Reincarnated in the Same World for the Nth Time - Chapter 2

Claude looked at the young man who was holding his arm and shedding tears.

He was a young man who looked to be around seventeen or eighteen years old, and it was a face he had never seen before in his life.

Moreover, hadn’t he just called him ‘Young Master’?

Is the body I’ve newly possessed a noble?

Claude narrowed his brow and shifted his gaze.

People dressed in fancy dresses and neat tuxedos were whispering amongst themselves.

The strong smell of perfume.

The sight of dangling jewels and glittering decorations dazzled his vision.

He didn’t know where this place was, but he could tell that a party was being held.

Claude, overwhelmed by the sudden burst of colors and sensations, lowered his head deeply.

“What the…”

However, before he could even ask his question, the pain that had subsided for a moment once again gripped his heart.

A burning pain flared up inside him as if flames were consuming his insides.

Just when he thought the pain had ended, it resumed, prompting him to turn his attention back to the status window.

Where the flickering black letters had disappeared, new text surfaced.

【Status Abnormality: Curse of Deadly Poison】

‘Right at the start, what kind of…?’

He scrunched up his face and glared at the status window.

The Curse of Deadly Poison was a top-tier curse that inflicted intense pain on its victim over time.

If you’re cursed, you’ll experience pain as if being thrown into a hot fire until you die, and at some point, your vocal cords will melt down, leaving you unable to even scream properly.

Then, eventually, your body will wither to the point that your original shape is unrecognizable.

It was the most vicious and cruel curse one human could cast upon another a pure embodiment of malice.

That was the Curse of Deadly Poison.

Claude had no idea what the previous owner of this body had done to deserve such a curse, but this was a terrible start.

No, it wasn’t just terrible, it was the worst.

The Blessing of the Sun God that was active flickered faintly.

Surging pain crawled in to nibble at his heart.

It seemed the blessing could partially block the pain, but the malice behind the curse was so immense that it exceeded even the power of a God’s blessing.

Indeed, it was worthy of being called top-tier, but now was not the time to be impressed.

【The effects of the Curse of Deadly Poison are beginning to activate!】

【15 seconds remain before the curse spreads throughout the body!】

【The first critical moment is approaching!】

【If the curse is not stopped within 15 seconds, it will proceed to the next phase immediately!】

There was no time to panic.

If he couldn’t resolve this, he would experience terrible pain for days and die in this new body.

After everything he had been through, he couldn’t end this life so futilely because of a measly curse like this.

【12!】

As someone who had once been renowned as a great mage, temporarily amplifying his mana through elemental manipulation was not a difficult task for him.

After checking the countdown that is decreasing, Claude manipulated the mana as quickly as possible.

A slight shock coursed through his body.

Seeing that there was no stored mana inside, he thought that this body had never even properly resonated with mana.

‘…No, something’s off.’

Like trying to hold water in a shattered plate the mana didn’t accumulate but instead leaked through tiny, broken gaps.

It seemed like there was a problem with his body’s mana vessel.

Clicking his tongue in irritation, Claude wore a frustrated expression.

He needed to assess the body’s condition properly and carefully manage mana, but there was no time for that now.

If he didn’t act immediately, death was certain.

After all, it was a problem that could be solved by pouring in more mana before it leaked out.

【9!】

Claude gritted his teeth and quickly pulled the external mana towards his heart.

The one thing working in his favor was that he had experienced the Curse of Deadly Poison in a previous life and knew how to counteract it.

“Kuh…!”

The system window began flashing like crazy, signaling danger.

The young man in front of him, realizing that something was wrong, screamed again.

“Young Master!”

【7!】

Hack!

Claude couldn’t hold back what surged from within and coughed it out.

It was blood that was close to black in color, and it was the result of forcibly pushing out the curse that had accumulated in his heart.

He had to vomit all of this out to find a temporary respite from the pain that was burning his whole body.

“Where is the priest? Hasn’t the priest arrived yet?”

A high-pitched voice urged those around them.

The sound of people screaming and rushing about filled the air.

