“Hello, sponsor.”

The boy’s voice was monotonous without any sarcasm.

So Ibi, too, was purely amazed at the expression “sponsor” without feeling offended.

I wondered who this child was, demanding a large sum as compensation for assistance, and it turns out you’re someone who can call me sponsor at first meeting.

“Nice to meet you, I’m Ibi Ariate.”

“I’m Ubia. I don’t like honorifics. Neither using them nor hearing them.”

The boy, Ubia, responded calmly to Ibi’s greeting.

Ubia’s attitude was neither particularly polite nor rude.

So Ibi was reminded of a small white rabbit when looking at Ubia.

Ubia had a fair, round face with a triangular mouth.

Moreover, with long white hair tied in two braids and wrapped in a colorful woolen poncho, he was overall very adorable.

Meanwhile, holding a teacup tightly with both hands made him even more cute, yet his face remained expressionless and his tone monotonous.

So Ibi thought Ubia’s attitude was exactly like the indifference of a rabbit unaware of its own cuteness.

As if to prove Ibi’s first impression, Ubia spoke while sipping his tea like an old woman.

“I heard from Dies.”

“Ah, you mean about the curse?”

“No, that you’re extremely cunning.”

At Ubia’s words, Ibi smiled brightly and glared at the butler sitting beside her. Then Dies actively began to gaze at distant mountains.

As Ibi pondered how to punish this person, she recalled telling the tower lord that Dies said he loved teacups every day.

As the saying goes, like mistress, like butler – Ibi and Dies were equally tarnishing each other’s reputation in the other’s absence.

In the end, Ibi forgave the butler in the face of the universal truth that what goes around comes around, and meanwhile, Ubia continued speaking with his unchanged rabbit face.

“We finally met.”

“I’m sorry for making you wait. No, I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay, I’m good at waiting.”

Ubia shook his head at Ibi’s apology. The braids swaying left and right were cute.

As Ibi had judged, Ubia had a simple personality that was neither particularly friendly nor cold.

And this point actually made Ibi rather confused.

Since Dies had introduced him, he must be a safe person, but nonetheless, prejudice against the Night Clan, called the devils of Bis, remained in Ibi’s mind.

So this docile appearance of Ubia was quite awkward. A docile Night Clan member – to Ibi, it was an expression that defied common sense, like “hard water” or “soft stone.”

Noticing this air about Ibi, Ubia blinked his black eyes and asked.

“Is this your first time seeing a Night Clan member?”

“Yes, it’s my first time.”

“Is it fascinating?”

“Yes, it’s fascinating.”

Having answered honestly in succession, Ibi briefly resented the curse. Then she hastily added.

“I’m sorry for saying it’s fascinating. I didn’t mean anything bad. It’s just a bit different from what I was thinking…”

“You don’t need to make excuses. I know it’s because of the curse.”

Ubia replied while sipping his tea, and that natural response pricked Ibi’s conscience.

Ubia was a boy as fluffy as a rabbit buried in snow, both in appearance and personality.

In the end, Ibi, ashamed of her deep-rooted prejudice, humbly reflected.

“I thought all Night Clan members were dangerous, but I guess that’s not always the case.”

“Yeah, that’s right. Except for me, most are crazy. So you shouldn’t let your guard down.”

But Ubia mercilessly shattered Ibi’s reflection, and with that, Ibi became even more unsure of what kind of people Ubia and the Night Clan really were.

Meanwhile, Ubia brought up the main point.

“As I wrote in the letter, I found out where the snake that cursed you is. But I don’t know who it is, so I asked you to come.”

So Ibi also regained her focus and nodded.

“You said you were confused because there were other Night Clan members nearby…”

“Yeah. The snake must have known it was being tracked. So it’s hiding next to other clan members.”

At Ubia’s conjecture, Ibi quietly bit her lip.

It would be better if they were foolish, but sadly, the snake Ibi needs to catch seems quite cunning.

“Right now, there are two more Night Clan members next to the snake. So we need to figure out which of the three is the snake.”

“What do I need to do?”

“You just need to allow me to examine your curse.”

Ubia was still cute and his voice monotonous.

But Ibi unconsciously hesitated.

The expression “allow me to examine” felt like some kind of invasion.

“…If we find that snake, can the curse be lifted?”

So Ibi delayed her answer and asked for confirmation. This time, Ubia hesitated.

“Are you in a hurry to lift the curse?”

“Yes, I’m in a hurry.”

“Why?”

“I can’t become a saint like this.”

At Ibi’s reflexive answer, Ubia tilted his head. Then, with a truly innocent face, he said.

“You can just become an honest saint.”

“Hmm…”

At Ubia’s pure statement, Ibi pressed her lips together and smiled.

Sensing that Ibi was hurting spiritually, Ubia spoke again while sipping his tea.

“Finding the snake doesn’t mean the curse will be lifted right away. Didn’t Dies tell you? To lift the curse, you need to destroy the medium or the person who cursed you has to die.”

“He did…”

“Yes, I did.”

When Ibi reluctantly nodded, Dies also chimed in.

Ibi glared at the butler who suddenly felt annoying, and Dies pretended not to notice as he picked up the teapot to refill Ubia’s empty cup.

