Chapter 510: Amnesia and First Kiss
Riezel naturally did not know what had happened with Artoria and Oberon, though even if he did, he would not have been surprised.
It was only natural for Oberon to begin doubting Riezel’s origins.
In fact, what was truly abnormal was someone like Artoria, who, despite clearly knowing how suspicious Riezel’s background was, never questioned him at all, and instead, for some unknown reason, gradually began to trust and even rely on him.
It should be noted that Riezel was neither from Faerie Britain nor from Proper Human History, while the events in this world were a collection of large-scale conflicts between Proper Human History and the rejected Lostbelt.
Yet Riezel did not belong to either side but was a third party with an utterly unknown origin, so it was obvious that anyone who knew about his circumstances would have doubts about him.
At the very least, Riezel could be certain that not only Oberon but even Beryl, who had already seen through the fact that he was not the Child of Prophecy but a human, was also suspicious of his origins and had started making arrangements of his own.
Maybe the only exception was Morgan.
Even though she knew Riezel was neither the Child of Prophecy nor someone from Proper Human History, she still did not suspect or question him at all.
One could say that Morgan, who always called Artoria her nemesis, actually, much like Artoria, harbored a strange sense of trust and even dependence toward Riezel.
Otherwise, why would she plant that ’Stake’ within Riezel’s body?
If that was not latching onto Riezel, then what was it?
For that reason, Riezel was not surprised if Oberon doubted him—in fact, it was Morgan and Artoria’s trust and dependence that truly left him baffled.
Of course, Riezel was in no mood to think about such matters right now because at this moment, another matter required his attention.
Mash Kyrielight, the girl he had saved, had already woken up.
However, the real problem was...
"You are...?"
Mash, having opened her eyes, stared blankly at Riezel, her gaze filled with confusion.
"Where... is this...?"
"I... I..."
"Who am I...?"
Yes, she had some amnesia.
She had forgotten who she was.
She had forgotten her past.
Naturally, she had also forgotten her current situation and the reason she had come to this Lostbelt.
Riezel, not surprised by Mash’s condition, maintained his half-crouched posture in front of her and spoke up.
"I know you have a lot of questions right now, but for the time being, you should check your own condition first. See if anything feels off, and if you notice anything wrong, let me know right away."
Hearing this, Mash remained just as bewildered, her eyes struggling to focus, but she still instinctively followed Riezel’s instructions and checked her own body.
Her body, which felt both unfamiliar and strangely familiar, seemed as if it did not belong to her, and she felt completely weak.
Even though there were no injuries because they had all been healed, her stamina had nearly recovered, and even her equipment was fully intact, for some reason, she simply could not move.
It was probably due to a sense of dissonance churning inside her head, making her feel dizzy and utterly powerless.
"I... I feel like I lost something..."
Following her own sensations, Mash murmured in a daze.
What she lost was likely the source of that dissonance.
"Lost something?" Riezel was momentarily stunned.
"Mm..." Mash, clearly lost and confused, spoke with uncertainty. "It feels like something really important... something I absolutely can’t lose... What is it...?"
She could not remember—she only knew that whatever it was, it was truly important to her. If she did not speak up now, maybe, after she got used to her current state, she would completely forget about it.
It was a bit like waking from a dream and realizing the clothes she was wearing were not the ones she wore to bed, but she could not remember, and could only vaguely sense that something was not right.
In just a few more minutes, that odd feeling would fade as her mind fully awakened, so she felt she had to say it while she still could.
"Could it be...?"
Riezel had not understood what the girl meant at first—it was only after a while that he seemed to realize something, and he glanced at the young girl in front of him, who, despite her age, had an exceptionally curvy figure.
"Alright."
Riezel did not stare at Mash’s attractive body for long and stood up.
"Just sit here and rest for a bit. I’ll try to help you look for it."
Seeing that Mash seemed a bit slow to respond and did not answer right away, Riezel added a question.
"You’re okay with that, right?"
In response to Riezel’s question, Mash simply nodded in a dazed manner, which really was not reassuring at all.
Riezel felt as if the moment he looked away, the girl before him would wander off in a daze and end up getting lost—or even worse, get snatched away and sold off by someone.
In the original work, after Mash lost her memory, hadn’t something like this happened to her?
Remembering what happened in the original work, Riezel suddenly cast a magic spell.
"Summon Monster 7th."
As the magic was activated, a magic circle appeared before Riezel.
"Eh?"
Mash, who was lying there in a daze and trying to support herself, saw this scene and immediately looked surprised.
Riezel ignored Mash and proceeded to summon some monsters.
They were insect monsters the size of a human, resembling spiders, with eight legs ending in sharp blades.
Yes, they were none other than the Eight-Edge Assassins.
Because the Eight-Edge Assassins did not reveal themselves but were summoned from the magic circle in an invisible state, no one could see them except for Riezel. As a result, Mash only saw a magic circle appear in front of him and then disappear, with nothing else happening, which caused her to look confused.
Riezel paid Mash no mind and, through a mental link, gave orders to the Eight-Edge Assassins.
[Stay here and guard this girl. Until I come back, don’t let her leave with anyone.]
As soon as this command was given, Riezel immediately heard the Eight-Edge Assassins’ responses in his mind.
[[Yes!]]
In the next moment, the Eight-Edge Assassins stayed invisible and surrounded the dazed Mash, keeping her safe in the center.
"Fly."
Only then did Riezel take off, soaring into the sky and flying toward the sea under Mash’s amazed gaze.
Recalling in his mind the appearance of the items Mash might have lost, Riezel cast another magic.
"Locate Object."
It was a 6th-Tier Magic capable of detecting the location of a specific item.
