Meeting (10)

【”What’s a holy sword exactly?”】

I asked Natasha.

【”Holy swords are swords that have been blessed by scared beings such as gods, spirits, or saints. They have special abilities that regular swords don’t possess, and can cut through some things that other swords can’t cut through.”】

【”Special abilities… Can you think of any example?”】

【”Let me see… There is one well-known anecdote about a sword stuck in its sheath. The story goes that whoever can pull the sword out becomes king.”】

【”What happens if nobody pulls it out?”】

【”How would I know? Whoever is older in that place would become king instead, I guess?”】

Sounds about right.

【”Holy swords can have many other abilities. Heal wounds, cut through anything in one slash, stay in a perfect state without any maintenance; these sorts of things.”】

【”Does that Blutgang sword have a special ability, too?”】

【”It does. First, if you don’t have the spirits’ devin protection, you won’t be able to pull it out of its scabbard.”】

【”Ohh, really? So whoever managed to pull out that sword is the culprit?”】

【”That’s right. The police arrested the suspect on those grounds.”】

Sounds a little odd.

I’ll ask more questions.

【”In that case, is there any proof that only the person who received the divine protection can pull out the sword?”】

【”Some experiments have been done to verify it. The police’s Magic and Psychological Research Institute gathered people of different genders, races, and nationalities, to see if any of them could draw out the sword but none succeeded. Save for one person.”】

【”I’m guessing that person was this girl?”】

I pointed at the girl’s photo with my finger.

【”Yes. She’s the suspect, Claudia Rheinland. It seems she managed to successfully pull the sword out of its scabbard in the presence of a public prosecutor, a detective, and a researcher of the Magic and Psychological Research Institute. There was a brawny man there who tried to do the same but did not succeed, and yet the girl did it very easily.”】

So the only one who was able tu pull out the sword is the actual suspect, huh. There is one other thing I’m curious about.

【”What about afterwards? What if she pulled out the sword but someone else used it to commit the crime?”】

【”That’s very unlikely, for two reasons. The first being that the sword might have a special curse on it.”】

A curse. A method to harm someone else through spiritual means.

【”How can a holy sword be cursed?”】

【”Holy or not, it’s still a sword. But that’s only a possibility, I don’t have any confirmation of it yet. I’m awaiting on the research institute’s investigation for that.”】

【”What makes you think it’s cursed then?”】

【”Hm? Well, it’s because the suspect wouldn’t let go of the sword.”】

She wouldn’t let go of the sword? So what?

【”Isn’t that normal? If I had a dangerous weapon, I don’t think I’d want to give it to others either…”】

【”That didn’t seem to be the reason. When the police went to take her sword, she showed some serious resistance. “】

【”Resistance? Was she violent?”】

【”Well, violent is definitely the word. She injured three policemen upon arrest.”】

This is stating to sound really bad. She got arrested for murder and she went on a rampage upon arrest? Man, I don’t want to defend someone like that.
However…

【”That still doesn’t explain why you’re assuming that her sword is cursed. I don’t see what’s strange on an emotional level about a criminal going wild when getting arrested.”】

【”But you see, that wasn’t the only time she went on a rampage, Daniel.”】

Natasha suddenly poked my nose with her index finger.

【”Can you please not do that?”】

When I brushed away her finger with my hand, she added some nonsense along the lines of “Fufu, I’m about to say it, don’t be impatient”, before carrying on.

【”Like I said earlier, the institute tried handing the sword to the suspect as part of their investigation. And do you remember what happened then? The suspect easily pulled out the sword.”】

【”Yeah, you did mention that.”】

As I recalled Natasha’s words, a question popped in my mind.

【”Now that I think about it, that was a very dangerous experiment. How could they hand a sword to a murderer?”】

【”Some policemen came along for the experiment. There were 10 of them, all from the riot squad, and every single one of them was a well-trained elite. They were ready to immediately subdue the suspect in case she went on another rampage. However, nothing in particular happened… When she pulled out the sword, that is.”】

Natasha’s tone seemed to be implying more than what she was saying.

【”So what happened?”】

【”After she put the sword back in its sheath, they tried to take it back from her, but she went wild again. All of that was recorded, I saw the video. One second the girl was docile and quiet, yet the next she snapped out of nowhere and became violent.”】

Out of nowhere, huh.

