Chapter 134
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 134
Chapter Title: Swamp of Oblivion (3)
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As a result, it was only natural that Seo Mi-kyung, the master of the Plum Blossom Clan who had framed me, found her position narrowing while mine rose.
In the end, after discussions among ourselves, the Plum Blossom Clan and a few others would take the lead, Eternity Clan and the brother clans the center, and the Madan Clan the rear.
I'd initially wondered if our clan should take the rear, but since the Madan Clan consisted mostly of mages, placing them at the back made the most sense strategically, so we chose the center.
Of course, the master of the Plum Blossom Clan was throwing a fit over her clan being assigned to the vanguard.
She'd even stormed into Ha Yu-ri's personal tent to complain. That was the current situation.
"Are you kidding me? What is this! Why does our clan have to lead?!"
Ha Yu-ri replied with a weary expression.
"Sigh... Seo Mi-kyung. This was the result of consultations among all the clans. Not just the Plum Blossom Clan—other clans are leading too. I'd appreciate it if you could understand."
"Our Plum Blossom Clan is at the very front!"
"... Seo Mi-kyung. In the end, some clan has to take the forefront. It's just the Plum Blossom Clan this time."
Ha Yu-ri looked at Seo Mi-kyung with a hint of pity, if only for a moment.
She knew full well that I'd had a strong hand in this outcome.
"Ha Yu-ri, you... you voted for our Plum Blossom Clan! How could you...!"
Ha Yu-ri had voted for the Plum Blossom Clan at the forefront because she'd received a silent threat from me.
Not knowing that, this woman was taking it out on Ha Yu-ri for no reason.
"Ha Yu-ri... what exactly is your relationship with that man?"
"... What do you mean?"
"At first, only Eternity voted for our clan, but then you exchanged some look with that man and voted for us too!"
She had pretty sharp eyes.
"After the Madan Clan voted, the others pretended they had no choice and piled on votes for us, and that's how it ended up like this!"
It was the classic case of diluting the blame.
"......"
"What is it? I thought you hated that Lee Yun-seong guy, so why are you following his lead?!"
It seemed Seo Mi-kyung had based her behavior toward me in the meeting on the assumption that Ha Yu-ri disliked me.
'She's not completely thoughtless. I figured she just hated me, plain and simple.'
"Ha Yu-ri, say something!"
From Ha Yu-ri's position, there was no easy way to respond.
She couldn't very well say she was the slave of the man you'd framed, after all.
In the end, when words failed to get through, Seo Mi-kyung stormed out of the commander's tent in a huff.
"... You can come out now."
I stepped out from the blind spot where Seo Mi-kyung's gaze couldn't reach and spoke up.
"Hmph... you must be exhausted. Dealing with some weird woman like that."
"... Well. I don't particularly dislike her."
"Heh, why? Does she remind you of your past self?"
Ha Yu-ri couldn't bring herself to deny it and nodded instead.
"So... what brings this master to visit his slave girl? Here to humiliate me again?"
"Slave girl? No need to demean yourself like that."
"... Why not? You like this kind of thing, don't you? Me crawling under you, acting like your obedient pet. You enjoy it."
"Hold on, aren't you distorting things a bit much? When did I ever say that?"
"You treated me like a dog. With that perverted look on your face..."
"That was just a test. I didn't think you'd actually bark. And perverted look? That's a bit harsh."
"... In the end, no matter what I choose, you'd make me bark like a dog, right?"
I couldn't deny Ha Yu-ri's words. After all, I did want to see her on all fours, barking like a dog at least once.
"She's pathetic. She'll only realize who she messed with after things go south."
I shrugged and opened my mouth.
"Why say it like that? As if I'm going to do something terrible."
"Then you'll let it slide? No, you won't. You'll get revenge to the bitter end."
I chuckled at her words.
"... You're vicious."
"Too much."
"... So what brings you here in the dead of night?"
I sensed her body trembling faintly, as if she feared something—or was imagining the worst.
'... Probably because it's the middle of the night.'
There was no helping it. Seo Yu-ju aside, without her guard Wi Ho-yeon, I'd had to wait until she fell asleep.
"Didn't I tell you last time? Don't look at me like that. I can read your mind."
"... Would you not do the same if you were me? I can't resist at all. One command from you, and my body isn't even mine anymore..."
"....."
"If you order it, even if it's some unreasonable command... I'm in a position where I have to obey. If you tell me to dance, I dance. If you tell me to crawl on all fours and bark like a dog, I have to do it."
"True enough. Well, since I'm bored, why not give it a try?"
"... Pardon?"
"That's an order. Get down on all fours."
"Hahk!"
Ha Yu-ri had a slave mark engraved below her navel.
