Curses were an inseparable element from mages. This was because mages inevitably encountered curses while learning and researching magic. Curses came to mages in various cases—when magic was used incorrectly, when magic was forced despite insufficient mana, and so on.
That was also why Kaniel had hesitated over whether to use flight magic when he’d nearly been kidnapped before. Come to think of it, Kaniel had been quite lucky until now. All the spells he’d cast while emotionally agitated had either activated splendidly or ended without any backlash.
In any case, that’s why all mages learn how to deal with curses. Fortunately, the curse that had turned Taeyon’s fingertips purple wasn’t particularly troublesome to handle.
“<The power to restore a body stained by poison…>”
As he recited the incantation in a low voice, a small cluster of light that began from Kaniel’s fingertips transferred to Taeyon. When the light that had sparkled and lingered on his fingertips for a moment scattered into the air, Taeyon’s hand had returned to normal, just as it had been before being cursed.
Taeyon felt his fingertips, which had been heavy and numb, become lighter.
“What in the world…”
“You know I’m a mage. It’s detoxification magic.”
“You… dispelled the curse?”
“I only treated the poison. I’m glad there was no wound.”
Though Kaniel spoke as if it was nothing special, the power to break curses wasn’t something to be mentioned so modestly. There were no mages on the Surface, and naturally, no beastkin who knew how to break curses either. Healing ability users could heal wounds, but couldn’t do anything about the curse itself.
As a result, curses remained for a while, tormenting their targets. If Taeyon, with corrosion poison lingering on his hand, hadn’t been able to dispel the curse, the skin on his fingertips would have corroded and become wounded from time to time for the foreseeable future. And he would have had to receive treatment each and every time that happened.
Therefore, being able to break curses was an effect beyond even healing abilities in this current situation.
“Kaniel, help me. Please.”
“Yes, I’ll help you.”
“…Without even listening? You can’t be so careless, Kaniel.”
Kaniel covered Taeyon’s mouth with his palm as Taeyon furrowed his brow as if trying to teach him how to live in the world.
“If you ask me, I’ll do anything for you. I’m not like this with just anyone.”
“…Keep your promise.”
It wasn’t even a promise. Though Kaniel found it strange, he obediently nodded.
“Then let’s go.”
With that, Taeyon led Kaniel and barged into the lord’s tent. It really could only be described as barging in. The sound of the cloth at the tent entrance fluttering was enough to draw the gazes of all dozen or so people inside.
“I have a proposal.”
A brief, cold silence flowed.
The lord, who had been placing both hands on the table with bloodshot eyes, took a deep breath and then ordered the bird beastkin standing beside him.
“You go first. Please ask them to send a healing ability user as quickly as possible.”
“Understood, my lord.”
He was a swift-winged bird beastkin that the lord had borrowed from Azram. If a bird beastkin set out, a healing ability user might be able to arrive here in Breil within a week.
After the bird beastkin left the tent, it was the knights’ turn.
“Keep your distance as much as possible while reducing the number of monsters. So we can enter immediately when the healing ability user arrives.”
Now that it was confirmed the monster’s nest would be completed, managing the monster numbers was essential. The monsters would keep increasing anyway, but that’s precisely why they needed to keep killing them to manage the numbers so it wouldn’t become a problem on the day of subjugation.
The knights filed out in a rush, and now the only people remaining in the tent were the lord, Taeyon, and Kaniel. The lord looked at Kaniel, who was with them even at such an important time, with an expression of exhaustion, then waved his hand.
“I don’t know what kind of proposal this is, but must you be with that child? It’s rather irritating.”
“Kaniel and I will explore the lord’s manor.”
“What do you… Young Master, you’re the one who said we mustn’t enter until the healing ability user arrives because the monster has corrosion poison!”
“Kaniel can detoxify curses.”
“…Was that child an ability user?”
This time Kaniel stepped forward. He couldn’t leave his self-introduction to Taeyon.
“I’m a mage. I’m human, and I came from the Floating Island.”
Human. At the appearance of humanity, which was known to no longer exist on this Surface, the lord made a confused expression.
Kaniel explained to the lord the ability that was the reason Taeyon had asked for help.
“You said the monster has corrosion poison, right? I can use detoxification magic that can neutralize corrosion poison.”
