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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: FusionX
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Aina.
My master.
According to Irina, she was killed by the Demon Lord of Envy.
‘Jun, you were living for revenge against the Demon Lord who killed your master.’
‘Were we that close?’
‘…We were. Master and disciple, but we relied on each other.’
Master and disciple.
Before losing my memories, I was a devoted disciple, determined to avenge my master’s death. It sounded noble. But now… I didn’t feel any strong urge for revenge.
“Revenge…”
My master’s death was a tragedy. But my feelings stopped at sorrow. I couldn’t feel anything more. I was reconstructing someone else’s memories, not reliving my own. There was no way I could feel the burning desire for revenge.
‘This is complicated.’
I stood up from the bench. Luna and Estia stood up with me.
“Mister, where are we going!? Are we going to… her grave? Is that it!?”
“…No, we’re going home.”
I didn’t even know where her grave was.
Luna looked at me anxiously, like a dog whose treat had been taken away. I patted her head and started walking.
I had healed the people at the guild and talked to Irina about my past. I was done for the day.
‘But I feel like I’m forgetting something…’
What is it? I couldn’t remember, but I felt like I had missed something.
“W-Wait! Mister! You can’t just pat my head and leave!”
“I’m coming too, Brother! I’m slow! Walk slower!”
“…I guess it’s nothing.”
I had only lost my memories, nothing else. This feeling must be my imagination.
“I’ll hold your hand. Walk slowly so you don’t fall, Estia.”
“Okay! Brother protects the Saintess!”
“…My hands are free too.”
It must be my imagination. I held Estia’s hand and walked home. For some reason, every alley we passed seemed to have the same bookstore.
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“Why… why…!! Why didn’t he come in even after I opened the door?!”
Minerva’s screams echoed through the library.
Mieng, trembling, hid in a corner.
“Boo… boo…”
“The book said he would lose his past memories! It didn’t say I would lose my memories! Why did I forget him too?!”
I thought it would be fine once his soul recovered to a certain extent. The connection between a Goddess and her Apostle wouldn’t be severed. It hadn’t been severed even in that space.
But Minerva had been wrong.
“Of all things, why did my connection have to be tied to the part of his soul that’s missing?! That’s not fair!”
“Boo… boo…”
“Be quiet, Mieng!”
Pant, pant~
Minerva, after venting her frustration, took a deep breath. With her connection to Lee Jun-woo severed, there was nothing she could do but be angry.
“I need to make Jun-woo come here…! But he never does anything risky…!!”
Even if there was a sign on a rickety bridge saying, “This bridge is completely safe. Guaranteed by the Goddess,” Lee Jun-woo would probably test it thoroughly before crossing.
He was needlessly cautious.
“I-I can’t lose my Apostle like this…!! We’ve been together for so long…!! Mieng!”
“Boo…”
“Find a way. Now!”
Mieng flapped its wings and scurried into the depths of the library. Minerva sat down and organized her thoughts.
“…Losing a part of his memory was fine, but I didn’t expect it to sever our connection.”
Sigh~
Minerva sighed and read the future where Lee Jun-woo remained without his memories.
“Hmm, the middle part is incomplete, but… the ending is the same.”
Lee Jun-woo, without his past memories, defeats the Demon Lords with the Hero’s party.
And then lives happily ever after.
But what about Lee Jun-woo if he regains his memories?
“He ceases to exist… that means he dies. The book doesn’t lie.”
Minerva, frustrated by the ending, threw the book on the floor. Even a bibliophile like her had moments when she wanted to rip a book apart.
“Just lie to me! You stupid book! This is so frustrating!”
“Boo… boo…”
“What is it, Mieng!”
“Boo…”
Mieng offered her a book.
“You want me to read this?”
“Boo… boo…”
“Hmm, okay.”
Snatch-
Minerva took the book and started reading intently. After a few pages, her eyes lit up.
“I found it…!”
A new method.
A way to reconnect with Lee Jun-woo.
A way for him to train the Hero’s party without remembering Aina.
“…I’m sorry, Aina, but the living must live. I can’t let my Apostle die.”
Let him go, Aina.
Minerva read the book several times, waiting for nightfall to put her plan into action.
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Late at night. The air was cold, and darkness enveloped the world. Estia was usually a heavy sleeper, but tonight was different.
“Mmm… hmm…”
Tap, tap-
“Ugh… what…?”
Tap, tap-
The rhythmic tapping on the window woke Estia. She rubbed the sleep from her eyes. Someone was throwing pebbles at her window.
“Who is it at this hour…? Disturbing the Saintess’s sleep…!”
How dare they! Estia got out of bed and looked out the window, ready to scold the prankster. But there was no one there.
“What…? Who threw that…?”
Was I dreaming…? Estia, thinking she had imagined it, was about to go back to bed when…
Tap, tap-
“Who is it…!”
The mysterious culprit refused to let her sleep. She looked out the window again, but there was still no one there.
Estia frowned.
“A-Are they demons… trying to harass the Saintess…? I-I’m not scared…! As long as Brother is here, I-I’m invincible…!”
Estia declared, her voice trembling, and turned away from the window. She had been bluffing. She was scared.
“I’ll sleep next to Brother tonight…”
Estia grabbed her pillow and headed out into the hallway.
“Eek…”
The dark, cold hallway made her shiver, but Estia continued forward.
“I can’t… stop because I’m scared…!”
