Sufle's Memory
It was an episode that stuck with me for many reasons. No, it had to. Three hundred years ago, during the great war of myths. The last survivor sent into the future by her clan, who foresaw their total annihilation. But even as the youngest of the clan, 'Sufle,' to put her into hibernation for those long centuries, they had no choice but to erase all her existing 'memories.'
So the clan elders all agreed: even if she forgot her clan's memories and her identity as one of the ice witch tribe upon awakening, it was far better to spare her the pain of the war entirely. Everyone consented, except the one who mattered—Sufle herself. But there was no other way to induce hibernation without wiping her memories. Just before it took hold, she fled alone to the altar where she was 'born,' extracted her memories and personality, fused them with her mana, and sealed them away.
And then. "After the war ended, that altar was discovered by Repelheit and Salenias during postwar cleanup. Later, the first Emperor Salenias declared, 'To prepare for the day when Sufle, the last survivor of our comrade ice witch clan, regains her memories, we shall transplant the entire altar to the academy she will one day attend.'"
That's the backstory. I clearly remember reading it in the setting collection. Page 335, fourth line, I think.
"The memories I sealed... my own memories..."
"S-Senior, earlier you said 'memories' have their own volition, right? D-Does that mean..."
"Mm."
As my words ended, the sound of chains scraping rang out, and a girl lifted her head from the altar's center.
Hair and eyes evoking a glacier aged centuries. A perfect copy of Sufle standing below the altar. But unlike the neat Sufle, this girl's hair was disheveled, her body covered in wounds, clad in nothing but ragged, loose scraps of cloth. And her gaze upon us was utterly clouded.
Then, slowly, her mouth opened.
"I knew you'd come. To reclaim 'me,' right? Me."
A voice utterly devoid of emotion, dry as dust.
"Yeah, I'm here."
With that, Sufle reached out, and an ice dagger formed from thin air severed the chains binding the 'memories' in one stroke. The chains, breakable by one person alone, clattered to the floor. The figure slowly rose from the altar.
Right, next up, from what I remember... that.
"Sufle, Millije—raise a 'wall' in front of me right now. With magic."
This was a dungeon. And every dungeon has a 'boss.'
A dungeon without a boss isn't a dungeon.
At my command, Sufle moved first.
【Mid Tier Ice Elemental Magic: Ice Wall】
A massive ice wall erupted from the ground at her gesture, blocking my front. Simultaneously.
【Low Tier Earth Elemental Magic: Ground Lock】
A huge rock wall rose behind the ice, forming a thick double barrier like a fortress rampart.
"S-Senior, this is..."
"Both of you, watch for falling rocks."
But.
BOOM!
The two barriers shredded like paper. Through the massive hole in the center, a petite girl trudged forward. At her fingertips floated a gigantic greatsword sculpted purely from ice.
Her clouded eyes fixed on us.
"What right do you have to wake me, to come find me."
"S-Senior."
"Mm."
One fact I hadn't mentioned: the 'memories'...
"Live on forgetting everything! And you show up now!"
... hate you, Sufle.
"Yeah. I feel it... The memories want to kill me."
The brutal war memories. Comrades' deaths. Herself, too young to do anything but hinder. The helplessness of it all. Sealed for ages, fused with mana, those 'memories' inherited everything, twisting into hatred even for their 'owner.'
"Vanish!"
She summoned massive ice around her and charged.
"S-Senior! It's coming!"
"Stay behind me, Sufle, Millije."
They're mages. As the party's sole dealers, I had to block this thing upfront.
Gripping my spiritwood staff, I kicked off the ground and advanced.
"Vanish! Vanish, I said!"
"Regrettably, that's impossible."
Overwhelming chill crashed over me. In that brief clash, frost rimed my uniform and face.
The 'memories' froze upon seeing my face.
"You—you're Repelheit? No way. Why would Repelheit be here..."
"Apologies, but wrong. I'm a descendant of Repelheit."
"I see. Then move aside—or I'll have to kill you."
Was this Sufle's personality three hundred years ago? Or had her original traits been swallowed by negative emotions?
"Apologies, but I can't. There's something I must protect behind me."
She charged wordlessly again; I swung my spiritwood staff.
