I Pretended To Have Amnesia and the Hero’s Party Becomes Obsessed

27 – 4. Conclusion of Obsession (2)

It feels like I’ve placed sharp glass shards in my mind.

No matter where my thoughts reach, they touch the boy without wrists. His appearance was much more brutal than what I saw in my nightmares every night.

Upon seeing him, I felt the tightening of guilt in my throat. The right hand that betrayed the boy stiffened like a corpse.

A sensation as if I had swallowed poison.

And, there was only one way to escape from it.

Expose the weak body, let the blood flow.

Then, as if blood was the cause of everything, my arms trembled as my breath opened up. And tears flowed.

Tired of crying, I tried to lie down without thinking.

However, thoughts are something that cannot be avoided, and eventually, they reach the boy again.

…Then bleed again, cry again, tire out again, and lie down again.

What remains is a vicious cycle of bandages and dark circles under the eyes.

The way to break this vicious cycle is clear.

Convey the truth to the boy who has lost his memory.

And seek forgiveness.

However, I, the repulsive one, couldn’t muster the courage.

No, I didn’t.

If, at the end, the boy were to look at me with eyes full of hatred, I knew I couldn’t bear it.

Knock, knock, knock.

“Miss Amy?”

The voice of a woman came from beyond the door, unfamiliar. I didn’t respond. Right now, I wanted to rot away alone. No, maybe for a lifetime.

“I’ve come to speak about a request.”

I just tightened the blanket wrapped around my body a bit more.

“…It concerns Mr. Rem.”

Thud!

I flung the door wide open. It was an action closer to instinct than emotion or reason.

I stared at the casually dressed woman standing before the door with sharp eyes.

She had long, dyed blue hair and peculiarly enough, was wearing men’s clothing.

She looked at me and chuckled.

“Miss Irene was right. I didn’t expect such a reaction just from mentioning a name.”

“Cut the chatter and get to the point. What’s going on with Rem?”

I spoke, hoping to appear as threatening as possible. However, I also knew it was impossible.

After days of barely eating, my emaciated body felt frail, and the bandages wrapped around me only added to the sense of weakness.

“It’s not about what happened; it’s about what’s going to happen. It involves not just Rem but all of us.”

And as expected, the woman showed no sign of being intimidated. Instead, she casually walked past me into the room.

Turning to face me, she said, “Didn’t you find it strange?”

The woman snapped her fingers, and from thin air, a familiar box materialized.

The ‘cargo’ we were supposed to transport for this assignment.

The elongated box settled on the floor.

“Why would the command sorcerers risk their lives for this cargo, apart from corpses?”

The woman placed her arm on the cargo, smirking slightly. It was then that I noticed the strange tattoos covering both of her arms.

“And why, precisely when the warrior was performing the assignment, were the knights occupied by a rebellion in the west?”

“I’ll say it again, get to the point.”

I grimaced. I had no desire to waste time on such conspiracy theories.

Then, the woman smiled and unlocked the lock on the box. The door of the box opened naturally, revealing what was inside.

And then, my head turned white with surprise.

“The former Pope was politically incompetent, but he was someone with open eyes and ears. He knew that danger was approaching and completed the purification preparations before dying.”

A pure white body, a foamel emitting a faint light with embedded jewels, and red letters engraved along with the sacred emblem.

There was no mistaking it.

It was just as described in fairy tales and stories.

The sword that the hero used to pierce through the heart of the demon king in the past.

And the sword that cursed anyone who held its hilt to be incinerated.

The Holy Sword, Averlaxas.

“It has just been purified yesterday.”

The woman slipped her hand and grasped the hilt of the Holy Sword. However, flames did not ignite from her body.

Instead, she looked at me with a smile.

“Miss Amy, don’t you have any thoughts of becoming a real hero?”

***

Right next to our mercenary corps, there was a tavern. It wasn’t originally there; I convinced one tavern owner to move here.

If we were going to drink and cause trouble anyway, it was better to do it near me.

The tavern owner not only received payment for the alcohol, but also received a generous compensation.

These days, we bought cheap furniture in bulk, assuming it would break anyway, but anyhow.

I judged that Irene wouldn’t be able to stay sober, so I brought her to this tavern.

Luckily, maybe because it was daytime, the tavern was quiet. And the few people who were there left when they noticed me.

That way, I was able to hear Irene’s story from beginning to end without any interruptions.

And the story that Irene told me was not easily believable.

I made a puzzled expression and asked.

“…The hero party disbanded?”

“Yes…! *sniff*”

Irene slapped her cheek on the table and looked at me in bewilderment.

