Memories of the Archmage and the Hero
"...Ugh."
With a short groan, I slowly opened my eyes. But all around me was pitch-black darkness, without a single speck of light.
"W-What the hell?"
Panicking, I tried blasting Star Mana in every direction, but for some reason, it wouldn't respond at all.
...Damn it, I hate the dark.
I'd always despised darkness. More precisely, I had a deep-seated horror of completely lightless spaces. And this place, though it felt vast and endless, was no different since I couldn't see its boundaries.
"Ugh..."
As I flailed about in disgust, something brushed against my feet.
"Meow."
"...Meow?"
A black cat... no, a cat doll was gently nipping at my foot.
"...Thank goodness. At least you're here."
Feeling a bit relieved, I picked it up, but the cat doll started tearing up and furiously licking my face.
"W-Why are you doing this?"
"Meooow... Meow..."
I tried to pry it off, but suddenly the cat doll tackled me down and kept licking relentlessly.
"...What the...?"
Defeated by this tiny cat doll in an instant, I could only scratch my head and endure the onslaught for a while.
"Meooow..."
By the time my face was slick and shiny, the cat doll curled up on my chest and began rubbing its face against me.
...Am I pinned down by sleep paralysis?
It was too cute and happy a dream for sleep paralysis, so I just lay there. Then, the surrounding darkness began to fade.
—Shoooo...
Soon, a blue meadow and trees appeared around me. That's when I realized what was happening.
...It's the same kind of dream as that time with Perloché's past.
This seemed just like when I'd glimpsed Perloché's history.
"...Mommy?"
Sure enough, my younger self from childhood entered my view.
"...Right, that time I got lost in the forest playing hide-and-seek with Mom."
Back then, I'd been playing hide-and-seek with my mother in the woods and lost my way. That's how it should have been...
...But something feels off.
Thinking about it now, something didn't add up. Why would I get lost during hide-and-seek? My mother, the greatest Star Mage of all, wouldn't let her child forget where she was.
"Mommy... where are you...?"
The words coming from my younger self's mouth were vastly different from my memories.
"Mommy... how long do I have to stay hidden...? Mooommmy..."
The frightened child kept calling for Mom, but she never appeared—not even a glimpse. Night began to deepen in the forest.
"S-Scary... Waaahhh..."
Trembling in fear while waiting for her, I finally leaned against a tree, burst into sobs, and fell asleep from exhaustion.
"Grrrr..."
Moments later, a wolf crept toward the soundly sleeping child.
...Did this really happen?
I tilted my head at this memory that clashed entirely with what I recalled. Then, a fireball streaked in at high speed from somewhere.
—Fwoosh!!
"Kyaaang!!"
The wolf, hit in the tail by the fireball, yelped with its tail tip aflame and fled with its tail between its legs.
"W-What?"
Woken by the commotion, the child looked around and spotted a red-haired girl right in front of him.
She was the young Irina—a girl I'd secretly snuck out to the alleys to play with a few months prior in the dream's timeline, pestering her until we'd formed a slight bond.
"Y-You..."
"Frey, what the hell are you doing out here?"
"Well..."
Young Irina, one hand conjuring flames and the other holding a crumpled paper, muttered as she stuffed the paper into her pocket.
"Alright, found the missing first son of the ducal family... If I claim the reward listed here, I can eat for a year."
"...W-What are you talking about?"
When I asked timidly, she scowled and snapped back.
"Fancy noble young master wouldn't get it."
"B-But..."
"Shut it. Like I always say, I hate mixing with nobles. I'm only doing this for the money anyway."
"...Huh?"
"Get up already. Don't wanna go home?"
Irritated by my persistent whining, young Irina snapped. The child scrambled up in a panic.
"I-I wanna go home! I wanna see Mommy!"
"Then shut your mouth and follow."
"Okay..."
And so, young me and Irina began descending the mountain, piercing through the darkness.
"...But what was that paper earlier?"
"......"
"And how'd you find this place? Huh?"
"...Ugh."
Silently trekking down, Irina squeezed her eyes shut at my endless questions and finally lost it.
"Shut up!! You're messing up my pathfinding!!"
"...I know the way too, you know?"
"What?"
But when the child innocently replied, the slightly flustered Irina scowled again.
"Then why were you missing?"
"Missing? Me?"
