Mimi-kun listened to my request and started spitting out the cursed items.
A cross pendant. A stuffed bear. A sword sheathed in a pitch-black scabbard, and a twisted black staff.
All I wanted was the bear, but I suppose I could've asked more politely.
I set the unnecessary sword and staff aside, then hung the pendant around the neck of the main prize—the stuffed bear known as Marin's Wailing.
When Tino saw what I'd taken out, she said in a stunned daze: "That's... could it be—?? It looks different from the one I remember."
"It was falling apart, so I remade it."
When I'd first picked up Marin's Wailing, the stuffed bear had been ancient and practically in shambles. The surface was blackened, seams were coming undone in places, and its eyes and arms were about to fall off. It probably hadn't been damaged in some battle—it was likely already in that condition to begin with.
And while I'd certainly been tormented by Marin, I wasn't cold-blooded enough to just leave a tattered stuffed bear—no, a cursed item—lying around like garbage.
I put my Hunter-grade cleaning potions to good use, stitched the loose seams shut, replaced the stuffing, and even gave it a proper outfit.
Behold—good as new. Well, more like a completely different item altogether.
"!? Remade!? You remade a cursed item!? And didn't Marin's Wailing get destroyed by Shero's attack!?"
"That's what you'd think, right? It didn't just vanish because it was being well-behaved."
The first contact had come right after I'd repaired the stuffed bear. It appeared in a dream. I'd forgotten what the dream was about, but it was probably gratitude for the repair.
I placed the bear—restored to near-mint condition—on the ground. If you didn't know better, you'd never guess that such an adorable stuffed bear housed a curse that even the Luminous Church couldn't handle.
After waiting a bit, the bear didn't move at all—just like any ordinary stuffed bear. The pendant I'd hung around its neck was supposed to contain the Black Knight too, but there was no sign of him either.
Yesterday, when I'd prostrated myself and begged it to fight, it had nodded in agreement. Was it really planning to back out on the day of? Well, its role was mostly just running around anyway...
It wasn't coming out. Oh, right! Times like these called for offerings.
If I showed it proper respect, Marin would surely appear.
I rummaged through my Treasure Weapon bag—unlike Mimi-kun, this defective thing could only store chocolate bars.
I pulled out the chocolate bars I always kept on hand and placed them on top of the bear's head. Two, three—by the time I set down the fifth, something swept them away from the side.
When had she appeared? A young girl was clutching the stuffed bear tightly against her chest. Beside her, the pitch-black knight stood motionless like a statue.
Marin's Wailing.
A girl who, after a tragic fate, had become a curse. But her appearance was considerably tamer than the first time I'd seen her.
Her scorched dress was the same as ever, but her face and limbs—which had previously crumbled like a rotting corpse—had reverted to how they'd looked when she was still human. And there was something in her expression besides pure resentment.
Marin glared at me with a vaguely sour look.
Well, I'd only just barely gotten her agreement to help. I hadn't exactly earned a wholehearted "yes," so I couldn't really complain. But at least there was no murderous intent.
I pressed my palms together, picked up the chocolate bars that had fallen on the ground as makeshift offerings, held them out to Marin, and said: "I'm counting on you. I'll power up your bear for you."
"...D-don't..."
"C-could it be...!? You're going to sic Marin's Wailing on them!? Mastaa! Wait—can she actually talk besides the wailing!?"
Tino let out a shriek.
Good idea, wasn't it? Those without power have their own way of fighting.
Besides, if Shero could talk, there was nothing strange about Marin speaking too.
"Sic them on? That sounds harsh. I'm just asking for a little help."
Having a girl like this fight felt wrong, but I'd already experienced firsthand just how powerful Marin was. She couldn't beat Shero, but she could handle the Phantoms from the Origin Temple. Plus, since Marin had no physical body, she didn't have to worry about dying from attacks. And the Black Knight was with her too.
And now that I remembered—curses had their own unique advantages.
I pointed at the sword and staff I'd set on the ground—the cursed items that had plunged the Magic Academy and the Sword Saint's dojo into chaos.
"Now then—pick up that sword and staff."
"..."
—Yes, without any downside, she could use other cursed items.
Cursed items typically came with unavoidable drawbacks in exchange for performance that far surpassed ordinary weapons. The staff's power was unknown, but the magic sword had actually turned the Sword Saint's dojo into a mountain of rubble. If Marin and the others—who already had fearsome power—wielded them, it would be like giving a demon a steel club. And for me? A Treasure Weapon.
Without any cursed items, Marin and the Black Knight had already been able to hold their own against Ark and the combined forces of the veteran Hunters and the Luminous Church. Armed like this, they should be able to handle any number of Phantoms no matter how many came.
Marin and the Black Knight slowly picked up the cursed weapons.
That's when Tino jerked her gaze toward the depths of the forest.
"M-Mastaa, the presence—Phantoms are approaching!!"
"Ah, thanks. Is it that time already..."
We hadn't even activated the device yet. That was fast. But as always, I couldn't sense a thing.
I checked the clock. Before I knew it, the scheduled time had already passed.
Marin had taken so long to come out... Citry and the others must have already activated their device. Well, while we were at it, let's activate ours too...
