Caught off guard by Fritz, I once again sheepishly scratched my cheek.

“Ahaha… Was I found out? I really was planning to enter the rift once the seal was removed…”

“This is no joking matter, my lord. I cannot allow you to enter the rift alone.”

Judging by his firm tone, it seemed he wouldn’t be easily persuaded.

So I continued to ponder, until I came up with one idea.

“Then how about we do this?”

“…?”

“Once my seal is removed, please send me to the rift. However—”

Seeing that he was already about to object, I quickly added:

“Your Highness will come with me.”

“Me?”

“Yes, since Your Highness can receive divine prophecies. With you by my side, I’ll be even safer.”

The ability to foresee the future—receiving divine prophecies—was said to activate randomly, mainly in crisis situations.

For example, the ability would suddenly activate in dangerous moments like right before an accident or just before encountering a monster.

Entering the rift with Fritz, who possessed such an ability, would minimize the risks.

Fritz also seemed to be worried about me, so wouldn’t he feel reassured if he could come along?

Even so, in case he still felt uneasy, I added:

“To begin with, rift exploration isn’t that dangerous for an experienced knight like myself. I’ll show you my skills firsthand there. Then you’ll see there was nothing to worry about at all.”

“Hmm.”

“We can just go there briefly, as if enjoying a picnic. What do you think?”

Of course, the rift was too dangerous a place for a picnic, but if I didn’t say something like this, he would continue to be overprotective.

So I told a bit of a lie, and Fritz showed signs of contemplation.

Fortunately, he didn’t ponder for long.

“Alright. If I go along and foresee situations for you, nothing dangerous should happen. Besides, I’ve been thinking about enjoying a picnic with you for a while now.”

“With me, you say?”

“Yes, although it’s a bit disappointing that our first picnic destination will be beyond the rift—”

Then, looking straight into my eyes, he added words that I couldn’t tell were lies or sincere:

“Even so, I think that place teeming with monsters will feel quite wonderful if I’m with you.”

If asked to name the most terrifying and dangerous place for humans, I would name beyond the rift without hesitation.

Yet, Fritz was saying such a place would feel wonderful.

Just because he’d be with me.

It seemed he was saying such things easily because he had never properly visited beyond the rift.

Still, what was certain was that he trusted me a lot, and I couldn’t betray that trust.

“Actually, it’s not that wonderful a place, but I’ll do my best to ensure it’s not remembered as a terrible place for Your Highness.”

Afterwards, I raised my glass first, proposing a toast to him.

The clear sound of the clinking glasses was not bad at all.

The Awakened One who would remove the ability-sealing item around my neck finally arrived at the Grand Temple.

He was a commoner boy who still looked young, said to possess the ability to remove curses.

I worried whether such a young boy could really remove the item…

But making my concerns look foolish, he removed the item with just a touch of his hand.

“Ah, it’s finally off.”

After muttering that, I held up the ability-sealing item that had been choking my neck all this time and glared at it.

How stifling it had been because of this thing.

I immediately threw it, now nothing more than a leather necklace, into the trash can.

Then I thanked the boy.

“Thank you. What’s your name?”

“I’m ‘Theo’.”

“Right, Theo. You’ve done a great thing. I’ve been feeling very stifled since my ability was sealed.”

I tried drawing out my power as a test.

Immediately, the surrounding air turned cold and sharp ice shards appeared in the air.

I skillfully controlled that power to create a toy soldier made of ice.

Since using abilities to create shapes like this was quite a high-level trick, Fritz and Theo, who were nearby, let out surprised exclamations at the same time.

“Oh.”

“Wow…”

I handed the ice toy soldier I had created to Theo as a token of gratitude.

“By the way, Theo. Could I ask you for one more favor?”

“Yes, anything you ask.”

Theo replied eagerly, holding the ice soldier.

I carefully said to him:

“Actually, there’s also a curse on my heart. I signed a ‘contract with cursed abilities’ before. If I violate the contract, that curse will stop my heart.”

It was Fritz, not Theo, who showed surprise at this confession.

“You signed an item that enforces a contract?”

“Yes, it was a contract stating that I must not disclose what I saw to anyone.”

“Oh my… How did that happen…”

“Even though I knew it was dangerous, I had no choice but to sign at the time.”

That day, Ernant had taken me underground and used what was hidden inside as bait to induce me to sign the contract.

I had no choice but to sign because he said he wouldn’t show me unless I signed.

So I succeeded in seeing the secret of the basement, but it became impossible for me to talk about what I saw.

With Theo’s help now, I might be able to be freed from that curse.

“Can you remove the cursed ability on my heart with your power? If the curse is lifted, I’ll be able to violate the confidentiality contract. I’ll be able to tell others about the terrible things I saw.”

Theo nodded with a serious face after hearing the explanation.

“I’ll try it first.”

After saying that, the boy immediately approached me.

Then he raised his hand.

That somewhat rough hand stopped slightly away from the left side of my chest where my heart was.

After that, a bright stream of light flowed from Theo’s hand.

It must have been the power to neutralize the cursed ability.

As it slowly seeped into my heart—

“…Ugh!”

Before the curse could even be lifted, Theo let out a pained groan and stepped back.

I quickly examined Theo’s hand.

The boy’s hand was blackened as if burned.

“Theo! Oh no, Your Highness, do you happen to have any potions?”

“Ah, fortunately I carry a few. Theo, can you show me your hand?”

At Fritz’s request, Theo held out his blackened hand.

Fritz sprinkled the potion on Theo’s hand with skilled movements.

When the wound had mostly healed, Theo looked at me with a regretful expression and said:

“I don’t think I can do it with my current power. The moment I tried to infuse the ability into your heart, my hand felt hot as if burned. It’s like the curse was rejecting me…”

“…I see.”

It seemed that what Ernant had used was among the highest grade of contract items.

There were grades even among ability-infused contracts.

The highest grade ones had very powerful and terrible curses embedded in them that couldn’t be undone with ordinary abilities.

Ernant. As always, he was an irritatingly meticulous person.

To overcome the curse of the highest grade contract he used, it seemed I would need to find an Awakened One with even more powerful abilities.

I didn’t know when I’d be able to find one though.

“Don’t be too disheartened. I’ll remove that curse on your heart soon.”

Fritz comforted me, perhaps because my gloomy feelings were showing on my face.

Then Theo also offered words of comfort.

“I’ll try my best too. It’s my dream to free all people suffering from curses.”

I lightly patted the head of Theo, who had quite a grand goal befitting a boy.

Then I made three more ice soldiers and handed them over before sending him off.

Although the curse on my heart couldn’t be removed, the curse sealing my ability was already gone.

Now that I had regained my power, it was time to step up as an adult.

“Shall we head to the rift now?”

“Right now?”

I nodded to Fritz, who asked that.

“Yes, my power has completely returned. I believe Your Highness is also ready to depart.”

We had already talked about heading to the rift right after removing the curse today.

So Fritz should have finished his preparations as well.

However, it seemed he wasn’t mentally prepared yet, so I encouraged him.

“We need to hurry if we want to have an enjoyable picnic time. The flow of time beyond the rift is different from this world. The sun is probably setting there right now.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes, that’s why we need to reach the rift and enter it by tonight. If we enter then, it will be daytime in that world, and it’s relatively safer to hunt monsters during the day.”

Fritz still seemed to hesitate a bit, but not for long.

He hurriedly left, saying he would prepare horses and a carriage right away.

Finally, I was able to embark on a journey to put an end to my long rest period.