[57.4] Surviving a Killing Curse

My eyes pressed together painfully before slowly opening up. I let out a groan as I lay in an unknown bed, my skin feeling as it if was pulsing.

"Young Miss!"

I turned to look over at Caldwell and caught sight of his protruding horns. I let out a sigh, "Ugh… What happened."

"You passed out after discovering your lost toe. I'm not sure why you were so panicked. It was just one toe, not two… Or, I guess, one and a half toes. Anyway, I'm surprised you were worried about the missing toes and not the burns covering most of your body."

I sat up quickly, checking over my hands and arms which were covered in bandages, "Eh? Burns?!"

Caldwell explained, "Your body looked like someone tried to set it on fire. Tell me, who tried to kill you and Chief Gonza!?"

"Eh, no one tried to kill me." I added, "As for Chief Gonza, I have no idea who wanted him dead. He appeared in our art gallery in that state, so I used teleportation magic to get him here before he could die-"

He tapped my head, "You silly girl! Don't you realize how dangerous teleportation is?! It's a miracle that you didn't lose your life and only lost a toe!!"

I pursed my lips sadly, "But the Headmaster makes it look so easy… I thought-"

"Of course he makes it look easy!! He's the Headmaster!" Caldwell puffed in frustration, "Even my darling Chief Gonza relies on magic relics for transportation rather than using-"

I grabbed him quickly and shouted, "Is my Uncle okay?!"

Caldwell blinked slowly then smiled, "Would you like to go see him?"

My entire body lightened and I hopped out of bed, "Yes!"

I immediately buckled over in pain, "OW OW OW OW OW!"

Caldwell chuckled and appeared at my side to help me stand, "Don't push yourself. Teleportation takes a heavy toll on the user."

I let out a groan, "I feel that."

Caldwell led me out of the room and towards the straw house. Judging by his calm demeanor, I knew that Gonza didn't die so I was able to relax and lean on him. Caldwell stopped outside of the shack, "Go on inside, Young miss."

I blinked in confusion, "You aren't coming?"

His face flushed and he averted his eyes, "N-No. If he sees me, I'm afraid…"

I let out a sigh and nodded in understanding, "It's okay, Caldwell."

He smiled bitterly, "Let me know his condition."

I nodded and hobbled inside, finding Chief Gonza on the floor as if he was trying to crawl away. His face was pale as he looked at me with distinct fear. However, it was replaced by confusion upon recognizing me, "Reika?"

I rushed over to him feeling tears burning in my eyes, "UNCLE!"

I pounced on him, hugging him tightly. I could feel just how tense he was, but I ignored it.

"R-Reika?! It's really you!?"

I pulled away, "Yes! I'm here!!"

He grabbed me desperately, "Hurry! Run! There are demons here!!!"

I was taken aback by his response, "Eh?"

"It's not safe! You have to get away quickly! There are demons!"

I blinked in confusion, "Huh? Yeah. Of course, there are demons. I brought you to the Macabre Forest."

His face paled even more, draining completely of blood, "Y-You- MACABRE FOREST!?"

I flinched from his shriek, "Yes?"

"Why-WHY!? Why would you do that!?"

"Because you were dying?"

Lele let out a sigh as she entered the room with a basket of herbs, "It seems your Uncle doesn't know how to properly thank his saviors."

Chief Gonza tried to push me away, "Hurry! There's one now! Escape while I distract her!!"

Lele stared at him with distaste, "If it wasn't for the Young Miss Reika, I wouldn't have ever helped him. Leave it to a human to show hatred when a demon saved his life."

Chief Gonza flinched and looked at me helplessly, "W-What…"

I explained, "Uncle Gonza. Please relax. These people are actually quite kind."

"You… You know this demon?"

I nodded, "I do. Her name is Lele and she specializes in demonic curses. I met her when I saved her tiger cub."

Chief Gonza hesitantly looked at Lele. He still held onto me, "R-Reika! You can't be a demon sympathizer! Whatever she told you was probably a trick-"

I interrupted, "-Zephyr's also a demon."