【5!】

The cracks in the mana vessel widened further, worsening the leakage.

It was like trying to fill a bottomless pot, and it was the result of trying to accept a large amount of mana with an untrained body.

Claude struck his chest, struggling to breathe.

Why was this cursed thing being so annoyingly difficult?!

“They’re here!”

Hurried footsteps approached.

At the same time, a warm energy, not quite comparable to the Blessing of the Sun God but similar, began to flow into him.

A priest who served the Sun God had arrived just in time.

Divine power poured onto the vessel that was on the verge of breaking.

The cracks were began to heal.

Claude did not miss that moment.

【1!】

“What the heck is this…!”

“Gahk!”

The moment the priest’s hand touched him, Claude squeezed out his last bit of strength and forcibly vomited out the curse’s energy.

It was the most viscous and ominous color among the blood he had spat out so far.

His mouth, clothes, and the floor were stained with dark crimson blood.

The startled priest poured all her divine energy into Claude without hesitation.

And as a result.

Ting!

【…….】

【Temporary Suspension!】

【Entering stabilization phase!】

【Checking physical condition!】

Fortunately, it wasn’t too late.

A warm energy seeped in through the gap where the most intense pain had fallen away.

The blessing of the Sun God, infused with divine energy, radiated through his body like sunlight, beginning to soothe him.

The status window, which had been flashing like crazy, gradually calmed down, and then at one point, it reappeared with a notification sound.

Ting!

【Check complete!】

【Status Abnormality: Curse of Deadly Poison (Restricted)】

【Time Remaining Until Next Death: 7 days】

As expected.

The Curse of Deadly Poison could not be removed immediately.

What Claude had done just now was only extend the grace period until his next death.

He slowly exhaled.

The priest’s divine power and the Blessing of the Sun God were reducing the pain.

But if the curse itself did not disappear, a pain that burned his heart would return within a certain period.

‘At least I’ve bought some time…’

Perhaps it was because the urgent countdown had passed, he felt more relieved than before.

Claude relaxed his body and looked at the priest.

She was wearing a pure white robe embroidered with the symbol of the Sun God, but seeing that there was no gold embroidery, it didn’t seem like she was of high rank.

Her brown hair, hastily tied up, had a few strands falling loose, which she didn’t bother to fix as she focused all her energy on him.

She had undoubtedly sensed the cursed energy.

And also, she must have noticed the unstable mana cracks within his body that seemed as if they would break at any moment.

She was focusing all her attention on patching up those broken parts.

For now, he decided to leave it to her.

His mind flickered repeatedly from the backlash of forcing out his power.

Sleep crashed over him like a rough wave.

Since the urgent matter had roughly passed, it seemed that he could think about the rest after waking up.

He thought so calmly and relaxed his body and laid stretch out.

In the first place, he didn’t even have the strength to raise his body.

As his eyes began to close, the priest, noticing this, immediately called out.

“We need to move Lord Aquila to a comfortable place! The explanation will come later!”

Aquila?

Ting!

Just as he was about to pass out, a new notification rang out.

He forced his eyes open against the drowsiness.

The most annoying part of this system was that he could only get information by figuring out the keywords.

Claude was on the verge of passing out, but he roughly scanned the basic information window to gain even a little bit more information.

【30th Cycle Reincarnated Character: Aquila Reshenhardt】

But an unexpected name appeared.

Reshenhardt.

‘Why is the name of one of the Four Great Houses showing up here…?’

Unable to resist the overwhelming tide of exhaustion, he lost consciousness.

***

Huuuuh.

His consciousness slowly returned, like being pulled out of the water.

The faint background noises became clearer until unfamiliar voices pierced through his ears.

“This must undoubtedly be the Curse of Deadly Poison.”

Tsk tsk, a voice clicking its tongue.

He didn’t know who it belonged to, but it was an audibly grumpy and unpleasant voice.

Curse of Deadly Poison.

Hearing those words brought back the situation he had experienced before waking up.

‘So I didn’t die after all.’

He quietly exhaled the breath he had taken in, relaxing his stiff body.

The surface beneath him was soft.

