Chapter 44 - The Cursed Zone

 

Despite the lingering stench of blood wafting through the air, Jae didn’t expect to find many creatures in this contaminated environment. After all, with all this toxic miasma around, it was hard to imagine many living creatures surviving for long.

Although... I certainly don’t appear to be alone here, huh.

“Grrrr...!”

A wild dog snarled―scratch that, a pack of them did. But they weren’t just any old dogs.

With murky black coats that looked more like sticky tar than fur, and luminescent, crimson lines scrawled all over their enlarged bodies like bulging veins, they clearly weren’t animals you would expect to find when out on an ordinary stroll, and the singular black horn protruding from their heads definitely didn’t help that image.

It’s not natural, that’s for sure. Envy.

“Oh...”

It's only Level 32, but its physical stats are higher than mine... ‘Limit Break’... Hey, didn’t Chris have something like that? That’s a Hero skill, so why is this wolf...?

That was the case for the so-called ‘Pack Leader’ of the bunch, but it wasn’t unique; belatedly realising that all of the wolves before him had undergone some kind of Limit Break process, Jae narrowed his gaze.

That ‘Cursed’ status, too―it isn’t natural. Their Health is also shockingly low compared to the rest of their status, so maybe it’s taking their lifeforce to enhance their stats? Either way, there’s definitely more to this miasma than I thought...

He could only thank his past self for having established a ‘soft barrier’ around himself that protected him; if it weren’t for that, he had no idea what might happen if he came into contact with it. Of course, there was no need to figure out what exactly was going on; Jae had no obligation to, after all, and he was only an outsider here. Still, he couldn’t deny his natural curiosity.

Well... There’s nothing wrong with speculating on my way out, right?

Thankful that he wasn’t suddenly attacked by the wolf pack this entire time, perhaps because they could instinctively smell the disparity in strength, Jae brought his hands together.

“Sorry, but I think you’d thank me for this if you could.”

Crackle-!

Bringing his joined hands slowly apart, countless arcs of purple lightning jumped between until suddenly, it stopped. Stretching one hand towards the pitiable creatures, magic energy coalesced into a single point.

“Find yourselves a better place.”

zzt-- Boom...!!

With a tremendous thunderclap and a fierce flash of light, the world seemed to shake for a moment before quickly clearing up; in an instant, the whole pack had collapsed to the ground as if fried by lightning.

“Wow.”

That was... More intense than I thought it’d be. At least it seems to work well.

Before he had a chance to admire the new ‘spell’ he had concocted during the downtime in the Sloth Dungeon, however, a flurry of notifications appeared.

“Hm...?”

...

.....

.......

“......”

Eventually, the refreshing feeling of his body becoming stronger and his well of magic energy increasing halted, leaving Jae speechless; still, he could only stare dumbfoundedly at the nigh-endless stream of level-up notifications for a while.

“...Damn. That was all the stockpiled experience, right? Just how much is there...?”

I completely forgot about that... But, why is there nothing about levelling up one of the sin skills? Was it only a one-time thing?

“Hm... I guess it would be kinda broken if I could. Whatever, it’s fine.”

Scratching the back of his neck, Jae tried to just be satisfied with the level ups alone. He still hadn’t opened his Status since exiting the Pride Dungeon because of what Aphy drilled into him about not becoming overly-reliant on it, and he wanted to keep up that three-year-long streak, but now he felt like he had to.

“Oh, right. Don’t I have those Distributable Points I need to use? If my Level increases by 50 every time I clear a Dungeon, how strong will I be by the end of it? If I’m Level 450...”

Jae imagined it, but in the end, it wasn’t something predictable. Let alone the fact that he didn’t even know how long it would take to find and clear the rest of the Dungeons, he had to keep in mind that Level alone wasn’t a great indicator of strength.

Right. Magic and skills are the source of most of my power, anyway; Level is pretty much unrelated to both of those, so I guess it doesn’t matter so much.

In any case, pinning the thought that he’d spend some time going through the Status later, Jae reminded himself of the current goal and moved his feet; approaching the collection of cursed wolf carcasses, he crouched down and poked the bodies.

“Mmm... I know I’ve got Gluttony, but is this even safe to eat...?”

It feels like rubber...

[What are you talking about~? Of course it’s safe~!]

“Yeah, I didn’t really ask you, though, did I? Of course you’re gonna be the one to say that, greedy bastard...”

[It’s true~! My power is strong~!]

“Uh-huh.”

...Well. Nothing I’ve eaten so far has resulted in illness despite being some of the most vile stuff I’ve ever seen, so this is probably safe too. If not, I can just blame this guy.

