Ch.55Memory Loss (3)

Although Min-jun and Ju-an were awkward at first, they’ve become comfortable enough to chat easily now.

“By the way, do you know someone named Min-jun?” Ju-an asked.

“Why bring that up suddenly?”

“A girl named Ha-eun asked me to pass a message to Min-jun.”

“I don’t really know him.”

He seemed to know something but was deliberately avoiding answering. Probably because Agath had given him a hint.

Since my memories would return today anyway, I decided not to worry about it and just enjoy myself.

“So what should we do for fun now?” I asked.

“Want to go to the arcade like last time?”

“Like last time?”

“Yeah. I remember having fun there when we met before.”

“Okay, let’s go.”

Despite not having much conversation, I felt comfortable. Even if we weren’t talking, it would still feel just as comfortable.

Thinking about how much time we still had to enjoy ourselves made me smile. So this is what they mean by the joy of friendship.

With light steps, we headed toward the arcade.

***

In Ju-an’s guild, there’s a woman named Philax. She’s currently a close colleague of Ju-an at the guild.

Since Philax’s job is a thief, she’s particularly skilled at quick movements and concealing her presence.

Anyway, the reason I’m suddenly mentioning this…

‘As expected, Ju-an went to meet that girl again today…’

Philax was following Ju-an and Lite, carefully concealing her presence.

She felt extremely inadequate compared to Lite, making it difficult to approach them directly like before. While her abilities were certainly superior to Lite’s, she had lost in every other aspect.

The words she heard last time cut deeply. As she continued watching from afar, someone suddenly spoke from behind her.

“That’s not how you conceal your presence.”

Philax was confident in her ability to hide her presence due to her experience as a thief. However, someone even more skilled had appeared behind her.

Thinking it must be an incredibly skilled thief, Philax quickly turned around to find Agath.

“…How does a Holy Knight become so skilled at concealing their presence?”

“To fulfill my sinful desires away from the Pope’s eyes… No, I mean, from my experience on the battlefield.”

Philax heard something strange in that answer but ignored it and continued with her questions.

“So why is the Holy Knight here?”

“Obviously following Lite around and taking secret photos.”

“…Isn’t that illegal?”

“It’s fine as long as you don’t get caught.”

“That’s right, and this isn’t stalking—we could call it providing security for Lady Lite.”

A voice came from beside Philax. When she quickly turned her head, Rebecca was standing right there.

Philax had no idea how a Saint could conceal her presence so well, but she assumed it must be for similar reasons as the Holy Knight.

“By the way, when are we going to see that movie?”

This time, a voice came from behind Philax. Turning around again, she found Leo standing there.

As a Hero, it made sense. After living on battlefields for seven solid years, erasing one’s presence would be easy—Philax accepted this explanation.

“…What are all of you doing here?”

“Following Lite and taking secret photos.”

“Providing security for Lady Lite.”

“I heard we were going to see a movie, so I came along.”

All three gave different answers, and none of them were normal. But since these people were always like this, Philax just accepted it.

“Aren’t you going to interrupt them this time?” Agath asked.

“I can’t possibly win, so I’m trying to give up now.”

Suddenly, Agath spoke in a serious tone, unlike her usual playful manner.

“Love doesn’t come to you just by waiting. You have to fight for it.”

“But I don’t deserve to be by his side…”

“Is your affection for that boy so weak that you’d give up over something like qualifications?”

Agath continued, almost scolding Philax.

“If you don’t have qualifications, create them. If he doesn’t show interest, make him interested. If he doesn’t see you romantically, make him see you that way. That’s what the business of love is about.”

“But if I hold Ju-an back…”

“When someone has someone to protect, they can summon strength far beyond their normal capacity.”

Rebecca joined in, supporting Agath’s words.

“No matter how desperate the reality, nothing changes if you do nothing. If reality won’t change without a miracle, then create your own miracle.”

Rebecca spoke with intense determination, as if sharing from personal experience.

“Even if your actions seem meaningless, the very fact that you tried to move forward is meaningful enough.”

This time the Hero stepped forward and spoke.

“So when are we going to see that movie?”

“Doesn’t this situation feel like a scene from a movie?”

“…”

The Hero’s words weren’t particularly helpful, but thanks to the Saint and Holy Knight’s encouragement, Philax made a decision.

“Thank you. You’ve given me courage.”

Philax stopped following Ju-an and ran toward the guild.

‘Like they said, to stand beside him, I need to become someone worthy. I need to work harder.’

After Philax left, only the three remained, and Leo spoke with apparent displeasure.

“Don’t you think this is a bit harsh?”

“It’s fine. That girl is obviously going to lose to Lite anyway.”

“That’s not what I meant.”

As Leo spoke with increasing irritation, Rebecca and Agath began defending Lite.

“But Lady Lite needs a rival to make her act more proactively. And this will be a good experience for that person too. So in the end, there’s no real problem.”

“And the sub-heroine’s official defeat scene…”

Suddenly, Leo’s demeanor turned sharp. The two clearly felt that Leo was angry.

“…I do feel a bit sorry for her, but honestly, it looks too entertaining.”

