[Collection and Research on Special Amnesia]
This research was conducted under the command of the great Black Dragon Emperor, aiming to collect and classify records of all types of amnesia and study their characteristics. May endless glory be upon the Empire.
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(Excerpt)
Type 3: Amnesia of Naming Loss
Main Symptoms: The subject cannot rember their own na / Others cannot rember the subject’s na
Records of this symptom could be found in ancient manuscripts. During the chaotic tis when schools had not yet separated, there are records of a certain wizard who repeatedly researched ways to nullify ‘target designation.’
The powers of so souls are manifested in a way that specifies a target. In the case of ‘ability to weaken enemies,’ the step of designating the enemy must necessarily precede. So how is this designation made?
The ancient wizard believed that the secret of target designation lies in the na.
He thought that if he hid or erased his own na, he could nullify or weaken all ‘target designations’ directed at him, and it is presud that he succeeded after long experints.
This is because, while so of his research materials and handwritten texts clearly remained, there was not a single person who rembered that wizard or any materials ntioning him.
A wizard’s research cannot be achieved alone. It requires sufficient facilities and reagents, and traces must necessarily remain.
Therefore, the fact that there are research results but no social traces indicating that research was conducted (transaction records, citations of papers, complaints from assistant wizards, etc.) signifies the activation of magic.
We can infer that the removal of nas accompanies such effects. A certain wizard evaluated this as follows... (Excerpt).
⋯⋯⋯⋯.
Chin.
Selvia thought as she closed the pages of the ancient manuscript.
⋯⋯What was the na of my childhood friend again?
——–
Selvia erged after a week of solitary reading. Dark circles under her eyes.
During that ti, she had scoured every book related to amnesia in the Library of the Red Tower, and among them, she had finally found one. A book that could explain this bizarre occurrence.
The erasure of a na.
⋯⋯She couldn’t even begin to fathom what kind of magical effect could cause that. In fact, she wondered if it was just the bluster of an ancient sorcerer, like Envers who claid to have grasped the sky and was jumping around.
However, the symptoms described in the book coincidentally matched too well.
It was conceivable that her childhood friend didn’t rember Selvia. If the hypothesis of the mad sorcerer = childhood friend were true, he must already be involved with two won.
Won who are even stronger than Selvia and, in so sense, more charming. It was infuriating and utterly heartbreaking, but if he could live happily like that... she could accept that he might forget a rustic girl from his hotown.
But the opposite, that Selvia couldn’t rember her childhood friend, was inconceivable.
As ti passes, it’s possible to forget details like facial features, but surely one wouldn’t forget a na. She must have written it dozens of tis and repeated it hundreds of tis.
She had even written love letters.
Selvia opened a small safe hidden under her dormitory bed and checked one by one the letters that had not been sent yet—perhaps never would be.
She thought she had written the nas correctly in the recipient field, but each one was circled around with phrases like ‘childhood friend’ or ‘my sun’.
And the oldest letter. The very first love letter she had written in her hotown before coming to the Red Tower...
▒▒▒.
The place where the na should have been was twisted here and there, as if each letter had a consciousness of its own, reconstituted into an incomprehensible shape.
Selvia froze, breaking out in a cold sweat. There seed to be an unfathomable... underlying truth to the girl’s long-held purity and waiting.
What sent chills down her spine even more was.
“⋯⋯I didn’t know.”
The fact that she hadn’t even realized she had forgotten the na. Like a spring breeze brushing her nose, forgetting had seeped in so naturally.
Selvia was terrified, yet at the sa ti, she felt a sense of relief.
It was highly likely that her childhood friend hadn’t forgotten her voluntarily, but had been forced to forget due to so incident. Yes. Surely that was the case.
If by so chance her mories were to resurface, she might once again receive that warm gaze.
⋯⋯Then, is there a way to reverse it?
No.
It was beyond her capabilities. Even if she reached the fable, she wouldn’t be able to perform feats like burning a ‘na’. The only hope she could walk towards now was.
“『The Gateway to Promotion』.”
It was once again the ‘wish token’ after all the twists and turns.
If it were Vermilion, the Grand Sorceress of the Red Tower, there might be a way.
In the end, I must complete the task of the Red Tower and beco her apprentice. And I would ask her to give a clue to regain my mories. Though the wish I would make with the token might change, the purpose remains the sa.
The flickering candle of my heart, montarily shaken by confusion, reignites. With a goal in sight, all that remains is to move forward. The teachings of my childhood friend were pushing onward.
I would capture the exiled sorceress, Krabellin Render. By any ans necessary.
She clenched her fists tightly.
“...Alright, I’ll catch Krabellin no matter what it takes...!”
“Selvia, if everything’s done, can we leave now?”
“Wh-what?! Why are you here? This is my room, how did you—?!”
“I saw the window was open. The Red Tower really has a sense of openness.”
