Chapter 17 – Curse (1)

Translator: Yonnee

—

After the door opened, Julia greeted Leo, who lowered the sword that he was wielding. Whenever she needed to look for the Duke, she could almost always find him at the training grounds when he had nowhere else to be.

“You’re here?”

And as the sword was set aside, a natural smile dawned upon his face as though he had been waiting for her arrival all this time.

While looking disapprovingly at Leo, whose sky blue hair was fluttering in the wind, Julia reached out a hand.

“Huh? What? You want to shake hands?”

Julia smiled pointedly as he shook her hand, then narrowed her eyes at him.

“Wrong!”

“Huh?”

“Money, of course. Money! You said you’d pay me!”

“Money?”

She nodded, then turned to Olden, who was beside the confused Leo.

“Yes, yes, of course, money. How much did you say it was going to be?”

“You said you’d set the amount on your own. Plus, I heard from you that you’ll pay more for dealing with Doria, so give me a good bonus!”

It had been ten days since Julia and Leo caught Doria, but he’s only been saying that he understood what he had to pay while acting strangely. As though Leo was running away by not showing his face, Julia was the only one left frustrated.

She was the one who tackled and solved the case, so she thought she’d be paid quite a fortune. Maybe ten blank cheques at least? That was also the equivalent to the income that her family would have earned in a year if it was a creditable blank cheque issued by the Duchy of Epesia.

That’s why Julia endured and waited this long, even with the strong will of a Korean inside her. She spent more than a week mindlessly going through the motions, and it was enough to test her patience.

“Umm. Then let’s do it like this.”

“If you’re going to talk about marriage again, I’ll just pretend I don’t know you.”

“……”

He’d better answer correctly. When Julia glared at him violently, Leo smiled sheepishly and raised both hands in surrender.

However, just that one gesture wasn’t enough to calm her down, seeing as her patience had run out.

“…Sure, okay. I have a suggestion.”

“Don’t talk any nonsense. Just give me money.”

“I’ll give it! Sheesh.”

Leo looked at Olden for help, but the aide just shrugged and went out quietly. Leo watched him leave the room, then turned his gaze towards Julia.

“Olden will bring the payment, but before that—I’d like to strike a deal. What do you say?”

“No thanks.”

At Julia’s immediate rejection, Leo’s mouth gaped open for one moment. But Leo, an experienced swordsman, came to his senses quickly and spoke at once.

“Why? You can listen first, then think about it first.”

“I don’t want to get caught up in something weird again. Considering what happened last time, what else are you planning to make me do?”

It was hard to say whether Leo’s conscience was affected by her direct tone or not. Julia’s eyes were glued to him as she crossed her arms and put her foot down.

“Uh, isn’t that a little too much…?”

“I don’t think I’m going out of line though?”

Well, considering how she’s acting in front of the lord of Epesia, it might seem as though her behavior was out of line, but it really wasn’t that.

At the very least, she knew that even if she acted in this way, Leo wouldn’t be angry or offended.

From observing him closely while she was in Epesia, she noticed that Leo wasn’t the type to keep up pretentious appearances and formalities.

That’s also why the relationship between the Duke and his men wasn’t seen to be strictly employer and employee, or nobleman and commoner.

Most of all, Leo was particularly more friendly and kind only to Julia, so she was often caught off guard by his words.

It was something she had never experienced in both her lives, so she enjoyed the attention a little, but that was all.

She wanted to leave this place before she got attached. She prided herself on being a shaman for many years, but it was still difficult to experience something like the incident with Baron Doria.

Her gut kept warning her. If she stayed here longer, she wouldn’t be able to leave easily.

That’s why she just wanted to get what she needed, settle all accounts, then go back home—quickly. Leo clicked his tongue, disappointed by her refusal, shaking his head at her determined expression. But Julia was confident that she wouldn’t be shaken.

“Tsk. Alright, I understand.”

Coming back through the door, Olden arrived and brought a piece of paper then handed it to Leo. He looked at the paper and offered it to Julia.

‘Just one sheet?’

Grumbling, Julia’s brows furrowed, then she snatched the blank cheque from his hand.

“Just one sheet? I thought it… was… going to be… What is this?”

Julia’s eyes widened in surprise at the blank cheque that had a golden seal. Leo tapped his chin.

“It’s certified by the Royal family. That’s enough, right?”

“Th… This… This is really mine?”

Julia stammered, dumbfounded. Each blank cheque had their own standards, but in the end, there was a credit limit set for each kind. Even though it’s called a ‘blank’ cheque, it’s not actually unlimited.

But a blank cheque issued by the Royal family was different. Although there wasn’t a fixed limit, up to 0.5% of the treasury could be accessed.

Given that the maximum issuance of this cheque was only up to five, this was definitely of an enormous value.

