"Um, Miss March…" The messenger couldn't help but feel exasperated as she glanced at March, who was trailing behind her, bow raised like a startled kitten with its fur puffed up.
"Didn't you already try earlier? Your attacks don't work on me… So, could you maybe not keep pointing that bow at my back? Not that it bothers me much, but… doesn't your arm get tired?"
"This lady doesn't trust you one bit," March 7th huffed, though she made no move to relax her stance.
Instead, she put on a ferocious—yet oddly adorable—expression, as if ready to bite.
"But if you say you'll help me figure out who messed with that memory, I won't stop you."
"So, now it's your turn to prove whether you're telling the truth. Just so you know, if you don't show me what I want to see, this lady won't hold back!"
"Miss March, whether you hold back or not doesn't really make a difference, does it…? Even that Master Diviner is currently blocked outside the memory barrier. You should believe me. While some Memokeepers might hold ill will toward you, we genuinely want to help…"
The Memokeeper who called herself the messenger sighed.
She had anticipated March 7th's hostility, but she never expected it to be this intense.
More importantly, this hostility had nothing to do with them at all—they were purely taking the blame for someone else's misdeeds, which left the messenger feeling quite aggrieved.
As everyone knew, due to the unique nature of Memokeepers' existence, at least 99% of life in the cosmos had no way of dealing with them—so, whoever dared to target someone under the Garden of Recollection's watch and then pin all the blame on the Memokeepers… were they born with nerves of steel?
"Right, this is the place…"
Led by March, the two quickly retraced several scenes and returned to the guest room setting on Washtopia.
As if detecting their presence, the scene reactivated instantly, and the memory version of March 7th once again stepped into Lynelle's room.
"And inside this room is…?" the messenger asked curiously.
"Ahem, it's… a friend of mine," March replied, her tone somewhat evasive.
After all, setting aside the later… ahem intimate developments, girls kissing, hugging, getting close and cozy… that should be normal, right?
So, excluding that distorted part she had no idea who was responsible for, she and Lynelle were definitely friends.
After waiting a few minutes and seeing the memory-March inside the room preparing to leave, March pointed at the door.
"The anomaly started right here. If you want to investigate, you can go in now… but no funny business!"
"Don't worry, Miss March, we are absolutely loyal to you…"
The messenger took a step forward but quickly turned back.
"However, a battle between Memokeepers might have a wide area of effect. To avoid accidental harm, perhaps you should wait in the next scene for a moment."
"Rest assured, if I wanted to tamper with your memories, I wouldn't have waited until now… Though it may sound arrogant, within the realm of memory, Memokeepers are truly invincible."
"…"
March fell silent for a moment, then quietly retreated a bit farther away.
She had already figured out part of the trick—this Memokeeper seemed to emanate some kind of interference field, which was why Fu Xuan hadn't been able to contact her.
So, by putting some distance between them now, she could try to call Fu Xuan over.
With the Master Diviner's help, protecting herself from this Memokeeper shouldn't be too difficult.
"Phew… Miss March's vigilance is truly impressive. But then again, that's a good thing."
The messenger sighed, then her expression beneath her mask turned serious.
"Now, let me see… just who dares to provoke the Garden of Recollection…"
With that, she flung the door open.
"…"
Thud!
The messenger slammed the door shut.
"Fuli above, what in the world…?"
"If my eyes didn't deceive me, inside that room… it looked like Miss March was pinning down another pink-haired girl who resembled a Pure Child of Anāsrava? What were they doing…?"
"Is this… the brutal struggle between the Pure Children of Anāsrava? So bizarre… Maybe… one more glance?"
Though her sixth sense screamed at her not to look again, as everyone knew, Memokeepers were creatures of immense curiosity—99% of Memokeeper incidents were essentially deaths by curiosity.
So, the messenger opened the door once more.
The good news was, she finally saw the situation clearly.
The pink-haired girl pinned beneath memory-March didn't seem to be a Pure Child of Anāsrava at all, but rather March's companion from the Astral Express—while this being named Lynelle bore a striking resemblance to that Pure Child and carried a strange aura of mnemonic fate, the messenger was certain she wasn't that Pure Child from Amphoreus.
The bad news was… she realized the person in the room engaging in what appeared to be a life-harmonizing activity with Lynelle… wasn't Miss March either.
"What…" Evernight slowly turned her head, her crystal-like crimson eyes gleaming.
"Is opening the door fun?"
"Wait, i-it's you?!"
Before the messenger could react, an utterly irresistible force surged from behind her.
In the next instant, all her usually infallible Memory abilities fell silent as if encountering their natural predator, refusing to respond.
As for the messenger herself, she was hung up by the doorway like a piece of cured jerky, swaying gently.
"Do what you're meant to do. Don't disturb me."
After dangling outside the door, suspended by the red jellyfish for what felt like an eternity, the messenger finally heard a soft, eerie voice whisper by her ear.
"Otherwise, next time won't be so lenient."
Unable to speak at all, the messenger nodded with the fastest speed she had ever mustered in her life.
Squelch—
The red jellyfish vanished instantly, and the despair-inducing power suppressing her disappeared along with it.
"What happened?"
Just then, March, having heard the commotion, walked over curiously. Seeing the messenger looking dejected yet oddly satisfied, March couldn't help but show a puzzled expression.
"So… did your investigation go smoothly?"
"No need to investigate any further, Miss March."
After collecting her complicated emotions, the messenger looked at March and offered a strained smile.
"I already have the answer regarding the anomaly in that space."
"Oh? So, who was behind it?" March asked, intrigued.
"It was me."
"?" March's face instantly displayed a "you've got to be kidding me" look. "That's your conclusion?"
"Yes, I was the one who did it. I just… forgot about it earlier."
"Hey, hey, that excuse is clearly made up on the spot, right? Are you treating this lady like a fool?!"
"Please, don't ask. It really was me…"
--+--
T/N: I have a Patreon! Webnovel will get 2 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
It may not seem worth it now, but maybe in the future. Who knows!
[email protected]/AspenTL
If you guys wanna check it out.