And so, he gave it a try. Taking a tough mouthful of the dirty, fur-covered meat that clung to the walls of his mouth like glue, Jae struggled for a few seconds to get it down the gullet.

Gulp.

“Uegh, cough, cough-! Ah! God, ew, it tastes cursed, too. At least I’ll get a skill from this, right?”

“......”

“...Right?”

Soon enough, he was on his way.

...

......

“Graaaoowh-!”

A wild bear appeared. Except, this bear was odd.

“Woah, you’ve got a lot of arms there, buddy.”

It was a six-armed bear. Compared to the corrupted wolves from earlier, it was vastly stronger, but still nothing in comparison to what Jae considered strong.

“‘Hellfiend Goliath Bear’? Now, that’s an exceptionally scary name, isn’t it?”

Like the wolves, the bear was also corrupted and under a state of ‘Limit Break’. Still, it didn’t amount to much in the grand scheme of things. Putting it down was the biggest mercy Jae could offer.

“Oh, that’s interesting. Does this mean I’m not right-handed anymore...? I don’t know, my left hand feels weird... Maybe I should Level it up.”

I’d normally ask why a bear had a skill like this, but I guess if you have six arms like this guy you kinda need it, huh...

 

---

 

After a while of travel, Jae stumbled across a cave. Of course, the only reason he took notice of it is because of what he could sense within.

“Hm...? The miasma... Does it not reach all the way in there, or is there something...”

...Cleansing it?

If, by some chance, there was a person or group of people who were here to cleanse the miasma, he could ask them for directions.

Although, that also might not be such a good idea. What do I say if they ask what I’m doing here or how I’m fine in this miasma?

“...I mean, does it matter? Even if someone asks, it’s not like I need to give them an answer...”

The more he thought about it, the more Jae was beginning to convince himself that he should be thinking less about it, or at least not so deeply. After all, what did it matter if he got questioned by a stranger? He would never see them again anyway, so what need was there to worry about it?

It might not be anything, anyway. I’ll just check it out quickly.

Thus, he began a descent into the cave. And immediately, he found it suspicious.

There are magic lights. So, there is something, or someone living here, and whatever or whoever it is doesn’t have Night Vision.

From what Jae could tell just by sensing the magic energy and miasma within the cave, it didn’t seem that big, and he could already feel the level of miasma beginning to decrease just a few minutes into it.

It’s too shallow to be natural. I could be wrong, but wouldn’t it make sense to assume miasma is denser than regular air? So, if there was nothing out of the ordinary in this cave, there shouldn’t be anything preventing it from being filled.

There was also some kind of “funny smell” he picked up, like a wet dog, but that wasn’t as important.

“Yah--ahhh~...”

“!?”

All of a sudden, Jae heard a voice. It wasn’t one of the plethora that lived within his head, but a real, separate living being.

Was that a yawn...?

Activating Sneak and disguising his magic energy, Jae hid behind the natural cavern walls, crouched and listened in.

“N-no! I didn’t-- Well, you know how it is doing this kind of fieldwork. I’ve been up for a while, so I haven’t gotten much sleep... Ah. Yes... Yes. I’ll take better care of myself. Aaah, I said I will!”

“......”

He sounds young... And, is he talking to someone? I can’t hear anyone else, so what...

“Whaaat? But why... Ah. Fine, I’ll do it. Or well, I’ll try, but like I said before, don’t expect any results. You don’t understand what these monsters like, sis; they’re even stranger than how the Saint described them... Actually, on that note, I think the curse might have something to do with the Forbidden Continent. From what I read about that situation and what I’m seeing of the monsters here, I’m beginning to notice more and more overlap... Okay. I’ll keep quiet about it for now, just wanted to let you know.”

What is he talking about? ‘Saint’? ‘Forbidden Continent’? ‘Sis’? There’s a lot I don’t understand, but it’s definitely about the monsters here. He must be using some kind of long-distance communication, too... But, they don’t have phones or radios in this world, right? Well, I actually don’t know if they do or not, but I never saw anything like that in the palace... Anyway, it’s probably magic-based.

“...I see. Yes, I’ll keep you posted. I have enough resources to last me a week, so I’ll begin my return to restock and deliver an overall report then. And... I hope the search goes well. Mhm, don’t let it take over your head too much. Then, see you.”

Vrhum...

“Fuuh...”

A brief hum and a sigh were heard before a period of silence, indicating the call was over. Sneaking closer to the chamber ahead, Jae aimed for a position to use Envy from behind cover.

