Chapter 4 - Curses

By the time they reached the front steps of the Grand Narukami Shrine, Ivan completely lacked the energy to admire the view of the beautiful shrine and the tree behind it under the starlit sky. Of course, he was exhausted from climbing what felt like thousands of steps, but that wasn't all. 

Ivan glanced over at his two travel companions, Yae Miko and a shrine maiden he learned was named Miyuki. Yae Miko held a fan in front of her face to hide an unsightly smirk from view whenever she looked in his direction. In contrast, Miyuki observed him with brows lowered out of genuine concern for his well-being.

The reason for the ladies' attitudes displayed itself on his shirt and hair in the form of fruit juice, dirt, and bird droppings.

Although Yae Miko found plenty of amusement in watching random unfortunate events happen to this poor soul, she conscientiously led him into the main shrine. Inside, she pointed out a small bathing area he could use to clean himself. 

One quick wash later, he entered the main room in the larger shrine that stood in front of the two smaller shrines in the back which were visible through open windows. He admired the simple yet elegant carvings of the pillars in the room as well as the various fox-like or electro-element-based decorations.

"Are you ready?" Yae Miko asked the moment he entered. 

Ivan turned toward her voice and saw the pink-haired shrine maiden seated at a table with a book in her hands. Several objects such as talismans and other various priestess tools he did not recognize sat on the table next to her.

"I'm ready."

"Good. Take off your shirt."

"..."

Ivan's brow wrinkled at the way she said that, which brought an increasingly common smirk of amusement to the woman's face. Even so, he removed his shirt, folded it, and rested it on a nearby chair. He didn't have anything to show off or hide, anyway.

"Hm. You are rather skinny. You should eat more."

"Sickness prevents that from working, I've found out."

"Try again after I cure your curses."

"...Okay. So, what now?"

"Sit down on the floor. However you feel comfortable. Keep your back to me."

Ivan nodded and sat cross-legged in the middle of the room. Behind him, he heard the gentle clacks of Yae Miko's sandals approaching him. He then heard a buzz like that of an old lightbulb behind him, causing him to turn his head out of curiosity. He caught sight of several talismans floating in the air connected by an array of purple electro element lines that he recognized from the game.

"Stay as straight as you can, young man," Yae Miko nonchalantly chided him.

Nodding, Ivan faced forward. A moment later, he felt several paper talismans stick his back like wet toilet paper. Something that felt like static electricity made his skin tingle and his hair stand on end.

Several seconds passed. Since Ivan could not see Yae Miko, he could not see the sweat forming on her brow or her deep frown. The gohei in her hands trembled as she waved it along with the array of electro element energy as though struggling to push a physical object. 

Eventually, she stopped. The buzz fell silent. The talismans peeled off of Ivan's back and disintegrated.

Curious, Ivan turned his head. Upon seeing the frown on Yae Miko's face, his hopes vanished into thin air.

"Is it bad?"

"Hmm… It's complicated," She hesitantly answered. "As of right now, removing all of the curses will be difficult."

"So what you're saying is that it's possible?"

Yae Miko rested her hands on her hips, closed her eyes, and sighed before saying, "Probably. I didn't expect it to be like this, but I am me. I am confident I can cure your curses. Most of them, anyway."

Ivan blinked. 

"Why do I feel like there's a catch or something?"

"Your curses are complicated. I can probably remove one tonight, but the other seven might take some time. Especially the last one. To be completely honest, I can't really tell what kind of curse that last one is. It's like the first seven are separate jars of fruit juice that you can see the difference between, but the last one is muddied by everything being mixed together."

"Sounds complicated…"

"It is. If you want to remove all of them, you will need to put in a lot of effort."

Ivan lowered his eyes. Although he could tell that the woman truly meant it when she said that it would be difficult, he felt like a weight had been lifted from his shoulders just by knowing that he might not have to suffer unreasonably for most of his life.

"Also," Yae Miko added, pulling him back to reality, "as nice of a woman as I am, I can't afford to treat you for free. At least for the seven curses I can see clearly, you are going to need a lot of materials from all over Teyvat. I'll give you a list for the materials I will need for the seven curses I can help you with. Actually, before that, I will test removing the curse that I know I have materials for removing to check the necessary quality and quantity of the catalysts. It might hurt a bit, like pulling a knife out from a wound. Are you okay with me proceeding in that?"

"...Got any painkillers?"

"No, sorry."

Ivan studied the woman's face for a bit. She stared at him resolutely in return. Part of him found the sight of this character taking something seriously incredibly attractive, but that was only a fleeting thought.

"It's just pain. Pain no longer hurts when it's over."

"Fufu. That's a very masochistic way of thinking of it."

"..."

'I'm just optimistic, okay?'

"Wait here. I'll be right back."

After Yae Miko left the room, it fell silent aside from the buzzing and chirping of insects and birds outside the shrine. It gave Ivan a lot of time to ponder the day's events. Finding out about all of his diseases. Pushed off a bridge. Hit by a speeding vehicle of some sort. Falling into the world of a game he played in his free time…

'I'm assuming that meteor was actually me. Falling from the sky sounds like something that would happen to me.'

Turning his head slightly, he looked out through the open windows. He quietly admired the glowing trunk of the Sacred Sakura tree he had offered countless sigils to in the game. Something about its natural splendor calmed him to his core.

Ivan sighed and scratched his head. What a crazy day.