If there was a bloodstained sword in the basement, the odds were high the curse was on the sword, not the basement.
Xion must have mistaken the basement for being cursed because he didn’t know much about curses.
‘But I know curses well.’
Thinking of helping Xion put Reinhild in a good mood.
He wasn’t the least bit curious why a cursed sword would be in the home of Xion, an ordinary farmer in a countryside village.
Cursed objects just roll around anywhere, don’t they?
Stuff like that littered the Demon King’s castle to the point you could trip over them.
From curses that make you hiccup an hour every day to ones that doom an entire city—Reinhild had seen every kind of curse, so a curse that shatters happiness felt like a joke.
But if that happiness was his own, the story changed.
Let the whole world’s happiness be smashed; that wasn’t his concern. His own happiness, however, had to remain intact.
Reinhild meant to protect his happiness and, at the same time, put Xion’s anxiety to rest.
The method was simple.
‘Just get rid of the cursed sword that’s making Xion anxious!’
Lifting a curse from a sword and lifting one from a wide space like a basement were worlds apart.
If the basement itself were cursed, Reinhild wouldn’t even attempt to lift it; but if it was the sword, it was worth a try.
When he first heard the basement was cursed, he hadn’t had the strength to lift anything.
His mana was empty, his body in poor shape, and, truthfully, he hadn’t even thought about lifting a curse.
Back then, Reinhild hadn’t yet sorted out his feelings.
But now it was different.
Reinhild couldn’t stand the idea of Xion being unhappy.
It had been a mistake, but by absorbing the power of a high-grade magic stone, he’d accumulated enough mana to deal with a sword’s curse.
Even if the curse was stronger than expected, he could at least suppress it.
He had no intention of breaking his promise to Xion not to enter the basement. Lifting the sword’s curse was something he could do from outside the basement anyway.
The plan was perfect.
‘If that disappears, Xion will be happy too, right?’
He could keep being with Xion.
Reinhild couldn’t help smiling at the happy thought.
Xion brushed up Reinhild’s bangs and kissed the newly bared forehead.
“Then I’ll be off, Rein. I’ll be right back, so please wait just a bit.”
Xion said he would go with the villagers to bid Philip farewell.
Ordinarily, he wouldn’t have liked Xion minding other humans’ business, but just for today, he was glad to see Xion go.
“Have a good trip, Xion.”
Reinhild, who would normally wear a faintly sulky expression, greeted him so brightly that Xion himself hesitated and almost couldn’t bring himself to step out.
“…I’m really going.”
“Mm, okay. Take your time.”
Blissfully unaware of Xion’s state of mind, Reinhild was simply thrilled.
‘I’ll give Xion a surprise.’
He would use the time Xion was away to deal with the curse.
Then he’d repair the ruined house together with a delighted Xion, and done.
A house with no curse and no fallen walls—perfect.
From then on, nothing could disturb their peace.
Reinhild waved and waited until Xion vanished from sight beyond the window.
And once he was sure Xion had rounded the corner and was completely out of view, he pulled up the kitchen carpet.
Beneath it lay the door to the basement.
Exuding a ghastly, ominous aura.
“What a nasty curse.”
A curse unpleasant enough to vex even a Demon King.
Truly a curse so dreadful it was almost impressive.
Was it something the Hero had laid? The moment his hand touched the basement door, a nameless revulsion surged through him.
‘If it feels this awful, why didn’t I notice before?’
This wasn’t his first time facing this door.
The day he’d tried to hide in the basement from the Hero, Reinhild had definitely opened this door with his own hand.
But he hadn’t felt this revulsion then.
He’d actually been glad to have found a hiding place.
‘Was I too rattled then to feel it?’
He’d been so terrified he couldn’t make proper judgments—of course he might not have noticed.
But if not that?
Unless the curse had grown stronger, amplifying the foul sensation, there was no other answer.
‘If that’s the case, this is bad.’
If a curse that had been quiet suddenly turned rancid, there was only one reason.
‘Is it the type that grows with time?’
