Oblivion (6)

“Yes…! That bastard Dedran…!”

Greek gritted his teeth.

“Hmm, for now, we should take her to the castle, stabilize her, and try to help her recover his memory.”

“Yes. That’s what we’ll do. But why did he say she was dead? I don’t understand that. She can’t even remember what kind of life she had…”

“Hmm, that does seem a bit strange. The child who was supposedly dead was found outside Greek City, and not only that, but she had collapsed and had lost her memory. That’s quite odd.”

“Do you also think so, Master?”

I wondered if this was the reason they had come this far. It was definitely not an ordinary matter.

It smelled like something was off.

“Yes. We’ll need to investigate properly. First, the Count’s family that said she was dead. Sending someone officially won’t help, so we’ll have to investigate unofficially, under the radar.”

“Ah! In that case…”

Greek began to ponder, his eyes showing signs of thinking about who to send.

“Is the noble family she was moved to currently in the Capital?”

“Yes! I went to visit them last time during the concert, but the answer was the same.”

“I see. Let’s investigate. For this task, I recommend the Captain of the Guard. He’s trustworthy.”

Greek’s Captain of the Guard is a man I personally selected. He’s trustworthy and handles his work well.

For investigations like this, it’s crucial to send someone reliable.

“And to make the investigation more thorough, let’s use some of our contacts in the Capital. If you wish to send him, I’ll write a letter for you.”

“Is that so? Thank you!”

Greek jumped to his feet and bowed his head.

Well, thank goodness there were no guests.

“The lord of Greek City should not bow his head so recklessly.”

“I can’t even handle something like this on my own…”

“Is that so? I’m sure you’ll send someone even without me.”

“Well, that may be true…”

“I had the same thought, so it’s fine. But, Ms. Elena, do you think this person’s memory can return?”

Suddenly calling out to her as she was watching us, Elena perked up her ears and answered.

“I don’t know. For now, I think the only way is to repeatedly experience things that might trigger memories of the past.”

“Do you think so? I really want to help them recover their memory.”

Greek shook his head with a determined gaze. There was something in those eyes.

It seemed that there were feelings beyond just considering them as a younger sibling.

Love?

Well, for a young man to grow, isn’t love an essential element?

The woman named Siena kept glancing nervously between me, Elena, and Greek.

“Well, I’ll get up now. It’s getting late, so I’m sorry for everything.”

Greek stood up, supporting Siena.

“Is that so? But have you had a meal? What about Ms. Elena?”

“A meal? No, I haven’t had one yet, I’ve been too distracted…”

Elena shook her head slightly.

The boy also looked at Siena and shook his head. It seemed they had been starving all this time.

Greek and Siena must have been too preoccupied, and Elena, focused on taking care of the patient, hadn’t even thought about eating.

“Oh, and Ms. Elena, you mentioned that it might be good to revisit memories. Do you two have any memories related to food? If you both eat something related to that memory, it might help trigger their memory.”

“Do you mean cooking? Hmm…”

The boy, Greek, narrowed his eyes as if trying to recall something. A few seconds later, he exclaimed with a bright face.

“Oh! I remember now. Siena once made an unusual dish.”

“An unusual dish?”

“Yes. We had some special memories when we ate that together… It’s a little embarrassing, though…”

“Oh, there’s no need to talk about those embarrassing memories. Let’s leave that for you two to reminisce. Instead, can you tell us more about the dish?”

“Well, I didn’t make it myself, so I don’t know the details…”

Greek’s face darkened again.

Then Siena pointed to herself, looking confused.

“Me? I made it?”

“Yes. It was the most unique and the best dish you made.”

“Is that so? But… Hmm?”

Siena bent her head so low it hit the table, making a loud thud.

It would be great if that shock helped her remember, but if the memory were that easy to return, it would have come back already.

Elena gently patted Siena’s forehead with a sympathetic expression.

It was impossible to deceive Elena. If she had lied about the memory loss, avoiding her gaze would be practically impossible.

So, if it was true memory loss, the pained expression on her face while trying to recall something couldn’t be a lie.

“Then I’ll take a guess. What ingredients were used?”

“Hmm, it was made with common ingredients… Ah, Shuma! It was made with Shuma!”

Shuma.

Shuma refers to a vegetable similar to sweet potatoes, known for its sweet flavor. It’s quite delicious.

“Shuma is sweet, but this one was even sweeter. It was sticky…”

“Sticky, you say?”

“Yes.”

There was no need to listen further. If it used Shuma and was sticky, there was only one possibility.

It’s also very simple to make.

It’s a dish that originated in China a long time ago and spread to countries like Korea and Japan—sweet fried sweet potatoes.

In Chinese, it’s called “Bas”, I think.

I immediately got up and grabbed some sweet potatoes from the food storage, slicing them into pieces small enough to comfortably chew in one bite.

I soaked the pieces in water for a moment while I prepared the syrup to coat them.

Usually, using oligosaccharides makes things easy, but since there’s none here and Siena definitely wouldn’t have used them, I planned to use the traditional method with just sugar.

