Chapter 45: Chapter 84 – To Bloom Amidst Adversity

It happened a year and a half ago in Chennai, India.

The caretaker, whose name was redacted in this document, took their tenant out to have lunch in the city. His tenant, name also redacted, was a former soldier who served in the Granieda Empire as a fieldmage. Their primary role in the army was to provide magical enhancements. All of their powers had been divulged beforehand during the tenant's screening process to enter Earth.

Except for one.

That one hidden power led to the incident known as the Chennai Curse, where a staggering 97 people were killed over a ten-day period.

My head immediately became woozy after reading that part. The young and naive me couldn't fathom that number of dead, especially when my tenants were all so gentle. At least… for the most part.

U.N security board branded this tragic event the greatest folly in modern history with relations to the netherfolks. An event so horrible that great reparation had to be paid to the victims and resulted in the entire Caretaker Program to be pulled from India.

The reason I hadn't heard about it was due to a massive international government campaign to hide it from the media and public. Likely in the fear that it would reverberate to other countries and cause hysteria, thus leading to the program being discontinued in other places.

Seemed like they succeeded for the most part since even I didn't hear about it.

Instead of using the incident as part of a lesson to prospective caretakers, the security board decided to redouble efforts in properly screening both tenants and caretakers.

To understand the circumstances that led to the Chennai Curse, it was important to see both sides of the coin.

The caretaker had come from a lower caste family, and although the caste system was abolished from India many decades ago, the lingering societal ramifications of it were still felt today. He and his family were poor. They saw the Caretaker Program as a way to elevate themselves from their destitution, and the son showed excellent potential as a caretaker due to his kindness and empathy.

Another more affluent family, with members in positions of government, sent a son that proved to be less qualified to also apply to the program. But because the selection was made by a U.N board and not by the home country, he didn't make the cut. The role was given to the other young man. This was seen as an affront and resulted in constant harassment of his family.

Although the U.N pressured India to give the boy's family more protection, the Indian government, still ruled by many who had benefited from the abolished caste system to be where they were now, gave them the cold shoulder.

In spite of the harassment, the boy was given a dormitory and tenant to manage. Things went well for a month. The two had even grown intimate as per the reports. However, everything came spiraling down in a single night when the affluent family paid a mob to harass the boy directly at the dorm, where it quickly took a violent turn.

When the mob broke into the dormitory and it became clear that no help was sent their way, the tenant, for fear of their lives, unleashed a powerful magic spell that scared them away.

Nothing seemed to come out of it. Not until days later when the first few deaths occurred. By day ten, it was discovered that all 97 members of the mob had died of cardiac arrest. Among the dead were members of the influential family that proceeded to lay blame on the netherfolk.

The U.N. finally stepped in and the tenant confessed that she came from a bloodline of witches that had the power to curse people to death. Apparently, the caretaker had been long-aware of her power after she confided in him about it. He claimed responsibility, citing that he had purposefully neglected to report it and used his tenant to kill the mobs.

Out of an abundance of caution, the caretaker and his entire family was moved out of the country to a redacted location. He was stripped of his caretaker status, and the tenant was deported back to Weyera.

The Indian government was furious and sought to punish the two with the death penalty, but the U.N. refused to comply.

After all, they didn't want to risk getting cursed themselves by trying to execute a netherfolk with such power. The poor thing now remained in Granieda's maximum security prison, forced to take an anti-magic serum, and must serve out her crimes in solitude. All because of one family's greed.

"Wow. That's not fair at all." I sighed and put down the papers.

They were just trying to protect themselves. And for that caretaker to try and shoulder all the blame on himself… that was nothing short of heroic.

This turned out to be a lot heavier than I expected before breaking the classified tape seal. It did explain all the excessive precautions. Professor Markel was terrified. Everyone was. I didn't know the full magnitude of how bad it could be, but the ones working behind the scenes did.

