Chapter 19

AS Chapter 19~Dispel Curse~

The sky had been dyed black, the moon didn’t even come out .

In Japan, even at this time, there would be many dazzling lights, but unfortunately, the gorgeous city lights of the castle town could not compare, and when the moon concealed itself, everything would be enclosed in darkness .

The dark night was my world .

Even though I’m going to assassinate someone, it was the perfect weather .

「…for hero-sama, there are behaviors, actions, and words that are befitting hero-sama . There will be divine punishment for that person who obstructs someone’s path . 」

「I see, so that’s how you cursed on that hero . 」

Holding her hand over the black crystal, the princess was trembling violently as she looked over here .

I put my foot on the window frame, and entered the princess’s bedroom .

「…you are, a part of hero-sama’s group, are you not? For you to enter a maiden’s room without permission, what a shameless person . Also, to not even conceal your face, you have a lot of confidence in yourself . 」

「Maiden, huh . It would’ve been better if you were praying for the person that you like to look your way, I don’t want to call a yandere-san who curses others a maiden . Besides, I didn’t conceal my face on purpose . For you to not recognize my face when I’ve been staying at the castle meant that my 『Stealth』 is working properly . …did you take a good look? This is the face of the guy who is going to be a hindrance to your plans . I can slit your throat anytime . 」

I grinned and grabbed the darkly clouded crystal .

As I thought, even though I just touched it, I felt an intense chill .

Being cursed by this the entire time, should I praise the hero for not having gone mad yet, or should I be amazed that he didn’t realize it .

Everything was as Commander Saran had guessed .

Looking at the princess, I recalled what happened during the day .

「The princess put a curse on the hero?」

The day after we passed through the dungeon, surviving after being on the verge of death, I heard from Commander Saran, about where the the curse could’ve originated from .

The place where I received the katana, within the shadows of the courtyard’s water fountain, there were two people standing there side-by-side, dazedly staring at the flowers in the flower bed and, things like the insects that gathered the flower’s nectar .

「Yes . …no, would it be better to say that it couldn’t be anyone other than that person?」

「That princess, did she fall in love with the hero? Why would she do something like put a curse on him?」

No matter how you looked at it, the black-bellied princess was madly in love with the hero .

Especially when it was to the degree where she didn’t lose out to the classmates who were the hero’s fans .

「I don’t really understand how women think, but perhaps, it’s a different type of love or something?」

「That’s way too abnormal . Besides, that curse, if she was careless, it would’ve been a matter of life and death . 」

It seems that the hero always had an intense headache, as if there were two conflicting people violently fighting inside his head .

Ueno-san was, even now, continuously casting the magic『Dispel』 .

It’s not very effective, but there’s not much else we could do .

It seems that were even some classmates who were convinced that the hero was suffering because I had 『Dispel』 cast on him, but sooner or later, the circumstances would’ve turned out as such .

The curse was, just that strong .

「The princess, Maria Rose Retice-sama was, from a young age, brought up without knowing what love was . The queen had passed away after giving birth to the princess, and the king who was deeply in love with the queen, could not acknowledge the existence of the princess who indirectly caused the death of the queen from the bottom of his heart, and treated her as a chess piece who preserved the royal family . 」

He treated his daughter like a chess piece, huh .

Certainly, when I snuck into the study, it did feel like that .

「Well? Love is to use, and be used . The princess who was raised like that can only express her love by ‘using’, and decided to put a curse on him and turn him into her desired ‘usable’ hero . Which means, she’s doing this according to the king’s orders…right?」

「That’s probably what happened . 」

「I see . And the indirect cause of death…huh . I also understand why you knights are so concerned about that princess . Normally, when they have given up, they would do as they liked, but in this country, the king and princess are still here . 」

If they did whatever they pleased, there would be some dissatisfaction .

It also wouldn’t be strange for there to be a coup d’etat .

Nevertheless, the reasons why that didn’t happen, was probably because the evidence of the wrongdoings were covered up by something like the princess’s magic, and the chivalric order who understood the entire situation but didn’t say a word .

The knights felt some sort of guilt towards the king and princess .

This was my own hypothesis, I don’t even want to ask about what happened, but perhaps the cause of the queen’s death had something to do with the chivalric order .

If that’s the case, that would explain why the chivalric order was not saying anything .

The knights, felt guilty towards the king and princess .

「…perhaps, it’s as you’ve expected . We are indebted to the king and the princess . 」

「This country is very far away from the ‘Volcano’ where the demons live . It’s strange that such a country would summon heroes . By all rights, it shouldn’t be a distance where you have to worry about demons . 」

Despite this, we were here, in Retice .

In other words, it just meant that, from the very beginning, they had every intention of integrating us into the military .

Certainly, the demon king did exist, and there were also instances where they harm humans, but there was no reason for why the faraway Retice summoned us .

I don’t know why they told such an obvious lie, but I think that they did something truly stupid .

「Their way of thinking is simple . It would be good if they defeated the leader . If so, even if it were to be exposed, we may be able to somehow deceive them . 」

「I see . …I should probably settle things tonight . 」

「Considering Tsukasa-kun’s condition, you should do it as soon as possible . Most likely, the princess should be using a crystal or a magic stone as an intermediary . If you destroy that, the curse will be broken . 」

「Got it . Today, I will be sneak into the bedroom of the princess and break the curse . If I succeed, I’ll be leaving that to you . 」

「…alright . I’ll think about it . 」

I cut the crystal with the katana ‘Yatokami’ that I had just received .

「With this, the hero’s curse has been broken . I’ve bothered you . 」

I held the crystalline fragments in my hand, and once again put my foot on the window frame .

I purposely exposed my face in order to distract the princess, but it would be bad if it were to be seen by someone else .

I should retreat without delay .

「I see, I thought that if the hero’s was destroyed, it would be the same for the rest, but it seems that I was wrong . Is it fine for the other people’s?」

When I took a look, there were other crystals that were smaller than the hero’s that even had a name tag attached .

「It would be troublesome if you called the maid that’s on the other side of the door as I destroyed them . I will run away…no, there’s something that I want to know . You, what are you thinking, are you following the king’s orders?」

「Everything is for the sake of His Majesty the King . 」

「…really . 」

The princess muttered this as her doll-like face, became more and more expressionless .

I shuddered a little, and immediately retreated from that room .

Aah, I hate crazy women .