Chapter 335: Isn't This a Good Thing?
It wasn't that Steven was so carefree that he couldn't grasp the heart of the matter. It was simply that, in his eyes, this so-called curse… wasn't it basically useless?
As long as one stayed true to themselves, this thing didn't even count as a proper debuff. If anything, it could serve as a reminder, a warning bell to keep themself from turning into exactly what that fellow was hoping for.
However you looked at it, it was a good thing!
Of course, he wasn't the one who's affected. He couldn't judge Talulah too harshly. She didn't have the same confidence he did; being afraid was only natural. That much, he could understand.
"So tell me—was the guy that you are talking about have some edgy nickname like the Deathless Black Snake?"
Steven's gaze fell on Talulah's little face, which was full of surprise, and he slowly spoke out the name that still carried a lingering chill for her.
Talulah only gave a silent nod. She had no idea how he knew that name, but with his abilities, it felt almost natural that he would know such things.
"I don't want to become him," she whispered, "but I also don't know… when the things he spoke of really come to pass, will I be able to endure it?"
Shaking her head, Talulah's confident front in public crumbled into something far more fragile. In truth, she was still too young, her experience too shallow. Who could say what the future would bring?
Perhaps that was exactly why the so-called Deathless Black Snake never tried to seize someone like Patriot. To someone of that caliber, such a "curse" was nothing but empty words.
Steven honestly couldn't imagine Patriot ever abandoning his ideals.
"What about you, Alina? What's your take on this?"
Rather than pressing Talulah further or rushing to give an answer, Steven turned to Alina. Since Talulah had already confided in him, there was no way she hadn't discussed it with her closest friend as well.
"All I can do," Alina said after a blink, "is act as her safeguard. When she's on the verge of making a mistake, I'll be there to pull her back from the cliff. That's probably the best I can do."
This was the very reason she had abandoned her comfortable life in the village and chosen instead to live in this harsh camp with Talulah.
If Talulah were left to herself, with her stubborn streak, it was only a matter of time before she barreled headlong into some dead end. And then the so-called curse would fulfill itself.
Compared to Steven, Alina understood Talulah far too well. If those prophecies ever really came true, Talulah would almost certainly be unable to withstand it. Collapse would only be a matter of time.
That was why Alina had to stay by her side—to watch over this troublesome girl who never let anyone rest easy.
"See? And now you're just raising a flag, don't you realize?" Steven joked, still in the mood to tease. "The prophecy even said that Talulah would one day watch her friend die because of her. Who do you think that's going to be, me or you?"
Talulah only had two friends—him and Alina. What, was he supposed to keel over dead in front of her?
"Most likely me, I suppose. But this is all I can do. That's why I told her she should ask you, see what answer you might have."
Alina's gentle smile didn't falter, as though the prophecy itself didn't bother her in the slightest. Maybe it was trust in Steven, or maybe it was simply her own nature, but she leaned a little closer toward him in the bath.
With him at her side, it really did feel as though no obstacle could ever count as a true obstacle.
"Mm, if I had to put it plainly, this still comes down to you. It depends on your own choice."
Steven let go of his teasing mood, pulled Talulah—who had been resting her hand on his shoulder—around so she was facing him, and looked straight into her eyes.
"I can completely free you from that curse. I can also wipe away the Originium Arts that black snake left inside your body. But what I can guarantee is only the removal of those lingering marks on your flesh."
"You and I both know that if you want to truly be rid of it, the real key lies within yourself. If you can't wake up from the nightmare he left you, if you can't break through the prophecy and curse he branded onto you, then even without the Arts' influence, the day will still come when you collapse… and become what he was."
His gaze was calm as he locked eyes with Talulah. When it came down to it, the real solution depended entirely on her. What he could do was very little. If Talulah's will was firm enough, she wouldn't even need his help.
And Talulah, of course, understood this perfectly. With or without those Originium Arts, if she ever witnessed the things foretold in that prophecy… she didn't even dare imagine what she might do.
