Chapter 3: The Worst Reunion (3)

[3] 1. The Worst Reunion (3)

I urged my horse towards the undead clad in rusty armor, swinging my sheathed sword at its head with all my might.

*Clang-*

With a satisfying sound, the skull, stripped of its flesh, soared through the air. My horse’s hooves made short work of the rest of its body.

But moments of exhilaration is always fleeting.

“Whoa-!”

My body is suddenly yanked backwards.

Before I even had time to find my footing, I was sprawled out on the ground.

“Arrrh!!”

Dodging just in time, I narrowly avoided the sword swinging down on me accompanied by a strange cry.

“Urr…”

Scrambling back to my feet, I saw an undead with an abnormally long right arm.

That damn arm must have been what pulled me down.

Ignoring the throbbing pain in my back, I charged at the damn thing.

*Whip-*

I twisted my body to avoid the arm that lashed out like a whip,

*Thud-*

and easily parried the artless swing of its sword.

*Crash-*

I slammed my shoulder into the undead, sending it crashing to the ground. Gripping the sheath of my sword, I smashed the pommel repeatedly against its skull.

“Ugh…!”

A powerful blow landed squarely on my back, followed by a relentless barrage of heavy attacks before I could even catch my breath.

*Thwack-*

I reached out and grabbed whatever was pounding on my back, turning to see an undead wielding a club and baring its teeth.

“Urhhhh-”

*Wham-*

Today’s lesson: Undead die even if you hit them in the jaw with a sheathed sword.

Staggering, I got back on my feet. I pulled my sword out, which had gone through the undead’s mouth and out the back of its head, and looked around.

As expected, the situation wasn’t that bad.

Our men were holding their own against the surprise attack pretty well, proving that they weren’t slacking off when it came to experience.

And as for the hero party…

*BOOM-*

From a distance, I saw countless undead being blown up, burned, and melted down.

Right, that’s what you’re supposed to do when you’re getting paid to work.

The problem was the movements of the undead.

Originally, undead are closer to beasts than humans. They don’t know how to do anything but charge and attack.

But these undead were wielding weapons. I even saw some shooting arrows from between the trees.

Meaning that there was a necromancer controlling them from behind.

I smashed the shin bone of an undead charging at me and shouted at the elf who was crushing undead skulls with his bow,

“Pointy ears!!”

“My name is…!!”

“Yeah, yeah, just cover me!!”

“This fucking…!!”

Ignoring the curse coming from behind me, I ran towards the forest where the undead were pouring out from.

““Urrrr!!””

Perhaps sensing that something wasn’t right, three of them blocked my way.

*Whoosh-*

But arrows came flying from behind me, piercing their knees and sending them crashing to the ground.

Even as they fell, I kicked away the skull of one that was trying to grab me and headed deeper into the forest.

“Rtcea”

I put my hand on my artificial eye again, and muttered a spell.

In my vision filled with greenery, a trail of eerie black energy appeared.

“Those grave-robbing bastards…!”

Drawing my sword, I ran along the black energy trail that led deeper into the forest.

I don’t know how far I ran from the sounds of battle when…

A small clearing came into view through the trees.

There, chanting ominous spells, were robed figures who looked suspicious at a glance.

Four in total.

Without slowing down, I drop-kicked the largest one in the back.

“Oof-!”

One of the few advantages of a prosthetic leg is that its weight makes it easy to break spines.

Leaving the groaning cultist, I slashed the throat of the one next to him who was caught off guard.

“…!!”

The necromancer clutched at his neck and collapsed.

I grabbed my sword and threw it at the necromancer behind him.

*Thud-*

“…”

The blade pierced him right between the eyes. The necromancer’s body crumpled to the ground, a stupid look on his face.

That left only one.

But as always, life is never that simple.

“Arrr!!”

An enormous undead, as big as a bear, which I hadn’t seen as I rushed in, charged at me.

The breath was knocked out of me as I was slammed face-first into the dirt.

I managed to regain my senses and tried to get up, but the undead was faster, bringing its fist down on my back.

“Gah…!”

The blow landed on my already bruised back.

My vision swam, and a groan escaped from my throat.

As if things weren’t bad enough…

The undead grabbed my leg in its thick arm, and…

*Crack-*

“…!”

My vision tilted, my windpipe constricted by the sheer force.

Suddenly, I felt a few steps closer to death’s door.

To make matters worse, even with my fading consciousness, I could feel the undead clutching my leg.