Reinhild didn’t even consider the idea that a curse might have newly appeared where there hadn’t been one. Xion wouldn’t lie about a curse existing without him.
So this newfound revulsion had to be because the curse had grown stronger.
“We could’ve been in real trouble if I’d put this off.”
Whether time had strengthened it, or it had used Rebecca as an offering to magnify itself—if left alone, it would only have gotten worse.
A curse that strengthened when certain conditions were met: going forward, it would grow and grow, not weaken.
Reinhild first checked the state of his mana.
Not abundant, but not bad.
If he identified the type of curse precisely, he could reduce the mana consumed in lifting it; worth a try.
‘Identifying it isn’t hard.’
He’d been born a Demon King and had seen and heard every kind of curse.
Lifting it… he wasn’t confident, but somehow it would work out.
“Okay.”
Reinhild steeled himself and set his hand to the basement door.
And in one go, he would open—
Clunk.
…or so he tried.
“What the?”
Clunk, clunk—
“Why won’t it open?”
He pushed, he pulled, he jostled it every which way, but the door only rattled; it showed no sign of opening.
He checked whether the door was broken or something had caught in the crack, keeping it from opening, but there was nothing wrong with the door at all.
That left only one reason.
The door leading to the basement was sealed.
‘Was this sealed to begin with?’
He could’ve sworn he’d opened it before.
Was that a mistake?
Probably a mistake.
His mental state back then had been so unstable, and so much had happened in such a short time. It’s no surprise if his memories were jumbled.
‘If the door’s sealed this tight, how did that Rebecca human force her way in?’
She was more formidable than he’d thought.
Not only could she rip an owlbear in half one-handed, she could tear through seals too.
A frightening human.
How powerful must a curse be if it could even rob such a frightening human of her happiness?
“What do I do?”
He couldn’t give up here.
If the curse was this strong, all the more reason to get rid of it now.
If the Rebecca human had already tampered with it once, the seal was quite weakened; had it been firm, he wouldn’t even have thought to prod it.
Wouldn’t it be fine to give it a tap?
Reinhild checked his mana again.
‘Feels like it might work.’
Just a little. He’d try just a little, and if it seemed hopeless, he’d stop.
‘I can’t let my mana bottom out again, so I’ll only test it.’
He steadied himself and laid his hand atop the basement door.
“Hoo.”
After a short, deep breath, Reinhild poured mana into the door.
A queasy, roiling sensation rose in his gut.
You don’t feel this way just from brushing a simple seal. This was probably the mana, not the seal.
He’d been stacking it bit by bit, and now that he was trying to use it suddenly, there was bound to be pushback.
Regrettable as it was, he should probably stop here.
If he overused mana and then collapsed sick, Xion would worry.
Reinhild stopped channeling and lifted his hand from the door.
Thump… THOOM—!
“…Huh—!”
At the same time, a crushing pressure bore down on his heart.
It burned like his heart was on fire.
The pounding of his heart boomed in his ears like thunder.
Even clutching his chest with both hands, it refused to calm.
Thump, thump, THOOM—!
His mana was raging.
“H-huff… Xi… on…”
Thud.
Reinhild collapsed right where he stood.
Even through pain that made it hard to form words, he reached out for Xion.
He couldn’t breathe.
Pain slammed through his whole body so fierce it wouldn’t be strange if he exploded on the spot.
Without even managing a proper scream, Reinhild writhed in agony.
It felt like something was cinching tight around his heart, around his throat.
Am I dying?
I’m dying.
It hurts, it hurts. I’m going to die. Help me. Please. Help.
‘Xion…!’
“Rein!”
BANG!
Had that desperate cry that never left his lips somehow reached?
The door flew open with a crash and Xion burst in.
“Rein!”
With a face like the world had ended, Xion seized Reinhild in his arms.
Reinhild managed to move his trembling hand and grab Xion’s arm.
The instant he touched Xion, the mana that had been thrashing like mad seemed to settle—if only a little.
Even in the pain, Reinhild gave Xion a faint smile.
“Xi… on…”
Thank goodness. I got to see you.
With that, Reinhild lost consciousness.
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