She had learned from experience. Estia slowly made her way to the stairs.
One step.
Two steps.
With each step, her fear subsided, and she even started to feel confident.
‘What…! It’s nothing…! The power of the Saintess…!’
Estia, having overcome her fear, reached the first floor. She was about to head to Mister’s room when she suddenly stopped and looked in a different direction.
Her expression wasn’t good.
“…I need to pee.”
The inevitable call of nature after waking up. Now that she was relaxed, Estia needed to use the bathroom.
“Bathroom first…!”
She headed towards the bathroom, leaving Mister’s room behind.
Tap, tap-
Estia walked quickly, forgetting about the darkness.
“There it is… the bathroom…!”
Click-!
Estia opened the door without hesitation.
‘Bathroom…!’
Perhaps because she was in a hurry and it was dark, she didn’t notice that the bathroom door looked different.
She stepped inside…
“W-Where am I…? The library…?”
“Welcome, Saintess. It’s our first time meeting, isn’t it?”
…and found herself facing a Goddess who looked about her age, in a grand library. Estia, too surprised to speak, just stared.
“Saintess, I’m sorry for summoning you so suddenly, but there’s something you need to do. It’s something only you can do. Listen to me- wait a minute, you…!!”
“U-Ugh… w-where am I…”
And then…
Drip, drip-
“T-Take me home… sob…”
Estia wet herself. It was the most humiliating thing that had ever happened to her since becoming the Saintess.
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Minerva and Estia sat across from each other at the desk, their gazes locked.
Goddess and Saintess.
Bound by a close relationship.
Minerva spoke first.
“…The Saintess is a bed-wetter?”
Estia shrieked,
“S-Stop it! You evil Goddess! You’re not even a Goddess!”
“I gave you clothes, how am I not a Goddess?”
“Don’t make fun of me! You evil Goddess! I’m not going to pray to you!”
“Don’t. You’ll be the one losing out, you stupid Saintess.”
Goddess and Saintess, competing in childishness. But Minerva, the elder of the two, blushed, perhaps aware of her own immaturity.
“Ahem. Anyway. There’s something you need to do.”
Minerva cleared her throat and explained Estia’s task.
“You know Jun-woo is my Apostle, right?”
“I know, stupid Goddess.”
“Keep talking like that, and I’ll replace you with the Hero…”
Estia, with her divine power, was easy to summon. Minerva could have summoned Luna, who wielded the Holy Sword, but it would have consumed too much of her power.
“Anyway, my connection with my Apostle, Jun-woo, has been severed.”
“Why?”
“It’s all your fault! Because of you! The unrecovered part of his soul! It was connected to me!”
“Hmm, really?! So you called me here…”
“To heal Jun-woo’s soul. That’s why I summoned you.”
“I want to heal Brother too!”
But…
“The others are so scary! They’re not normal!”
“None of you are normal.”
“I’m normal! They don’t want Brother to recover!”
“I feel the same way. I don’t want Jun-woo to regain his memories. He won’t be happy if he remembers.”
He’ll suffer again.
And again.
And he’ll choose death.
That’s how it ends.
Estia, shocked, asked,
“B-Brother will die if he regains his memories…? Why…?”
“It’s a long story. You’ll understand when you become a true Saintess. So pray diligently. Pray to me, Minerva, not to the other Goddesses! They’re all trash! Got it!?”
Nod, nod-
Estia nodded, but she still didn’t understand why Lee Jun-woo would die.
“Why would Brother die…? Is he sick? Who decides when he dies?”
“He does. You can say he’s sick if you want.”
“…If he’s sick, I can heal him!”
“You?”
Snicker-!
Minerva chuckled and replied,
“That’s a serious illness you can’t cure. Only that woman can. That’s why I made him forget. Now go back and read this.”
Minerva placed a book on the desk.
“What’s this?”
“A book. Do what it says while Jun-woo is asleep. It will help restore his soul.”
“If Brother’s soul recovers, he’ll remember! And then he’ll die!”
“No, this is different.”
If you use your divine power as instructed in this book…
You can connect the Goddess and the Apostle in his lost soul…
And separate his memories.
“You just need to enter his memories and find the key, Estia. You can do it, since you’re the Saintess, right?”
“Of course! I’m the Saintess, I can do anything!”
Estia declared confidently, but she still had doubts. And there was one more important thing. Estia held the book close and extended her hand.
“…”
“What is it, Saintess? Why are you silent?”
“Reward!”
“Huh?”
“Brother always gives me a reward when I do a good job! What will you give me, Goddess! A present!”
“…You don’t need holy water?”
“I don’t need it if I have Brother!”
“…Why is the Saintess so brazen?”
Slap-!
Minerva slapped her forehead in exasperation. She reluctantly handed Estia a book from her cherished collection.
“This is one of my favorites…”
“Not bad! I’ll take it!”
Estia, satisfied after checking the contents, left the library with two books in her arms.
‘Even if he remembers! If Brother gets sick, I can heal him!’
The previous doctor must have been incompetent.
‘I’m the Saintess! I can do it!’
Estia was filled with confidence and hope.
‘Brother’s soul is injured! I have to heal him! It’s so sad when you’re hurt and no one heals you! The others must have felt the same way!’
Estia left the library with that thought.
If only she had known that even a Saintess couldn’t heal all wounds, and that excessive hope could turn into despair, she wouldn’t have been so optimistic.
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