60. The Curse of Goddess

“This also… doesn’t seem to have any relation.”

After finishing the cherry blossom viewing, we returned to Pearl’s house.

There, I repeatedly took out the books from the bookshelf in Dia’s room, looked at the cover, and returned them.

I was looking for a curse-related book.

『”I haven’t searched in the room where you’re sleeping yet, so If you’re free at night, search for me if there’s a book about curses.”』

Well, I was asked by Shura on the way home from cherry blossom viewing.

“<Alchemy Stones Anatomy Book>, <Legend of Arcana>, <World Mysterious ACD 88>……”

As expected, there were only books related to alchemy.

To be honest, I was curious about everything. If possible, I would like to read all the books in this room, but if I did that, it would cost me three days and three nights.

So I lined up all the books I was interested to read in the center of the room. 

No, I must not. Be patient, Seal.

“Curse… Curse… Curse…”

None…

When I was about to give up

“Oh!”

There was a red, thin book.

The title was <Seven God Curses and a Traveler>.

At first glance, it didn’t look like something with a hint to break a curse, but it was the only book that seemed to have a ‘curse’ in the title.

So, I took the book and rolled on the bed.

I turned the cover of the book while lying on my back.

“Well, let’s check this out…”

The first thing that was written in the book was not a table of contents, notes, or greetings from the author either, but a history.

The history started from the “White Calendar”. The white calendar was an era when the concept of years didn’t exist yet.

To put it simply, it was what you called “Once upon a time”.

White calendar… An era when monsters didn’t exist in this world yet.

Humans were fighting against each other.

In order to stop the conflict between people, the Goddess named “Rondo” separated the continent, which was one big land, into five according to the number of the five major powers that were fighting at that time.

“It’s a common story, but…”

…Is this a fantasy story? Or is it a story that actually happened?

I mean, Goddess… who believes that such an existence exists in this world? But, yeah, it seems this world is more mysterious than I’ve always thought.

“Well, let’s continue…”

Rondo thought that if the continents were separated, each would live quietly on each continent, as long as they lived in a different place, there would be no fight.

However, the human war didn’t end.

People crossed the sea to continue the fight. People continued to revolutionize technology in the war and developed mass murder weapons one after another. All the weapons were dangerous, not only for killing people, but they were also polluting the world.

Goddess Rondo finally warned the humans.

If humans still continued to fight, She would destroy the human species.

Humans listened to the word of the Goddess and abandoned their weapons, albeit for a while. When the warned generation died, the war started again.

Goddess Rondo had finally run out of patience.

Using the existence called “apostle” as a handpiece, the Goddess waged war on humans.

Mankind opposed this. And, the war between humans and God began. 

This would be called the <Final War>.

The result of this war was God’s overwhelming victory. It seemed that there was a difference in the level, it was as if babies vs. adults. Humans were treated like ants.

Mankind then soon surrendered. However, the Goddess who was dyed with anger didn’t stop the invasion.

When the population got reduced to one-hundredth, humanity threw in the last trump card. It was a single traveler, a man recognized by all five kings, the rulers of the five continents.

The traveler sneaked through the apostle’s attack, stepped into the world of God alone, and finally reached Goddess Rondo.

The traveler said. “We were stupid, we will accept any punishment, but please don’t eradicate humans.”

Goddess Rondo nodded in front of the traveler’s sincerity and pure heart. Instead, She put three conditions on the traveler.

・ One, mankind should abandon the technology that they have now. In particular, tools that use harmful substances must be completely discarded. Do not leave its existence to posterity. This is, to reset the developed civilization once.

・ Two, the traveler will manage humanity responsibly. The traveler will be given eternal life and the traveler must do something when mankind goes out of control again.

・ Three, receive the wrath of the Goddess in the form of a curse.

The traveler easily accepted the first and second conditions. However, the traveler asked Goddess Rondo what She meant about the third one.

The Goddess said that if her anger never subsided, her anger that wanted to destroy humanity would no longer disappear and it must be isolated. The Goddess said that this anger should be divided into seven parts and scattered around the world as a curse. That was the punishment for humans who had polluted the world so far.

“Curse…..”

A curse is one set with a blessing, right?

When I turned the page, I found the answer to my question.

The Goddess said that receiving a curse shouldn’t be all bad.

The curse would have a corresponding blessing. With that said, the Goddess sent seven lights to the traveler.

Red, Blue, Green, Black, White, Yellow, and Rainbow… Seven kinds of colorful lights, blessings.

The Goddess then said, from now on, humans should use the power of this blessing to live affluently.

After returning to the human world, the traveler named these seven blessings:

” ―― “Mana” “

Umm? In other words, the four-colored magical power flowing through my body is the power of blessing?

“Is this book credible?”

Then the history of the White Calendar was over,

A new era, named after the Goddess, “Rondo Calendar” began.

… Right now, it’s Rondo Calendar, years 1598, so, this book, it should be written about 1598 years ago.

From that point onward, there were endless stories of the traveler developing the world through alchemy which used the power of the blessing, Mana. 

It must be around here where the book piqued Dia’s interest. 

Apparently, this traveler was the ancestor of the alchemist…

“But”

The important thing wasn’t written in the book.

The Seven Curses of the Goddess…  The book didn’t mention their true identities, at all.

Did the traveler do something about it?

“The ending still left many mysteries”

Also, this book said that the continents were divided into five, but there are only four main continents in this world. 

As expected, this smells fake.

Then, I closed the book and resumed the search.

But in the end, I didn’t find any other book that Shura would want.

“….. I guess, it’s time to sleep”

I got ready for tomorrow and lay down on my bed to sleep.