Chapter 60: A Pledge
There was the slightest tinge of pain in the back of my head, sothing I wouldn't have noticed if I didn't pay attention to it. Though I hadn't actually started to try using Dark Arts at the ti, it appeared I was successful, just that the effects were rather... extre.
From the looks of things, the mask actually did work, just that it needed to be activated via Dark Arts, thus letting teleport.
It made wonder what mory I had lost.
For a second, I thought it was an illusion, but I really had teleported into the room.
Except, there was a tiny prob-
"Eeeeeeek!"
A maid literally jumped up and dropped the broom she was holding in fright because I had suddenly appeared. As if to make matters worse, the mask I was wearing began to shudder and was releasing needlessly loud crying sounds.
I really wanted it to shut up, but there was nothing I could do.
Honestly, it kind of felt like I was watching porn, but I forgot to turn the volu down, making it start out way too loud. And on top of that, for so reason, the option to turn the volu down wasn't activating imdiately.
I took off the mask, took off the hood, and tried to show the maid the most reassuring smile I could muster. Though, there was a strange salty taste in my mouth.
"Hey, hey, it's just . Nothing to worry about."
Although dazed, the maid did seem to calm down sowhat.
"A-Ah, I see. I didn't see you ent-"
"WHAT'S THE MATTER?!"
"EEYAH!"
The door slamd open, revealing Jess, while the maid jumped up in fright once more, but this ti directly fainted.
An awkward smile ford on my face as I looked at her.
"Ah, don't worry, there's nothing wrong. Well, at least with . The maid on the other hand might need so he-"
"Brother!"
Imdiately, I sensed that sothing was wrong. Jess was looking at with her mouth agape in a frown, as though horrified. It was almost like I had broken an arm and was just trying to act strong in front of her.
She rushed over before I could get a sense of what was going on and hugged rather tightly.
"I'm so sorry! I've been so neglectful, how could I have let this happen?"
Thankfully, the crying from the mask had stopped by now, lasting roughly five seconds or so. However, there was a more pressing problem.
"What are you talking about? Letting sothing happen?"
Jess began crying herself.
"Isn't it obvious? You are crying! Just look at you!"
She took out a handkerchief and wiped at my face. It was only now that I realized that tears had covered it.
Hm. It seed the mask had other effects too.
I quickly lifted the mask up and pointed at it.
"Wait, no this is a misunderstanding. It was actually the mask that made the crying sound with the tears."
Jess looked at the mask, then looked back at even more pitifully.
"Brother, please. You don't have to act like this anymore! Your excuses aren't even making sense anymore."
My eyelid twitched. In hindsight, that explanation did really make no sense. If soone else presented it to , I couldn't believe it even if I wanted to. But that was the truth!
"Ok, I know how weird that sounded, but that's actually what happened. I wasn't actually cry-"
"Brother. You don't have to say any more."
Jess cut off, but spoke softly. Her hug beca gentle, almost like I was so fragile that I would break at the touch.
"I am here for you now. Just close your eyes and calm down."
...Hm.
Well, I wonder how those guys back at the fake cult are doing. They must be startled by my sudden disappearance. As for , it appeared I would have to deal with Jess now.
Eventually, Jess dragged back off to the bathroom and got to go in with her. She was even more insistent on everything this ti, which made feel a little unsettled at heart.
Jess' belief that she neglected had definitely worsened by a great deal and it seed nothing I would say could convince her otherwise. This was the exact opposite path that I had intended to lead her down.
Welp.
Talking to her now is useless, so I'll just wait for her to calm down a bit before attempting to resolve this. And as such, I was once again assaulted with the unforgiving hug that made incredibly uncomfortable.
I'm not sure if I'll ever get used to this.
Soon enough, I fell asleep once more.
Then, I was brought into a dream again. A familiar pink figure had ford in front of . Before I had even gotten my bearing he started to speak.
"That teleportation magic makes quite curious, but I won't ask you that right now, as there is obviously a more pressing matter. Ok, I understand what you're thinking, that Dark Arts has so terrible drawbacks that make people forget who they are. But this is not true."
I rubbed the side of my head and sighed.
"Alright, I'll hear you out then."
The pink figure raised an eyebrow in surprise but continued anyway.