“So catching the snake is just an intermediate step in finding the person who cursed you or the medium.”

“Intermediate step…”

Isn’t that too long for an intermediate step? It’s already been 3 weeks since I was cursed, and there’s only a month and a half left until the saint selection…!

Ibi barely suppressed the urge to lament like this. Then Ubia, as if reading even that sentiment, said.

“If you’re really in a hurry, you can look for it yourself. The person who cursed you. Have you tried looking?”

“No, not yet…”

“I thought you were in a hurry.”

“Ugh…”

Ubia calmly touched only Ibi’s sore spots. It seemed highly likely that this boy would become Ibi’s natural enemy.

Of course, Ibi wanted to find them. That someone who gave her this kind of curse.

But thanks to her dear count, she had been so busy that the curse had been on the back burner until now.

As Ibi swallowed her feeble excuses, Ubia rolled his black eyes as if thinking about something. Then he looked at Ibi again and said.

“You don’t have anyone you particularly suspect.”

This was right on target again, and Ibi acknowledged that Ubia saw through her too well.

As he said, Ibi didn’t have anyone she particularly suspected right now.

Of course, it’s not because Ibi has a kind personality that doesn’t rashly suspect others.

In reality, it was rather the opposite, and Ibi had already thoroughly examined the list of Tienda nobles with the mindset that you’re all suspects.

But the result was disappointing. Everyone was just moderately suspicious, with no one giving certainty.

Someone who would curse Ibi Ariate, even taking the gamble of meeting the Night Clan.

The person capable of that is Rohika Sedro, but the tower lord doesn’t need to do that, and the person who might want to do it is Rio Tuha, but she doesn’t have the ability.

And since there’s no one who has shown particularly suspicious behavior since Ibi was cursed, Ibi just felt like she was walking in a fog.

When Ibi affirmed with silence, Ubia shook his head. Then he said in a rather serious voice.

“A curse can’t be cast on just anyone. If curses could be established just by request, one or two out of every ten people walking down the street would already be cursed. To cast a curse, there needs to be a connection first.”

Connection, he says.

Ibi is quite intelligent, but still, Ubia’s words were often abstruse.

In fact, that was normal.

Just as bats see in the dark differently from humans, the Night Clan also have special senses different from ordinary people.

So it was natural that Ibi couldn’t readily understand expressions derived from that.

So when Ibi made an unconvinced expression, Ubia also became a more serious rabbit and began.

“Do you know what kind of being Noche is?”

“A dragon that rebelled. The source of curses.”

“…Besides that. Noche’s original form.”

At Ubia’s question, Ibi shook her head.

Perhaps because of the harm spread to the world, there was little known about Noche’s original form in both Tienda and Bis.

They could only speculate that since it was one of the four dragons blessed by the gods, it must have originally had a benevolent role.

But despite such speculation, Ubia’s next words were truly unexpected.

“Noche was a dragon that cared for life.”

“Life?”

Ibi couldn’t help but ask back.

Noche caring for life – another expression that defied common sense appeared.

In Ibi’s mind, the events that took place in this village during the last new moon were still vivid.

The curse that came in the form of bone joints, the dragon’s corpse that rose after eating livestock, and the chilling fog that engulfed the village.

Noche’s curse visits humans every new moon solely to extinguish life.

Yet that Noche used to care for life in the past – if true, what a terrible betrayal this is.

Ibi couldn’t readily believe Ubia’s words. However, Ubia continued speaking without minding.

“Life is connection. Nothing that’s alive exists alone. It must repeat the cycle of receiving, connecting, and passing on. That’s why curses also need to be connected to be established. Connecting everything is Noche’s essence.”

“By connection, do you mean things like acquaintance or friendship?”

“No, connection requires permission. The proof of permission is the medium of the curse. And only things of yours that you directly handed over can become the medium.”

Ibi, who had been carefully understanding Ubia’s words, was surprised and opened her eyes wide at his last statement.

“Then can curses also be cast with gifted items?”

“No, it’s different. Gifts belong to the receiver, not the giver, right?”

Ibi asked while recalling the small gifts she had given and received, then sighed in relief at Ubia’s answer.

Indeed, if curses could be established with such things, the act of giving gifts would have been banned long ago.

Then what situations are there where you hand over your belongings when it’s not a gift?

It’s truly an uncommon situation. So Ibi understood why Ubia suddenly brought up the topic of connection.

Ibi urgently searched her mind trying to find people or situations that fit this condition. But nothing immediately came to mind.

“It probably won’t come to mind right away. They likely took it inconspicuously.”

Then Ubia eased Ibi’s urgency with a calm voice.

“Curses are connected. So by examining your curse, I can sense the snake. And also the person who cursed you.”

Ubia returned to the initial conversation and asked Ibi.

“Will you allow me to look?”

“I’ll allow it.”

Ibi no longer hesitated.

She had also gained trust in Ubia’s calm explanation, and now she somewhat understood what he meant by examining.

When Ibi gave permission, Ubia put down his teacup and spread both hands on the table.

Even the boy’s hands were cute.

“Hold them, I’ll show you too.”

So Ibi didn’t hesitate to place her two hands on top of his.