“Suddenly *sniff* after being locked in his room all the time, the hero called for Clara and me, saying he would disband the hero party…”

I couldn’t help but be stunned by her words.

“Wait, the hero was locked in his room all the time?”

“Yes…! *sniff* Since we arrived at the Aholotel…! How worried I was…”

I felt the warmth in my chest gradually fading.

“Irene, didn’t you say last time when I tried to meet the knight that he was busy with a commission and couldn’t see me?”

Irene’s body stiffened. Rolling her eyes, she subtly reached for the bottle of alcohol.

However, before her hand could touch it, I grabbed the bottle and pulled it towards me. Looking at her coldly, I spoke.

“Answer.”

“Well, um…”

Irene rolled her eyes, eventually making a pitiful expression.

“I-I, *hic* I couldn’t help it…! Both the knight and Parsley were *hic* holed up in their rooms…! When Rem came, *hic* he said to pretend he wasn’t there…!”

Irene collapsed on the table. Looking up at me with a pitiful gaze, she continued.

“*hic* Even though I had a deal with Rem for a joint commission, *hic* I wanted to deceive Rem…?”

I silently stared at Irene, sighed, and then handed the bottle back to her.

As if she had been waiting, Irene happily brought the bottle back to her lips.

I looked at her with a mixture of awe and pity, scratching my temple, and asked, “And then? What happened after disbanding the knight party?”

“*hic* What else could have happened? Everyone went their separate ways. *hic* Besides, Clara left suddenly, too… *hic* It was chaos…”

“So, where did they go?”

Irene emptied the bottle, rolled her eyes as if contemplating something, and then put down the empty bottle.

“Parsley went to Matop. *hic* I don’t know about the knight. But judging by the equipment he was packing, he seemed to be heading to a pretty dangerous place…”

Her words weighed heavily on me, filled with a thick and sticky texture.

Matop, once again a place I shouldn’t set foot in. And Amy, her whereabouts unknown.

They were slipping away from my grasp again.

What should I do…

“*hic*… but wait!”

Suddenly, Irene shook her head. Her face was completely flushed, perhaps due to the rising intoxication.

“Re-really, it’s ridiculous. I, in my own way, *hic* did my job as a baggage carrier and even went to see the higher-ups on your behalf, you know…? *hic* I did some work there, asked for favors, and brought back a lot of things…?”

I realized that she was about to start the typical complaints of a drunken patron. I sighed inwardly and played along for now.

“So?”

“So… even after disbanding the knight party… *hic* of course, it was sad, but I went there, and they would give me a job if I went, right? *hic* So I happily returned to the Lululala Palace…?”

“And did you go?”

Suddenly, Irene slammed the table and shouted.

“However, that darned bearded fellow…!!”

And then, as if the previous anger had been a lie, he collapses onto the table.

“I’ve put up with that brat how many times… *tchk* just because I lost one Return Stone… *tchk* I should come and get it myself, he says… No way I’m giving it to someone like you… *tchk* Geez… you rotten jerk…”

It was only then that I realized what situation Irene had encountered. Also, why she had come all the way from that distant palace to Esir.

“Could it be that you came all this way because of the Return Stone you gave me?”

“Yes…! But, because I wasted money on drinks midway *tchk* I ran out of lodging, so I was resting on the street for a bit *tchk* trying to catch some sleep…”

I nearly froze to death at that.

I couldn’t bring myself to speak out of sheer pity and embarrassment.

“So, the thing is…”

Irene cautiously raises her head to meet my gaze. Her teary eyes fix on me.

“*tchk* The Return Stone… I know it’s shameless… *tchk* If you could return it…”

I felt awkward at her words. It wasn’t because I thought the Return Stone was too much of a burden.

When I received it and even now, I thought it was too excessive of a reward.

The problem was, I didn’t have the Return Stone with me now.

I went to the western social gathering, they said, and gave it to the manager…

I began to worry about how to convey this dreadful news, clutching my stomach in distress.

“Lord Rem.”

It was that moment.

I turned my head at the unfamiliar title ‘Lord Rem.’ Without realizing it, I rested my hand on the hilt of my sword.

A figure of a praying woman carved onto splendid armor and chest plates.

A knight, appearing taller than me by at least a head, strides towards me. Six other knights loomed behind his shoulders.

I spoke without concealing my wariness.

“Why would a noble knight like yourself be in such a shabby tavern…”

“Please forgive the impertinence.”

And the knight reached out towards me.

I was perplexed but quickly drew my sword, yet it was futile.

Light burst from the knight’s hand, blinding my eyes.

Everything was engulfed in darkness.

“Rem, are you awake?”

And then, Clara’s voice came from the darkness.