"How could immortality possibly be a curse?!"
After returning to the city and hearing Isagi's explanation, everyone wore the same expression of utter bafflement.
"So you're saying," one of them began, "aside from the fact that every time you die, it drains the life force of everyone around you and triggers a catastrophe — what you called [Dragon's Cough] — there are no other side effects?"
"No loss of sanity, no shambling around as a mindless zombie. No binding contracts you're forced to fulfill."
"Your body doesn't turn into a skeleton or anything, and you don't need to do anything horrifying or evil to maintain this so-called… um… curse."
This really didn't sound like a curse at all.
At the very least — compared to being able to revive after every single death, the price paid was, frankly, rather trivial.
Of course, the main issue was that Riveria and Ais couldn't truly grasp what [Dragon's Cough] actually meant. In a certain sense, it symbolized inevitable "tragedy" — if the number of deaths piled up too high, everything around them would be inescapably dragged toward a terrible end.
"Then we just have to not die, right?"
Tiona muttered.
"Just do our best not to die. Treat it like it's nothing — and if there's really no other way, then we just…"
"Mm."
"Cough cough cough cough cough..."
"Anyway. At the very least, it's not a bad thing."
Amid the girls' overlapping chatter, Isagi nodded along. In theory, he himself didn't fully understand how he'd managed to bestow the "immortality curse" on all of them — but in the end, it wasn't something to worry about.
Just think of it as an extra insurance policy.
This raid on Alfia had genuinely caught him off guard. He hadn't expected her to go out in a blaze of self-destruction at the very end — and on top of that, she'd had in her possession a Spirit-clan relic powerful enough to freeze time itself.
Looking back now, it had been an utterly inescapable checkmate from the start.
The Dungeon really was ruthless!
Isagi turned his gaze to the broken Magic Stone resting in his palm.
According to Riveria and Lefiya, they could both sense the presence of some kind of magical energy within it — and not ordinary magical energy, either. It was pure, primordial "mana" in its rawest form.
Isagi planned to hand it over to Fels and the elven women to study together.
He didn't understand it himself, after all.
If it could be forged into a weapon, that would be ideal.
After all, it was a Magic Stone — and since it was supposedly a relic of the Spirit clan, one that had even displayed the power to freeze space and time while in Alfia's hands, it was truly something extraordinary — wait.
Isagi suddenly thought of something.
He already had "invisibility" and "hypnosis" at his disposal — and now, he was about to add "time-stop" to the list as well?!
That was absolutely broken —
The winter cold was settling in deeper by the day.
Isagi had just woken up that morning when Cecil came barging in, loudly insisting he had to come see something amazing.
"Get up already!"
※ ※
It was now the dead of night.
The charcoal burning in the fireplace filled the room with a heavy, drowsy warmth — the kind that made you want to stay buried in bed all day long.
Winter was that sort of season. It made everything feel slow and lazy. He really couldn't figure out why Cecil always seemed to have energy to spare.
They were currently at the Demeter Familia Farmstead, just outside the city walls.
Several days had passed since their last adventure ended.
What came next: Isagi had been notified by Goddess Astrea that preparations for the War Game against Loki Familia and Freya Familia needed to begin.
"Event" — somehow the whole thing felt like it had been turned into some grand public spectacle.
Come to think of it, that wasn't entirely wrong. The city's two most powerful Familias joining forces to declare war on the Goddess of Justice's Familia — just saying it out loud was already enough to make every eye in Orario turn their way.
As for this situation — Goddess Astrea was feeling something of a headache.
Being called the "strongest in the city" held absolutely zero appeal for her. As a goddess of justice, what she truly wished for was for her children to walk the path of their own "justice."
To protect the safety of the city. To preserve the peace of the world. To safeguard everyone's smiles and livelihoods.
But above all else.
Astrea kept finding herself thinking back to that spring evening — when she, Isagi, and Cecil had set out together from the City of Swords and made their way to Orario.
The boy hadn't just said he would bring back the Familia's seniors who had fallen into "darkness."
He had also said he would bring Astrea Familia to the pinnacle of the city — so that from that height, they could judge all things, and uphold true justice!
Well, that wasn't wrong, exactly.
But now that it was actually materializing in front of her, about to become reality — Astrea still felt a little dizzy.
This was absolutely insane!!
But no matter how she felt, things had been set in motion. Loki Familia and Freya Familia had already submitted their War Game applications to the Guild — and the Guild, along with all the gods, just wanted to watch the show. Naturally, not a single one of them objected.
In short, the War Game was now inevitable.
All Astrea could do was press her fingers to her temple, look at her Familia's children — who, just like Isagi, were practically radiating confidence — and smile as she cheered them on.
Worth noting:
Cecil, as the Familia's captain, would naturally be participating in the War Game as well!
Though the girl was only a Lv.3 smith — already impressive by the standards of an ordinary adventurer — she was naturally outclassed in front of the likes of Loki Familia and Freya Familia.
But she had her own way of helping everyone.
Just like right now —
—
The room was wrapped in a cozy warmth.
Isagi had practically been hauled out from under his blankets by Cecil.
It was the dead of night.
