I know quite a bit about curses. I even learned how to sling a few.

"Sling" might be the wrong word since it takes a chunk of time and effort to inflict even minor curses. My skills are subpar, seeing the system hasn't acknowledged my efforts with a skill or notification.

It might be that any "curse" skills are class locked, and my class can't learn them.

I let my instruments in my mansion, but adding more curses to our situation won't help.

"Cursed? Are we cursed as well?"

"Ask our leader."

I spend some time using [Scientific Insight+] on my remaining teammates.

[Val Caddel Lv.135

Your foster sister, the one with pink hair. She could beat you in combat if it wasn't for your resistant stats. Don't forget, she started off in Bluefield Institute in A class while you were a low D.

Cursed]

Who the fuck is writing these things? My eyes sting for the first time in a long time. I purposely try to use my skill to see curses instead of getting a broad "diagnosis."

[Rai Wilson Lv.134

Cursed - Source Unknown. Methods Unknown. Effects Unknown. Cure Unknown.]

While inspecting my patient, Arlug and Anabel are using their own means. I finally learned what type of healer Arlug is. He uses divinity.

If I had known of this before, I must have electively forgotten.

Instead of learning magic painstakingly, he curries favor from a divine entity for boons and powers. Knowing that his mother is deeply religious, it makes sense. Not that I care.

Anabel sticks me with a bone needle with a vial attached at the back. Unfortunately for her, the tip breaks on contact. Rain started custom-ordering needles for this exact reason.

"Damn, boss, how thick is your skin?"

"Why are you trying to stab me?"

"I need to take some blood for analysis. I already got the others to participate."

Speaking of analyzing, I glance at the needle.

[Blood Extractor]

Yeah... I'm not letting our resident necromancer touch my blood. Not because of any magic she might cast on me, but if she knows about the situation with my blood, it might start a chain reaction.

The only vampire I've ever met coveted my blood to the point of giving me his daughter (not that I consented), I'm ignorant if there is any relation between necromancers and vampires, but since they are roughly in the same ballpark, I should be stingy at the very least.

"Don't touch my blood," I say matter-of-factly. Anabel wasn't turned off by my blunt rebuttal. Without missing a beat, she offered alternatives.

"Okay. How about hair or fingernails?"

I reach for my head and casually try to pluck some hair... but it resists.

I tried and rip out some hair with both hands, but it resisted.

With roots like these, I guess I don't need to worry about male pattern baldness.

Anabel starts kicking the dirt, looking away from me. I guess she's trying to alleviate the awkwardness. What human finds themselves unable to pull a single strand of hair from their head?

Probably a bald one.

I use the only thing I own that does guaranteed damage. That knife is the thing I've used to cut my hair and nails. I cut a chunk of my hair and handed it over.

"Thanks, boss. By the way, what conditioner do you use? Can you share your hair routine after we get back to the institute?" She gives me a thumbs-up and returns to whatever she was doing before.

Now that that distraction is dealt with, I can do some research. My [Lexicon] doesn't have the answers to what is going on. We know nothing except that we are cursed. There isn't a confirmed means of infection or any symptoms.

The fact that we can't find out anything about those two tidbits of information might be a clue in itself... but it may be that the curse simply hasn't been activated yet. It might stay dormant until a trigger is met. Who knows what trigger that can be?

If I can get more information, I could utilize [Scientific Insight+] to its maximum. It's an A-rank skill. Unless the curse is above that, it should be simple enough.

My curse resistance hasn't budged an inch. Knowing that leads to two conclusions: I haven't been cursed yet, or the curse isn't strong enough to "train" it.

Let me try two things.

First, I use [Heal Anything] obviously to cure the condition. But since I don't know what's wrong beyond that there is a "curse," it will take more mana since I have to do a passing sweep.

Most of my mana later, Jerry is no longer cursed. He also isn't hurt anymore. He also claims his tinnitus is gone.

Second, I use [Martyr] to try and take the curse for myself. Let me be the sacrificial sheep, yada yada yada.

Nothing obvious happens, but another cursory inspection showcases that the curse is gone.

[Val Caddel Lv.135

Not Cursed]

Hmmm.

I reinspect Jerry and Val after I stop [Martyr]ing for her. I give it a few minutes as well.

[Jerry Dacre Lv.129

Cursed]

[Val Caddel Lv.135

Cursed]

Shit! It's the fracture! This place is cursing us? Is it in the air? Can curses be airborne? Let me check my [Lexi-

[Not to interrupt your rant, but thisss one feels fine, untainted even.]

I always keep [Martyr] on my beast as long as they are in range. I stop doing that for a while before confirming that none of my beasts get inflicted by a curse. Rock, snake, skeleton, shark, and ooze are all uncursed.

And it's not just mine since Jerry's beasts are also clean.

