"Incredible! The curse has completely vanished! My lord, this is a miracle! A miracle has occurred!!"
The man who had re-appraised the blond boy—who had been bedridden due to the curse—reported to his master in an excited manner.
"Is that true?"
"Yes, without a doubt."
Upon hearing this, the middle-aged man settled beside the boy and gazed at him with tender eyes, then shed a single tear.
"Grow… at long last, at long last I've been able to heal you… My gratitude goes to you, adventurer Alan."
"Don't mention it. I'm glad I was able to complete the quest without any issues. Well, this is quite the emotional scene, so I'll see myself out."
"Escort Alan to the main residence as an honored guest."
The lord of the mansion gave instructions to the large man who served as his attendant.
"Yes, sir!"
"Alan, there may still be unforeseen circumstances. I'd like you to remain here for a while and keep an eye on my grandson Grow's condition."
"Understood."
I guess this counts as aftercare.
After all, I'm getting a hundred million coins for this.
◇◇◇
That evening.
Alan had been summoned to the lord's office in the main residence.
"Allow me to introduce myself once more. I am Moul Alden, the current head of this marquis's house. First, let me give you the remainder of your reward."
The large man attending the marquis then handed over a magic bag.
As expected of a marquis's house — they just casually handed over a hundred million.
"Yes, Lord Moul. I have duly received it. As you are no doubt already aware, I am Alan, an Orichalcum-rank adventurer."
I pulled the tag from my chest and showed it to the marquis.
"Indeed. The church declared they could not break the Glow curse, so I put out that request hoping someone, anyone, might be able to. I was clinging to"
"just a shred"
"of hope."
"I see. It's surprising the church even allowed that commission to be posted, given how proud they seem."
"To me they said, 'We're terribly sorry we couldn't break the curse, and we pray for the commission's success,' but behind the scenes they were sneering, 'No one could possibly break that curse — what a pointless endeavor.'"
The church is just unbelievably spiteful.
Too bad for them — here I am.
"Come to think of it, the receptionist mentioned that people who accepted that commission tend to vanish without a trace..."
"Those were the ones who lied about being able to break a curse they couldn't, hoping to swindle"
"me"
"out of the reward. They've been dealt with."
Don't ask where — that's the kind of question you don't want answered. They brought it on themselves.
"As for those who genuinely tried and simply failed, I haven't done anything to them. They likely left town out of shame after their failure."
I see, so that's how it was.
"Now then, I'd like to place an additional commission right here and now. No matter the cost."
"What sort of commission would that be?"
"Can you use divination? I want you to find the one who cursed my grandchild. They must be made to pay."
"I can do it, but I don't think the compensation would be warranted."
"Why is that?"
"When a powerful curse like that gets dispelled, the caster receives a curse backlash. If it were just an ordinary curse, that'd be one thing, but this was a triple-layered curse."
"I'm not exactly well-versed in curses, but is that how it works?"
"Yes. It wouldn't just be twice the return—it'd be roughly nine times over. The caster would almost certainly die. You'd only need to look into anyone who died under suspicious circumstances to find them."
◇◇◇◇◇◇
Three squared for a ninefold backlash. Could be even more?
Skills: [Reverse], [Divine Eye], [Sword God], [Fist God], [Spear God], [Blazing Magic], [Freezing Magic], [Clear Gale Magic], [Rock Iron Magic], [Holy Magic], [Dark Magic], [Spacetime Magic], [Thunder God Sword], [Phantom Thief Gentleman], [Ninja Master], [Seeker of Truth], [Bizarre Strength], [Pain Dulling], [Complete Status Ailment Resistance], [Dark Spirit's Protection], [Super Intuition], [Heaven's Gate], [Abyss Contractee], [Magic Hand], [Treasure Search], [Seduction], [Eloquence], [Fortune], [Tenfold Growth Speed]
Rank: Orichalcum
Thank you for reading!