Chapter 274
The True Curse Master
Hearing Eivass’s words, the old supervisor named William fell silent for a moment.
“Ah… ah…” he grumbled, making meaningless sounds. It was as if he were reciting poetry or groaning in pain.
The old man stared intently at Eivass—but Lily keenly felt that the old supervisor wasn’t so much looking at Eivass as he was looking at the air in front of him.
He froze for several seconds, then shook his head.
“…Oh, what was I talking about…”
The old man muttered to himself.
After recalling for a moment, he suddenly clapped his hands, realizing, “Jacob, wasn’t it?
“Indeed, I remember him… that was over ten years ago. Oh… about fourteen years ago. That’s right, it was also in winter… much like now. A bit colder than now, and it snowed that day.”
The more the old supervisor spoke, the more confident his tone became. Dusty memories were gradually unlocked, taking shape through his words.
“It was a snowy day?” Eivass confirmed.
“That’s right.”
Old William nodded, sighing, “The elderly can never withstand the winter snow.
“Snow is the rain of silence, the water of preservation, the wind of twilight. Formless yet solidified, tangible yet melting. The aged, the withered, the silent, all succumb to the call of the snow. They will all be buried in this pure white lake.”
He muttered something nonsensically.
Eivass suddenly thought of something and asked, “Were you the supervisor who confirmed his death at the time?”
“Yes, it was me.”
“I heard that when he died, his manuscripts were lost along with him, vanishing without a trace… what happened? Did he leave any last will?”
Eivass pressed.
This information came from Bishop Mathers.
Although it might be impolite, given Eivass’s current persona as a “young minister” in front of Old William, his forthright questioning was quite reasonable.
The old supervisor tried hard to recall for a while, then slowly replied, “I don’t remember well… but I do remember he left nothing behind.
“To be precise, it wasn’t that his manuscripts vanished. It was that all the paper in his room disappeared. Be it manuscripts, newspapers, or letters. However, the books were all there.
“I once suspected that he might have gone mad from the fever and burned them all in the fireplace, but I glanced at the fireplace and found no remains of incomplete combustion. So, I could only assume that someone had broken in beforehand and stolen them—
“Because the thief didn’t know which manuscripts were valuable and, pressed for time, couldn’t examine them on the spot. So, they took them all to investigate carefully later. I believe this is a very reasonable deduction.”
So said the old supervisor.
Haina, standing beside him, nodded in agreement.
Indeed—if she were to handle this matter, she would likely come to the same conclusion. This was undoubtedly the most reasonable explanation.
But upon hearing this, Eivass’s brow furrowed slightly.
As if dimly realizing something, he fell into deep thought.
Meanwhile, Sherlock, standing nearby, continued his own line of questioning, “Do you remember how he died?”
“Oh, I remember… yes, I remember. A few days before that, he said he was feeling unwell and shivering from the cold. He even borrowed some firewood from the young people to burn in the fireplace. But there was no harm then.”
The old supervisor frowned, trying hard to recall, “It was some day later that he suddenly collapsed. We hadn’t seen him for several days before that.
“Then one day, he suddenly rushed out of his house and collapsed on the ground. Fortunately, a young man passing by helped him back inside. He was still conscious then… he said he felt dizzy, like he had a fever.
“He was burning up, and his breathing became difficult. He spoke deliriously from the discomfort… he said he wanted to find his son, but who knew who his son was?”
The old supervisor sighed, “There was no pharmacist in the village. The only priest tried to help him, but it wasn’t of much use. So, they could only give him a dose of hot brandy mixed with honey.
“Many people in the village know about this. You might be able to ask the priest’s son, he might know some deeper details.”
“Can’t Illuminate Spell be used to dispel the curse?”
Eivass asked.
“It was useless. His treatment easily healed Jacob, making him sober for a while, but he relapsed before nightfall… which indicates it was most likely not a curse.
“After that, he didn’t last more than a few days before passing away. That old priest was a Pontiff; if he couldn’t handle it, then it would require a bishop.
Old William simply shook his head, affirming, “We used all the means available to us… Jacob was one of the few cultured men in our village, and the children all liked him. If we could have, we would have definitely tried to save him.”
Eivass squinted slightly.
—Finally, he determined the problem.
As early as Eivass’s first Ascension Ritual, he had obtained crucial information.
