Chapter 61
The Secrets are Always in the Deepest Place (5)
I looked at him with a gaze that conveyed such meaning.
And without even meeting my eyes, Ethan answered briefly. It was an almost reflexive response.
“I have no intention of doing that. However…”
That’s a relief. Then what’s bothering you?
Ethan’s lips moved slightly for a moment, then he properly sheathed his sword as if shaking off something. A sharp click sounded.
“No, it would be foolish to delay any longer now that we’re here. There’s no need to prove you’re a demon. I’ve felt enough.”
Ethan slowly raised his head and met my gaze.
“Therion… Is it alright if I keep calling you that?”
Not to me, but to Therion.
I looked back and forth between the two of them – well, one of them isn’t human, but anyway.
Therion tilted his head as if surprised that Ethan met his gaze, then answered softly.
“As you wish.”
I was also somewhat surprised that he made eye contact with Therion, so I watched the situation.
‘I thought he would have a harder time accepting that Therion is a demon than my regression.’
After all, Therion looked genuinely good like the epitome of a holy mage and acted vulnerably…
It would make sense if Ethan still had in mind how Therion commanded the magical beasts during the subjugation practice.
In any case, Ethan accepted this situation faster than I expected.
In fact, he couldn’t not believe it. Otherwise, it would mean we were all crazy.
“Then let me ask a few things. Therion, have you been watching us all along?”
“No. I need a lot of information to help Lady Edith. So, unfortunately, I just arrived. I couldn’t track her because she completely disappeared for a moment.”
Therion shook his head.
Ethan nodded briefly, saying, “I see,” then quietly asked Therion.
“Just one more thing. Was the incident at the subjugation practice site your doing?”
Although he didn’t shout, Ethan’s voice carried a heavy pressure. Even I flinched.
It was all the more so because I had some concerns.
‘…He took terrible care of his people.’
This time, both Ian and Camilla survived due to my intervention. But they couldn’t avoid injuries.
“Of course not.”
However, Therion shrugged nonchalantly.
“I don’t do such vulgar things. However… I didn’t step in to stop it either.”
“I understand.”
Ethan nodded.
Taking advantage of the pause in his questions, I quickly grabbed Therion’s arm.
“About what I asked you to find out.”
This is the priority, right? Therion stared at me blankly, then nodded with a gentle smile.
“Yes. You asked me to investigate the brainwashing on the castle. I’ll show you.”
Then Therion flicked his hand, cutting out part of the cave wall to create something like a desk. He took out a bundle of parchments from his chest and spread them out on it.
…Did he just bring all that out?
“Actually, there was no need to investigate spells related to brainwashing separately.”
“What do you mean?”
“Because brainwashing that could affect such an ancient castle would be closer to a curse than magic.”
“…A curse.”
“Yes. The very curse that Lady Edith seems to have.”
I frowned and quietly scanned the parchments Therion had laid out with my eyes.
They were so old that the surface was rough, seeming like they would crumble if touched. There were dozens of such parchments.
“The temple had done quite extensive research on spells similar in nature to the curse Lady Edith has. Did you know?”
“…I had no idea.”
This is everything.
Therion stood quietly beside me and added an explanation.
“Forbidden curses related to ‘time.’ I gathered those that could be enshrined in cliff caves or ancient castles, or could perform functions like ‘brainwashing.'”
Therion was indeed capable. However.
“…It’s quite a lot.”
I murmured quietly.
I seemed to understand what Therion meant when he said I needed to see this.
“So, which one is related to Lady Edith’s curse? I thought it would be better for Lady Edith to see and judge for herself.”
“…There are curses related to the castle.”
“Yes.”
Therion’s voice tickled my ear.
“…I understand.”
“Edith. If I could help…”
Ethan took a step closer, but I firmly raised my head to look at him and refused.
“It’s alright. This is something I need to see for myself. Could you wait for a moment?
“…If that’s the case.”
Ethan slowly nodded and agreed.
I took a deep breath and looked down at the parchments again.
