By Zephyria 
It was a name that sounded somewhat familiar. However, the man in front of her kept moving his gaze busily, preventing her from thinking for long.
She stared at his glass-bead-like eyes beneath long, white eyelashes and asked, “How old are you?”
“Twenty.”
“Where do you live?”
“I don’t have a fixed residence.”
“You’re a wanderer? You don’t have a home?”
“I don’t stay in one place.”
She had heard he belonged to the Information Guild. Was it because he had a lot of work? Or was there another reason? Judging by his lack of settlement, it seemed he didn’t have family or a lover. If he had a wandering spirit, it would be a bit troublesome.
“Do you know why I wanted to see you?”
“I have an idea.”
She was going to ask what the identity of the light was and hire him no matter what, so this was good. But before that, she needed to verify things one more time. Just as she was about to ask him to do something about her fever, Kyle suddenly said, “Because I’m pretty?”
“……”
His expression was serious, devoid of any hint of humor, so at first, she thought she was hallucinating. She fiercely debated whether what she had just heard was real or not. Kyle, who had been quietly looking at her, said with a serious face, “Just kidding, but you’re taking it too seriously.”
“……”
It didn’t seem like a joke at all… And because there was a little bit of truth to that reason, she was actually flustered that he had hit the nail on the head.
“You didn’t call me because you’re sick?”
“That’s right.”
“And you were curious about the identity of that light.”
“Yes.”
She kept a blank face as she answered, afraid that her true feelings would be revealed.
“First of all, to get to the point, that’s a type of magic. It’s specialized for external wounds, so it’s not very effective in your current situation.”
“……”
But she couldn’t help but be speechless again. How much had he seen of her to know even her situation?
When she thought about it calmly, there were more than one or two strange things. She hadn’t been able to think deeply because she was captivated by his face, but there were definitely many suspicious points.
Wasn’t his sudden appearance and treatment of her a deliberate act to attract her attention? Maybe he approached her like that aiming for something.
“You seem to know a lot.”
“Not really. It’s just obvious that you’re sick. You look like it.”
No, what’s wrong with the way I look?
She wanted to ask, but she definitely looked like a patient.
“You seem to know me very well. Were we perhaps acquainted?”
“……”
Kyle was speechless again. But that silence was as good as an answer. It didn’t seem like he had any hostility, but you never knew. Even his hesitation to answer might all be a fabricated act.
There were many suspicious points, so she decided to keep all possibilities open.
“I heard you belong to the Guild. Is it possible to have a side job?”
“No. But I already quit before coming here, so it doesn’t matter.”
“You quit? Why?”
“Because I found what I was looking for.”
“……”
Could it be that what he was looking for was her? She paused for a moment with a bewildered expression, and Kyle asked, “How much will you pay?”
“What?”
“You weren’t planning to use me without paying, were you?”
It wasn’t that, but… Things were going too well than she had expected, so she was rather flustered. She thought he would be very picky, but it didn’t seem like it.
“If you want, I can provide room and board.”
“That’s a given.”
“In the Guild…”
She was about to ask how much he received, but she stopped. When she thought about it, she was a penniless beggar right now. Sakira and Abyss had prepared everything she needed, so she had never bought anything on her own.
They would grant her wishes if she asked, but hiring someone was too personal. Would they grant her this too? In the grand scheme of things, it was no different from medicine costs, so would it be okay?
Even though they told her to say anything she wanted, she needed to consider whether she should get used to that.
“Why?”
Kyle tilted his head when she suddenly stopped talking. As she stared at his face, she suddenly noticed a wound on his lip. There was a small scab on the spot where she had hit him earlier.
“I need to discuss your employment.”
Kyle frowned at her words.
“What’s there to discuss? Can’t you do it if someone tells you not to?”
“I guess so. I’m living here as a freeloader right now. I don’t have any money either.”
“……”
She didn’t know what surprised him so much, but his expression was quite a sight. He seemed very flustered, so she waited for him to come to his senses.
But was it really that surprising? Did she have a lot of money before losing her memory? Since there was a high probability that she was a noble, that must be the case.
She pondered and then asked, “Can’t you just do it for free?”
At her question, Kyle sighed as if he couldn’t help it.
“Then give me something else instead of money.”
She had said it to test him on purpose, but it was easier than she had expected.
“Are you married?”
“What?”
“Are you married?”
Kyle looked at her with an expression that seemed to ask why she was asking such a thing, and then reluctantly nodded. With each answer to her questions, numerous assumptions were being eliminated one by one.
She picked out a few of the most likely ones and reorganized them step by step.
First of all, it was certain that they knew each other before she lost her memory. The problem was their relationship. It was important whether they were friendly to each other or not, but this part was a bit ambiguous.
When there was no other information, she thought that maybe they were married, like many people who had been by her side. But the more they talked, the more unlikely that became.
First of all, if she had been married to Kyle, there was no way Abyss or Sakira wouldn’t know. Even if that was the case, there was no reason to look for a divorced person for so long.
So, she thought that maybe Kyle was one of the causes of her being like this. Maybe he felt guilty because he was partly responsible and had been looking for her.
Then it made sense that he had treated her without saying anything as soon as he met her. And that he had quit his job and was staying by her side to treat her for free.
For now, this seemed to be the most plausible explanation, but since he said he was married, another assumption came to mind.
Could he have been a secret affair partner? Judging by the number of people she had been married to, it was clear that she was a philanderer. Naturally, she couldn’t help but suspect this as well.
Besides, if he was twenty years old now, he was only fifteen years old five years ago. So, the maximum was fifteen years old, and he could have met her when he was even younger.
Even though she was a philanderer, she might have felt guilty about meeting someone so young and kept it a secret from those around her.
Then it made sense that Abyss or Sakira didn’t know Kyle.
If this was really the case, she was a piece of trash, not just trash. Was that why they weren’t telling her about her past?
No matter how much of a piece of trash she was, it would be difficult to list her trashy past in front of the person involved.
“……”
She suddenly came to her senses. Even though the silence had been quite long, Kyle hadn’t raised any questions and was quietly waiting for her to come out of her thoughts. She met his gaze as he stared at her as if he was watching a show and asked, “Were your eyes originally brown?”
She thought they were a different color earlier. She didn’t know if they were reddish or bluish, but they weren’t that dark color.
At her question, Kyle suddenly took out his eyeball with his hand.
“……?”
She couldn’t help but be shocked. She inhaled and widened her eyes, but when she looked closely, it wasn’t an eyeball. Something like a shell that had been removed from his eye was on his finger.
One eye was brown, and the eye with the shell removed was red. Kyle, who was staring at her with different colored eyes, suddenly laughed loudly.
“Why are you so surprised?”
“……”
“It’s just for disguise.”
“……”
Her heart began to beat loudly at the face that was smiling broadly enough to reveal his white teeth. She couldn’t tell if it was because of his smiling face or because she was surprised.
Anyway, it was a face that was harmful to her heart.
“Cough.”
Or was it? Was it just because she was sick?
She had to be careful with her cough, but it came out too suddenly. Her throat felt like it was tearing from the strong cough. Then Kyle grabbed her wrist as she held her throat tightly and waited for the pain to subside.
The blue blood vessels stood out vividly on the back of his white hand.
People usually go around with bare hands, but was it because she had met him wearing gloves from the beginning? And it was especially strange because it was black, which was the opposite of his original skin color.
What was the black string on his wrist? But was he even human? Now that she thought about it, the shape of his pupils seemed a bit strange, and the monsters…
“Open your mouth.”
Monster… Mouth…
Her mind went blank again at the words that didn’t fit the situation at all.