This was like getting an equivalent of five to ten years of income at her family’s territory. Julia’s eyes shone as she was handed nearly ten times more of the amount she had expected in the first place.

“This…!”

“But I can’t give it to you right now.”

“……”

What? Julia stared vacantly at him as the blank cheque in her hands slipped away in an instant. Leo grinned and flapped the cheque he had taken away.

“You know it’s too much, right?”

“Well, you said you’ll give me as much as you want!”

“This is this, and that is that.”

Julia’s expression hardened as Leo took the words she had once uttered. With ferocious glaring eyes, Julia shouted.

“Are you kidding me?!”

“Don’t be angry…”

“And why shouldn’t I be angry?! Give it!”

“I will.”

When Julia reached out to grab it, Leo looked down as he stretched his arm up. His eyebrows rose as Julia’s eyes became even more vicious while looking at the cheque with a golden seal that had tempted her so.

“But I need to ask another request again first.”

“……”

Haaa. With a red face, Julia continued to glower at him, but eventually sighed and nodded as though she had given up.

“Yeah, okay. Let’s hear it. I’ll listen then decide what to do.”

There was no way she could resist the temptation of abundance, no matter how cautious she was. Although she was annoyed, it couldn’t be helped.

Leo grinned when she said yes, then he steered her towards the veranda. They both sat down, then Leo placed the cheque on the table, tapping it.

“It’ll be simple.”

“Tell me then.”

Leo crossed his legs and folded his arms, looking at Julia leisurely.

“Do you happen to know what necromancy is?”

“Necromancy?”

Julia paused, hearing a word that she hadn’t come across for a long time. Leo tilted his head, then continued.

“So…”

“No, it’s not that I don’t know what it is. I’m just surprised that the word popped out of nowhere. Anyway, what about it?”

“You know it?”

“There’s no way I don’t. In a way, channeling and necromancy are similar. Please continue.”

“Then it’ll be a quick explanation.”

Leo reached out to Olden, who handed over a scroll. Then, as the scroll rolled down to unfold its contents, a strange illustration could be seen.

No, rather than an illustration, it was clearly a variation of a Ouija or spirit board. It was a print with three round circles over a large triangle in the middle.

“Do you know what it is?”

“…You’ll have to explain.”

“Alright. Then I’ll start with the beginning.”

*

A few years ago, a strange rumor began to spread around the three academies of the Duchy of Epesia. Urban legends or ghost stories tended to sprout in schools or wherever else people gathered, but in particular, the same urban legend circulated within the three academies.

This mysterious urban legend was called [Resurrection]. First, the magic circles would be spread out. Second, in the middle of the circles, a doll or anything connected to the being to be summoned must be placed. Then third, three students must utter the incantation so that the soul would come forth.

It was thought to be a joke, but when rumors spread that this method indeed worked, more students copied the rites. Even noble children, who were from notable families in the Dukedom of Epesia, were copying such behavior at the time.

But that wasn’t the point. Each academy had various ghost stories and legends, but the problem began when this particular spirit board became popular.

And it didn’t end there—there was something far more significant going on.

*

“So this phenomenon didn’t happen in just one academy, but two others?”

Julia looked at Leo in surprise, and the latter nodded.

“I thought it was a trivial joke before, but then an accident happened.”

“What accident?”

“…The young lady of the Kalia County committed suicide.”

“Suicide?”

“Yes. A note was also found. To summarize, it said ‘I don’t want to suffer because of revenge anymore. I never asked for this kind of thing. It was just… just for fun at first. But there’s no way to escape now. We’re stuck with this forever. We’ll end up killing each other now as we’re trapped in this maze without any exits.’”

“It’s a bit delicate, then.”

“When the young lady from the rather prestigious Kalia County took her own life, the Count officially asked for an investigation. The academy is under the direct jurisdiction of the Duchy, so even though he’s a Count, he couldn’t do anything on his own. That’s why…”

“That’s why he asked for the Duke’s help?”

“Right. If it had just been one kid that passed away, I would have let the matter pass. But then…”

Julia silently stared at Leo, who lowered his head.

“Anything else?”

“A total of seven other people had taken their own lives, excluding Lady Kalia—and they all had similar suicide notes. What do you think? Doesn’t it sound suspicious?”

“Hmm…”

Placing a hand on her chin, Julia nodded as she contemplated.

“It’s not something I’d like to involve myself in, but I’ll take a look, then decide whether I’ll do it or not. Maybe it’s just a fight between the students, or maybe it’s something I won’t be able to handle. If it’s like that, then I’ll take my hands off the case immediately.”

“Alright.”

“But I’m still going to take the money. As long as I take a look, it doesn’t matter, right?”

Leo bewilderedly looked at Julia as she picked up the blank cheque from the table, but soon afterwards, he nodded.

Julia looked satisfied, then stood up to look down at Leo.

“Well then, shouldn’t I go check it out myself?”