I took out the magic stone Citry had given me and fitted it into the device's socket. The glass tube vibrated without a sound. I'd expected more of a sound effect or a flash of light, but the reaction was pretty underwhelming.
Had it actually activated?
Then Tino's eyes went wide, and she said in a trembling voice: "This sound, this presence—I can't even hear footsteps, but I know... there's an incredible number of them!"
A... sound?
I strained my ears, but all I could hear was the wind.
Even for a Thief suited for scouting, Tino's senses were monstrous. Or maybe she'd been in so many dangerous situations that the power of Mana Materials had enhanced those senses over time.
"Wow, roughly how many?"
"An incredible number. I can't even count them all. Probably because we're much closer to the Origin Temple than Citry and the others..."
I see... It looked like our role as decoys was going to work out after all. They'd never suspect that Citry's group was the real target.
So we were close to the Origin Temple, huh? First time hearing that.
I pulled Mimi-kun close so we could escape at any moment. I confirmed the Barrier Ring on my finger.
I had no idea how powerful the Origin Temple's Phantoms were. Even if I did, it wouldn't matter since I couldn't fight back—but I had the Barrier Ring, so I could survive a few hits.
"Tino, come here."
"!? Y-yes..."
Tino trotted over, wary of the trees behind her. In my experience, when I stood next to someone else, the attacks always came for me first. Even if I got hit by a area attack, my Barrier Ring could protect us both. And once Tino knew the enemy's attack patterns, she should be able to handle it.
Tino's profile was utterly composed. She was tense, but there was no sign of crumbling under the pressure. She'd just said an enormous number was coming, yet she looked every bit as reliable as they come.
As I stepped back, the Black Knight moved forward without showing a trace of emotion. Marin drifted to his side, following his lead. She gripped her staff, her expression dark as she stared into the forest.
...Come to think of it—wasn't Marin a Mage?
"Th-they're coming!!"
Tino's voice came out strangled. A thin line of sweat trailed down her pale cheek.
That was when I finally realized we were surrounded.
We'd chosen a somewhat open clearing to descend, but just a few meters away, it was deep forest. Perched atop the towering trees, lurking in the shadows of trunk-thick branches, human-shaped Phantoms with pitch-black masks concealing their faces had been waiting.
There had to be more than ten of them. When had they gotten this close without me noticing?
The Phantoms weren't hiding. If this level of Phantom had seriously tried to conceal itself, I wouldn't have noticed even at this distance. You could say their willingness to be seen was a display of fighting spirit.
"Hah, hah... Mastaa... they're Mage-types and Thief-types. Every single one of them is accustomed to fighting in forests!!"
The rustling of branches and leaves. Dark shapes moving in the canopy. Quieter than silence, faster than anything. But more terrifying than all of that was the fact that the Phantoms still hadn't attacked.
They had high intelligence. They were coordinated. Probably making absolutely sure they could finish us off.
Whether from that oppressive presence or something else, Tino's breathing was ragged despite hardly having moved.
"...I think the instruction was 'don't kill Selen'..."
"...!"
Tino swallowed hard and naturally dropped into a fighting stance. No weapons—bare-handed.
...Now that I thought about it, Tino never seemed to carry weapons. Even Luke used a wooden sword, and Riez pulled out a weapon when the situation called for it. Could it be that Tino was actually the biggest brute of them all? —No, no, this wasn't the time for that. I wasn't going to have Tino fight.
The air on the battlefield prickled against my skin. The first to move was—the Black Knight.
He drew his sword and kicked off the ground simultaneously, closing the distance in an instant—a master's lunge.
But the ambush failed.
From the treetops, from behind the trunks, from every direction, countless arrows were launched. Faster than the Black Knight's charge.
Against the storm of attacks, the Black Knight responded with sweeping cuts. A high-pitched sound rang out.
Whatever technique they used, their rate of fire had long since surpassed the realm of archery. To my eyes, it looked like converging lines of light. And the sound of his interception—cutting every last one of them down—had blurred into a single continuous note.
There existed a clash of ultimate techniques, something far beyond my ability to imagine.
"...! What speed—I can't move!! I'm being targeted!!"
Arrows were typically inferior to firearms in muzzle velocity. But this rain of arrows showed no sign of letting up. It was as though hundreds or thousands of archers were firing simultaneously.
Arrows that were deflected and struck the ground blew massive craters open. They were like bombs. Bows and arrows might be a minor weapon, but they were never weak. Sven had actually earned his epithet using arrows as his main weapon.
Each and every arrow carried lethal force. The Black Knight was cutting them down with the power of his magic sword and his terrifying swordsmanship, but he hadn't advanced a single step. No—he was gradually being pushed back.
These were dangerous enemies. Were we not being targeted because they intended to pick us off one by one?
Seeing the Black Knight struggling, Marin stepped forward.
Her expression was a mixture of grief and unease. From her slightly parted lips came a piercing wail that shook the silent forest.
The power that had given her curse its name—the ability to kill all who heard it, with an almost physical force: Marin's "Wailing."
The power that had shaken the Luminous Church to its core caused the lines of arrows to tremble for an instant— But the attacks didn't stop at all.
Tino cried out in a trembling voice: "!? That... that one!? Mastaa, isn't it weak!?"
"...Yeah, it really is weak."
............Huh?