Due to the compulsion of the command, she let out a groan and obeyed.
"Pl-please... I'm sorry for being insolent. Please forgive me..."
"I get it. But honestly, I'm not here for that. If I wanted to, I would've done it ages ago."
"......"
Seeing her shrink back in fear suddenly made me want to tease her more.
"Actually, now that I think about it, something's off. You said it yourself—with your mouth—that I could humiliate you however I wanted, do whatever. Tonight might be a good time..."
"Th-that... but... please, I beg you..."
I didn't know why, but teasing her like this was oddly satisfying—unlike with the others.
'Guess even I can't fight my instincts and emotions.'
Every time the cheeky Ha Yu-ri begged me, a strange thrill ran down my spine.
'... Ha.'
I spoke with a playful expression.
"Just kidding."
"... Huh?"
"I'm kidding."
"... Don't joke like that. From my perspective, I can't tell if you're serious or not."
"Nah, I refuse. It's too fun to stop."
As the compulsion faded, Ha Yu-ri cautiously stood and spoke.
"... Fine. Do whatever you want. More importantly, what's the real reason you came here at this hour?"
"Hm... I have something personal I want to ask."
"... What?"
"You said you lost your memories after coming back from the Swamp of Oblivion. Not even a clue about what they were related to?"
"... No. I just know that I lost them."
"Hm... I see. Have you tried to recall them?"
"Do you think I'm an idiot? Of course I've tried countless times. Nothing comes up."
"... Right."
She was aware she'd lost memories. But she had no idea what they were about. They just wouldn't surface.
I'd pondered this deeply after hearing it in the meeting.
'... Instead of trying to recall or remember them, what if I use process of elimination?'
If part of a person's memory is missing, it doesn't just leave that one gap—other memories would have holes too.
Let's liken the human brain to a novel.
The novel has many pages and chapters.
Imagine ripping out every page of one chapter from the middle.
Could the reader go through the book without sensing something was off?
'No, impossible.'
The brain is like a book. If one part of the memory is erased, following other memories or thoughts about oneself would inevitably hit a hole somewhere.
'Ha Yu-ri hasn't thought of this. She probably just tried forcing the lost memories to surface.'
No matter how hard you try to recall a missing page while reading, it won't come back.
'The way is to infer from the context before and after, the connections.'
"Ha Yu-ri."
"What? Why the face? It looks like..."
I didn't know what my expression looked like, but she seemed frightened.
I smoothed my face, composed myself, and continued.
"I can't recover your lost memories right now. But I can figure out what they're related to."
"... What do you mean?"
"Trust me. Think hard. Surely, somewhere there's a sense of incongruity you haven't noticed. Or in your personality, values, habits, or actions up till now."
"... Huh?"
"The brain has virtually no limits, but the person using it isn't always that smart. Think deeply. Aren't there times when you do or say something and don't know why? Or feel off without reason?"
She agonized over my words for a long while.
"......."
"......."
Quite some time passed, but all that came from her was a long sigh.
"Sigh... I... I don't know..."
"Hm..."
'This method can't be wrong... No, don't doubt myself. This should find a clue.'
"... Think again. I'll think about you too."
More time passed. Ha Yu-ri wasn't dismissing my words as nonsense; she was trying.
I thought about her too, but the image that kept surfacing—probably due to its impact—was her on all fours, barking.
'Damn it... Focus on something real.'
I started going through Ha Yu-ri point by point.
'From the first time we met.'
I was a trainee; she was an instructor.
She coveted Lee Yu-hyeon and Song Ha-eun, and utterly ignored me.
The reason she ignored me was because I was a dark sorcerer.
'... Hold on.'
"... Ha Yu-ri, wait."
"Eek! Wh-what?"
"... Let me ask one thing. Why exactly do you hate dark sorcerers?"
'Yeah, come to think of it, why does she hate dark sorcerers?'
I could chalk it up to her traits, but something felt off. No one—not a single person—knew why Ha Yu-ri hated dark sorcerers.
It was simple curiosity at first, but my instincts whispered it was strange.
'This is weird enough. How could no one know?'
As I stared at Ha Yu-ri, suspecting something odd, her reaction was strange too.
"..... Ah?"
"What? Hey, what's wrong?"
"Ah... Wh-what... Why do I hate dark sorcerers...?"
'If even you don't know, then what?'
"What nonsense... Huh?"
"Ah..."
I froze mid-sentence.
Tears were streaming from Ha Yu-ri's eyes.
"You... you okay?"
"Wh-why... Wait. Why are tears..."
Even Ha Yu-ri herself didn't know why she was crying.
'... This is it.'
... Ha Yu-ri's lost memories were tied to the reason she hated dark sorcerers.