Lucy POV
"..."
I quietly take in the changing scenery outside the carriage window.
Travelling like this takes a lot of time, huh?
It's the Saturday after Hugh made his apology and subsequent request for me. After I gave it a bit more thought, I realized this turn of events shouldn't have come as such a surprise.
Hugh's backstory is that he comes from a minor branch of the prominent Latimer family. His name still carries some weight, but the branch itself doesn't have much real influence.
Which normally wouldn't have been a problem for his family, since they are all hardworking and good people. But one day his little sister got cursed and the treatment left them in dire straits.
They hired and searched for all the best mages to heal her, but none of them managed to do it. But Hugh wasn't discouraged by this and instead he strived to do even better in both his studies and networking with other nobles.
Eventually he gained quite a bit of fame for himself and he quickly rose through the ranks, becoming one of the most promising talents among his generation. But he still didn't have any luck finding a healer powerful enough to cure his sister, whose health was getting worse by the day.
Then during a regular student council patrol duty, some monsters showed up and injured one of the students, but a golden haired girl managed to completely heal the student and even break the curse upon them that was caused by the monster. So seeing her proficiency with light magic, he asked Lucy to cure his little sister.
At least that's how this event happened in the game. Since Lucy could only go on patrols with the student council during the second year, this event could only be triggered around the middle of the game.
So even though I didn't show off any healing magic this time, during my duel with Hugh in the student tournament, he probably saw my proficiency with light magic and this event got triggered early.
Just like with Bernard… I can't believe that the first time I tried acting a little like a protagonist, I ended up triggering two different events way too early…
Well, at least this is less troublesome than the other one. If I can, I'd be happy to cure that little girl, Alice, sooner than expected, but if I can't, I can still return later and do it according to the original timeline.
Though, there is one person who didn't quite like my attitude approaching this issue…
"Hmph."
"..."
After noticing my gaze, Hina turns her head away from me, letting out a puff of air.
"Hina… are you still angry?"
"Why would I be angry? Just because one person ignored my advice and forgave the one who wronged her without a second thought? Not even asking for any insurance and even agreeing to help the other party and still not asking for anything in return? There wouldn't be such a foolish person around, right? Especially one who did it on two different occasions."
"...But Hugh didn't mean to do all of that and he just wants to cure his little sister. It doesn't feel right to ask for anything."
"Tck, it's really like I'm talking to a wall sometimes. Didn't this exact thing happen with Arthur too? You instantly gave in back then too."
"But I turned out to be right about him too, didn't I?"
"...we'll see."
Honestly, I know Hina is just looking out for me and it makes me feel really happy that she cares about me. Even though she didn't like my approach, she still came along with me and boarded the carriage headed for Hugh's home territory.
"Hina, thank you. And I'm sorry, I'll listen to you next time. Will you forgive me?"
"...whatever. If this was your decision I'll support you, I just don't want you to be deceived by other people. Not all nobles are good people. You might be right about Arthur or even Hugh, but who knows about the next one?"
"I know."
Well, with this I have made connections with all the capture targets and Hina too, so if I just keep interacting with them then none of them should receive the villain role, right?
Though I wonder if this much is really enough to stop this story from having a villain character. And the evil god Agrimon should still be out there too. Maybe now it will be the side characters who have their roles changed next? I should still keep an eye out.
After half a day of travel we finally arrive at our destination.
There was an illustration in the game depicting what Hugh's home looked like, but it still feels a bit weird to see that a character like him, who represents the future of nobility, lives so frugally.
It's just a collection of a few old looking buildings surrounded by fields with one slightly taller building serving as the family mansion.
Well, they would probably be better off by now if it wasn't for her sister's unfortunate situation.
While we take in the surroundings, Hugh quickly goes to talk with one of the servants and then comes back to us.
"Normally I would receive you properly, but from my family, only my little sister is home at the moment. And since this was a very last minute arrangement it will take some time to get a room ready for you. I'm sorry, I know I was the one who pushed your visit to be so soon, but would it be okay if you examined my sister first?"
"No, it's okay. I understand."
Hugh says with an apologetic look and then leads us to the second floor, stopping in front of a half open door.
In the room a small girl, bearing some resemblance to Hugh, is sitting on her bed with an open book in front of her. Her complexion is rather sickly and her eyelids are slightly drooping, clearly having trouble staying awake. Hugh lightly knocks at the door, getting the girl's attention.
