Chapter 23 – Curse (7)

Translator: Yonnee

—

After Leo was settled back into his body, he looked more normal in the evening when Julia guided him. Leo pressed down on the back of his neck, exhausted.

“Do you usually get this tired?”

“It takes a lot of energy, but you did better than I usually do. Is it because you’re born with stronger energy?”

Julia pointed to the pale energy that was wrapped around his body. Leo spread the residual energy around him and smiled.

“There’s something I need to tell you.”

“What is it?”

Julia looked curiously at his pursed lips, as though he was bothered.

“The temple said they would intervene.”

“The temple?”

Leo looked out the dark window.

“Some nobles gathered and requested for the temple’s interference, perhaps because they felt that this case is unusual. That’s why priests will come here tomorrow.”

“Priests…”

Julia didn’t have many good memories with priests. Basically, Julia also borrowed a god’s power whenever she had to do her work, so there was divine power running through her veins.

However, the problem was that the god she was borrowing power from was someone unknown in this world. Also, the divine power that Julia had was accumulated within her soul itself—priests were different.

They used divine power as well, which was innate in their bodies and not souls, and the power they had was the amount they could wield.

Because of these differences, Julia and priests would often clash. If Julia wasn’t the daughter of a noble, she would have been condemned and accused of heresy.

“……”

As Julia bit her lips and grew quiet, Leo glanced at her.

“Don’t worry.”

“Huh?”

Leo lifted the bottle that was placed on the table and poured water.

“I believe in you, Julia. You’re better. I don’t think they’ll be able to solve this.”

“Thank you for saying that.”

When Julia chuckled, Leo also smiled. However, even as he smiled, he couldn’t help but feel anxious for tomorrow. Julia’s face had gotten thinner again.

The next day, two priests arrived at the academy. Both priests served Ellemeo, the goddess of peace, and they donned pure white robes.

As she stared at them, Julia leaned against the wall with her arms folded. The older priest of the two bowed his head to greet Leo.

“I greet the Duke of Epesia.”

“Skip the formalities. Is there anything you can feel from the academy?”

“Well…”

He looked around and smiled faintly.

“I am not sure yet as it’s very quiet. We’ll need to investigate more.”

“Is that so?”

A sudden wind blew. Julia covered her eyes slightly to guard them against the dust that was blowing by, then when she raised her head, she looked around.

The spirits in the sky were still floating upward without being able to leave. But the strange thing was that… their numbers lessened a little.

Before, they filled the expanse to the extent that Julia was barely able to see the sky, but right now, there were a few empty spots. Julia was perplexed by this, but as she thought that this might be an illusion, she lowered her gaze and met the priest’s eyes.

“You are…”

“I am Julia from the Robinharts family.”

Even when Julia introduced herself bluntly without even moving from her spot against the wall, the priest bowed with a gentle smile.

“May the protection of Goddess Ellemeo be with you.”

“Ha…”

By shamelessly mentioning his god’s name, it was like he was provoking Julia. She glared at him, then turned around, walking towards the opposite side.

As Leo watched her leave, he excused himself from the priests then followed behind her. He caught up to her soon since she hadn’t gotten far, then matched her stride so they were walking side by side.

“Can I ask why you hate priests so much?”

“Simple. Because it’s impossible for them to solve this situation gently.”

“…Huh?”

“Priests can’t see those spirits—their wavelengths don’t match. But I can feel it. I think even you can feel it intuitively. Do you know how they do it?”

Julia frowned, looking very displeased.

“Through purification.”

“Purification?”

“Yes. They erase the negative energy in the area with divine power. The spirits are made entirely of negative energy, so naturally, they’d disappear through this method. But it’s not like passing over and guiding them towards their true place—the priests will just purge the spirits. I… I don’t like that.”

“What happens then?”

“What do you mean?”

Julia shifted her red eyes towards him, then she spoke.

“It’s my job to release the dead’s resentment and send them back to where they’re supposed to be. From the very beginning, a conversation must be opened so that this could be done, so there’s bound to be some conflict. But… if you look at it this way—if there are a lot of bugs in a house, what would you do to eradicate them? They would just burn the entire house to the ground and call that their solution. Do you understand?”

“Yes, I do. What should we do then? How can I help you?”

“…Please have some people watch those two. Maybe attendants who can openly stick close to them. And if they try to do something, tell me right away.”

“Alright.”

Leo nodded as he read her countenance, but as she turned away, she bit his lips. Somehow, she had a bad feeling.

*

Julia was organizing her thoughts as she read a report on another academy, one that was given to her by Patrick earlier. The cursive script was quite rough.

She read through the students’ interviews, and as she observed a pattern, she could guess what kind of curse this was.

But the peculiarities in how the curse was formed bothered her. Julia narrowed her eyes.

“Ko…”

The curse was very simple. Although the form it had taken had changed, it was still similar to the method of using insects—it was a popular curse in China* in her previous world.

Kodoku. This method was widespread in the Yunnan province around the Qi and Han Dynasty. They would call sorcerers and bury poisonous insects in a jar until only one would survive.

And at the end, the surviving insect would be used to invoke the curse of Kodoku, which was said to bring numerous riches and blessings. However, the problem was that human beings had to be offered in return.

