Ch.83The Newly Acquired Equipment Should Be Appraised Before Use

After that, it was a series of hardships as I had expected.

Dozens, hundreds of letters were delivered every day.

The nobles from Leopold’s side sent simple thank-you letters with little substance, as if their conversation with the prince had concluded. But Ernst’s side was different.

Letters questioning if I was truly neutral or trying to persuade me to join Ernst’s faction were the decent ones.

I could simply respond that I had a mere friendly relationship with Leopold and had no intention of antagonizing Ernst’s faction.

Especially, my excuse about wanting to maintain a friendly relationship with Princess Leonore as a fellow female knight worked better than expected.

The real problems were the strategic marriage proposals flooding in… and the lunatics who sent love letters.

I couldn’t simply ignore them.

I had to read the content to know what kind of letter it was.

Usually I could tell from the first line.

“My heart trembled at your eyes full of vitality,” or “The way you wielded your sword and saved people was like an incarnation of Elpinel himself…”

As I kept reading, I felt my toes curling with embarrassment, so I crumpled the letter instead.

Let’s say I can tolerate these guys since they’re just sending love letters.

Unpleasant, but still.

The strategic marriage proposals were absolute disasters.

Some boasting about their family.

Others giving lengthy speeches about trade with the East.

Some talking about restoring House Median to prosperity.

And even those pointing out my unstable position, telling me to come to them for the peace of the Empire and my own safety.

“Combining civilization and barbarism to achieve harmony between two races…? This bastard is truly something else.”

I was so dumbfounded that I threw it in the ashtray and burned it with my cigarette.

What kind of person proposing a strategic marriage openly calls the other party a barbarian?

Well, I suppose anyone sending me such letters at this point couldn’t be very sensible.

Anyone with decent awareness would have read the atmosphere among the higher-ups and realized how pointless this endeavor was.

In conclusion, those sending me love letters or marriage proposals were fools dreaming futile dreams among the nobility.

“Nigel, could you ask our employees to send a uniform reply to these people?”

“I believe that would be possible. What would you like the content to be?”

“Hmm… ‘Unfortunately, I have no intention of marrying. Ever. With anyone.’ Tell them that.”

Whether they’ll listen is another matter.

“Understood. You must be tired, so I think it would be good for you to rest a bit.”

“Yes… I should rest.”

I took a drag from my cigarette and looked out the window.

In the garden, Frider was enthusiastically beating up Demian. Just as I had asked.

At least that was a somewhat pleasant sight.

—-

Lacy returned to the special quarters.

She hadn’t completely finished her work, but came back for a short break.

Perfect timing. I had something to ask her anyway.

…Though I felt a bit uncomfortable meeting her after hearing that shocking speech.

It wasn’t exactly wrong to say that werebeasts should be killed, but the content of that speech… reminded me of a certain art school applicant.

Honestly, that’s not something a saint candidate should say, right?

Still, I might not get another chance to see her face for a while. I should go.

I left my room and headed to the third floor.

The third floor, which had been completely burned down, was now more or less restored.

Come to think of it, Lacy’s room must have been destroyed too.

She must have been quite shocked when she returned.

I knocked on the door with a cross hanging on it.

“Who is it?”

“It’s Haschal. Do you have a moment?”

“…Come in.”

The door opened.

Lacy was wearing casual clothes.

Her usual white holy garments and several nun’s habits were neatly hung on a coat rack against the wall.

Well, she probably didn’t want to wear those clothes in her private quarters where no one would see her.

Though the garments don’t get dirty easily, they must be uncomfortable with all that fabric flowing around.

The room was neater than I expected.

Besides basic furniture, there was hardly any decoration except for a cross and a mace hanging on the wall.

On the desk lay an open book and a journal that had been written in partway, and next to it, a bookshelf filled with various books.

Does she enjoy reading?

Curious about what kind of books they were, I glanced at the titles.

‘Classification of Heresy: Tribal Gods, Ancient Gods, and Evil Gods.’

‘Unified Faith, the Significance and Conclusion of Religious Conflicts.’

‘Carlos the Great and the History of the Great Celestial Religion.’

These titles seem quite ordinary.

Perhaps she’s dedicating her limited time to theological studies to be elected as a saint.

That would be quite an exemplary attitude.

‘Phylogenetic Theory of Races.’

‘The Threat of Different Species.’

‘How to Incite the Masses through Speech.’

Um…

That reminds me of her speech.

‘The Inefficiency of Burning at the Stake – How to Prevent Death by Suffocation.’

