112. the way they walked (6)

“So, who the hell is she? Senior’s fiancée?”

Maxim pushed Christine away, her eyes glowing tenaciously. In this situation, I never thought to mention Marion. Maxim tried to ignore the pain in his temples.

“… no.”

“Well, who are you? Senior, did you make some kind of concubine while I was asleep? Am I going to run to my senior fiancee and tell her everything?”

“No, what kind of concubine is a concubine? Do you have to do it even if you have to say it?”

Christine narrowly opened her eyes as Maxim bet on him, glancing at him.

“Yeah, that was exactly how the senior treated me. It wouldn’t be strange to have a concubine anywhere.”

“If anyone sees you, you’ll think that even someone who went into a house as a concubine knows it well.”

“Unlike my seniors, I like to read books. Is it a love story? So, senior. You’re not going to tell me who that person is until the end?”

Then, Christine looked down coldly at Maxim. The sight of himself lying in the hospital bed was so lamentable. Maxim sighed slightly as he looked at Christine’s face, who continued to question her.

“The Knight of Beninga.”

When Christine heard Maxim’s answer, she looked dumbfounded and tilted her head. It was the characteristic puzzled look of someone who wondered if he had heard it wrong.

“… What the hell happened that made you protect a person from that family from the escort knights?”

“There was a situation. A little bit difficult.”

Maxim sighed and looked at Christine. Christine erased the mischief from her expression and adjusted her posture to listen straight. Of course, the dissatisfaction in that expression did not disappear. Maxim chose his words, retracing his memory as to where to begin.

“You know that the royal family and Count Benning joined hands to investigate corruption in the Mage Tower, right?”

“Yeah. I even know that you came to rescue me after talking with Your Majesty separately.”

“It was an article from Benning who was mobilized for that investigation. Somehow, we ended up being in the same group and doing things together.”

Christine’s mouth was itching to say something, but she crossed her arms and nodded, as if deciding to stay still until Maxim’s story was over.

“… I was cursed.”

Christine’s expression turned pale when she heard the word curse. The curse formed another curse with its very existence, entangling them.

“Please continue.”

“With the curse and brainwashing of the Count, the knight became a slave who faithfully followed Count Benning’s orders. With the ego and memory fading.”

“Are you still in that state?”

Maxim told the whole story after that. How Adeline was tormented by the remnants of the black magic, how she had doubts about the Count’s words, but still tried to follow his orders.

“… So, right now, the escort knights are protecting him separately.”

After Maxim’s story, Christine closed her mouth and thought for a while, as if trying to chew on the words in silence. Maxim recalled the last time he saw Adelin.

“I need to go see him once.”

That was what Christine said as she cleared her thoughts and opened her eyes. Maxim looked at Christine with concerned eyes.

“Don’t overdo it. It’s nothing to do with you… .”

“Still, I think that if you are a senior, someday you will ask me for something like this. The guilt I feel in the first place is not at the level of rationalizing that if it is not related to me, I can pass it on.”

Christine straightened her expression and gave her answer. Seeing that determined look on his face, Maxim sighed, not knowing whether to be happy or worried.

“… Tomorrow, maybe tomorrow, I’ll be able to go out for a bit. Then let’s go see Adeline for a while then.”

“Yeah.”

A breeze blew through the cracks in the slightly open windows. Maxim looked at Christine, who seemed lost in thought again. How much time had passed, Christine called Maxim, who was watching the clouds passing by the window.

“By the way, senior.”

“yes?”

“… Isn’t that person calling you by his first name in a friendly way?”

Christine asked in a tone that didn’t know if it was a joke or serious. Maxim rubbed his head, thinking to himself that he should really keep his mouth shut from now on.

—

Contrary to common people’s perception, the element necessary for a curse is never the same as resentment. Just, if you have the target to curse, the caster, and the appropriate curse method, the curse will find and destroy the target regardless. Yes, even if it is not a deep resentment, if the conditions are met, a curse can be applied.

Therefore, the curse was forbidden as soon as it appeared above the surface of the water. Not only in the kingdom, but also in other countries, they gathered their strength to incinerate the curse law that had spread all over the world, and caught the witch doctor and those who requested the curse and executed them very brutally as an example. They peeled off their skin alive, or something. The skin of the offenders was hung on a perch in the widest square of the royal capital until it completely turned to leather and dried up.

Still, the obsession with the curse continued. Even after the curse was banned by law, there were so many people who needed it. For example, someone like Count Leon Benning, who has a black shadow inside.