He froze.

I smiled brightly, "I knew that since I was a child, but I'm not a demon sympathizer. Just a realist."

Gonza didn't know how to face me, "I… I…"

"So please don't be rude to Lele. She's working her hardest to save you." I turned to Lele, "And please don't hate him for it. He grew up in a Kingdom where they drill hatred of demons into your mind. Plus, his entire job is to bring demon sympathizers to justice. But he's actually very sweet and I'm sure if he just sees all of you for who you are, he will eventually accept you."

Gonza glanced timidly at Lele who raised an eyebrow at him. He looked away in shame, "But… But she's feeding me poison!"

Lele scoffed, "It's not poison! How many times do I need to tell you it's medicine!"

He sniffled, "But it's so bitter…"

I rubbed his head like I would do to a child, "Would you like a piece of candy after taking the medicine?"

His face twitched, "No…"

Lele laughed for the first time, "I will prepare something sweet for you, but you need to drink this tonic every three hours or else it won't work."

He mumbled under his breath, "...But I don't like it."

I turned to Gonza, "Ah. By the way, why are you crawling on the floor? Go back to the bed."

His face flushed red and he averted his gaze.

Lele bent down beside me to grab him, "He's paralyzed from the waist down."

I froze, "Para…lyzed?"

She picked him up with ease and placed him back into the bed comfortably, "If the curse spread up a little bit more he would have died. He's lucky he only lost the function of his lower half."

"So he will never walk again?"

"It's hard to say. As long as he drinks this tonic on time, there's still hope that he will recover-"

"NOOOO!" Caldwell burst into the shack screaming with tears. He shoved both of us to the side and jumped onto Gonza sobbing uncontrollably, "THE LOWER HALF IS THE BEST PART! IT CAN'T STOP FUNCTIONING! I DON'T WANT TO BE ON TOP!"

Gonza went rigid, "C-C-C-"

I cleared my throat, "Caldwell."

Caldwell finally raised his head and looked at me, blinking away tears, "What?"

I silently raised my hand and motioned at my forehead.

He blinked and slowly raised his hand to feel the horn on his own forehead, "Oh… Oh! N-No! I'm an imposter!" Caldwell jumped off anxiously speaking, "I'm not Caldwell! Who is Caldwell!?"

I looked at him in disappointment, "Caldwell…"

Caldwell hung his head, "...I'm Caldwell."

Caldwell hesitated for a moment before timidly spinning around to look at Gonza's reaction. I quickly looked at Gonza as well, freezing when I saw the look on his face.

Rather than being pale…

It was bright red!

Gonza managed to spit out, "D-Demon?!"

Caldwell nodded his head speechlessly.

Gonza repeated, "N-Not just an owl?!"

Caldwell shook his head.

"T-Then this entire time…"

Caldwell spoke, "I've liked you."

"And… You weren't…"

"I've been a demon, yes. Not an animal."

Gonza flipped over, throwing the blanket over his head.

Caldwell panicked, jumping on him again, "Gonza! Darling! Baby! Why are you hiding from me!?"

"G-Get off of me! You-you flirt!"

"But I only have you in my eyes!"

"Then stop looking at me!"

Lele started pushing me out of the room, "Let's give them the room."

She called out to Caldwell, "Make sure he takes the medicine!"

I looked nervously at the shack, "Do you think everything will be okay?"

She smiled, "I think so. Did you see your Uncle's response? Demon or not, he looked relieved to see Caldwell."

"Did he really?"

Hm.

I must not be able to read Uncle Gonza correctly.

*SLAP*

Lele and I both flinched from the loud slap that came from behind us. We both looked at the shack timidly. Caldwell walked out with a bright handprint on his cheek. He held out a thumbs up, "I got him to drink the medicine!"

I blinked feeling a bit nervous, "H-How?"

"Hehe! I fed it to him mouth to mouth."

"..."

Lele and I both gave him a disgusted look. He smiled back at us innocently, "What?"