Chapter 184: Cursed Knife

[ What is a highway robber? ]

"A thief! A criminal! Someone doing something bad!"

As Qiu Nuoya continued scolding him, Long tilted his head in confusion.

He really has no idea what he did wrong, does he?

[ I was only trying to pick up what that person was carrying. ]

"You can’t call it picking something up when you take something that already belongs to someone else!"

[ But he was trying to throw it into the lake. What’s wrong with picking up something that was being thrown away? ]

"Huh? He was?"

If that was true, then the situation was a little different.

"I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I don’t taste good, I swear! If you’re going to eat me, at least eat me in a way that doesn’t hurt!"

The boy who is still squeezing his eyes shut curled himself into an even tighter ball.

Ah... We’ve completely terrified him.

"Um, excuse me..."

"Eeeeeek! The monster can talk!"

The boy screamed without even looking in Qiu Nuoya’s direction.

This is going to be difficult.

"Nuoya, what happened? Where did this child come from...?"

The sudden commotion had caused Igor to stop the wagon. Viktor and Warren also poked their heads out from the wagon, looking bewildered.

"Honestly, I has no idea either. Long suddenly brought this boy here from the lake."

"Bad magic. Dangerous. That’s why."

Long opened his mouth, apparently trying to explain the situation to everyone besides Qiu Nuoya, but his halting speech still made it difficult to understand what he was trying to say.

Bad magic? Is he saying this boy is carrying some kind of dangerous magical item?

"Hey, what were you trying to throw into the lake?"

"Huh?"

Qiu Nuoya gently rubbed the frightened boy’s back as he asked the question. The boy finally opened his tightly shut eyes and looked at Qiu Nuoya.

"Human?"

He whispered the word softly.

"I’m sorry. My tamed monster brought you here. He didn’t mean any harm, but he must have scared you. I’m really sorry."

"Tamed monster...? I wasn’t attacked by a monster...?"

"No, that’s not what happened. I’m sorry. It seems he became interested in what you were carrying, so he brought you here along with it. I’m really sorry."

"I see..."

The boy seemed relieved by Qiu Nuoya’s explanation, but he still raised his head cautiously, clearly remaining on guard.

He was probably around the same apparent age as Qiu Nuoya or perhaps somewhere between Qiu Nuoya and Warren in age. His timid behavior made him seem somewhat younger, so Qiu Nuoya could not determine his exact age.

His appearance was familiar to Qiu Nuoya: black hair and black eyes.

People with black hair were uncommon in this world, so Qiu Nuoya found his appearance somewhat unusual. Most of the people in this world had more Western-looking features, and since Qiu Nuoya’s reincarnation had given him an appearance closer to that side as well, seeing someone with such distinctly East Asian features surprised him.

At the same time, it also made him feel strangely nostalgic.

"So, were you perhaps trying to throw something into the lake?"

"Eh... Ah, um... this..."

The boy held out a knife.

A jewel-like stone was set into its handle, making it look quite expensive, but...

"You were trying to throw this away?"

When Qiu Nuoya reached toward the knife, the boy suddenly pulled his hand away.

"No!" He clutched the knife tightly against his chest and told Qiu Nuoya, "It’s dangerous. It’s cursed."

"Cursed? This knife?"

The boy silently nodded.

The knife he was holding was certainly beautiful and captivating, but Qiu Nuoya could not sense anything ominous about it that would suggest it was cursed.

Still, if the boy said it was cursed, then it was probably a knife with some kind of strange power.

"How is it cursed?"

"I don’t really know. No matter how many times I throw it away, it always comes back to me. And..."

"And?"

"Sometimes, it talks."

It talks? This knife?

"Eh? Can something like that really happen?"

Qiu Nuoya instinctively looked toward Viktor. If the strange knife was related to magic, then Viktor was the expert they should ask.

Viktor folded his arms and murmured, "Hmm," before carefully examining the knife in the boy’s arms.

"It’s not impossible. There is a common belief that tools used extensively over many years can develop a soul of their own. However, I’ve never actually seen a tool with that much spirit residing within it, so I find it difficult to believe without seeing it for myself."

Ah, he had heard that story too.

His own staff was a perfect example. The owner of the magic tool shop had told him that the staff itself chose its wielder.

"Normally, such things only develop a soul after being used skillfully for many years. But he seems a little too young to have obtained such a rare treasure... Although, if it is actually a curse, then perhaps that changes things...?"

Viktor folded his arms and began thinking deeply about the matter.

Still, if Viktor is right, then the staff he obtained would also be far too exceptional for someone like him.

"Perhaps age doesn’t have anything to do with it. In the end, it just depends on whether the tool takes a liking to you."

"Is that really how it works?"

Viktor who is still looked somewhat unconvinced, but while Qiu Nuoya was watching him, the boy suddenly cried out.

"I don’t want something like this!"

He then threw the knife away.

The knife landed on the ground and remained completely still.

According to the boy, the knife was supposed to follow him no matter how many times he threw it away. Yet there was no sign of it moving at all.

"What? It seems fine to me."

Warren crouched down in front of the discarded knife and poked it with his finger.

"Ah! Don’t touch it!!!"

The moment the boy shouted, the blade of the knife emitted a dazzling flash of light.