Chapter 40 : Chapter 40

Chapter 40 - Curses Cannot Kill the Youngest Son

I opened my eyes.

My body, feeling as if it had been beaten, twitched on the bed.

At the same time, blue windows filling my vision were the first to greet the Youngest Son.

[You have endured a total of 99 curses.]

[Grade 2: 3]

[Grade 3: 40]

[Grade 4: 56]

[You have accepted 99 curses at once without taking the time to separate them.]

[Additional experience is recognized.]

[Calculating….]

[「Constitution: Curse Resistance」 has reached its maximum level.]

[You have assimilated 99 curses.]

[You can use them without learning.]

“So there are Grade 2 curses as well.”

Grade 1 requires decades of time.

Grade 2 requires about a year of preparation, and its killing power was immense.

If it had been cast directly instead of conditionally on an object, few people in the world would have survived.

It was fortunate that its power had slowly diminished within the substance of a book.

[There is additional experience.]

[Proceeding with additional calculation.]

…There's still something more.

I had achieved my goal of curse resistance and curse assimilation.

But the system didn't stop.

Ting─

The system screen floating before my eyes refreshed.

[You have acquired the Epic Additional Trait 「Curse Immunity」.]

──「Curse Immunity」──

[Acquisition Conditions]

: Be exposed to 2 or more Grade 2 curses

: Be exposed to 50 or more curses at once

[Description]

: A curse is the purest result of the malicious grudge held by humans. You have endured the malice of humans, perhaps the most venomous thing in this world, dozens of times.

As a result, it has been proven.

That curses can never kill you.

[Effect]

: You will not die from curses.

──────────

My bloodshot eyes devoured the message at the appearance of a word I hadn't seen in a long time.

“Heh.”

I let out a hollow laugh.

An Epic-grade additional trait.

This was something given only when one achieved truly difficult-to-specify conditions, which were added or removed depending on the situation.

“Just achieving it felt like a new law had been created in this world.”

And it was a selfish law that revolved solely around me.

The law created now was immunity to death by curse.

“I never thought I'd get an Epic trait in Act 1.”

I barely managed to suppress the laughter that was trying to leak out, my body staggering.

It felt as if all the stiffness that had been pressing down on my body had vanished.

In that mood, I shot up from the bed.

The Head Maid, having heard the noise from inside, entered.

The Youngest Son asked as if he had been waiting.

“How many days has it been.”

“Three days.”

“…I slept more than I thought.”

“There are quite a few things you need to be briefed on.”

“I'll listen as I look.”

I reached for the ledger placed at the head of the bed.

The Head Maid's eyes as she watched that hand were somewhat troubled.

As she was someone who didn't show her emotions well on her face.

Even a slight change came across as significant to someone with sharp eyes.

It was just like that now.

“Is the matter I need to hear about related to this ledger?”

“Yes. According to information from Jubel, there was an anonymous tip to the Fourth Son's councilors.”

“Hah.”

An anonymous tip, he says.

Why doesn't that anonymous tip seem anonymous at all?

Far from anonymous, it became a real name that was plain to see.

“Hinek. Rather than have it burst by someone else's hand, did he do it with his own?”

“That seems highly likely. The next step is─”

“Shall I guess? The councilors would have taken the information from the tip and either arrested or killed all of Hinek and his subordinates.”

Because the information in the tip would have been manipulated.

A very real-looking fake.

A fake more real than the real thing would have spread to the Fourth Son's side.

Hinek had dodged the vital spots by skillfully changing the aim of the arrows that should have been aimed at him.

That wasn't to say he didn't shed blood.

That blood was not Hinek's own.

Outwardly, it seemed Councilor Hinek had suffered extensive damage at the hands of the Fourth Son.

Having lost most of his power, he seemed incapable of recovery and had nowhere to turn.

It really only seemed that way.

But believing what you see was forbidden here in Millesdusk.

“Head Maid. Isn't there something that catches your attention.”

“……”

She saved her words.

Because adding a comment here was not something beings like the Head Maid could do.

That was the view of an Intelligence Department agent.

The Head Maid neither nodded nor shook her head, but the Youngest Son was already convinced.

“There's something. Something very dirty.”

I changed my clothes.

The worn-out and shabby clothes were precisely for the Citadel.

“While neutralizing the ledger, most of the shields protecting Hinek have disappeared. But the Fourth Son's side is not launching the final attack.”

Why was that?

The reason was simple.

“Because some kind of conversation must have taken place.”

But there was no way the Fourth Son would have accepted it.

For someone of his temperament to negotiate with someone like Hinek.

Impossible.

In other words, this matter involved someone from the Fourth Son's side who could negotiate with the likes of Hinek.

“The Butler. That bastard is trying to kill me.”

“…!”

The sudden shift in the gun's aim.

Why would the Youngest Son suddenly come up here?

I looked at the Head Maid, whose eyebrows had raised slightly in surprise.

“Isn't it obvious.”

“…May I ask why it is obvious.”

“Is it an occupational hazard? You're good at gathering information but have a hard time putting it together.”

“……”

The clothes were worn but smelled clean as Lubosch had washed them well.

I buttoned up the shirt with its loose threads and continued speaking.

“List the information we have so far.”

After thinking for a moment, the Head Maid slowly moved her lips.

“Councilor Hinek. The ledger. The purge. The Fourth Son's Butler. A certain conversation.”

“Yes. Well gathered. But if we dig deeper into the sub-topic of the Butler, the deal with my second-oldest brother is added.”

I picked up the sunglasses next to my clothes and placed them on the bridge of my nose.

“The Butler has seen it. That I am scratching my second-oldest brother's itch exactly where it is.”

