Episode 587: Reason for the Curse (2)
Cravat placed his hand on the Living Armor, asking it to stay for a moment, and then unleashed magical power.
The black energy rising around him penetrated Berom’s armor and drew various magic circles on top of the armor.
How many minutes have passed like that?
The trembling armor suddenly stopped and fell down.
Berom looked at the armor scattered on the floor with a helpless gaze.
“It really happened?”
The trembling voice indirectly showed how surprised he was right now.
Berom looked down at his two healthy hands.
Hands with small scars and calluses everywhere.
It was clearly his own hand.
I’ve only seen pitch black armor for over 10 years. It was a long time before I could vaguely remember what my hands looked like, what their skin color was, and what residual scars they had.
Is that why?
Even though I was looking down at my palm like this, I couldn’t really feel that it was real.
Berom clenched and unclenched his fists.
Even the feeling of squeezing and holding it felt so real that it felt like a dream.
It felt like if I opened my eyes right now, I would see myself trapped in pitch black armor again.
“Damn it. “I’m so happy.”
Grumble.
Tears flowed down Verom’s cheeks.
Even the feel of those tears felt unfamiliar because it had been so long.
Living Armor eats up all waste from the host’s body.
No matter how sad I was, the tears never flowed.
This is because Living Armor takes away all tears.
A life in which one cannot even properly express the emotions one should have as a human being.
Can we really say that we live it?
But Berom felt alive now.
He was human.
He was not a puppet controlled by cursed armor.
Berom wiped away her tears with her hand.
For him, who only felt the pain of attacks on his armor, the feeling of tears touching his skin was very unfamiliar.
But Berom’s joy did not last long.
It was because of Ludger standing in front of him with his blue spirit flowing.
“John Doe… no, not John Doe. “Who are you?”
“That’s not what’s important right now.”
Ludger lifted Berom’s chin with the blade of his sword stick.
If you apply a little force, the sharp blade could cut your carotid artery.
Berom swallowed his saliva.
“Say it.”
Ludger, who had released his shadow, looked down at Berom.
“What are you curious about?”
“Information from Nikolai. What is he trying to do here? What are the means? Tell me in detail what you know. “You’d better not even think about lying.”
Berom swallowed his saliva and lowered his eyes.
He had no choice.
* * *
Berom told us what he knew in as much detail as possible.
Why he was on this island and what he was planning to do by joining hands with Nikolai.
“There isn’t that much detailed information.”
“…In the first place, I was just the action leader.”
What Berom wanted was freedom from Living Armor.
For that purpose, he accepted a deal with Nikolai, and in that name, he fought against warlocks in the back world of Isla Machina.
I didn’t know much because I didn’t want to hear the details.
“Even if I had asked in the first place because I was curious, Nikolai, that sneaky bastard wouldn’t have told me his true feelings.”
Berom’s words were not an excuse.
Even Ludger, who didn’t know much about Nikolai, could guess that he had such a thorough personality.
“Right.”
Berom closed his eyes tightly at Ludger’s indifferent and cold voice.
But there was no pain.
Berom slowly opened his closed eyes to see what was happening.
What he saw was Ludger’s back, retrieving the sword stick and turning his back.
“You’re not going to kill me?”
“Because there’s no need for that.”
“For whatever reason, I tried to kill you. “Torture isn’t enough, so you’re going to let me live?”
“I’d rather ask. “Why should I bother to get blood on my hands because you have no armor or anything? What kind of threat are you?”
“That…”
is sophistry. However, when Ludger, who holds the power over life and death, said so, he had no reason to argue.
When Berom fell silent, Ludger snorted.
Berom looked at Ludger’s departing back with trembling eyes and opened his mouth.
“thanks.”
Berom expressed his gratitude to Cravat and Ludger with red, tearful eyes.
Ludger left without a word, and Berom bowed his head to Cravat.
“Thank you so much.”
“Well, I just did it because I could.”
“Whatever the reason, it is true that I have received grace.”
Berom spoke respectfully to Cravat.
It was Ludger who saved his life, but in the end it was Cravat who lifted this damn curse.
You have received a favor that you cannot repay even if you sacrifice your whole life.
“Well, it’s just me, I only heard about Living Armor in old books, so I thought it was fascinating. So what do you do now?”
