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Volume 10 Chapter 285

Tear of Catarra

「Is this the one?」
Following my intuition, I opened the page of the book.
「Luna, could you read this page for me?」
As usual, I couldn’t read the book at all, but I had a feeling that this was the right page.
「Yes, of course!」
I handed the book to Luna while it was still open.
「When I last opened this page, it contained information about medicine……」
Luna, with her Language Comprehension skill, could uderstand any words or characters. In addition, she had the Absolute Memory skill, so she remembered the contents and page numbers of the book from when she had read it before.
As Shiro mentioned, it seems like the contents of the book have completely changed.
「The content on this page is now about the curses of the Evil God」
My intuition was right.
「Is there any information about curses that cause the same condition as Miu’s mother?」
「Well……gradually losing life force and dying, spreading the same curse to the surroundings after death—- that’s it. It’s called the『Curse of Undying Death』」
Ah, there it is. Seems like we found it.
But still, 『Curse of Undying Death』the name is quite straightforward……
Come to think of it, the『Curse of Fixed Status』 placed on me is also quite literal.
Is the Evil God just lazy with their naming conventions?
Well, that’s not important right now. We need to cure Miu’s mother and get her back to health as soon as possible.
「I think that’s the curse. Is there any mention of a method to lift it?」
「Dispelling the curse with magic…… is impossible」
It seems like no magic works. Even the method I came up with, to completely erase the curse and then revive the body, won’t work.
By the way, there are apparently some curses for which this forceful method is the proven way to lift them.
However, it doesn’t work for curses rooted in the soul. Since Miu’s mother is under this type of curse, we need to find another method.
Luna said that there’s no magical method to dispel it.
So, does that mean—
「If there’s no magical method, then there’s another way?」
「Yes. There are two ways to prevent the damage from this curse. The first is to take the person under the curse to the void and…… kill them there」
It’s the method suggested by Citri and Silph, although it’s not their true intention.
「That method is absolutely out of the question! What’s the second way?」
「The second way is to use the ultimate curse-lifting item……」
「The Ultimate Curse-lifting item?」
「It’s called the Tear of Catarra」
「Tear of Catarra…… I’ve never heard of it」
「Neither have I. Moreover, this book mentions that it’s an item that’s almost impossible to create in the first place」
「 —-Eh?」

