Chapter: 126
Dorma Lacroix,
At 17 years old this year, she was shifting her eyes around nervously, her shoulders hunched.
Originally shy to a fault, despite her excellent grades upon entering Rahelrn Academy, she spent half a year without making a single friend, living alone.
It was simply her nature to struggle with social interactions.
However, after half a year, she finally found herself belonging to a group.
That group consisted of none other than Sigrid Ephania, the third princess of the Ephania Empire.
As a result, she was able to escape her lonely life at the academy.
While she felt secretly pleased about it, her sensitivity to people’s emotions made her aware of the truth.
She understood that Sigrid’s group didn’t genuinely welcome her.
Sigrid was always kind, but she struggled to blend in with the others, who all had strong personalities.
But she didn’t let it bother her.
After all, she was originally someone who leaned more towards the shadows.
“I miss my big brothers and sisters.”
She was the youngest disciple of the world’s greatest healer, Beltua Lacroix.
Her days spent with her elder brothers and sisters, dedicated to researching curses, were delightful.
Beltua had rescued her from wandering as an orphan outside the city walls and had taken her in.
Beltua raised Dorma and even gave her the Lacroix name.
However, on the year Dorma turned ten, Beltua abruptly left her with the other disciples and vanished.
Because of that, Dorma cried for several days, but Beltua never returned.
The other disciples also didn’t know the exact reason for their master’s departure.
They could only vaguely guess it had something to do with curses, given who she was.
Though Beltua was gone, thankfully, Dorma’s growth wasn’t significantly hindered.
This was because her elder brothers and sisters treated her with great affection.
The problem was that, in some way, it created a wall that made it harder for her to relate to her peers.
She could get along well with adults, but when it came to her peers, she struggled with what to talk about.
Thus, she longed for her elder brothers and sisters.
If not for her eldest brother insisting she widen her worldview and enroll in Rahelrn Academy, she would have been happy researching curses even now.
Unfortunately, as her personal relationships crumbled and she had little interest in others,
recently, one person caught her attention.
“Kraush Valheim.”
Directly from the renowned Valheim family and the most famous person around the academy recently.
The rumors surrounding him reached her ears, even as someone who hardly conversed with people.
I must emphasize, it wasn’t for romantic reasons.
Lately, whenever she laid her head on her desk, she heard the girls around her buzzing about Kraush, but she had none of that girlish sentiment.
She was a gloomy character far from any fairy-tale princess in a carriage.
So why was she so preoccupied with Kraush?
“Curses.”
In her eyes, Kraush was nothing short of a curse embodiment.
He was an entity entirely enveloped in curses, almost as if he were their source.
That alone was enough to catch her attention as a healer.
This was especially true since the type of curses Kraush bore was so overwhelming, she couldn’t even categorize them.
Yet that was merely the surface.
“Th-that method of curse operation is just like Master’s way!”
On the day of the entrance exam for the second batch of Rahelrn Academy,
she had unwillingly followed Sigrid’s group and observed the exam.
While she sat in a corner, apathetically watching,
Kraush left her utterly astonished.
He was definitely manipulating curses.
And his method was eerily similar to Beltua’s teaching.
Although Beltua is known as the world’s greatest healer, the truth is more like she was a curse specialist.
The curses he can handle number in the thousands, and it’s through those curses that Beltua displayed her bizarre combat style.
In order to obtain curses, she had to enter the world of erosion, choosing to confront the erosion beings with curses.
It was that same method of manipulating curses that Kraush employed.
When she realized that, she barely contained the urge to rush out.
“He’s definitely connected to Master!”
She wanted to ask where her master was and how he used such curse methods.
But her timid personality held her back again.
As time slipped away while she hesitated,
today, she ended up in the same curse class as him.
He designated the speciality course, hence her presence in the class.
Her heart raced.
There were so many things she wanted to ask about Beltua, but her inherent nature kept making her hesitate.
“There might not be another chance!”
He was using curses, but perhaps he was suffering from them as well.
If so, could she remove the curses and then inquire about her master?
With that thought, she clenched her small fist.
“I have to do it. Dorma.”
