Chapter 10: The Curse Skill

Chapter 10:
The Curse Skill

 

THANKS TO EMMA, I had earned the 300,000 rels in a snap. It was a happy accident, and I awoke the morning after feeling relaxed for the first time since the morning I learned I lost my librarian job. I didn’t really have to push myself today, but I headed to the guild hall anyway. Lola’s enthusiasm encouraged me to not be lazy.

“Yay! I passed!” Emma, who must’ve arrived before me, came running as I got to the guild hall. She had passed the entrance exam and become an adventurer herself.

“Who did you get? Mr. Gamon?”

“Yeah, it was him.”

“How’d you get him to make a sound?”

“Umm, I just fought him like normal and got him to squeal with a single hit.”

“I feel like you’re underselling yourself here.”

Gamon was over Level 80, more than four times stronger than Emma. Of course, level wasn’t everything. I wondered if she’d used some kind of trick, but her next comment immediately clarified things.

“It was weird, because like, the whole time we were fighting, he just kept looking at my chest.”

“Oh.”

Now that made more sense. Emma’s breasts were exceptionally shocking if you weren’t used to them. It was only natural for a man to be distracted.

“And after the exam was over, he asked me to come work for him at this weird place.”

“Was it called Funbag Forest?”

Gamon must’ve been trying to scout her for her chest. Maybe running the brothel was actually his main occupation.

“Yeah, that was it. How did you know?”

“Oh, uh, he just invited me to stop by if I was free.”

“Well, did you?” Her expression darkened, and I hastily shook my head. Emma fidgeted, looking up at me like she wanted something. She looked so cute, like a puppy. “Well, um, if you ever wanted to go to a place like that, you know I, um, wouldn’t mind, uh…”

“Oh, I’m pretty sure you’d hate that place Emma.”

“I definitely wouldn’t want to with any other guy, but…if…if you wanted to, Noir, but only you, I…”

“Ahem! Ahem!” Lola cleared her throat loudly.

We’d been talking right in front of her desk, and a line had formed behind us. I’d been so distracted by my conversation with Emma that I didn’t even notice. Everyone was smirking. I was so embarrassed, my cheeks felt like they were casting a fire spell.

Lola scolded us with a disappointed look. “No flirting in front of the reception desks, please.”

“Sorry.”

“What’s the meaning of this anyway? You made me tell you I loved you in that embarrassing position and now you’re into this girl?”

Emma turned on me. “Noir?! You did what?!”

Crap, Emma’s going to get the wrong idea. I tried to explain, but just my luck, Lola threw a whole vat of oil on the fire.

“You know,” she said, “right now, Noir and I are getting pretty serious. Please don’t stick your nose in other people’s business.”

“Hmph!” Emma rounded on her instead. “You sound like you’re trying to pick a fight with me.”

Lola actually did seem to be trying to provoke Emma. Sparks flew as they glared at each other.

“Oooh, somebody’s popular,” someone teased as I stepped between the two girls.

“Anyway,” I said. “I’d like another request today. Please!”

When Lola got to business, she told me about a job to eradicate monsters on the Arrone Plains, but when I mentioned that I’d be forming a party with Emma, she frowned. Apparently, when you completed requests as a party, each member got fewer points than if you completed the request alone. I guess that meant the fastest way to go up a rank was to take on requests by yourself.

Just as we were about to leave, Lola ran out from behind her desk. She smiled and, even more curiously, grabbed my hand. “Say, I’d like to go out to dinner with you soon.”

“Well, are you going with her?” Emma asked.

“You will come,” Lola said. “Won’t you?”

Why did they have to put me on the spot like this?! I just smiled and laughed and gave a noncommittal answer even though, if I was being honest, I did want to go.

“You’re such a dummy, Noir,” Emma whined as we walked through the town to the gate. Whenever she complained, it was usually about me. Surely she could do that when I wasn’t around? “Women are devious creatures, you know,” she said. “You oughta be more careful. First she’ll invite you to dinner, but then she’ll lure you to her room and bam! She’s dismembering you.”

The serial killer secretary, huh? I felt like I’d read a book like that a while ago. But I was pretty sure Lola wasn’t a bad person. More importantly, I had no idea how to snap Emma out of this bad mood.

“Lower your head!” she shouted suddenly and smacked me on the shoulder.

She was already in a low bow herself, but I had no idea why. I didn’t know the person in front of us, though I was sure if I’d seen her before, I would’ve recognized her instantly.

