Volume 1 Chapter 17 Curse-breaker
"So, how do we request a curse-breaker?"
"About that, I haven't really looked into it in detail myself. I've only heard vague things, like you have to give a letter to a specific courier or knock on the door of an empty house in town 5 times to summon them..."
We decided to ask a curse-breaker, but I had no idea how to go about it.
I only knew about it from rumors, and I've never actually made a request myself.
As I stood there, feeling stuck, Ms. Terra, who had been listening from the entrance, spoke up.
"If you want to request curse-breaker Lotus, you just need to post a paper with the meeting place and time on the adventurer guild's bulletin board."
"Wait, really?"
"At this guild, there have been times when request papers for curse-breakers were posted without permission. A lot of people do it as a prank, so I have to tear them down every time, which is a hassle."
Ms. Terra said this with a look of annoyance.
I see, the guild bulletin board.
That makes sense.
But how does curse-breaker Lotus check the request papers on the board?
There are tons of adventurer guilds across the country, and it seems impossible for anyone, no matter how superhuman, to check each request paper and show up at the specified time.
Plus, it sounds like there are people who post them as pranks, so I wonder if they deal with those too?
"So, can we really summon curse-breaker Lotus like that?"
"From what I've heard, requests made for pranks are completely ignored, and only those who make real requests get to meet Lotus. There have even been cases where requests were made at the same time in completely different towns, but Lotus managed to handle those too."
"...That sounds kind of creepy."
It felt like I was listening to a ghost or fairy tale.
Who exactly is curse-breaker Lotus?
Anyway, I understood that I just needed to post a request on the Rose bulletin board.
We decided to hurry to Rose.
"...You're not going to suddenly say 'No unauthorized use of the bulletin board allowed' and stop us now, are you?"
"As a staff member of guild, I'd like to stop you, but as Terra Blune, I really want Ros-Ros's mother to get better quickly, so I'll just pretend I didn't see this. This way, we won't owe Roezé anything."
"Isn't it weird that we won't owe anything?"
Joking around, Ms. Terra smiled, and we rushed to Rose.
When we arrived at adventurer guild, we immediately started preparing the request form.
It seemed any kind of paper would do, as long as it mentioned something about targeting Lotus.
The meeting time was flexible, and we could write down whatever time suited us.
However, it was better to choose a spot that wasn't too visible to others, as there had been times when they didn't show up if we picked a crowded place.
So, we decided to specify my house an hour later on the request form and post it on guild's bulletin board.
By the way, Ms. Terra had already talked to Rose about using the bulletin board, and it was okay for us to use it freely for a little while.
"Alright, let's head back to my house right away."
"Y-yes."
"Then I'll keep an eye on the bulletin board to make sure no one tears down the request form."
With that, Rose and I headed back home.
I was filled with anxiety, wondering if they would really come this way, but once we got home, we decided to wait quietly until the time came.
"D-do you really think they'll come?"
"To be honest, I don't know, but right now, we have to bet on this. Let's wait while praying."
Then, exactly one hour after posting the request──.
There was a knock on my front door.
No, it wasn't a knock; someone had actually entered the house directly.
"Thank you for your request."
"──Huh!?"
Rose and I quickly turned to where the voice came from.
There, by the window, a mysterious black vortex appeared, and from it, a person emerged.
A person dressed in a black hooded robe.
From the voice and build, it's probably a woman, right?
But how did she get inside the house?
It's like she didn't just walk through the wall, but rather teleported from somewhere else.
"I'm the assistant of the Curse-breaker Lotus, and I'm a 'Teleported' named Hasa."
"Teleporter..."
Now that I think about it, I've heard of that.
There are people who can connect different spaces and allow for instant long-distance travel using 'teleportation magic'.
I think that's what the job class is called.
Could it be that what just happened was that teleportation magic?
As I was stunned into silence, the woman who called herself Has continued in a calm voice.
"Are you the clients for the curse-breaking request?"
"Y-yes. That's us."
Even though I was taken aback, I managed to respond, and Ms. Hasa continued to ask.
"What is the name and location of the person affected by the curse?"
"Um, that would be..."
I glanced at Rose, prompting her to answer.
She seemed shocked by Ms. Hasa's sudden appearance, her body stiff as a rock.
Feeling the gaze on her, Rose suddenly snapped back to reality and replied.
"It's Camellia Vermilion from Beith Village! She's been cursed by a demon from the Spirit King's Army..."
"Understood. So, it's Camellia Vermilion from Beith Village."
Ms. Hasa, still in her calm tone, got straight to the point.
"That will be 5 million Flora."
"..."
Just as the rumors said, that's the amount.
When Rose heard that, she glanced at me briefly.
She looked really apologetic, and I could understand what she wanted to say just from that expression.
I nodded, as if to say 'it's okay,' encouraging her to pay.
Then, with a determined look, Rose tightened her expression and handed over her entire pouch to Has.
Ms. Hasa checked the contents without a second thought, tossed the pouch into the black swirl, and gave a small nod.
"5 million Flora, I have indeed received it. Now, let's start the curse-breaking."
Saying this so casually, Ms. Hasa suddenly froze in place.
Like a doll, Ms. Hasa stood there silently.
Wait, what about the curse-breaking? Just as I was wondering, Ms. Hasa finally spoke up after about 20 seconds.
"The curse-breaking is complete."
"Eh!?"
I must have misheard.
Ms. Hasa definitely just said, "The curse-breaking is complete.".
And it only took about 20 seconds.
"Well then, thank you for your request."
"Eh, wait...!"
With that, Ms. Hasa stepped into the black swirl.
As her body completely melted into the swirl, it gradually shrank and eventually vanished completely.
In the now silent room, Rose and I stood there, stunned.
"Did, did the curse-breaking just finish?"
"I, I don't know. But Ms. Hasa definitely said it was done..."
It felt like we just got robbed.
If that's the case, it would be the worst, but there's also a chance that what she said wasn't a lie.
"That power we just saw, it was the teleportation magic I've heard about, right?"
"Teleportation magic?"
"To put it simply, it's magic that lets you teleport anywhere in an instant. If the Teleporter teamed up with the Curse-breaker, then in that moment, they could have sent a Curse-breaker to Beith Village to do the curse-breaking."
Plus, Ms. Terra mentioned that they handled requests in another town at the same time, which makes sense.
If they can teleport, they can do curse-breaking no matter which town they're in.
"So, does that mean Mom is now..."
While we were stuck here, it's highly likely that the Curse-breaker, Lotus, has already broken the curse.
"I-I'll go back to the village and check!"
Rose shouted this as she dashed out of the house.
She ran towards the carriage station, and I called out to her back.
"Wait, Rose!"
"...?"
I quickly raised my right hand and cast a spell.
"[Accel]."
In an instant, green light burst around Rose's entire body.
She tilted her head in confusion, and I explained the intention of the magic.
"With your legs right now, you can definitely run faster than a carriage. I also cast the Accel support magic, so if you hurry, you should be able to get there in less than half a day."
"Ah, thank you!"
Bowing her head slightly, Rose dashed through the town street at an incredible speed...
or rather──.
She leaped gracefully from building to building, leaving the town even faster than if she had been running.
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