Today, she would speak to Kraush.
She made a firm resolution.
—
“Alright, that wraps up today’s class.”
As the professor concluded and departed,
it was no surprise that Kraush didn’t pay much attention to the class itself.
After all, he had more knowledge about curses than the professor.
In the meantime, the students began packing up and getting ready to leave.
Kraush stood up alongside Aslan.
“Uh, um, excuse me!”
At that moment, Kraush thought he had finally been hooked as he turned his head.
There stood a girl with unkempt light-colored hair, her petite body trembling slightly, looking anxious as her eyes darted around.
After a moment of hesitation, she finally managed to speak.
“W-would you like to talk about curses with me?”
Pip pip — she stumbled over her words, embarrassed, and bowed her head.
Her legs were shaking like a willow in the wind.
The only thing she knew enough to talk about was curses, and that was all she had.
“Kraush, looks like you’ve got quite a fan,”
Aslan whistled lightly.
“N-no, that’s not it!”
Dorma waved her hands earnestly, as if to say, “Don’t misunderstand!”
But then, her face turned crimson, and she lowered her head again.
Kraush understood why she had approached him, so he decided to cut to the chase.
“You want to ask about Beltua Lacroix, right?”
Dorma’s head shot up at those words.
Her eyes sparkling, she nodded vigorously.
She resembled an excited puppy that hadn’t been groomed.
If she had a tail, it would be wagging furiously like a motor.
“There’s a good place to talk. Shall we go there?”
“I-I’ll go!”
She answered brightly.
“Don’t you dare sweet-talk her. Are you a candy-giving uncle? If the other disciples find out, they’ll want to kill you. Do you have any idea how much they care for her?”
Despite being younger than Dorma in physical years, it seemed the Crimson Garden didn’t care about such things.
“Aslan, where are you?”
“I’ll leave you two to chat. I’ll be in my room.”
Aslan stepped aside.
“And be careful not to let Lirina find out.”
For some reason, when Lirina was mentioned, Kraush briefly rubbed the back of his neck.
“Let’s go.”
“Y-yes!”
With that, they started walking together.
As Kraush and Dorma passed by, many curious gazes were directed at them.
The tall Kraush alongside the much smaller Dorma made them quite the sight.
As Dorma shrank back, Kraush entered the Special Studies Building.
They walked further until arriving at Darling’s alchemy lab.
Darling was absent at the moment.
She had mentioned she would come, but with lunch hour approaching, she probably went to get something to eat.
“Just sit down comfortably. It’s a familiar place for her.”
“Y-yes.”
Dorma scrambled to sit down.
With her petite frame hunched over, she appeared even smaller.
As she looked around the alchemy lab, she blinked in surprise.
There were various jars containing curses that seemed out of place in the lab.
“Ah, I’m doing some research on curses. I’m currently working on the theory of curse cancellation.”
Upon hearing that, Dorma’s eyes widened.
“The theory of curse cancellation?”
“That’s right. The one created by Beltua Lacroix.”
The standard method of healing uses the healer’s aura to intervene and eliminate curses.
However, curse cancellation is different.
It’s a method of neutralizing a higher curse with a lower curse.
That’s the essence of curse cancellation.
Before the regression, two people established this theory.
One was Darling Danphelion.
And the other was Beltua Lacroix.
The healer who was ridiculed by other healers for her unconventional ideas.
The primary issue with higher curses is that they can often result in death before a healer can even arrive.
Thus, no one had attempted to realize it, and so the theory of curse cancellation existed solely as Beltua’s theory.
And this theory would now be validated through Kraush.
At this point, Darling was merely drafting her paper.
So currently, the only one claiming this theory was Beltua herself.
“Indeed, Kraush has a connection with your master!”
“Just a bit.”
If we consider it a connection from before regression, then maybe it is.
“Ah, but, this execution of curses can’t be effective without being placed on a target. The theory of curse cancellation can’t be proven due to that…”
The greatest limitation of the curse cancellation theory is that it cannot be applied to living beings.
After all, higher curses often lead to instant death.
Thus, Beltua merely proposed the theory that curses could be neutralized without specifying which curses could cancel each other.