‘Let’s see.’
I can read all existing languages.
My heart raced at the sight of all kinds of ancient languages I hadn’t seen in a long time. I wondered if the identity of the brainwashing at the end of this cave would be among these.
Careful not to crumble the old pieces of paper as my fingers moved, I carefully traced my hand over the parchments.
Turn back time. Live eternally. Go back to the past. Erase everyone else’s memories. Stop time…
They were all spells and curses that were more or less the same. I doubted if they would actually work properly.
…But who am I to say.
The parchments said to have been taken from the secret archives of the temple were valuable historical materials that I couldn’t access in any of my lives.
Something might be hidden here.
I couldn’t miss the opportunity to find out when it was right in front of me.
I held my throbbing head and narrowed my eyes.
“…Edith?”
I heard Ethan calling out to me, but I ignored him and opened my eyes wider. My dry eyelids trembled.
Languages that no one uses or remembers anymore crawled into my mind.
Who else could have understood these besides me?
The hoarse voice speaking didn’t seem like my own.
“Just a moment. I think I’m starting to figure something out.”
Numerous modifiers were written without considering order, and languages used across the sea were mixed in beyond single words.
Therefore, even the simple act of reading the parchments was closer to interpretation than speed reading. It was a task that eroded the interpreter’s mental strength.
It would have been nice to have a parchment to write down my interpretations, but trying to organize it all in my head was even more challenging.
Finally, among the records of inscriptions and simple word lists, a few parchments with peculiar similarities caught my eye.
“…Ah.”
A sigh like an empty breath fell. How many seconds or minutes had passed? As I was pondering this, my nosebleed, which hadn’t quite stopped, began to flow again.
It seemed as if magic had surged once more, flowing back through the opened blood vessels.
‘I can’t let it drip on the parchment.’
And before I could wipe away the drop of blood hanging from my chin, Ethan reached out first and caught the blood in his palm.
“…After going this far, you must have figured something out.”
With his other hand, he gently pulled my shoulder back. His palm covered the back of my head, making me bow my head to wait for the bleeding to stop.
“…Ah. Thank you.”
When had sweat beaded on my forehead? I nodded as I wiped my forehead with the back of my hand.
“Yes. I’ve narrowed it down to four.”
Then I turned to look at Therion, who had been leisurely observing the situation from the side.
“Therion.”
“Yes?”
“I’m afraid they might crumble if I touch them, so I’d be grateful if you could gather them for me instead.”
“Of course.”
Therion approached and slowly left only the parchments I pointed to.
A parchment with a cliff drawn on it, one with a castle, one with the shape of wind blowing, and one with a sword drawn on it. Four in total.
“There are many other parchments with simple drawings. Is there a reason you specifically chose these?”
“…The shapes of the magic circles are similar, and the casting conditions are similar.”
As the bleeding subsided somewhat, I approached the parchments Therion had gathered.
Four curses using ancient text, with the casting condition of ‘creating a magic circle by offering life and memories.’
Frowning, I immediately voiced my guess.
“…To be precise, it seems they were originally one spell.”
“Do you mean it derived into four forms?”
“…Yes. And if all four forms of these curses were released into the world…”
Could it be that in my past life, even though I thought I had seen the end of the curse, returning to the past again was related to this?
Therion, who had been quietly listening to the story, laughed. Then he poked my shoulder with his finger.
The finger that seemed like it would pierce through soft flesh and dig into bone stopped at just grazing the surface of the skin.
“So that’s why, Lady Edith.”
“……”
“It was one spell from the beginning. That’s why you couldn’t see the end. Because you didn’t gather all four, Lady Edith.”
It was an annoying smile that seemed pleased with my failure.
Trying hard not to look at him directly, I repeated to myself.
“…All four.”
“Yes. If ending the curse means seeing the end of the curse, naturally, it won’t work with just an incomplete curse.”
That’s right. Then…
“You’ll have to endure all of them in this body.”
🥀
Thank you for reading! ♡
