Rope shook his head helplessly even as he looked at Eiichi, who had a saddened face in front of him.
"It shouldn't be a curse. I think I can almost find the source of the 'curse' as you call it."
Rope could only speak.
Eiichi's eyes lit up when she heard this, then she opened her mouth and asked, "Can you find the source of the curse? What is it?"
"It shouldn't be a curse, Arceus isn't much of a brutal god is all. So what he inflicted on you shouldn't be a curse either."
Rope pondered for a while, then spoke, "I already have some general ideas, but I also need your cooperation."
"What kind of cooperation, you say!"
Eiichi had an expression of 'I'll agree to whatever you say'.
Rope waved his hand and said, "It's nothing much, I just want you to leave the village first."
The smile that had just spread across Eiichi's face just froze.
"Are you not joking with us?"
If it were anyone else who didn't have such a deep background, they would have to be given a good beating by Eiichi.
If they could get out of here, why are they still here?
Rope shook his head and said, "That's not what I meant. I mean, I will enter the cave again tomorrow, so in order to avoid some unnecessary dangers, you guys should first gather at a place not far away from the outside of the village. That's always doable, right?"
Hearing Rope's words, Eiichi first froze, then nodded.
"That's no problem. We won't be affected by the curse as long as we don't leave this big mountain."
"I'll say it again while not... never mind, whatever makes you guys happy. Just do as I say and don't worry about the rest."
Rope waved his hand, signaling that Eiichi could go out.
But Eiichi acted as if he didn't see it and had no intention of leaving.
"Brother Eiichi, don't worry, as long as Professor Rope says it will be done, then there will definitely be no problem."
Diana saw this and then opened her mouth to comfort.
Actually, whether Rope could solve this problem or not, she had no bottom in her heart and mind. Only now for the villagers, Rope was the only lifesaving straw they could hold. They simply do not have any choice.
Whitley saw that Eiichi still wasn't going to leave, and with a furrowed brow she planned to get up and sing a white face.
But before she could get up, Rope's hand was on her head keeping her from standing.
Whitley looked at Rope quizzically.
Rope shrugged and said, "I know it's hard for you guys to trust me. But in reality you can't trust anyone but me anymore."
"I'm the strongest in the research family. And the best researcher in the training family. And dealing with relics related to gods, especially Arceus, is also my specialty. So the most reliable person you can find is also me."
Rope looked at Eiichi and said with a sincere face, "Trust me or not, it's up to you guys. But like I said before. Whether you guys agree with me to enter the cave again or not. I will definitely go in."
"In order to save this world, I don't mind carrying your curses."
The room fell silent for a moment as soon as these words were uttered.
The crowd looked at Rope without speaking.
Even Rope herself froze. Such words...it wasn't a surprise that he had said them himself. But if you think about it, isn't that what that Red guy was like?
Rope shook his head, putting aside the distracting thoughts in his head for the moment. They had nothing to do with today's events.
Rope didn't even have the idea of racing the otherworldly Red for speed right now.
It was pointless.
"Well, that's all I have to say, leave."
Rope then waved his hand again.
Eiichi thought for a moment, and after a few moments gave an arch towards Rope, then exited the house.
He'll have to discuss this with the elders of his family. Right now it looks like. He had indeed lured the 'wolf' into the house. At least Rope definitely had more than just goodwill towards them.
After Eiichi left, the house remained silent. whitley and Diana looked at Rope who was a bit silent, and were equally afraid to speak.
"You guys don't have to worry, I'm fine, and like Red there's nothing wrong with me. It's not like it's anything bad."
Rope said bashfully, and he wasn't kidding about that, because it really was a nice thing to do, and like Red...can you say you're insulted by something like that?
Obviously it couldn't.
"Professor Rope, would you really come on strong?"
Diana asked tentatively.
Rope glanced at Diana and understood her thoughts. After all, according to the village's legend, their villages were all pretty much the same. If Rope forced an incursion on this village, then Rope would force an incursion on her own village if she needed to...
Rope nodded. There was no denial at all.
"Diana, I'm not trying to scare Eiichi... the importance of your villages right now seems to be far greater than I ever thought it would be. So there's no way I'm going to let you guys ruin my plans."
"Of course, I will not harm you and will give you compensation that you are satisfied with."
"Of course compensation is compensation and harm is harm, I still know about such things."
After saying that, Rope stopped talking and just looked at the photo in front of her in silence.
——————————————
"Eiichi! You did this!"
Eiichi's father shouted angrily as he slammed the table.
"What the hell are you doing!"
Eiichi looked at his angry father without saying a word.
He knew that he was at a disadvantage right now. So he should take this scolding.
"Alright, you should also say less..."
The old man at the top hurriedly interrupted without waiting for the middle-aged man to say anything more unpleasant.
Then, he looked towards Eiichi and asked seriously, "Ah Eiichi, do you think this Professor Rope... can be trusted?"
Eiichi raised his head to look at the old man, pondered for a long time, then nodded and said, "I think he is indeed trustworthy. It's like what was said before. There is absolutely no need for him to deceive us."
"What he said to me previously could already be considered a flip-flop. I can't think of why he would still want to deceive us."
The old master narrowed his eyes and remained silent for a long time, as if he was thinking about something.
After a good period of time had passed, the old master let out a long contemptuous sigh. Then he said to his children and grandchildren, "In the legends of this village of ours, ah, there is the figure of Lord Arceus. We are very proud of it! This is the greatest god in our Shenao region, and in the entire world."
"But, there are some things you have seen before. The Arceus we worship is obviously very different from the Arceus that people from outside say."
"I was curious about such things when I was little."
"There was a boat in the sacred lake to begin with. Just by taking that boat, everyone could travel between the shore and Icon Island."