‘Justified Interrogations Permitted for Apostates.’

‘Degeneration Theory Proven by History.’

…Let’s stop looking.

—-

Lacy guided me to the table and handed me a glass of water.

“I apologize that this is all I can offer for your sudden visit. So, what brings you here?”

“I have a couple of questions, and you’re the only one who can answer them. They’re about curse-related issues.”

This should be her area of expertise.

“Curses… please go ahead.”

After taking a sip of water, I placed a case on the table.

A metal case about 30cm wide and 1m long.

I unlocked it and showed the contents to Lacy.

A silver-white gauntlet emanating a subtle cold aura.

It was Frosting.

“I’d like an expert’s advice on the nature of the curse on this item and if there’s any way to resolve it.”

“….A curse, and quite a deep one at that. Who gave you this?”

Lacy’s voice trembled slightly. She seemed quite surprised.

“When I was in the East, I asked for a weapon to be made, and they gave me this. The problem is, whenever I wear it, my condition becomes… not so good.”

“That’s only natural. This was made to kill you. It contains two types of curses.”

“To kill me?”

This was an assassination tool…?

Judging from how I wore it until the end in the original story, it seems to have failed.

Lacy took out Frosting and began examining it seriously.

“Yes. With the cold of the netherworld and the curse of madness added, the wearer would gradually weaken, go mad, and die. The netherworld’s cold comes from the resentment in the material itself… and the other one, the curse of madness, was intentionally infused by someone. It seems you had many enemies in the East as well?”

“Someone… I don’t think there would be any sorcerers left in the East.”

The Ka’har supposedly killed all the sorcerers.

It would be difficult for anyone not affiliated with the royal palace to tamper with something meant for me.

Could it be one of those who claim to be my brothers?

“That I don’t know. But it’s clear there was more than one person involved. To create such a powerful curse that could penetrate mana resistance and have an effect, several practitioners would have had to combine their powers. If activated, it would have been effective by linking with the karma of murder.”

I see. I thought it was strange that I was affected by the curse despite having mana resistance.

So it was a curse powerful enough to break through mana resistance, and it reacted with Hersella’s karma of murder.

It was truly a vicious cycle.

With each accumulation of murder karma, the curse would strengthen, and being influenced by that madness would lead to more murder karma.

So the mad Hersella was born because of this curse.

“I see… So, what about the other one? What did you call it, the cold of the netherworld? You said that was an issue with the material itself.”

“Yes. This material, this spiritual quality. It seems to be an Ego Beast. Do you call them spirit beasts over there? I thought they were extinct.”

If we’re talking about the material for Frosting, it was probably the silver snake from the Frost Valley…?

I’ve never seen it directly and only read about it in text, so I’m not sure.

“The vengeful spirit of a slaughtered being is still bound to its corpse. It carries the cold of the netherworld that weakens everything it touches.”

“Even in death it’s like that… So, can you fix it?”

“Hmm…”

Lacy put down Frosting and hesitated.

“I could weaken the curse of madness, but completely removing it would be difficult. As for the vengeful spirit’s curse, we could simply incinerate the spirit itself, but would that be okay? The weapon would then become just a simple scale gauntlet. Its strength would be reduced, and it would lose the effect of inflicting curse damage on opponents.”

I need to think about that.

If it’s not durable and has weak attack power, it’s just a piece of junk that turns the wearer into a lunatic.

“…Let’s leave the cold aspect alone then. If you weaken the curse of madness, how much would it be reduced?”

“You’d still feel violent impulses, but at least you wouldn’t lose your mind. Of course, if you willingly give in to madness, it would be pointless.”

So it’s just a temporary measure.

Still, if it means I won’t lose my mind or commit another massacre, it’s better than nothing. I should be grateful for that much.

“That’s ambiguous… Such items tend to cause problems again at critical moments.”

“If you’re that concerned, there is a more fundamental solution. Accumulate karma. More than you have now.”

“Karma?”

“Yes. Not the karma of murder stained with innocent blood, but the karma of protection and heroic deeds. Karma is what dwells in a person’s soul. It’s the footprint of how one lives and proof of one’s beliefs.”

Lacy smiled slightly, like an adult giving advice to a child.

“Firmly accumulated karma will grant you a strong mind that will never waver no matter the situation, and even the curse of madness won’t be able to violate it.”

Karma…

In simple terms, she’s saying that if I become stronger, I won’t be affected by the curse.

“That’s still a distant prospect. For now, just suppress it a bit.”

“500 gold.”

Huh?

It wasn’t free?