Chapter 325 – Side Story Two. The Girl in the Orb (One)

Thud─ clack─

A dark underground space.

Two pairs of footsteps echoing through it.

The woman followed the boy.

The grayish metal forming the floor and walls resembled rock, giving the feeling of being sucked deep into a cave.

Unknowingly, she grew tense.

If not for the faintly glowing magic lanterns lining the ceiling, even minimal visibility wouldn’t have been secured.

…….

Clack─ thud─

Truthfully, she could have just used magic to float a sphere of light.

Then her vision would have brightened.

To an incomparable degree compared to now.

But the woman couldn’t do that.

…Because she didn’t have the courage to face this space head-on.

Fear, trembling, a sense of being overwhelmed.

Those were the emotions that had taken root in her heart from the moment she set her first foot on the stairs leading down into the underground space.

Emotions that kept bubbling back up to assert their existence, no matter how hard she tried to suppress them.

She was a woman who hated showing weakness more than death, but this time she had no choice but to admit it.

Clack─ thud.

At the end of countless stairs and corridors.

They finally arrived at the lowest level.

In the center of a small room where silence lay thick like dust, a wheelchair was placed.

Looking closely, one could see a person sitting there.

However, there wasn’t even the slightest movement.

Beside her, the boy parted his lips.

─It’s Doctor. He’s in a dead state right now.

─…….

While the woman felt her heart sink with a thud, the boy unraveled the story of what happened here yesterday.

As detailed and thorough as possible.

So the woman could understand everything.

─So, just before drawing his last breath, in his final moment, Doctor laughed heartily. It seemed like he realized that, despite harboring the emotion of fear throughout his entire life, there was actually no need for it at all.

Every human lives fearing something.

Just as she, when the opportunity to encounter Doctor came yesterday, couldn’t muster the courage to go along with the boy’s suggestion to go together.

It was an ambivalent feeling.

Hating Doctor enough to want to kill him, but also, on the other hand, fearing him.

Thud─

After a long hesitation.

The woman approached the wheelchair.

Under the dim lighting, she confirmed the old man’s appearance.

His face, tilted back towards the ceiling, was frozen with an emotion that was hard to tell if it was relief or regret.

─Ah.

The woman was astonished.

The figure called Doctor, who had stolen her entire life, had the face of an ordinary old man one could find anywhere on the street.

No sharp horns.

No hideously colored skin.

No red pupils like a demon from imagination.

Somehow, her mind went blank.

She had thought that when she met the real Doctor hiding behind the golem, she would tear his body to shreds.

But somehow, she didn’t feel like doing that.

She just felt choked up and empty.

The black fear of Doctor had completely vanished from the woman’s vessel.

─…….

How much time passed like that?

While lifting her head blankly, her gaze met the boy’s.

─The Emotional Curse.

The boy parted his lips and spoke.

“Are you ready to release it now?”

“Huh, what?”

Snapped out of her thoughts, Curiosa hurriedly looked around and grasped the situation.

The inside of a cabin with sunlight streaming in.

The kid stirring a teaspoon in front of her.

Ah, right.

She had been sitting at a table having a conversation with a kid who suddenly barged into her house.

The topic of Doctor came up, making her recall past events for a moment.

“What did you just say?”

“I asked if you’re ready to release the Emotional Curse now.”

To release the Curse Seal.

This was the third time asking.

The first question was when the kid obtained the Orange Shard of the Rainbow.

「I can release the Emotional Curse engraved on the back of your hand.」

After deep thought, she answered.

「…I’ll postpone it until after I’ve taken my revenge on Doctor. If I release the Curse Seal, there’s a chance my hatred for Doctor might cool down.」

It was a firm refusal based on her determination for revenge.

The second question was right after confirming Doctor’s death at his residence.

「Are you ready to release it now?」

「…Not right away. I need time to sort out my emotions.」

It was a refusal because she wasn’t mentally prepared.

“It’s been a week since we visited Doctor’s residence, so I thought you might have sorted out your thoughts by now.”

And the question repeated for the third time.

Curiosa stared at Ray.

About two years ago.

The kid she first met as an enemy in the wilderness canyon had now grown quite a bit, shedding his childlike appearance.

His delicate looks, which could make girls his age cry, were still there.

But the somehow deepened gaze and aura told her that the kid had definitely changed from before.

He had grown.

Both physically and mentally.

“I’m not a kid.”

“Don’t read my thoughts.”

…Anyway.

‘On the other hand, me.’

She had lived at least twice as long as the kid.

But if asked if she had grown, well.

She had lived her entire life as a monster of curiosity by Doctor’s hand.

In those repeating days, there was no room for change or growth.

It was as if her life had been preserved.

That time was long, very long, and now her memories as Curiosa were much clearer than her memories as the orphanage girl.

That was why.

She couldn’t easily muster the courage to remove the Emotional Curse.

According to the kid, everyone has a vessel that holds emotions.

‘…In my case, he said it’s filled with lavender-colored curiosity.’

The artificial, abnormal emotions generated by the Curse of Curiosity.

They would all disappear.

If the Curse Seal was released.

…But what then?

‘If the Curse Seal is released, what emotions will appear in the empty vessel?’

She didn’t know, and it suddenly became frightening.

Releasing the Curse Seal was akin to facing her true self.

But hadn’t she long forgotten the shape of her true self?

‘I am only Curiosa.’

A monster of curiosity who lived dreaming only of revenge against Doctor.

Other than that… she couldn’t remember.

Whoosh!

“?”

Snapping back to her senses at the sudden sensation of mana, the kid’s hand, tinged orange, was slowly creeping across the table towards her.