“yes? “What are you going to do?”
“Looking at you, you don’t have any armor, so you seem like you have no power right now.”
“….”
Cravat was right.
Berom’s rise to the position of First Order was purely thanks to the power given by the cursed artifact Living Armor.
Now, without armor, Berom is nothing more than a middle-aged treasure hunter.
Treasure Hunter.
It was like that. Before Beom became part of the First Order, before he was consumed by this cursed armor.
He was a treasure hunter who traveled around the world looking for valuable items.
Although it was a world where magic and science had developed, there were still many places shrouded in mystery throughout this continent.
An ancient ruin whose construction date and reason are unknown.
A forest that has been engulfed by a mysterious power and has become another world.
An unknown land that humanity has not yet explored.
There, the treasure hunter saw what others could not see and discovered what others could not find.
Berom was like that too.
Even among treasure hunters, he is middle-of-the-road.
But then an opportunity came to him. An ancient ruin was discovered, and the team he led was the first to discover it.
There were even relics at the ruins.
Usually, relics crumble and disappear over time, but I could say I was really lucky.
-it’s okay! We are rich now!
-Life unfolds! That’s it!
-You guys have worked hard! Go and have fun with your wife and children!
How happy the team members who were like friends were embracing each other.
The Living Armor stored in a coffin-like place was quite ominous, but if you could sell it, you could have made a lot of money.
But an accident happened.
The moment you touch the relic to take it, the engine mechanism inside the relic is activated.
It was a complacent decision to think everything else would be fine since everything was broken.
Normally I wouldn’t have done it, but I overlooked something important because I found the relic right in front of me.
– Holy shit!
-Everyone jump!
The machinery moved and the ruins shook.
The ceiling, from which dust was falling, collapsed, and my comrades who were running away were crushed to death one by one.
When Berom saw his friends and colleagues who were laughing and talking with each other disappear along with red blood stains, everything became empty.
Was it fate that Living Armor came into Berom’s field of vision at a time when he thought it was all over?
[Come here. Come on.]
I felt like I heard that voice while I was unconscious.
Berom mustered his last strength and jumped towards the artifact instead of my exit.
The Living Armor opened wide as if it had been waiting, swallowing Berom and encroaching on his body.
Immediately afterwards, the remains of the ceiling fell down and the ruins completely collapsed.
After a while.
The center of the lungfish is full of cloudy smoke and collapsed debris.
A red pillar rose up and a black knight broke through the rubble and looked around.
All you can see is a night sky full of stars.
Everything else was gone.
Ruins, baggage, and colleagues.
All that is left to him is an ancient artifact that he unintentionally ended up wearing.
“I… From that day on…”
Berom’s path ahead of taking possession of the relic was not smooth.
I tried to report this situation to the Treasure Hunter Guild, but they branded it as Berom’s fault and withdrew him from the guild.
As if that wasn’t enough, they placed a bounty on his head.
The reason is simple.
This is because I coveted the Living Armor worn by Berom.
Berom had forgotten.
Although the treasure hunter group only claims to be a guild in words, they are actually robbers trying to seize the treasure in Muju Gongsan Mountain.
He was expelled as a treasure hunter, placed on a wanted list, and covered in all his sins and filth.
Berom had to run away for his life.
It wasn’t difficult.
Because he had the ancient relic Living Armor.
Living Armor taught Berom, who had only ever fought while drunk at a bar, about footwork and swordsmanship in a life-or-death fight.
And even enormous power to back it up.
At first, the thought of not killing him went out like a faint candle in his exhausted mind and body.
When the pursuer comes, we fight and fight again.
How much blood was spilled?
The more the Living Armor killed its enemies, the stronger it became by drinking their blood and the more powerful it was.
In that way, the number of people chasing Berom did not increase any more.
The reason was that the Treasure Hunter Guild that was supposed to pay the bounty went bankrupt and Berom also disappeared, making his fate and fate unclear.
Berom hid his identity and moved wearing armor that he could not take off.
Why on earth do you do this?
Is there any reason to live like this, even killing someone?
okay.
there was.
He had only one goal.
The place Berom headed to was where the families of his dead colleagues lived.
At the same time, it was also Berom’s hometown.
A place where we played together holding wooden sticks since we were children.
