WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: nemui
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ The Forgotten Curse Knight ◈
Vol. 4 Ch. 1: In Other Words, Cleaning Up After Our Own
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Theo, Hugo, and their escort Archibald had returned to Cinder House from Reyel Holy District. When they went to the command room to report their return, JJ sat there with a grave air, Lenny on his lap as he stroked the fluffball's fur.
The grave atmosphere was rather ruined by the paper bag over his head and the white fluffball.
Behind JJ stood a huge, bald Gray Knight with dark skin, Hulk. Though Theo and the others had only just returned, the atmosphere suggested they were about to receive a mission briefing.
Archibald glanced at Hulk, then gave JJ their report.
"Gray Knight Administrator Archibald, along with Gray Knights Hugo and Theo, have returned."
After Archibald spoke in a stiff voice, a dying-sounding "Welcome hooome..." came from inside the paper bag.
Lenny rolled off JJ's lap and kept rolling until reaching Theo's feet.
"Mef!"
"I'm back, Lenny."
Theo picked up the white fluffball and put it in his jacket pocket.
He had a feeling they were about to discuss something serious.
(Was something wrong while we were away?)
In truth, Theo had felt something strange ever since returning to Cinder House. Though it was still evening, he had not seen any of the other Gray Knights.
The drooping paper bag slowly lifted and looked at Theo and the others.
"Um, sorry to make you do this as soon as you've returned, but something really awful has happened... So, you're getting right to work."
The lazy Hugo immediately objected.
"Haaah? We've just been put through the wringer at Reyel Holy District, y'know? I'm completely exhausted!"
"Yeah, sorry. It's in a city district, so depending on what happens, we might need Hugo's singing too..."
Theo was startled by JJ's words.
"A Termea has appeared in the city!?"
Even Hugo and Archibald's expressions changed.
Termea usually incorporated sea creatures or flying creatures, invading from the sky and sea.
The Sea of Oblivion surrounded the continent, confusing living creatures and making it difficult to reach land. Yet by chance, Termea that crossed it would arrive at West End, the westernmost edge of the continent.
The holy knights and the Western Navy exterminated them there.
Still, some escaped extermination. Depending on the tides and wind, Termea could rarely enter from the north or south.
Termea multiplied by planting curses in humans with their Blood Tails.
Needless to say, the damage would be immense if one appeared in a crowded city district.
"Well... During that Rejilna mission, Carla cut off her head, right? And we recovered the torso she no longer needed?"
Theo remembered the shocking and sensitive sight, then nodded with a grimace.
Carla, who bore the curse of Immortality, could regenerate even after losing part of her body.
At the time, Carla had said something like, "They can use it for human experimentation or whatever." Apparently, her body had actually been sent to a facility called the Adcock Research Institute, where it was being used to study Mad Walkers.
JJ hesitated for a moment before continuing.
"The Adcock Research Institute was apparently conducting an experiment where they planted a Termea curse into Carla's discarded torso... The first Termea they captured was A, and the one that became a Termea after they planted a curse in Carla's torso was Termea B. Right, so... A and B escaped."
Theo needed a moment to understand what that meant.
(An experiment to plant a Termea curse into Carla's torso...?)
The instant he understood, blood rushed to his head.
"How can they be allowed to do that!?"
Theo raised his eyebrows and shouted, but Archibald's palm pressed against his face.
"Do not interrupt your superior."
"But such an inhumane act cannot possibly be allowed!"
"They have Carla's consent."
Archibald answered calmly. Theo trembled all over and bit down hard on his lip. His rage was so fierce it felt as if his head would creak and all the blood in his body would boil.
Even if they had her consent, could such an experiment truly be allowed?
Carla was a rare existence, both a Mad Walker and immortal. Her body would surely be valuable for countless experiments.
Then Theo remembered something from a book by Gertrude, the self-proclaimed Termea doctor.
"...Wait. Aren't Termea only able to use living humans as hosts?"
Termea used only living humans as hosts for reproduction.
That was why, when a Cursed person could not be saved, they were killed to prevent them from becoming Termea.
Yet the Termea at the institute had used Carla's torso as a host and created another Termea.
Everyone there, including Theo, had the same question.
Could a body severed from an immortal person be considered a corpse?
JJ's paper bag rustled as he sighed.
"Since it's a curse of Immortality, maybe Carla's body was special... Apparently, they extracted curse components from a Termea and injected them into Carla's torso."
In the past, a Termea had never planted a curse into a body part Carla had severed.
To a Termea, a headless torso was a corpse. It would not think to use it as a host.
Even so, the Adcock Research Institute had extracted curse components from a Termea and injected them into Carla's torso.
Apparently, the experiment was meant to study how Termea transformation progressed when more curse material was injected into the body of a Mad Walker already consumed by a curse.
The result was that Carla's torso had become a Termea.
"This research is secret from the Papal See."
Hugo grimaced at JJ's words.
"Ugh..."
Theo felt the same way.
"...Does that mean we cannot expect support from the Holy Knight Order?"
"To make things even worse, Termea B apparently absorbed Carla's immortal traits. Its regenerative ability is supposed to be incredibly high."
"Don't tell me that Termea is immortal too!?"
"Then killing it is impossible! What are we supposed to do!?"
Theo and Hugo shouted together. JJ raised both hands to chest height in a gesture that said, Calm down.
"Well, well, calm down. Since it was a body Carla discarded, it apparently isn't powerful enough to be truly immortal... At most, it has super, super, super strong regeneration?"
That was still more than bad enough.
"Damn it, I don't wanna work...!" Hugo grumbled.
Normally, Theo would have scolded Hugo for being lazy. Right now, though, he was angrier at the people who had caused this situation.
JJ looked back and forth between the two silent young men and spoke apologetically.
"...So, if a holy knight sees that super, super, super-regenerating Termea and realizes, 'Isn't this using Carla's body?' then we're in trouble, right?"
The Papal See and the Holy Knight Order had a mission to destroy Termea.
For that reason, the Papal See had apparently long criticized the Adcock Research Institute for keeping Termea alive.
Furthermore, the Adcock Research Institute had kept the details of its research almost completely secret until now.
"...So they want us to defeat that super, super, super-regenerating Termea before the holy knights do, and recover it if possible."
If it became public that they had used the torso of an immortal Mad Walker as experimental material, and that it had become a Termea and escaped, the Papal See would seize the chance to criticize the King and Crown Prince Richard, who backed the Adcock Research Institute.
In other words, this was also a power struggle.
The forces surrounding Theo could be broadly divided into the King's Faction and the Papal Faction.
【King's Faction】
Crown Prince Richard, Eritington Army, Adcock Research Institute, Royal Feather, Gray Knights.
【Papal Faction】
Reyel Holy District, Papal See, Holy Knight Order.
And this incident meant that the Gray Knights, who belonged to the same King's Faction, had to clean up the Adcock Research Institute's mess.
Given the circumstances, they could not make the matter public or deploy a large force. A small elite group skilled at fighting Termea was best suited for the task, so sending in the Gray Knights was reasonable.
JJ spread out a map of Bordwa District, northeast of Grandrium, and gave his orders.
"Other Gray Knights are already in Bordwa District near the Adcock Research Institute. Beryl, Carla, and Rosé are searching within Bordwa District. Gertrude is at the Adcock Research Institute, investigating how the Termea escaped. Theo and Hugo, join Hulk in searching Bordwa District."
Beside Hugo's groan of dismay, Theo saluted.
"Understood!"
From inside his pocket, Lenny added, "Mef!"
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