abcnovels
Chapter 50: The Right Way to Untie a Curse
Chapter 50: The Right Way to Untie a Curse
Chapter 50: The Right Way to Untie a Curse
“I’m scared. I don’t know why, but when I was with the Master’s friends, I kept hearing a voice inside of me. It told me… that this was the darkness and that I shouldn’t go near it.”
Shivering, Rafilia informed me.
That’s when I understood the curse of [Bad Luck LV3] and the true nature of the black chain.
It’s a system designed to frighten Rafilia into a… state of unhappiness.
This [Bad Luck LV3] has a triple curse on it.
For one thing, it’s invisible.
Second, it’s a locked skill, which means I can’t take it out.
The third is this black chain that is entangled in the letters of the skill.
“Rafilia, try to remember when you were talking to Cecil and the others about the poem.”
“Yes, yes. Well…
A dark hero with black eyes.
He reaches out his hand, which is filled with darkness, and sends a demon into the slave’s chest.
The girl’s modest chest trembles, and an inescapable chain surrrounds her neck.
The silver hair trembling with pleasure…” Here, Cecil clapped her hands, and was feeling very happy…
With a snap, the black chain moved.
I know because I’m connected by [Skill Reconstruction LV3].
I could see the black magic flowing out of the black chains.
At the same time, Rafilia’s eyes widened.
Her thin body began to tremble as if she is frightened.
I felt it too. I heard a strange voice, though it was faint.
“Don’t expect anything, you’ve never lost anything, you’ve never gained anything, you’re just going with the flow.”
A dark voice, as if echoing from the depths of darkness.
So I asked Rafilia.
“Could it be that Rafilia gets scared when she is happy or joyful?
“…Eh!?”
Rafilia’s face turned pale.
“…What, what? No…way…, no way, no way, no way.
Her mouth is still open. She seems to have had an idea about it.
I had a hunch.
When Rafilia feels that she is having fun and wants to be free, black magic flows out from [Bad Luck LV3]. This causes Rafilia to feel that it is “dark” and “scary” inside her.
It was as if this chain itself had a will of its own and was mentally attacking Rafilia.
It is also dark to have your skills adjusted in order to be free. Eating a meal together is also dark. Being free is also dark. This is what Rafilia is afraid of.
So maybe ‘darkness’ is really what Rafilia wants and what she wants to do.
If so, then the key to unlocking the curse must be there.
“I command my slave, Rafilia Grace.”
I said.
“Embrace the darkness.”
“Huh?”
“Look into the darkness. Tell me what’s in it. What you feel. What you see. Put it all into words. Tell me what you are afraid of.”
“Uh, uh, uh…huh?
Rafilia’s body shuddered.
It was because I had poured a lot of my magic power from my fingertips into it.
“No, no…, no, no, no, no, no.”
“I don’t think it’s as scary as it was before, but what do you think?”
“…Yes, yes. That..”
Rafilia nodded, still looking a little pale.
“Yes, yes. It’s not as scary as before. But… why?
“I told you, didn’t I? I have a skill that can interfere with other skills.”
For now, I’m covering the black chain with my palm and pouring my magic power into it to contain the black chains. Of course, that magic power is also flowing into the [Bad Luck LV3] skill.
I’ll take care of the fear.
I’ve heard that whenever I ‘rebuild’ someone’s skills, they feel fluffy, tingly, and itchy. I’ll let Rafilia focus on those sensations.
“Rafilia’s skills were bugged, and a virus… something bad was attached to her. I’m going to kill it now.”
Maybe I can.
I just have to make the ‘concept’ of the skill loose enough that I can move it even with chains wrapped around it.
“So, Rafilia, see what’s in the dark. Tell me what’s scary.”
“…Huh. Huh. Yes, Master.”
Rafilia looked a bit dazed, but answered clearly.
“Rafilia Grace, face the ……darkness. Go beyond it, and awaken… ah!
I wrapped [Bad Luck LV3] in the palm of my hand and poured more and more magic power into it.
I will make it stronger.
To drown out the black magic that the black chains spit out.
I’ll paint over my poisonous fears with “fluffy,” “tingling,” and “jinjin.
“…NO. It’s too hard. I’m scared. I’m scared of the darkness.”
Rafilia struggled to wriggle free, her shoulders shaking.
Her large breasts swayed as she moved, and their hardened parts touched my palms.
“I can feel it. I’m …scared. Mastaa… No!
“I can’t tell what is in the dark, Rafilia.”
Is that black magic still flowing out?
Rafilia is puckering her fingers impatiently. She is holding the hem of her nightgown – which is about to come undone – at the base of her legs and wriggling her knees.