Then, let’s see...

Finding a decent spot camouflaged by shadows, Jae caught a glimpse of the individual―h the shorter side with black hair and horns.

! Those horns are the same as Rena’s. This kid’s a Demon?

Ensuring he couldn’t be seen from where he was hiding, Jae activated Envy.

 

Scanning over the Soul State, there was only one thing to take Jae’s attention.

That name...?

Realising something about the name he couldn’t believe was just his own delusion, he stood up.

“Hey.”

“!? Name yourself!”

Spinning around at Jae’s sudden emergence, the one named Jiyeru exclaimed. He seemed incredibly on edge, and perhaps rightfully so considering he should have been alone here. Understanding this and not wanting to cause a misunderstanding, Jae raised his hands.

“Listen, I’m not here to harm anyone. I just want to ask a couple of questions if that’s alright.”

“How can I trust that? Who are you?”

To the Demon whose outward appearance was more on the side of a fourteen-year-old boy, Jae crossed his arms.

“You don’t need to know who I am, Jiyeru.”

“How do you--?!”

“That doesn’t matter. Just listen. Okay?”

“...What do you want?”

Inwardly, countless questions passed through Jiyeru’s mind. Just by sensing the other person’s mana, he knew Jae wasn’t human, but he also didn’t have any obvious demi- or semi-human physical features either.

“Good. Now, can you tell me about the Demonic royal family?”

“Royal family...? And what are you going to do with information about that?”

He’s too cautious... Is it better to be honest in this case?

“I have an urgent message for the queen. It would be in everyone’s best interest for you to cooperate with me in delivering that message.”

In response to his words, Jiyeru’s eyes widened.

“You know my mother?”

“Your mother...?”

That means... I was right...! This guy is Rena’s brother! I knew that damn name was familiar.

Feeling great relief at the unexpected advancement, he was now this close to being able to send Rena home. Of course, there was still the worry of how she ended up being abducted in the first place, but that was something to figure out after he found her mother.

“Yes, the Demon Queen is my mother... Um, are you by any chance Rena’s father?”

...What? This guy too? Are you telling me Rena’s own brother doesn’t know who her father is? What is with this family...

“And what makes you think that?”

“Well, you... You’re not human, but you also don’t seem like any kind of semi-human race I know of. With the absurd kind of mana capacity I can sense from you, I can only imagine a Spirit being able to compare... But the only Spirit I know who can take such a flawless human form is him. That’s also why you seem fine even enduring this miasma, isn’t it?”

“...Right.”

So... Do I just... Play along? Or what? I can’t just call it a misunderstanding now... It would confuse things too much.

“I’m sorry, we’ve never met in person so I didn’t recognise you, but you must have heard my name through my mother... I’m Rena’s half-brother, Jiyeru.”

“Indeed I have heard of you. Rena said you have a lot of pets, is that right?”

“Oh, yes! I love all kinds of beasts! Last year I even managed to acquire a Cerberus--”

“Excuse me.”

“Yes?”

Interrupting what was quickly becoming an irrelevant conversation and bringing it back on track, Jae’s head quickly cooled when he remembered the goal.

Forget about all the mystery surrounding this miasma-ridden place and its monsters; none of that matters. What’s important is that one of Rena’s family is here, and I can use this chance to figure out what happened. If I can get a general idea of what her family’s stance is on her disappearance, then I’ll know if they can be trusted.

After all, even if they were Demon royalty, if he didn’t think they could take proper care of her, then...

Well... As her ‘father’, I might have to just take responsibility myself.

Now, to ascertain what side Rena’s family, or at least Jiyeru, belonged to.

“What have you heard about me?”

“About you?”

“Yes. Did your mother say anything?”

“Oh... Only a few things.”

From there, Jiyeru proceeded to inform Jae of everything he knew about ‘Rena’s father’. Although he couldn’t discern truth and lie with 100% accuracy, the Soul State’s Condition was still enough to make a judgement on whether Jiyeru was being honest, and thankfully, he didn’t seem to think to try and lie.

Does he genuinely believe that I’m Rena’s dad? I don’t even have the same white hair or eyes...

In the end, as Jae had already gathered, Jiyeru unfortunately didn’t know much. Aside from that Rena’s father was a high-ranking Spirit, there was nothing else of note.

“Is that all?”

“That’s right... Uh, is there more I should know? We were told nothing, and the only one who has seen you in person is my mother...”