Riezel cast the magic, letting the image in his mind serve as the basis for the magic’s tracking, and used it as a center to spread magical energy outward.
In the next second, the magical energy rippled out like a radar, scanning in all directions like an ultrasound and gradually sweeping over the entire area.
Riezel even controlled the magical energy waves, allowing the magic to extend as far as possible beneath the sea’s surface, increasing the search range. If he could not find it this way, he planned to use teleportation magic to head toward the Nameless Forest, checking along the way to search for the items as thoroughly as possible.
If it were just an ordinary item, Riezel certainly would not go to so much trouble, but the things Mash had lost were not only important to her—in a way, they could be crucial to everything that might happen next.
If they really could not be found, the consequences could be unimaginable.
Because of that, Riezel intended to do his utmost to find them and only look for other solutions if he was sure they could not be recovered.
Fortunately, things did not go that far.
"Right beneath here?"
Not long after, Riezel sensed a pulse from his magic and looked down at the sea.
In the next instant, without any warning, Riezel suddenly dove down.
*BOOM!*
A massive wave erupted as Riezel plunged into the sea, vanishing beneath the waves.
"H-He jumped in?"
Mash, who was struggling to get up, was startled by what she saw and stared blankly at the water’s surface for a moment before immediately running over, as if instinctively preparing to help.
It was worth mentioning that as Mash ran toward the shore, she was carrying her enormous shield, which might have been even taller and heavier than herself.
A beautiful, slender young girl like her should have found it exhausting, maybe even impossible, to lug around such a massive shield, but Mash effortlessly hefted it as if she were just carrying an oversized tray.
Needless to say, the contrast was undoubtedly striking.
*BOOM!*
Just as Mash was about to reach the sea, another explosion went off in the distance, sending water spraying everywhere.
Riezel darted out from within, but he was not wet at all thanks to a layer of crystal that had formed a barrier around him, acting as a protective shield that covered his entire body.
It was the defensive magic called ’Crystal Wall,’ which Evileye, known as Landfall, had once used in front of Riezel. He relied on Crystal Wall to dive into the sea, so he did not end up completely soaked like last time.
When Riezel returned to shore, the crystal barrier finally vanished.
"A-Are you okay?"
Mash had just run over, and when she saw Riezel coming ashore, she immediately stopped and asked him carefully.
"I’m fine." Riezel shook his head as he glanced at the girl. "I already found your stuff and kept it for you. If you need it, just ask me later."
It was not as if he were being greedy about Mash’s things, because even though he was somewhat interested in the items Mash had brought, he had no desire to study them.
As for why Riezel did not return them to her right away, first, those things were too heavy and cumbersome, and second, in her current condition, Mash could not use them anyway.
For this reason, Riezel had stored them in the storage space of the Dimensional Magic Cube for now, planning to take them out for her when she needed them.
However, it seemed Mash misunderstood.
"If you didn’t find them, it’s fine. I don’t even remember what they were anymore anyway."
Mash actually tried to comfort Riezel.
Apparently, since Riezel came back empty-handed, she thought he was just saying that to make her feel better, so she ended up trying to comfort him instead.
Realizing this, Riezel wanted to explain, but seeing Mash’s dazed expression, he doubted she would even understand what he was saying.
In the end, Riezel simply shook his head.
"Forget it. As long as you remember to ask me for them when you need them, that’s enough."
With that, Riezel moved on from the topic.
"Looks like you’ve recovered a bit of strength, right? So? Can you move?"
"Yes..." Mash nodded honestly. "I haven’t fully recovered, but I can feel it—right now, I think I can do anything."
’You can do anything?’ Riezel gave Mash a strange look. ’Why did that sound so suggestive?’
As he watched her, his gaze unconsciously drifted to her lips.
Even though it was to save Mash, he really had kissed this female lead when he did CPR, hadn’t he?
He had not thought much of it at the time, but now, as he recalled it, Riezel found himself remembering the moment. Her lips were not sweet—in fact, because of the seawater, they had felt a little cold, even a bit salty.
Regardless, it was actually Riezel’s first time kissing a girl.
Of course, the kiss Riezel had with Morgan did not count, since not only was it inside some kind of dream, but he also couldn’t recall the feeling clearly.
Meanwhile, in his previous life, growing up in that kind of prominent family, he could have had as many women as he wanted with a snap of his fingers, but Riezel had never been interested in any of that because he had only been passionate about traveling the world, adventuring in different places, and had never once considered falling in love.
Naturally, since his current life was no different, he still had no experience in that area.
As for the original Riezel, though he had gone out carousing with the other noble students from Spriller Academy, at most, he had gotten a little handsy.
As a pure and innocent country boy, the original Riezel had zero actual experience and was teased more than once by the noble boys in their little group because of it.
For that reason, after two lifetimes, this kind of feeling was still very new to Riezel.
"..."
As Riezel thought about it, he was not sure whether to feel lucky or just sad.
"Hm? What’s wrong with you?"
Mash’s voice reached Riezel’s ears and snapped him out of it.
Looking at Mash’s confused and concerned expression, for a moment, Riezel felt a little out of place.
"...If this ever gets out, your Master might actually wanna kill me."
Riezel gave a bitter smile as he said this.
"H-Huh?"
Mash had no idea what Riezel was talking about and just looked at him blankly.
"It’s nothing, don’t worry about it." Riezel helplessly shook his head. "Since you’ve recovered a bit, come with me. I’ll explain what’s going on and tell you why you’ve forgotten everything."
With that, he turned around.
"Come on."
Leaving these words behind, Riezel started walking forward on his own.
Seeing this, Mash hesitated for a moment, then shouldered her shield and hurried to catch up.
At the same time, the invisible Eight-Edge Assassins immediately followed in silence, causing everything to return to quiet.