WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: nemui
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ The Forgotten Curse Knight ◈
Vol. 4 Ch. 2: The Price of Inconvenient Freedom
──────
Theo, Hugo, and Hulk left Cinder House in the evening. By the time they arrived in Bordwa District, in northern Grandrium, night had fallen.
Bordwa District had many factories, and at this hour, workers finishing their shifts were stopping by pubs for a drink.
When Hugo started drifting toward one such lively place, Hulk grabbed him by the scruff of the neck and stopped him.
"Know this, Hugo. Booze tastes best after work."
"Heh, heh, I was joking, Boss Hulk..."
Hugo usually groveled before anyone older than him.
Yet he acted high and mighty toward gentle people like JJ and younger people like Theo. He really was hopeless.
(Still, having Mr. Hulk with us means Hugo won't slack off. That's a relief.)
Hulk was a huge, intimidating man with brown skin and a shaved head.
But he tried to keep a regular lifestyle and was polite. Whenever Mrs. Moran or Noah, the junior staff members, struggled with heavy sacks of wheat or carrying firewood, he would quietly help them.
This was Theo's first time working alongside Hulk on a mission, though.
When applying to go out, Hulk had also received permission to carry a weapon. That was why he had a sword hanging from his waist.
"Mr. Hulk, don't you manifest a weapon with Curse Armament Manifestation?"
"Yeah, I'm the type who's bad at Manifestation. Rosé is the same."
Mad Walkers fought by turning the Curse within themselves into power. Creating weapons or armor from that Curse was called Curse Armament Manifestation.
Theo's sword and shield, Carla's great scythe, Beryl's claws, and Hugo's choir outfit were all examples.
However, apparently some people did not use Curse Armament Manifestation, with the power of their Curse instead going toward something else, such as strengthening their bodies.
Theo's physical abilities did not improve unless he used Curse Armament Manifestation, but those unable to manifest were apparently different. In Rosé and Hulk's case, their physical abilities were strengthened at all times.
"If it's just physical strengthening, that sounds like a Blessed person with 〈Destruction〉."
Hulk's eyebrow twitched at Theo's words.
"...Maybe so."
There was little inflection in his voice.
For those of the Wing Cross faith, being Blessed was something greatly joyful.
Telling someone physically gifted, "You're like a Blessed person," was a common compliment.
(But they're actually cursed... Maybe saying a Mad Walker is like a Blessed person sounded sarcastic?)
Theo worried that he might have said something rude, but Hulk soon spoke in his usual manner.
"That said, I'm weaker than Rosé. As a Gray Knight, I'm not all that strong. I'm counting on you, Theo-boy and Hugo."
"Yes! Leave it to me!"
"Could you count me as a noncombatant, Boss Hulk? Seriously, I'm just an ordinary person..."
Hugo had been grumbling, but then he suddenly seemed to think of something and asked Hulk.
"Hey, Boss Hulk. The captain's good at sensing Curses, right? Couldn't he use that ability to look for Termea?"
JJ, the Gray Knights' captain and the middle-aged man who wore a paper bag over his head, was a Mad Walker whose upper face was stained black. Perhaps because of that, JJ excelled at sensing Curses.
If Gertrude, the Termea doctor, was good at looking deeply into a single thing, JJ was good at sensing a wide area.
So for a mission like this one, searching for Termea, it seemed like it would be better to have JJ come along.
But Hulk answered with a troubled expression.
"Here's the answer to that question. 'It's not impossible, but it can't be done.'"
"Is that a riddle...?"
As Hugo grumbled, Hulk tapped his choker with a fingertip.
"The captain's ability to detect Curses only works if he's within a certain distance. In other words, he'd have to go outside. But the captain can't leave. He's holding the strings to our collars."
JJ could sense the locations of Gray Knights wearing chokers and, if one tried to flee, cut off their head.
In other words, JJ held all the Gray Knights' lives in his hands.
"Understand? Because that man doesn't go outside, we're allowed a certain amount of freedom to roam."
Hugo caught his breath.
Theo also considered the meaning of Hulk's words and understood the heavy responsibility JJ bore.
Come to think of it, Theo had never once seen JJ leave Cinder House.
That man could not leave Cinder House. At the cost of that restriction, he had secured the Gray Knights' freedom.
"You two should be grateful to the captain, too. We can walk around with a certain amount of freedom because he's there... Things used to be much worse."
Seeing Theo and Hugo fall silent, Hulk deliberately brightened his voice.
As if to say that was enough gloomy talk.
"All right, there's no point searching blindly. First, we're going to an information broker."
An information broker! Theo's eyes widened. He had come across the word a few times in books, but he had never actually seen one.
They really existed, information brokers! Restless with excitement, Theo asked:
"Um, is this information broker exclusively employed by the Gray Knights?"