A place where I dreamed of becoming a treasure hunter with my neighborhood friends.
He made a habit of boasting that he would find all the wonderful treasures in the world and that he would become rich and make a living by making a living.
Those immature bastards got married and had children and learned about responsibility.
Even if my dreams and passion die, I have lived with the goal of being happy with my family.
-Clueless bastards. Why did you abandon me and leave first?
What was coming out of the armor was not his normal speaking style, but a speech tone that had been corrected due to the curse.
Berom gazed at the distant village in the darkness.
Even though the husband died, the wife and children were living hard.
How many times did I look at that scene through the gaps in my armor?
The last thing Berom looked at was a woman who came outside to hang her laundry.
It was his wife, carrying a baby on her back.
It seemed that his wife, who was pregnant while he was away, gave birth successfully.
-I promised to come back.
They decided to sell the relics, make money, and return before the child was born.
I decided to make him happy.
-But I couldn’t do anything.
I couldn’t imagine how difficult and lonely his wife must have been while he was away.
What was even more painful was that I did not have the courage to face my wife.
Berom smoothed his face with his hand.
Kagagak.
The armor and helmet on my hands touched each other, making the sound of metal meeting together.
There was no feeling of touch on the skin.
Even if he tried to take off his helmet or armor, the Living Armor would not fall off from him like glue that stuck to his body.
-Why?
Feeling short of breath and suffocated.
Although he lived thanks to the Living Armor, Berom did not feel grateful for it.
-Why did you choose me?
Berom was able to realize this the moment he put on the Living Armor.
That he didn’t choose this, but that this guy chose him.
If I had just left him there to die, I wouldn’t have suffered so much.
-Aaaah! why!
Berom hit the floor hard with both hands.
Wow.
There were cracks like spiderwebs on the ground.
I hit my hand hard, but what actually broke was the solid ground.
The shock was all absorbed by the armor, so I couldn’t even feel the pain.
-why! why!
Even though I cried like crazy, it was no use. Even if I tried to shed tears, Living Armor wouldn’t even allow me to.
This is punishment.
He is being punished now.
Punishment for abandoning his friends, surviving alone, failing to keep his promise to his wife, and having countless blood on his hands.
Despair, frustration, and crying.
After panting from exhaustion, Berom made one promise.
-I will definitely escape this curse.
So please wait until then.
All Berom could do was to secretly leave a letter at his wife’s house, hoping so.
After that, Berom became a wandering black knight and joined the Black Dawn.
That’s the path he took.
“That too is over now. I am going back to my hometown. “I did this to lift the curse, but now that it’s over, I have no regrets.”
“okay? “What about that armor?”
“You mean that? I’m sick of that fucking armor! “I’ve been trapped in that thing for over 10 years!”
Berom, still angry, huffed and glared at Living Armor.
The Living Armor seemed to want a host, wriggling red threads like a haze through the gaps in the armor.
Berom felt sick as it seemed to be desperately reaching out to him.
“I will return to my hometown and see my wife and children. And we will eat delicious food and drink a lot of alcohol.”
“So you’re going to leave that behind? “I think he needs you.”
“You probably need a host. “I can’t do anything alone.”
“no. “It’s different from that.”
“What do you mean it’s different?”
“Originally, Living Armor is an item that operates by using the wearer’s life energy. No matter how healthy and strong a person is, he or she will dry out like a mummy and die within a week. But you’ve been living with it for over 10 years. Do you know what that means?”
“…Are you saying that it protected me?”
Cravat smiled and shrugged.
“If you just look at the situation. Even though it is different from ordinary living armor, this is the first time that a host that has coexisted for over 10 years is this healthy.”
“…But at any rate, he’s a disgusting guy who’s trying to keep me locked up. “I don’t even want to see it.”
“As a witch doctor, I can tell. At least that Living Armor has no intention of harming you. Rather, just as a baby bird considers the first person it sees to be its mother, so does he. “It’s just that I was young and didn’t know anything.”
“….”
“Actually, you knew it too, right? “I just didn’t want to admit it.”
“….”
Berom closed his mouth at Cravat’s words.
“There’s nothing we can do about the past years. “I feel sorry for the pain you’ve suffered so far. But…what’s important is what happens in the future, right?”