"...? Ah, big brother Hugh! Welcome home, you arrived sooner than expected. Was everything alright on the road?"
"Of course. Oh, did you stay awake because you knew I was coming? You should have slept if you felt tired, there's no need to force yourself."
"No, it's okay. The book you gave me last time was really interesting, so I was just really absorbed in reading it. Thank you for sending it to me!"
The girl says while hugging the book, which has a little vampire drawn on its cover. Hugh pats her head, his behaviour has been much more gentle since entering the room.
"You're welcome, I'm happy to hear that. Ah right, these two ladies are also students at Golden Vow Academy. Lady Seraphina and Lady Lucy, this is my little sister Alice Latimer."
"It's nice to meet you…"
"Hi there, Alice."
"...Hello."
The two siblings were too caught up in their conversation, but then Hugh remembers our presence and introduces us to his little sister. Alice only notices us now and she suddenly becomes a bit flustered and quietly greets us while peeking out from behind Hugh.
"Lady Lucy is the really gifted light mage I told you about in my letter. She agreed to try to cure you."
"R-really? She seems so young…"
Alice suddenly looks at me with big, bright eyes, her tone is more surprised than skeptical. Hm, she's still really cute in reality too.
"Hm, I saw her skills up close. She is really impressive."
"That's right! I'll do my best so just leave it to this big sister."
Usually I wouldn't praise the ability I kind of stole from the original Lucy like this, but I want to reassure Alice, at least a little bit.
"Okay, thank you big sister Lucy."
Aw, she must have heard a line like mine hundreds of times by now, yet she still acts so grateful, even with her shy personality. Now I feel even more motivated to do my best.
"Have you taken your medicine yet?" Hugh asks.
"No, I wanted to stay awake when you arrive- Ah. I mean…"
"Haah. You silly girl, what did I tell you? Nevermind, take your medicine now. It's okay if you fall asleep, I'll be right here and maybe you'll even feel a bit better when you wake up?"
"...okay."
With practiced movements he quickly prepares Alice's medication and hands it over to her in a cup. Just after a few seconds after taking it Alice's eyes close and the sound of her rhythmic breathing fills the room.
"...When she was six years old, we traveled to visit some relatives not too far away. But suddenly a horde of monsters attacked our carriages and in the chaos one of them managed to injure Alice."
After watching her fall asleep, Hugh speaks up, his gentle gaze still on his sister.
"Thankfully the wound itself wasn't deep and it got healed right away. But the curse that monster inflicted with its attack was especially vicious. It slowly eats away at her mana until it completely exhausts her. I don't expect you to break her curse, almost all the healers within the empire have tried and failed to do so. But I can't help but want to try every possibility, no matter how small."
"If so many people have tried, is there really a point in asking Lucy as well?" Hina asks.
"Curses are much different from physical injuries. Healing a wound can be done by most magical attributes and over time you can learn to use your healing abilities better. Breaking a curse on the other hand mostly depends on your natural affinity with your attribute and even then, if we take the second best healing attribute, water, it is very difficult to break even slightly complex curses. Only light magic is different, it almost repels the curses just by coming into contact with them and it's the main reason light mages are so sought after."
"So I just need to release my mana into Alice's body, right?"
"Huh? You haven't done this before?"
After my cautious question, Hina turns to me in surprise.
"Well, curses are mainly covered during the second year so… But just like Hugh said, it's supposed to be a simple process, so I should be fine."
"That is more or less how to do it, but as you guide your mana, you should first focus and try to follow Alice's mana back to its source and there you should feel the curse's presence around her soul."
"Okay, I'll give it a try."
I step closer and touch Alice's small hand, letting my mana flow into her and then following Hugh's instructions.
It really isn't complicated and I can soon feel a large spherical mass of mana, that Hugh described as her soul.
Though I'm not really sure if that's actually what this is, the game never really went into the details, but it's basically something like an invisible organ that produces mana and all the inhabitants of this world have it.
It's a bit similar to your heart, but instead of blood, it circulates and creates mana, and it can only be sensed by magical means. So even if it's not really a soul, it's understandable why people would call it that.