Damn it… I really didn’t… want to use this…

Gritting my teeth, I released the prosthetic leg. For a moment, the undead froze, looking down at my detached leg.

Seizing the opportunity, I uttered a spell.

“Psie… xolon”

*KABOOM-*

The force of the explosion sent me flying backwards.

The world spun before my eyes, finally coming into focus on the undead whose body was half blown off. The undead staggered for a moment before collapsing to the ground with a deflating sound.

A sight to behold, but there was no time to rest.

“_!”

Hearing an ominous chant, I quickly rolled out of the way.

A black sphere shot past where I had been, instantly turning the surrounding grass yellow and withered.

I looked up to see the necromancer calmly casting another spell. I pulled out a throwing knife from my pocket and gripped it tightly.

*Thwip-*

“Argh…!”

Blood spurted from the necromancer’s shoulder as his disrupted spell hit the tree next to me.

I lunged with my remaining leg and slammed my shoulder into him.

We both crashed to the ground ungracefully. I caught my breath and quickly straddled him.

“Gah…!!”

Then, with all my might, I squeezed his neck.

His eyes bulged, his desperate hands reaching for my face.

His nails raked at my cheeks and face, finally grabbing hold of my left eye.

*Dig-*

Having someone’s finger shoved into your eye socket is not a pleasant experience.

*Thump.*

Even if that eye happens to be artificial.

His eyes widened in disbelief as he saw my artificial eye roll into the bushes and my hand, still firmly gripping his neck.

And then…

“Gurk…”

With a sound that was more beast than human, his hands went limp.

“Gasp… Gasp…!”

Only then did I release my bated breath, collapsing onto the ground. And then, all at once, the delayed pain hit me.

“…!”

I bit back a scream and a tear escaped my eye. I gazed up at the vast autumn sky, muttering to myself without realizing it.

“A-Amy…”

And then, as if I had done my part…

I lost consciousness.

***

I woke up to a searing pain all over my body.

I must not have put on my artificial eye, because the world only existed as the soft feel of a blanket and the musty smell of an inn.

I tried to piece together my fragmented memories as I sat up.

“Uh… B-Big bro? You’re awake?! Are you alright?!”

Suddenly, I heard Feya’s voice. I tried to answer, but then I realized that I didn’t have my voice output device on. I pointed at my throat with my hand.

“Ah! S-Sorry! I’ll, I’ll go get it right now!”

Her flustered voice was followed by the sound of her footsteps. It faded away before getting closer again.

“S-Stay still.”

I felt Feya’s trembling hands fasten the voice output device around my neck.

“I-It’s on.”

“Ah, ah, can you hear me?”

“Yes, I can hear you. And I brought your prosthetic hand and eye. I’ll put them on for you.”

I nodded and let Feya put my prosthetic hand on me and my artificial eye in its socket.

I was in so much pain that I could barely move…

And then, a short while later…

“…What are you doing?”

The first thing I saw with my restored vision was Feya kneeling on the floor, staring down at her hands.

She had her fists clenched tightly, and her voice was gloomy when she spoke.

“I’m sorry… I’m supposed to be your right hand, yet I let you get hurt like this…”

“What… Hey, I was the one who ran off on my own and got hurt, why is it your fault?”

“But…”

I cut her off, waving my hand dismissively.

“Never mind that, just tell me what’s going on.”

“Yes, sir…”

And so, Feya began to tell me what had happened after I passed out.

I wondered if I had taken care of all the necromancers, but Feya explained that the undead suddenly lost control during the battle.

And a bunch of mindless undead weren’t that much of a threat. Especially not when the hero party was on our side.

We were able to finish the battle successfully, with only a few minor injuries.

The problem was me.

I guess the undead’s toss had done a number on me, because apparently I was in pretty bad shape when Feya found me.

The Captain decided that we couldn’t continue our journey like this and changed our course to make a stop at the nearest town, Phoenix.

It was then that I heard something unexpected from Feya.

“Clara healed me? What about Baldy?”

“Originally, Clevens was going to heal you, like he always does. But then, Clara came rushing over…”

Well, no wonder my body feels better than it should be if that baldy was the one who treated me.

But why?

Weren’t Clara and the rest of the hero party disgusted by me?

“Ah, that’s right. Clara asked me to call her as soon as you woke up…”

“No need for that. It’s fine, once I get some rest…”

“I’ll go get her right now! Just wait here!”

