Termea blocking his way, Oswald instructed his subordinate Matthew to check on the Cursed who had been puppetized. He then ran to join up with Theo and the others.

A little earlier, the offshoots clinging to the puppets had all flown toward the forest at once. Something had likely happened to the Termea's main body.

The offshoots had flown in the direction the Gray Knights had gone. There was a strong chance they were still fighting the Termea. Oswald was a cautious man. Lantern in hand, he ran without letting down his guard.

The forest was to his left, a wheat field to his right. Termea could emerge from either.

Before long, he spotted someone ahead. It was Theo, the small blond Gray Knight. For some reason, he had taken off his jacket and was standing before a thicket that led into the forest. Several red-black lumps lay scattered around him.

They were the hardened remains of Termea.

Keeping watch on his surroundings, Oswald called out to Theo.

"Is this the Termea that was controlling the puppets? Did you defeat it?"

"Yes. Carla and I defeated it."

Judging by the size of the remains scattered around, the Termea had been fairly large. Including its offshoots, wearing it down must have been quite difficult.

Seeing what appeared to be fragments of those offshoots scattered farther away, Oswald understood Theo and Carla's strategy.

One of them had probably drawn the offshoots away while the other struck the main body.

（...Not bad.）

He had not wanted to include uncertain forces in the plan, but the Gray Knights' performance this time, including Hugo holding back the puppets, deserved recognition.

Then Oswald noticed something. Carla was nowhere to be seen.

"Where's the Winged One?"

"Well..."

Theo glanced at the thicket behind him.

When Oswald tried to look inside, Theo suddenly spread both arms and blocked his way.

"You can't look! Not right now!"

It seemed Oswald had become too comfortable around Gray Knights.

Holy Knight common sense did not apply to Mad Walkers. Telling himself that, Oswald spoke in a low voice.

"What are you hiding?"

"A woman's dignity, and some shocking, sensitive things!"

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

Oswald could tell Theo was trying hard to avoid saying it directly.

But Oswald Gregory was responsible for this scene. To carry out the operation carefully, he had a duty to understand the situation on the ground.

"Move aside."

"No! You can't!"

Oswald placed a hand on the sword at his waist and cautiously approached the thicket. Theo clung to his waist, but he was so light that he did not slow Oswald down at all.

Oswald pushed aside the thicket with a rustle. Beyond it, something white lay on the ground.

Oswald raised his lantern and looked.

...It was the headless corpse of a girl.

"Waugh!?"

As a Holy Knight, Oswald had seen scenes that made him want to look away many times before. Even so, anyone would be startled to suddenly find a headless corpse.

The corpse's clothes had been removed. Who could commit such a cruel act? As Oswald burned with righteous anger, Carla padded past him.

Carla held out the jacket in her hands to Theo.

"I'm done changing. Thanks for the jacket."

"Ugh, I'm sorry... I couldn't protect your dignity..."

Theo looked anguished, but Carla gave off the air of someone who did not quite understand.

Even with her mask on, Carla's blank confusion came through.

"Dignity?"

"Your bare... your body was exposed for people to see..."

At that, Oswald roughly understood the situation. He knew Carla possessed Immortality. He had heard that limbs torn off in battle had sometimes grown back. The body lying here was probably the same.

Even so, Carla's attitude was impossible to understand.

（Does she think of her own headless corpse like nail clippings...?）

She seemed to care that little about it.

Half in tears, Theo spoke to Carla.

"We need to bury your body quickly... No, sorry, that isn't appropriate since you're alive. But calling it disposal would be rude too... Ugh, what should we do...?"

Oswald agreed completely. What were they supposed to do with this?

Carla readily offered an answer.

"Retrieve it and let someone use it for human experimentation."

"Human experimentation!?"

Theo cried out at Carla's outrageous suggestion. Oswald wanted to clutch his head and cry out as well.

（Who does she think will retrieve it...?）

Needless to say, it would be Oswald Gregory, the person in charge here.

