Reincarnated in the Same World for the Nth Time - Chapter 8

“Temple? Didn’t you say it wasn’t necessary to go there?”

“Now it is.”

At the sudden remark, Shen and Yuzelia, who had been tearful, had their expressions turn to confusion.

Shen, in particular, seemed the most confused.

“You’ve always been… well, rather… eccentric, but since you woke up, I really can’t figure out what you’re thinking, young master.”

Shen mumbled.

He was trying to somehow wrap up what he had said nicely, while carefully looking at Yuzelia, but his expression was nothing less than subtle.

Regardless of what the original Aquila Reshenhardt was like, it seemed that he wasn’t a model character.

‘Well, I suppose I can afford to be a little more reckless.’

Aquila was having such thoughts, whether Shen was looking confused and serious or not.

“Are you still unwell? You mentioned having a severe headache yesterday. Oh! Or… is it because of the great being’s prophecy, perhaps…?”

Even as Shen worriedly asked him, Aquila calmly placed his clasped hands on his knees.

“I was just about to talk about that prophecy, actually. Thanks for saving me the trouble of figuring out how to start, Shen.”

“Doesn’t seem like you put much thought into it, though…”

Yuzelia quietly mumbled, and then quickly covered her mouth.

It seemed that her true feelings had leaked out without her knowing since she was at ease knowing that the curse had been removed.

If he was an arrogant noble, he might have taken that one sentence as an insult, but Aquila brushed off those words without a thought and asked her a question.

“You must know that a curse doesn’t just appear randomly. Do you know what the identity of a curse is?”

Yuzelia glanced at Aquila with an uneasy look before immediately nodding her head.

“Yes. In most cases, curses are forbidden magic that someone casts to harm another.”

“Forbidden magic… You’re talking about black magic, right?”

Black magic spells designed purely to bring pain to others, often at the cost of the caster’s life or soul.

The pain that black magic inflicted was so immense and cruel that even learning it, let alone casting it, was considered forbidden in this world.

Those who had even touched black magic even slightly would be immediately arrested and executed without any mercy.

Aquila had encountered black magic users a few times, and they were all individuals he wouldn’t wish to associate with.

He leaned back against the sofa and nodded slightly.

“That’s correct. Shen, while there are exceptions, when a curse targets a specific individual, it’s generally considered to be black magic.”

“What about the exceptions?”

Shen tilted his head in curiosity.

“Sometimes, curses arise from the whims of spirits or their grudges. However, such cases are rare. Spirits’ wrath doesn’t typically focus on one specific individual.”

The unpredictable nature of spirits was widely known.

They might approach like innocent children, showering kindness, only to suddenly turn hostile and lay curses without warning. Their grudges, once formed, were infamous for their cruelty and persistence.

“You’re talking about the Lezenti family, right? I’ve also heard about them. That the whole family was cursed to have their skin harden like tree bark as they age because they had incurred the wrath of a great spirit…”

Yuzelia muttered, taking his words with a truly pitiful expression.

The tragedy began when a member of the Lezenti family got lost in a forest and broke the branches of a tree to make a fire to ward off the cold. Unfortunately, the tree was home to a great spirit.

In his anger, the Great Spirit didn’t only unleash his wrath on the person who had broken the branch, but cursed all of his descendants.

It was a disaster for the Lezenti family.

‘Though, even without that, spirits are inherently selfish beings.’

Suppressing a sigh, Aquila shook his head. Shen, having heard the story before, had turned pale.

“Then… if it wasn’t a spirit, does that mean the Curse of Deadly Poison afflicting the young master was black magic?”

This servant stammered while trying to change the topic.

Before Aquila could respond, Yuzelia shook her head.

“…No, it probably isn’t. If it were just ordinary black magic, then divine magic would have had an effect, but no priest was able to remove the Curse of Deadly Poison.”

Curses that had been cast with black magic could mostly be resolved with the help of a priest.

Black magic and divine magic were complete opposites.

But the Curse of Deadly Poison was not like that.

They could ease the pain of the target by pouring divine power into them, but they couldn’t remove the curse itself.

‘If it had been black magic, things would’ve been simpler.’

This thought darkened Yuzelia’s expression.

“…I hate to admit it, but many priest are helpless when it comes to the Curse of Deadly Poison. No one knows who casts it or how it works.”

But Yuzelia bowed her head while looking at Aquila.

“But thanks to you, Young Master Aquila, we now know how to lift the curse. I don’t know how to express my gratitude…”

“No. It wouldn’t have been possible without your help, Priestess Yuzelia.”

Aquila shook his head after seeing her eyes, which had been filled with tears, start to sparkle again, and then slightly moved his upper body forward from his relaxed posture.

“More importantly, there’s something about the Red Dragon’s words I haven’t mentioned yet.”

Even though there were only three of them in the room, Aquila whispered quietly as if someone might be listening.

Aquila’s voice was so secretive that it was somehow solemn.

Yuzelia and Shen, without even realizing it, lowered their bodies and leaned in to listen just like him.

Aquila’s black eyes, filled with a serious light, briefly scanned Shen’s face before dropping.

What he was about to say was a gamble, even for him.

“It’s the method of casting the Curse of Deadly Poison.”

“…Excuse me?”

Yuzelia momentarily questioned him, taken aback by Aquila’s unexpected words.

“To begin, you need something that has fallen from the target’s body. That, along with a seed, must be buried to grow a flower. Then, for about 15 days, you must pour malice into it daily to complete the preparation of the sacrificial offering.”

