Ch.279Curses are governed by curses.

After obtaining information about the Third Eye tribe from Anastasia, we began preparing countermeasures against the curse in earnest.

While gathering intelligence, identifying spies, and tracking the Gentleman’s location were all important, our top priority was preventing any curse victims within our party.

According to Jessica, curses are extremely delicate yet unstable magical systems. Though they come in countless forms and variations, countermeasures can be broadly categorized into three approaches.

The first and most recommended approach is to avoid becoming a target of the curse in the first place.

This doesn’t simply mean avoiding making enemies; rather, it means preventing the formation of any connection between yourself and the caster that could establish a curse. Common examples include not carelessly leaving behind hair or nail clippings. In cases like our current situation, where the curse is delivered through a direct stab with a cursed weapon, the only countermeasure is to avoid being hit by that weapon.

The second approach applies when you can’t avoid becoming a target—you disrupt the curse’s establishment.

Using Earth examples, this would be like protective talismans. In Grantis, barrier towers or spirit trees serve this purpose. Essentially, if you’re within the range of a magical effect with strong protective powers, curses cannot penetrate.

The third approach is what to do if, despite all efforts, you still fall victim to a curse.

The best solution is to use dispelling magic to eliminate the curse entirely, but curses are so diverse and complex that no universal dispelling magic exists. Even the Fragment of Omniscience, which can analyze and manipulate magical formulas at will, couldn’t completely neutralize Calliope’s curse.

In such cases, people resort to common solutions shared by many curses—either convincing the caster to cancel the curse or killing them. But even this becomes impossible if the caster goes into hiding.

That’s when you can use the alternative method of “countering a curse with another curse.”

For example, imagine someone is afflicted with a “curse that causes the entire body to rot after 10 days.” Magical dispelling isn’t an option, finding the caster has failed, and no potion or magical tool can delay or stop the curse’s progression.

In this situation, the victim could receive a “petrification curse” to turn into stone, thereby avoiding the rotting effect. Since curses are extremely delicate magic, if the target is no longer a human “body” made of protein, the “rotting” effect cannot activate.

Of course, this is a post-hoc solution, but there are also methods to prevent one curse using another curse.

For instance, if two curse practitioners cast “skin turns red” and “skin turns blue” curses on the same person, what would happen?

1. The red and blue combine, turning the skin purple.

2. The curse from the more skilled practitioner takes precedence.

3. The curse cast even a second earlier takes precedence.

4. The two curses conflict and cancel each other out.

“The answer is number 3.”

“Oh, really? I thought it was number 2.”

“The fundamental nature of a curse is to maintain a negative influence on the target’s body or mind. If another curse is already affecting the ‘area’ targeted by the curse, there’s no room for a later curse formula to intervene.”

Hmm, it’s like if one construction company is already building an apartment on a limited construction site, another company arriving later can’t even begin their work.

Of course, if the curses were “skin turns red” and “hair turns blue,” both would be effective since they target different areas.

“So you’re saying we’ll use a curse similar to what the culprit uses as a preventive measure.”

“I understand the theory, but is it actually possible? I’ve never seen Jessica handle curse-type magic…”

“Of course, I can’t use curses or hexes myself. That’s why I need to use a formula created by someone else.”

“Someone else?”

“Hehehe~ This right here!”

What Mina pulled out was a voodoo doll-shaped cursing tool we’d obtained after defeating an orc shaman. She had kept it to research whether orc black magic could be converted into magical tools, but there hadn’t been any notable progress until now, so we’d forgotten about it.

“My investigation revealed this doll has two functions. One is as a symbol that increases the success rate of curses targeting ‘humanoid creatures,’ and the other is to serve as a proxy for casting curses on distant targets. If we use these properties well, we can implement both the second and third countermeasures at once.”

“Huh, that sounds useful. How specifically?”

“The second function is simple. We maximize its proxy characteristic to make this doll receive the first curse cast by the culprit. It’s like a disposable curse delegate.”

“So even if one of us gets hit by the cursed needle, we’ll only suffer the physical wound from the weapon, while the curse effect transfers to the doll?”

“Exactly.”

Apparently, this voodoo doll can only delegate a curse once. After the effect activates, the curse turns the doll into a bomb, so we need to throw it away quickly. Of course, due to the doll’s limited magical capacity, the explosion’s range and power are significantly reduced.

Moreover, this “curse delegation” only activates if the Gentleman’s curse is successfully applied. If our preventive curse blocks the Gentleman’s curse, the delegation won’t occur, and the doll won’t be destroyed.

“So we use orc magic to cast a preventive curse, and if by chance the Gentleman’s curse doesn’t conflict with it and penetrates, the effect is transferred to the doll. That’s certainly an effective method.”

“It would be even better if I could shoot down the incoming cursed needles.”

“But what exactly is this orc curse we’ll be using as prevention?”

Iris voiced the obvious question.

Using orc magic to prevent the Gentleman’s curse is like fighting poison with poison. If the curse severely deteriorates our condition, it defeats the purpose. Moreover, Phyllis and Iris are more susceptible to curses than other races, requiring extra caution.

On the other hand, a weak curse like “your pinky finger occasionally itches” might not cover the effective range of the Gentleman’s curse, creating a paradoxical problem.

To Iris’s question, Mina replied:

“We have two curses we can use. One has no direct negative impact on physical activity but causes mental distress. The other has a greater physical impact but minimal mental harm. Which would you prefer?”

“I can’t really tell from that description. Could you explain the effects more specifically?”

“Ahaha, I suppose that’s fair…”

Mina scratched her cheek awkwardly and began explaining the two curses she had selected for prevention.

“The first one is a curse of uncleanliness. It drastically increases waste secretion, causes severe body odor, and makes you more susceptible to skin diseases and chronic conditions—”

“Rejected.”

“Absolutely not.”

“I firmly refuse.”

Everyone’s hearts united in opposition to this horrifying curse.

No matter how necessary it might be to counter the Gentleman’s curse, that one was out of the question.

I shudder to think that if we hadn’t eliminated the orc group with sniping tactics, someone might have fallen victim to such a curse.

“I figured everyone would hate that one… So I guess we have no choice but the second option. While it does cause physical changes, depending on your mindset, you could say it’s harmless.”

“What kind of curse is it?”

“A physical transformation curse. Literally, parts of your body change into different forms, but we can’t predict what will change or how until it’s actually cast. You might grow horns or scales, or your height might become abnormally tall or short. What’s certain is that the changes won’t be life-threatening.”

“So it’s completely random…”

Smelly and dirty curse vs. random physical transformation curse.

While the former was obviously repulsive, the latter wasn’t something to take lightly either.

The transformation might result in something far more disgusting than bad odor, or it could directly impact combat ability.

For example, what if my hands and feet turned into hooves, making it impossible to hold a gun?

“Just so you know, once this cursing tool is activated, the effect can’t be canceled until the tool is destroyed. So we need to decide carefully.”

“And when the curse effect ends after the tool is destroyed, the physical changes will revert back, right?”

“Yes. I’ve confirmed that much, so don’t worry.”

“Even if unexpected variables arise and the curse’s effects linger, we can remove them with the Fragment of Omniscience, so rest assured.”

With the guarantee that there would be no lasting effects, all that remained was to make our choice.

Should we become smelly, dripping with filth, and throw our human dignity into the gutter?

Or should we hope for a better outcome and roll the dice on the curse gacha?

Rationally, we should choose the former, but…

“First, let me ask: does anyone want to choose the uncleanliness curse?”

Everyone, including myself, shook their heads.

Our unanimous choice was the curse gacha.

It seems that in this matter, emotion trumps reason.