WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: nemui
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◈ The Forgotten Curse Knight ◈
Vol. 4 Ch. 5: White Puff (Capable Fluffball)
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Theo blocked the Blood Tail that struck from overhead with his manifested shield.
The shield, made from solidified red-black Curse, was sturdier than wood and lighter than iron. That made it easy to handle, but it was a disadvantage when weight was needed. Theo was small and light, so when an enemy charged at him with force, he would be sent flying.
Sure enough, Theo was pushed backward. Maintaining the shield, he immediately manifested a sword and boots.
He planted his boots firmly against the ground and leaped. He swung his sword at the Termea attacking under cover of the night.
But just before Theo's sword could reach it, the Termea used the wall as a foothold and sprang up to rooftop height.
Silhouetted against the moonlight, it looked, simply put, like a red-black lump of flesh the size of a bull, with a jagged carapace and spider legs attached to it.
Carla descended from above. Today, her white hair was tied into twin tails, and a mask covered her eyes.
As she descended on the wings on her back, she aimed her red-black scythe at the Termea's legs.
Carla had great mobility, but not much raw strength. She could not sever something as thick as its torso in a single blow. She must have targeted its legs to take away its mobility.
But the Termea shook its soft, flabby body and caught Carla's scythe on the carapace covering its torso.
With a sharp metallic clang, Carla's scythe was knocked away.
（A Termea with a carapace...!）
Termea bodies were not normally hard, but apparently they sometimes absorbed crustaceans and formed hard carapaces.
Two Termea had escaped from the research institute.
Termea A, which had already been captured, had a carapace.
Termea B, which had planted the Curse in Carla's body, possessed super-regeneration.
In other words, this was probably Termea A.
"Hyah!"
Theo leaped at the Termea and slashed.
He aimed for its torso, but its hard carapace stopped him. Even Theo's slash could not cut through it. His wrist tingled as though he had struck something hard.
（It felt like hitting a block of iron...!）
While Curse Armament Manifestation was active, Theo's physical abilities were strengthened. He had easily sliced apart the Termea he had fought before.
He had thought he could at least chip away at it, even if it had a carapace. That had been naive.
（Then I have to aim for the gaps in its carapace...）
Theo leaped from the walls while Carla flew with her wings, both of them aiming for the Termea's joints.
However, despite its huge, flabby body, the Termea was unnaturally quick.
Its spider legs skittered over walls and rooftops, sometimes springing nimbly through the air.
On the ground, Hugo was trying to get Cecily and Lily away. But the Termea was crawling over the wall near the exit of the narrow alley. The other direction was a dead end, so they could not escape.
(I have to finish it with Carla...)
Just as Theo thought that, a long tail shot out from the Termea's body.
The sharp tip of the Blood Tail was not aimed at Theo or Carla, but at Hugo and the others on the ground.
（No! I have to protect them!）
Theo kicked off the wall and jumped toward the ground. Though he was in an awkward position, he somehow thrust out his shield.
He had expected the Blood Tail to stab straight at him, but his prediction was wrong.
The Termea cracked its Blood Tail like a whip and struck Theo's torso from the side.
"Gah, hngh...!?"
Still gripping his shield, Theo rolled across the ground.
（This is bad. Hugo and the others are defenseless...!）
He had to get up quickly and protect them.
But almost at the same instant Theo rose to his feet, the Blood Tail targeted Hugo.
The moment he thought he would not make it in time, the information broker's door opened and Hulk rushed out.
Hulk swung the sword at his waist once and cut off the Blood Tail.
His blow was heavy and fast. Even without creating weapons through Curse Armament Manifestation, Hulk was strong enough through pure physical Strengthening.
The Termea jumped onto the wall. Carla blocked it from above, while Theo and Hulk blocked it below. Carla would have trouble dealing a fatal blow, but she could keep it in place.
If Hulk and Theo attacked together while she did that, they could kill it.
The instant Theo thought so, the Termea twisted its body and slipped into the gap between two buildings.
The sight of its bull-sized body shaking violently as it squeezed into the narrow gap at tremendous speed was utterly horrifying.