She had a different aura from everyone around her—an absolute beauty in a flawless white dress, with shiny blonde hair and enchanting blue eyes. Her skin was white as snow and she had a figure to die for. She looked as though she’d been blessed by the heavens. She had a mature, adult face, but there was something cute about her. Her looks and the white gown wouldn’t have looked out of place on a bride. They fit the pure impression she gave off.

Wh-wh-who is she…?

“Who is she again?” I blurted out. Great going, Noir.

“Oh come on, Noir, she’s the daughter of Duke Albert. She even came to the Hero Academy and most importantly she’s going to be in our class!”

No wonder I didn’t recognize her. A duke’s daughter was so far beyond my station that I would have tuned her out to keep a respectful distance. Her eyes met mine as I bowed my head, and she smiled at me angelically. I was instantly smitten. She offered me her hand, and I resumed my attempt to bow.

“Good afternoon, Mr. Noir of the Stardias, and Miss Emma of the Brightnesses.”

I was completely bowled over; she remembered our names and showed us an appropriate level of respect. The prep school I’d gone to was a mix of nobles and commoners. Most of the nobles looked down on me when they found out I was just a baronet, though really, a lot of them just thought they were better than everyone, period.

“You’ve got the right person,” I responded with a smile.

“I am Maria Fianna Albert, and I am most pleased to make your acquaintance. Though as we are to be classmates, I would appreciate it if you just called me Maria.” She brought her hands to her chest, which was full enough to rival Emma’s, and bowed. Every gesture was the epitome of elegance and grace.

I was in complete awe—this was how the nobility was supposed to be. “It would be my pleasure,” I said.

“Truthfully, I was quite shocked when I observed you in the second half of the exam, Mr. Noir. You produced an unusually small Stone Bullet. To the best of my knowledge, Stone Bullet may vary in velocity depending on the caster, but size variance of that degree is unheard of.”

“I guess you could say it’s one of my fortes.”

“You seemed very gifted, so I was most desperate to have an opportunity to speak to you—and here we are, talking by complete coincidence. Perhaps the gods have brought us together.”

“You flatter me. Really, I’m honored to meet you.”

“I look forward to the entrance ceremony at the academy. However, I have some other engagements to attend today, so I must bid you farewell. Good day.”

“Good day, my lady.”

She turned and walked away, trailed by a number of guards and butlers. She was so beautiful, polite, and graceful it was hard to believe we were the same age. It looked like she’d even charmed Emma.

“Wow, she’s so pretty up close,” Emma murmured. “And her skin is so clear.”

“She’s almost too perfect. She was even respectful toward us.”

“Yeah… It was kind of fun to use ‘good day’ for once though.”

“I probably use it even less than you do.”

My eyes trailed Maria’s departure as we spoke. My curiosity got the best of me and I called up my Discerning Eye.

 

Name: Maria Fianna Albert

Age: 16

Species: Human

Level: 30

Occupation: Student

Skills: One-Handed Swordsmanship (Grade B); Charge; Heal; Sixteenth Year Death Curse

 

One-handed Swordsmanship was a pretty popular skill, but it was the Grade B part that made it impressive. Charge allowed the user to charge an attack and unleash an especially powerful strike. Heal was a standard recovery spell. But that last one…

“Emma, have you ever heard of the skill Sixteenth Year Death Curse?”

“Huh? Never heard of it.”

I thought as much. I didn’t know anything about it, either. I tried using Discerning Eye to look up more details.

 

Sixteenth Year Death Curse: A curse skill. Causes the owner’s entire body to be wracked with intense pain at regular intervals. The symptoms worsen as the skill owner ages, peaking in their sixteenth year. The skill disappears if the owner makes it through their sixteenth year.

 

Wait a second, doesn’t that mean that someone placed the curse on her? My heart pounded in my ears.

Given the skill description it, sounded like the curse would lift once she turned seventeen, but first she had to “make it through her sixteenth year.” What did that mean? Dying? I was a little shell-shocked. I had so many questions, I unconsciously turned to the Great Sage.

What are the chances of someone with a Sixteenth Year Death Curse making it past age sixteen?

<0.000001%>

“What the hell…?” I murmured.

“What’s wrong?”

“Oh, uh, nothing, just…thinking about that thing our prep school homeroom teacher used to say.”

“‘The better you are, the younger you die. Which is why I work myself to death to make sure these youngsters survive.’ Something like that?” Emma asked.

“Yeah, that’s the one. There was something about that phrase that I always liked.”

Then and there, I decided to do whatever I could to help Maria.