“I can’t do this, …I can’t do this, I can’t be …happy, I can’t be happy, I am sorry.”
Rafilia opens and closes her mouth like a goldfish.
“Tell me. What are you afraid of?
“I, I, I…”
I heard a snapping sound in my hand.
A crack appeared in the black chain that bound [Bad Luck LV3].
“I…I am afraid of being hugged by…Mastaa. I love you, so I’m …afraid of being touched…. You’re warm and gentle, and… I love that. It’s scary because I love it. I’m afraid of losing it.”
Rafilia declared, opening her hazy eyes.
“I can hear it. Inside me.
It will be gone anyway. It will be gone. It’s just too painful to lose it.
It said that I have always been like this.
I’ll lose it because of the darkness.
I don’t want the darkness. It’s only painful. That’s why it’s scary. It’s scary. But I like it.
I want Mastaa to touch me. I love it. I like to hear your voice. I like the people around Masutaa.
But I’m scared. I’m afraid of losing it. That’s why it’s dark. Everyone is dark. But…
I like having Masutaa’s hand on my chest, it’s warm. I like having my fingers rubbed. I love it when you give me a squeeze. I love it. I am…scared to lose Masutaa.”
With tears spilling from her purple eyes…
Rafilia continued to speak as if something she had been holding back had been released.
“I’m… scared of you, Cecil, Rita, Aine and Leticia. I’m scared to be friends with you. I’m scared that I might make you and people around you unhappy,but… I like them. Because… they are Mastaa’s friends.”
I see.
Rafilia has always been alone.
She will make the people she loves unhappy, and they will eventually leave her.So, it’s painful for her.
She has no memories, no friends, nothing. All she have are failures, and she can’t get anything.
So she was afraid of getting something. She was afraid of getting hurt.
She asked me to sign a ‘Master-Slave Contract’, but in the end, it was because she was cornered so much that she couldn’t help it – and the truth is, she was scared.
But for Rafilia, it was what she wanted most.
That was the true nature of the ‘darkness’ in Rafilia.
That’s why I was never able to touch it, so this is her ‘darkness’.
“It’s fine. It’s fine.”
I said.
“I’m not going to let you go for now. I don’t like danger and I don’t like being tired. I’m sure everyone else does, too.”
Now that I have a house, all I want to do is relax and study my skills.
“For now, I’m not going to let you die or go away.”
“But… but I’m not like other people…”
Rafilia looked at me, crying.
“I don’t have much of my memory and my skills are limited to baking bread. And I’m a weird person. I like being touched by Master. I was happy when you put the collar on me.”
“I don’t care.”
It’s a different world, there’s all kinds of people, right?
“Besides, I’m pretty weird myself.”
“Do you mind if I stay with you? Will you accept me as I am?”
“I won’t use the ring’s compulsion, though.”
So it’s a request to be precise.
“I like it. I like that kind of thing. I like it because I makes me feel like I’m needed. I like wearing a collar because it makes me feel connected to Mastaa. I like it when Masutaa touches me. I love it, I love it, I love it.”
Pakin
The black chain that had bound the [Bad Luck LV3] was breaking away.
The curse is about to be lifted.
Was it because it was no longer able to control Rafilia through fear?
The ‘concept’ of the skill began to loosen up. I can move it. I’m almost there.
“My slave, Rafilia Grace. What do you want?”
“…More, please.”
Rafilia grabbed my hand.
See pressed it against her own chest, which was getting hotter.
“Because it makes me happy to be Mastaa’s. …Because I’m thrilled. …Because it makes me squeal. Please make it impossible for me to live without you!”
The moment Rafilia shouted…
The black chain that had been entangled in the skill shattered and fell away.
Okay, now…
I shook the two concepts of [Bad Luck LV3]together.
Rafilia exhaled and clutched her nightgown.
“Master’s finger is touching my deepest part. It makes me shudder. It’s like I’m being touched even though I’m not. My stomach is burning. My tummy is burning. I love it. I love it. I love being connected to Masutaa.”
Rafilia kneels down on the ground, as if she can no longer stand. Her thin body sagged and laid down on the grass. Her nightgown was completely untied, and her white skin stood out in the night.
Rafilia is looking at me with downcast eyes. She is sucking her fingers impatiently and letting her body do what it wants.
“…I figured it out.”
“Really?”
“I knew that I wanted to be like this when I met …Masuta in the bathroom, …so I was scared. I felt like I couldn’t go back if it happened.”
Rafilia nodded her head.
“I thought I might be bringing bad luck to everyone around me. So I thought I should be the sacrifice but I somehow always survived. I don’t know why?”
Tears spilled from Rafilia’s eyes.
