vodfox

Damn it all... Are you blind?! I'm hurt! Take me to the hospital!

Uhh, okay...

Want me to have someone else deal with that Infected? It's not exactly a big deal.

If this keeps up, will this curse never leave me?

Err... Since when are curses real?

Do you not see it?! It's as real as anything! It's chasing after me! The evil spirits are after me!

Just calm down, ma'am... Everyone's looking at us.

Anyway, don't worry about that Infected for now. I need to calm myself first.

Well, as promised, I'll tell you what I know.

To be blunt, you're wasting your time here. There's no underground Originium mine like you might've guessed, or a big scary factory either.

All that happened was some gang war that lasted about a month, and a lot of us were unlucky enough to get caught in the crossfire. That's all there is to it.

By the way, I've heard that there's been quite a bit of Originium smuggling going on...

If the gangsters used it to make explosives, and didn't follow safety standards during production, it'd be easy for active Originium dust to leak out.

It's also very common for those who get infected to not notice their physical symptoms at first. Or worse, hide them. This can create the false impression that new patients are still appearing.

Nobody's stupid enough to tell a doctor that they got infected in a gang war.

They'll just pretend they didn't see anything.

But if there was such large-scale, open conflict going on, why didn't the judges put a stop to it?

Judges? Haha, I don't know how they do things in the big city, but there are no judges out in the boonies.

The gangsters were backed by different famiglie, and they fought until one side drove the other completely out of town and took control.

The 'judge' you met earlier was just an ordinary mafiosa used by the winning famiglia to control us here.

Ugh... Sorry, I really only intended to ask about the Oripathy.

Thank you for helping us complete our mission.

Haha, I should be thanking <i>you</i>, if only for pushing my bad luck back one day...

That said, your little girl here doesn't seem to want my thanks.

Don't worry about her. She tends to space out, but I'm sure she heard what you said.

One more thing, after you head back, remember to take this medicine to control your condition. Take care.

Shamare.

I told you, Morte would help him. Why didn't you believe me?

No, that's not what I meant. Actually, you've already done too much, for too many people.

The next time you use your Originium Arts, make sure you discuss it with us first.

If you'd lost control doing what you did, you could've hurt other people very badly... maybe even yourself.

They always tell me that back at Rhodes Island.

As long as Morte doesn't get hurt, it doesn't matter.

And you always say that. As long as Morte is in good spirits, as long as Morte doesn't get hurt, it doesn't matter.

But the truth is, I can tell you're already extremely worn out. I can't let that build up to the point where it affects your health.

...I know.

I won't use any more Arts here.

Also... Give me another apple. Not the Arts Unit.

I want something to eat.

Haha, sure.

We've confirmed the source of the infection here, and now that we've finished our emergency treatment for the remaining Infected, it's time we headed back to the landship.

Packed up all your tools? If there's nothing else, be ready to pull out.

Oh.

My apologies. Everyone, pull your carts over and let the disabled woman through.

...Is your investigation over? I heard that your company was looking into the cause of all these infections. Did you get your results?

Ah, about that...

The time we have on these business trips is extremely limited, and unfortunately we were unable to determine a single cause of the outbreak. Our sincerest apologies.

Morte.

Go get her book for me.

(For some, being thrust into an environment that reminds them of the past would only stir up the pain buried deep in their hearts... But maybe, for Shamare, that was never a problem to begin with.)

(Though it's hardly normal, she is indeed growing in her own way.)

Um, Shamare, I have to praise you for having the composure to do what you did.

Huh? What do you mean?

The reason you used your Arts is probably because you—Or rather, because Morte felt a pain from this town similar to the pain it knew from before.

People treat each other with malice, and vent those emotions at one another.

And even though so many people knew that you weren't the source of the curse, and that you were completely innocent... nobody was willing to those words out loud.

So in this small town, you used your Arts to help everyone speak out, including the Infected.

'There are no words in that codex.'

You've grown so much I'm almost astounded.

You're... weird.

Morte doesn't need to think about complicated stuff like that, so I don't either.

Morte just wanted to eat that judge's emotions, so I fed it. Isn't that all there is to it?

I see. So you didn't put that much thought into it, huh?

And I spent so long mulling it over before finally authorizing you to use your Originium Arts...

But I guess in the end, I only felt like she was being a bully and had to be punished... I suppose simple reasons like that can be fine too.

—Hey, hold on, the thought that maybe I don't need to lecture you for this just suddenly popped into my head... Don't tell me that was another one of your 'spiritual suggestions'?

And why are you smiling?

I brought your crutches.

Alright. I'm going to rest for now. I'll let you know if I need anything later.

Gotcha.

Phew... I haven't heard of any more curses these last few days, so maybe this nightmare is finally ending.

What a pleasant Sunday morning. Now that the rain has passed, the air feels fresher than usual.

Hmm?

The legal codex she had offhandedly placed on the table is blown to a new page by a gust of wind.

Fwoosh, fwoosh.

She sees a line of writing on it. A line with the same handwriting as the curse from before.

'You will see these words on a Sunday morning, and shall incur a curse.'

'You shall tremble in fear before the consequences of your malice, and decide to change your evil ways.'