The mad sorceress, who had intruded without the owner’s permission, pointed at the wide-open window with her finger. A single rope hanging down suggested she had descended from above.
“Why, why did you co into soone else’s room without permission?!”
“You looked serious, and when I knocked, you didn’t answer. You even skipped a al, so I was worried.”
My childhood friend (presumably) was worried about . Just like old tis. It made happy. A reflexive rush of dopamine surged through .
No.
Selvia sensed her angry expression lting away and tried to slap her cheeks to regain her composure.
It’s still not certain. Even if I’m 99% sure, there’s still that 1% chance she might not be my childhood friend. Plus, she has two girlfriends, used so strange illusion magic on our first eting, and tornted with tentacles. I can’t figure her out...
As Selvia forced herself to maintain her anger gauge while repeating that long list in her mind, the mad sorceress, now wearing an apron, spoke.
“The food here in the dining hall isn’t great, so I thought I’d whip up sothing light... How about I make you so pasta?”
“...”
mories echoed from the past.
—I’m sorry, Selvia. This is all I can do for you. Kids should eat well, you know. Later... when I earn a lot of money, I promise I’ll cook you sothing delicious.
That was it.
Crusts of bread and rotten vegetables. After cutting away the inedible parts, there was hardly anything left, yet he made als for the village children.
Selvia felt a sting at the tip of her nose and looked up. Then, with a slightly choked voice, she replied.
“...I’d like to eat.”
“Great. I’ll get started, so co to the dining hall!”
The mad sorceress pretended not to notice Selvia’s dampness. Each small act of consideration pierced her heart painfully. Scenes from the past kept overlapping in her mind.
Selvia wiped her eyes.
No, Selvia. Don’t be greedy. You thought just being alive was enough. Even if she has started a family, you promised to congratulate her.
—
So you should be happy.
The truth is.
He, who has regained his mories, desperately wishes to return to himself...
——–
Selvia and I finished preparing for the adventure—
“...Why don’t you lighten your load a bit? Your bag is about three tis the size of yours right now.”
“It’s always better to prepare more...”
“Open the bag. No, why is it stuffed so full of books?!”
“I need them for research...”
After having two bags worth of items confiscated by Selvia, we completed our preparations.
I don’t know where our target, whatever his na is, might be, but he must be outside the enemy tower. To find him, we have to go out.
But do we really think we can just head out blindly, not knowing where he might be on the continent? If we’re not careful, it could turn into a journey not just for a short while, but for a lifeti. I asked Selvia.
“How do you plan to find him?”
“The Red Mage Tower is consistently receiving reports about the Rift Sorcerer. The information gathered from all over the continent is compiled at the purification site. We just need to wait patiently here.”
“Got it.”
Selvia busily filled out information export request forms and the like, and after 30 minutes, she returned with a docunt in hand.
It was a record of eyewitness testimonies regarding our target.
She analyzed it while tapping her fingers on the file.
“The most recent report says he’s working as a rcenary near the eastern front of the Empire... but this seems to have a very low reliability. It’s probably a lie.”
“Why?”
“Because it contradicts the previous eyewitness testimony. Krabellin Render participated in the Hero Selection Tournant in the Holy City, and this information has been cross-verified countless tis, so it’s certain. Plus, the distance between the two locations is absurdly far.”
I applauded Selvia’s sharpness.
“Ah... that’s right. That was a keen analysis. Unless our target suddenly got caught up in a large-scale random coordinate teleportation by the goddess.”
“Pardon?”
“It seems it hasn’t been made public yet. You know there was a commotion in the Holy City, right? That’s one of them. All the hero candidates were scattered across the world.”
“...I’ll arrange for a carriage to the eastern front.”
Selvia had a lot to say but wore an expression that suggested she wouldn’t. If I asked her what happened, she looked fearful that everything she should and shouldn’t know would co pouring out.
As we rode in the carriage, set down our bags, and surrendered ourselves to the clattering rhythm, I thought in a corner of my mind.
One thought was about Selvia.
“...Hmm.”
She had already fallen asleep a few minutes after getting on the carriage.
I saw her rummaging through books about amnesia in the library. I kept feeling like I wanted to take care of sothing for her. I even covered her with a blanket when she had dozed off while reading a book in the early morning.
Then I saw that ancient docunt as well. Sothing about a na. At this point, I couldn’t possibly miss it. There were too many clues.
1) Selvier and I are from the sa village, Sangjebi. Our ages are also roughly similar.
2) I had discovered a pure white path that felt similar to the ‘childhood friend’ Selvier described, from within myself.
3) The gaps in mory interlock. It’s more natural to think that my mories were hidden, rendering Selvier unable to recognize , rather than coincidentally crossing paths with soone whose mory is defective.
Based on the following grounds:
Even if it hasn’t been officially announced, I must be Selvier’s ‘childhood friend.’ The world is indeed small. I had a childhood friend girl too.
