Curse Returns, a gamble from the start, I awaken dual spells

Grandmother's injuries were worse than they appeared.

When Rito helped Kugizaki treat his wounds, his fingers touched the blackened edges of the wounds, and a slight tingling sensation came from his fingertips.

"It's a toxin, a toxin produced by some kind of technique."

Kugizaki didn't say anything, but calmly treated his grandmother's wounds.

The two worked together seamlessly, cleaning, disinfecting, and bandaging. The only sounds in the room were the tearing of bandages and the grandmother's suppressed breathing.

After the wound was bandaged, Grandma leaned against the wall, her gray hair stuck to her forehead with sweat.

With his back to her, Kugizaki stuffed the blood-stained old bandage into a garbage bag.

"Speak," Kugizaki said without turning around.

Grandmother closed her eyes and remained silent for a long time.

"Your father's name is Toru Kugizaki."

Upon hearing this name, Kugizaki's body stiffened instantly.

"He wasn't anything special," Grandmother's voice was hoarse and slow, as if she were rummaging through mud for fragments from long ago.

He's not very tall, doesn't talk much, and when he smiles, the left corner of his mouth is a little higher than the right.

"But he's a man of his word; he'd never go back on his promise, even if it meant death."

"...I've never seen him." Kugizaki spoke, his voice devoid of emotion.

"It's all my fault." Grandmother was silent for a moment, then opened her eyes and looked at the wood grain on the ceiling.

"Our Kugizaki family has guarded a cursed artifact called 'Scorpion Mound' for generations. And Tetsuya was its previous guardian."

She paused for a moment, as if gathering her strength.

"Sixteen years ago, Tetsu met a curse master named Nizaki. His body was backfired by his own spell, and he wouldn't last more than a few years."

"In order to survive, Niqi found Tetsu and hoped that Tetsu could use 'Scorpion Tomb' to save his life, but he refused."

"In order to survive, Niqi almost went mad. He even tried to force open the seal, but was discovered by Che, and the two ended up fighting."

"I don't know how long they fought, I only know that after that, Che never came back."

Kugizaki's hand pressed against the edge of the medicine box, his knuckles tightening little by little.

Li Ren also remained silent.

But his gaze fell on the hand she was using to hold the medicine box.

His knuckles were white, and a deep red mark was left on the edge from the metal buckle of the medicine box.

Rito glanced at it for a moment, then subtly looked away.

"The seal on Scorpion Tomb requires our family's ancestral Chuling Technique to open, and Niqi ultimately failed to do so."

"Later, I led people to find Nizaki, but he had already realized that he could not forcefully break the seal, so he had already escaped and never appeared again."

"The chance to kill Nizaki slipped away right before my eyes, and hatred was buried deep in my heart for sixteen years."

As the last word was uttered, the room fell silent.

Rito looked at Kugizaki.

She remained seated, her back to the medicine box, not moving an inch.

She maintained this posture from the moment her grandmother began to speak.

"...Now, is he back?"

Kugizaki finally spoke, his voice low and strained, as if squeezed out from between his teeth.

Grandmother nodded.

Having gotten the answer he wanted, Kugizaki slowly stood up.

But Rito keenly noticed that her hands were trembling slightly.

"Why did you keep this from me until now?" Kugizaki stared at his grandmother.

The grandmother met her granddaughter's gaze, her aged face revealing neither guilt nor stubbornness.

"Because I know what you'll do after I tell you."

"You will go to him, you will go down the same path as your father, I lost my son."

"...I don't want to lose my granddaughter too, even if it means you resent me."

Kugizaki slowly loosened his clenched fist and let it hang at his side.

Li Ren remained silent.

Perhaps that's why she's been avoiding the topic of her grandmother.

The more you know, the heavier the burden becomes.

A moment of silence filled the room.

Then, Grandmother spoke again, her voice tinged with seriousness.

"Two months ago, the seal on Sasorizuka began to loosen."

"The seal needs to be reinforced every few decades; this is a duty passed down through generations of the Kugizaki family."

Grandmother's gaze fell on the back of her wrinkled hands. "This is something I should be doing. But I'm too old, and my body can't take it anymore."

"Once the seal completely breaks, the things inside will escape, and then it won't just be this village that dies."

"So... is this the reason you called me back?" Kugizaki said.

"Yes." Grandmother closed her eyes, "but I didn't expect that Nishizaki was also waiting for this day."

Li Ren's brows furrowed slightly.

"Sixteen years have passed. His body should have collapsed long ago, but he has stubbornly held on until now in order to survive."

All the clues came together at that moment.

That letter was sent by my grandmother to reinforce the seal.

This is precisely why Niqi did not kill his grandmother directly.

Niqi waited sixteen years, waiting for a member of the Kugizaki family to take the initiative to stand before Sasorizuka.

"Where is he?" Kugizaki asked.

"Wild rose..." Her grandmother looked at her, her tone full of complexity.

She didn't want Kugizaki to come back, but the seal on Sasorizuka was too important, and it was the only thing that could strengthen the seal...

"Where is he?" Kugizaki asked for the second time.

The voice remained calm, devoid of any other emotion.

But it is precisely this calm that is more terrifying than any roar.

Her fingers were clasped together at her sides, her knuckles white but no longer trembling.

If anger had a form, it would probably be her clenched fist at this moment.

"...The back mountain." After a long silence, Grandmother finally spoke in a deep voice.

bass!

A deep blue magical power instantly appeared at his fingertips.

Kugizaki turned around and walked towards the door.

But Rito grabbed her arm.

"Let go!" Kugizaki turned around, a sharp glint in his eyes.

"No." Rihito looked at her, his tone equally calm. "A curse master is not a curse spirit; they use intelligence. Besides, you are about to face a madman who is about to die."

Kugizaki struggled, but couldn't break free.

"Let go!"

"Kugizaki." Rito's voice cut through her. "Your father went to stop Nizaki alone and died on the mountain path. Are you going to rush over there alone now?"

Kugizaki was stunned.

Now, she may have become a sorcerer, and she may have become strong enough.

But in reality, if she goes alone, there is a high chance she will repeat her father's mistakes.

Seeing that Rito's emotions were gradually calming down, he let go of her hand.

"Don't forget, we're comrades."

He took a step back and stared intently into Kugizaki's eyes.

"My comrades won't let you go off to your death alone."

"A companion...?"

Kugizaki stood still, his clenched fist slowly loosening.

She took two steps back, leaned against the wall, and sat down.

The chirping of insects began outside the window sometime earlier, faint but persistent, like something that refused to go out in the darkness.

Rito sat down opposite her, leaning against the door frame.

No one spoke.

But Kugizaki didn't take another step towards the door.