Chapter 110
Chapter 110
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 110
Chapter Title: The Museum of Memories
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As we walked into the interior of Oblivion, an overwhelmingly large building began to come into view.
As if they had learned by watching people flaunt luxury, I felt a sense of dissonance looking at the walls decorated with all sorts of jewels and gold.
Just what method would slimes have to use to create such structures?
Here, there were structures that seemed to have the cultural characteristics of countless races all mixed together.
"...It's obviously because they suck out other people's memories, isn't it? From what I see, the slimes here are creatures who know no satisfaction. If they were in their right minds, they wouldn't have built a museum out of other people's memories."
The current me was uttering sentences I hadn't even fully considered.
The red-haired Astal—that is, my other personality with my original childhood disposition—currently held the initiative to move the body.
'You prepared properly, right?'
"Yeah, I've layered on various defensive spells. Just in case, I've also prepared a safe space to teleport to for escape."
While conversing with him telepathically from within his body, I was walking into the trap that Memoria had prepared for us.
I was ready to activate a no-incantation spell in case a silence spell was cast, and I had also planned in advance to use a scroll to escape this place.
The red-haired Astal, perhaps because he coveted Victoria, was muttering to himself just loudly enough for others not to hear.
Even though our personalities were different, perhaps it was because part of him was still me.
He readily cooperated with me and was showing every effort to ensure Victoria wouldn't fall into a truly dangerous situation.
"Welcome. Visitors, we of the [Memory Corridor] warmly welcome all who have come here."
The moment we stepped further into the museum, a being with an awkward smile was there facing us.
"I am Thomas. I am the human guide of this museum, so feel free to ask for explanations."
"Bullshit, you're not a human, you're a slime."
The red-haired Astal spat out a curse and clicked his tongue upon seeing the being who introduced himself as Thomas.
The slimes in this territory disguised their magical circuits so similarly to humans that even my eye ability had trouble distinguishing them.
How could he be so sure?
"What kind of human attaches ears backwards?"
"Ah, I made a mistake there. I didn't realize our kin would have such keen eyes."
In that brief instant, the red-haired Astal had spotted the contradiction in Thomas's appearance.
The current Thomas had his ears attached backwards. The part that should have the ear canal was curled in reverse.
"...It seems I haven't been disguised as a human for very long, so a habit from my slime days came out."
At Thomas's attitude, which seemed to regard us as kin disguised as humans, my companions and I let out a deep sigh.
Even with perception-hindering magic, if Thomas were a mage who had reached a realm of Sage-level or above, he would have realized we were humans immediately.
The red-haired Astal, despite being my other personality, held an extremely rough attitude toward monsters and demons.
Perhaps, just as I had self-loathing due to guilt, he held that much disgust for our enemies.
"A normal slime wouldn't bother making ears, would it? It would be more efficient to consume a snake-like creature and use its heat-sensing organ."
The red-haired Astal was weaving his words skillfully, as if he himself were a slime.
It was possible because I had experience using slimes in experiments at the Magic Tower and writing papers about them.
Fundamentally, a slime's nature is division and mimicry.
Depending on what creature or object it consumed, it could transform into countless appearances and forms.
"I beg your pardon, but I am a slime born not long ago."
"But you should have other humans' memories. I find it strange that you'd make a mistake like this."
"That's right. From head to toe, we are beings born by the grace of Lady Memoria."
The red-haired Astal was subtly voicing his speculations and, in turn, extracting information from his counterpart.
Through Thomas's mouth, we learned that all slimes in Oblivion had human forms under Memoria's direction, and...
"I have the honor of guiding visitors through a museum where actual living humans are imprisoned, but I keep making blunders. I'm sorry. Haha..."
...not stopping there, we also learned the chilling truth that important or special people's memories or abilities were stored in this museum.
"...Fine, just give us a proper tour. I've eaten so many ordinary humans I'm sick of them by now."
The red-haired Astal, even after hearing such information, showed no agitation and uttered threatening words as if he were truly a slime disguised as a human.
If this place really was the trap Memoria prepared for us, acting like the other slimes would avoid suspicion.