After that, I pondered quite a bit. Am I the sa person before and after the amnesia? Just because my past self cared for Selvier, does that an I have a reason to care for her now?
The conclusion is ‘no.’
I chose the middle ground between black and white. From that point on, my past self and my current self are practically separate entities. I have no intention of carrying over the emotional baton from the past.
However, I do not wish for Selvier’s long wait to beco aningless.
She is soone who works hard. Effort should be rewarded. If I regain my mories later... perhaps I could give her a part of myself. I wonder what it would be like to return the childhood friend in that way.
And there’s no need to inherit it either. I hold a fondness for Selvier, even if it’s not love.
Clatter.
The carriage shook violently. I took a quick glance at Selvier; she stirred slightly but was still on her journey in dreamland.
“Sleep well...”
Is she the type that sleeps deeply?
And next, about the na.
I don’t know my own na, and I can hardly rember others’ nas either.
Until now, I thought it was a side effect of harboring ‘that’ in my mind, but it might actually be a bit different. A different hypothesis has erged. What if nas hold more significant power than I think?
Could this be the magical breakwater that my pre-amnesiac self prepared? There must have been a reason for it back then.
If that’s the case, until I destroy ‘that,’ can I not be called by a na...?
My mouth felt a bit bitter.
——–
So ti passed.
We arrived in the city of Polmaker near the Eastern Front.
There was nothing unusual on the way. Because I, the inheritor of fire magic, was there.
I tossed mini fire sparks into the goblins’ ear holes, and every problem was neatly resolved. It was so convenient and pleasant. Of course, it doesn’t compare to the illusion magic that makes ‘Bongolle pasta-flavored jerky’ possible...
Even when I return to my tower, I might occasionally miss this touch.
I poked Selbier, who was curled up and sleeping on the floor of the carriage.
“Selbier, Selbier?”
“Mmnya...”
“Mr. Selbier, Miss Selbier, bedwetter, fireball launcher.”
“...Uhh...”
She’s completely out. She looks incredibly defenseless. Even if I shake her shoulders, she doesn’t wake up; I feel like I could just wrap her up and take her ho without her noticing.
This must an she trusts —her childhood friend—100%. What on earth was I doing in the past...?
By the way, if she doesn’t wake up, I’ll have to carry double the load.
“...Hey.”
Seeing her sleep so soundly makes my heart soften for no reason. Well, it should be fine as long as I can move her to the inn. If she feels too heavy on the way, I can just wake her up.
I hoisted Selbier onto my back and grabbed my backpack with both hands.
Regret about not exercising a bit crossed my mind, but then I realized she had more volu than I expected. This should be manageable.
The Eastern Front is where Princess Elaine has her stake, a place embroiled in an endless war against the endlessly multiplying demon race.
In other words, the demand for violence never runs dry. The Eastern Front is still short on personnel.
Where do they replenish that personnel? They draw from this place, Polmaker.
So, I had heard that the rcenary hiring market is at an all-ti high within the Empire. Seeing it with my own eyes, I could understand what that ant. The place is crawling with rcenaries.
Compared to other cities, there are about five tis as many shops dealing in miscellaneous goods or weapons, and the rate of weapon ownership among passersby was also quite alarming.
All we need to do here is find the location of our target, sothing called “K,” and then our mission will be complete.
This mission doesn’t require weighing moral values. K’s charges include the murder of a wizard and the theft of research materials; it’s said he turned one of the enemy tower’s research buildings into a sea of blood and then fled.
If he’s a criminal, there’s no reason to hesitate with my hands.
First, I’ll book a room at an inn and slowly gather information. I casually approached a passerby.
“Excuse , do you know where there’s an inn around here?”
“Yes, I do.”
“...?”
I blankly stared at the back of the passerby’s head after the indifferent reply.
Yeah, maybe they had a bad day today. I looked for soone else who seed friendly and tried again.
“Excuse , I’m looking for a decent inn to stay in. Where’s the best quality inn in this city?”
“I don’t want to tell you.”
“Excuse ?”
“I said I don’t want to tell you.”
What is this?
I wondered if I was emitting a hate-ooze through so unconscious illusion magic, given the chilly indifference of the citizens. But upon checking, that wasn’t the case either.
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It wasn’t even hate to begin with. The citizens purely ignored , devoid of any emotion. As if it was none of their business.
It wasn’t that I was cursed. Even when I checked my face in a nearby puddle, I looked decent enough. So then, why...?
And amidst this, I felt a strange pull. It felt like I was discovering a lost part of my body. Perhaps, one of the fragnts of the Soul Bond was in this city.
The puzzle pieces fell into place.
The indifference of the city’s pedestrians, and the existence of the fragnt. Among the modules in my head, there was soone capable of pulling this off.
I finally realized the culprit and trembled.
“Is it you, ‘Whatever TV Module’...?!”
What on earth have you been doing for the people of the city to be so collectively indifferent!
I felt the karma flowing down my spine...!
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