Jiyeru claimed that high-ranking Spirits were the only Spirits capable of taking on a human appearance, and as far as he knew, Spirits were the only race able to protect themselves from miasma corruption through sheer quantity of mana.

“So, about Rena’s father; you’ve heard nothing about him, and you also don’t even know what he looks like? Don’t you think I could be a fake?”

“I can’t imagine anyone would be able to fake impersonating a Spirit, and they definitely wouldn’t bring it up so straightforwardly. Can’t you prove it right now by looking at my soul?”

“I already did. That’s how I know you’re Level 42. You didn’t feel anything?”

Then, is it only Rena that can sense it? No, that’s not right; plenty of others have sensed Envy in the past... Maybe it’s just a matter of sensitivity, or Level. Being part Spirit must just give an edge.

“No... Anyway, listen. I know there are circumstances I don’t know anything about, so I’m not going to blame you for not being around. Still, I don’t want Rena to go through anything worse when things are already bad enough as they are; that’s why... Please return to the castle with us.”

“......”

“My mother works exceptionally hard to maintain the happiness and satisfaction of our people, as does my sister. It’s a lot of work, and because of that, Rena isn’t always able to receive the attention she deserves. If you were to come and stay in the castle, I’m sure it would make her happy. She’s always been curious about her father who was never there, and she has the right to know. So, please...”

Jiyeru looked at Jae with an earnest gaze; to which he could only lower his own.

I can’t lie... This feels really bad. He’s right, a hundred per cent, but... That’s not something I can do. I can’t stay because I need to clear the Dungeons, but even more than that, how can I possibly take the role of her father and stay with their family? No matter how adamant the girl is herself that I’m her dad, and even if her siblings believe that lie too, that’s not who I am. Their mother will see through the lie in an instant, and then what?

Oblivious to Jae’s inner turmoil, Jiyeru continued.

“Also... There’s something I need to let you know. Rena is... I don’t know what exactly Spirits are capable of, but can you find her?”

“You’re talking about the abduction?”

“You know!?”

Jolting in surprise, Jiyeru’s reaction was amusing, but Jae still felt it hard to explain his perspective in a way that made sense.

“The captors... Are no more. She is safe for now; under the care of someone trustworthy. That’s why I need to contact her mother urgently.”

The instant the words left his mouth, Jae watched the tension on Jiyeru’s face immediately relax as if a great weight had been lifted.

“Oh...! She’s alright... That’s a relief...”

I think it’s pretty clear where the intentions of this guy lie. He can’t possibly be a bad guy; hopefully, the rest of the family are the same...

“In that case, I’ll send a report back to the castle post haste to alert them of her well-being. Can you bring her home in the meantime?”

“Of course. Actually, I ended up here through complicated means, so I’m a little lost. Do you know where we are in the forest?”

“You came here by accident...? How-- No, that’s fine. We call this area the Cursed Zone, for... Obvious reasons. It’s the northernmost area of the Plaentic Great Forest, so Asphal is to the south-east of here. Here, I have a spare magic compass if you need.”

Searching around the base that appeared like a typical research outpost for a short while, Jiyeru quickly found a small device that looked close enough to a typical compass from Earth―just powered by magic. Confirming that it indeed worked, Jae prepared to leave.

“Thanks. Ah, before I go, do you have any idea who the culprit is?”

I’m still sure it’s someone inside the castle... But it’s better to ask someone with a better idea of the state of things.

Of course, however...

“I don’t know at all. I’m not very well integrated with politics, so I don’t know why someone would do such a thing. Actually, I was hoping to ask you the same thing...”

...Jiyeru had no idea whatsoever.

“My sister―Jiera is much more involved with that side, so she’ll definitely know more about that than me. Or my mother, of course, but neither of them have talked about it openly, at least not to me.”

“I see... Well, no worries. I’ll ask them when I arrive at the castle.”

“Yes. Then, I’ll see you in a month or two when I return! And thank you for looking after Rena.”

“Right... Good luck with whatever research you’re conducting here.”

After a brief, somewhat awkward goodbye, Jae promptly left the cave.

With the newly acquired compass in hand, he headed directly south towards the barrier containing the Cursed Zone’s miasma. After all, before travelling to the Demon Queen’s Castle, there was one place he needed to stop by first.

“You better have kept your promise, Gadeun...”

―Bahgwud Village.

Rena... Just wait a little while longer. I’ll definitely bring you home soon.

His worry was to the extent that Jae himself was surprised at his own determination and sense of responsibility.

In the end, he couldn’t erase the idea that maybe a poor, lost girl confusing him with her father had more of an effect on him than he thought.