Isagi had been sleeping since afternoon and only woken now — it was a rest day, after all, and his schedule had inevitably gone completely upside down. Nothing to be done about it.
Lefiya and the others were nowhere to be seen; neither were the goddesses.
Though the massive flashes and explosions of magical energy that occasionally blazed past outside the window seemed to indicate they were out somewhere in the distance, "practicing."
The girls had left dinner for him.
Isagi washed up, wolfed it all down, took a bath, changed into fresh clothes, and finally felt like a proper human being again.
Then he headed out with Cecil, who had been waiting with a pouty face for quite some time now.
They set off toward the city.
The winter night was dark.
The two of them hadn't taken a carriage — they simply walked, treading through the thin layer of freshly accumulated snow, making their way toward the adventurer's city in the distance.
Fine snow was still drifting down from above.
The stars and moon had hidden themselves away. Looking up, all one could see were great heavy banks of dense cloud.
The snowfall looked set to keep intensifying for a good long while — just like last year.
Without quite realizing it, Isagi and Cecil had both grown accustomed to the seasons here in the city. It felt almost like home…
Deliberately, they entered the city from the direction of the East Main Street.
Then turned right immediately, entering the trading district of the Sixth Ward. They followed the long river — quiet and cold between the falling snowflakes — passing by the Gnome Grand Library and the "I Am Ganesha" shop, then through the noisy, chaotic free market.
At last, they arrived at the Bridge of Heroes.
As one of the city's landmark structures, the Bridge of Heroes was packed with people even tonight.
Cecil, slightly nervous, grabbed hold of Isagi's arm — apparently worried about getting separated from him in the crowd and losing each other later.
Then, pushing and weaving their way through the surging tide of people, they finally made it to the other side.
Compared to the lively bustle they'd come through, the side closer to the city wall was quieter — mostly warehouses purchased by various merchant guilds, tucked away in the shadows of narrow, winding alleyways.
There were also quite a few taverns and inns clustered here.
Isagi and Cecil moved along, still following the other bank of the river with practiced ease, and before long arrived at the Hermes Familia's base of operations — the "Traveler's Rest."
They'd come to find Miss Asfi, of course.
Hermes Familia had been unusually busy lately — members were out everywhere fulfilling various commissions. Even the usually unreliable God of Travelers had left the city, reportedly headed for the "Empire" on the far side of the continent.
Miss Asfi would be leaving tomorrow as well, so tonight was their only chance.
And on top of that — even Miss Airmid was here.
Seeing the petite, silver-haired girl sitting perfectly still like a porcelain doll inside Asfi's dim laboratory — a place cluttered with bottles, jars, and all manner of scattered oddities — Isagi felt a little thrown off at first.
She wasn't moving at all. She had clearly fallen asleep.
Years of grueling work at the hospital had gifted her with the ability to fall asleep anytime, anywhere — a "good habit" born of necessity.
"Sorry…"
As Isagi and Cecil arrived, Airmid stirred, rubbing her eyes as she murmured softly.
"It's not actually that busy lately—"
Strictly speaking, the hospital run by Dian Cecht Familia hadn't really been all that busy in recent years — not only because the Dark Familia had long since been completely wiped out, but more importantly because many of the Familia's senior members were around as well.
Airmid, unaware of what had truly transpired behind the scenes, only sensed it in a vague, hazy sort of way.
Something had changed.
Her life had become so much lighter, so much easier. She wasn't even the captain of Dian Cecht Familia anymore — because there was simply no need for her to "take over" that role.
As for why she was here tonight — naturally, it was because of what Cecil was about to show him. Miss Asfi had lent her assistance, and Airmid had been involved in it as well.
At this moment.
The tall young woman in glasses was still carefully examining the subject in question.
It was the little Spirit, Yuufi!
Sitting on the worktable, currently being coaxed and "handled" by Asfi, was none other than the Wind Spirit that Isagi had lured all the way from the City of Swords to Orario some time ago.
Because of his original plan.
He had wanted her to bestow a "blessing" upon his weapon — that was the idea.
It was a setting! A rule of this world!!
A hero earns the recognition of a Spirit, receives her "blessing," and obtains a weapon that is the physical embodiment of her power.
But looking at Yuufi sitting there with that vacant, blissful expression — Isagi had honestly given up all hope. This girl was completely unchanged from before.
The only reason the little Spirit was sitting obediently on the worktable right now was because Asfi had gone to the trouble of coaxing her with a pile of snacks and sweets.
At this very moment.
The little Spirit — who looked exactly like a tiny little girl, well, there was no other way to put it — was completely absorbed in eating the fried potato balls in her hands. The look of total concentration on her face was almost embarrassing to witness.
Such a hopeless little airhead. Isagi had truly zero expectations left.
But what he absolutely did not see coming —
Was that Cecil and Asfi would be so utterly ruthless about it. In one fell swoop, they had decided to hypnotize the little girl sitting right in front of them…
____
👻🔥Seek: Walnut-chan🔥👻
🔥 New history: Uchiha Reborn in Jujutsu Kaisen: The System Thinks I'm in Konoha, but I'm Not
Let's hit these goals:
🎯 100 Powerstones = 1 extra chapter for the public!