I followed up with another question.

【”So there is some sort of trigger to it?”】

【”Seems so. When I watched the video, I felt like she looked very scared of letting someone else take the sword.”】

【”Scared? Why?”】

【”I don’t know. But I happen to know the head of the MRI, and when I asked him, he told me it’s probably due to a curse.”】

The MRI is an abbreviation of the Magic and psychological Research Institute. There is also another institute called the Forensic Research Institute.

【”There are two types of curses, effective curses and non-effective curses. The curse on this sword might be of the second type. “】

【”Meaning…?”】

【”Let me think… Well, for example, let’s say you want to take a peek at me in the shower.”】

【”I don’t.”】

【”Why not? You’re really missing something.”】

Great confidence etched itself on Natasha’s face for some reason.

【”Anyway…”】

Natasha kept going without taking my retort into account.

【”I’m going to put a curse on you now. Let’s say, if you peep at me, I’ll kill you.”】

【”Sure, go ahead.”】

【”Why so indifferent?”】

【”I’m not going to look, so I’m not going to get killed. Why would I care?”】

After pouting a bit, Natasha carried on talking.

【”Humph! You devil! Anyway, here you are, under a curse, but you lose to your male instincts and to my womanly charm, and can’t control yourself! You end up taking a peek anyway!”】

I said I won’t, damn it! Is what I wanted to retort, but I kept it to myself so as not to interrupt her story.

【”Unfortunately for you, I caught you in the act when I stepped out of the shower. Oh no, what to do? You broke the agreement, and now you’re going to be killed! There is a terrifying development going on here!”】

Where?

【”But I am a dignified adult with a kind heart. Yet I can’t let this go either! So, take that!”】

Natasha swung her fist at my forehead, but I avoided it.

【”You dodged?!”】

【”Of course I dodged, you tried to hit me.”】

【”Humph, you’re the one who peeked at me.”】

【”I did no such thing.”】

【”I know, you were supposed to play along… Humph. Anyway, that was good enough for me, your curse is settled.”】

How so?

I rearranged the chain of events in mind.

The director established that peeping is a taboo. I broke that taboo. But I still didn’t get killed.

【”So the curse is there but breaking its rules won’t have any particular effect?”】

【”Exactly! You don’t necessarily need some special magic to make a curse. So this has nothing to do with the sword being holy or magic. Well, there are some curses in the world that have actual effects when you break their rules, but that’s not the case here. I’m guessing the curse put on the Holy sword Blutgang makes it so the wielder can’t hand it to others, or something like that. That must be why she was terrified of the idea of having her sword be taken away from her.”】

That would certainly make sense of everything.

It would explain why she went on a rampage when they tried to take her sword upon arrest.

It would also explain why she did not go wild during the examination when she pulled out the sword, and yet she went on a rampage when they tried to take the sword from her, even though it would have been much more logical to attack with her unsheathed weapon in hand.

【”Who put the curse on it then?”】

【”I don’t know that much. Not all curses are intentionally put on by others. Some curses just come on their own.”】

【”Really?”】

【”That’s right. I mean, you’ve already quit this office and yet you still call me director, don’t you?”】

【”What’s wrong with that?”】

【”It’s not like I’m making you do it. You’ve already resigned from the office, you could easily call me Tacha if you wanted. And yet, you don’t. Why is that?”】

【”Why? Well…”】

Now that she mentions it, why do I still call her director?

It’s not like she’d ever get angry if I stopped calling her that, or even if I dropped all honorifics. There would be no consequence if I stopped doing it, and yet I just don’t feel like it.

【”Many actions that come to you naturally, that you wouldn’t even think of questioning, are actually caused by curses. You see, Dan, you’ve taken on the curse of always being polite. You always use titles and honorifics when talking to someone who’s your senior at work, or higher in the hierarchy, or just older than you, even if you don’t feel any respect towards them. That’s your curse.”】

【”So, if I start being more familiar with you and calling you Tacha instead of director, that would mean I got rid of the curse?”】

【”You want to try?”】

Natasha looked at me with a charming smile and her finger still on her lip.

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Translator’s note: You may read the rest on Yoraikun’s website. Here.