To rescue the imprisoned people, deceiving the enemy like this and buying time was more advantageous.
'Something's strange... Something feels off.'
Even the other companions were overwhelmed by the atmosphere, keeping their mouths shut seeing the red-haired Astal's performance.
- What? Seeing the other slimes here, it seems like a place to show off the memories or abilities she's collected.
I, on the other hand, was going crazy because Thomas seemed suspicious. It felt like the museum guide was deliberately acting sloppy to test us.
Human and slime values and thoughts differ in some aspects. Even if they possess the same memories and abilities, one can't say they are completely identical to another.
"Thomas, tell me a place you recommend. Show me a human so remarkable I'd actually want to suck their brains."
Just like my current self and the red-haired personality.
A museum filled with the memories and abilities of special people.
The crowd filling that place was so chaotic it was impossible to tell who was human and who was slime.
"Understood. In that case, my recommendation is the memory of A Nameless Swordmaster in Zone B."
Thomas scratched the nape of his neck and guided us to the area on the right.
At the end of our steps, we saw a man slumped as if he had just been swinging a sword and then his breath was cut off.
"...This man lived his entire life as a nameless swordsman. As the saying goes, 'mediocre talent is a curse,' he was a being who abandoned his family, children, and wife to live holding a sword."
"There must be something special about him. He wouldn't be displayed in a museum just for being crazy without any reason, right?"
Far from mourning the death of the human before him, the red-haired Astal spoke harshly, as if trying to find something hidden.
Even if I had to act like a slime to rescue the people captured here, if it were my original personality, I would have felt a little pity seeing such a human.
Talent is such a fickle word.
The realm one barely reaches through sweat and tears can be so easy for someone else.
As someone who was always called a genius for my exceptional talent in magic, I had received much envy and jealousy from others.
"Correct! If he were just an ordinary human, he wouldn't have been registered in the Memory Corridor."
"Guys who think they're geniuses with mediocre talent are everywhere."
The red-haired Astal uttered those words with a bitter laugh. This was also a statement about himself.
If he had truly been outstandingly talented, he could have evacuated everyone from his hometown before the Demon King's army invaded.
"Listen without being surprised. He is also a swordsman who actually proved the existence of another world that mirrors this one like a reflection!"
"I don't quite understand..."
"In other words, he severed the wall that space was blocking with the sword he held and swung his entire life. With the effort of a stubborn fool, he peeled away a secret maintained by the gods."
Thomas wriggled his body, mimicking a form similar to the swordmaster before him.
"According to this man's final memory, a middle-aged man wearing black knight armor immediately blocked his path afterward. He had a large burn scar on his face, it's said."
"...So, the memory of the fight remains?"
"Yes, just a little. The memory of defeat after a single exchange with a swordsman so strong he could sever space after a lifetime of never letting go of his sword."
A swordsman with the skill to sever space, subdued in a single exchange by a powerhouse. Listening from within the red-haired Astal, I felt so absurd I almost let out a hollow laugh.
If such a strong person existed in the first place, why not entrust the task of killing the Demon King to that black knight instead of us?
Of course, Thomas might be lying to win our favor, but from the description alone, it sounded like a being akin to a god presiding over swords.
Perhaps, like the Law of Causality the gods spoke of, there was some reason they couldn't step forward.
"That memory... I'd like to consume it if I get the chance..."
At that moment, my heart aligned with my other personality's.
If we could mimic or understand even a little of that black knight's movements from that memory, we could become stronger.
Or perhaps it was a being connected to the black knight who wielded the demonic sword shown by the first Saint.
"Unfortunately, that's impossible. This is like a collectible gathered by Lady Memoria."
However, Thomas shook his head, conveying that it was impossible.
"Moreover, after meeting that being, this man felt a skill he could never follow, lost all hope for life. Now, he's barely clinging to life."
Looking more carefully at Thomas's words, the swordsman before us truly had empty eyes, gazing into the distance, barely drawing breath.
"He abandoned his wife and children, and despite the deaths of friends and parents, he never came out, holed up in a mountain valley swinging only his sword... Of course, the shock would be great, wouldn't it?"