“Hey!”

Ignoring my protests, Feya jumped to her feet and ran out of the room.

Now that I think about it, she never listens…

I sighed and rubbed my face.

Just as I counted to about 20 in my head, I heard hurried footsteps approaching, and Feya reappeared.

“I brought her!”

And behind her, Clara entered the room.

That was the moment when the faint hope that I had harbored, that maybe there was still a shred of our old friendship left, was completely shattered.

“Are you feeling alright?”

Clara, her expression dark, didn’t even meet my gaze.

Her downcast eyes were filled with a strong desire to get out of this place as soon as possible.

“…Yes.”

Swallowing down the cold feeling rising within me, I replied.

“You should get some rest for now, just in case. I’ve treated your broken bones and ruptured blood vessels, but…”

Clara’s voice entered one ear and went out the other, messing with my mind.

And then, I suddenly felt a surge of anger.

What in the world did I do wrong?

I wasn’t the nicest friend, but couldn’t they at least act like they know me?

Do they really have to treat a long-lost friend like this?

The anger soon turned into words that tickled my throat. I clenched my fists, forcing the words that were about to spill out back down.

Suddenly, a strange thought crossed my mind when Clara said,

“If you experience any discomfort, no matter how small, please tell me right away…”

Discomfort.

That word brought back a distant memory.

[So, why don’t you pretend to have amnesia?]

At first, I shook my head inwardly.

It was just another one of the Captain’s crazy ideas. An option not even worth considering.

But then, I felt my thoughts starting to change.

What do I have to lose?

It’s not like *I* was the one who pretended not to know them first.

And if it doesn’t work, I can always say that I got my memories back. And if it does work, then that’s even better.

I even have the perfect excuse: I got hurt.

The final blow was delivered by Clara.

“Then, I’ll be on my way.”

Clara turned to leave as if she couldn’t wait to get out of here.

Seeing that brought back a memory, distant but still vivid.

“Actually… there is something that’s been bothering me.”

“…Yes?”

Clara turned back to look at me, still not meeting my gaze. I scratched my cheek awkwardly and continued,

“This might not be a big deal, but… I’ve been feeling like my memory is a little spotty.”

“Your memory?”

“Specifically, my childhood memories.”

I clutched my head and grimaced.

“I’ve been trying to remember… but I can’t seem to recall anything before I joined the mercenary group…”

I trailed off, watching Clara’s reaction. I had to see if this stupid plan of mine had even an ounce of effect.

And then, I couldn’t help but be surprised.

“What…?”

Her red eyes widened, as if an earthquake had just struck.

Her eyes were filled with a mixture of emotions I couldn’t decipher, and her clenched fists were trembling.

“So… you don’t… remember me either…?”

She stammered, as if each word was a struggle to get out.

At her question, I pushed down my surprise and thought for a moment.

Her unexpectedly intense reaction.

The strange nuance in her tone.

And the possible consequences of this lie.

Can I really be sure that what I’m doing isn’t a stupid mistake?

But I soon erased that thought from my mind.

As someone once said, the die is already cast.

I put on a confused expression.

“I’m sorry…? What do you mean…?”

Words can’t describe the look on Clara’s face after hearing those words.

An immeasurable amount of conflict flashed through her eyes, and unreadable emotions melted and congealed on her face.

I was too stunned to speak at the sight.

“Um… Clara, are you alright…?”

It was Feya, who had been quietly listening to us, who finally broke the heavy silence.

Clara turned to look at Feya, as if she had only just noticed her presence.

*Bite.*

And then, suddenly, she bit her lower lip, drawing blood.

Seeing the blood trickling down her lip, I said in alarm,

“Clara, what…!”

“Rem, no, Rem.”

She cut me off and took hold of my prosthetic hand, as if it were something precious.

And then, with eyes filled with affection, she looked at me.

“Actually… I was your lover.”

…

…

…The hell?

*BAM-*

The door suddenly burst open, revealing Amy, the hero. She marched towards Clara.

“Oh, Hero, you’re…”

“Get out.”

Her voice was laced with anger. Clara’s face which had just been painted with a bright smile now hardened.

“Hero?”

“I said get out.”

Amy’s pressure wasn’t limited to just words. When Clara didn’t budge, she grabbed her wrist.

“Wait…!”

And with that, she dragged Clara out of the room.

Stunned, I could only stare blankly at the door that slammed shut.

“…What the hell was that about…?”

“…How should I know…?”