Dark Fantasy’s Extra Chapter 102

According to Ozwald, the curse that engulfed both the Marquis and me was still incomplete and immature.

Well, it doesn’t make sense in the first place that the Bluebeard Beast, who was supposed to appear as a behemoth-class enemy in the extreme late game, could be interfered with by someone like me.

“And while the curse that entered your body did corrupt you, it was such a small amount that it didn’t have much impact. It just left a slight trace before disappearing.”

“A trace?”

“Yeah! You were incredibly lucky.”

Maia pointed at me.

“It’s no longer a curse – it should be called a blessing now.”

“Hmm… Even so, calling it a blessing seems a bit…”

Ozwald made a sour face.

“What’s wrong with that? There’s no soul corruption, and instead powerless magical power has taken root in the body to grant new strength. That makes it a blessing, doesn’t it?”

“New strength?”

Something like that happening to an extra like me?

No, wait.

I think I know what this is.

“It’s nothing that grand. You’ve just become very slightly, truly minutely similar to the undead.”

“…What practical use does that have?”

“Well… If you disguise yourself well, maybe real undead won’t be able to recognize you?”

“And?”

“I don’t know anything else. Like I said earlier, it’s nothing that grand. It’s really just at the level of leaving a trace.”

Isn’t this the ‘Mark’?

In Blue Paper Moon, when you side with a specific witch, they give you quests.

If you complete them well, you get rewarded with a passive skill called Mark.

The Mark gives additional stats matching each witch’s characteristics – for example, the Little Mermaid’s Mark prevents first strikes from Beasts like Deep Sea Folk and Rusalka, and increases stats near the sea.

However, you completely fall out with the Hunting Order, so hunters appear as enemies in the field instead, and even Rusalka’s Beasts will ignore it and attack if they’re behemoth-class.

You can only get one Mark, and it appears as a symbol on the back of your hand….

“Just barely left a trace, you say?”

I looked at the back of my hand, but there was nothing there.

As Maia and Ozwald said, it wasn’t that dramatic of a curse, so it probably didn’t go as far as a Mark.

“That’s why I’m saying it’s more of a blessing. If the trace had remained more strongly, your soul would have been corrupted and some bad effects would have come with it. But with no such side effects, you just got something useful.”

“It’s still too early to make that determination. While there have been similar cases occasionally, depending on the situation, there were times when it got worse.”

“Oh? Really? I didn’t know that.”

“I read it in a book from the Order’s library. It’s a very old record, so there haven’t been any such cases recently, making it uncertain.”

“Ah, the Order’s library! I’d love to visit there sometime…”

“Wait, wait. It could get worse?”

What should I do if I really do get a Mark?

Should I quit the Order and go to some nameless village in the wilderness or mountains?

“Well… Let’s think about that when we get there. We can’t do anything about it right now anyway.”

Maia shrugged her shoulders.

“Can’t you remove the curse again?”

“It’s better not to mess with it carelessly. As the old saying goes, the cure could be worse than the disease.”

“Is there such a saying?”

I heard Ozwald’s question, but I was lost in thought again.

For now, Maia is right.

What I got isn’t a Mark, but just the ability to avoid being noticed by undead if I hide well.

I have to admit it’s quite, no, extremely useful.

Then maybe it’s better not to mess with it and just make good use of it.

“Alright… That’s settled then.”

I let my body sink back into the bed.

“Rest more while organizing your thoughts. Well then, may I take that flower?”

Ozwald pointed to the black resurrection flower on the table.

“Yes.”

If it’s Ozwald of all people, I can trust him.

He fought on the Order’s side against the witches until the end in Blue Paper Moon, and he has no reason to steal that flower anyway.

“Good. I’ll take it for research. Of course, I’ll have to be very careful… Speaking of which, Ms. Maia. When you have time, I’d like to have an in-depth discussion about sorcery.”

“I welcome it anytime. Even on my island, there wasn’t another sorcerer of your level besides me.”

“Haha, I’m not a sorcerer but a mage, but anyway, understood.”

With those words, Ozwald left with the resurrection flower.

It felt a bit awkward seeing Ozwald speaking so politely to Maia.

“He was quite skilled. With about 200-300 more years of training, he might reach my old level.”

“Surely not that much?”

Was there that much difference between Ozwald and Maia?

Her first impression was light so I spoke casually, but was that perhaps extremely rude?

“…Ms. Maia? No, Lady Maia?”

“Hahaha! Just call me whatever is comfortable. I don’t really mind.”

“Right. Um… Maia. Anyway, what are you going to do now?”

“What do you mean?”

“You’ve fulfilled my request so there’s no need to stay with me anymore. Or are you going to follow Sir Ozwald?”

“Oh geez, you fool.”

Maia pressed her index finger firmly against my forehead.

“I told you I’m repaying your kindness. That much isn’t enough to repay what I owe you.”

“It feels weird when you call it kindness, but if you’re really concerned, just say you owe me a debt.”

“Wrong. A debt and kindness are different.”

“They’re different?”

