It began like any other morning. The guild hall buzzed with routine: adventurers crowding the quest board, scribes sorting forms, laughter over breakfast in the common area. Sunlight poured through the stained windows, glinting off polished boots and steel.
Then...
A crash. A loud, wooden slam. Shouts. Heavy boots pounding the marble.
"Someone get help!"
A voice, panicked and loud, rose over the clamor.
"Move! She's cursed! We need assistance!"
The main doors slammed open as the hero's party burst in, drenched in sweat and dust. At their center, Veinrad held a limp girl in his arms. Her skin was deathly pale, lips trembling, body writhing in invisible agony. Black veins pulsed across her neck like they were alive.
All conversation stopped. Adventurers froze mid-sentence. Someone dropped a mug.
"It's a curse!" one gasped.
"Move aside! Recovery chamber, now!" Lavirra's voice cut through the tension like a blade. Her boots struck the marble hard as she rushed forward.
Veinrad looked up, desperate. "Please! Help her!"
Lavirra didn't ask questions. "Follow me."
The group tore down the side hallway, past the startled clerks and into the back wing.
"Mayene! Get Rafa! Now!"
Mayene, wide-eyed, dropped her ledger and sprinted down the corridor.
---
The recovery chamber doors burst open. The girl was laid gently onto the padded table. Her body twisted again, jaw clenched in pain. Her breath came in short gasps.
Rafa, the guild's healer, entered moments later with Mayene at her heels. She rushed to the girl's side.
"I'll handle the wounds. Curse removal—that needs the temple," Rafa muttered.
She placed her hands over the worst gashes. Pale blue light shimmered from her palms. Slowly, the bleeding stopped. Skin stitched. Bruises faded.
But the girl still writhed. The black veins writhed deeper, darker.
"Why isn't it working?!" Veinrad growled, fists shaking.
Rafa gritted her teeth. "The curse is soul-bound. This isn't physical anymore. I can only dull the pain, not cleanse it."
Lavirra frowned. "Where's the nearest temple that can handle this?"
"Northwestern Liria. Two hundred miles. Even if they rode full-speed..."
Veinrad looked down, jaw tight. "She won't last that long."
---
The rest of the hero's party had left moments ago, desperate to find one of the roaming Luminarchs rumored to still be in the region. It was their only chance. But no one knew where the Luminarchs were anymore.
So Veinrad stayed.
He sat beside his childhood friend, watching her suffer. Sweat poured from her brow. Her eyes fluttered but didn't focus. She moaned, body twitching.
He gripped her hand.
"I'm sorry... I should've protected you... It should've been me."
The guilt choked him.
He didn't see Jinn approaching.
---
She was passing the corridor on her way to the second-floor archives when the sound hit her.
Not just a voice.
A groan. Low. Strained. Painful.
She paused, glanced at the closed door of the recovery chamber, and took a cautious step back. Muffled voices inside.
She turned the handle quietly. The door creaked.
No one noticed.
She stepped inside.
---
Rafa wiped her forehead, clearly exhausted.
"I need to recover... I'm nearly drained," she said, voice cracking.
Veinrad bowed his head to her. "Thank you. You did your best."
Rafa turned—and gasped.
Jinn stood by the door, silent, eyes locked on the cursed girl.
"Officer Jinn?" Rafa said in surprise.
"That curse..." Jinn stepped forward, ignoring their shock. Her voice was low, analytical. "It's not just embedded in the body. It's tethered to her soul."
Veinrad stood. "How do you know that?"
"I appraised it."
He froze. Rafa's brows knitted.
"Soul-tethered curses are rare. Who can even identify those?"
Jinn met their eyes. "I can."
Silence.
Jinn walked closer. The girl whimpered.
"I've studied some healing techniques. They're unrefined... nothing compared to proper clergy. But I can try to ease the pain."
Veinrad stepped forward. "Please. Anything. If she can hold on until help arrives... I'll owe you my life."
Jinn looked at him for a beat, then nodded.
She raised her palm above the girl's chest.
Concentration settled on her face. Eyes narrowed. She inhaled deeply.
"Heal."
The air cracked.
A piercing shriek—deafening, otherworldly—split through the room.
Rafa screamed and backed away.
The girl's body seized. Her back arched off the bed. A blast of black smoke exploded from her chest.
The mist twisted, formed—
A shape. Skeletal. Hollow-eyed. Screeching.
Jinn didn't flinch.
She stepped forward, calm.
Raised her hand again.
"Shatter."
The cursed spirit froze.
Then shattered like glass—
—bursting into shards of dark light, fading to nothing in midair.
Silence.
No breath. No movement.
The girl exhaled slowly. Her body relaxed.
She was asleep.
Peacefully.
---
Rafa's hands shook.
She stared. "What... what did you just do?"
Veinrad took a step back, stunned. Eyes locked on Jinn.
Jinn straightened her sleeves, looking tired but unfazed.
"Don't ask."
"But that..."
"I'm not a priest. Not a saintess. I'm just an officer."
Veinrad gritted his teeth. "That wasn't just officer work. That was divine."
Jinn's voice dropped. "You want her alive? Then forget what you saw."
Rafa looked torn. "If the Church finds out you can do that..."
"Exactly. So they won't."
She stepped toward them, voice cold.
"Tell no one. Not your party. Not the guild. Not even your goddess. If word spreads, it won't just be me they come after. She'll be a target too."
Rafa lowered her gaze. "I understand."
Veinrad didn't speak. He looked at his friend, breathing steadily now, color returning.
He swallowed hard.
"I won't forget what you did."
"Then forget who did it."
She turned, walking to the door.
"I'll file it as routine healing. Understood?"
Neither of them answered.
But they understood.