Then Carla's body swayed forward. Theo hurriedly caught her.

Carla rested her head on Theo's shoulder and murmured,

"Good night."

"Carla!? W-wait, what should we do with your body?!"

Theo panicked, and Oswald agonized over what to do with the body.

Ignoring the men's distress, Carla breathed peacefully in her sleep.

* * *

Carrying Carla on his back after she had fallen asleep as though she had fainted, Theo returned to the meeting hall.

It seemed Oswald had set aside the matter of the headless corpse for the time being and gone with his subordinates to patrol for any other Termea. He had left only the instruction to rest at the meeting hall before quickly setting off.

In front of the meeting hall, the Holy Knights Nicola and Matthew were speaking to villagers and taking in the people who had become puppets.

Gentle Nicola noticed Theo and called out.

"Theo, you all right?"

"Yes, I'm fine. Once I put Carla to bed, I'll help too."

He was uninjured, but he was terribly sleepy from overusing Curse Armament Manifestation. Theo forced his eyelids open to wake himself.

The Cursed who had been puppetized had already been freed from their curses, and their Curse Marks had vanished.

Some had regained consciousness right away, while others had yet to awaken. There had to be plenty to do, including transporting those people and guarding the area.

Theo was fully prepared to help, but Nicola waved both hands.

"It's fine, it's fine. Get some rest inside. It would be bad if you pushed yourself and your curse progressed. Captain Gregory told you to rest too, didn't he?"

That was exactly right.

Even so, when Theo tried to insist, someone patted him on the shoulder.

"Then let's take them up on it and rest."

It was Hugo. When he sang hymns, he had worn a sacred and dignified air, but now he was back to his usual bratty expression.

Walking beside Hugo with Carla on his back, Theo said,

"Hugo, your song was really amazing."

"Right?"

"Even though we were outside, why did your voice carry like that? It's strange."

"Well, that's skill, you know? The reward of unceasing effort?"

Hugo puffed out his nostrils as he opened the door to the rest room.

Once inside, Theo laid Carla down on the sofa. After hesitating a little, he removed Carla's mask and placed it beside her. He thought it would get in the way if she turned over in her sleep.

The girl's uncovered sleeping face had long eyelashes, and her cheeks looked soft. Theo's heart skipped a beat.

Feeling it would be rude to stare too closely, Theo sat down beside the sofa.

He was terribly sleepy. But before he fell asleep, he wanted to properly put what he felt into words.

"Hugo's song... The melody and lyrics were all in harmony, and it felt like they soaked into my heart... How should I put it? Yes, it was very rich. Your voice was rich."

"What else?"

Hugo crouched beside him and asked. Theo swayed drowsily as he spoke.

"It felt like I had been forgiven by God. Like it made me want to be righteous for that forgiveness. Just listening to it made me want to stand up straight... I still can't believe that came from Hugo's throat."

"...Huh?"

"I'm really sorry for thinking Hugo, who gets carried away so easily, was probably exaggerating a little singing boast... But I do think you should improve your lazy lifestyle."

"Why are you smoothly lecturing me, damn it?"

"I don't think that kind of foul language is good either..."

"I'm telling you to praise me."

Even Hugo's foul language lacked its usual force. He was probably sleepy too.

As they spoke, Theo lost to his drowsiness and closed his eyes.

"You know..."

He heard Hugo's voice. Half asleep, Theo gave an ambiguous reply that was neither yes nor no.

"...You crushed the fear in that girl Mylene's memories, and the fear of the Termea that existed in reality. You crushed all of it, right?"

It was unlike Hugo to say something like that. Theo did not know whether it was a dream or sleep talk, but it was still nice to hear.

"Isn't that... something a fine knight would do?"

I hope so. I want to keep being that way.

Thinking that, Theo fell asleep.

The girl slept on the sofa, while the two boys slept on the floor, leaning against it.

When Oswald Gregory returned from patrol, he looked down at the young Gray Knights in exasperation and ordered a subordinate to take them to a bedroom.

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