During that time, human rights still weren’t established, so they would offer slaves just so they could enjoy endless wealth and honor.

According to history, this sorcery continued until the Tang Dynasty. It was even said that Emperor Taizong of Tang, Li Shimin, had also practiced this sorcery.

Therefore, the method of Kodoku was definitely said to be valuable and reliable. But…

Julia looked up to see the spirits flying high up in the sky. Patrick approached her and spoke quietly.

“What’s wrong, Milady?”

“…Patrick.”

“Yes?”

“Why is it like that?”

“Pardon?”

Patrick looked at her perplexedly, but Julia just narrowed her eyes as she spoke.

“In the past, what was used were just bugs. That alone was effective. Over time, it developed into dogs, cats and tigers. Now, humans are being used. Why does it have to be like this?”

“…What are you talking about, Milady?”

Julia closed her eyes. Her stomach was in knots. She already knew that humans were desperate beings. She’s seen enough.

However, as time passed and eras changed, human greed continued to stretch out as though it was proportional to the time that had elapsed. She didn’t know who made this happen and for what purpose.

Julia opened her eyes, then spoke.

“Can you call Duke Epesia?”

She pursed her lips.

“I think we need to find a solution now.”

*

“You found out the nature of the curse?”

“I only know the form. I haven’t figured it out completely yet, but I think I have to tell you first.”

“I’m all ears.”

When Leo smiled and welcomed her, Julia smiled in return. She looked around. Along with Leo and Patrick, the Dean and both unwelcome priests were also here.

She wanted to ask why they came as well, but they came here on their own and asked to hear what she had to say. She couldn’t refuse them, so she had to let them stay reluctantly.

With a firm expression, Julia spoke.

“First of all, I’ve studied the ritual, up to its origins. From what was observed, three people would gather to do the ritual, then a soul would come out to grant their wishes. But the problem with the price was that it’s a person. It’s too much to say that this was being done for entertainment, even if it’s only once. Nevertheless, the three academies were linked like this, and problems continue to arise.”

Julia drew three circles on the lecture board, then pointed to one of them.

“This is the transfer of responsibility.”

“Transfer… of responsibility?”

“Yes. As you know, the simplest way of getting out of this ritual is for others to continue doing the ritual in your stead. Once that happens, the summoned spirits would be transferred to the new person. Now, what we should pay attention to is where the ritual began—but no matter how much we asked, we couldn’t find the starting point.”

Julia turned to them.

“Nevertheless, what’s important to note here is that all three academies became connected through this, numerous students were involved, and each time, the spirits accumulated and were passed on to the next person.”

“That’s true.”

Transferring the ritual and summoning a new spirit again. In other words, the spirits just increased every time the ritual was passed over.

“Then, imagine that there is a student here.”

Julia drew a small circle and drew numerous circles over it.

“Say the ritual is passed to the last student and the spirits that have been summoned have accumulated like this. What will happen then?

“Wouldn’t everything be alright? As long as the price is paid.”

“That’s right. Nothing bad would happen as long as you pay the price. But what if this student dies without being able to pay the price? What if he couldn’t pay for it? Then wouldn’t he be devoured himself?”

“……”

Julia looked around their stiff expressions.

“There is a curse called Kodoku wherein poisonous insects are kept in one jar and buried underground. When there is just one left, this insect would be buried under someone else’s house—and this will complete the curse. All kinds of wealth and happiness would follow, but because that person wouldn’t know that he has to pay the price, the curse would feed on him and his family. Isn’t this similar? It brings happiness, but devours you whole. Right?”

With a serious look, Leo opened his lips.

“Is this situation related to that curse?”

“Yes. But the method is strange.”

Julia held her chin and contemplated for a moment.

“It blatantly mentions that this curse could be escaped from by passing it onto others. Usually, curses would tie those two people together and so both would be damned. But this one is far from that kind of curse. It’s like…”

Julia narrowed her eyes.

“It’s like black magic.”

“Black magic?!”

The two priests reacted to Julia’s words. She lifted her gaze and faced them.

“I heard that black magicians can use their own souls as collateral just to perform a curse. This ignores the rules. I saw it the other day.”

“But all the black magicians had been wiped out. What do you think is the reason why war broke out half a century ago?”

“I know that, too. But it’s not easy to make a curse like this unless it’s black magic. The form of the curse is similar, but it’s such a distorted curse. There must have been some force that broke the middle and ignored the frame. Or…”

Julia sighed and shrugged.

“The students, too, could have already been devoured.”

“Lady Julia!”

The older priest shouted sternly at her, but Julia only stared quietly back at him, then she opened her lips to speak.

“What’s your name?”

“…Seren Frey.”

“Alright, Father Seren. I’m also praying that what I said isn’t true. But I have to let you know the main point of the situation so we can overcome this.”

“Main point?”

“Yes.”

Julia stared into his eyes.

“The curse is already in its final stages. And if we don’t find the last victim to complete the curse in the near future…”

She looked up and watched the numerous spirits hovering over the campus.

“The hundreds of students who participated in the ritual would eventually become prey.”

Her cold gaze froze over.

t/n:

* I’m using the Japanese term for the curse, but Julia indeed says that it was a popular curse in China.