Chapter: 131
“The story seems to be getting long. We’ll head back for now and come back later. It doesn’t feel like something we should be eavesdropping on.”
As the middle-aged woman continued her tale, the hero’s daughter left the house with her family.
Hmm… There was a plan to have a meal with the hero’s family, but it’s all messed up by an uninvited guest. Ugh.
Can’t be helped. Might as well wrap this up quickly and get to that meal!
“Even after that, my uncle kept pushing me away, but in the end, my stubbornness won, and I got to set off on a journey with him. The goal of the journey? To break my uncle’s curse.”
The woman kept sharing her story.
“My uncle didn’t share much about the curse. The only thing he said was that he was cursed by the gods, and calamity was just hanging around him.”
Hmm… Cursed and calamity buzzing around him? Sounds like he’s trying to hide his own mistakes.
Honestly, if he had been flirting with that woman and disrespected the temple and the god, even if he’s cursed, he’d totally deserve it.
“But we still traveled the world together. During that time, we helped folks like me who were suffering or oppressed by others.”
It’s hard to believe this idiot actually helped anyone.
Maybe helping others wasn’t exactly voluntary.
It could’ve been an unavoidable situation, or maybe that woman got dragged into helping others by accident.
Well, if he really did help someone, even if it wasn’t on purpose, that’s still a good deed.
Maybe it’s time to look at it from a different angle.
“Enough…”
While the woman continued, the fool finally came back to his senses and muttered in a tiny voice.
“My uncle, who couldn’t walk straight under the sun and suffered from flowing water and even a little flame, didn’t stop his journey. The journey to find a way to break the curse. Throughout all that suffering and countless calamities, my uncle helped a lot of people. Because of that, more than a hundred people followed him.”
Over a hundred people following this idiot? Hmm…
Well, if they don’t know the disastrous stuff he’s done, I guess they can still follow him and receive help.
“Because being around my uncle invites calamity sent by the gods, other people have made a safe village to live in. I’m the only one who sticks with my uncle.”
The middle-aged woman spoke with pride written all over her face.
“During our journey to break the curse, a certain king got greedy for my uncle’s power. If he managed to get the powers of my uncle—who neither ages nor dies—he thought he could gain eternal life. With eternal life, he figured he could rule the world.”
Hmm, so someone actually wanted eternal life? Guess it’s only natural for someone to want that.
The more you have, the more you want; who would want to saunter down the gloomy valley of death?
“At that time, my uncle didn’t want to put others at risk, so he left alone in secret. He knew it would put him in great danger.”
“T-that was… to get rid of you pesky ones…”
“In the end, he went to the king alone and put an end to that king’s greed, right? That king had a terrible reputation, but thanks to my uncle, a wise prince became king! Because of my uncle, one country was able to take better steps forward!”
Hmm… The one who ruined his own country just happened to help another one, huh?
“After hearing about this, he didn’t push me away when I came to find him! If he really disliked me, he could’ve easily ditched me and gone on his own!”
“……”
The fool had nothing else to say.
Maybe he couldn’t push the woman away because… he was lonely?
Earlier, he said he didn’t want a life where he had to watch others die, so it looks like he values the lives of those around him.
Even a fool like him probably didn’t want to be alone.
“And so, my uncle and I continued our journey, enduring countless disasters. We helped countless people and kept searching for clues to break the curse.”
“Please… stop…”
The fool sounded like he was dying. It must be incredibly embarrassing to have all of that exposed.
“One day, while drunk, my uncle mumbled your names, Hero and Dragon’s Priestess.”
“Hmm? Our names?”
“Yes, he whispered your names in a soft, regretful tone. Other than that, he didn’t say anything else… But thinking it over, there was something odd about it.”
“Something odd?”
“If it’s a curse from the gods, the first thing he would’ve done would be to ask the person closest to the gods for help.”
Hmm, that’s true. The person closest to the gods is right here chilling.
The human chosen by the Goddess of Life—Hero—is right here, folks!
“Later on, I realized that during his travels, there was never a point where his destination overlapped with Hero’s. In fact, it seemed like he purposely avoided Hero’s path. Not that I noticed it until way later though…”
“So, is that why you came here?”
