"The story seems to be getting long. We'll go back for now and come back later. It's not something we should be listening to."

As the middle-aged woman's story continued, the hero's daughter left the house with her family.

Hmm... There was a plan to have a meal with the hero's family... But it's been disrupted by an uninvited guest. Sigh.

Can't be helped. Might as well finish it up quickly and have the meal!

"Even after that, my uncle kept trying to push me away, but in the end, my stubbornness won, and I was able to set out on a journey with my uncle. The purpose of the journey was... to break my uncle's curse."

The woman's words continued.

"My uncle didn't tell me much about the curse. The only thing he said was that he was cursed by the gods and that calamity was circling around him."

Hmm... Cursed and calamity circling around him? Isn't he just trying to hide his own wrongdoing?

Honestly, if he was flirting with the woman and desecrated the temple and the god, even if he's cursed, he'd be called a scoundrel.

"But we still traveled the world together. In the process, we helped people who were suffering or being oppressed by others."

It's hard to believe that this fool actually helped people.

Perhaps, helping others was not entirely voluntary.

It might have been an unavoidable situation, or the woman got caught up in helping others and ended up helping as well.

But if he truly did help others, even if not intentionally, that is still a good deed.

Maybe it's worth looking at it a bit differently.

"Enough..."

As the woman continued her story, the foolish man regained his senses and spoke in a small voice.

"My uncle, who couldn't walk properly in the sun, who suffered from flowing water and even a small flame, did not stop the journey. The journey to find a way to break the curse. During that journey, despite suffering from countless calamities, my uncle helped people. Because of that, the number of people following him exceeded one hundred."

This fool has over a hundred followers? Hmm...

Well, since they don't know the sins he committed, they can still follow him and receive help.

"Because being around my uncle invites the calamities sent by the gods, the other people have formed a safe village and live there. I am the only one who accompanies my uncle."

The middle-aged woman spoke with a sense of pride on her face.

"During the journey to break the curse, a certain king coveted my uncle's power. If he could obtain the power of my uncle, who does not age or die, he could gain eternal life. With eternal life, he could seize the world."

Hmm, so there was someone who coveted the power of eternal life? Well, it's only natural for someone to appear who wants to pursue that.

The more one has, the more one wants, and the less they want to walk the dark valley of death.

"At that time, my uncle couldn't put other people in danger, so he secretly left alone. He knew they would be in great danger."

"Th-that was... to separate you troublesome ones..."

"In the end, you went to the king alone and put an end to the king's greed, didn't you? That king was notorious among the people, but thanks to my uncle, a wise prince became the new king! Thanks to my uncle, a country has taken a better path!"

Hmm... The one who ruined his own country ended up helping another country.

"After hearing about you, you didn't just push me away when I came to find you! If you really disliked me, you could have easily left me behind and gone on your own!"

"......."

The fool couldn't say anything else.

Perhaps the reason he couldn't push the woman away was... because he was lonely?

Earlier, he said he didn't want a life where he had to watch others die, so it seems he valued the lives of those around him.

Even a fool like him, it seems, didn't want to be alone.

"And so, my uncle and I continued our journey, enduring countless calamities. We helped countless people and continued to search for clues to break the curse."

"Please... stop..."

The fool started to sound like he was dying. He must be terribly embarrassed to have all his deeds exposed.

"One day, while drunk, A drunken man mumbled in a broken voice. He mentioned the names of Hero and the Dragon's Priestess."

"Hmm, our names?"

"Yes, he spoke your names in a low, regretful voice. Other than that, he didn't say anything else... But when I think about it slowly, there was something strange about it."

"Something strange?"

"If it's a curse from the gods, the first thing he would have done is to ask the person closest to the gods for help."

Hmm, that's true. The person closest to the gods is right here.

The human chosen by the Goddess of Life, Hero, is here.

"Later, I realized that during his travels, there was never an overlap in the destinations between him and Hero. In fact, it seemed like he was avoiding Hero's path. It was very late when I noticed that."

"So, is that why you've come here?"

The woman nodded slightly at my words.