“Magic, you say…”
To prove the fact that he was a mage, Kaniel manifested one safe spell.
“<Light to brighten the darkness…!>”
A round orb of light that bloomed from Kaniel’s hand brightly illuminated the inside of the tent. Unlike a campfire, the lord erased his confusion and looked at Kaniel in the quiet light that didn’t make shadows dance.
Humans were known to be extinct. However, extinction wasn’t something that could be proven. It was surprisingly common for creatures thought to be extinct to pop up from unexpected places.
Did he say he could use detoxification magic? If that was true, they could send beastkin into the lord’s manor without waiting more than a week.
“What do you want? If it’s something I can give, anything…”
“I’m worried about Piyod and Matiel too.”
“…What?”
“I’m worried, so I want to find out where they’re hiding and bring them out. Won’t that do?”
Though it had been only a day’s meeting, there were people who left a deep impression in just a short time. For Kaniel, Piyod was such a person. Kaniel had felt great charm from the spirited and strong-willed squirrel. Of course, only as a friend.
Conversely, Matiel hadn’t left a strong impression on Kaniel, but the mere fact that he was Taeyon’s friend and the man Piyod would confess to was reason enough to want to save him.
“Taeyon will protect me. And I’ll protect Taeyon. Then it won’t even be dangerous.”
There was no reason to hesitate over something that wouldn’t even be dangerous.
The lord stared blankly at Kaniel as he said this, then looked back at Taeyon as if asking if he was serious. Taeyon leisurely nodded. A smile played on his face.
“Haha…”
Somewhere between relief and absurdity, laughter escaped from the lord as he spread his hand and covered his eyes with his palm.
“But whether that child is even alive…”
“There was no smell of dead blood from the lord’s manor.”
A wolf’s nose sensitively picks up the scent of blood. They could even distinguish whether it was the smell of blood from a living creature or from a dead one. So if there had been the smell of corpses, there was no way he wouldn’t have noticed.
There were no corpses in the lord’s manor.
“Is that really… really true?”
“I swear on my name.”
“Then…!”
“They might be hiding somewhere. If they’re with Piyod, they wouldn’t have taken a gamble.”
After hearing that answer, the lord stared blankly into space for a moment, then bowed his head with a grinning face. It was a strange face mixed with joy, hope, and fear.
“I ask this of you. Please find my son.”
Taeyon and Kaniel answered.
“We will definitely find him.”
“I absolutely will.”
* * *
The front of the lord’s manor became noisy.
This was because dozens of knights had received the lord’s orders and begun clearing out the monsters. The monsters that had been swarming in droves outside the manor’s outer wall rushed forward as soon as the knights appeared, as if they’d discovered delicious bones.
Monsters were creatures that knew no fear. They rushed in and tried to devour their enemies, paying no mind even as their companions kept dying right in front of them.
Occasionally, there were monsters that half-succeeded. A knight who had his forearm scratched was grabbed by the scruff of his neck by a senior knight and thrown backward.
At the violent action, Kaniel’s shoulders flinched. Even though he knew that knights were sturdy and that much wouldn’t bother them, seeing such things still startled him.
Even though they were both knights, Taeyon had never acted that way even once.
“We’re descending.”
The owl beastkin quietly glided down and landed on the roof of the lord’s manor. It was truly soundless flight.
“Thank you.”
“Tell Azram thank you.”
At the almost whispered voice, the owl beastkin nodded his head, then flew up soundlessly again and disappeared into the distance.
He was someone that Azram, after hearing the plan, had sent in support, saying that if the goal was simply to find Matiel and Piyod, it would be better to make the entry secretive from the start. Thanks to him, they were able to reach the roof without being noticed by anyone.
Taeyon held Kaniel’s waist so he wouldn’t slip on the roof and entered the building through a window in the roof.
The corridor was utterly desolate. Thanks to that, the two could tell that the monster with corrosion poison had been going in and out all the way to the top of the building. Otherwise, there was no way the wallpaper and carpets and such would be this wrecked.
“I don’t know when the monster might appear.”
“I’ll notice first, so don’t worry.”
“Okay. You’re so reliable, Taeyon.”
At Kaniel’s playful response, Taeyon also chuckled.
