Sertia has a habit of taking late-night walks in the well-maintained park.
It’s an action she does to clear her mind while patrolling the academy. It had been quite a while since she did this with someone else.
For a moment, old memories came to mind, but it wasn’t a bad feeling.
Better than being alone, I guess.
Without turning her head, she asked. It was directed at Albert.
“Where do you think your memories start to fade?”
“……I don’t know. It feels like I’ve lost all my recent memories.”
“It doesn’t seem like a case of memory loss due to shock. It seems more like someone intentionally erased your memories.”
“Manipulating memories?”
Sertia, who was walking ahead, suddenly stopped. She turned around to meet his gaze.
“Yes, I can feel magical energy from you, Albert. But that doesn’t mean you’ve become a monster like me. You were affected by some being, and because of that, residual magical energy remains.”
“So, it really was the work of the remnants of the Demon King’s army?”
“I thought so too, but it doesn’t seem to be the case.”
After the incident, Sertia examined the scene.
It was about the traces of fierce combat and the confidential information stored in the lower levels.
After the intruder left, it wasn’t just a fragment of the Demon King that went missing.
Some documents had signs of tampering, and some were even gone entirely.
There were only a few that could actually be opened anyway. So she didn’t think the confidential information had passed to the intruder.
Then, did they have another purpose besides the fragment?
Sertia partially restored a document that looked like it had been torn. It was about the Back Alley Monster.
“……”
This was clearly something the intruder had intentionally disposed of.
Leaving only the documents about the Back Alley Monster meant they were either that monster itself or someone connected to it, possibly to pin the blame on it.
But Sertia was convinced it was indeed the work of the Back Alley Monster.
When she restored the torn documents, external stimuli overwhelmed her.
The paper retained the red hue of magical energy. As she tried to piece the contents together, it immediately attacked her mind.
It was probably designed to erase the memories of whoever touched it.
If someone else had confirmed that, the torn document would have been buried in a mystery.
Perhaps from the beginning, information about the Back Alley Monster hadn’t been stored underground at all.
Sertia explained to Albert what had happened in the underground. He still wore a face full of questions.
“The Back Alley Monster… Is it indeed an intelligent monster? But I wonder if it had any reason to dispose of documents that would expose its identity.”
“No, it would have been wise to erase them, even at the risk.”
“……Why is that?”
“The ability to erase memories and show hallucinations to others is extremely dangerous. The ability to manipulate someone’s memories gives you a grip on their thoughts, actions, and even their trust within an organization.”
In that sense, the Back Alley Monster always has the advantage over the Empire in terms of information.
Truth is, if it captured a mere human from the Empire, it could ignite deep resentment toward the Empire, potentially causing an internal split.
If it put its mind to it, it could annihilate the Empire single-handedly.
“But that only works if the opponent isn’t aware of its ability. Knowing that their memories can be manipulated makes all the difference. If I were in its shoes, I’d never want my abilities to be found out.”
The abilities of the Back Alley Monster are certainly threatening, but they aren’t omnipotent.
If the opponent knows about its abilities beforehand, there are plenty of ways to counter it.
The Back Alley Monster likely tried to intentionally erase its information because it feared turning the Empire against it.
Sertia found that part unpleasant. It felt like a declaration of war against her.
“Who wrote the document in question?”
“It was probably Eve. After the death of Leon, the top student, she took on that task by herself. I advised her to back off from that dangerous incident, but she insisted on handling it till the end.”
“If I had not checked, that record would have been completely erased. Eve faced off against the intruder that day and sadly died. It’s a pity.”
“……”
Albert’s expression darkened a bit more. It was news he was hearing for the first time, especially in his current state of amnesia.
It might be cruel, but rather than mourning for the fallen junior, Albert tallied the loss of another top student position.
That meant the situation in the Empire was dire. Rather than grieve, he chose to hear more about the events of that day.
She could mourn her death once everything was over.
Sertia continued.
“For now, assuming the intruder was the Back Alley Monster, the important point is that it is an intelligent being.”
Sertia had heard the name Back Alley Monster before. It was a rumor once dismissed as mere urban legend.
Still, it required investigation, so she remembered sending two reliable knights on patrol, but the results were unsatisfactory.
What they figured out was that the Back Alley Monster does exist and is a far more dangerous being than they thought.
It killed two top knights and then broke through the Empire’s forces, even overpowering Albert.
Seeing it try to erase all traces of itself suggested it was intelligent. Why it sought the fragment of the Demon King remained a mystery.
“……So, the Back Alley Monster isn’t confined to just the back alleys.”
Albert stroked his chin, straining to recall blurred memories.
It was the situation he found himself in when he lost consciousness.
He couldn’t remember anything clearly, but one thing was certain: he had fought fiercely with someone and lost, resulting in his memories being stolen.
He couldn’t remember anything else. He had this vague feeling of someone’s voice before he closed his eyes, but he couldn’t recall its content.
All he could remember was that it was a soft voice, contrasting the terrifying display of strength.
“I suppose so. It doesn’t show itself often.”
Sertia placed her chin in thought, recalling something from the past.
“White fur with red eyes, and the ability to manipulate memories and show hallucinations to those who meet its gaze…”
“Even if you say that, I don’t remember.”
“I think I once sealed a similar monster. It was before I embarked on my journey to hunt the Demon King.”
At that time, her abilities weren’t sufficient, so she couldn’t kill it. Thus, she sealed it deep in a cave so it couldn’t come back on its own.
Could it be that someone has awakened it?
“I’m not sure if it’s the same monster that I know, but it seems like we need to be cautious.”
With the Demon King’s Seed, the remnants of the Demon King’s army were already a hassle, and now they had to worry about the Back Alley Monster too.
Their strength was dwindling while the number of foes kept multiplying. Albert sighed in despair, and Sertia spoke up.
“There’s at least one good piece of news.”
“What is it?”
“It doesn’t really matter who the intruder was. Whether it was from the Demon King’s army or the Back Alley Monster, we have no way to stop them at this point.”
“……”
“The important thing is that you came back alive. Do you understand the meaning of this?”
Albert couldn’t easily come up with an answer. He had only recently opened his eyes and wasn’t in his right mind.
Instead, Sertia continued.
“It’s usually harder to subdue someone without killing them than to simply kill them. Considering how much havoc it could have caused, the number of lives lost is actually very few. I believe that’s because it intentionally avoided unnecessary killing.”
“Is that so?”
“The intruder only wanted the fragment of the Demon King, so it raided the Empire’s underground. They erased their records along the way, but they didn’t engage in unnecessary killing. If they had, you wouldn’t have gotten out unharmed.”
“So…”
“Regardless of the reason for seeking the fragment, it means they’re not a mindless killing monster.”
It was clear that they were different from ordinary monsters. Perhaps they could even engage in conversation.
With a serious expression, Sertia addressed Albert.
“I plan to have a conversation with this Back Alley Monster soon. I don’t want to drag others into it; I’ll handle it alone.”
“That’s a dangerous endeavor.”
“I’m bound to die eventually anyway. Besides, I have personal motives intermingled in this.”
“……Even if that’s the case, is there a way to locate it?”
Sertia smiled lightly, as if it weren’t a difficult task at all.
“If I know its objective, luring it out isn’t very hard. If I hold onto the fragment of the Demon King, it will come to me, no need for any other methods.”
foosh
