Chương 23: The Curse.

"You must be the hero who protected the city." He smiled at me.

"I am the archbishop." …

"Beldor."...

"I've been expecting you. And I would sincerely like to thank you on behalf of all of the citizens." He spoke in a very calm voice and politely.

"Glad I could be helpful to all of them." I let that sit for a moment and held my gaze.

"I'm certain, you haven't just invited me to thank me have you." I said. He didn't answer immediately. Just held his gaze silently for a second, t hen he chuckled.

"Well what gives you that idea?" I didn't back away and said immediately.

"If you only wanted to thank me, you wouldn't have gone through the trouble of inviting me and greeting me personally. Considering what I heard so far, you do not like to show yourself to people, and yet you wanted to see me, just to thank me. It just didn't sit well with me." He laughed.

"Well, aren't you a clever one?" He paused.

"I am not surprised how you manage to beat a formidable man such as Drago." His eyes narrowed as he spoke each word slowly and carefully.

"I wouldn't be surprised if you were to be a magic user, or in other words…" He paused. The room felt quieter.

"A Noble." I didn't let any kind of reaction show on my face. I had expected him to figure that out, but I hadn't expected him to say that boldly. His eyes went back to normal.

"I'm sure you have your reasons to hide, and I respect that." He said that without any hesitation, like he already had figured me out.

"The important thing is you helped the citizens of this city and that's a good enough reason for me to trust you. Despite you being a noble." His hands swung sideways pointing in the direction forward "I think you and I must have a proper chat and I am fairly certain you have some questions for me as well. Or else you wouldn't have come." I simply stared at him. This man had figured out everything and turned the flow of our conversation into his advantage. I should keep my guard up and say things carefully.

He smiled,"Shall we." I nodded and start walking alongside him.

"If I may ask, how did you managed to defeat Drago, he was the man that was undefeated by many nobles and many warriors across the nations." He is curious about the fight, why though? I wouldn't blame him… If anyone were to be in his shoes they would not believe it either. Something came back to me, a memory of what Oren said.

'It was said, even the archbishop couldn't defeat him, he was a monster.' So that's why he is curious. But should I tell him what happened in detail? Nah… it's better if I keep it to myself.

"He was the toughest enemy that I ever fought in my lifetime, there were times where I wasn't sure I would survive. But it was luck and help from others that I managed to defeat him." He smiled.

"I see… but still you manage to do impossible, that no man could ever dream of. You truly are a hero." Before I could say anything, he asked another question.

"May I ask what your name is, hero."

"... Nova."

"What a pleasant name, and what might be your last name?" He sure is trying to figure me out, if I tell my full name Nova Skyborne, he would surely notice I am not a noble. I don't want him to suspect that I am trying to hide it. The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

"I'd rather not say it because It's not my identity anymore." A brief silence followed.

"I understand… it seems you took your stand against your noble family name, which makes me think that you are one of the few that opposes nobles am I right?" I knew he would've arrived at this conclusion. He sure likes to pry in other people's business. But should I make him think that or not? I still don't know what he wants.

"I don't oppose or side with either nobles or misfits, I only side with what's right." I spoke without any hesitation.

"I respect your belief… There are not many people in this world that follow the path which you are following. And that's what I had expected from a hero." This is not good, if this keeps up going, he will surely continue asking me questions and try to figure me out. I need to turn this conversation around.

"If you don't mind, I like to ask some questions of my own." I spoke before he could continue.

"Certainly, you can ask me anything you want and I shall answer you to my best knowledge."...

"After interacting with a few of the people, I learned that there is a curse that exists in this city. Could you tell me more about it."

"I am glad you asked that question. The reason I wanted to see you was because I think you are the one who can help save this city from the curse." He said.

"But before that — you must understand the curse…. It started from those ruins…"

"Ruins? you mean like this?"

"Indeed, there are many different kinds of ruins scattered around in this world. Nobody knows where they came from. We believe the divine bestowed this ruin upon us." From what I understand, ruins are the decayed or destroyed remains of ancient structures or buildings which were developed by people who lived many years ago. On earth we had the Colosseum, pyramids and many more.

"The ruins have powers that are beyond any humans could hope for. Powers that match the divine itself and only the worthy shall be granted those powers. Some ruins are cursed and some are blessed."

"So this one is blessed you mean?"

