Ch#44
Tiye swallowed hard as she stared at the ring before her eyes.
‘If I break this, will big bro Raoul forget about candy?’
She’d been curious exactly how the relic erased people’s memories.
But seeing it right in front of her, she couldn’t hide her wonder.
Tiye reached out and lightly touched the memory ring.
Suddenly, small bubbles formed around the ring, bubbling like slime.
‘They’ll probably disappear if I break them.’
After swallowing again, just as Tiye cautiously tried to grasp the ring.
[……Condition…….]
Hundreds of bubbles gathered before her eyes, displaying an unknown message.
[Kiddo friend! Nice to meet you. Shall we set a condition?]
Condition?
Tiye’s eyes went huge.
This is kinda……!
A moment later.
“V-Veil oppa. Basto ajussi! Nordix grandpa!”
The three turned around, staring at Tiye waving her arms wildly with startled eyes.
“Oblivion’s Sanctity! It’s awesome! Super strong!”
At the words ‘Oblivion’s Sanctity,’ Veil furrowed his brow.
“What, you already did it?”
“Yup!!”
An ‘oh’ escaped Veil’s mouth.
“The activation’s way quieter than I thought? Might be more useful than expected.”
“Could set a condition!”
“Condition?”
“Yup! Makes it disappear if they do a certain action or think a certain thing!”
Veil’s mouth fell open.
“For real?”
“Yup! So I played around a bit, then set the ring like this so the Governor’s sons only forget Tiye’s identity if they hate Tiye or try to leave Agabert!”
To think such detailed memory erasure was possible.
Veil swallowed and muttered to Nordix and Basto.
“Wh-what is this. A real relic after all? Kinda get why the church went nuts to recover it……”
“Hold on.”
Then Raoul cut in.
He stared at Tiye, Veil, and Basto with a flustered face.
“Did you do something to me?”
Guilt instantly flooded Tiye’s face.
“S-sowwy……”
Veil stood from his seat.
He reached into Tiye’s uniform pocket and pulled out a candy wrapped in paper.
“What does this look like to you?”
Raoul furrowed his brow.
“……Paper.”
“Not the paper. What do you think’s inside it?”
“Well. Medicine?”
“No? Something sweet you melt in your mouth. You don’t know?”
“Pardon? I have no idea what you mean……”
Enzo, who’d been watching, stepped forward looking baffled.
“Bro, you dummy? It’s obviously candy.”
Raoul scowled at Enzo.
“What’s that?”
“Huh?”
“What is it, I said.”
Enzo’s gaze slowly shifted to Tiye.
Tiye fidgeted her hands looking truly sorry.
“Tiye weally weally didn’t wanna…… but Veil oppa kept saying……”
Veil grinned smugly behind her.
“Man, the effect’s solid.”
* * *
Tiye used Oblivion’s Sanctity on Enzo too, same as Raoul.
So that Tiye’s identity would delete from their minds if they left Agabert or grew hostile toward her.
Once finished, surprisingly Veil approached.
“Kiddo. Put it on me too?”
Tiye looked up at him with wide eyes.
“Huh?”
“If you’re worried, go ahead on me. I’m never leaving Agabert anyway.”
Veil looked utterly nonchalant.
As Tiye stared puzzled, Basto approached too.
“You can do me too, Tiye. No chance that magic’ll activate anyway.”
Tiye felt her heart stir somewhere.
“Basto ajussi and Veil oppa……”
They really think of Tiye as a lifelong comrade!
Tiye, moved, nodded vigorously.
“Yup! We’re making a pact!”
Tiye grabbed their outstretched hands one by one and activated Oblivion’s Sanctity.
Honestly, using Oblivion’s Sanctity was pretty fun.
Like playing with a toy, kinda?
“No feeling at all.”
Veil tilted his head.
Basto silently stroked Tiye’s head.
“Good work, Tiye.”
Tiye had him try activating it on himself too.
She wanted to show Basto this amazing relic.
But for some reason, it only responded to Tiye.
Tiye felt oddly proud and chuckled to herself, then paused.
‘But where’s Nordix grandpa?’
He’d definitely been here moments ago.
As she tilted her head alone, Veil called her.
“Kiddo. Raoul and Enzo are curious.”
“About what?”
“How you came up with the name Necrolord. Got me curious too hearing it. Where’d you pick up a name like that?”
“That’s……”
Tiye instantly forgot about Nordix.
And eagerly explained how she’d come up with the title Necrolord.
Smiles slowly spread across the members’ faces as they listened.
A warm, harmonious atmosphere lingered in the Governance Hall parlor.
Until the sun vanished beyond the horizon.
* * *
A few days later.
“W-wowww……”
Tiye gaped at the two ornate carriages parked before the Governance Hall.
She fidgeted restlessly and turned to Governor Marianne.
“Governor, weally? Tiye gets both?”
Marianne smiled warmly.
“Of course. We’re still far from repaying what the Unit Leader did for Pearl City.”
“……Could just call me Tiye, not Unit Leader.”
“What are you saying. Astie is Agabert’s Unit Leader no matter what anyone says. Age irrelevant.”
At those words, she suddenly recalled a few days prior.
The day after Raoul and Enzo joined the mercenary group, an unexpected visitor came to Tiye’s room.
Nordix.
‘Astie. I think it’d be fine to tell Marianne Wavebrill your true identity.’
Nordix had made a serious proposal to Tiye.
To tell Marianne Wavebrill the truth about Tiye’s situation.
Turned out Nordix had visited Marianne the day before too.
Seeing the relic work properly had sparked various worries.
‘If word gets out you have a relic, the church will surely wonder about your identity. And try to take it. Like always.’
Tiye was already famous.
Maybe even more so in the future.
‘But your power is too sharp and immense to just hide. In this world, those with great strength always face equal scrutiny.’
‘Really……?’
‘Yes. If the church and imperial family’s attention turns to you, even your power might not protect you alone.’
At first, Tiye hadn’t grasped his meaning.
Nordix, noticing, explained simply for her.
‘You talked about puppetmon before, right?’
‘Yup!’
‘Having a strong puppetmon makes you strong too.’
‘Right! Legend puppetmon makes you super super strong!’
‘Then think of it like this. You could become a puppetmon too.’
Her mind blanked at that.
‘T-Tiye becomes puppetmon?’
‘Yes. You being strong also means whoever controls you gets strong.’
‘……B-but how can people just control other people?’
Nordix smiled and said quietly.
‘Tiye, there are more ways to puppet people than you think. Take hostages and threaten, hypnotize, manipulate minds, use drugs.’
‘…….’
‘If someone did that to you, could you fend them off alone?’
No.
Tiye had no choice but to answer that.
But Nordix, as if expecting it, offered a solution.
‘That’s why we need the Wavebrill Marquisate’s help.’