"But those things are just hollow prophecies. I won't ever feel hatred toward my comrades, nor toward the Infected. Even if there is something wrong, it's the fault of this land, isn't it?"
Her gaze wavered slightly. Her conviction was, in truth, already unusually strong. And precisely because of that, she had always believed that human nature was fundamentally good. So long as no one led them astray, Infected and ordinary people were no different at all.
But Steven and Alina knew better. Put bluntly, Talulah simply saw the world too kindly, and regarded humanity as far too gentle a race.
Yes, the majority were decent and kind-hearted—but who could guarantee this world wouldn't bring forth someone born twisted? And as long as profit still existed upon this land, there would always be people willing to become "villains" for the sake of gain.
And those people—before they took that step—might very well be the comrades Talulah most treasured, the ones she most wished to protect.
Their transformation would, in the end, become the sharpest blade turned against her.
"So when I call you naïve, I'm really not wrong. That's just how you are. You can't let the many good people you've met make you forget—the essence of this land is still cruel, still a beast that devours."
Steven shook his head.
He fished a bottle of milk from his pack and set it to warm in the bathwater as he continued his scolding of the girl who still held on to such innocence.
He finally understood why that so-called Black Snake had been so confident that she would one day turn into something like him. With a nature like Talulah's—extreme kindness—once it twisted, it would become an even greater extreme.
It wasn't even truly evil. It was simply that a heart bent wholly toward others would flip and bend wholly toward the self. And when someone with such extremes in character had their worldview collapse, the fall into darkness would be all the more absolute.
That was why, in so many novels and tales, the most terrifying Demon Lords were so often the once-brilliant heroes of old, turned to darkness. A trope so enduring, because it rang with truth.
Talulah was clearly walking down the same path that had long since been set for her. As for that so-called Originium Arts, at best it only shortened the time it would take—making her change faster, nothing more.
"I believe in my companions, and in the people who need me to protect them. How can that be wrong?"
Talulah looked at Steven, bewildered. Even though the light at her chest was laid bare before him in that moment, she couldn't care less about it now.
"No one said you were wrong. But trust comes with conditions and costs. Just like with me—if you want to earn my trust, you at least have to prove you're that kind of person first, don't you?"
"You put too much faith in others. That's your flaw. You think too well of people, but in the end, that only makes it easy for you to get hurt."
Steven sighed, pointing out the biggest issue Talulah faced.
She trusted too much in the Infected and the Ursus commoners. Because they were the oppressed side, she believed they were all people worth protecting, that as someone strong, it was her duty to lead them toward a better future. But she wasn't prepared to acknowledge the diversity in human nature.
Precisely because the oppressed numbered so many, Steven was certain that among them there would inevitably be those who were worse than mere scum.
"Let me put it this way—do you remember that village I once told you about? They were also oppressed by Ursus. Yet why was it that, in the end, they chose to target an even weaker group of Infected?"
"Villages like that aren't rare across this land. In fact, it's not just Ursus—wherever there are humans, there will always be people like that. It's exactly those kinds of people that make human nature so complicated."
If it weren't for his relatively good mood, Steven wouldn't have bothered explaining so much to Talulah. But while he was in the mood, he laid it out clearly, if only to save her from later calling him a cryptic riddler.
How much of it she could actually take in, that was up to her. Steven knew well—some truths couldn't just be explained. Without seeing the bloody reality with her own eyes, with Talulah's nature, she wouldn't change so easily.
"…Maybe I shouldn't even be talking about this with you. I know what you're saying makes sense, and I don't know how to refute it, but deep down, I just don't want to accept it. Doesn't that make me ridiculous?"
Talulah let out a sigh. After voicing her tangled feelings, she felt lighter.
Steven, however, didn't humor her. He grabbed the milk that had been left to warm in the bath, pressed it to her lips, and pinched her chin to make her drink it down.
"This is what you brought on yourself. Even if it hurts, you'll just have to endure it."
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Note: Character Illustration is in this Google Drive:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1iuyfwNVFHzIi9H4rWNT_lAm7jTSiah_M
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