Episode 74. The Truth (4)
An object that changes its appearance in response to magical forces and has different functions based on specific conditions.
Walter knew what they were commonly called.
‘It’s an artifact.’
Sometimes they are called holy relics depending on their inherent power or characteristics, but anyway.
Even though he didn’t know the detailed principle, but he could tell that Odette’s pendant had triggered the artifact.
And since an artifact like this cannot corrode over time, its initial worn-out appearance must have been disguised.
In its camouflaged state, no matter what he did while disguised, it would have been no more or less effective than just an old dagger.
It was Odette’s pendant that turned something that should have been sold at a hardware store into an artifact.
‘What the hell was this pendant for?’
And what kind of person was Odette to be carrying a tool that could trigger an artifact like this?
In different circumstances, someone might have anticipated and prepared for a situation like this, but this was not one of those cases.
How could they have expected that Walter would accidentally pick up an artifact in a cave he entered after failing to return from the snowy mountain?
‘It was probably made for a different purpose.’
It was likely that Odette had merely used it coincidentally to trigger the artifact.
The pendant had stopped vibrating, as if it had exhausted its magical power.
Walter put the pendant back into his arms and picked up the artifact.
Nothing about the dagger seemed to have been wasted, from the finely crafted handle to the blade, and it was shaped as if it would tear through anything in its path.
With the inscription on the handle, it wasn’t hard to figure out its use.
‘A person on an altar, with a dagger.’
Quite straightforward.
‘A sacrifice.’
Haha, Walter muttered with a bitter chuckle.
Was it funny that he was faced with something like this in a situation where he was so close to freezing to death, or if it’s just the idea that popped into his head.
If other people had picked up this artifact, they probably would have had many thoughts.
The most common idea would be to first preserve the body and escape from this place, then bring something that could be used as a sacrifice, place it on the altar, and stab it.
Luckily, by some coincidence or other, this was a forest full of men and beasts to die for.
But Walter had a hunch.
‘I can’t go down this mountain.’
He had already lost too much blood.
He can’t even start a fire, and if he loses consciousness, he will die.
Of course, it wouldn’t be hard to survive if he tried to think of something to do now, but he had already lost his willpower.
The difference between finding a corpse in front of the cave and finding it inside the cave was merely a matter of circumstance.
So there was already no “next” for Walter.
Moreover, he noticed something peculiar.
‘There is no subject in this phrase.’
Walter was not trained in magic or divine powers, but he had a level of knowledge that was required as a cultured head of a Duke’s family.
He knew that the inscriptions on artifacts, containing instructions on how to activate them, always referred to the ‘user’.
For example, the inscription on an artifact that could alter the wearer’s appearance might read.
[Leave the left ring finger of the person who dreams of lies empty.]
The meaning of this phrase is quite ambiguous.
For one thing, the phrase “keep your left ring finger empty,” which is the first to wear a wedding ring, is left empty means that only unmarried people can use this artifact.
And it literally meant that the left ring finger had to be empty.
Because this artifact was in the form of a ring, and it worked by wearing it on the free ring finger of the left hand.
But on a deeper level, it was also a warning that the person who used this artifact would never be able to form a deep relationship.
The ring on the left ring finger symbolized a commitment, and keeping it perpetually empty suggested an inability to establish the necessary trust.
In this way, the text of the artifact often included instructions for use and warnings to the user.
As such, the content was ambiguous, but at least there was no case without a subject.
‘But this dagger…… There are only instructions and no story about the user.’
The usage instructions were strangely clear, but there’s no mention of any information about the user.
So it’s unclear whether the person who stabbed the sacrifice becomes the user or the person who was stabbed with the dagger becomes the user.
And there’s only one way to find out in this situation.
‘Above all, If I want what I want…… I don’t think ordinary sacrifices will be enough.’
Even if this method was wrong and he ended up dying here, it didn’t matter.
His own life seemed too meager, and it was fine if he fell short of obtaining what he desired.
There wasn’t much reason for him to live anyway.
‘I’m a jerk after all.’
There were numerous choices for a better life, yet he discarded them all and ended up facing death in the middle of nowhere.
It felt pathetic to welcome his demise with mockery and resentment toward Odette.
But what could he do?
For someone standing at the edge of a cliff, there seemed to be no other path than to fall.
Maybe Odette was right.
She may have been born with misfortune.
Maybe that’s why everyone around her, even those who merely gaze upon her, are infected with misfortune and ruined like this.