"Exactly, this particular ruin provides us Holy water to fight the curse." If that's true then that explains the Holy water from the ruin I saw back in elderwilds. But are these both ruins connected somehow?

"You said, some of them are cursed. How does it affect the people?"

"The curse spreads among the people. If one of them is cursed, they can spread the curse among the citizens. For instance, the food they eat would be cursed, the water they drink would be cursed, everything that they intake would be… Cursed. And if someone happens to eat the same food or drink the same water they will be cursed." I see that's how this curse works. But that still doesn't explain what Ilja said to me.

'I don't know what it is, but the bishop told me she can't move too much or go out because of the curse. And if she does she will die.'

"Does this curse somehow affect them internally? And are there any other ways of getting this curse?"

"Yes, there are many ways by which another person could be cursed, and some are still unknown. We don't know how the curse affects the people internally but only a select few could survive the curse."

"Holy water? Is that the only way of fighting the curse?"

"Yes, as per my knowledge the Holy water is the only way to fight the curse, but there might be other ways, which are yet to be discovered. And that's where we need your help, hero. You're our only hope."

"What do you want me to help with?"

"To eliminate the curse we must find its origin."

"So, in other words. You want me to go to the cursed ruins and investigate it, am I right?"

"I must acknowledge the fact that you are a sharp one. Yes, indeed we would like you to investigate the ruins. Although the decision would be yours alone. Since it would be an extremely difficult challenge for you. I won't deny the fact that doing this could risk your life. Or you might end up getting cursed yourself." He is right, this could be dangerous, if I am not careful I would die.

"I need some time to think about it."

"I understand, take as much time as you need." He nodded once.

"There is one more thing that I like to ask."

"Go ahead, what is it you want to know?"

"The Cliff. What can you tell me about it? And can a person go to the other side of the cliff?"

"Hmm... Why do you ask?" Of course he would ask me another question. He is trying to figure out how much he wants to tell me, if I don't give him a strong reason, he would not tell me everything.

"If the ruins are scattered around the world, that would mean there should be ruins that are on the other side of the cliff." He stayed silent for a moment.

"It's true there might be ruins and a way to the other side of the cliff, but no one could possibly survive the Elderwilds." I was right, that confirms it then, there's another way to go back to the cliff. It's better not to ask any more of the questions. Besides if he wanted to tell me the way, he would've told me directly about the ruin — where the holy water came from. It seems that's the best I could get out of him.

"Thank you for inviting me, I'll think about it." I turned back and started walking.

"Wait." He paused.

"You're not planning to go to the other side are you?" He is onto me, I better play it nonchalant.

"I can't say that I would, but if I might you wouldn't mind showing me the way would you?"

"Oh, not at all. If you wish to go to the other side for whatever reasons you have, I won't stop you. But you must prove yourself. I can't be the reason for your death." He walked past me.

"I'll be expecting your answer soon, hero." The bishop guards approached me, to escort me out.

"Please, come this way." Soon after I was out of the ruin, I walked back to the city. I needed to clear my mind so I started exploring the city. Kids were playing with each other, running through the street, chasing each other. Like playing the game of tag. And the city was still lively as ever. Markets still flourished with new goods. Everywhere I looked people had their smiles on their faces, like they had forgotten everything that had happened to them. There were no laws, no rules that were binding them anymore.

It was impressive to see how the city was working without any laws or any rule, everyone working as united, helping each other. Seeing that, I couldn't help but think what the archbishop said, his words still echoed in my mind.

'Yes, there are many ways by which another person could be cursed, and some are still unknown. We don't know how the curse affects the people internally but only a select few could survive the curse.' These people, after all this time, have finally begun their life from the very beginning. If the curse spreads among the citizens, it could create a chain reaction of death, many innocent lives will be lost. But what can I do? How can I fight the curse?

"Hey Log, do you know anything about this curse?" … Nothing happened.

"Hey log I asked you a question, come on if you know it answer me." … It didn't appear. So even the log doesn't know what the curse is, strange I thought it knew everything exists in this world.

"Do you know anything that might help?" … Well, I guess not… What should I do now? If I accept this, I don't know what will happen to me. But if I am able to find what this curse is, these people won't die… Suddenly, a voice cut through the air interrupted my thoughts.

"What... are you doing here?" It came from behind where I was standing, I turned back and saw her standing there with a frowned expression on her face. There was no doubt, it was her.

"Aeris!"