Her patterns were simple. First, wild swings with the massive ice greatsword at her fingertips. Second, mana-fueled ice barrages in blind rage until depleted. Survive without killing anyone until her mana ran dry to advance. Annoying system, but...
"No choice but to manage."
I'd instructed Sufle and Millije to prepare their one joint spell to 'restrain' her definitively.
Dodging her screaming charges, I mixed defensive magic and precise physical strikes. Naturally, having no sword training, her moves were wide open, full of tells—easy to read. Her 'barrages' had abysmal accuracy too.
All 30 patterns, randomized in boss fights. Unfortunately for her, I knew every one and their tells.
Thus, total defense. No hits landed. Against bosses whose patterns I didn't know or whose specs outstripped countermeasures...
Within my HP limits, I was invincible.
"Why—why won't it hit! Why!"
Dialogue I'd heard countless times. I swung my staff, stabbing and shoving her shoulder. Kicked her leg to drop her to one knee, then parried her downward ice blade and retreated.
"Fine, if it won't hit..."
Here it comes.
"Millije, Sufle—prepare the spell. Fire when I say. Can you?"
"Yes, Senior!"
"I'll try, Senior."
"I'll just shatter everything!"
RUMBLE!
Thrusting both hands forward, a massive ice storm erupted from her toward us.
But I advanced. Staff slamming the ground, refusing retreat. Planting my feet firmly, pushing on.
Insane cold seeped through my coat; HP plummeted wildly.
"Senior!"
"S-Senior!"
Vision blurring slightly. HP probably at 2 or below. Another 30 seconds, and I'd really die.
But I knew. Having cleared this dungeon hundreds—no, thousands of times...
I knew.
"Why... why... why..."
Her rage, its reason. Why she couldn't kill the one blocking her path, despite vowing to.
HP below 1. Blizzard halted.
My half-frozen body still breathed. She couldn't kill.
Despite me throwing myself in harm's way, she stopped just before death. Same as the original boss fight.
The reason? Simple.
"You're too kind-hearted to truly hate and loathe someone."
"......"
"...Hating your owner was the easiest way to vent your hatred, but you couldn't truly despise her. Of course."
My frozen body moved slowly, but enough to face her.
"All the emotions 'you' feel now so tiresomely—the loss of loved ones, rage and hatred toward demons—they're all things your owner endured, one by one."
Yes. Time for talk.
"The grief of losing those you cherish. Fury at the demonkin. All those fuels for your drive—they were what your owner, Sufle, felt every day before hibernation."
"She ran away! Left me—left me for three hundred years! While she forgot everything and escaped!"
"That's why we're here properly now, aren't we?"
At my words, the 'memories' eyes widened.
"We never forgot. But current Sufle was too weak to retrieve you. Mishandling it might cause rampage—even now, maybe. But because Sufle never forgot you, we're here to bring you back."
"Lies—all lies!"
In that instant, black energy surged from her before me.
And.
【Mid Tier Ice Elemental Magic: Freezing Bind】
【Mid Tier Fire Elemental Magic: Flame Bind】
In a flash, two chains from behind snared and bound the rising black energy. In the original, extracting and binding the 'negative emotions' was Erhan's—my—role. Time to pass the baton.
"My memories."
Sufle brushed past me, gripped the 'memories'' hand tightly. Millije stood by me, watching silently.
"Sorry. It must've been painful, all this time."
"......"
"Thank you for protecting my memories. Truly... thank you."
"Took you long enough."
Tears streamed from the girl's eyes. Sufle wiped them, grasping her cheeks.
"Yeah. Too long. So now, I'll remember."
One word.
"The last survivor will bear it all and move forward."
Foreheads touching, she whispered.
"So..."
The girl's form faded transparently.
"You can go now."
Flash!
She dissolved into light. We all watched the particles rise skyward.
"Millije."
"Yes, Senior. Go to Sufle now, right? That's my role?"
I started to reply, but she nodded on her own and dashed to Sufle.
In the original, Erhan stood by Sufle absorbing memories. Just being there through the disorienting fusion was Erhan's part in the Sufle route.
But.
"It's okay, Sufle."
"Millije..."
Now, Millije filled that role instead of Erhan.
Memories—as light—flowed into each other.
And when it all ended.
"Hello."
There stood.
"Sufle of the ice witch clan."
A brightly smiling, true ice witch, her sky-blue hair grown a bit longer.