I’d stir-fry the sugar, then add water to adjust the consistency, and it would naturally become sticky.

The sweet aroma, reminiscent of the candy “Dalgona”, filled the air, and its sweetness triggered the salivation.

“That’s right! This smell…! This is the smell!”

Greek got excited and started moving around. Siena squinted, looking like she was thinking of something, but didn’t react otherwise.

I took the soaked Shuma and fried it. After frying, I coated it in the syrup, letting it cook for a while until it was done.

The sugar syrup stretched thin like cheese, filling the mouth with a delightful sweetness. In an age without spicy snacks, it was one of the best desserts.

“Yooooooouuu!”

A roar rang out as the sweet fried sweet potatoes were completed.

With a thud in my chest from the roar, I turned around in shock, and there stood Rurin, eyebrows raised, water dripping from her hair.

“Aaaah!”

I shouted.

“Master?”

“Mr. El!”

Elena and Greek were startled and jumped to their feet from the table.

“You! Uh, when did you come out…?”

“I just came out. After washing up, I remembered that I was hungry… But you. You couldn’t even cook meat, and now you’re doing what? What’s with that fancy snap?!”

“Hahaha! Well, it’s because…”

I stammered, sweating coldly.

Then Rurin took a step. Then another. She was approaching very slowly, like some great demon of terror was coming.

“You.”

“So, it’s like this! While you were in the bath, my memory returned.”

“Don’t make me laugh! That’s why it seemed strange!”

Heavy breathing.

More heavy breathing.

“Ah, you said you were hungry, so try this. It’s really delicious.”

I blew on the sweet fried sweet potato to cool it down and then gently placed it into Rurin’s mouth, whose heavy breathing could still be heard.

Rurin instinctively chewed the sweet fried sweet potato.

Rurin, who liked sweet things, relaxed her face for a moment, then frowned again.

“It’s delicious. Give me more! No, no, no, that’s not it. The problem isn’t giving me more!”

“Wait. Just eat this for now. We’ll talk after sending the guests away.”

I served the freshly made sweet fried sweet potatoes into a dish and placed it in front of Rurin, then quickly ran towards the table.

But Rurin didn’t even look at it.

She wasn’t even looking at the food.

“The situation isn’t great, but just eat this for now. We’ll deal with it afterward.”

“Yes, yes!”

Elena nodded quickly, looking very surprised, and seemed to tremble with her ears drooping, as though she understood the situation.

“Oh my, oh my, this is delicious!”

Even in the midst of it, Elena seemed to recognize the taste, as her drooping ears perked up slightly.

“Exactly! Master. This was the taste. Siena! Do you remember when you gave this to me while you were taking care of me?”

“Me? I gave this to you?”

Siena also chewed on the sweet fried sweet potato.

Like Rurin, her face brightened for a moment before turning dark again.

“Hmm, something…something might be coming back, but I’m not sure.”

“R-really?”

Greek’s shoulders drooped.

“Isn’t the fact that it seems like it might be coming back what’s important? It might be better to try with another memory as well.”

“Do you think so? There are many such things in the Lord’s castle, so I’ll try it out first! Thank you! Master…and, also…”

“And?”

“I think I should leave now. Hahaha…”

“I, me too!”

Elena and Greek, sweating nervously, backed away.

The two humans and the elf quickly left the restaurant, bowing their heads as they fled.

The cause of their hasty departure was undoubtedly Rurin, who was burning with anger behind me.

She walked toward me, flames practically shooting out of her eyes.

“Wait a second!”

“There’s no such thing.”

Rurin’s advance didn’t stop.

I was so terrified that I ran away immediately. It was a mad dash.

I sprinted out of the restaurant and raced up the hill.

But it was no use. The furious Rurin was chasing me from right behind.

“You.”

Her voice was so chilling, it wasn’t a yell, but a controlled, short utterance of “You”.

“Ahhhh!”

It was so terrifying that I tripped over something as I ran, losing my balance and falling onto the grassy field.

Rurin didn’t miss that moment. She jumped and landed on my legs, lifting me up.

“You.”

“Wait, wait… My memory just came back suddenly. It’s true!”

“I’m angry.”

“R-really? I hope you can calm down…”

“How much did I get scared! You couldn’t remember me…how much! I only endured because you said it would be for just one day. But you…you…”

Rurin’s eyes welled up with tears.

“Wait, wait. I’m sorry. I really am. I won’t do it again. Don’t cry. Even if you get angry, or beat me, it’s fine, just don’t cry. Okay?”

I lifted my upper body and wiped Rurin’s tears away with my hand.

“You’re such a fool. You’re bad! Really bad!”

“Yeah…I’m a bad guy. I’m a bad guy.”

“Ugh…I’m angry now.”

“Still, wasn’t the couple play okay…?”

“…It’s not okay! You only made me work! I was worried, and though it was annoying, I listened to everything…”

“That’s right. That was the original goal. No, no. Anyway, I’m sorry.”