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Chapter 16 – The cat is poisonous
I didn’t know prison was the top hangout spot.
Why are Harold and Vincent here?
“Hello.”
I greeted them.
But instead of greeting me back, Harold just looked at me and sighed.
Rude!
What was that for?!
“Hey Nina… there’s a question I would like to ask…”
What is it, Vincent?
Is it about my clothes again?
“What kind of poison comes out of these claws of yours?”
It’s about the clothes.
But…
That’s a very specific question.
Why did he ask that?
“A deadly one…?”
It killed the wolves, so…
“Really…?”
What’s with that suspicious gaze…?
Are you slowly turning into another Harold?
“Does it also by chance… numb muscles and cause vocal cords to stop functioning?”
…
H-huh?
What are you…
…
Wait a second now…
“Nina, a priestess specialized in dealing with curses got here the other day. And before she lifted the curse, she used a simple cure spell to remove toxins in the man’s body. When she did that, he regained his ability to speak.”
“I-is that so…?”
Are you telling me the poison had different effects than it had on the wolves…?
Why…?
“In other words, his mute status was probably your fault.”
“Ugk…”
You don’t need to be so straight to the point, Harold!
“He was quite annoyed. Said his muscles felt stiff all these days…”
“Argh…”
I get it!
Stop it already!
“Well, as for the other thing we figured out…”
Vincent squinted and looked at me.
“… I guess we should tell her, shouldn’t we?”
Tell me…?
What are you talking about?
Does the man hold a grudge against me now?
Did he swear revenge for poisoning him?
S-surely not, right…?
“It’s about the source of that curse.”
Not revenge… good…
The source of the curse, you say…?
You mean he used some cursed item?
Or did some evil mage cursed him?
Or maybe he ate too much wolf meat?
“The cause… is still unknown.”
… huh?
Unknown?
Then why were you acting all secretive.
I thought you might say something like ‘an evil mage is set on destroying the city with his werewolf army!’
… but I guess not knowing the source is even scarier, isn’t it?
“From what he said, nothing out of ordinary happened to him in the days preceding his first transformation. Even after asking for all of the details, the priestess couldn’t pinpoint the cause.”
Hmm…
That could mean one of many things.
1. A regular item he used everyday was actually cursed all along.
2. Someone managed to place a curse on him without him ever noticing.
3. He has been cursed since long ago, but only now has the curse manifested.
4. He is lying.
… if it’s number one or two, anyone could get cursed and they wouldn’t even know it.
That’s scary…
What if I turn into a beast one day…?
Wait…
I already do that, don’t I?
Well… even more of a beast then…?
“In other words, be careful. This could just be a one-time incident, but there’s no guarantee it won’t repeat.”
What a bad timing…
The day before I’ll do a quest for some noble, you tell me there is an unknown danger somewhere?
Yeah, this totally won’t weigh on my mind at all…
I guess all I can do is hope there won’t be any more werewolves.
I visited the uncursed man after that.
To describe his mood, ‘angry’ would be an understatement.
Apparently, enduring pain from stiffened muscles for days isn’t exactly fun.
Who would have guessed?
Well, I properly apologized to him…
But I still don’t think he forgave me…
His stare could kill…
Are you sure his curse got removed?
A-anyway, I’m really sorry!
After finally leaving the place, I let out a sigh.
The poison in these claws.
What exactly does it do?
I had to find out.
Since it was still early afternoon and I wasn’t too hungry, I decided to go outside of the city again.
Gate guard no.2 saw me off.
By the time I encountered the first pack of wolves, I formulated a theory.
The werewolf went mute right after I charged him and lost consciousness.
At that moment, my thoughts were ‘shut up!’.
So maybe my thoughts somehow changed the poison’s effect?
To add to that theory, there’s one more thing.
Before the battle, I was sure my poison wouldn’t be able to kill him because he’s sturdy.
I thought to myself that it would only numb his movements.
And that’s exactly what it did.
So, is that it?
Does the poison’s effect change depending on what I think will happen or want to happen?
If yes, then these gloves are even more ridiculous than I first thought…
Found a wolf.
But it seems like he didn’t find me yet.
Perfect.
Slash.
I cut him while wishing for the poison to paralyze.
But it wasn’t successful.
Well, maybe it was…?
He collapsed on the ground and stopped moving instantly.
But his pupils kept rapidly moving around.
After a few seconds, even his eyes stopped and he died.
What is this now…
Did the two effects combine?
Both deadly and paralyzing poison?
Hmm…
That’s weird…
Let’s test it a bit more.
I smell a group of wolves this way.
Come!
Become my test subjects!
Rest in peace, test subject no.7.
Your sacrifice was… kind of worthwhile…?
So, in conclusion…
I have no idea.
The wolves always die.
Sometimes after twitching a bit and sometimes they stop moving right away.
Other than wolves, I also encountered a bear.
But the results were pretty much the same.
What is it then?
Does the poison have different effects on humans then?
Well, that could be true…
But, it’s not like I can test that, can I…?
‘Hey, mind being slashed by my poisonous claws?’
Only some crazy person would eagerly agree to that…
But even if the effect is different on humans, it still wouldn’t explain why the werewolf suddenly went mute…
If that was also the work my poison, why did it take so long to kick in?
I just can’t figure this out.
Oh well…
It’s getting late, I better return.
This time, I got seven wolves and a bear.
I wonder just how much a bear is worth?
Hmm, if I get two silvers for one wo-
…
Wait.
I was told I wouldn’t get any money for bringing in wolves today, didn’t I?
Ugh…
I forgot…
Well, I’ll bring the bear at least…
“And that’s three silvers and fifty coppers…”
That’s quite a bit.
Almost double a wolf.
“I’m glad you listened to me and didn’t hunt any more wolves.”
“Y-yeah…”
Hearing my unease, the receptionist frowned at me.
…
What is with that response, me?!
Now she is totally suspicious!
“… how many do you have in there?”
She pointed at my bag.
“W-what are you talking about? Haha…”
Good freaking job, me!
You are SO good at lying!
Look!
Those furious eyes of hers don’t suspect a thing!
A round of applause!
“S-seven…?”
Oh no…
It got even worse.
That stare is comparable to the uncursed man now.
Did you also contract a curse that transforms you into a monster?
“Siiiiiigh…”
That was one long sigh.
And a spectacular facepalm as well.
If all of that wasn’t aimed at me, I would commend you.
“The guild will buy them at half price. But only because it’s you. Don’t think I’ll be so nice next time!”
“Y-yes…”
Huh…
I survived?
Yay!
I’m still alive!
But her annoyed gaze doesn’t stop.
Not even as we go to the dismantling room again.
Seriously…
Are you perhaps gate guard no.1’s sister or something?
Please stop looking at me like that!
Aaargh!
Why do I always anger people?!
…
I’m not gonna mess up tomorrow and end up being on a hit list of some noble, am I…?
…
Let’s just sleep it off.
Yep.
That’s the best solution.
Just walk to the inn.
Go up to my room.
Take off the dress and slippers.
Comfortably lie in the bed.
And.
Sleep it off.
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