The capital of the kingdom, in the mansion of the Cardinal Secretary of State.
"Didn't that guy fall from thousands of meters and still not die?" Cardinal Samani sounded irritated.
The man seated to his left spoke up.
"Please don't worry, Your Eminence. According to the reports from the spies, this Raion seems to have lost his memory."
"Amnesia?"
"Yes. He doesn't remember the third young lady of the Vallière family or those female students from the Magic Academy, and he won't recall the [curse] no matter how hard he tries."
"You mean…?" The Cardinal's eyes lit up.
"The current Raion probably no longer has [Triangle‑class] strength. A mage with no magic power who can't even chant is just for show. He won't get in the way of our plan."
"Since you say so, Jeter, we proceed as planned. I'll write a letter, and you'll deliver it to Gruene, the Foreign Minister, and to Sora, the Minister of Finance."
The Cardinal stood up, waving his hands excitedly.
"The queen insisted on having her own way and dragged Tristin into the quagmire of war. Goliath is the most powerful country on the continent. If Tristin insists on continuing this fight, the kingdom will be destroyed. We imprison the queen, rule Tristin ourselves, and open peace talks with Goliath. Whether it is ceding land or paying reparations, there must be an armistice. All of this is for peace."
"Yes, Your Eminence. Everything is for peace."
Jeter rose and bowed, a faintly mocking smile carefully hidden on his face.
Royal Palace, Vallière estate.
Tabasa, Chuluk, and Tiffany had each been assigned their own room, and Raion had also been given a separate room.
After taking off his coat and lying on the bed, Raion felt strangely restless.
Bastard boy, why aren't you coming to find this girl?
Did you forget something?
A voice sounded faintly, on and off, in his mind.
An illusion?
Not an illusion, you bastard.
Uh… huh?
Come find me. I'm in Louise's room.
Who are you?
I'm so mad at you for asking such a stupid question.
The intermittent exchange of thoughts gradually convinced Raion that the voice was real and that its owner knew him.
"Fine, I'll come find you."
Raion left his room wearing only his pajamas.
Maids were patrolling back and forth along the corridors.
For some reason, Raion instinctively avoided being seen by them. He advanced close to the wall, hid at each corner, slipped past in the instant a maid's back was turned, then vanished again around the bend.
One maid only felt a gust of wind brush past her. She turned to look, but saw nothing.
Raion went up to the second floor and stopped outside Louise's room.
The voice in his heart became clearer and clearer.
Yes, I'm inside. Hurry up and come in.
Raion reached out to push the door, but it did not budge.
Do you want to wake Louise up? How am I supposed to get in without waking her?
"Louise. Louise, Louise, are you awake?"
Louise, half‑asleep, twitched her ears. It seemed as though she had heard Raion's voice.
Am I dreaming?
No, it's getting clearer and clearer. It really is Raion's voice.
"Louise, are you there? Open the door for me."
It's Raion… coming to see me at this hour?
No way. He really is such a lecherous, fickle bastard.
Thinking along those crooked lines, Louise's face flushed scarlet. She slipped out of bed, padded to the door in small steps, and opened it for Raion.
"I wasn't waiting or anything. Hmph."
After opening the door, Louise turned her face away in a pout.
Raion rushed straight into the room.
I'm here, on the table to your right.
Raion looked over and saw a sky‑blue gemstone ring glittering in the moonlight.
This one?
Yes. Put it on.
Raion walked past Louise and slipped the [Water Gem] onto the middle finger of his left hand.
"I was suffocating in there, you brat. Why did it take you so long to come back for me? Did you do what I told you to do?"
A tiny figure made of water leapt out of the gemstone and floated in the air before Raion's eyes, speaking in a tone full of dissatisfaction.
A delicate girl about the size of a palm, her slightly angry expression was vivid and lifelike.
"Shui Linger?" Louise stepped up behind him.
"Sorry. I don't know what I promised you or what you told me, because I've lost my memory."
Raion apologized to Shui Linger.
"What?" Louise gasped. "Raion, you have amnesia? Are you okay?" She grabbed his hand in a panic and stared at him, eyes full of worry.
"Amnesia? Let me take a look."
Shui Linger frowned slightly, then flew forward and pressed her forehead against Raion's.
Thoughts flashed by in a torrent as an enormous flow of information poured into Shui Linger's mind.
"So that's how it is. You died once and were resurrected by an elf's [Life Sharing]. The human brain is the most sophisticated instrument in the world. Even if it's shattered and put back together so it looks the same as before, the memories stored inside will have scattered."
"What? Raion, you died?!! And then you were resurrected—can something like that even happen? Raion, you've lost your memory, but… but you still remember Shui Linger, right?" Louise's thoughts tumbled over one another as she finally turned to Shui Linger, pleading for an answer.