Curiosa used Spatial Magic to hastily move to the back.

“You, you brat! Aren’t you going to put that away?”

“We need to release the Curse Seal.”

“Not right now. I said I need more time to sort out my thoughts.”

“How much more?”

For a moment, she was speechless.

It was a question she couldn’t give a definite answer to.

Curiosa raised her voice to hide her fear of releasing the Curse Seal.

“Hmph, what’s the rush? Anyway, since you absorbed the power of the Orange Shard of the Rainbow, you can release the Curse Seal anytime, right?”

“There’s nothing urgent, but.”

“But?”

“Before going on a trip, I want to finish as many things as I need to do as possible.”

A trip?

The dots and lines on Curiosa’s white mask moved to form a question mark.

“You? Suddenly, what trip?”

“I’m planning to travel around the places I’ve passed by until now. Slowly. Leisurely. I think it might be an opportunity to reflect a little on myself.”

An opportunity to reflect on himself.

Curiosa instantly understood.

That the kid currently harbored a similar kind of worry as her.

Her prickly tone softened.

“Hmm hmm, well, I hope you have a successful trip. Anyway, the point is now is not the time to release the Curse Seal on the back of my hand.”

“Why are you afraid?”

Flinch.

Curiosa then snorted.

“Ha, afraid? Of what? For a great ruins explorer, a high-level 4th Circle wizard, the Cookie Slayer of Seanless Orphanage like me to be afraid of something is… Kyaaaaaaah!”

Seeing the mouse Ray took out of his pocket, Curiosa opened a Spatial Rift and disappeared beyond it.

Sizzle.

The rift closed.

“…….”

An event that happened in the blink of an eye.

Silence flowed inside the cabin.

Ray gave the mouse a small piece of cheese and put it back in his pocket.

Then he spoke towards the empty air.

“I found that Seanless Orphanage.”

Sizzle.

Curiosa, who peeked only her head out, confirmed the mouse was gone and asked.

“Found it…?”

“Yeah. Although it’s an old site with little of the building’s original form remaining.”

Curiosa was bewildered.

She recalled what she had said before.

「Seanless Orphanage? It’s the place I lived before being taken in by Doctor. All of Mercread’s executives, including me.」

「I don’t remember properly. It was dirty, smelly, and dark. Other than that… not really? It was too long ago.」

They were words she had uttered casually.

They didn’t contain any meaningful clues.

But he found the old site?

“…You’re not lying, are you.”

“I have quite a bit of financial leeway. And in the world, there are many people willing to sell their legwork for money.”

It meant he had posted notices and thoroughly searched every location with residents and beggars in each Sector.

“Even considering that, to post search notices in all Sectors would take time… Ah.”

Curiosa realized while speaking.

That after the kid in front of her retrieved all the Shards of the Rainbow, he had been displaying truly unbelievable abilities.

For instance, casting Spatial Magic, which consumes immense resources including mental energy, as easily as breathing.

The distance between Sectors was no longer any barrier to the kid.

“I can guide you if you want.”

“…….”

Curiosa fell into brief contemplation.

Actually, the answer was already decided.

Even if it was an old site, she might perhaps find clues about her childhood self.

“Alright. I’ll visit. But I need mental preparation for this too. Give me about two days….”

“You don’t need to keep being so scared.”

Ray waved his hand through the air.

Mana rippled, and a Spatial Rift began to open.

“W-wait a minute, kid!”

“There are people coming along.”

The flustered Curiosa saw the figure and scenery appearing beyond the rift and instantly closed her mouth.

“Curie-nim! Have you been well?”

Red hair and a brimmed hat.

A fancy travel outfit and travel bag.

It was Veronica.

From behind the cathedral’s splendid corridor, the urgent voices and footsteps of priests could be heard.

“The Saintess has disappeared!”

“The meeting with the faithful is about to start, where on earth….”

“Search the escape routes she usually uses often!”

Curiosa spoke awkwardly.

“They seem to be looking for you….”

“Veronica is free.”

“No….”

“Free.”

Veronica, staring straight at Curiosa and enunciating clearly, hopped over into the cabin.

Afterwards, the Spatial Rift closed.

Sizzle─

It opened again.

The scenery and person changed.

“Curiosa-nim, hello! Wow, it’s been a while, everyone!”

Philip, like Veronica, had a travel bag beside him.

The background was the interior of a sophisticated mansion, with a brown-haired woman standing behind him.

Philip’s birth mother, Philia.

She had been active under the name Obsess as part of Mercread, but now, having released her Curse Seal and regained her own life.

She, who had been sending a warm gaze towards her son, made eye contact with Curiosa.

“…….”

“…….”

There was no conversation between them.

But Curiosa could tell.

That Philia, as someone who released her Curse Seal first, was sending a look of encouragement.

“Well then, I’ll be back!”

“Alright. Take care and come back safely. Since Ray is with you, I won’t worry too much.”

Philip came over and the rift closed.

“Veronica, it seems like your body volume has increased a bit since I last saw you?”

“I might tell Madam Philia that you’re dating Ayla Unni.”

“Hahaha! Oh my, I misspoke! Gaining weight! On the contrary, you’ve gotten so thin I almost didn’t recognize you!”

As the pleasant conversation continued.

Curiosa grew curious.

In which Sector number was the orphanage’s old site located, that the whole group was visiting together?

Zzzt─!

Ray opened a new door.

Following the group through the rift, Curiosa could instantly perceive that the color tone of the scenery had changed.

Buildings with gloomy hues.

Pedestrians in shabby attire.

On a sign, the number ’49’ was smeared with ink, flowing down black like Black Rain.