"Yes. It took a long time to convince him, but after much persuasion, he reluctantly accepted to meet you."

"So, you've come to find me and my sister?"

"Yes, because you are his last hope."

The middle-aged woman said as she looked at the foolish man who was just starting to regain his senses.

"So, please, I beg you two. Lend him your strength to break the curse on him..."

Placing his hand on the woman's shoulder, the fool said,

"It's no use now. These two won't be of any help to me."

"Huh? Why not?! If it's Hero, if it's the Dragon's Priestess, the two you've heard about in the rumors... Surely they would help you!"

At the woman's words, the fool couldn't say anything.

He probably has no words to say, as he can't tell the woman that the reason he was cursed was because he had blasphemed against the gods and the temple.

So,

"I can't do anything to help."

I said, speaking on behalf of the fool.

"Huh? Why?"

"It's because of the reason this fool was cursed."

I glared at the fool with a cold gaze, and he slightly averted his eyes.

"For a curse directly imposed by the gods, the only way to break it is to appease the gods' anger or do what the gods desire. There is no other way to break the curse, so even after searching for over a hundred years, it's impossible to find a solution."

"B-but..."

The woman seemed to want to say more, but no words came out of her mouth.

And the fool himself didn't seem to have any intention of breaking the curse.

Even the words he said while fighting Hero were not about breaking the curse, but about asking to be killed.

This fool never had any intention of breaking the curse from the beginning.

"Stop this foolish pursuit of finding other methods and do what you should do first. If you've been cursed by the gods, you must appeal to those gods. Clinging to anything else won't bring a solution."

At my words, the fool frowned deeply, seemingly unwilling to appeal to the Goddess of Life who had cursed him.

At this rate, the curse won't be broken even after hundreds of years.

So,

"If you understand, then find the right way to break the curse or kneel before the gods and beg for forgiveness. Otherwise, you won't be able to break it."

If I give him such a direct hint, maybe his memory will be revived!

I also want to break the curse on this land little by little! If it weren't for your stubborn attitude, I would have already broken it long ago!

Not that the curse on you is my job, though!

"The right way...?"

"Yes, the right way. The easiest and surest method is the one you're not doing right now, isn't it?"

Honestly, I thought it wouldn't take this fool more than a year or two to come to the temple and beg for forgiveness.

I had even conveyed the message through pilgrims. I thought he would come to the temple, roll around, and cry and howl within a year or two.

But he's been stubbornly holding out for decades! Unbelievable!

Seriously, his persistence in the wrong place is amazing.

"And if you don't break the curse soon, something irreversible might happen to that foolish soul of yours. So stop that useless, stubborn stubbornness and go to the temple to beg for forgiveness."

"Y-Yes! So, which god should he beg forgiveness from? Since he suffers when he's in the sun, should he go to the god of light first? Or the other gods... Hmm... The god with a clear temple..."

"Enough."

The fool calmed the flustered woman and said,

"The temple the Dragon's Priestess is referring to is surely the temple of the Goddess of Life."

The fool said with an unwilling expression.

"Because everything started there."

"Then let's go quickly! It's close by anyway..."

"No. I don't want to go there."

"Uncle!!"

The fool, no, the idiot, said with a really displeased expression.

"What's this about the Goddess of Life? What's this about a compassionate mother? She only brought me pain. I never even wished for this kind of life."

This guy...? Not even thinking about his own mistakes?

Even though I've been giving him chances and saying I'd lift the curse if he just repented, he's blaming others instead of reflecting on his own faults?

No good. This guy is just hopeless.

I should just separate his bones and flesh right here, and torment his soul forever─

"Stupid fool!"

Rather than me taking action, Hero moved quickly, and a fist landed on the idiot's face.

Bam!!!

The idiot's head tilted back as if his neck was broken, and he fell backwards.

Seeing the idiot like that, Hero shouted in a very rare angry voice.

"Not even admitting your own mistakes and just making excuses! What an utter fool!"

Right! Well done! Keep going!

I cheered on Hero in my heart, and dispersed the magic I had slightly gathered to erase the idiot.