Bear School Astartes

”Is the corpse I brought back useful?”

Lann stood to the side, asking Geralt.

The seasoned Demon Hunter stroked his chin and pondered as he looked at the corpse.

”Your investigation is much more useful than mine. If he truly is the murderer who raped and killed the lover, then this corpse might help dispel the resentment regarding death in the curse.”

”People complain, and then it gets twisted into desires or curses by some unknown creature, or simply by the dense Chaos Magic Power. This situation is not uncommon. There are many sets of effective curse-removal techniques in the Demon Hunter’s knowledge, but if the complainer turns into a Demon Spirit after death... such an intricate emotional whirlpool is the truly difficult thing to handle.”

Saying this, Geralt sighed.

”That’s why I least want to take jobs related to lifting curses; it’s too troublesome.”

”At the very least...” Lann’s tone seemed rather relaxed. ”At least we know this lover’s feelings for Fist Knight. When the curse formed, she wasn’t harboring enough malice.”

Anyway, he’s just a helper, so the most troublesome parts of this task surely fall to Geralt to worry about.

After tidying up, the two headed straight to the mudflat where Fist Knight rested and fed.

At the mudflat, the two Demon Hunters happened to meet Miss Eliza, who was there to feed her brother, and a cormorant on the table gobbling down an entire live fish.

”Good afternoon, gentlemen.”

Eliza wiped her hands on the apron at her waist, greeting the two and showing good manners.

Though Geralt felt that if it were just himself visiting, he probably wouldn’t get this reception.

After Lann and Geralt greeted the noble lady, they slightly seriously faced the cormorant, who had just finished his meal.

”It’s almost ready. We can begin the curse removal.”

Upon hearing this, the cormorant flapped his wings, hopping and cawing excitedly.

But Geralt’s next words immediately silenced him.

”You must harbor love.” The Old Demon Hunter seriously instructed the cursed one. ”You must sincerely love your lover.”

The cormorant clad in a nettle shirt froze on the spot.

Asking someone who transformed from human to bird, unable to even control his defecation, to sincerely love the person who cursed him after living like this for two years... such a request is mind-boggling to anyone.

Before the cormorant started angrily squawking, Lann stepped forward and recounted his investigation to this former Baron.

The curse from the lover was not intentional, only complaints. If not for later being raped and killed, perhaps now there would be someone besides his own sister taking care of the cormorant, a woman filled with remorse.

After Lann finished talking, the cormorant appeared stunned, staring blankly at the corpse wrapped up on Bopai’s saddle.

Fist Knight’s initial object of resentment was his lover, thinking she was just a wicked woman with insatiable greed who cursed him.

But when he learned that the so-called ’wicked woman’ only complained a few times before accepting his proposal, then was raped and killed rather than escaped... resentment would turn into remorse.

Avian facial muscles did not support expressing complex emotions.

”If you want to get angry, best do it now.” Geralt could imagine Fist Knight’s current feelings, probably wanting to tear that corpse apart.

”The corpse will sink in the lake during the curse removal. Once you become human again, you won’t be able to find it.”

As soon as he finished, the cormorant in the shirt crazily fluttered onto Bopai’s saddle, began wildly squawking, and used his claws and beak to tear at the canvas-wrapped corpse.

Eliza turned her head away, silent.

Lann held onto Bopai’s reins to prevent it from being startled.

The cormorant’s body had little endurance; after intense movements, Fist Knight soon had to stop.

Geralt then moved Mut’s corpse to a spot near the lake water.

He then retrieved a lady’s blue gemstone brooch from his pocket and pinned it to Fist Knight’s nettle shirt chest.

This was the emotional item obtained after investigating in this direction.

Geralt also led Fist Knight to a spot by the lake edge; the Demon Hunter stepped over the muddy shore and knelt on an exposed rock.

”Stand on the corpse and then start imagining.”

In a meditative state, the Demon Hunter’s tone became melodious and ethereal.

The cormorant naturally began to follow instructions.

”Start imagining. In the lake water’s reflection, you see your own figure as a human... The brooch is your love, and that corpse is your hate. The curse’s power will follow the flow of love and hate...”

Eliza and Lann stood a bit farther away; ordinary people could not sense the flow of Chaos Magic Power in the space, but the Demon Hunter’s silver necklace already started to clatter.

At the cormorant’s chest, where the blue gemstone brooch was, light particles began to gather like a particle effect, then exploded with a ”boom!”

The brooch seemed to be blown up by some force, bursting out with a shockwave of air that was entirely disproportionate to its size.

Despite being in the same direction with the corpse at its feet, the cormorant was pushed towards the mudflat by the shockwave, while the corpse rolled into the lake against the laws of physics.

The light cormorant suddenly burst open into bird feathers mid-air, transforming into a naked burly man.

And the originally bulging corpse canvas bag seemed to suddenly shrink in content, becoming very flat, very heavy, and sinking into the lake.

Lann saw very clearly beside him; that corpse was not simply ”sinking in the lake” as Geralt said.

It replaced Fist Knight to become a cormorant and was forcibly dragged to the lake bottom by the Chaos Magic Power’s restraint.

Miss Eliza excitedly rushed toward Baron Ham covered in mud, while Lann walked beside the standing-up Geralt.

He was about to commend the Old Demon Hunter’s skilled business proficiency, but the Old Demon Hunter immediately whistled triumphantly.

”Phew! It really worked!”

Lann’s smile froze on his face at that moment...

Beside them, Fist Knight stood up tremblingly from the mudflat, looking like he needed to readjust to his human body after two years.

The siblings hugged tightly in tears, disregarding the dirt on themselves, while Geralt and Lann tactfully turned to leave.

”Now, you can go to King Aivelle for your reward. By the way, how much does lifting a Baron’s curse earn?”

”Fifty fully trimmed crowns, equivalent to five hundred Oren.”

”Sounds good, though incomparable to the three thousand Oren from when you lifted Princess Yada’s curse years ago, it’s still quite valuable.”

Listening to Lann’s words, Geralt made a supplement.

”Don’t think an ordinary Baron can make a King pay this price; King Aivelle wants to marry Miss Eliza, which is why he’s willing to pay.”

”Marry Eliza?” Lann raised an eyebrow, ”How old is King Aivelle?”

”That guy is over fifty; when I met him, he even wet his pants while urinating. If Eliza marries him, in a few years, she’ll likely become a widow queen and have an easy future.”

”Sounds good. She looks pretty and not too keen, perfect to be a hands-off widow queen. And just by taking care of her brother during these two years, I guess she’ll be immortalized in fairy tales.”

Geralt nodded in great agreement.

”The story is already spreading. They say Fist Knight turned into a swan, along with five brothers who also turned into swans.”

Lann tilted his head in surprise at him.

”Changed so quickly? The last time I heard it was just about a swan, now there are brothers.”

”Rumors and fairy tales... really puzzled why turning into a swan seems more romantic.”