章節 145: Chapter 146: Memory Manipulation
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See chapter 200 for the missing 145 chapters.
༺ Memory Manipulation༻
"Excuse me… who are you and why are you here..?"
A youthful Frey timidly asked.
"Well, um, that's… uh…"
Uncertain of how to respond, Irina stammered.
"Could you be… the mage my father mentioned?"
"What?"
She tilted her head in response.
"Well, I am a mage, but…"
She was cautiously trying to go along with Frey's questions, but her eyes widened as she started scanning her surroundings.
"What's going on?"
All of a sudden, everything around her froze – the little birds flying outside the window, the burning candles, the clock's hands that were moving steadily, and even Frey's trembling body.
Puzzled by this situation, where time seemed to have stopped, Irina moved cautiously.
System error
Identification code: c01
"…Ah!"
At that moment, something translucent appeared before her eyes.
[An unknown error has occurred during the trial.]
[Searching for the problem…]
[Conclusion: The subject of the trial has changed during the trial.]
[Searching for a solution…]
"What is this?"
Irina squinted her eyes as she read the contents of the system window that appeared before her and soon murmured with a shocked expression.
"Is the System controlling even the trials caused by the curse?"
Irina, who had endured numerous trials and errors while consuming thousands of scrolls, realized that she couldn't infiltrate due to an unknown force that was acting within Frey.
So, she devised a plan.
It was a trick using the 'Soul Swap' magic that she had devised and used to save Frey's life once before.
"Is it now, Miss Irina?"
In exchange for Kania, who was no longer able to use the swapping magic again due to her previous deal with the System, Irina extracted all the dark magic from Kania.
"Yes, now!"
She activated the soul-swapping magic she had created, intending to outwit the System.
Shaaaaaa…!
It was just before her body switched with Frey's.
"I don't know if this will work."
Irina's plan, based on her hypothesis that she simply had to extract the soul and infiltrate if the unknown force was acting on the soul, ultimately failed once more.
[Failed to find a solution.]
[Commencing another search…]
"Damn it."
Irina, who was busy looking at the system window that had appeared in front of her, whispered coldly.
"Stop pretending to be the System. I already heard your true identity from Kania."
As soon as she said this, the system windows that continuously appeared in front of her vanished all at once.
Sudden quest initiated!
Quest Content: Do not proceed with the trial until the system finds a solution. (If you proceed with the trial on your own, unexpected errors may occur.)
Reward: To be negotiated later
Do you accept? [Y/N]
Irina looked at the quest window that appeared before her.
"…Bullshit."
Closing her eyes in frustration, she replied.
"I really wanted to take the trial in his stead, but it's impossible."
And in the next moment-
Time around her resumed.
The birds chirped, the candles burned, and the clock hands resumed their regular motion.
"Oh, you're here…"
The young Frey gazed at Irina and spoke again.
"I've been waiting for you."
"Uh, yeah… Okay."
She quickly relaxed the cold expression she had worn while examining the System and questioned Frey, who had a determined look on his face.
"Um, why are yo-?"
"We don't have time for this. We need to hurry."
However, Frey interrupted Irina's words, grabbed her arm, and hastily led her out of the room.
"Brother? Who's that woman…"
As they exited the room, they passed his younger sister, Aria, who still had baby fat on her cheeks.
"Master? Who is…"
Then, they passed the worried maid who approached him before finally knocking on his father's door.
"Father, the mage has arrived."
Creak…
The old-fashioned door slowly opened.
"…Professor Komerun, have you arrived?"
Irina and Frey carefully entered the room.
Frey's father, Abraham, who was smoking a forbidden drug while looking out the window, spoke up.
"I am truly ashamed that you had to come visit the sinner who couldn't protect your most cherished disciple, his wife."
"…..?"
"But, since the professor… since only the professor could do it… I audaciously requested your presence. I deeply apologize."
"Komerun? No way…"
Irina, who had been blankly listening to his words, soon murmured in disbelief when Frey's father mentioned that name.
"…That damned hag?"
It was the name of her teacher, whom she both hated and loved. Her teacher was once the strongest archmage of the Magic Tower before she became an archmage herself.
"W-what? Who are you?"
Thanks to that, Abraham, who finally noticed the flustered Irina, became puzzled as well.
"Could you be… Professor Komerun?"
"Uh, well…"
"Have you really succeeded in developing Rejuvenation Magic?"
"Um…"
Irina stammered, uncertain as to how to respond to such an unexpected situation.
"No, that's not important right now."
"Uh, well…"
However, as Abraham regained his focus and got back on topic, he began rummaging through his drawer while Irina cautiously inquired.
"What's… What's going on right now?"
"Huh?"
Then, Abraham made a puzzled face as he opened his mouth.
"Since you came here, doesn't it mean you finally found a way to complete these scrolls?"
Abraham took out a few scrolls from the drawer and spread them on the desk with a desperate expression.
"It's really fortunate that you found a solution before that poor child reached his limit."
"This is…"
"I'm suffering so much that I'm smoking forbidden drugs… That child is enduring everything with a sober mind, but he's nearing his limits."
As he spoke, Abraham pointed at the young Frey, who indeed seemed to be struggling.
There were several scars on his arm, dried tear stains on his face, and a deep darkness on his face that was unimaginable for a child his age.
"Please, make the hell he has to walk through a little more bearable."