“Don’t overdo it, and always use crutches. If you don’t manage your wounds properly, the hospitalization period could be a week or two longer.”

The doctor gave advice and finished changing the bandage. The doctor left the hospital room, and Maxim touched the scar on his chest that was now really just a scar. It was very awkward to feel the sensation of the fingertips.

smart,

Maxim raised his head as he adjusted his clothes at the sound of a knock on the hospital room door. Christine’s consistent voice follows a knock on the door.

“senior? may I come in?”

“come in.”

Christine was wearing a hood over the same uniform as yesterday. Maxim could see a wheelchair in the hallway outside the hospital room. I hope it wasn’t dragged. Christine must have noticed Maxim’s gaze and nodded as she pointed to the wheelchair outside. Maxim’s expression immediately rotted away.

“Can I give you a ride?”

“Never ride.”

Maxim stood up on crutches. The affected area tingled right away, and Maxim twitched the corner of his mouth. Christine looked at Maxim with worried eyes as he stood up from his seat pretending to be fine.

“senior… , After all, riding over there… .”

“no. Let’s just go quickly.”

As Maxim stepped out into the hallway, he was greeted by a soldier from the 1st Guards. The knight took the lead, maintaining a calm expression even when he saw Maxim and Christine arguing.

“I will guide you, Lord Arsene.”

A carriage was waiting outside the hospital. The carriage rumbled and started toward its destination. Maxim doubted that the direction the carriage was heading was not towards the palace.

“Aren’t you in the palace?”

The soldier nodded calmly.

“Yes. No matter how much the Lord asked His Majesty, he is not a person who can be judged completely safe. It could not be placed in an important place in the palace. And, it would have been much better to leave it outside the palace to avoid Benning’s eyes.”

I guess so. Maxim nodded, hiding his uncomfortable feeling. The carriage was running to a location close to the edge of the royal road. The carriage stopped in front of a familiar building.

“Guild?”

Another group that had been forgotten for a while and joined hands with the king. Maxim glanced at the carriage and frowned at the adventurers passing by. At that moment, I saw a familiar face pacing outside, panting toward the carriage. He was the branch manager of the guild. The adventurers looked at the back of the branch manager and started to giggle, wondering if it was unfamiliar to see the branch manager running around.

“Come this way.”

The branch manager guided Maxim and Christine through the back door of the guild, unnoticed by the adventurers of the guild. The soldier who brought the wagon said he would wait there and stayed in the wagon. On the 3rd floor of the guild, the branch manager, who was out of breath after barely climbing the stairs, pointed to one of the rooms lined up on the 3rd floor. Maxime faintly frowned.

“by the way… It’s been a while, I hear things in the east have been worked out. I would appreciate it if you could convey the words of congratulations to His Majesty.”

The branch manager greeted Maxim, recalling what happened at the time. After continued contact with the royal family, the guild completely sided with the king. Now, the branch manager, who had a good knowledge of the royal family’s internal circumstances, was looking at Maxim with nervous eyes.

“Yeah. long time no see. How is Mr. Pierre?”

“Yes. Even now, you’re probably busy with a mission. Occasionally I used to talk about respect… I’m on a mission right now when the Lord came.”

Christine, who was watching him from the side, cautiously asked a question.

“East? Senpai, you seem to have been wandering around quite a bit.”

Maxim shrugged.

“I’ll tell you everything later. This is a bit of a long story.”

The branch manager smiled and waved his hand.

“It wasn’t just about walking around. It’s not rumored, but Lord Arsene has been doing some pretty big things in the east. In Murat’s county of Argon… .”

Maxim smiled awkwardly as if he was uncomfortable with the branch manager’s words.

“… First of all, may I go to your room?”

This is not the time. The branch head shook his head and went to the main point.

“The knight is staying in that room. At first, I heard that it was Benning’s article, so you don’t know how nervous I was.”

“How have you been?”

“No trouble happened. He was surprisingly quiet. Life would be inconvenient because I couldn’t see, but I didn’t show any sign of it.”

The branch manager stopped at the door.

“Then, I will go. I would appreciate it if you would send me a message when you leave.”

The branch manager left his words and walked down the hallway and disappeared down the stairs.

Maxim stood by the door and hesitantly stretched out his hand. Christine looked at Maxim disapprovingly, grabbed Maxim’s wrist, and quickly knocked on the door. Maxim looked at Christine in bewilderment, but Christine just shrugged her shoulders with an innocent look that said she hadn’t done anything.

“Yeah-.”