“Right, and maybe that girl could win…”

“So when are we going to see that movie?!”

The two realized something: Leo had only been talking about the movie all along.

“I was just speaking metaphorically. If this isn’t a romantic comedy, what is it? And honestly, aren’t you also inter— Where are you going?”

“Going to see a movie.”

“Didn’t you usually not like watching movies?”

“But there’s a magic-related movie showing now! As a mage, I need to check how accurately they portray magic!”

With that, Leo headed alone toward the movie theater.

“…Should we continue following them?”

“Yes, let’s do that.”

And so the two resumed following Lite.

***

Suddenly, Ju-an frowned slightly and said, “Don’t you feel like someone’s watching us?”

“I don’t really notice anything.”

“Maybe it’s just my imagination…”

“It must be. Why would anyone follow us?”

We do attract attention because of our looks, but not enough for someone to actually follow us.

Even if someone were following us, there are so many people around that nothing bad would happen.

As we continued chatting and walking, suddenly a thunderous sound came from my stomach.

“That’s… since I couldn’t eat breakfast…”

I wished I could find a mouse hole to crawl into.

“I’m getting a bit hungry too. Mind if I go buy some snacks?”

“Aren’t we going together?”

“I’ll be fine alone. I’ll be right back.”

Ju-an smoothly entered a nearby convenience store. I decided to wait on a nearby bench.

While I was on my phone, suddenly an unfamiliar man grabbed my wrist.

“Hey, long time no see. It’s been what, four years?”

“Um… who are you?”

“Don’t tell me you don’t remember? We went to the same high school.”

The person in front of me seems to know me, but I have no idea who he is.

It’s not because I’ve lost my memories. My instinct tells me I wouldn’t have known him even if I had my memories.

“Could you tell me which high school you attended?”

“Sanwang Technical High School, of course. Satisfied?”

“I didn’t go to that high school.”

This is just simple bluffing. I don’t even know which high school I attended.

But I can judge whether this person is really my classmate by his reaction.

“Are you feeling unwell? Why can’t you remember your own high school?”

“Just wait a moment. I have a friend who was my classmate coming here soon… Ugh!”

I felt intense pain in my wrist where the man was gripping.

“You are my classmate, right? I’d be very disappointed if you weren’t.”

Fortunately, my instinct was right. Unfortunately, when his trick didn’t work, he switched to threats.

There are still many people around. If necessary, I could scream loudly for help.

“Let go of—”

Suddenly, the man briefly showed me a blade from his pocket.

“Come with me quickly. We’ll be late for our appointment.”

I could scream right now and get this man off me. But I couldn’t guarantee my safety.

So I was forcibly dragged to a deserted alley by this man.

“I thought you’d be easy prey since you were acting like you lost your memory, but you’re more troublesome than I expected.”

“If you stop now, I can pretend this never happened…”

The man openly took out his blade and held it to my throat.

“If you don’t want to die, you’d better stay still, right?”

“…”

“It’s okay, we’re both going to feel good anyway.”

The man placed his left hand on my leg. I could pretty much guess what was going to happen to me.

I should have screamed before being dragged away. Then it might have ended with just getting hurt.

“Please… stop… I’m begging you…”

I pleaded desperately, but the man just laughed at me.

I wanted to resist right away, but it was obvious that resisting would only make things worse.

Even without that blade, it would be the same. I’m just a weak girl compared to that man.

Realizing this fact, I was nearly going insane with fear. Tears were already streaming down my cheeks.

Please… someone help me…

As I continued trembling, suddenly the man froze completely. As if time had stopped.

Then someone ran toward us at incredible speed and punched the man.

Crack!

With the sound of bones breaking, the man flew far away.

“Are you okay?! Did he do anything strange to you?!”

I turned toward the familiar voice and saw Ju-an in front of me.

“I’m sorry… There really was someone following us… I should have noticed earlier…”

Then Ju-an continued with a voice full of anger.

“So what do you want me to do with him? Should I crush his limbs?”

“First… let’s go somewhere with more people…”

“…Alright, but I can’t just let him go.”

Suddenly, Ju-an disappeared from sight.

“Aaaaargh!”

Immediately, a painful scream came from where the man was. When I turned my head, I saw the man with his arms bent in a grotesque way and Ju-an looking truly angry.

When I blinked, Ju-an had already returned to my side.

“Can you walk?”

“My legs… they feel weak…”

Ju-an thought for a moment, then silently gave me a piggyback ride.

“…Thank you.”

“No, I’m sorry I didn’t notice sooner.”

As Ju-an carried me out of there in silence, he spoke up.

“I’m glad I’ve become strong enough to protect you now.”

Hearing those words, my heart suddenly started beating faster.

“…What am I to you?”

“The most precious person in this world.”

My face turned bright red. I’m glad Ju-an couldn’t see my face.

By the way, I could clearly understand my condition now.

I’ve fallen for Ju-an…

…

…Oh.

Suddenly, my memories returned. All the memories of when I lived as a man.

And my brain perfectly understood the current situation and came up with the most appropriate words and actions for this situation.

“Holy shit.”

And I immediately put a gun to my head.