Gloom plagued Abraham's face. As Irina looked at Frey and began to look at the scrolls lined up on the desk.
"…What is this?"
Irina's eyebrows twitched.
The scrolls that Abraham had laid out on the table contained several magical formulas she was familiar with.
Long ago, she remembered that her mentor had struggled to finish them.
They were incomplete formulas that were never finished, even until she lost her life to the Demon Army's second-in-command.
Shoo…
Irina couldn't resist upon seeing the scrolls and reached out her hand.
"Ah, I think I know."
The incomplete formula, which contained the lifelong regret of her mentor, captivated Irina to the point where she forgot about her current situation.
"…Wait a minute."
She applied her innate curiosity and thirst for knowledge, leading the incomplete scroll to near-completion, before abruptly freezing on the spot.
"What is this?"
It was because most of the formulas that she had been filling in were actually her own newly discovered formulas that she had created during her attempts to enter Frey's subconscious.
"….This doesn't make sense."
"W-what's the problem?"
As Irina felt chills from the strange, contrived phenomenon, she regained her composure upon hearing Abraham's puzzled voice.
"Will this… really work?"
She cautiously filled in the last formula to the nearly complete scroll.
"It seems like… it worked?"
Holding up the scroll that was presumably completed, she spoke in a timid voice.
"Try… Try infusing it with mana."
"Huh? Oh… But I…"
At Abraham's suggestion, Irina was about to reply that she had mana deficiency, but then she realized something.
"…Huh?"
Mana was overflowing within her.
Her face betrayed her confusion.
"Why do I have so much mana?"
She was momentarily confused. Not only did she feel a similar amount of mana to her peak, it was exactly the same level.
Shaa…
Then, as if bewitched, she infused the scroll with her mana.
Fizz! Fizz!
As a result, the scroll emitted a dazzling light as if announcing its completion to the surroundings.
"Finally…"
Seeing that, a faint smile appeared on Frey's face as he picked up the scroll.
"Father, I'll be back."
"...Alright."
Unable to meet Frey's gaze as Frey left the room with a heavy gaze, Abraham lowered his head as he bid farewell.
"…Shouldn't you follow him?"
"Fo-follow him?"
Irina, who had been watching nervously, was surprised when Abraham spoke to her with his head still bowed.
"You need to help him use the scroll."
"Ah…"
"And…"
Abraham's voice turned soft.
"I don't have the qualifications to follow him."
He finished speaking with a somber tone.
"… I'm a useless father who can't even help his child."
A dense cloud of smoke emerged from his mouth.
Knock knock knock
Frey, while holding the scroll tightly in one hand, walked down the hallway and began to knock on the door at the end of the corridor.
"Excuse me, I'm coming in for a moment."
Frey calmly announced his arrival and cautiously opened the door.
"U-ugh."
As the door opened, a girl who had been crouching in the dark room raised her head, flinching from the light entering the room.
"…Ah."
The girl squinted her eyes against the bright light as she tried to discern the person who had just entered.
"A-ah."
Upon recognizing Frey, she began to tremble.
"I-It was my fault… I was wrong…"
"…Ugh."
"I'll take responsibility for it. You can hit me, lock me up, or even… k-kill me, b-but…"
She stuttered as she beseeched Frey, who was also trembling.
"…Please, spare my sister."
She knelt before Frey.
"…..Ugh."
Frey, who experienced a storm of emotions in that short moment, unknowingly grit his teeth and took a deep breath.
"Sigh."
He slowly approached Kania, who was kneeling in front of him.
"…Hic."
As he gradually closed the distance, the girl closed her eyes tightly as if anticipating her fate.
"My father didn't bring you here to punish you."
Frey, now right in front of her, raised the scroll and began to speak with a trembling voice.
"Nor do I have any intentions of punishing you. Of course, that goes for your sister as well."
"Ah…?"
"The crime was committed by your parents. It's not right to blame you for it."
Frey spoke while strongly biting down on his lips.
"…Wha?"
He carefully hugged the girl in front of her.
"Your name is… Kania, right?"
"Y-yes…"
"Alright, Kania. There's something I need to tell you."
Then, Frey's voice quivered more intensely as he spoke to the girl, who became bewildered at the unexpected declaration.
"I'm sorry."
"Huh?"
"Even though you and your sister aren't at fault… if things continue like this, I'm afraid we might come to resent you."
Feeling her body tense up, Frey continued
"There's a lot we need to do in the future, and if even a speck of such negative emotions remain… it could lead to a disaster."
"W-what are you…"
"So, I must erase it."
Frey, holding the scroll completed by Irina in both hands, apologized.
"I'm really sorry, Kania."
"Um…"
He then forcefully tore the scroll in half.
Fzzzzzzz…
"…After everything's over, let's meet again."
After whispering that to Kania, who became surrounded by colorful lights bursting from the scroll, Frey tightly embraced her.
"W-what is this?"
A moment later, Kania furrowed her brow and asked, swallowing hard.
"W-what are you doing?"
Kania pushed him away and stared at him with furrowed brows.
Then, he turned to Irina, who had been blankly staring at the events unfolding before her.
"Let's go. The next person is my friend, Irina."
Frey urged Irina.
"What?"
Irina asked back reflexively.
"The clever girl discovered the identity of the werewolf."
"....Ah."
Irina's eyes began to tremble fiercely.
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