"Yeah, according to this paper..."
She peered closely at the paper, froze for a moment, then coughed awkwardly and changed the subject.
"Ahem... Anyway, let's go down."
"Will I see Mommy once we get down the mountain?"
"........."
"Mommy said to stay hidden and not come out no matter what?"
"...Let's go."
With that, they trudged down the mountain again, sharing a conversation that lingered nowhere in my memory.
"Awooooo...!"
"...Huh?"
Suddenly, wolf howls echoed from somewhere.
"Grrrrr..."
A pack of wolves soon surrounded me and Irina. She smirked pitifully at them, igniting flames in both hands.
The wolves crouched into attack stance. Terrified, the child clung to Irina's back, peeking out to watch.
"...Come at me all at once, you mutts."
Irina aimed her flames at them, but...
—Thud!!
The ground shook violently, and something bipedal approached from afar. Her face twisted in horror.
"W-Werewolf...? Why's an upper-grade monster in this worthless forest...?"
The Werewolf—an upper-grade monster even skilled knights and mages struggled against—glared at the child and her.
"Hic!"
The child began hiccupping in fear. Irina backed away slowly and whispered.
"Hey."
"Y-Yeah..."
"Run."
The next instant, Irina blasted a fireball behind her to scatter the wolves, grabbed my arm, and bolted.
"Roooaaarrr!!"
The werewolf and wolves gave chase.
"Damn it, at this rate... Even if the reward gets cut, I need backup."
Gripping my arm tightly while sprinting, Irina scowled, gathered flames in her hand, and shot them skyward.
—Boom!! Bang!!
The soaring flames exploded, painting the sky with fireworks. I watched, intrigued, when...
Suddenly, everything froze.
"...What?"
Flustered by the abruptness, the scene before me faded, and a new one materialized like a painting.
"Grrrr..."
"Hah... Hah..."
The new scene was utterly hopeless. Wolves and the werewolf glared at us from beyond the fiery barrier young Irina had conjured.
"W-What now?"
"...Fuck, this is bad."
And behind us loomed a sheer cliff.
"...We won't last long like this."
"T-Then..."
"Listen up."
Scowling briefly, Irina whispered to the terrified child.
"On three, you run sideways. I'll smash the werewolf up front and catch up."
"B-But..."
"Wolves are no issue. If I just injure the werewolf, we can shake 'em easy."
She shoved me aside and began counting.
"One... Two... Three!!"
Irina charged forward, fists aflame. The child bolted into the gap beside her.
"Hiyah!!"
"Grk...!"
Irina punched through the flames into the werewolf's gut nimbly, then spun to flee—but...
"Roooaaarrr!!"
"Damn it!!"
Her cloak snagged on the werewolf's claw, leaving her dangling helplessly.
"...L-Let go!"
Struggling desperately, Irina was hoisted high. The werewolf snarled the other wolves back, locked eyes with her, and bared its fangs. As she squeezed her eyes shut...
"L-Let her go!!"
The child, having fetched a tree branch, smashed the werewolf's leg furiously with a squeal.
"Y-You idiot...!"
"Gr?"
Irina's face went slack. The werewolf tilted its head, then kicked the child hard.
"Kwahk!!"
Unable to react, the child took the full blow, tumbling across the ground and slumping at the cliff's edge.
"Eeeeek!!"
Staring blankly, Irina ignited both hands and swung wildly at the werewolf—but...
"L-Let go! Get off...!"
"Grk!!"
"Guhk!!"
The werewolf seized her arms, slamming her gut viciously—revenge for its own belly punch. She went limp like the child.
"Grrrr..."
Gazing at her limp form, the werewolf licked its chops toward me in the distance.
"...A female werewolf, huh."
"Meow."
Watching the crisis with the black cat doll, I sighed upon noticing the werewolf's gender.
"Kitty, my memory was clear: playing hide-and-seek in broad daylight, nearly attacked by a single wolf, Irina saves me but gets scarred. Right?"
"Meow...?"
"But why's a female werewolf eyeing me like a snack in this dream? It feels too similar to before to be just a dream."
"Meow..."
"And why do you always show up in these dreams..."
"Kyaaak!!"
I was venting my swirling doubts to the evasive cat doll when a scream pierced from afar.
"F-Frey..."