　──＊＊＊──

The Divine Realm
Two men and one woman gathered together, discussing something.
「I can’t believe the curse of Undying Death has already been activated……」
The gentle-looking brown-haired beauty was the Earth Goddess who ruled over this world.
「Yeah. It’s too soon」
The man who agreed with the Earth Goddess’ words was the Sea God.
「We don’t have an explosive increase in population, and there’s no issue with food. The balance of the world is maintained quite well」
That was the response from the burly guy, the Sky God.
Among the Four Great Gods—- three of them were gathered here. By the way, the remaining one of the Four Great Gods is the Evil God.
While the name Curse of Undying Death doesn’t sound too terrifying, its effect is immense, and even the Four Great Gods couldn’t stop it.
This curse is one of the systems to maintain the balance of this world. Once activated, it won’t stop until the world’s population is halved.
Originally, this curse was supposed to be triggered automatically by the world when its balance was threatened by rapid population growth or other factors, leading to the world’s collapse and the absorption of the Evil God’s power.
However, for some reason, it has been activated now, when there are no significant issues.
In fact, a part of the power leaked when the Evil God reincarnated Haruto triggered this curse.
While the Evil God is currently asleep, the other Four Great Gods and the Creator God couldn’t grasp this situation.
「If there’s no problem with the balance of the world, then I want to stop this curse」
「I think so too. It should be stopped」
「But that curse is beyond our power to stop」
「…….Should we ask the old man, the Creator God, to erase the first one?」
When this curse is activated during a crisis in the world’s balance, the gods don’t intervene.
However, there are no problems at the moment. Even for the gods, it’s inconvenient for the world’s population to halve for no reason. That’s because their received prayers would drastically decrease.
Now, if only the first one under the curse of Undying Death—-Miu’s mother, is erased, the world can be saved.
The Sea God considered erasing Miu’s mother from the world. They thought there was no other way.
「By the way, it seems like a human named Haruto is trying to lift this curse……」
「Huh? Is Haruto there?」
「Yes. He’s with a dozen companions, near the humans under the curse of Undying Death」
「I see… …Then, there’s no need to worry about this matter anymore」
「Huh?」
「Sea God, do you know that human?」
「Yeah. It’s a monster that occasionally comes to visit the old man」
「W-what!?」
「Ah? What are you saying? There’s no way humans can do such a thing」
「That’s why is a monster because he can do it. Maybe he can pull off an impossible curse like that even for us」
The Sea God seemed somewhat proud.
「…….Even if that human can freely enter the Divine Realm, it’s impossible to lift the curse of Undying Death」
「Why?」
「There are two ways to lift that curse. One is to erase the first victim, as you, Sea God, mentioned. The other is to use the Tear of Catarra」
「If it’s Haruto, he’ll try to get that Tear of Catarra. He’s that kind of guy」
「But I’m saying it’s impossible. The Tear of Catarra is the ultimate curse-lifting item, and the materials required for it are far beyond the lifespan of humans」
「What are the impossible materials?」
「First, the『Fruit of the World Tree』. Even the leaves of the World Tree are something ordinary humans won’t touch in their lifetime, but the Fruit of the World Tree is even more difficult to obtain」
「…….If it’s Haruto, he already has it」
「That’s impossible! The World Tree only bears fruit once every thousand years! There are exceptions, but—-」
「What are the exceptions?」
「There’s a method to threaten the World Tree to bear fruit. It’s a method that has only been done once since this world was created. Originally, only the Elves were supposed to do it—-」
The Elves used to live under the World Tree. They were a race that traveled the world while hiding from persecution by other races and being attacked by monsters.
Moreover, at that time, the World Tree didn’t allow humans to approach, either.
There was someone who threatened the World Tree to promise protection for the Elves.
That person made the Elves promise to take care of the World Tree and dedicate their faith to it. Since then, the Elves have prospered under the protection of the World Tree.
「The Elves today strongly believe in the World Tree, so there’s no way there would be an Elf who seriously threatens to burn it down. In other words, it’s absolutely impossible to obtain the Fruit of the World Tree!」
「…….So, hypothetically, if Haruto were to obtain the Fruit of the World Tree, what else would be needed?」
「Well, I’ll tell you since you asked. Besides the Fruit of the World Tree, there are several other materials that are impossible to obtain.『Nine-Tailed Fox Fur』,『Coloured Dragon Scales』,『Holy Water』, and others have a relatively high possibility of being obtained」
The fur of a nine-tailed fox or the scales of a coloured dragon are materials that occasionally circulate in the world, remnants of those defeated by past heroes. And holy water, while expensive, can be purchased in places like the Holy Capital.
「The problem starts from here. The Spirit Water that only the Water Spirit King can produce and the Claw of the Primordial Dragon are absolutely impossible to obtain. And that’s not all」
「There are other materials?」
「No. The problem isn’t the materials, but the processing. All the collected materials must be heated until they melt with the Primal Flame……and the container that can withstand that Primitive Flame can only be made of Scarlet Gold」
「So, if Haruto and the others obtain the Fruit of the World Tree, Nine-Tailed Fox Fur, Rainbow Dragon Scales, Holy Water, Spirit Water, Claw of the Primordial Dragon, and make a container with Scarlet Gold to heat them all until they melt, they can make the curse-lifting item, right?」
「Well, that’s correct. In other words, it’s absolutely impossible!」
　──＊＊＊──

「Hmm, is this okay?」
「I followed the instructions in this book carefully, so I think it should be fine」
「All right then. With that, the Tear of Catarra is complete!」