Chapter 28 – Chapter 2: Phantom of Memory – 3
I shook my head.
I am… I saw Uncle Marvin’s memories.
He sneaked into Aunt Mary de’s house at night and attacked her, crushing her body.
He pulled down his pants, took out his penis, and forced it into the woman’s body.
The feeling of those terrible memories and physical pleasure mixed together remained in my body.
Tak.
She shook off Uncle Marvin’s touch and stood up.
“Gwae, it’s okay. “I can go alone.”
“Really? You look very anxious.”
The man followed me and was worried, but I didn’t want to hear any of his worries.
“Well, okay. “Once I get better, let’s play together next time.”
“… Yes.”
Uncle Marvin went down again.
He ran to Aunt Olivia first.
Smile and dance.
It’s unfamiliar.
That person is so unfamiliar that it’s scary.
Aunt Olivia is holding the baby without any worries.
Smiling at her own husband with her happy eyes.
And at a little distance from there…
Aunt Mary de sat with her arms crossed.
Those bright blue eyes… I look wistfully at Uncle Marvin.
“…”
Normally I wouldn’t have thought anything of it.
I would have just looked at the happy villagers in a pleasant mood.
That wasn’t the case anymore.
I found out the truth.
She quickly turned her eyes away from the ugliness and ran wild.
To escape. To get even a little further away.
“Huh-uh-. Heo-eok-. Ugh!”
I’m starting to feel nauseous.
It’s a good thing she kept her mouth shut and ran away.
I really wanted to praise myself.
Our village is small.
It was a small village, insignificant compared to Taildon, so everyone knew each other well.
Among them, the person who stands out the most is Uncle Marvin.
He was a person who could do most things quickly, so he definitely needed Uncle Marvin’s help to do anything.
Aunt Merid too.
There are people who dislike her because she has a harsh personality.
The aunt took care of everything, including cooking, raising livestock, and selling them in the village below.
But if she tells Aunt Olivia what I saw… What will happen?
No.
I was in trouble because even if only Ruev disappeared, the bridge construction would not be possible.
If those two people disappear, it is no different from the disintegration of the entire village.
But…
Wow.
My fists were clenched.
… I feel so sorry for Aunt Olivia.
She even had a baby. She stayed home all day taking care of the baby. That’s how she praised her husband.
In fact, Uncle Marvin was hugging her Aunt Mary.
Even though I saw it all, I couldn’t say anything.
No, rather, he is an accomplice.
Because I was secretly hoping that Uncle Marvin’s affair would never be discovered.
If it’s to protect the village.
“…”
Was that why the village chief stayed silent in his hut?
To avoid seeing the villagers’ ugly past?
… I understand.
I understand why it was called a ‘mighty power’ and a ‘curse’.
If I could use what I saw as a weakness.
Uncle Marvin and her Aunt Mary won’t say anything to me anymore.
Like the nobles of Deseo who were embarrassed by the village chief.
I have gained tremendous power to control people at will.
But if that happens… We can never go back to the relationship we had before.
I can’t smile, talk, or dance harmoniously.
He will treat me like the face that was afraid of the village chief.
It’s painful.
So much so that it felt funny when I was forced to make a choice by the lord of Taildon.
The choice now is more difficult and confusing.
“Whoa…”
I raised my head following the flowing breath.
Before I knew it, I had arrived at Tia’s house.
I don’t know why I came here.
Even though Tia knows that she went down to the village below.
Maybe I wanted to find peace of mind, but my feet naturally led me here.
I want to see Tia. I want to talk.
I want to open up and share this worry that is difficult to bear alone.
It’s a little late, but should she go down to the village below?
The moment you make that decision.
I saw a wooden door that was tightly closed.
“…”
I thought it was impossible.
Slowly, she stretched out her hand and placed it on the tightly locked wooden door.
Sarak-.
Time changes.
When I open my eyes again, I see someone.
It was Ruyev.