"No, they're a personal contact of mine... though the captain sometimes makes requests through me. He entrusted me with money for information this time, too."
With that, Hulk headed down an alley with familiar strides.
They eventually reached the first floor of an old apartment building.
Hulk knocked on the door in a distinctive rhythm, knock, knock, knock, knock, knock, and called out, "It's me." The door opened from within.
The person who appeared was a thin, brown-skinned middle-aged man. He wore shabby clothes, and a beard covered the lower half of his face.
Out of habit, Theo greeted him.
"Good evening! I'm Theo, a Gray Knight..."
"The other two can't come in."
The middle-aged man spoke curtly, glaring at Theo and Hugo.
Hulk stepped in front of him, blocking that gaze.
"I don't want to leave two kids in an alley like this."
"Then don't bring them."
"It's work. You understand."
"Looking after kids?"
"These two are Gray Knights too."
The middle-aged man leaned out from behind Hulk and looked back and forth between Theo and Hugo.
Then his nose wrinkled. His expression made his dislike clear.
"...I refuse. Especially that little blond one. He has the exact face of an Eritington noble."
Theo was speechless. No one had ever said something like that to him before.
Hulk exhaled through his nose, then looked down at Theo and Hugo.
"Sorry, Theo-boy. Wait outside with Hugo. If some bad tout gives you trouble, pound on this door as hard as you can."
".............Yes. I understand."
Theo took a step back, and Hulk passed through the door.
The door immediately closed, and the sound of it locking rang out strangely loud.
As Theo looked down, Hugo spoke in surprise.
"Huh? What, are you actually upset?"
That was correct. Theo was used to people forgetting him, but he was not very used to people directing clear hostility at him.
The information broker's hostility differed slightly from the hostility directed at Keith in the Reyel Holy District.
It was a deeper disgust, born from the accumulation of history.
"No one's ever said anything like that to me before..."
No one had ever said anything similar in the mining town of Worg.
The Oblivion Curse was one reason, but it was surely also thanks to the Lawrence family: Duncan, a former Holy Knight, Olivia, a nun, and Allen.
The Lawrence family was trusted by the people of Worg. That was why they had accepted Theo as well.
Hugo lowered his voice.
"That information broker guy is probably a Dig."
Digs were brown-skinned people who worshipped gods different from the god of the Wing Cross faith. They mainly lived hidden in the south of the continent and were also said to be descendants of invaders.
However, little was known about their faith.
"Then Mr. Hulk is too...?"
"Who knows. Not everyone with brown skin is a Dig. Besides, Digs are uncivilized savages you can't reason with. Someone as educated as Boss Hulk can't be a Dig. Probably."
It felt like Theo had been confronted with a reality he had rarely seen while he was an apprentice miner in Worg.
Theo pinched the single braided lock of hair that hung down with his fingertips.
(Do I look like an Errington noble...?)
Certainly, there had been no one in Worg with blond hair and green eyes.
But Theo had not known he was a Mad Walker back then, so he had assumed that he simply had an extremely plain appearance that was difficult for people to remember.
Theo did not think much about his origins.
Thinking about his real family felt like a betrayal of the Lawrence family, and it made him feel guilty.
(My real parents probably abandoned me because I'm cursed anyway...)
As Theo shifted his thoughts, deciding not to think about it any further, the singing voice of a young woman reached his ears.
"'La la la, la la la, I want people to call me cute. Hey, look this way. Today, I'm number one on the continent. The cutest of them all.'"
It was a fast-paced, cheerful song for young people.
Above all, the lyrics were filled with an almost refreshingly unabashed self-love. Older people would likely frown and call it vulgar or unconventional.
In truth, Theo's taste in music was old-fashioned. He liked classical songs. According to Allen, that made him "like an old man."
So rather than liking or disliking the song he heard now, all Theo could think was, This is an unfamiliar song.
Still, the singing voice was lively and joyful, and he liked the atmosphere the song created.
Theo heard passersby whispering, "It's Songstress Lily."
Songstress Lily. She was a popular singer in Grandrium.
Theo peeked out a little from the alley.
A girl was singing in front of a plaza on the main street.
She wore a short skirt that ended above her knees, the kind that would make older people frown. Her black hair was tied high in two bunches, like the rabbit ears Carla had imitated.
(A girl dressed like that at this hour... Is she all right...?)
Theo was worried, but Hugo watched the songstress with an expression full of curiosity and lust.
At the sight of Songstress Lily's short skirt revealing her knees, Hugo's upper lip seemed to lengthen.
(A person's upper lip can stretch that much...)
Theo was almost impressed when, suddenly, it returned to its normal length.
"Huh?" Hugo muttered, studying the girl's face suspiciously.
"Why is that woman here?"
Join our discord at https://dsc.gg/wetried