The one who opened the door and faced Maxim was not Adeline, but Charlotte of the Escort Knights. When Maxim unexpectedly came face to face with his senior, he hesitated and blinked.

“Seniors? why here… .”

“I’m watching. And, that’s what I’m going to say, you’re lying quietly in the hospital room when your body is like that. Why did you crawl all the way here? Just looking at it, there’s not a single spot that’s healthy.”

Charlotte frowned and looked at Maxim. Then, facing Christine standing behind Maxim, she raised her eyebrows.

“Ah, the newcomer came too. come in first First of all, Arsene, does the knight you captured have something to do with it?”

Maxim shook his head. Charlotte opened the room to reveal the inside. The room was not small. It might have been a remodeled warehouse, but it smelled a little dusty, but it wasn’t uncomfortable to live in. There was a bed by the window of the room, and the person I was looking for was sitting on it.

Adeline. Contrary to the usual armor or light armor, he was wearing plain white clothes. The neatly arranged hair the color of the dawn sky and the black cloth covering the eyes remained the same. Adeline’s head, which had been sitting for a while, turned to Maxim’s side, as if recognizing Maxim.

“They told me not to interrogate and just watch, but it’s so awkward that I have to be able to endure it. I’m going to take a walk outside for a while, so let’s talk.”

Charlotte ran out of the room like that. As the door closed behind Maxim’s back, Adeline cautiously opened her mouth.

“Arsene?”

A voice like that of a lost puppy when it sees its owner again. When Christine heard the voice, she put on another disapproving look.

“How have you been?”

“… I’m really glad you’re okay.”

Adeline noticed the abnormality in her voice and returned to her usual emotionless voice. Then he tilted his head and asked if he had noticed Christine standing next to Maxim.

“The person next to you… .”

“This is Christine Watson. I am a wizard who has succeeded senior ‘Arsene’.”

For some reason, Christine, who spoke with strength in the three letters ‘Arsene’, introduced herself to Adeline. Adeline accepted her greeting with a slightly withered voice.

“My name is Adeline. Last name… I forgot.”

At Adeline’s greeting, Christine let out a deep sigh. A person who is cursed. Christine looked at Maxim, who was about to become no different from her.

“Sir, let’s talk first. I think we can look into it later.”

Christine pulled a chair away from Adeline’s bed and sat down, as if not listening to Adeline and Maxime’s conversation. Maxim looked back at Christine and put on an apologetic expression, but Christine only pushed Maxim on the back.

“Just go and talk. I’ll get it all later.”

Christine then turned her back. Maxim smiled bitterly, patted her on the head, and approached Adeline. The sound of Christine lowering her face came from behind. Adeline pointed to the chair next to the bed. Maxim sat down facing Adeline.

“Was there anything inconvenient?”

Asked by Maxim, Adeline quickly shook her head.

“I am a prisoner. It’s not something you would ask about.”

“Are you still thinking of flirting with me?”

Adeline opened her mouth and shook her head, unable to say anything.

“… There was nothing inconvenient about it. It was uncomfortable if you were uncomfortable with being so kind to the enemy knight that you wondered if you were being too considerate.”

“That’s fortunate.”

Adeline sighed. His head turned to Christine, who was sitting behind Maxim’s back.

“Was that the colleague you were supposed to save?”

“… Yeah.”

Maxim smiled faintly.

“He was a precious colleague to be saved no matter what.”

“… is that so.”

At Maxim’s confident words, Adeline gave a somewhat lonely smile.

“The first time you recklessly said you would save me, all I could think of was that you were really crazy.”

“If you saved it, that proves you’re not crazy.”

When Maxim answered, Adeline gave a low laugh. On top of Maxim’s hand, Adeline’s hand was placed. Maxim shook his shoulders for a moment, but silently gave his hand to Adeline, who seemed to speak by leaning on the sensation of his hand.

“It has faded now, but it is unknown when the Count’s orders and this curse will be revived.”

Adeline placed her other hand on her chest. Maxim was looking at the smile that appeared on Adelin’s lips. To say it was a smile, that expression was too sorrowful and sorrowful.

“Arsene, what do you plan to do with my curse—this cursed knight who may aim for your neck at any moment?”

Before Maxim could answer that question, he heard a long sigh mixed with half annoyance and half apologetic. As I turned my head to the direction where the sound came from, Christine crossed her arms and approached Adeline and Maxime before I knew it.

“It’s not what the senior does, what I’m going to do.”

So, could you please take that hand off first?

Christine looked at Adeline and said disgruntledly.