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“Lady Luria! Lady Luria!”
In the middle of the night, I was gently shaken awake by Kuro while I was fast asleep.
Today had been a busy day, so I was really tired. I had written a letter, moved a giant stone, and then played a game with Sara called “The Spirit Carrying Game” and doll play.
“Is it still… night?”
“Lady Luria. If you don’t wake up, you will regret it.”
“Hmm…”
The first thing I thought when I woke up was,
“Even though Kuro is a spirit, he can shake Luria…”
It was strange because spirits are not physical beings, yet Kuro could shake my body.
It was a mysterious thing. The mechanism was a mystery.
By the way, even the Spirit King Roa from my previous life couldn’t shake my body.
“Sorry for waking you up in such a drowsy state.”
“What’s the matter? Well, Kuro, you should sleep too.”
I grabbed Kuro and pulled him into the bed with me.
“No, I can’t. It’s urgent!”
Kuro seemed very frantic. He was shouting very loudly.
“Eh? What happened?”
I rubbed my sleepy eyes and glanced at Sara.
Sara was hugging Kolko and sleeping peacefully, looking very comfortable.
“Make sure to keep it quiet so you don’t wake up Sara, okay?”
“Sara can’t hear Kuro’s voice!”
“…That’s true?”
Logically, that was correct, but it still felt strange.
“The owls told me that there is a child who is about to die.”
“Eh? Is there an injured child? Or is it illness?”
“It’s a curse… But going to help is dangerous.”
Kuro hadn’t told me about Marion’s curse.
That was because he was concerned about my safety.
I told Kuro that even if it was dangerous, if something happened, he should properly tell me and we would discuss it together.
And he kept that promise.
“Thank you, Kuro.”
“It’s dangerous… But… what should I do?”
Kuro was clearly troubled.
“Of course, we will go and help. Where is the place?”
I asked while gently waking up Daru, who was sleeping soundly.
“…Ah?”
“Daru, sorry for waking you up.”
“…Ah~”
Daru stretched out broadly.
Then, as if saying “don’t worry,” he licked my cheek after getting off the bed.
“Uh, from this mansion, it’s about thirty minutes on foot along the lake.”
“That’s far, huh? But Daru could probably do it in about five minutes?”
“Ah-uh!”
Daru said he could go faster.
He had been mewing in a small voice so as not to wake Sara.
“Got it. Let’s go.”
“But it’s dangerous.”
“What kind of danger?”
I had promised to consult with Kuro about things like this.
If he told me the truth, and then I rushed in without thinking, that wouldn’t be called consulting.
“There are curse bearers around the cursed child… Even Lady Luria could get hurt.”
“Which is stronger, those curse bearers or Daru?”
Daru puffed out his chest as if saying “Leave it to me” with his eyes.
“I think Daru is stronger… but there are a lot of them, so it won’t be easy.”
“Then how about I carry the cursed child and escape?”
“That’s not possible. The cursed child has become like half a curse bearer.”
“Hmm… So we can’t help without breaking the curse, huh?”
“Yeah. Lady Luria could break the curse, but the child would struggle and the curse bearers would attack…”
Dodging attacks from the curse bearers while breaking the child’s curse seemed like a very difficult task.
“Hmm… After defeating the curse bearers, we’ll have to undo the curse, right?”
“…But I’m worried.”
“If it gets too dangerous, we’ll escape. How about that?”
“…Yeah.”
Though Kuro seemed anxious, he reluctantly agreed.
I got out of bed and grabbed my usual training clothes from the wardrobe.
The maid had already prepared them for me yesterday.
They were easy to move in, just the kind of outfit for swordsmanship training.
“Let’s take Cario too. It’s part of the expedition, after all.”
“Kyu.”
Cario climbed onto Daru’s back.
“How about Kolko?”
Kolko was being hugged by Sara.
If I took Kolko, Sara would probably feel lonely when she woke up.
“It’s better for Kolko to stay behind, right?”
“No.”
Kolko firmly said, “I’m going too.”
After quietly and gently leaving Sara’s arms, Kolko softly stroked Sara’s hair with his beak.
“Ko.”
“Kuro, do you think Sara will be okay?”
“She will be fine. The curse bearers prioritize attacking spirits, so they won’t target Sara.”
“I see.”
“Also, the bird guardians from the main mansion are here, so this house is safe.”
That made me feel reassured.
“Then let’s take Kolko too.”
“Ko.”
I, Cario, and Kolko mounted Daru’s back and moved to the window.
“Huh?”
From the window, I could see the building with the guards.
“This isn’t good.”
The guards, that is, the duke’s servants, were very strong.
If we escaped through the window, we might get caught.
“Let’s go to a different window.”
“This way!”
Kuro flew ahead and led the way.
Daru, with me and Cario on his back and Kolko following, followed Kuro.
“Daru, be quiet.”
“…………”
Daru was fast but ran almost silently.
“There’s a blind spot over here.”
Kuro led us to a place hidden by the building and trees, where we were out of sight from the guards.
“I didn’t know such a place existed.”
I spoke in a very small voice.
“If we left it alone, it would probably be dangerous.”
“That’s true.”
When I quietly opened the window, Daru silently leaped outside.
The rain was still falling, now in a heavy downpour.
“Please follow me.”
“….”
Kuro, who was leading us, ran silently, with Daru following closely behind.
Cario and Kolko clung tightly to the fur on Daru’s back.
The surroundings were dark since the moon wasn’t out.
However, there were likely people among the guards who could use night vision magic.
So, to avoid being spotted, we veered away from the lake and ran through the forest.
The forest was even darker.
However, with Kuro shining brightly, it was bright enough for me, Daru, and Cario to see.
As for Kolko, who couldn’t see well in the dark, I wasn’t sure if it was bright enough for him.
But Kolko was still staring ahead with determination.
After running for a while, once I judged that we were far enough from the guard building, I spoke to Kuro.
“This is pretty far, huh?”
“Yeah. It’ll take a little longer.”
I looked up at the sky. The thick rain clouds blocked the stars, and the usual birds weren’t flying above me.
A few minutes after leaving the hut, a strong sense of curse began to fill the air.
“This presence… This is bad.”
As Kuro muttered that,
“Meeeee!”
“Mooo!”
“Bo-bo-bo-bo-bo!”
—Flap-flap!
“Ho-ho!”
“Kyuui!”
The sounds of goats, cows, and boars crying, and the sounds of owls and hawks flapping their wings, could be heard.