What to do... What to do... As a leader, what should I do?

Let's abandon the training exercise. It's not like we are in a life-or-death situation where we can't escape.

But wouldn't that be a waste?

"Let's go."

"Huh?"

"Already?"

"Oh, thank god."

"Don't be like that, Ellis. We can continue."

"No. As your team leader, I'm designating this fracture hazardous. Those FIB bastards wanted me to do a free report for them anyways, and this is my initial findings."

They try to convince me otherwise, but their retorts fall on deaf ears. At least the team I neglect has enough drive to persist in cursed fracture. Either that, or they don't know what a cursed fracture entails.

I mean, I don't.

The only person who agrees with my sentiment of leaving is Arlug. He's been on guard since it's been revealed they've been cursed.

"Didn't you say you wanted to complete all three objectives? I understand if we really have to go, but do we really have to go?" Val tries to use my words against me.

"We can tough it out. We got this!" Jerry tries to comfort me, I think.

"I don't have anything else to do." Rai unironically has the most compelling argument.

"Um, that might be a bad idea." My attention is turned to Anabel. "At least let me figure out what curse is affecting us... If it's infectious, we might cause a pandemic in the capital."

"There was a squad that came in before us. The FIB would already be carriers if the curse could be passed on like that."

"Maybe they weren't. We don't know. I mean... if they were, would they let us in?"

Hmm. Either the scouts weren't cursed, so the fracture doesn't belligerently curse everyone that steps in, meaning there is a requisite to being cursed, or they are ignorant of their status, meaning they are shit at their job as "scouts."

Either it's discrimination from a fracture or incompetence from a government agency. I'm not going to let my prejudice affect me on this one.

It could always be "on purpose" instead of "incompetence." The situation was rather suspicious anyways. Perhaps the FIB didn't intend for this fracture to be our training fracture since it was rather hectic initially.

...If I'm not going to let my prejudice influence my thinking this time, I shouldn't let paranoia get the best of me either.

Probably.

~~~

We decided to let Anabel do some examination before deciding anything. Even if the curse was contagious, I would cure my party before kicking them out of the fracture.

My party knows that I have a healing skill, not unusual for tamers... but a tamer having a unique ranked healing skill is unheard of. The things I have that push the boundaries of what is possible are things I want to keep close to my chest.

If I didn't care, we would all be in my mansion whenever we needed rest.

Anabel can't tell if it's contagious, so one of Jerry's beasts delivers a letter informing the awaiting part outside the fracture about the situation.

The more people, especially high-level people, there are in a fracture, the higher chance it becomes unstable.

After another hour of waiting, we step back into the concrete jungle.

We are immediately greeted by teams of people in enchanted hazmat suits with what look like metal detectors.

After a scan and a decontamination shower, FIB agents approach us to understand the situation further. As the team leader, that task is delegated to me.

"Fracture's cursed."

"Yes Mr, Vincere, but how?"

"If you want me to find out, I'll have to find out as a member of the Hazard branch, not a student."

"...let me talk to my superiors."

I wait. Today was a lot of waiting. During that time, my team was separated from me.

The dean of Auroran Institute isn't here, but Micheal, the guy supervising this fracture, approaches with a heavy expression.

"I'd like to apologize before anything else. If we were aware of the nature of the fracture, we would've never sent you through."

Why do people say they want to apologize, but they never do?

"I'm curious about the logistics behind this fracture."

"Ah, you noticed. Yes, this fracture wasn't actively in our possession when your dean contacted us about having a training session within one of our fractures.

Instead, it was privately owned by the Cerulean Shield. They sold it to us. I wasn't there for the transaction."

"Do you think it was intentional? An act of sabotage or a really shit assassination."

"Intentional? Probably not, kid. There are easier ways to set someone up to die in fractures. Plus, the Ceruleans don't profit from wiping out humanity's representative and their party.

If it wasn't for the fact that your position bars guilds from contacting you directly, you would've been scouted by them more than anyone else.

Guilds can't touch you."

"They can't?"

"Just as much as the guilds want you in their fold, the government wants you. Neither side can monopolize or use you unless you elect to it."

Interesting. If that judge is a part of the umbrella term "government," our interaction makes more sense.

"Where's my team?"

"Going home. Soon is the anniversary of the cataclysm and the new year."

"I should probably visit my family too."

"Yeah... Can you do the FIB a favor, Mr. Vincere? We would like you to go back into the fracture and see if there is any source to the curse. A totem or a beast or something. We wouldn't make you miss the holidays."

"If I don't find anything, will I have to come back after the holidays?"

"No. We'll pay you the appropriate rates. You are a captain in the hazard branch, after all."

"Speaking of, my tamed beasts are considered employees as well. You can't be a captain without a team. They are my team."

"I see..."

"They'll need hazard pay as well."

"...I'll make a phone call."