Chapter 52
Chapter 52
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 52
Chapter Title: Drunk Interrogation
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‘How cute.’
Lize gazed with a fond smile at the newbie, who was blinking blearily around the room as if he couldn’t comprehend the situation at all. Poke, poke. Her index finger prodded his cheek.
It was the first time she’d seen the newbie so disheveled. No matter what happened, he was a man who never flinched, as if he’d predicted everything.
Except when it came to women, that is. Whenever she thrust her chest or bare skin at him to tempt him, he’d shown massive signs of fluster.
“Th-that’s... what...”
“Oops, careful there, newbie. You’ll fall.”
As he tried to rise from his seat and teetered sideways, Claudia caught his tumbling body.
The full weight of a sturdy adult man pressed onto one of her arms, but Claudia was the kind of person who could chug a whole oak barrel of wine and swing a greatsword bigger than herself with ease.
There was no way she couldn’t handle supporting one person.
“Wh-when did you... sp-spike it...?”
“We reached an agreement among ourselves just before this banquet started, so not long ago. At first, we didn’t plan on going this far. But as things unfolded, we figured this would work.”
“Then...”
“It started with the lord and Iris. Iris tipped me off, and I passed it to Erica and Claudia. According to Iris, the lord made the first suggestion.”
Aurora nodded. Since it had been her idea, there was no need for excuses.
Claudia carefully settled the newbie into a chair. As her supporting hand left his shoulder, his body flopped onto the seat like a doll with its strings cut.
“You don’t need to be so scared about us digging for secrets, newbie. It’s not as bad as it sounds—the questions will be simple.”
Erica spoke cautiously.
“You told us when we first met that you were cursed, your memories all gone. And that they’ve been returning bit by bit due to some trigger. We even confirmed with the Ability Check Orb that all your stats were 1, so we had no reason to doubt you.”
That wasn’t the issue, though. Erica let out a small sigh.
“Of course, we still fully trust you. That won’t change. But we keep feeling like there’s something you haven’t told us. Not a lie, but something you’ve hidden from the start. You know the difference, right?”
“The curse part is probably true. But that’s not what we want to know.”
Iris took over. The newbie’s eyes were still glazed from the alcohol. He seemed to be trying to think, but the booze made it impossible.
“Who the hell were you in the past?”
Yes, that was the core of this whole situation. Who exactly the newbie had been before.
There were mountains of other curiosities, but they all stemmed from this. Hearing the answer to that alone would achieve their goal.
“Everything you’ve said boils down to your old memories returning, letting you figure out all those solutions. So, who you were back then is the key. Don’t you think it’s time to explain it to us?”
What kind of past allowed him to anticipate every move of monsters he’d never seen, map out the entire rune dungeon’s layout, and casually handle even demons?
If all that truly came from past memories, he must have been an incredible hero.
But no one in the empire—not even the emperor—had accomplished such feats. The emperor solved problems by crushing foes with overwhelming power.
That was fundamentally different from the newbie, who’d overcome obstacles with abilities barely above rock bottom, let alone overwhelming strength.
Especially when it came to handling demons.
What past could he have that let him dismiss a demon summoning as no big deal and calmly plan to use it to kill the lord?
Demons weren’t something you could just grab with superior ability. Even the kingdom’s priests had to brace for horrific sacrifices.
Yet the newbie had been utterly nonchalant. That’s when the knight captains had started genuinely wondering about his history.
“Can’t you tell us what you’re hiding?”
Despite Iris’s polite request, the newbie kept his mouth firmly shut. His sealed lips showed no sign of opening.
There’s definitely something. The knight captains and Aurora exchanged glances. Silence means consent, as they say. Choosing silence over denial meant there was some unspeakable circumstance.
Aurora, standing right beside him, stepped forward and gently cupped his cheek, meeting his eyes. His bleary black pupils clashed with her golden ones, filled with firm resolve.
“Listen. I don’t know what secret it is that you’re hiding so tightly, but we’re not going to do anything to you because of it. We want to help you.”
“......”
“No matter what you did in the past or who you were, we have zero intention of holding it against you. Even if you were some criminal locked in prison, it’d be the same. That was then—this is now. We can just write it off as old history and start fresh.”
“......”
“Look around. This is a place where you can achieve everything you want. We’ve got plenty of money, decent power, and... most importantly, women? If you want, you could have them right now.”
“Hold on, my lord. What did you just say?”
Lize cut Aurora off sharply. Her blue eyes growled toward Aurora, full of wariness.
No wonder her gaze toward the newbie had been off since they first met at the mansion over the demon summoning—she’d harbored those feelings after all. Lize’s inner guard was at maximum.