Hulk immediately swung his sword, but its tip only cut off the end of the Termea. It was nowhere near half its body.
Hulk looked up at Carla on the roof and shouted.
"Carla, pursue it from above! Theo, can you get through here?"
"I'll try! Hngh!"
Theo stuck his head into the gap the Termea had entered. His head could barely fit through, but even Theo's small shoulders got caught.
He might be able to get through sideways, but then he would not be able to counterattack if the Termea attacked him.
As Theo tried to find some way to squeeze through, a white fluffball rolled out of his pocket.
It was Lenny.
"Meu!"
The fluffball gave a brave cry, moved its short legs, and slipped into the gap. Being only the size of a palm, it had plenty of room.
Apparently growing tired of walking, it began rolling after the Termea.
Hulk muttered admiringly.
"An excellent Familiar. Theo, try tracking White Puff's position."
"Huh?"
"The sensation at the furthest point of your body when you stretch it to its limit. Imagine extending that sensation even farther."
Half doubtful, Theo stretched his right arm, the hand holding his sword, as far forward as he could. Then he imagined extending that arm even farther.
Something touched the end of that imagined fist.
（There. Lenny.）
Lenny was ahead. Theo could vaguely sense its position, though not the exact distance.
"You did it, right?"
Theo nodded at Hulk's question.
"Leave the top to Carla. We'll pursue it from below. Hugo, escort those young ladies home."
"Yeah."
Once he saw Hugo nod, Hulk urged Theo on.
"Let's go."
Theo began running, tracking Lenny's position.
（Lenny, don't do anything reckless...!）
* * *
Carla pursued the Termea from the sky while Theo and Hulk chased it from the ground.
Left behind, Hugo scratched his head, thinking he had been stuck with an annoying job.
Cecily, the younger sister of the Holy Maiden of Creation, and songstress Lily stared at Hugo with stiff expressions. Their faces looked remarkably alike.
Lily in particular was an ordinary person. She had probably never seen the Gray Knights' inhuman power before. To an ordinary person, both Termea and Gray Knights were threats.
Seeing Theo manifest a red-black sword and shield, and Carla fight with wings and a scythe, must have been shocking.
Explaining it all and making excuses would be a pain...
Groaning inwardly, Hugo spoke.
"Don't tell anyone about what you saw. You'd be in trouble too if people found out songstress Lily's true identity, right?"
Lily scowled. As if to calm her, Cecily patted Lily's shoulder and stepped forward.
"...I understand. I won't tell anyone about tonight. So you don't say anything either."
"Deal."
Hulk and Carla probably had not realized songstress Lily's true identity. Theo would not go spreading it around, so Hugo only needed to keep his mouth shut.
Once he brought these two somewhere safe, Hugo's job would be done. They could hide there until Theo and the others handled things.
After thinking that far, Hugo quietly added,
"You two..."
Cecily and Lily answered in turn.
"What?"
"What is it?"
Hugo replied in a blunt tone.
"Don't forget Theo. The guy with the sword and shield who protected you. The little blond with braids."
Cecily and Lily looked as though they could not understand why he was saying that.
Hugo did not understand it either.
（Why am I even saying this?）
There was nothing in it for him, but the words came out on their own.
"When you got kidnapped, I could've dumped the job of rescuing you on the others. But Theo said, 'Let's help,' without even hesitating."
With his sharp hearing, Hugo had immediately figured out where the people who had taken songstress Lily, or rather Cecily, were.
He could've simply dumped the job of rescuing her on the nearby adults.
But Theo had said, "Let's help," with so little hesitation that Hugo had ended up going along with him.
"He's got the Oblivion Curse. Ordinary people like you will eventually forget Theo."
Lily probably could not grasp what the Oblivion Curse meant just from hearing its name.
But Cecily's face had gone stiff. She was likely already beginning to forget Theo's face.
（Well, even if they forget Theo, they'll remember me.）
When they remembered Hugo's hateful face, they could remember Theo along with him.
The knight who had held up a shield with his little body to protect the girls.
"Just remember him alongside the great Hugo. The little blond who saved you."
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