By Zephyria 
The pointy fruit, which I was seeing for the first time, was slightly soft and incredibly sweet. It was so intense it made my tongue tingle, but it was strangely addictive, and I had already eaten four.
“Since books are the best way to convey information, you’ll find it in various ways before you regain your memories.”
Picking up my fifth fruit, I tilted my head. The phrase “you’ll find it” sounded odd. As if reading my thoughts, Ophelia continued.
“It’s predetermined that Aska will regain his past memories. For example, you might be walking down the street one day and suddenly trip over something, and when you look down, you’ll find a book or parchment with relevant information.”
“Out of the blue?”
“Yes, out of the blue. Just like how you unexpectedly found a book at your grandmother’s house, who raised Aska. Until you regain your memories, events of necessity disguised as coincidence will keep happening.”
While telling Ophelia about what had happened, that kind of story naturally came up. It was a bit strange that Aska’s grandmother had run away with only books related to tailoring and kept them until now, but it seemed it wasn’t a coincidence.
“It feels like the world is revolving around Aska.”
As I muttered to myself, Ophelia nodded.
“Something like that. Because we forcibly added rules to the world to make it so. Because of that, most other races were sacrificed and left the world.”
“Left the world?”
“It means they’re somewhere around the boundary of dimensions, like us. Most are extinct, but some might still be left somewhere?”
Just then, I heard a sound and turned my head. Reindeer was there, munching on the grass growing at the edge of the log I was sitting on. I stared at him with a dumbfounded expression, and Ophelia laughed.
“Cute, right? His fur is soft too. Want to touch him?”
At her words, I unconsciously reached out my hand. But as soon as my fingertips touched his fur, Reindeer recoiled in disgust. I wasn’t particularly disappointed. Aska’s fur was much softer.
“Why are you so angry?”
Ophelia sighed and scolded Reindeer. Reindeer didn’t seem to regret it at all, turning his head and not even looking this way.
“What’s that ill-mannered guy’s name?”
Along with a hollow laugh that came out of my bewilderment, I asked, and Ophelia suddenly began rattling off Reindeer’s personal information.
“His name is Neruja. He’s about 200 years old. He’s from a lineage that Titania used to keep around, so he’s very smart and capable. He knows a lot of spirits, so it’s convenient to have him around, he protects you in dangerous situations, and he’s also cute and kind…”
“…”
A large amount of information I didn’t want to know poured out. More than that, he was much older than I thought. I vaguely listened and turned my head to look at the clear spring.
It had already been ten days since Aska had fallen asleep.
Lying in the water, he was motionless, as if dead. His long, beautiful white hair occasionally fluttered, and the water’s color would become cloudy and then clear again, but he never opened his eyes.
From the start, I had expected it to take about a year, so there was no way he would wake up already, but I couldn’t shake off the hope that maybe Aska, being impatient, might wake up much earlier because he missed me.
That thought kept coming to mind, so I couldn’t take my eyes off him.
“Aska probably already knows how to regain his memories. You saw it in the book, right?”
Ophelia changed the subject, finally realizing I wasn’t interested in Neruja. I kept my gaze fixed on Aska and nodded, then paused.
“The First Needle is needed to mend the Pale Time.”
The contents of the book I had seen at Aska’s grandmother’s house vividly came to mind. Moreover, the vague contents of the dreams I had been having haphazardly connected without me realizing it.
“That First Needle, was it made by a short man? I think I saw it in a dream, in a place that looked like a smithy. He was forging it with something called the Flames of Gehenna.”
As I spoke, the memories became clearer. The flames were so hot that he would pour seawater on them to cool them down. He said it wouldn’t cool down until all the seas in the world dried up.
“The First Needle is buried in the middle of a dry sea guarded by a scaled tail.”
As I repeated the contents I had seen in the book, Ophelia said in amazement.
“You know more than I thought.”
“Scenes just pop into my head from time to time. Some from the book, and sometimes I see mountains of corpses.”
When I first saw the mountain of corpses in my dream, I thought it was just one of my memories. But soon, I realized it wasn’t my memory. It might have been that incident where many races were sacrificed in the past.
“Is Aska recalling his memories in this way too, like me?”
“Recalling memories like that is mostly related to how to find the memories. The Needle is essential for the Succession Ritual.”