“It’s not Rafilia’s fault, you know.”
I ran my fingertips over the words [Bad luck LV3], “surrounding” and “attract”.
“… Hiya, hiya. No, no, no. It’s like Mastaa’s fingers are touching every inch of me. I’m not sure what to do. It’s so hot,… I can’t… go back now.”
Each time I touched the characters, Rafilia’s white body bounced.
This skill is probably a curse that someone put on Rafilia.
Same as Rita’s lock skill.
Someone tried to get Rafilia to do something without her knowledge.
I thought that the ‘skill that intereferes with fate skill’ could be a material for the ‘living without working skill’.
The concept of “attraction” may be able to pull in money.
But no. It’s too dangerous. I don’t have time to look for or buy money-related skills.
You never know what will happen in the meantime.
“Bad luck lvl 3” is the worst curse skill.
I’ll rewrite it all at once while Rafilia accepts me.
I stroked the concept of “bath aid” that I had installed in myself – “clean” and “wash away”.
I slapped it against the [Bad luck].
“Oh My God…”
I’m going to push it in harder. Before the black chain is revived.
“No, no. No, no, no… no, no, no, no, no, no!”
Reflexively, Rafilia cowered and tried to escape.
Hir body hit the tree and stoped. She has no escape.
Rafilia raised her eyebrows and closed her eyes, accepting it as it came to accept it, as if she were prepared for it.
She got down on both knees, puts her hands behind her back, and mumbles to herself.
“I’m not sure what to do, but I’m going to do it. It’s soft. He’s poking and prodding me. I’m happy… scared… no… I like it… no… I want it… wait… immediately… no… I like it.”
The [Bad Luck LV3] stopped resisting.
I lightly touched the “clean” and “wash away” that I pressed against my loosened skills.
With that, Rafilia’s skills quickly swallowed the concept.
Rafilia’s body warped as if it was about to break.
Her large breasts swayed and twitched.
The other lock skill, “Survivor LV5,” remains intact.
It’s not chained. It’s not cursed. It’s harmless and can be left alone.
The only thing I’m going to do is tear apart and destroy [Bad Luck].
I will destroy it completely until there’s nothing left of it.
“Get rid of that cursed skill! Execute [Skill Reconstruction LV3?!
“??????????!”
Rafilia’s body jumped.
At the same time, a black chain popped out of the “Ability Reconstruction” window.
It changed it’s shape in the air and took the form of a small black person.
What is that?
“Confirmed failure of fate manipulation experiment.
The small black shadow murmured.
“The experiment. Rafilia Grace. Pillar of humanity. ‘Control of fortune by concentrating misfortune’, a place to dump misfortune in order to make other places
peaceful. Or to be sent to the Demon King’s army. Experiment failure confirmed. Confirmed failure. Skill extinction confirmed… End.”
“Reggie!”
I grabbed my magic sword, Reggie, which I had left on the ground.
One swing. If they don’t move, I don’t miss.
The black shadow disappeared in two pieces.
“So this is what the curse on Rafilia’s skills really is.
“You’re right, it must have possessed him.”
Reggie replied, still in his sword form.
“I’ve seen the whole thing. It seems that she became an experimental subject for the’skill that intereferes with fate’.It built into her, probably to control good and bad luck by concentrating misfortune on a ‘Pillar of Humanity’ – in order to keep the rest of the world at peace.”
“For example, in a village, only the area around Rafilia is unhappy, but the rest of the village is happy?”
I’m sure it is like this.
“Or send Rafilia to the Demon Lord’s army to spread misfortune among the demons.”
“The wisdom of the elves can do that much?”
I wonder what it is it that makes someone scared of being happy and joyful?
“Isn’t this to get her used to misery? If you don’t have any hope in the first place, you won’t despair.”
“That sucks.”
“I agree.”
That would mean that Rafilia was a victim of such an experiment.
The fact that Rafilia washed up in the port town means that she was either abandoned like Elder Slime, or was in the middle of an ongoing experiment that …I can’t confirm it. Either way, she’s being treated like a tool, isn’t she?
Even if it’s for the sake of fighting the Demon Lord, it sucks.
It’s even worse than visitors who are summoned from another world and made to be disposable.
“Unacceptable! This is outrageous!”
The magic sword Reggie trembled as if it was indignantly lashing out from the bottom of its heart.
“How dare they put such a beautiful girl through so much misery!? It is common sense that such a girl should be loved and loved and loved! Her tears must be from love and pleasure! How dare they implant a skill that causes misfortune and make her shed tears of sorrow! They should be ashamed of themselves!”
“I agree with you about the first and last lines. Reggie.”
Rafilia was lying on the ground, breathing heavily.