"G-Grip my hand tight! Irina!"
Irina, nearly tumbling off the cliff after being flung by the werewolf, dangled from my hand.
"Grrrk!!"
The startled werewolf charged toward us—but...
"U-Uwaa!!"
The ground quaked fiercely. The child, precariously holding Irina, lost balance and toppled forward.
"Uwaaaaaah!!"
"Nooooo!!"
Thus, young Irina and I plummeted helplessly off the cliff.
"...Just a dream after all? If that were real, neither of us would be alive."
"Meow."
I stared blankly, suspecting it was merely a dream—but...
—Shoooo...
The scene shifted gradually, changing my mind.
"H-Hey... Wake up...!"
"Ugh... Uh..."
Soaked young Irina was shaking my equally drenched, unconscious form.
—Drip... Drip...
A fresh river flowed to our right; to the left, firewood blazed by Irina's magic.
—Boom! Boomboom!!
"...Damn it, when's backup coming?"
Pausing her shaking, Irina gathered flames in her left hand and fired them skyward frantically, then snapped irritably at my slumped form.
"You idiot... You could've just run... Why'd you come back?!"
Using her right hand's flames to thaw my frozen body, she muttered with an incredulous expression.
"You're some hotshot noble young master... Sneaking out for fun, befriending a commoner like me as a game... That's the kind of shitty noble you are..."
"Ugh..."
"So... why the hell did you come back...?"
After mumbling while I groaned and writhed, Irina sensed movement afar, hardened her face, and rose quietly.
"Grrrr..."
The werewolf had tracked us to the cliff base and approached slowly.
"Eeeeek!!"
Glare locked on it, Irina mustered all her strength for flames—but...
"Damn it, just a short scouting spell and my mana's already..."
With barely any mana left, she staggered and collapsed.
...Scouting magic? That's a large-scale spell needing five Magic Tower mages.
"Grk."
While I marveled at Irina's "scouting" spell, the werewolf reached right before the child, licking its chops.
—Boomboom!!
"Roooaaarrr!!!"
But Irina, from the ground, hurled a desperate fireball into its face. The werewolf clutched its mug and rolled on the dirt.
"Q-Quick... We gotta get outta here..."
Seizing the chance, Irina shakily stood to flee—but...
"...Ngh!"
Glancing at my limp body, she began dragging me along.
"I-If we reach those bushes... We can hide..."
"Grrrk!!"
"Kyaaak!!"
Her soaked clothes made me dead weight; she couldn't drag far before the werewolf caught her.
"Roooaaarrr!!"
"Kyaaaak!!"
Enraged, the werewolf pummeled her with fists. Its sharp claws tore her clothes; a deep cross scar gashed her cheek.
—Thwack! Thud!!
"Ugh... Hng..."
Adjusting force to maximize pain without killing, the werewolf grinned as she neared unconsciousness, then aimed claws at her throat.
"Grrrr..."
"Fucking... shitty life..."
Tears streaming, Irina spat curses bitterly. The claws plunged toward her neck—but...
—Crack!!
"Gurgle!!"
A dull thud echoed; the werewolf foamed and collapsed before her.
"Why... did you come back...?"
Staring dazedly, Irina spotted the child behind the fallen beast, head bowed, clutching a thick wooden stick.
"The Starlight Ducal House..."
"F-Frey..."
"...protects the weak and the strong alike. It's the hero's lineage."
With those words, plus a brief addendum, the child collapsed into Irina's arms, unconscious.
"...Something Mommy always said."
Silence fell briefly.
"Over here!! The signal came from here!!"
"Young master!! Are you alright?!"
"My son!!"
Starlight retainers and my father rushed toward us desperately. Then, my vision faded to black again.
"...Haa."
Having spied what seemed my true past, I sighed and muttered.
"I definitely awakened Star Mana only after seeing the Prophecy Book... Even the lore says so..."
"Meow..."
"Now... I have no idea."
With that, I hugged the pitifully gazing cat doll and sprawled out in the dark void.
"Young master... Please wake up now..."
Meanwhile, at Frey's dormitory.
"...You promised to go on an outing with me."
Fresh from Frey's unconsciousness, Kania gazed at him with a haggard face and murmured.
"Dragging it out for three months... What am I supposed to do...?"
The first semester at Sunrise Academy was drawing to a close.