“Hmm….”

“While he was busy trying to curry favor, I not only quelled his murderous intent but also nurtured it through a deal and rose to an equal footing.”

“The sight of someone crossing the single-log bridge that is the Fourth Son time and again but never falling…. The Butler must have felt fear and jealousy from that.”

“The sight of some guy who just showed up winning over the master he has served and will serve his entire life. It's not a pleasant sight from a butler's perspective.”

Only then did the Head Maid nod her head.

At first, she felt fear at the Youngest Son's potential.

Then the Youngest Son became stuck in her head, and as she constantly thought of him, she even harbored jealousy.

A guy who suddenly appeared and suddenly won the master's favor.

One who repeatedly succeeds at things that seem impossible buys fear from those who cannot.

“Hinek seems incapable of recovery now, but as long as he maintains his councilor position, the Citadel is full of guys who will fill his pockets.”

“We must strike while he has no shield.”

“Yes. That must be what the Fourth Son's Butler wants.”

A territory whose walls have crumbled because the bomb called the ledger has already gone off.

But the lord himself was stronger and harder than the walls.

That strong lord had to be caught, and that was the content of the deal.

“The Butler wants me to fight with force so I can't bring him down with the weakness of the ledger, and ultimately, for me to die.”

It was a battle without the justification of the ledger.

Even if I won, a battle started without justification was bound to bring trouble.

This was not a squabble among the Citadel's runts.

If I won, I would walk into a conundrum myself, and if I lost, I would die. If I ran, the Fourth Son would kill me.

Checkmate.

The Butler must have shouted so with a victorious smile.

It was as if that heavy voice was ringing in my ears.

Then the Youngest Son would answer in the style of his hometown.

Your move.

***

Levering Firearms in G-District.

The workshop behind it was constantly hot, with no thought of the fire going out.

To a dullard, one hour is ten minutes.

To an ordinary person, one hour is one hour.

To a genius, one hour has the value, efficiency, and performance of a day.

She had worked for a week, clinging to the scythe.

She had lived with extremely little sleep and had skipped meals.

But she wasn't sleepy at all, and she wasn't hungry at all.

“…Hey, miss. You should really get some sleep. It's not like there's a deadline.”

“Th-that's right. I'm worried you'll dip your head in molten iron.”

Every time Reggie and Kio sent worried words, the young magitech engineer shook her head vigorously.

“I'm not tired at all. It's actually harder to take my hands off the work.”

The two watched her as she practically lived in the workshop.

She barely ate, just picking at her food, and only drank a little water.

Since she invested most of her day in the weapon, it changed noticeably with each passing sunrise and sunset.

The equipment was a great help in that.

‘It's a good thing I asked Vice-Captain Marvin for various things.’

In fact, she had told him about all the expensive and rare industrial machines that she wouldn't even use when making the engine.

Marvin had bought them for her with a hearty laugh, without any particular suspicion.

Thanks to that, the working conditions became exceptionally comfortable and expanded her limits.

The original item was also very sturdy, so even processes that would have been impossible in her previous workshop were now possible.

But a problem, as problems do.

It burst out from a completely unexpected place.

“…Why won't this wipe off.”

She repeatedly washed the blood caked onto the blade.

But from a certain point, the blade no longer became clean.

There was clearly still blood on it, but it didn't change.

“Let's just keep going for now.”

When she heated the blade with immense firepower.

A change occurred.

To be precise, a change occurred in the blood that was on the blade.

“It's… melting.”

The blood was melting.

It didn't evaporate but melted like molten iron.

What kind of blood in the world does this?

“…This.”

The smell of something burning.

A pungent sulfur smell brushed past the tip of her nose.

“It's demon's blood. Hahat.”

She laughed, but it was absolutely not a laughing matter.

She immediately pulled out the heated blade and cooled it rapidly.

It was to cool the blood, not the blade.

She didn't know what it was, but it was a weapon that had cut a demon.

A demon's very existence is a curse.

The blood that had stained it while sinking into the demon's flesh still had clear traces.

It was blood with that strong a presence.

“Aah….”

It seeped into the blade.

It had fused.

The molten blood had vanished without a trace.

Its whereabouts were told by the changed color of the blade.

“…It's turned black.”

Thud─

She collapsed along with the blade.

What she had originally intended to make was a longsword transformed from a great scythe.

Its shape, being the blade of a scythe, had a curve that could be seen as a tachi, but since it was double-edged, it was correct to call it a longsword.

But what use was that now?

The moment the demon's blood, far from coming off, merged with it, the work was over.

“…Now all that's left is to insert the grip and pommel….”

She had suddenly run into an unexpected disaster.

“……”

Her vision was blurry due to the tears welling up in her eyes.

The black blade of the sword she lifted up, sniffling.

The result itself was beautiful.

She had sharpened the edge and increased its hardness while preserving its original beautiful curve.

Perhaps because it had some symbolic meaning, it was an old item that hadn't been touched at all.

It was easy to find parts to add or remove with current technology, and she had done so.

But in the process, the demon's blood had awakened.

And it had stained the entire blade.

This was no longer an ordinary sword.

A sword imbued with demonic blood.

It was a Cursed Sword.

“A Cursed Sword…. It attracts tremendous misfortune to its wielder and amplifies their murderous intent and power.”

At first, their body would flush with the pleasure of the power the sword gives.

After that, it would go beyond flushing to become hot, and then unbearably hot, until they finally lose their ego.

It was truly a curse.

A curse that kills people.

“I'm screwed….”

…What do I say to 500 Gold Coins.

Even as she lamented and deplored.

The artisan's hands were completing the sword.

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