Although at times like this, I wish I was more stubborn. Val wasn't like that. None of my tenants were like that.

But it was easy to proclaim that when it hadn't happened yet. Circumstances here were different than in other countries.

I took a sip of tea long gone cold and glanced over to my bed where Ange and Tamara were fast asleep in each other's arms. They had been quiet all day, and who could blame them? For Ange in particular, one of her closest friends was going to be deported back to Weyera. The other tenants were dealing with it in their own way, some not as well as others.

As I got up, Ange accidentally kicked the sheets off. I went over to pull it back over their shoulders. The way she held Tamara was like a mother cat holding her kitten. A cute sight that melted my heart.

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Too bad I couldn't go to sleep with them.

Reading all that had left me wide awake, so I decided to go downstairs to busy myself with some chores. Before leaving the room, I took one more look at the liverwic daisies Val had given me, which I had placed into a glass vase earlier.

Downstairs, I was surprised to see the door to the backyard left open. Irapesha was outside with Rakka, gazing up at the starry sky with a longing look.

"What's going on out here?" I asked.

"I was feeling homesick. Thankfully, the scent of the flowers that Valeanor had planted soothes me. It seems Rakka feels the same way." Irapesha smiled at the mana beast nestled within the small forest of flowers.

"Baa!"

"Maybe that's what Val wanted to do this entire time," I mused thoughtfully.

"If only there was more we could have done for her in return," she said.

I leaned against one of the garden beds next to her and followed her gaze to the full moon beaming down at us. "You know… Up until now, I'd been cruising through as a caretaker without much of a problem. I thought I was the luckiest guy in the world, with a succubus girlfriend, cool tenants from a magical world, meeting demon-slaying heroes and kings. Suddenly, I lost one tenant and it feels like I've been doing everything wrong."

The dragonewt walked forward and stretched out her right wing. If she hadn't lost her other side, it would have been an impressive wingspan to show for. It seemed like she wanted to fly up and join the stars.

"My kind does not tolerate failure," Irapesha began. "It is what makes us dragonewts the perfect soldiers, killing machines to serve the Granieda Empire. I thought it was all I was meant to do until my death. It was why I was so devastated to lose my left arm and wing. Then you and Cresta came along to show me a new purpose. Tell me, would that mean you have truly done everything wrong?"

"If you put it that way, how the hell am I going to contest that?" My face went red from her praise.

She let loose a hearty laugh, then furled her wing onto her back. "Don't contest it. Embrace it. When you have found the courage to bring Valeanor back, Cresta and I, like the loyal soldiers we once were, shall stand by your side."

When I heard Irapesha talk, it filled me with confidence. Her charisma was second to none. If she ordered me into battle, I'd probably die a pathetic death, but I wouldn't look back.

This pep talk was exactly what I needed, because I knew exactly what must be done.

The next morning, I gathered everyone into the living room. They were all tired, still somber about Valeanor's departure from the dorm.

However, I had an important message to deliver to them.

I took a deep breath before addressing my tenants. "In twelve hours, Val will be crossing the portal back to Weyera. Professor Markel and the U.S branch security board granted my request to say goodbye to her, but that's not what we're going to do."

All at once, the tenants threw confused looks my way. Only Irapesha appeared to understand, and a smile flashed across her face.

"Instead, we're going to stop it from happening and bring Val back home. Who's with me? We're not going to let them take her away without a fight, are we?" I asked them.

No one needed convincing. Every single one of them erupted with excitement and eagerness.

"I expected nothing less from you." Ange giggled, trying to hide the tear welling around the corners of her eyes.

Cresta clenched both fists to pump herself up. "Let's show Val a thing or two for thinking she could just leave us!"

"It seems this will be an uphill battle. I would not have it any other way." Irapesha put a hand on my shoulder to reaffirm my conviction.

"Everyone, load up in the van! Let's not keep Val waiting!" I declared, leading the charge.

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