Eivass’s parents died from a curse cast by the Curse Master Aziz bin Abdul, a task he performed under the orders of the older James Moriarty.
At the time, Eivass believed that he, as a child, survived the curse because his father had dispelled it for him, and then his parents had drawn away the Hooked Demon Jack to allow Eivass to live.
But Eivass overlooked one thing.
Or rather, he had taken for granted that the Curse Master’s goal was to annihilate his entire family, hence he also cast a curse on himself. Or perhaps, the curse on him was cast by the Curse Master Aziz.
However, his grandfather’s symptoms before his death were identical to his own fever experience as a child…
Aziz could not have cursed Grandfather Jacob.
Not only was his skill significantly inferior to Jacob’s, but he also lacked Jacob’s medium.
Furthermore, when Eivass played the role of his father, dispelling the curse on “Little Eivass” was almost instantaneous; however, when dispelling the curse on Eivass’s mother, played by Isabel, he encountered strong resistance.
It was as if the former didn’t care about being dispelled.
Unlike Eivass, who could only use First Tier power at the time, Giulio was a Pontiff! He was at least Second Tier, possibly higher but still accumulating experience.
If Eivass could do it, why couldn’t his father have dispelled it himself?
This was the biggest flaw.
Prince of Giants Wolfram had vowed that Eivass’s grandfather was killed by him.
According to Eivass’s Ritual Studies teacher, Eivass’s grandfather had invented the “Typhoid curse.”
This curse, in keeping with Jacob’s “low-profile” style, did not reveal itself as a curse but rather disguised itself as a mild typhoid fever, making people less wary and less likely to proactively seek treatment or removal. Only when the curse had accumulated enough power within the body would the person suddenly die in a short period.
This led Eivass to believe that Wolfram had used this curse.
But after listening to his grandfather’s symptoms, Eivass immediately realized something was wrong.
It didn’t match. It didn’t match at all—Jacob didn’t truly have a cold; he was diagnosed with a cold by the priest due to his fever and heat. His true symptoms were the same as Eivass’s!
Moreover, if the “Typhoid curse” was invented by Jacob, then he wouldn’t have known how to remove it—Jacob was lucid at the time.
If he was hit by the Typhoid curse, how did Aziz, a foreign Curse Master, learn of this trick? He had no connection with Noble Red.
If all these possibilities were considered, and assuming all this information was correct, Eivass arrived at a peculiar answer—
—His grandfather was most likely not cursed to death by Curse Master Aziz, nor by Prince of Giants Wolfram.
However, his death was known to multiple parties. This directly led to Eivass’s parents being cursed to death by Curse Master Aziz and the demise of the entire Alexander family.
Rather than being considered the founder of Serpent Hand and thus liquidated by Noble Red… it was more like possessing a treasure that brought about his undoing.
And if this deduction were taken as a logical starting point, Eivass immediately thought of another detail he had overlooked—
In the introductory phase of Eivass’s first Advancement Ritual, it was mentioned that his father Giulio Alexander’s niece, namely Eivass’s cousin Lisa, was murdered a month prior, but the Inspection Bureau could not find the killer.
A month after that incident, Giulio received a letter. The letter stated that Giulio had “not done as they said” and threatened to kill Eivass next.
Eivass vaguely recalled that he had a fever *before* coming to Glass Island. Not that he got a fever *after* arriving at Glass Island.
At the time, Eivass naturally ignored this, dismissing it as an excuse by Curse Master Aziz to lure them. After all, the Hooked Demon Jack had a limited transmission range, making it reasonable to lure them to collect mediums for cursing.
However, if he truly could ignore distance and mediums to curse Eivass precisely… why didn’t he curse Eivass’s parents to death directly?
So, there was only one possibility.
That this letter had nothing to do with Curse Master Aziz!
Meaning, Giulio did indeed receive such a letter—and if so, then he was indeed blackmailed for something by someone!
Then his visit to his teacher, Bishop Mathers, became understandable—he wasn’t seeking the bishop’s help to remove a curse, something he could easily get from any bishop, or even do himself. He came to Glass Island to discuss that letter!
Eivass’s scalp tingled.
Because if that were the case…
Then, Prince of Giants Wolfram’s statement to Eivass at the time was actually meant to trick him into revealing information!
