Episode 587: The reason for the curse (2)
Cravat placed his hand on the Living Armor, asking him to stay for a moment, and then activated his magic power.
The black energy rising around him penetrated Berom’s armor, drawing 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.
“Really, it’s done?”
The trembling voice was indirectly showing how surprised he was right now.
Berom looked down at his two healthy hands.
Hands with residual 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 she could remember what her own hands looked like, what the color of her skin was, and what minor scars she 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 releasing it felt like it was a very real 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 now, Berom felt alive.
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 felt through 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.”
“… … “To begin with, 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 is not enough, so you’re going to let me live?”
“I’d rather ask. “You don’t have any armor or anything, so what kind of threat do you pose that I should bother getting blood on your hands?”
“that… … .”
It is sophistry. However, when Rudger, who holds the power over life and death, says so, he has no reason to argue with himself.
When Berom closed his mouth, Ludger snorted.
Berom looked at Ludger’s departing back with trembling eyes and opened his mouth.
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“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 very 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 Kravat who lifted this damn curse.
You have received a favor that you cannot repay even if you sacrifice your whole life.
“Well, I did it because I was curious because I had only heard about Living Armor in old books. So what do you do now?”
“yes? What are you going to do? … .”
“Looking at you, without your armor, you seem like you have no power right now.”
“… … .”
Cravat was right.
Berom ascended to the position of the First Order purely thanks to the power given by the cursed artifact, the Living Armor.
Now, without armor, Berom is nothing more than a middle-aged treasure hunter.
Treasure Hunter.
It was like that. Before Berom became 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 were 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, treasure hunters 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.
– Oh, damn it!
-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.
At a time when he thought this was the end of everything, was it fate that Living Armor came into Berom’s field of vision?
[Come here. hurry.]
I felt like I heard that voice while I was unconscious.
Berom mustered his last strength and jumped towards the relic, not 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 am… … From that day on… … .”
The road ahead for Berom, who took 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 group of treasure hunters 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, put 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 an ancient artifact, Living Armor.
Living Armor taught Berom, who had only ever fought while drunk at a bar, how to fight with a sword, how to fight between life and death.
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 Living Armor killed its enemies, the stronger it became by drinking their blood, and the more powerful it became.
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 while 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 boasted that he would find all the wonderful treasures in the world, and made a habit of saying that he would become rich and make a living by whining.
Those immature guys got married, had children, and learned responsibility.
Even if my dreams and passion died, I lived with the goal of being happy with my family.
-Clueless bastards. Why did you abandon me and leave first?
What came out of the armor was not his usual speaking style, but a speaking 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.
While he was away, his wife, who was pregnant, seemed to have successfully given birth.
-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 face to face.
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 survived 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.
You didn’t choose this, but this guy chose you.
If only I had left him there to die, then 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.
A 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 hope so and secretly leave a letter at his wife’s house.
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 f*cking 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.
It seemed as if it was desperately reaching out its hand toward him, and Berom felt sick.
“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.”
“… … Anyway, he is a disgusting guy who is trying to keep me locked up. “I don’t even want to see it.”
“As a witch doctor, I can tell. That Living Armor has no intention of harming you. Rather, just like a baby bird considers the first person it sees to be its mother, this bird just thinks of it that way. “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 fell silent at Cravat’s words.
“There’s nothing we can do about the past years. I feel sorry for the pain you have suffered during this time. but… … “What’s important is what happens in the future, right?”
