NOVEL WEB Chapter 6
“Who are you, and where is this place?”
“Oh, great, this is a mess.”
Turns out it wasn’t a princess on a white horse but a pigeon on a white horse.
“Hey, don’t you remember anything?”
“U-uh, that’s correct. Excuse me, but who are you?”
“Sigh…”
What am I supposed to do? I clearly meant to come with her.
But my memory just flew right out the window, leaving me with nothing to work with.
“W-well, your name is Rate… and you were about to tell me your job?”
“Rate… Rate…”
She placed her hand on her forehead, contemplating, then suddenly raised her thumb as if a light bulb had gone off.
“Thanks! Yes, my name is Rate!”
As she took her hand off her head, she abruptly gasped and showed me her palm.
“L-look at this!”
“Huh?”
Written on her palm was… ‘Hero’.
“I remembered! I’m a ‘Hero’!”
“Oh~ Is that so?”
Well, this is a crazy situation.
I seem to have picked a real oddball.
Last time a hero showed up was roughly 300 years ago, right?
There’s no way this pigeon lady is a hero.
Not to mention, she looks just like a regular human.
Considering the oldest hero didn’t even make it past 140, that makes this pigeon lady’s hero status even more ridiculous.
Well… sure, she seems to have some insane physical abilities… but then again, hidden talents aren’t that surprising in this world.
Plus, when I was on Earth, the strongest characters in most anime were delicate little girls, not old men or muscle-bound macho types.
Well, she’s at least the one who pulled me out of that situation, so I guess I should take care of her somehow.
I’m a reincarnated person, after all; I know how to show gratitude.
“Umm, do you remember where you were headed?”
“You mean my destination…? Ah…”
For a moment, she looked deep in thought, then snapped her fingers like she had a breakthrough.
-Snap!
“Ah!”
“Did you remember?”
“No! I don’t remember anything!”
“Well, that’s just great.”
“Then let’s just keep walking in this direction. Rate, you’ve been running this way since you brought me outside.”
“That sounds like a good plan.”
“Then off we go.”
And so we walked straight ahead.
Yeah, let’s think positively.
Even though I have no idea where I am, I’m hungry, and I don’t know how long my stamina can hold out, and the one who brought me here lost her memory and is basically a doorstop…
At least she’s pretty and strong, so that’s a win.
How many chances do I have in life to walk around with such a beautiful woman?
…I did walk with Eve when I was in the academy, didn’t I?
Now that I think about it, I often hung out with the Northern Duchess too.
Hmm, now that I recall, most girls in my class back at the academy were quite pretty.
But hey, how important is the past? Just a moment ago, I was locked up in the palace.
“Hey, did I get something on my face?”
Oh crap, have I been staring way too much?
“No. I was just reminding myself that this situation isn’t too bad now.”
“Hmm…?”
“Saying something like ‘I stared because you’re too beautiful’ seems cheesy, so I’ll keep that to myself.”
“O-oh…?”
I don’t have a protagonist’s face overflowing with purpose.
Given how long I might be stuck with her, I’d rather not make the atmosphere awkward.
“Is that so? Thanks.”
“Huh?”
“Actually, I haven’t heard your name yet. Could you tell me?”
“Oh. I’m Zech Hypno. You seemed to know me earlier… but, you know, you lost your memory.”
“Is that so? Sorry about that. So, who are you?”
“Seriously?!”
Is this a random memory reset cooldown or what?
“I’m Zech Hypno, like I said just two seconds ago.”
“Oh, right. Sorry about that…”
“Do you remember your own name?”
“Didn’t you remind me? It’s Rate.”
“No, is it possible for memories to erase randomly too?”
“I’m sorry…”
“This is driving me insane.”
Who knew I’d deal with such nonsense— this isn’t an adventure novel.
…I should probably write about the forgetful protagonist later.
“Hehe, everything’s going to hell.”
“Hey, why are you like that…?”
“It’s nothing, really.”
Yeah, so far, this has been a pretty good journey.
Once I thought this, I heard a voice.
“Hey, you two lovebirds over there! If your lives are valuable, you might want to hand over everything you’ve got.”
“Oh boy, we’re in trouble.”
Just before we faced a band of thieves.
About fifteen of them surrounded us.
That woman in front? I’m guessing she’s the leader…
Oh no, we’re done for. I need to show them who’s boss.
“Rate, take them out.”
“Who do you think you are, telling me that?”
“….”
This is just too much. Losing your memory at a time like this?
