FVN Chapter 330: Ouroboros (5)
Chapter 330: Ouroboros (5)
Chapter 330: Ouroboros (5)
A dazed sensation spread through my body from the back of my head.
Thud.
I came to my senses at the sound of something falling.
It was the Fragment of Records.
I was clearly holding it when the light erupted, why did it fall?
“.......”
I quickly picked it up.
And then I realized there was something else on the ground.
“Clothes...?”
It was a robe made of high-quality fabric.
Well, the owner was more important than the material right now.
It wasn’t just an ordinary robe, it was the one Auril Gabis was wearing.
It was lying on the ground.
In the spot where he had been standing.
As if only his body had been sucked away.
“Don’t tell me...”
I looked down at the Fragment of Records in my hand.
“This... activated on him...?”
I was starting to understand the situation.
I was momentarily stunned by the unexpected outcome...
But the Fragment of Records had reacted to Auril Gabis, not me.
‘Ugh, this is confusing.’
I tried to calm down and retrace my steps.
There were two possibilities.
First, Auril Gabis was ‘called by fate’, just like me.
And the second...
[Have you ever used the Fragment of Records?]
[I have.]
...Auril Gabis had already used the Fragment of Records.
If that was the case, it meant he had been living in this time period after being summoned.
And then he met me, finished his ‘role’, and returned to his original time.
‘So if it’s the former, it means he went to the past, and if it’s the latter, it means he went to the future?’
That’s how I organized my thoughts.
But...
‘No, it’s too early to jump to conclusions.’
I realized I didn’t know enough about the Fragment of Records.
So it was wise to keep all possibilities open.
‘Being called by fate’ might not only happen from the past.
He could also be called from the future.
Therefore...
‘I’ll think about this later...’
I put the Fragment of Records back in my subspace pocket and picked up the robe that was on the ground.
And I rummaged through it excitedly.
‘Loot...!’
It was Auril Gabis’s loot.
He must have something interesting...
‘Are you kidding me?’
There was nothing in the robe except for ordinary socks, shoes, and a pair of white silk underwear.
“Damn it!”
I threw the underwear on the ground after realizing what it was.
I was annoyed.
‘Why doesn’t this old man have anything?’
I had high expectations, seeing him exuding the aura of a final boss.
This was a complete bust...
“Ah.”
I belatedly remembered Auril Gabis taking out water from his subspace pocket and drinking it.
I thought it was just a subspace ring back then...
“It must have been a dependent subspace.”
A dependent subspace, only usable by high-ranking mages.
It didn’t have a physical form since it was directly connected to the mage’s soul through a tattoo or something.
‘Uh, wait a minute...’
Then could I use a dependent subspace to take the equipment I had gathered back to my original time?
I had a sudden thought, but it wasn’t a ‘Eureka!’ moment.
Because I wasn’t a mage.
Unlike magic tools, dependent subspaces could only be opened with the mage’s own mana.
‘Damn it, so this is also a bust...’
I sighed and dismissed my regret.
Complaining wouldn’t change anything, and I had something more important to do right now.
‘I have to find Amelia.’
I picked up Auril Gabis’s belongings, put them in my subspace pocket, and then headed back to the sewers.
Although they were just ordinary clothes, I wanted to check again, just in case I missed something.
Splash, splash.
I found a few more bodies as I retraced my steps.
‘This is where the fight happened.’
I looted them all since I wasn’t heartless enough to leave unclaimed equipment behind.
They were all heading towards the surface, so they had expandable backpacks or subspace rings, so I didn’t have any inventory problems.
“You’ll see when we get there.”
Amelia looked around as she was being dragged by his strength.
Passersby.
Laughing children and their parents.
Merchants hawking their wares and white marble bathed in sunlight.
It was a place she had longed for.
A world filled with warm sunlight, where she could live a normal life, unlike Noark.
Of course, she knew now...
...that the surface wasn’t a paradise.
There were beasts with even greater malice than those in Noark, and tragedies occurred every day.
But even so...
“At least once...”
...she wanted to see it.
The sight of her and her sister living an ordinary life in this city.
“Huh? What did you just...?”
“Yandel, go on without me. I have something to look for down there—”
“I told you, you won’t find anything.”
The barbarian looked at her with a frustrated expression as she stopped walking.
And he said,
“Your sister is alive.”
“...What?”
Alive?
But how...?
“I’ll... explain later, just follow me.”
The barbarian continued walking, and she didn’t resist.
She was too shocked to think straight.
After some time...
“Phew, I couldn’t find out which shelter she was taken to, so it took a while.”
...Amelia arrived at a shelter on the surface.
She described her sister’s appearance to the staff and found her room.
Creak.
She opened the door and saw a young girl lying on a bed by the window.
Warm sunlight streamed in through the window.
“Si, sister...”
It was a surreal sight.
Amelia approached the bed, as if in a trance.
And she held her sister’s hand.
She could feel her sister’s heartbeat.
“How... how is this possible?”
The barbarian explained what had happened at Amelia’s question.
His deal with Auril Gabis.
How he had used the prototype of Lethe’s Blessing to erase her memories and disguised it as a carriage accident.
“She probably won’t remember anything when she wakes up. She’ll just live her life, thinking the name on her ID card is her real name.”
“Ah, ah...”
I see.
“But don’t be too sad. Everything will be fine when we return to twenty years later. You can just tell her the truth and be close to her again.”
Thump, her heart pounded.
It was finally sinking in.
“And besides, you said the Dragonslayer was trying to recover his lost memories? We can find a way together when we get back. How to restore her memories.”
He really did it.
This man.
“Huh? Say something. You’re making me anxious...”
Amelia couldn’t help but chuckle at his anxious expression, even though he had just performed a miracle.
“It’s fine.”
“Huh? What do you mean?”
“You don’t have to worry about me anymore. I won’t try to restore her memories...”
“Huh? Why?”
Amelia smiled at his question.
It felt awkward, as she hadn’t smiled much in her life.
But...
“It’s better for her to not remember.”
...her sister would be different from now on.
The life she had longed for would begin.
And painful memories would only be a hindrance.
So...
“...Goodbye, sister.”
I’m fine.
Even if I’m not with you.
Even though it’s far from the ordinary life I wanted.
Even though I’m still awkward at smiling.
I’ll be fine.
“Let’s go, barbarian.”
“It’s Yandel, not barbarian.”
“Right, Yandel.”
Because I’m not alone anymore.