How the Regressor Loves the Reincarnated

63. The Poisoned Chalice

1.

“You are under a curse,”

‘Oh, my baby! Oh my gosh…’

“A very powerful curse.”

‘Son, take heart. No matter what happens, I will definitely overcome it.’

“At least 10 years ago… Maybe even more, it’s estimated.”

‘We were all supposed to go on a backpacking trip to Europe together next year, right? You, me, Minsu, Yunseong, Jaewoo, the five of us. It doesn’t matter how long you postpone it, so it’s definitely better. And you also go unconditionally. Got it?’

I felt sick to my stomach. Memories from the previous life come to mind one by one and continue to fuel this unpleasant feeling. At least in this life, I thought that my body was healthy, that you hit me in the back like this?

“…Luke, are you okay?”

No, nothing has been confirmed yet. There is no guarantee that a curse is a curse that will unconditionally threaten my life. Until we know the details, don’t make hasty judgments.

“Yes, I am fine.”

…Not at all okay. If his mind hadn’t been trained to some extent during the process of learning magic, it probably wouldn’t have been so strange if he was in a state of panic. Just like I did in my previous life when I was given a de facto terminal judgment.

“Luke, can you take a deep breath and then answer again?”

Adele grabs my hand, which was half shaking as if in convulsions, and pulls it with all her might. As she and her eyes met, the fog in her head seemed to slowly dissipate.

As she said, after taking a deep breath, I felt a little calmed down. I’m not sure if it stemmed from the act of taking a deep breath for a moment or from Adele’s presence holding my hand tightly.

“…I’m really fine now.”

“Yeah, you look a little better now.”

To be honest, it was difficult to see that it was such a serious situation. I’ve been living with this curse for over 10 years without even knowing it, and I’m still alive. So it was more likely that this was a curse that would at least not affect my life.

And, rather than having to live without even knowing the existence of this curse and then one day a problem suddenly erupted, it would be better to know that there is a problem now.

It’s still not too late, so if you meet the high-ranking priest of the church right now and get a Haeju, the problem will be solved. If it is possible to cast this curse with the holy power of Nox given to me, then I may choose that method.

“When can I meet the high priest?”

Adele’s mood as she puts her question to her priestesses was a bit more alert than usual. If I touched her, she would immediately pull out her claws and scratch me, I should say, a wild animal feeling.

“If you wait here for a moment, I will go and see if anyone has free time-“

Tack-

With the sound of the doorknob turning, there was silence in the room.

At the end of the day, at the squealing sound of the door opening, three sets of eyes focus on the person who opened the door and entered.

“You don’t have to do that, sister.”

“Seo, saintess?!”

“Ha…?”

I could hear Adele grinding her teeth beside her and sighing in disbelief. At the same time, I frowned at the incomprehensible headache that came upon me the moment I saw Saint Aster or Burgo.

“Since I will take care of your business, how about leaving this place to me and resting for a while?”

“But how can I leave the saintess…”

“Don’t worry about me. These two are the nobles I wanted to meet from the beginning, so wouldn’t this also be God’s will?”

“Ah… I see. It must be that Lux-sama is leading the two of you here.”

Amidst the gradually subsiding headache, I was able to regain the time to calm down Adele, who was about to pull out her sword at any moment.

“Brother. Our saintess said she would do Haeju herself, so you can rest assured. Please God bless you brother.”

The priestess crosses herself and bows to Burgo, then greets us with the same greeting, then walks away through the door Burgo had just opened and entered.

Kiki-Ik-

And the moment the door closed.

“Hi, cuties. What kind of country’s etiquette is it to refuse a guest after being treated as such? Even if it’s a nobleman. Degrading.”

The mask of being a saint of the Church of Lumineria is removed, and the true face of the apostle of the Zodiac is revealed.

“Which country’s way of treating guests is to order the lower one and say, ‘I’m calling, so hurry up~’?”

I felt the strength draining from Adele’s hands little by little as she answered with a snort. Fortunately, she seemed to be able to avoid decapitating Burgo right here and now.

“And in what time period do they talk about dignity while talking about nobility?”

I remember a mocking laugh that even I would think was nasty on Adele’s lips as she counterattacked.

“Oh, that’s right. Were all your apostles only old men? It is natural to make such an anachronistic statement. I understand.”

“You say pretty arrogant things…”

Seeing Burgo grit his teeth and smile, I wondered if this would be Adele’s victory by decision.