I didn’t know what the Needle was, but anyway, I just had to find it and mend something called the Pale Time? Then I would regain all the memories of the hundreds, maybe thousands, of lives I had lived in the past.
“…”
Among those many lives’ memories, the time I spent with me would be as insignificant as grains of sand in the desert. Leaving that aside, I would also know all the secrets of the world.
Could Aska even be called a person then? Of course, he was a Magical creature, but what I was worried about was his essence. It felt like after the ritual Ophelia was talking about, Aska would become a new being that transcended something.
Moreover, if the succession of memories became possible in this way, we wouldn’t be able to grow old and die together as Aska wished.
“…”
I knew that dying on the same day and at the same time was impossible from the start. But I thought we could at least be close, but that wasn’t even possible.
“Cute, right?”
While I was seriously worrying, Ophelia was forcibly injecting Neruja’s cuteness into me again.
“His hooves are really cute too. Especially that protruding part.”
“…”
I was about to say something, but I thought it was her grandmother’s precious pet she was bragging about, so I just endured it.
“His horns are cool too, right?”
“Cool.”
“Right?”
Ophelia smiled brightly at my soulless words. Neruja made another “hmph” sound and turned his head away. At first, it was annoying, but the way he kept acting like that made him seem a bit cute.
¸.•¨•¸.•¨•¸.•¨•¸
While waiting for Aska to wake up, Ophelia and I had many conversations. Knowing that I wouldn’t leave Aska’s side, Ophelia created a flower garden nearby.
To be exact, it wasn’t Ophelia’s ability but Neruja’s spirit magic. Ophelia was making a flower crown with small, nameless flowers when she asked.
“By the way, what kind of weapon do you mainly use?”
“Weapon? What weapon all of a sudden?”
“Seeing your scars, you don’t seem ordinary.”
What she was talking about probably wasn’t the scars on my appearance. Just like how the Royal Physician had examined my insides with magic in the royal palace, Ophelia seemed to be able to tell just by looking.
“I don’t really have a specific one. I just use whatever I can get my hands on.”
If there was a fork or knife, I would fight with that, if I saw a bucket, I would throw it, and if there was a poker, I would stab with it. I was saying it without much thought when I added, “Ah.”
“I do use a sword. I don’t use it often though.”
“Do you have it with you now?”
At her words, I summoned Almas, which wasn’t difficult. As soon as I held the sword, a cold chill permeated my bones. Shivering, I quickly handed the sword to Ophelia.
The sword must have been heavy compared to her frame, but she swung Almas around with one hand as if she were waving a twig.
“Did you find it in the Ruins?”
“No, I received it as a gift.”
“This is a sword made from dragon bones. It seems to have been made in ancient times, but it’s not suitable for you to use.”
I couldn’t understand what she meant by “not suitable,” so I tilted my head.
“It’s too much for your abilities.”
Then Ophelia explained it in a way that was easier to understand. It meant that my abilities were lacking, but I had somewhat expected it.
If I were really good with a sword, I wouldn’t have been injured, frozen, torn, and bleeding every time I used it. I had often imagined myself freezing to death whenever I held Almas.
“Give this to me and don’t use it anymore. Something bad will happen if it falls into the wrong hands.”
I was taken aback by her unexpected words. Seeing my surprise, Ophelia added.
“I’ll give you something better.”
It wasn’t about receiving something better. I didn’t particularly have any attachment to that sword, so why did I feel so uneasy? It wasn’t even a sword I usually carried around, but when she asked for it, I couldn’t readily say yes.
A moment of silence passed. When I continued to say nothing, Ophelia tilted her head.
“Did you receive it from someone important?”
“What?”
“You said you received it as a gift. Is that why?”
“…”
It was an unexpected question. And I suddenly realized why I felt so uneasy.
Almas was the first and last gift I had received from Khalifa. Even so, it meant nothing to me, but I still couldn’t transfer it to someone else.
It definitely wasn’t because of affection or longing. If you asked why, I wouldn’t have an answer, but I just didn’t feel like it.
“I didn’t receive it from someone important. But I don’t want to give it to you. If it’s dangerous, I won’t use it anymore.”
It would have been troublesome if she had kept asking for it, but fortunately, Ophelia easily agreed.