Louise knew Shui Linger was a clone of a water spirit, so she both respected and trusted her.
"Things like that are exactly what the Premier's [Nothingness] system is good at—burying, scattering, and erasing memories. But when it comes to restoring shattered memories, that's an area where no one has any real method."
"How could this happen… So Raion really has forgotten me?" Louise's shoulders slumped in disappointment.
"Louise, it's okay. Even if I can't remember my past with you, just seeing you makes me happy, and seeing you cry makes my chest hurt." Raion pulled Louise into his arms as he spoke.
"It's okay. Even if the past is gone, we can create more of a future together."
"Raion…" Louise was still a little sad, but she seemed to accept his amnesia, looking up at him with tear‑filled eyes.
"Louise." At a moment like this, Raion's body moved before his head could think. The body's own memories answered for him.
Raion leaned down and kissed Louise.
Louise closed her eyes and returned the kiss.
Their breathing grew hotter, their lips and tongues entwining. Just as things were about to progress to an indescribable stage—
"Hey, hey, you two, don't forget I'm still here."
Shui Linger shouted in irritation.
Humans, honestly. What's so great about that crude piston movement, and how do they never get tired of it?
"Ah!" Raion and Louise broke apart in a hurry, blushing furiously as they turned their faces away.
"All right, all right, don't forget why we're here. There's no way to piece together all those scattered memory fragments, but I just finished looking through everything in this kid's head. Even if it's a bit uncomfortable from my point of view, I'll return those memories to you."
Shui Linger's body shone with water‑blue light as she flew to Raion's forehead. The blue radiance wrapped around him entirely.
"Ah!!!"
A human life's worth of experience is an unimaginably vast mass of information. Even though these were only the memories from Raion's eighteen years of life before he and Shui Linger were separated, he screamed in agony.
His shrill cries echoed through the entire Vallière estate.
Tabasa, Chuluk, Tiffany, Eleanor, and Katriya all recognized Raion's voice. They scrambled out of bed in a panic and ran toward the source of the scream.
In Louise's room, Raion was floating in midair, wrapped in blue light, while Shui Linger sat cross‑legged on his forehead. Raion could not stop struggling and shrieking, the sound full of raw pain.
Louise watched him with worry and heartache, but could do nothing at all.
Tabasa and the others rushed in one after another.
"Raion!!" Chuluk immediately tried to charge forward and tear him free.
"No! Stop, Chuluk—Shui Linger is helping Raion recover his memories!"
Louise hurried over and held Chuluk back.
"Is it really possible to restore his memory?"
"You all need to leave this room. No one is allowed to come in, and you didn't hear anything." Katriya was the first to recover her composure. She went to the door and "kindly" drove away the maids who had gathered after hearing the noise.
"Y‑yes, Second Young Lady, understood."
The maids retreated in a fluster.
The girls stood in the room, staring anxiously at Raion suspended in the air.
From time to time, their gazes met, and each girl found herself wondering, Is she also one of Raion's women?
Eleanor and Katriya's eyes met and then darted away in embarrassment. Their secret guess had been confirmed.
That shameless, philandering man had actually laid hands on Katriya as well.
And Sister Eleanor too—how is she supposed to face Louise now?
Me… could it be that I might be next?
Tabasa and Chuluk exchanged glances with Eleanor and Katriya.
Chuluk: What a completely incorrigible playboy, even going after Louise's two older sisters.
Tabasa: Raion is my hero, but he really is far too carefree.
Tiffany was the most worried about Raion's condition, but she still could not help being stunned that there were already so many women in his life before he lost his memory.
Louise's thoughts were focused entirely on Raion. She did not notice the reactions of her sisters and friends behind her.
To keep Raion's screams from spreading further, Tabasa cast a [Mute] spell that made the air around him whirl at high speed, trapping the sound inside the [Mute] barrier.
Who knew how much time passed in that silent waiting—an hour, three hours?
Only when the moonlight faded from the window and the sun rose in the east did Shui Linger finally bring Raion gently back down to the floor.
"Phew, that wore me out. It would be so much easier if I were in my true body."
"Shui Linger—Raion, is Raion okay?" Louise was the first to rush over; she was the only one who truly knew Shui Linger.
"Hmph, who do you think I am? The kid's fine. He's just digesting all those memories now. Don't disturb him—just wait for him to wake up on his own."
"I'm a little tired myself. I'm going to sleep. Don't bother me unless it's really important."
With that, Shui Linger turned into a streak of light and sank back into the [Water Gem] on Raion's hand. Tabasa seemed to have guessed Shui Linger's true nature and looked visibly shocked.
Chuluk and the other girls carefully carried Raion over to Louise's bed, laid him down, pulled the quilt over him, and settled in at his side to keep watch.