Chapter 57: Curse-Seal Magic
Roa was going to try and persuade Nephthys.
Suddenly, I wondered what I was even doing.
Just a few weeks ago, I was leisurely thinking about my future bride in the territory, but now I’m racking my brains over how to make my brother an accomplice.
Isn’t this like trying to get him to help with a crime?
Roa might not have as much mental resilience as I do.
Sorry, Roa.
I wanted to let you stay pure, but that’s going to be difficult.
Please forgive your useless brother.
Once we get through these Ceasefire Talks safely, I’ll help you find a fiancée…
“N-Nephthys-kun?”
Roa’s question snapped me back to reality.
It seemed I had been overcome with guilt.
Roa seemed bothered by my casual way of addressing him.
“Ah, this is no good. Perhaps it’s because I’ve been trying to persuade him for about two weeks, but I’ve started to feel familiar with him. Roa, you should be careful too.”
“Y-yes.”
“Nephthys, it seems he’s from the Bartolucci Knight House, which is famous even among Naia’s knight houses.”
“The Bartolucci Knight House…? Isn’t that the knight house that produces civil officials? Why is a civil official who should be in Gordasht, the center of Naia, under Barbat’s command?”
Nephthys isn’t from a knight house that specializes in martial arts like Getrude.
The fact that he was serving as Barbat’s aide despite that is a bit strange.
Of course, there’s a possibility that he has talent as a commander, so I can’t say for sure.
“What’s the story, Nephthys? Why were you Barbat’s aide?”
“Mmm~! Mmph, mmph~!”
“I see, you can’t talk with a gag in your mouth.”
I removed the gag from Nephthys’s mouth.
We’ve met several times already, so I’m reasonably familiar with Nephthys.
He might be willing to talk a little now.
“Guh! You Ortenos bastards! Don’t think you can have your way with me! I will never yield to you!”
“…”
Nephthys shouted, reflecting the light of the Magic Lamp off his head.
I’ve been interrogating him like this to find out about Naia’s internal affairs, but he hasn’t said a word.
He’s quite a brave one.
But that’s precisely why I have a feeling that if I can get Nephthys to talk, I’ll definitely get some information.
“Just kill me already, Ortenos! I will continue to curse you Ortenos until the moment I die! That will be a consolation for my fallen comrades!”
“Don’t shout so loud, you’re scaring Roa.”
Crack.
I snapped Nephthys’s arm in the opposite direction as he said something brave.
A Satella-Class arm breaks like a toothpick.
“Agyaaaaaa!”
“Hii!”
Roa flinched at Nephthys’s scream.
“Nephthys, I know you weren’t the one who planned this invasion of Ortenos. Who is the person behind you? What were they thinking when they targeted my grandfather?”
“Guh… I have nothing to say to you.”
A red curse mark appeared on Nephthys’s forehead.
It seems that this curse mark activates when he tries to talk about matters related to the caster of the curse.
“This is… a type of curse mark I’ve never seen before. It seems similar to the ‘Mark of Hypnosis,’ but it’s much more complex. It might even be a composite type…”
Roa peered at the curse mark on Nephthys’s forehead with interest.
The flustered look from before was nowhere to be seen.
“Composite type?”
“Yes. High-level Curse-Seal Magic users can engrave complex curse marks that incorporate multiple effects. At that level, there’s even the possibility of original curse marks, and dispelling them isn’t easy.”
“So, there are all kinds of Curse-Seal Magic users.”
Curse-Seal Magic is a field I’m not suited for, so I can only offer commonplace observations.
If I trained without regard for the cost, I might be able to handle it well someday, but for now, it’s been put on the back burner due to priority issues.
One reason is that I myself am not easily affected by Curse-Seal Magic.
Besides, right now I’m focusing on learning the Puppet Magic that Aquila used.
“Yes. According to the few Ortenos documents, ancient races could use even higher-level Curse-Seal Magic, or even rewrite them. They could handle curses that could be called forbidden arts, such as those exchanged for death or the transfer of unknown powers.”
It’s terrifying just listening to it.
Curse-Seal Magic is definitely different from other magic.
Even my Magical Power Quantum Theory can’t explain it well, and common curses can be easily created once you learn the knack, so it’s not properly systematized.
In that respect, Roa might be seeing something I’m not.
“I see. You’ve done your research well, as expected of Roa.”
I was honestly impressed and patted Roa’s head.
“Ehehe.”
Roa has a researcher’s temperament, and he has a personality that makes him pursue things he’s interested in to the very end.
Because of the Ortenos family’s usurpation incident, most of the past documents have been lost, and he must have put in a lot of effort to investigate.
The House Ortenos has little information, so it’s no exaggeration to say that they are more ignorant and muscle-brained nobles compared to other houses.
The existence of an intelligence-focused noble like Roa is quite rare in Ortenos.
“It’s a high-level curse, but how is it, Roa? Can you do it?”
“Hmm, it seems like it’s mixed with ‘Mark of Oblivion’ and ‘Mark of Encryption’… It looks quite difficult.”
Roa scratched his cheek, looking a little troubled.
Probably, the caster who engraved the curse on Nephthys is a very skilled Curse-Seal Magic user.
I thought so when I heard the story from Barbat, but there’s no doubt that Naia is involved in some very shady things.
If we can’t get information here, it will affect the upcoming Ceasefire Talks to some extent.
(If Roa can’t do it, it can’t be helped…)
I gave up and began to consider that it might be unavoidable to destroy not only Nephthys’s hair roots but also his mind.
But there was no anxiety on Roa’s face.
“–But I think I can handle this much.”
I could feel confidence in Roa’s words.
It seemed he had found a breakthrough, and Roa kneaded his Magical Power and thrust his index finger into the curse mark on Nephthys’s forehead.
The enormous amount of Magical Power unique to Stella-Class flowed smoothly from Roa’s Magical Power gate.