To the casual ear, it might sound like Aurora had just seen through Lize’s heart and pointed her out.
But Aurora’s eyes told a different story.
They held the same female instinct Lize had when looking at the newbie. Eyes that lusted after the man before her.
So, who the “women” referred to was obvious.
“Oh? Why the reaction? I didn’t say anything wrong.”
“You said something very wrong. ‘We’? He’s officially part of the Silver Dawn Knights. You can’t just claim him like that.”
“You all ultimately obey my orders. So your subordinate becomes mine.”
“You’re using the same logic as that pig bastard.”
“His Majesty the Emperor said it from the palace, so of course. That pig and I both used to live in the palace. Or are you saying you won’t obey the Emperor?”
Lize flinched at the mention. Disobeying the Emperor? Unthinkable for the Silver Dawn Knights. Aurora, in contrast, flashed a victorious smile.
Lize hesitated briefly, then glanced at Aurora’s chest, smirking as if she’d found a counter, and stepped back with a reluctant gesture.
Now it was Aurora’s turn to bristle. She knew exactly what that glance meant.
Aurora’s were far from small, but they paled against Lize’s absurdly massive ones, rivaling her own head in size.
The newbie had started staring at Lize’s chest nonstop once he got tipsy, so his tastes were easy to guess—which made it worse.
“Now, now. That’s enough, my lord. You too, Lize.”
Before the mood could heat up further, Claudia swiftly intervened. This gathering was to uncover the newbie’s secrets, not for them to fight.
Both knew that well, so it didn’t escalate. They realized that bickering here wouldn’t matter—the final choice wasn’t theirs anyway.
“The conversation veered off, but bottom line: who the hell were you before?”
“That... can’t... say... it...”
“Can’t say? So there is something.”
“......”
He seemed to realize his slip and clamped his mouth shut, but the water was already spilled. The knight captains’ and Aurora’s eyes sharpened.
That slip meant there was something he couldn’t tell others. And it tied to his past actions.
Uncovering it was their next task.
The next day, I bolted upright in some unfamiliar place.
‘No clue, seriously.’
Last night’s memories flooded back. I’d expected them to be curious about my past, but I never imagined they’d resort to spiking my drink.
I’d planned to reveal it eventually, but that timeline nearly got shoved way ahead.
More absurd than angry. If we’re assigning blame, I was the problem first, plastering on lies without shame. They’d just tried to uncover my deception.
With an outrageous method, sure.
I wondered if this was how the knight captains felt when they heard I’d used a demon to kill the lord.
‘Did I answer any questions?’
My head was already swimming from the alcohol, and I vividly recalled getting hooked by Claudia’s wordplay and outright admitting I had a secret.
But after that? Blank.
No idea if I answered or managed to stay silent. My memory had cut out clean.
‘Wait, where even am I?’
I hurriedly scanned the room. Ornate wallpaper, carpeted floor. A bed big enough for four people. Probably one of the lord’s mansion rooms.
A chill hit me, so I checked beside me. Relief—no one there. Bed pristine, my clothes intact, no signs of being stripped or torn.
‘...No way something happened while I was out.’
Lize made it disturbingly plausible, deepening my worry. Maybe she’d tempted me into jumping her during my blackout, or worse, she’d pounced on me.
Either sounded all too possible.
‘What happened after...’
“What, you’re finally up? How’d she know?”
As I desperately racked my brain, the door burst open. Lize strode in with a bright smile, tray in hand.
Not her banquet see-through dress, but her usual white sleeveless top and blue dolphin pants.
“Hey, you got me drunk to interrogate me? All five of you in on it?”
“You remember. Too bad. Can’t use that twice.”
I’d planned to chew her out a bit despite not being mad, but her casual attitude left me speechless. Plus, I owed her in various ways.
‘Is that why Lize of all people came?’
She sauntered over, plopped on the bed’s edge, and set the tray down. Steam rose from a bowl of soup on it.
My stomach wasn’t upset, the moment to snap had passed, and I needed food anyway, so I reached for the soup.
Smack. Lize swatted my hand with a prim look.
As I stared with a question mark over my head, she picked up the bowl herself and scooped some with a spoon, holding it out.
“......”
My protests that I could feed myself fell on deaf ears.
I gave up resistance and obediently took the spoonful. Only then did Lize beam, set the spoon on the tray, and speak.
“What do you remember from last night?”
“What do you think I remember?”
I threw her earlier actions back at her. Got her good—for a second. Then I noticed her profoundly meaningful smile as she looked at me.
What the hell was that face?