I realized it right away.
I am now watching ‘Tia’s past’.
Tia said in a lively voice.
[Are you asking me to tell you the password? Hmm… That’s a bit difficult. Then the password becomes meaningless. Omg-! Are you really trying to come into my room on your own?!]
[Stop talking crazy. Do I look like Ritz? Go to the woman’s house secretly at night. And what would he think if I told him to meet you here? I don’t want any unnecessary misunderstandings, so it’s better for me to just work in this house.]
The guy scratched his cheek at Ruev’s sharp criticism.
[Lol-. That too. Ugh… But I haven’t even told Ritz the password yet…]
[Yet? Haven’t you two already seen everything there is to see from each other?]
[No it’s not! What do you think of our good Ritz!]
[..? Then tell him the password too. Because he’s just a suspicious guy. I hate annoying things.]
[By the way – I have an idea. Anyway! I’ll let you know.]
Shout loudly once.
Tia touched a piece of the wooden door.
[Ruler. Like this. Look carefully at the number of pieces of wood. Leave the first one empty, then the next two…]
Dalgak, Dalgak.
Move the piece of wood and insert it one by one into the groove.
Luyev, who was watching quietly, nodded his head as if he understood.
[Empty, two, empty, two. It’s easier than you think.]
[Rather, if it’s simple, you don’t know any better.]
[… Is the date a rule?]
[Oh-. It’s quite good!]
[February 2? Is there any meaning there?]
[Of course there is! It’s my ‘birthday’!]
[… Sheesh. It’s boring. If your birthday was the password, even that kid would crack it in no time.]
Then Tia’s voice became very excited.
[Right, right? So I deliberately didn’t tell Ritz. If it were Ritz, he would have guessed it right away and scolded me, asking why the password was so easy. Then I want to change the password back to that day. And when my anniversary with Ritz comes up, I plan to keep changing it. How about it, fun?]
[Okay. Play well among yourselves-.]
Ruyev opened the wooden door with a look on his face that said he didn’t want to hear anymore.
The memory ended there.
“…”
Returned to reality.
Sreuk.
He moved his hand and grasped the piece of wood of the wooden door.
And I stacked them up one by one, exactly as I saw them in my memory.
Empty. Two. Empty. Two.
February 2. Tia’s birthday.
That’s what it meant.
Contrary to his expectations, I… I didn’t notice it at all.
Because I thought it would be a more difficult and complex password.
The moment of stacking the last piece of wood.
Clutter.
Wood chips piled up in the groove are mixed with rainwater.
The door that had never been opened to me has finally opened.
Step by step. Step by step.
Climb the stairs slowly.
As I open the front door and go inside, Tia’s nice scent welcomes me.
It’s like warmly embracing a frozen heart.
My strength is completely relieved.
It is the ultimate coziness and comfort of being disconnected from the world.
My legs were numb, so I sat on a chair.
〈 World Adventure Book 〉 appeared on the desk.
Did I read all that volume? The cover was tightly closed and set up.
Feeling nostalgic, I stroked the book.
Hwaak-.
Now we were naturally entering the past.
It is a unique ability.
There were times when I would just see a ghost even when I didn’t want it, and if I wanted a specific point of view, it would show me that place.
For example, if you recall the memory of this object called ‘book’.
It has been available since the book was first created.
The hands of a scribe diligently writing a copy.
A little further, the face of the worker loading this book onto the ship.
It passes through someone’s hands at the loading dock, is packaged, is put on a wagon, is picked up by someone else, delivered to Mr. Bean, delivered to my hands, and finally reaches Tia.
I was able to condense that long period of time and see it briefly.
If you wanted to take a closer look, you could skip right there.
I feel like I have become a soul that can travel back and forth through time at will.
There was also one thing that was both amazing and scary.
It was possible to know all the thoughts, emotions, and sensations of people who came in contact with the ‘book.’
