Skin hardened like stone.

Aside from breathing in and out, she showed no movement whatsoever.

The moment Walfred took in Elsa’s condition, his heart plummeted.

But only for a moment.

’...Panicking won’t solve anything.’

Right now, he was the only one who could help Elsa.

Walfred spread his palms and slapped both of his own cheeks. The stinging pain cooled his head, and he quickly regained his composure.

Then he examined the curses afflicting Elsa.

-----

[Curse]: Petrification

[Rank]: C

[The body hardens like stone.]

[Until the curse is removed, the target cannot speak or move.]

[Curse]: Eternal Sleep

[Rank]: B

[The target falls into a sleep from which they cannot wake.]

[Until the curse is removed, consuming any kind of food is impossible.]

-----

Curses that effectively rendered her incapacitated.

Walfred’s face darkened.

"I thought being a dragon meant she couldn’t be cursed..."

A dragon was a Boss Monster classified as S-rank or higher. So naturally, he’d assumed she’d be immune to all kinds of status effects.

But to think she could actually be cursed.

’Is it because she’s still young?’

Or maybe it was because her level had dropped from resonating with him. Walfred’s current level was 59, while a B-rank Elite Monster was at least level 80.

But none of that was what mattered right now.

’More importantly, how do I break the curse?’

What mattered most wasn’t why she’d been cursed, but finding a way to remove it. Walfred had no knowledge in this area, so he immediately logged into the community.

The Info/Strategy Board would surely have a method for breaking curses. As he combed through the board searching for posts about curses.

[Title]: Everything You Need to Know About Curses

[Author]: SSS-rankProfessor

’Found it!’

Along with a rather familiar nickname, he’d discovered exactly the post he wanted.

Walfred opened it without hesitation.

-----

Hey, newbies. Big bro’s here.

Today’s lecture topic is ’curses.’

Just like undead are the most miserable type of monster, there’s one type of debuff that’ll genuinely make you scream every curse word you know.

And that’s the curse.

Why are curses the worst debuff of all?

There are a few reasons, but the most infuriating one is that there’s almost no way to block them.

[Curse Immunity]

[Curse Defense]

[Curse Tolerance]

[Curse Resistance]

[Curse Reflection]

Curse defense items.

Or if you don’t have any of the skills listed above?

Then whether you’re an S-rank Hunter or an SSS-rank Hunter, no exceptions, you’re getting cursed. Doesn’t matter if the curse is F-rank or S-rank either. That’s exactly why curses are the absolute worst.

And one more thing.

Normal debuffs (burn, freeze, slow) wear off on their own over time, right? But a curse lasts forever until it’s directly removed.

Meaning there’s no such miracle as natural recovery.

You can flail and scream all you want, but unless you eliminate the curse itself, it will never, ever come off.

-----

Skills or items that block curses.

Without anything along those lines, even an S-rank Hunter had no choice but to get cursed. At those words, Walfred’s eyes narrowed.

’I see. So that’s why...’

That’s why Elsa got cursed.

The situation finally made sense.

On top of that, the information that a curse lasted forever until directly removed made Walfred’s expression harden once more.

So he skipped past everything else and read only the section explaining how to break curses.

-----

Alright, now for the main event.

I’ll teach you how to break a curse.

There are basically three methods.

First.

Buy a [Curse Removal Scroll] from the shop.

But heads up, this never shows up in Regular Sales, only Limited Sales. In other words, it’s pure luck.

If you open the shop and there’s no scroll, you’re out of luck, so don’t dawdle and move on to the next method.

Second, find a light or life attribute Hunter.

These guys naturally come loaded with skills that heal wounds and remove debuffs. Even at just D-rank, almost all of them have one.

So search every shelter nearby if you have to, and drag one over by any means necessary.

But what if there’s no light attribute around?

Feel free to despair. You’re done for.

Kidding. There’s a third solution.

The simplest and most violent method. Find the bastard who cast the curse and crack their skull open. When the caster croaks, every curse they’ve cast vanishes along with them.

Personally, big bro recommends this one.

The bastards who use creepy stuff like curses usually have garbage combat power anyway.

-----

Three methods for breaking a curse.

After burning them into his memory, Walfred logged out of the community and immediately opened the Hunter shop. He carefully went through every item in Limited Sales.

But.

"...Damn it."

There was no Curse Removal Scroll.

Still, it was too early to despair. Walfred recalled the second method SSS-rankProfessor had mentioned.

Finding a light or life attribute Hunter.

And in that instant, Walfred remembered the author of last night’s post, the one who’d been searching for him.

’MorningStarTeacher.’

From the Trenton underground arcade shelter.

The C-rank light attribute Hunter, Sienna.

She could surely break Elsa’s curse. Walfred carefully gathered the stone-stiff Elsa into his arms and started walking.

Toward the Trenton Station underground arcade.

---

A short while later.

Walfred arrived at the underground arcade.

But he couldn’t enter right away. Every passage leading inside was sealed off by lowered fire shutters.

Then he’d just have to force one open. Right as he was about to use a skill.

"Stop."

Along with a cold voice.

Armed men emerged from behind the pillars beside the fire shutters.

Among them was the man who’d told Walfred he could stay the night. Walfred’s gaze naturally drifted toward him.

[Mitchell]

The name stitched on the nametag of the man’s military uniform. 𝑓𝘳𝑒𝑒𝓌𝘦𝘣𝘯ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝑚

Just as Walfred registered that the man’s name was Mitchell, he spoke.

"I’m fairly sure you said you’d stay one night and leave. What business brings you here?"

His eyes brimmed with wariness.

Walfred looked at Mitchell and said.

"My daughter’s been cursed."

"...What?"

At those words, Mitchell’s face stiffened.

And not just his. The eyes of the Hunters with him wavered violently too.

"The curse has already reached the surface..."

"You think it’s because the defensive line got pushed back at dawn?"

"That’s the most likely explanation."

"Hah. At this rate, we really might have to abandon this place and relocate to another shelter."

Groans and sighs poured out from all around.

Seeing the grim looks on their faces, Walfred could guess the situation was bad.

Just then.

"Wait here a moment."

Mitchell spoke again.

He glanced at Elsa, cradled in Walfred’s arms, then turned around.

"I’ll go get the Teacher."

"The Teacher being...?"

"This shelter’s only light attribute Hunter."

His piece said, Mitchell signaled to the nearby Hunters with his eyes and disappeared into the arcade.

Meanwhile, those words made Walfred realize something.

The Teacher Mitchell had just mentioned was none other than the very person Walfred was looking for, ’MorningStarTeacher.’

’A shelter full of young children, and someone they call Teacher. A kindergarten teacher, maybe?’

It seemed highly likely.

The name Morning Star Class was exactly the kind of thing a kindergarten or daycare would use.

As he quietly speculated about Sienna’s identity.

"Right over there."

Mitchell returned.

Behind him, a petite young woman followed, panting for breath.

Brown hair tied up, and a gaunt face.

On her chest, a faded embroidered nametag read ’Sienna, Morning Star Class Teacher.’

"Oh, is it that child?"

"That’s right."

Sienna’s gaze went to Elsa.

She hurried over to Walfred and bowed her head in greeting.

"Hello. I’m Sienna, a light attribute Hunter. If you don’t mind, may I examine the child’s condition?"

"Yes, please."