With blank-faced expressions before him, Aquila continued to speak without stopping.

Shen, who had been stammering at the explanation that had continued without any time to be surprised, stood up abruptly and shouted.

“W-wait a moment! What do you mean, ‘something that has fallen from the body’?!”

Aquila calmly observed this person of interest with only his gaze.

“Fingernails, hair, and a small amount of blood are needed.”

“You only need one of them?”

“No, all of them.”

“All of them? Ha, but that means, unless it’s someone close by…”

Shen’s face became increasingly pale as he stuttered.

It must have been because he had realized that to get the materials for the curse, the culprit had to be someone close or someone who helped them.

“Once the sacrificial offering is ready, it is handed to a specific individual, and a request is made to deliver a curse instead of a blessing. That’s all there is to it.”

Aquila simply finished the explanation without waiting for them.

But this time, it was Yuzelia who raised her hand with a confused expression.

“Wait a moment, young mastr. Putting aside how you know this so well, you’re asking them to ‘bestow’ a curse instead of a blessing? That’s like…”

She muttered anxiously.

It seemed that some kind of premonition had struck her.

Perhaps because she was a priestess, she was reacting even more sensitively.

Aquila nodded as if she had hit the mark.

“Yes. It is a punishment that a god bestows on humans after they ask for it. That is the true nature of the Curse of Deadly Poison.”

Yuzelia stood up abruptly with a shocked face.

Her wavering gaze fell away from Aquila and soon landed on her own white robe.

“T-then, that god is…”

“No, it isn’t the Sun God. He is merciful, after all.”

Aquila shook his head, quoting something someone had said to him in another timeline. Yuzelia briefly sighed in relief, but her expression soon hardened again.

“This is… shocking.”

Shen and Yuzelia slumped onto the sofa as if collapsing and couldn’t say anything.

It seemed that Shen was shocked by the fact that a person close by might be the culprit, and Yuzelia was shocked by the fact that the Curse of Deadly Poison was something that a god had given.

The only person who was calm in this place was Aquila.

‘They all seem to be hearing this for the first time. They don’t seem to be lying in their attitude.’

Thanks to his experience from repeated timelines, Aquila had become adept at spotting lies. However, there was no indication of dishonesty from them.

He shifted his gaze to Shen.

‘It was possible that he had helped without knowing it, but based on what I have seen so far, it’s obvious when he’s lying.’

Aquila silently organized his thoughts. A suffocating silence filled the room as no one spoke.

Only after a long time had passed, Yuzelia, who had regained her senses, spoke in a distressed voice.

“No wonder divine power didn’t work. If the curse itself is…”

The face of Aquila that he was facing was still calm and cold, despite this shocking truth.

How could he be like that when someone close to him was trying to take his life?

“Y-young master, are you… are you alright?”

Although Shen was just as confused, his first concern was for Aquila. Tears welled in his green eyes, the color of fresh grass.

Shen clearly felt that Aquila, who had barely escaped the danger of death and had woken up from his sleep, was different from before.

If the original Aquila had been like a burning fire, the current one was like cold water.

He didn’t know what the great dragon had said in the past, or what impact it had on Aquila, who had only recalled it after experiencing the pain of being near death.

But that didn’t matter now.

Shen approached the sofa where Aquila was sitting and knelt down, completely lowering his body to the ground.

And then, he said.

“Before the Great Dragon, the gods of night and day, and all noble beings, I solemnly swear, I have never and will never take any action that could harm you, my young master.”

Shen looked up at Aquila while holding his two hands together.

As soon as he heard Aquila’s words, Shen had realized what Aquila’s gaze, which had been observing him all the time, meant.

It was suspicion.

However, despite the gaze of doubt that was cast on him, who had been with him for a long time, Shen didn’t feel like it was unfair.

He was only worried about his young master.

“And I will never do it in the future either. I can swear on it.”

Aquila looked into Shen’s tearful eyes for a long time. Having repeated many timelines, he always found himself swayed by such oaths.

As an otherworldly visitor, Aquila had little regard for oaths. But for those born and raised in this world, an oath was absolute and an inviolable truth.

This was a world where breaking an oath came with real consequences, and its people respected that.

“I believe you, Shen.”

As soon as Aquila had said those words, a faint light settled around them.

It was the result of Shen swearing on all the gods, and there was a witness nearby.

Seeing the light, Yuzelia recited a short prayer. Aquila tilted his head back slightly, letting out a small sigh.

‘This world is convenient in moments like these.’

In this world, the truth of someone’s heart could manifest as tangible proof. That alone made many things simpler.

Still, there was an unexpected reward.

Since Shen had done this much, it meant that he truly had nothing to do with the Curse of Deadly Poison.

For now, that was enough.

Aquila said calmly with a lighter heart.

“Then, I’ll need your help from now on. Both of you.”

Shen and Yuzelia nodded resolutely.

“Yes, young master. I will help you with whatever I can.”

“Just leave it to me, Young Master!”

At their spirited replies, Aquila finally smiled slightly.

And then, he explained the reason why they had to go to the Temple and his plan to them, step by step.

They were a bit surprised and also tried to argue back, but in the end, they had decided to follow Aquila’s words.

And so, before dawn, a carriage carrying Aquila Reshenhardt headed swiftly toward the temple a piece of news that spread widely before the morning sun fully rose.