As the scribe wrote in his book, he thought about ‘what should I eat for dinner tonight?’
As Teacher Bean received the book, she thought, ‘When will Tia come down?’
When I found out that I could see into people’s inner thoughts like this, I really felt like a god…
However, the longer I stayed in the illusion, the more I felt that the existence of ‘me’ was becoming more and more blurred.
Should I say that I feel like I am becoming the same as the ‘main character of memory’?
The feeling was so scary that I couldn’t stay for long and had to get out right away.
“Father… “You gave me something so great.”
Although we cannot intervene in past events and can only observe them.
In ‘Memory Illusion’, anything I wanted was possible.
I can learn things I don’t know, and I can become the master of my memories.
“Then…”
Let’s take a look at ‘Tia’s memories’ left in this book, 〈 World Adventure Book 〉.
I lit a candle and stroked the book.
Hwaaaaah-!
An illusion of Tia sitting at the desk appeared.
[Hmm-.]
The past Tia rested her chin and eagerly rolled her eyes from side to side.
While reading quietly, I chuckled at some parts.
She lies down on the bed and reads, and sleeps with a book on her back.
“Heh.”
It made me laugh because it looked so ordinary and cute.
I watched for quite a while, but there was nothing special, so I came back to reality.
And I checked the lit candle.
“Time didn’t pass.”
I discovered another unexpected fact.
No matter how long I stayed in the memory illusion, real time passed slowly.
I lit a candle, but there was almost no difference in the length before and after entering the memory illusion.
In other words, only a little time has passed.
Good. Now that I know that real time passes slowly.
… This time, let’s take a leisurely look at another memory.
〈 I put down World Adventure Book 〉 and tapped Tia’s bed.
Hwaak-!
At the same time as entering the memory.
I can hear Ruyev sighing.
[Whoa-. Hey, Tia!]
Ruev wiped his sweat and called Tia from the backyard.
Tia, who was practicing swordsmanship outside, came inside.
[Huh? Why are you calling me? … Oh! Have you already made the bed?]
[Yes.]
[Oops!]
Tia flew out and fell on the bed.
The guy rolled around with a happy face.
[Ha-It’s soft. And it’s so big!]
[Because your parents’ bed was originally for a couple. It was just ripped out of the frame and made anew.]
[Ruyev, lie down here too! Comfortable and good!]
[…]
Tia patted his side, but Ruev turned away bluntly.
[I’ve done everything I had to do, so that’s enough.]
[Ugh-. Oops! I worked hard, but I share this with Marie. These are raspberries picked yesterday.]
[I will accept that gratefully.]
[And Ritz seems to be busy getting herbs these days. Is there any way to help?]
Ruev paused for a moment.
[I don’t know.]
[Please- Please think about it together-. Ritz is so busy these days that we don’t have time to spend time with each other-.]
[… Don’t drag me into your bullshit.]
Luyev let out a short sigh and stroked his rough beard.
[Well, I heard there are a lot of herbs if you go outside the limit. Behemoth… The elders said it was okay.]
[Behemoth?! But I can’t get there yet?]
[If you ask the village chief, he will give you permission. Ritsu is the only doctor, but he is also the village chief’s son. If it’s for his sake, I’m sure he’ll understand. Why don’t you go and talk about it?]
[Ugh, for some reason I don’t think the village chief will listen to me… I got it first! I’ll tell you!]
Tia shouts cheerfully.
The memory stopped there.
“Ah…”
He held her head.
Was it something like that?
The reason Tia wanted to go to Behemoth was because she wanted to help me?
Although the intentions were good.
At that time… What on earth happened in Behemoth?
Kkeikik-.
She immediately opened her closet.
Tia’s hiking cape was visible in one corner of her. It’s an old cloak that I don’t use anymore.
I smoothed the hem of the cloak.
And closed her eyes to recall her memories.
Hwaak-!
It is visible.
That day when Tia went to Behemoth with Ruev.