"Only that the boat inexplicably disappeared an unknown number of years ago. Since then everyone has thought about building any other ships, but all the others get attacked by Lord Basculegion. There are countless records of shipwrecks."
"And since we couldn't get to the mountains, there was no way for our Pokémon to defeat the two lords. So we were just turned away from the sacred lake. And the doubts in my mind were never answered. I will no longer tell you these things either."
"Rather than telling such things for you to lament, it would be better for you to forget them, and then perhaps be like Diana and their village, no longer subject to any constraints..."
Hearing him say that, both Eiichi and his father felt a sense of surprise.
"Dad...you know what the curse really is?"
The middle-aged man excitedly opened his mouth and asked.
"So what if I know, so what if I don't know, we might as well not know if we don't have a solution."
The old man shook his head and said without a hitch, "Eiichi, ah, you remember to carry a box of Professor Rope tomorrow, and just say...the source of the curse is indeed on Iconic Island. At least that's what we've been told."
"There should still be an altar there, and as long as we can restart the sacrifice, that amount of curse...will dissipate. I hope he...helps us."
"Even if you can't see us old guys...at least give the children a chance...they, are innocent."
——————————————
"So that's all the news is it?"
Rope said somewhat helplessly as he looked at the stony-faced Eiichi.
Eiichi could see the helplessness on Rope's face and spoke, "That's all the news we know..."
Rope nodded and said, "Very well, there is indeed some useful news in."
Eiichi was also sort of relieved, he was really afraid that his clan's hidden secrets weren't even as much as what Rope had found out in one afternoon's investigation.
That would have been a shame.
"Alright, without saying so much, you guys take the villagers and leave. I'm going to take a look in the cave."
Rope turned to Whitley and Diana and instructed them.
"Eh." *2
Diana and Whitley said in unison.
"That's fine, just remember guys, nothing that can't be fixed. Don't worry about me."
Rope smiled weakly, trying to get the two to relax. Only it obviously had little effect.
Whitley's lips pursed and Diana's didn't tighten.
Shaking her head with a bitter smile, Rope wasn't making much of a relief. No amount of talking was better than returning safely.
"Let's go!"
With that, he directly turned around and waved his hand at the two of them, then walked straight towards the cave not far away.
Seeing that the two girls were still uneasy, Eiichi could only open his mouth and say, "Don't worry. According to the clan's legend, the most dangerous ones in there are Lord Basculegion and the Braviary group. Professor Rope was able to come out safely yesterday. Then there won't be anything that can harm him anymore."
Whitley sniffed but silently shook his head before speaking, "Brother Eiichi, it's not like that. The first rule of the Ruins Exploration Code is..."
"But all relics. The most dangerous of them is never the so-called guards. Rather, it is the relics themselves, and the matters they represent. Rotom!"
Rotom retrieved the entry in his databank, then looked at Rope in pain.
"That means there is still danger Lotor!"
Rope shook his head, "Not necessarily, this entry probably means to remind you to keep your guard up. Because the uncertainty of something like a relic is just too great."
"But..."
"Rest assured, since the old village chief has taught us that set of rituals used for sacrifices, there's no reason why we would still encounter any danger." Rope could only open his mouth to reassure Rotom.
Rotom had experienced a lot of things after Rope, but he still couldn't change his personality...
According to his words...
"I'm already a ghost! I don't want to die again!"
Of course, this guy is just paying lip service. He wouldn't run away from any problems that came his way.
Rope couldn't think of any wanting way to be able to comfort him right now, so he simply didn't open his mouth.
"Rope what are you thinking?"
Hoopa asked suspiciously as he looked at Rope who was in a thinking state.
"Hoopa, when you were underwater before...did you see the ship?"
Rope said rhetorically asking Hoopa.
Hoopa froze for a moment at Rope's question, then frowned as he recalled, and after a moment said, "I don't think so, I was scrying when I fought. But there were no ships to be found."
Looking at Rope's still furrowed brow, Hoopa spoke up, "I can probe in the water once more if need be."
"No, that won't be necessary."
Rope shook his head, still trusting Hoopa in matters of business.
"Looks like there's something very wrong with this ship... "Rope shook his head silently before continuing, "Let's talk about all of this later, let's head for the center of the lake."
With that, he patted his crotch on Charizard's neck, then said, "Faster, Charizard."
"Roar!!!"
Charizard roared with fighting spirit, then flew quickly towards the front.
A few moments later, Rope and the others landed on this side once again.
There was no longer any danger in the sky, and that ancient Braviary was handed over to Diana after it was given to Rotom to collect the relevant data. As for whether or not it could be subdued...that was Diana's problem.
Diana was not his student. Instead, it was more like an equal partnership between them.
So he would help Diana do what he could. Like building nutritional recipes, configuring an extra serving of elf food, or finding some more suitable Pokémon. these were all things that came with the territory, or were done in passing. So Rope didn't find it troublesome.
Something like helping to take in a Pokemon would be a bit meddlesome.
Rope was still an emotionally indifferent guy after all, and before there was enough fellowship, Rope would never just help others.
Because it has nothing to do with him.
Landing on their feet, Rope and the others came to the location where they found the hollow underneath before.
"Charizard, blow the dust away."
Rope looked at the ground, then ordered.
Charizard took off into the air again, then swung his wings vigorously, setting off a powerful air current.
Dust was blown off the ground. Dust billowed everywhere as Rope transformed into a flame and avoided the scattered dust. Rotom was a machine so up itself didn't care about the dust.
Only Hoopa was choking and coughing.
"Rope... cough cough...you...asshole! Cough cough cough..."
Rope, however, didn't answer him, but just looked at the pattern on the ground after the dust was blown away, and was silent.