Instead of sitting up immediately, Claude carefully listened to his surroundings while regulating his breathing.

There were two people inside the room.

And three more outside.

“He seems to have miraculously avoided immediate death, but this is a hopeless body anyway.”

The sound of footsteps pacing the room suddenly stopped.

“There’s no way to lift the Curse of Deadly Poison. Watching those desperate enough to beg even knowing that it always makes me laugh.”

Laughter seeped into the man’s voice.

Through slitted eyes, Claude carefully observed his surroundings.

There were two priests in pure white robes.

The one with the bulging belly had a robe embroidered with gold thread, indicating that he was of high rank, and the other one seemed to be the female priest who had treated him earlier.

“Even the Reshenhardts… Oops. Though it’s funny, those people have sharp ears. Best be cautious about speaking here.”

The pot-bellied priest wiped his mouth and chuckled, then pretended to cover his mouth with his hand.

His sneering manner was natural, as if it was ingrained in his body.

The pot-bellied priest glared down at Claude with an unpleasant look.

“Well, nevermind. There’s no need to waste my precious divine power on a guy who’s going to die soon. Instead, Yuzelia, you just pretend to treat him properly. You have to keep your money.”

With that, he moved his heavy steps and went outside.

The female priest called Yuzelia hadn’t said a word until then.

Small murmuring sounds could be heard outside the door, and then it became quiet.

The presence was slowly moving farther away.

Yuzelia, who had been looking at the door, finally let out a sigh and muttered.

“Careless and foolish bastard.”

Well then.

Claude, with his eyes barely open, glanced at her again.

A mixture of barely concealed anger and scorn came from her face, which was looking down.

Yuzelia muttered a few more curses, then walked up to the bed and looked down at Claude with a complicated expression.

Her hand touched his right hand.

“Although the Curse of Deadly Poison cannot be lifted, may you at least find peace and freedom from pain until your final breath…”

Her voice trembled with anguish.

Yuzelia, who was holding Claude’s hand, trembled.

Since she was a priest, she probably knew what it looked like for someone afflicted by the Curse of Deadly Poison to die, and judging by this reaction, she must have seen it before.

As if she had not intended to listen to what the pot-bellied priest said in the first place, Yuzelia was pouring her divine power without holding anything back.

‘Diligent one, aren’t you?’

People who are unable to do anything despite seeing someone suffering often make that kind of face.

Ark had been that type of person as well.

‘Ark Batchel…’

Claude thought of the last image he saw of Ark.

Since when had Ark changed?

Now that a new iteration had begun, he had to proceed with the main scenario again and go meet Ark Batchel.

Traslator’s Note: “iteration” refers to a complete cycle of life, death, and rebirth experienced by the protagonist, Claude, within a game-like, fantasy world.

He felt a surge of anger from within.

‘I’ll punch him when I meet him.’

Of course, to do that, he had to resolve the curse placed on this body first.

Because if he died before meeting Ark, he wouldn’t be able to start anything.

Claude tried hard not to frown and replayed the conversation from earlier.

If they claimed there was no cure for the Curse of Deadly Poison, it meant this timeline hadn’t yet reached the point where the cure had been discovered.

‘I’ve come back further into the past than I expected.’

In one of his past lives, a genius alchemist announced a method to dispel the Curse of Deadly Poison, and those who had lost a loved one to the curse were shocked by the method.

The method had been so simple.

All it took was a little bit of trouble to collect the materials needed for removal, which could easily be found nearby, so the controversy spread like wildfire.

Claude searched through his memories.

Although there were many vague and jumbled parts to his memory, he thankfully hadn’t forgotten how to remove the curse.

Perhaps the struggles back then had engraved it into his mind.

The biggest problem was figuring out how to convey the solution…

Yuzelia, with her head lowered, still hadn’t let go of Claude’s hand.

Thanks to her divine power that was flowing in without end, his body felt comfortable, but it was difficult to find the timing to get up.

The moment he carefully works out the situation and put some strength into his body.

Knock, knock.

Suddenly, a knock echoed through the room.