The woman nodded slightly at my question.
“Yeah. It took a while to persuade him, but after lots of convincing, he finally agreed to meet you.”
“So, you came to find me and my sister?”
“Yep! Because you’re his last hope.”
The middle-aged woman said as she looked at the fool who was starting to regain some sense.
“So, please, I beg you both. Lend him your strength to break the curse on him…”
The fool placed his hand on the woman’s shoulder and said,
“It’s no use. These two won’t help me at all.”
“Huh? Why not?! If it’s Hero, if it’s the Dragon’s Priestess, the two famous names I’ve heard about… Surely they would help you!”
The fool couldn’t say a word in response to her.
He probably had no words because he couldn’t tell her that the reason for his curse was because he’s been groping around and disrespected the gods and their temple.
Therefore,
“I can’t do anything to help.”
I said, speaking on the fool’s behalf.
“Huh? Why not?”
“It’s because of why this fool got cursed.”
I glared at the fool with a cold look, and he shyly diverted his gaze away.
“To break a curse directly set by the gods, you can only appease the gods’ anger or do what the gods want. There’s no other way to break this curse, so even after searching for over a hundred years, you won’t find a way.”
“B-but…”
The woman looked like she wanted to say more, but no words came out.
And it seemed the fool didn’t plan on breaking the curse either.
Even what he said while fighting Hero wasn’t about breaking the curse; it was asking to be killed instead.
This fool never intended to break the curse from the beginning.
“Stop this foolish business of searching for other methods and just do what you need to do first. If you’ve been cursed by the gods, you need to appeal to those gods. There’s no point in clinging to alternatives.”
At my words, the fool frowned deeply, clearly not wanting to appeal to the Goddess of Life who cursed him.
At this rate, the curse will never be broken, even after hundreds of years.
So,
“If you get it, then find the right way to break the curse or kneel before the gods and plead for forgiveness. If you don’t, you won’t be able to break it.”
If I drop such a direct hint, maybe his memory will come flooding back!
I really want to break the curse on this land little by little! If only it weren’t for your stubbornness, I would’ve easily lifted it by now!
Not that the curse on you is my responsibility!
“The right way…?”
“Yeah. The right way. Isn’t the easiest and most obvious method the one you’re not doing right now?”
Honestly, I thought it wouldn’t take this fool more than a year or two to visit the temple and beg for forgiveness.
I even relayed the message through the pilgrims. I figured he’d roll over in the temple, crying in a year or two.
But he’s been obstinately holding out for decades! Unbelievable!
Seriously, his persistence in this ridiculous hanging-on is astonishing.
“And if you don’t break the curse soon, something irreversible might happen to your foolish soul. So stop that useless stubbornness and go to the temple to beg for forgiveness.”
“Y-yes! So, which god should he beg forgiveness from? Since he struggles in the sun, should he go to the god of light first? Or the other gods… Hmm… The god with a clear temple…”
“Enough.”
The fool calmed the flustered woman, saying,
“The temple the Dragon’s Priestess is talking about is undoubtedly the temple of the Goddess of Life.”
The fool said it with a face that showed he really didn’t want to.
“Because that’s where it all started.”
“Well then, let’s hurry up! It’s not far…”
“No, I don’t want to go there.”
“Uncle!!”
The fool, or rather, the idiot, said with a really displeased expression.
“What’s this about the Goddess of Life? What’s with this ‘kind mother’ nonsense? She only brought me pain. I never asked for this kind of life.”
This guy…? Not even considering his own mistakes?
I’ve been giving him chances, saying I’d lift the curse if he just confessed, but he’s just playing the blame game?
No way. This guy is completely hopeless.
Maybe I should just tear his bones apart right here and forever torment his soul─
“Stupid fool!”
Before I could make my move, the hero sprang into action, landing a fist right on the idiot’s face.
Bam!!!
His head flung back like it might’ve broken his neck, and he toppled over.
Seeing the idiot like that, the hero shouted in a rare burst of anger.
“Not even admitting your mistakes while making excuses! There’s never been a bigger fool than you!”
That’s right! Well done! Keep it coming!
I cheered the hero on in my heart, while also scattering the magical energy I had briefly gathered to erase that idiot.
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