“But I’m here.”
However, Kraush was different.
Since he could steal curses, he wouldn’t be directly affected by them.
Thanks to that, he could survive the diminished effects of curses and actively test the theory of curse cancellation.
As a result, Kraush became a living proof of the curse cancellation theory.
Dorma froze for a moment, then slowly turned her round eyes towards Kraush.
“You… you experienced this firsthand?”
“You know, Dorma, you can sense how curses dwell in someone, right?”
Dorma flinched.
Being so close made it even more apparent.
She could feel the heavy curses emanating from Kraush, enough to leave her breathless.
“And you are, after all, asking about this.”
Kraush sat back in his chair, crossing his legs with a smile.
Seeing him, Dorma bit her lip before finally exclaiming.
“Y-yes! Your method of curse manipulation is so similar to Master’s!”
“Well, it would be. I learned this directly from your master.”
Kraush’s secret technique, the Blood-dead Needle,
was predicated upon Beltua’s curse techniques, pulled forth by Ignis.
The reason Kraush could use the Blood-dead Needle so readily was entirely due to his previous experiences.
“Just like I thought!”
Her eyes gleamed as if she were about to leap at him.
“I-I’ve been looking for Master for a long time! She suddenly disappeared when I was ten, and I haven’t heard anything since then! I’ve worried constantly!”
Dorma spoke rapidly.
She seemed out of breath from how fast she was talking, coming to a halt briefly to catch her breath.
“But, since you’re using Master’s methods… do you by any chance know where she is?”
After finishing her tumultuous words, she looked parched.
Kraush pulled out a cup and poured some water for her.
“Ah, thank you.”
She took the cup in both hands and gulped it down.
Finally, she managed to calm her expression.
“Feeling better?”
“Y-yes.”
Seeing Dorma, calmer now, Kraush smiled.
“First of all, Beltua Lacroix is currently roaming the forbidden zone.”
That old man was completely obsessed with curses.
Once he deemed her sufficiently grown, he quickly made his way into the forbidden zone.
He likely didn’t tell Dorma or the other disciples where he was going for a reason.
He probably didn’t want Dorma to come looking for him.
“…The forbidden zone.”
Dorma muttered to herself in a hard voice.
She knew all too well how dangerous the forbidden zone was.
Dorma was an exceptional healer.
Being personally taught by Beltua, her knowledge of curses was top-notch, and her healing skills were among the best among the twelve disciples.
“Because of him, I’ve benefited greatly. I owe him quite a bit.”
However, despite all that, her combat abilities were nearly nonexistent.
Her naturally small build and frail body weren’t suited for combat against curses.
Thus, hearing about the forbidden zone likely left her breathless.
It was a place she couldn’t hope to go.
“Would you like me to help you look for Beltua Lacroix?”
When Kraush suggested that to Dorma, her head shot up.
Dorma believed Kraush knew Beltua.
After all, he was from the Valheim family.
There was a good chance he would enter the forbidden zone in the future.
If that’s the case, he should definitely be able to find Beltua.
“Are you really okay with that?”
“Either way, I’ll have to go to the forbidden zone, so it’s convenient.”
“Ah, thank you, thank you so much! You’re nothing like the rumors say!”
She stood up, grasping Kraush’s hand and shaking it energetically.
For someone so desperate to see her master again, Kraush’s offer felt like a blessing.
“Rumors?”
Kraush raised an eyebrow, curious about the rumors.
Dorma slightly gasped and lowered her gaze.
“Well, um…”
“It’s fine. After all, my usual behavior has revealed all this.”
There was a certain level of intent behind some of his actions.
Kraush didn’t intend to be underestimated at Rahelrn Academy.
Thus, he sometimes acted a bit more aggressively than usual.
“Isn’t it essentially the same as always?”
Kraush didn’t really take the words from Crimson Garden to heart.
“Well, that’s not it! You’re being so kind to someone like me! The rumors are misleading! They say you have a lot of women or something, but that’s nonsense!”
However, when she spoke next, Kraush’s expression completely froze.
“…I have women?”
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