Her nightgown barely covers her stomach and below, and it’s all soggy from sweat.
Every time she makes a small gesture, the collar’s clasp clicks, and Rafilia smiles happily each time.
Rafilia’s happiness is… to be dominated, isn’t it?
I wonder what will happen to that.
Anyway, the skill rewrite was a success. The [Bad Luck LV3] is gone.
There are two new skills that have been created.
[Bad Luck Annihilation LV1] (Lock Skill: Unremovable Property, UR Ultra Rare)
The skill to “wash away” misfortune.
Touching yourself or others with your hands washes away their misfortune (brings in good luck).
The activation time is a few minutes. During this time, the parameters of the ‘luck’ will increase rapidly.
As a result, your attack, defense, and magic resistance will be reduced to zero for ten minutes after the effect of the skill ends.
Limited number of uses. It takes a few days to recharge after use.
This is Rafilia’s rewritten skill.
[Slave Summoning LV1] (UR)
The skill of “attracting” the body to the surroundings.
A slave of your choice can be summoned to the master.
The summoned slave knows the exact coordinates of the master and will come to the master ‘no matter the situation’. Therefore, be careful on how to use them.
In addition, the summoned slave cannot leave the master’s side for a while.
Use: Once a day.
This is my new skill.
[Annihilate Bad Luck] is a high-risk, high-reward skill that increases your luck.
Considering the risk of having zero defense or resistance, I’m going to have an unbelievable amount of luck.
I don’t think I’ll have a chance to use [Slave Summoning]. Cecil, Rita, and Aine are all always with me. I think I can use it to summon the magic sword Reggie, though.
“I’ve been caught in the darkness.”
Rafilia murmured absentmindedly.
“Yes. But you can cancel the contract right away.”
I used my own nightgown to cover Rafilia’s body.
As I said at the beginning, Rafilia is a slave for 200 Arusha. So, she’ll only be a slave for a month or two at most.
Once she is free, she’ll be able to find a new ‘Rafilia Grace’.
You see, there are people who quit their jobs and wonder why they ever did that in the first place.
With this in mind, I picked up the parchment that had fallen to the ground.
The price for Rafilia’s “skill search” that was written there…
11200 Arsha
“Huh?”
I looked at the back of the parchment.
When I looked closely, I saw that the ink was smudged on the numbers.
I placed it at the base of the tree, so the dew fell and the ink flowed. As if it had been measured, it created the number 11. I rubbed it with my finger, but it didn’t disappear. Is it possible that this is an official contract from the ‘Contract’ ceremony, and that the god effect is in effect?
“I suppose the ‘God of Contracts’ must have recognized it as a certificate of the ‘Contract’.
“It’s not a coincidence, is it, Reggie? I’m not sure if this is the effect of Rafilia’s [Bad Luck]?”
“Probably.”
The humanoid Reggie, who had appeared with a pop, nodded.
“It was dark for her to be a slave until she realized her true nature. It was also unfortunate for the Lord to continue to dominate her. So here we are.”
I knew it was right to rewrite that skill as quickly as possible.
This was in a short period of time, from the time Rafilia wrote down the amount to the time we ‘signed the contract’.
I don’t know…what would have happened if I had just left it alone.
“I wonder if I can use [Bad Luck Annihilation Level 1] to erase this.”
“Impossible.”
“Because it’s a God-level contract?”
“Yes.”
“So, now what””
“It’s not like she’s unhappy being your slave.”
“I don’t have a choice now, do I?”
Well, we can’t talk about it right now even if we’re worried about it.
I picked up Rafilia’s body, wrapped in nightgown.
When I shook her lightly, Rafilia woke up and noticed her outfit…
“Ha, ha. You can’t do that! Not in front of Mastaaa!
She was flabbergasted, her face bright red.
I explained to Rafilia about my skills, and told her about the contract price.
Rafilia was surprised, but she could see her skills on her own now.
And then it happened, the third time she got on her knees.
“I can’t thank you enough for changing my fate.”
Rafilia decided to get down on her knees in such a spectacular way that I wanted to put “Elf Dogeza” in the dictionary.
“I, Rafilia Grace, intend to devote my body and soul to Master until I repay his kindness!”
After making this declaration with a refreshing clarity…
“And also, I know I said something strange earlier, but I think it was because of the darkness. I was not the ‘real’ me then. I’m the righteous Rafilia-Grace who protects everyone!”
“Huh? Master, why do you have such scary gentle eyes? Oh, please don’t touch my head. If you’re going to stroke me ,…please pat me on the collar. I love it when Master touches me. Huh?”
She walked next to me (and Reggie), wobbling around like she was doing some kind of weird dance.