Though it's evident right away that something is wrong with Alice's soul, since it only seems to produce a very small amount of mana and it's like some sort of force is wrapped around it, slowly tightening its grip.
Heh, you think you can torment a cute little girl in front of me? Take this, my inherited protagonist cheat ability!
With my target found I guide a large amount of my mana into it and right away I feel the oppressive force loosen its grip slightly wherever my mana touches it.
"Ugh."
However I also feel myself getting more exhausted the longer I go on. Even though there is only a little bit left before I could sever the curse's hold on her, I'm forced to stop my attempt and take a break.
"Lucy! Are you okay?"
"Haah. Yeah, I'm fine. I almost managed to do it."
I respond to Hina's concern with a bit of reluctance.
I guess it's too early for me after all, huh. Well, I did trigger the event early and Lucy only reached the peak of her strength in the third year so it's not a surprising outcome.
"It's okay. Thank you for trying anyway. And my offer still stands, if you have any wishes."
Hugh seems to be taking it very well too, or maybe more like he's already used to this. I'm sure when Alice wakes up she'd have the same reaction too, but…
"...There is one more method I can try."
"...! W-wait, you don't mean…?"
After catching my breath I mumble to myself as an idea starts forming in my mind. Unfortunately Hugh picks up on my meaning, instantly becoming more alert.
Ugh, I should have just quietly done it.
"What? What is it?"
Just like I feared, Hina notices the concern in Hugh's voice and asks for more details.
"W-well, it's a technique exclusive to light magic users. Since I was almost able to do it the regular way, with this method it's almost guaranteed I'll succeed."
"...What Lucy is leaving out is that it's a technique where the healer transfers the curse upon themselves."
"What?! You can't do that!"
I try to word it carefully, but Hugh still exposes the true nature of what I was planning to do and Hina instantly becomes worried, as expected.
"No it's okay, it's only dangerous when you transfer a curse that is far above what you could destroy normally. Since I almost managed to do it the usual way, with this I'll be able to do it for sure."
"...Hugh, is that actually true?"
"I don't know. It's a very rarely used technique, if I hadn't looked deeply into curses and researched everything that is even remotely related, I wouldn't even know about its existence. I know that it's very much a last resort kind of method where the light mage transfers a curse onto themself. But I didn't look into it further since I don't want anyone else to bear such a responsibility for Alice… Or to be completely honest, I know that Alice wouldn't be able to live with herself if she knew someone did that for her."
Hina doesn't seem to believe me so she asks Hugh for clarification, but fortunately he doesn't know all the details either.
"The mana produced by the soul is the purest at its source and curses wrap themselves around it to suck out as much as it can from its host. Usually this is a bad thing, but since light magic is so oppositional to its existence, by taking the curse on ourselves we can destroy it by taking advantage of our purest mana. And that difference should be enough for me to overcome it." I try to explain as confidently as I can.
"Really? What happens if you can't destroy it even then?"
"Then I'll just bear the curse for now and I can destroy it later when I become strong enough."
"No! That's still too dangerous."
"I think so too. As much as I'd like to see Alice get better, if you truly believe you'll get strong enough to lift the curse in the future, then you can just try again when the time comes."
Faced with strong rejection on both sides I fall silent for a moment, but my eyes wander over to Alice, still sleeping peacefully.
"It might be a hasty decision, but when I see someone I can help then I have to act. I can destroy the curse this way, trust me."
With renewed determination, I look Hina and Hugh in the eyes, stating my resolve.
"..."
"Lucy… Are you really sure you can destroy it?"
"Hm."
"Are you really, really sure?"
"I am. If nothing else, my light magic affinity has always been my strong point."
"...I still don't like it. But if you're so certain you'll succeed and there are no other consequences. Haah, then fine. But you better be correct about it! If not then I'll use all the resources of the Lazarious family to make sure you become strong enough to overcome it."
"Right, I'll also do everything I can to assist you in that possibility."
I finally manage to convince both of them to let me attempt my idea.
Though one part of me also thinks this is a stupid idea, since I could just wait a year or more and do this without any risks. This is a mid game event after all, originally the curse transfer isn't even an option for Alice's condition, it's a plotpoint for a main event much later down in the story.
But even if it meant just one extra year, I don't want Alice to suffer until then, especially if I can do something to solve it now.
"Then, I'll do it."