The Bizarre Detective Agency

Chapter 945: Cursed Title

"Thank you... meow."

Lu Li had kept his promise.

Fudot meant to casually brush a stray lock of hair from her forehead, but she froze mid-motion.

"This isn't... what?"

By the time she came to her senses, Lu Li had already left the classroom, book in hand.

"The Story of Kori Laval."

It was an autobiographical book. At least, the first half was, detailing only the experiences of a hunter named Kori Laval.

The "Cursed Title" that had piqued Lu Li's interest didn't appear until the second half of the story. Trapped in a nest of anomalies, Kori Laval had unleashed his Cursed Title in his final moments.

It was a mysterious and incredible power, like a divine revelation that inspired an overwhelming urge to pray in reverence. But the source of this awe was not some deity, but the earth, the sky, the world itself.

Wielding a power that seemed gifted by the world, Kori Laval had nearly annihilated the anomaly nest and escaped before its leader awakened from its slumber.Upon returning to the human world, Kori Laval learned the name for this power: the unleashing of a Cursed Title.

Those who possessed them were also called: bearers of a Cursed Title.

He journeyed to the Academy of Giant Trees in Midnight, where he studied the still-crude knowledge of Cursed Titles, while also contributing his own knowledge to the academy.

Kori Laval didn't elaborate on this period of mutual learning. Perhaps there was no need. But judging by the result—with only a dozen or so pages left—his story was clearly drawing to a close.

As for the Cursed Title, Kori Laval described it as a gift from the world... How else could one explain its miraculous nature and the power that came with unleashing it?

However, this power came at a price. Everyone who unleashed a Cursed Title felt a sense of loss, as if a part of their soul had been devoured.

Worse still, once a Cursed Title was unleashed for the first time, unleashing it again became effortless.

The book described it thus: Kori Laval compared it to "a can that has already been opened." (Note: This was modified. Kori Laval's original description involved prostitutes.)

This created a terrible, insidious threat for all bearers of a Cursed Title: due to that sense of loss, maintaining the unleashed state brought a greater feeling of security.

And maintaining that unleashed state constantly led to the loss of one's "soul."

This vicious cycle made the power akin to an addiction.

Kori Laval was one of them. Despite countless warnings, he couldn't suppress the warmth and security that came with unleashing his Cursed Title, a feeling like being back in the womb.

And, whether it was a hallucination or not, he noticed that anomalies no longer seemed as interested in him.

At the very least, whenever he and others ventured beyond the bounds of the human world, the anomalies preferred to attack the others, not him.

Humanity.

Lu Li thought to himself, having read up to this point.

Humanity was a shield wrapped around the mind. The less of it one had, the more exposed the mind became.

The lack of security caused by this deficiency in humanity drove bearers of Cursed Titles to use their power more often, the price of which was the thinning of their humanity and the defenseless exposure of their minds to a dangerous world.

Only the final page remained, and when Lu Li turned it, the end of the story was revealed.

Like the other bearers of Cursed Titles who had vanished, Kori Laval's end was no exception.

At the story's conclusion, he walked into the desert alone and never returned.

Flipping back from the sad final page to the beginning, Lu Li discovered that Kori Laval was a senior of his—he, too, had been a student at the Academy of Giant Trees.

That was why, after becoming a bearer, Kori Laval had returned to his alma mater, and why his autobiography had appeared in the academy's library.

The place held fond memories for Kori Laval: aside from his relatively tragic childhood and his adventures in the wilderness after graduation, only his time at the Academy of Giant Trees was described in the most detail.

Thanks to this, Lu Li learned what the Academy of Giant Trees was like back then.

In its early days, the rules of the Academy of Giant Trees were still unrefined, borrowing heavily from the principles of the exorcist era.

To study, to make contact, and ultimately, to resolve an anomaly problem—that was the path to graduation.

Anomalistics was the core curriculum at the time, and anomalies were their means of combating other anomalies. Mysticism and alchemy, integrated into the study of anomalies, were met with strong resistance—

Such rules were clearly flawed in the Age of Anomalies, an era where anomalies were everywhere, as if born alongside the world itself.

The current Academy of Giant Trees had clearly taken a different path, a path of coexistence with anomalies.

...

The next morning, during breakfast.

The side effects having vanished, Lu Li went to Professor Haig's mysticism office, carrying the book "The Story of Kori Laval."

"Perhaps it's humanity."

"Humanity?"

Professor Haig subconsciously paused when he saw the title of the book Lu Li placed on his desk, realizing he had read it and was offering his opinion.

"You mean the thing that is consumed when a Cursed Title is unleashed?"

"Mhm."

Humanity was just the name Lu Li gave it. It could also be called a soul, a spark, fuel, the fire of heritage, or a shell.

Over the next while, Lu Li explained his understanding of humanity. Since it was breakfast time, they headed to the main hall to eat and talk.

Thus, the students discovered that Lu Li was sitting among the professors that day—a strange sight, but one that didn't feel out of place at all.

"Lu Li became a professor!" Dogmeat exclaimed.

"Is he avoiding me?" Fudot thought angrily.

An old professor of anomalistics listened in on Lu Li's conversation with Professor Haig, occasionally offering his own opinions.

When Lu Li had finished explaining everything he knew about humanity, Professor Haig praised him:

"Your depth of knowledge does me proud."

The old anomalistics professor was even more excited. He even bowed respectfully to Lu Li in full view of the astonished students:

"I am overjoyed that you have willingly revealed this secret..."

Do not hide your talent.

Do not hide a talent that can save others.

Do not hide a talent that can save others in a crumbling world.

The Academy of Giant Trees was founded for this very purpose, and it had received the support of many ancient families and mysterious cults.

Only the strongest, most united ship can survive a storm; the selfish will be despised and cast aside.

Lu Li's theory of humanity would fill a significant gap in the research of Cursed Titles and other mysterious phenomena, such as mysticism and alchemy.

Unfortunately, the theory needed to be tested by time—they would have to wait until Lu Li became a bearer of a Cursed Title to confirm whether humanity existed and if it was consumed when a Cursed Title was unleashed.

If it proved true, not only would Lu Li's legendary reputation shine even brighter, but he would also receive a large number of academic credits from the Academy of Giant Trees for his contribution.

It was a shame that for Lu Li, who by then would have already mastered a Cursed Title, academic credits would be useless.

"Can you find the bearers of Cursed Titles?" Lu Li asked.

After receiving confirmation from Professor Haig and the old professor, Lu Li lowered his dark eyes, his gaze falling upon his left hand, which was inlaid with fragments of salvation.

"I can absorb and bestow humanity."

And so, many of the students eating breakfast in the main hall watched in bewilderment as the professors at the table excitedly surrounded Lu Li and hurried away with him.