“I’ll be protecting you today, Krai! Please, let yourself relax and know that you’re in good hands!”
“Kill, kill?”
Grinning from ear to ear, Sitri held her hands together. Killiam, still slender from his forced diet, tilted his head. I was in my usual spot in my office, polishing my Relics, when the deranged duo struck a pose in front of me.
“I feel like I haven’t seen you in a while, Sitri,” I said.
“And I’m overjoyed to see you as well!”
That was good and all, but I hadn’t said I was overjoyed. But I was!
Warm sunlight filtered in through the window behind me. It was a peaceful day, entirely unlike the mess with the Devil Sword. As I understood it, that matter had been forced under the rug by some powerful people.
Sitri shuffled behind my desk like it was a perfectly natural thing to do and said to me, “Krai, I heard all about it from Lizzy! You had another fascinating day, it seems.”
Every inch of her suggested she was in a good mood. If she had a tail, it definitely would’ve been wagging.
I sighed very deeply and looked down at the crown-type Relic in my hand. “Liz wasn’t happy about that.”
And I wouldn’t exactly call it fascinating.
The thought that I was about to be dragged into something bizarre had me feeling pretty down, but Sitri was bubbling with excitement.
“Lizzy was very unhappy that she didn’t have guard duty today,” Sitri said with a giggle. “You see, she had to delay her shift. Apparently, she had a matter she couldn’t afford to neglect. But I’ll have you know I was also very busy yesterday!”
“I see, I see.”
I don’t get it, but I see. Well, as long as you’re having fun! I’m tired.
But if Sitri thought I was going to be simply dragged into any messes, she was mistaken.
According to Franz, curses had something to do with the current situation. Unfortunately, Relics and curses were inextricably linked. Relics were re-creations of things that existed in the past, their appearance rates believed to be proportional to how common or widely known they once were. Cursed items were formed by powerful emotions, and as such, were almost always without duplicates. Therefore, they couldn’t be described as “common,” a condition for becoming a Relic.
So what this all means is that in the extraordinarily rare case a cursed item manifested as a Relic, it did so because even though there had only been one, it was most likely an item so terrifying it was known far and wide. Of course, just about every Relic I owned was safe. Not one of them was cursed, but on the off chance one of my items did cause something to happen, that would be a very bad day for me.
I had confirmed the powers of every Relic in my collection, but I couldn’t say without certainty that my friends wouldn’t do something like add a piece they stumbled across and then forget to tell me about it. As part of my maintenance, I started checking their powers while polishing them.
With a small wave of my hand, I beckoned Sitri to come over. She grinned as I placed the freshly polished crown-type Relic on her head.
Her eyes went wide, and she said, slightly flustered, “C-Could this be my cursed item?”
“I don’t have anything cursed. That crown makes your hair grow a little bit faster. It’s worth thousands. Not this. Not this either...”
I put a pendant-type set with a red gem around her neck, then a necklace-type, another necklace-type, and another necklace-type while I was at it. Some people might wonder why I had so many, but Sitri, the mannequin’s cheeks were flushed, and she seemed quite happy.
I’m not giving you these, you know?
But if she really insisted, I would’ve been willing to share a few with her. After all, some of these had been bought with money I still owed her.
“Honestly, I can’t just handle every little thing,” I said. “I just dealt with one big mess, now this. Everyone’s too dependent on me because of my level. Sitri, hold your finger out.”
I couldn’t wrap my head around why everyone put so much faith in a Level 8 in name only, who had been in all sorts of messes and never solved any of them. With even a little bit of thought, it would be clearer than glass that I hadn’t done anything. With these gripes on my mind, I placed one ring after another on her lithe fingers.
“K-Krai! What’s the meaning of this?!”
“What? There’s no real meaning. Does it bother you?”
My friends didn’t really go for accessories, hence my question. But Sitri vigorously shook her head in response.
Perhaps it was tickling her or something, as she began to squirm. “Is this perhaps,” she whispered, cheeks red, “a proposal?”
“Kill, kill...”
Seeing his master so unsettled, Killiam sounded uneasy.
Proposal? I just said there’s no real meaning!
“How much do you think we can trust this prophecy Franz has been talking about?” I said.
“The Astral Divinarium’s prophecies are known for coming true,” Sitri replied. “Imperial law even permits the military to use the Divinarium’s prophecies as a basis for mobilizing.”
Would it come true? After witnessing Sora and her divine revelations, I didn’t trust this stuff at all. She was awful at it. I hadn’t seen her since she first arrived in the imperial capital. I wondered how she was doing.
I was pretty sure that if a hex or whatever was cast on the imperial capital, it would be subdued before it could cause significant damage. I know I said this and that about the capital, but it was still safe enough that I was willing to stick around.
“But if it was enough to inspire such a prophecy, it must be something fairly inauspicious. That’s not something even a skilled Shaman could cast. So I think it’s reasonable that Captain Franz is being wary of Relics. There’s been no reports of major damage in the area, and Zebrudia is on the lax side when it comes to Relics. Which reminds me, my brother’s also been put on alert. The church specializes in curses, after all.”
“You couldn’t ask for better protection.”
Hexes were spells driven by powerful emotions. Compared to magic, which operated on clear principles, hexes were unstable, their efficacy being massively influenced by the caster’s condition.
Powerful curses were generally something you couldn’t cast even if you tried. The most dangerous ones weren’t those put forth by Shamans, but those created when someone died while bearing a grudge. Those curses were exceptionally powerful, often indiscriminate, and were almost a sort of natural disaster.
Most unstable curses faded quickly, but that changed when that spite was contained within something. Those curses were stable and remained deadly for a long time. The Devil Sword that had caused so much trouble for the Sword Saint was one example of an item bearing a powerful curse.
Being the holy land of treasure hunting, Relics were constantly flowing into the capital at all hours of the day. With that in mind, it didn’t seem too ridiculous that Franz had contacted me. Or did it? No. There were definitely better people he could’ve called up!
I put a pair of Relic glasses on Sitri, then a Relic stole on her shoulders, and I didn’t quite know the best spot for a Relic chain, so I wrapped it around her body for the time being. Relic-clad Sitri was complete.
Yep, there’s nothing I don’t recognize. This time, I’ve done nothing wrong.
“I’ve been dyed in your shade,” Sitri said, hands pressed to her cheeks. “I can no longer get married. Would you be so kind as to take me?”
That’s not true. I’m sure plenty of people would jump at the opportunity.
It occurred to me that if we knew the incident was set to occur within the imperial capital, perhaps we could just leave? But I had to shoot that idea down. That would definitely invite questions and needless misunderstandings. It seemed my best option was to sit quietly. If I did nothing, then surely nothing would happen.