‘I must be out of my mind thinking about all this.’
Walter sneered coldly, lifted the dagger, and stabbed it straight into his own heart.
In his fading consciousness, a voice played.
– I hope you’re happy, Duke Ertmann.
And still, Walter could not answer the voice.
* * *
Fortunately, Walter’s heart was strong enough to make his wish come true.
And it seems that the method he chose was also the right one.
‘He’, who appeared after Walter after stabbing him in the heart with a dagger, was also interested in Walter’s case and said this.
“I’ve met people who stabbed themselves in the heart because they wanted to die, but I’ve never met one like this. Besides, it doesn’t look like you were born with the ability…….”
“Abilities?”
“The minimum requirement to wield that dagger.”
Apparently, as Walter expected, the pendant given by Odette replaced the minimum requirement of ‘ability’.
When Walter nodded, guessing the situation, ‘he’ continued speaking as if he was surprised.
“It looks like you don’t really know anything. Do you know the name of this object you used?”
“I don’t.”
“I guess so. This is unfortunate. Ah, the name of the object you just thought of is Distrust.”
Walter hastily pushed the thought of a ring artifact that could change the appearance of its wearer out of his mind.
The names all seemed equally terrible to him.
“No wonder they’re called that. This is an object that corrects errors in the world.”
“…… Errors?”
“Every once in a while, someone is born with the ability to escape the world through an error. The world naturally does its best to get rid of them and bring them back into line. If you stay alive, you may be able to preserve your life to a certain extent, but you will not be able to completely avoid disaster.”
And since that disaster is called ‘Misfortune’ among humans, the name of the dagger naturally became ‘Misfortune’.
In short, this artifact was created for those who were born with exceptional abilities and ended up with misfortune.
Walter suddenly remembered Odette’s words.
– I’m out of luck, Duke. Maybe I was born with misfortune.
Odette crushed her certainty with the word ‘maybe’ but her guess was right.
She was indeed a person born with misfortune.
It’s just that Odette herself hid her abilities and lived quietly, so the intensity of her misfortune was not strong, so it was only late for her to realize it.
However, even though Odette lived so quietly, the world succeeded in correcting the error.
Because fate drove Odette into misfortune and caused her to die.
‘That’s terrible.’
Walter muttered a curse under his breath and asked.
“If I don’t have the ability, does that mean I can’t do business with you? Even though I gave my heart?”
“It’s not difficult to make your wish come true in exchange for your heart. But can you endure it? Your sincerity will be distorted and you will be frequently rejected.”
“It doesn’t matter.”
“You will be hurt countless times, and you will not be able to trust the other person’s sincerity. At the end, all that remains will be shabby words. Do you really want to do business with me though?”
“I’ve already been through this once, so a second time won’t be any harder.”
Walter sneered coldly and continued.
“Go ahead and make the deal. I’ll take the price of my heart.”
The transaction with ‘him’ was not difficult.
At the end of it, he said.
“Now that I have received your offer, we have a deal. But remember, The name of this thing is misfortune. No matter how you got here, because you made a deal, this misfortune will also be yours.”
The warnings given by ‘it’ throughout the transaction seemed to imply that unhappiness would follow.
The final warning was eerie, but it didn’t evoke much reaction from Walter.
After all, he didn’t care about such things.
All he wanted was to turn back time and meet Odette again.
* * *
That’s how Walter went back in time.
The first thing he did upon returning to the capital was to gather information about the artifacts he had used.
There was little literature that could not be gathered under the continent in the name of Ertmann, and after sifting through it all, Walter came to a conclusion.
‘I was lucky.’
Although the artifact or sacred object he used was said to be an object that granted the subject’s wish, its usage, operating principle, and at least the minimum conditions were unknown.
How many times would it be possible for Walter, who didn’t even have the minimum requirements to meet the minimum requirements, to find something like that by chance and use it in the right way?
Apparently, the Divinity Department at Belfort Academy was studying this diligently, and it was obvious that they would stand on their hands and express their gratitude after hearing just a little bit of Walter’s story.
At least Walter had heard from the parties involved in the transaction about the minimum conditions and correct usage.
The conversation with the counterpart, commonly referred to as ‘he’, had taught him a lot.
Based on that conversation, Walter was able to guess what misfortune ‘he’ was talking about.
‘The user inevitably goes missing after one to two years.’
It was said to exist to correct errors, but it seemed to erase its existence from the world in return for granting the user’s wish.
And now it was Walter’s turn to pay the price.
OMG!