By the way, they said it would take 30 minutes at most for Burgo, but I never thought it would take less than 30 minutes to find it. That woman has quite a bit of her ego.

“The arrogant one is the one who holds his head stiff like that in front of me. You really don’t believe that I can’t kill you here, do you?”

When she came to her senses, Adele shook off my hand and strode towards Burgo. She was in a state where the black virgo in her hand was barely in place, as if it was about to dig into her neck. In a situation that has changed in an instant, I also stood up from where I was sitting and looked at it.

“No, that’s not it. That’s not it. I don’t believe you can’t kill me,”

Even when Adele put her sword in front of her throat, she couldn’t even look away for a sense of danger on Burgo’s face. No, rather, Virgo seemed to be overflowing with composure to the extent that she pushed the sharp blade of her sword away with her fingers.

“The gains and losses when you killed me. Among them, the thread is overwhelmingly large, so I am standing here like this.”

Perhaps she was cut in the process of pushing Adele’s sword away, Virgo casually stuck out her tongue to lick the blood on her fingertips, and healed the wound with holy power.

“You’re not going to make such a stupid face. Because of course you don’t know Isn’t that cutie over there?”

Burgo, who had been staring at Adele all along, suddenly turned her head to her side and said.

“Your curse cannot be recognized by anyone from this church, nor can it be undone. The same goes for the priests of other denominations.”

“How do you know that-“

“Hmm, you. That’s too cold, boy. Aren’t we that far apart? First of all, they are also the same apostles.”

“Where does this crazy b*tch keep kicking her tail?”

“Adele, calm down for a moment!”

At the sight of Adele looking like she was about to explode, she hurriedly hugged her from behind. Even then, strength drained from Adele’s body, which had been struggling for a while longer, and she leaned against me.

“To wag your tail, what kind of vulgar words. And he and I… Well, no. Come to think of it, it feels immoral in its own right, so it’s a little appetizing…”

Burgo, who was saying something incomprehensible, hums and moves his steps, and casually takes the seat where I was sitting a moment ago.

She has the appearance of an angel if she just keeps her mouth shut and stays calm. With such an appearance, sitting in such a bad posture, crookedly, it’s really…

“To finish the story I was talking about earlier… Yes. The Last Apostle, even with the holy power that you have, you can’t do anything about that curse. It’s not a normal curse, it’s a curse placed through the medium of a sacred object given by our god!”

Looking at Burgo giggling while holding his stomach after talking, I couldn’t open my mouth easily.

A curse that hung over me more than 10 years ago. Every time I see Burgo, I feel a strange feeling of discomfort and a headache. Burgo’s remark that the loss of killing himself would outweigh the gain.

It seems like a picture is being drawn somewhere, but only the messy picture, as if heavily painted in ink, reveals its outline. It feels like I’m missing something big.

“Burgo, what the hell are you trying to say to me?”

Was there any reason why Burgo would leak information like that in front of us? The odds that every single thing she said was a lie meant to fool us are far greater than the odds of her being the truth.

But why does my intuition keep telling me to trust Burgo?

“If I didn’t open my mouth, your lover’s side would really slit my throat. I don’t know what the consequences of that would be. It’s like a stupid b*tch. Well, although people who say they use a knife are usually like that.”

Burgo was swearing at Adele to the point that all who listened to her frowned. Just in case he didn’t know, he put a little more strength on the arm holding Adele, but he didn’t seem to have to. Because from the moment I hugged her, her Adele was in her amazingly calm state.

“Let’s make a deal, Ophiuchus. Since you’ve already turned your back on Knox, I won’t ask you to come back to our side. Instead, get out of this thing completely.”

I couldn’t help but laugh at Burgo’s nonsense about offering a deal. I know exactly what the Zodiac’s goal is, but now come and step out? You have to say something that makes sense, even pretend to listen.

“You tell an interesting story. Then what are you going to give me in return?”

“There are two things I can suggest. One curses you, and the other… Can I tell you now? If you hear this, you will never be able to refuse this offer.”

I couldn’t carelessly answer what Burgo said while pointing at Adele with a wink. The way Burgo said that was so self-confident that it bothered his eyes.

“Kick-kick… One week from now. When that night comes, come to the small chapel where I am staying. Then I’ll tell you the second price of this deal. Oh, of course I’m saying don’t get caught alone and come find me on your own. Is that even possible?”

Suddenly, Adele’s hand, which was gripping my arm, was full of strength. As if he would not let go of that hand no matter what.