"For starters, Dark Arts do not fundantally change soone's desires. Even if the mory that's taken away is related to their desire, that will not change it. That way, the personality isn't affected too much."
He raised a finger.
"Besides, don't you rember how those people in that Dark Arts cult were rather friendly? I'll have you know that I've actually seen many of those people before, and they were far from close to that amicable before. Since Dark Arts removes the mories that cause stress and tension, it makes people far less irritable and hardly engage in any conflict."
Ah. So is that why they were like that? Wait, but Bryson was the splitting opposite of that.
"So, have you been using Dark Arts too and also forgetting your mories?"
The pink figure let out a laugh.
"I've had countless years of mories. If it wasn't for erasing them, it is likely they would've gone insane from the countless years of doing nothing while my soul was sealed in a book. Besides, they are so far back that I wouldn't be able to rember them anyways."
I blinked a few tis.
"Are you sure you don't regret it?"
The pink figure looked at for a little while.
"In truth, I'm not certain if I would have the capability to talk to you if not for erasing my mories. There may have been a ti where I have had regrets, but supposing that it existed, I've forgotten about it."
I took a deep breath.
"If that's the case, then I can't exactly bla you for doing such a thing. But I don't plan on using it anymore, unless the only other option is actually just death."
The pink figure looked at questioningly.
"But why? I recall that you said yourself that the person you are is always changing, so wiping away a few mories isn't exactly removing your true self."
A bitter smile ford on my face.
"Yes, but that doesn't change the fact that there are mories that I don't want to forget. Maybe they'll end up so far tucked into the back of my head that I won't think about them for the rest of my life, but I still don't want to forget about them."
The pink figure smiled bitterly before raising a finger.
"You are overthinking it. Sothing I've co to realize after experinting for countless years through others, is that the good mories are never erased. There is no need to worry."
I let out a long sigh.
"Yes, but the mory I wish to hold onto is a bad one."
The pink figure looked at blankly for a little while.
"Did soone that you cared deeply about die? Though I don't recall you ever encountering sothing similar to that, know that you won't lose the mories of them. In the worst case, you will simply forget how they died in the first place, but not the fact that they are dead."
I shook my head.
"No, sothing like that never happened to . From what I'm hearing, if I use Dark Arts that mory will be erased."
The pink figure's eyebrow rose.
"There is such a mory you have? What exactly is it?"
I pointed toward him with a smirk.
"What's important isn't the mory itself, but why I wouldn't want to forget it. Maybe you can try to figure that out."
The pink figure stared back blankly at .
"I'm already at a complete loss with the first question you've given . Did you perhaps already understand the drawbacks, which is why you rejected learning Dark Arts?"
I rolled my eyes.
"How the hell was I supposed to know? You never told . But even if there wasn't this mory-wiping thing, the answer would still be no."
The pink figure hunched over with a frown plastered on his face.
"What is this? Why are you giving another question when I can hardly solve the first one?"
I raised my lip before turning it into an exaggerated glower. Then I pointed at him like a teacher towards a trouble-making student.
"You're the one that asked for it! Plus, if you didn't erase your mories, you probably would've already understood all these things by now! If you really want to understand, then you have to stop wiping away your mories."
The pink figure was rendered speechless.
"I... never thought about it that way. Perhaps if I had discarded Dark Arts entirely, I'd be able to learn Divine Arts."
He fell into thought, and shortly after the entire dream had dispersed, making wake up in Jess's arms once more. I didn't think about anything else before falling asleep, lest I find myself tensing up again.
...
I woke up for another day, without too much motivation to get up. However, with Jess forcing to get up, it wasn't much of a choice.
Upon getting on the carriage off to school, I began to ponder over Bryson.
He recklessly used Dark Arts. From what I've heard, he was really into getting stronger, so while mories were erased, he retained that desperate need to get stronger. Maybe that's the reason why he beca a villain in the first place.
...Phew. Thank god I didn't start practicing Dark Arts.
Maybe Bryson wasn't actually that bad. But at the sa ti, just losing bad mories probably isn't enough to turn a good person into a bad one. Yet while the chances are not high, I was still willing to give the actual Bryson a chance.
But how should I make contact with him? And will he even care to listen?
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