Even the boss thief looked like she was thinking, ‘Who are these idiots?’
“…Just fight them! They’re thieves!”
“W-where would I possibly get that kind of power?”
“Come on!”
She looked so strong earlier when she snuck me out of the palace.
Forgetting how strong she is shouldn’t even be a thing.
“Hah… fine. I guess I’ll just have to deal with this myself.”
Even though I’m not a combat person…
Guess there’s no other choice.
I stick my hand in my pocket.
Even while being dragged by Rate, I’m glad I managed to keep my grip. Without this, I would’ve probably just been captured without a fight.
Carefully, I pull out what I have.
In my hand is…
“..? A coin?”
“What’s more, I even drilled a hole in it. I’ve got it tied with a string too!”
It’s a coin tied with string.
“Pffft, HAHAHA! Is that the weapon that guy just pulled out?!”
“Cough, cough, looks like it. I guess he’s planning to swing it or something.”
“Boss, at least it’s a gold coin, so be careful, right? Hahaha!”
The thieves kept laughing at what I pulled out.
Well, let them laugh.
These nobles probably don’t know this little thing is scarier than it looks.
“Rate, close your eyes.”
“Oh, got it.”
After making sure Rate closed her eyes, I hold the thread and start swinging the coin back and forth slowly.
In a steady rhythm, again and again.
“D-does that even do anything…?”
Steady.
“Um…”
Steady.
“Ahhh…”
Before long, the thieves’ eyes all went blank, and drool started to leak from their mouths.
“Hypnosis successful.”
This is a family-exclusive magic of ours.
Hypnosis.
In a world where conditions for writing aren’t exactly favorable, this magic allows me to write an entire book in under a week.
If I used this to make myself write faster, my output would go through the roof.
And if I use it differently…
“Um, aaah! Mikami!!”
“Oh no! I messed up! I’m sorry!”
“Hahaha! I’ll take my revenge!”
I can pound some memories into these thieves’ heads.
I used this once on some assassins who came to kill me, and apparently, they’re surprisingly weak against such tactics.
“But honestly, I can’t handle a petrifying hero either.”
One of them has memories of being turned to stone and losing all the women around him, and at this rate, he’s just foaming at the mouth and passed out.
“Messing with a writer who just escaped imprisonment? You’re in for a world of hurt.”
I smiled satisfactorily as I slipped the coin back into my pocket.
“Rate, now open your…-”
-Thump!
“Gah!”
As I was about to lead Rate away again, something heavy struck the back of my head.
“You son of a…!”
I couldn’t even finish my curse before I lost consciousness.
…
…
…
…
***
Not far from the Imperial Palace, at a square.
It was just another day with plenty of people passing by for various reasons.
“Huff… Huff..! Th-this is bad!!”
A frantic adventurer rushed to the front of the Adventurers’ Guild, shouting.
“I saw Check Writer get kidnapped!”
“W-what?!”
“Wait, what are you talking about?”
“Are you joking?”
The adventurers who were about to dismiss him thought he was making a fuss when they heard the unexpected news that Check Writer had been kidnapped, and they immediately sprang into action.
“Hey, explain yourself!”
The silver-ranked adventurer, Feather with the blue plume, grabbed the man by the collar.
Even he, who usually exuded a cool demeanor, couldn’t afford to overlook the news about Check Writer being kidnapped.
“N-no, you see…”
I thought I might be lucky enough to see Check Writer while I was headed toward the palace after finishing a dungeon run.
But at that moment, something zoomed past me at a crazy speed!
I thought I might end up cut in half if I was any closer to it, and I froze on the spot, watching the golden-armored royal guards rushing over with all their might.
And then they were yelling, ‘We took Check Writer!!’
“If you go toward the palace now, you’ll see the chaos unfold! The attendants are in disarray, and the knights can’t hide their bewilderment!”
“…Got it.”
Feather let go of the man’s collar and drew a blue-hued dagger from his sleeve.
Then, he held it up to the man’s throat and asked.
“Can you swear on your life that what you said is true?”
“I swear on my life! If you doubt me, just go check for yourself!”
“…Then go and check it out.”
…
…
…
…
…
“Check Writer has been kidnapped!!”
“AHHHHH! This world is doomed!!”
“Find Check Writer!”
“Support Disbandment Volume 2!! Volume 2!!!”
It didn’t take long for the truth of his testimony to spread chaos, sending not just the Adventurer’s Guild, but much of the Empire into an uproar.