“You didn’t save me because you wanted something from me, right? You just happened to save me while trying to save your friend… Chris, was it?”

“…I suppose.”

My heart grew heavy hearing Chris’s name again.

Now I’m the only one left in this world who remembers that day.

In the end, I couldn’t save him.

“You did everything you could. No, even more than that. To be honest, even I was surprised.”

Maia grabbed my hand.

“With these small, weak hands, you defeated a witch and saved both your friend and me.”

“I couldn’t save him.”

“No, you did save him.”

“…What do you know.”

“I know better than you. At that time, Chris’s soul was completely twisted and on the verge of being beyond salvation. Though you couldn’t save his life, you properly saved his soul. You should be proud.”

“…Is that enough?”

My eyes grew hot with tears.

But this time I couldn’t hide my face with my hat.

“I… can’t accept that.”

I shook off Maia’s hand.

“How is that salvation? Just because I stopped him from becoming a monster, that’s enough? No…. That’s not saving him. I just returned him to his original state. And I couldn’t even do that properly.”

True salvation would mean returning him mentally and physically healthy… at least back to his former energetic self.

The old Chris wasn’t so mentally unstable.

Like me, unable to escape the memories of that day….

“Why are you being so arrogant when you don’t understand?”

Maia sighed and grabbed my hand again.

Her grip was different from before, filled with strong will that I couldn’t easily shake off.

“Arrogant…? Me?”

“Yes. Who are you to deny the gratitude that person felt?”

Maia’s voice wasn’t accusatory, but like a teacher carefully trying to enlighten a foolish student.

And I, the foolish student, felt my heart sink at those words.

“You blame yourself too much. As if trying to punish yourself. Does that make you feel better?”

“Ah, no, I…”

“The people you saved are thanking you. Accept it humbly. Chris thanked you until his last breath. I, too, feel deeply grateful to you. We who were about to spend our lives as monstrous slaves have that right.”

“…”

“Hah, really. I think I understand why that behemoth follows you around.”

“…You mean Blanc?”

“Yes. A behemoth is a human with such strong ego they can overcome curses. Such a person can’t be ordinary. If a being like that takes a liking to you, it means you must be just as strange. Though I might not understand those feelings, I think I get why.”

Blanc….

“Then… do you know why she did this?”

This whole situation was entirely started by her.

Blanc was the one who reported me to the Order in Offenbach, which somehow led to the Marquis’s rampage.

Though I’m not blameless either, since I saw it as an opportunity and acted on it.

“You really still don’t understand?”

This time Maia looked at me like I was truly foolish.

“You’ve already proven it. That even a weak hunter like you can accomplish this much.”

“That’s because you helped…”

“That’s part of your ability too. You really are something else.”

Honestly, I still don’t understand.

It’s true that I did those things.

But if you ask whether I did them well, I would absolutely say no.

Everything was too difficult and clumsy.

It was a constant reminder of the limits of my ability and talent.

I’m just slightly stronger than ordinary people, but in the end I’m just an extra on this grand stage.

If Blanc had seriously tried to kill me, I would have died before I could blink with just one of her fingers.

Even if I had a long lifespan like Maia and trained for a long time, it’s uncertain whether I could even reach mid-ranked hunter, let alone higher-ranked.

Everything I’ve done so far was just within my limited abilities.

“Or maybe that’s… part of your charm? To that behemoth?”

“I don’t need that kind of charm.”

* * *

Under a pitch-black sky scattered with countless gravestones.

In the center sat a figure on a throne, clad in steel from head to toe and wielding an overwhelming iron mace like a staff.

“Hahaha…”

Black King Charmol laughed.

“What’s so funny?”

Asked the black witch, Princess Bari, seated opposite him.

“How can I not laugh? The great witch, Princess Bari herself, who is supposedly most skilled at manipulating humans, was thwarted by a lower-ranked hunter. Perhaps my ears were playing tricks on me.”

“…So? Are you thinking of breaking our agreement to cooperate now?”

“I hadn’t thought that far, but my pride is quite wounded.”

“If you’re going to keep mocking me, I should leave. I need to move more quickly to make up for the losses I suffered this time.”

“Ah, wait a moment. Before you go, shouldn’t you hear the information about that lower-ranked hunter who interfered with you?”

“…You know that hunter?”

“Of course. Very well in fact. He’s someone I’ve been quite interested in… But before that, there’s one thing I want to ask you.”

“What is it?”

“Where did you take Arachne’s corpse?”

“Somewhere safe that only I know. Why do you ask?”

“The method to control behemoths… that’s what I truly desire. Kenken’s corpse was already so decayed that even I could manipulate it easily. But souls are a different matter.”

“Ah, I see. Come to think of it, what you want is Blanc.”

This time Princess Bari let out a small sneer.

“An unrequited love for 500 years, how incredibly pure.”

“Because she’s worth it. So I can’t let an opportunity like this slip away.”

“Opportunity… What opportunity?”

“Princess Bari. I promise you even more cooperation than now. So teach me the dark arts of manipulating behemoth souls. This time, I will make Blanc mine.”