Unremembered
"I—I'm so sorry!"
"Ah, n-no. It's fine. We do look rather rough around the edges…"
"We'll be more careful next time. Well then…"
The two men, who had just come to after being knocked out cold, carefully rubbed their swollen, reddened faces and scrambled out of the inn as fast as their legs would carry them.
They were decent people, honestly. Getting blindsided and knocked unconscious, only to turn around and apologize for it? If the same thing had happened to me, I never would have let it go.
I watched the two grown men with genuine admiration—then belatedly remembered Seolhyang and spun around to face her.
"Seolhyang, I'm sorry as well. I thought those two were doing something to you, and…"
"No, it's all right. You were only trying to protect me, weren't you?"
"Even so…"
"Evan, men who dwell on the past aren't popular, you know?"
"—From now on, I'll be more careful!"
Hearing that, I decided to let the whole incident wash away like water under a bridge. I'd apologized, the victims had accepted it—no problem left to speak of.
Seolhyang must have found something hilarious about that, because she started laughing softly, a quiet little chuckle bubbling up. Watching her smile, I found myself laughing right along with her.
"Ah, right—Evan. I have some good news."
"What is it?"
"The person I've been looking for is apparently in this city."
"Ah…"
Good news for her. Not so good for me. Once she found the man she was after, my job would be over. She and I would have to part ways right here.
The disappointment sat heavy in my chest, but I didn't want to come off as some clingy, obsessive type. So I puffed myself up with as much bravado as I could muster and opened my mouth.
"Seolhyang, what's the name of the person you're looking for?"
"A man named Cyrus."
"Cyrus… Just wait right here! I'll find him in no time!"
The moment I heard the name of her old flame, I bolted out of the inn and sprinted straight for the guild. I ignored Seolhyang calling after me from behind, trying to stop me.
If I turned around now, she'd see the pathetic tears welling up in my eyes.
The pain of a first heartbreak was this enormous…
I arrived at the guild and demanded information on Cyrus. The clerk eyed me with a look of pure disinterest—until he heard what I was asking for. Then he let out a hollow laugh.
"Cyrus? You want to know where he is?"
"Yes, sir!"
"Another suicide volunteer, huh…"
The clerk glanced at the sword hanging at my hip and muttered that under his breath. Before I could even ask what he meant, he shoved a map marked with a location into my hands.
Map in hand and unceremoniously kicked out of the guild, I stood there a little dazed for a moment—but the fact that I'd achieved my goal filled me with enough joy that I headed straight back to the inn.
Seolhyang had been waiting quietly for me. The moment she heard my footsteps, she spoke up.
"Evan?"
"Seolhyang, I found him! I know where that Cyrus guy is!"
"Honestly, what am I supposed to do when you just run off like that without listening to a word I say? What if I'd needed to use the bathroom?"
"Uh… do you need to use the bathroom?"
"…Just tell me the location."
I escorted Seolhyang to the bathroom. For all her talk about having excellent hearing, she apparently couldn't pinpoint the location of a toilet on her own.
After dropping her off and waiting outside for her to finish, I found myself turning over what the guild clerk had said.
What did that mean, exactly?
Another suicide volunteer. What was that supposed to mean? That Cyrus was some vicious, murderous criminal?
If that were the case, what were the guild and the city guard doing? Leaving a criminal so notorious that rumors like that were floating around free to walk the streets?
Was there some kind of political issue involved?—I was still turning it over in my head when Seolhyang finished her business and came back over to me.
"All right. Let's go."
"You washed your hands, right?"
"Would you like to smell them and check?"
"…No, I'm fine."
With Seolhyang holding out her hands and saying something that could have been a joke or dead serious, I led her toward the place marked on the guild's map.
It was my first time in this city, but the map was so well-made that we never once got lost.
"Uh… I think this is it."
I stopped in front of a massive mansion that looked like the kind of place a noble would live, checking the map against the surrounding buildings to make sure we had the right spot.
If Seolhyang had come all this way to meet a man who lived somewhere like this, I had a sinking feeling there was no way I could compete.
The man she wants to meet is a noble…? Then what's Seolhyang's connection to him? Wait—did she get pregnant with his child?
I snuck a glance at Seolhyang's stomach. It looked no more swollen now than it had when I'd first met her.
Then again, who knows. Maybe she'd already given birth long ago, left the kid at home, and come looking for him alone…
"Evan?"
"Y-yes."
"Have we arrived?"
"Yeees… According to the map, this should be the place…"
"Call someone. I need to go inside."
I shouted for someone beyond the great iron gate, and a servant came scurrying out from inside the house.
"O-oh, my apologies for the wait. What business brings you here…?"
"My name is Seolhyang. Is this Cyrus's residence?"
"Yes. Have you come to see the master?"
"I have. If you tell him a young lady of the Seol family is here, he should understand."
"Please wait just a moment."
At Seolhyang's words, the servant dashed back inside. In the meantime, I looked at her and let out a small sound of admiration.
"Seolhyang, so you really were a noble?"
"Not anymore. There were… circumstances."
"Circumstances?"
"Every woman has secrets she can't speak of."
Seolhyang closed her mouth as if she had no intention of saying another word on the subject. I shut mine too, and an awkward silence settled between us.
I was just starting to worry that things between us might turn sour when the servant came rushing back and threw open the gate.
"O-oh, my apologies for the wait. The master is expecting you."
Seolhyang followed the servant without a word. Her stride was so sure and unhesitating that no one would ever have guessed she was blind.
The servant clearly hadn't noticed either, because he strode ahead at a brisk, inconsiderate pace without any accommodation for her.
A wide-open garden. A terrace set within it. Beneath a table shaded by a parasol, a man sat leisurely sipping tea.
"—Is it you? The one looking for me."
The man didn't even turn his head as he asked the question. Seolhyang simply fixed her gaze in his direction, saying nothing.
If her eyesight had been intact, lasers might have shot out of them and melted the man on the spot.
"I apologize for arriving unannounced, without an appointment. And thank you for receiving us. Lord Cyrus."
"A well-mannered young lady. The Seol family, was it? I don't believe I've heard of them."
"…We're a small house from the East, already fading into obscurity. It's only natural you wouldn't know of us."
I pulled out a chair at the table so Seolhyang could sit. Once she was settled, I quickly took the seat beside her.
Only then did Cyrus turn his head and look at the two of us.
"I don't recall saying you could sit… Are you her attendant?"
"I'm an adventurer. I've been serving as her escort for the time being."
"A noble entrusting her protection to an adventurer…"
Cyrus let out a thoughtful hum, then began examining Seolhyang's face in meticulous detail. Every time his eyes took her in, I clenched my fists under the table and trembled with barely contained rage.
Judging by their conversation, they didn't even know each other. So what exactly was he trying to get at?
After staring at Seolhyang's face for a long while, Cyrus finally looked away and leisurely lifted his teacup.
"So then, young lady of the Seol family—what business brings you to see me?"
"I simply wanted to make your acquaintance."
"Is that so. For a young lady as beautiful as yourself, I am more than happy to oblige."
At those words, I stared at Seolhyang in pure shock. I'd thought she was trying to forget her old flame and start a new life with me—but that wasn't it at all?
"Marriage is…"
"Ah, I have a wife and children. Those ones running around over there…"
"Is that your entire family…?"
"The servant you met earlier is practically family as well. Ahaha—."
So this was how a noble stole a woman from you. I let their conversation wash over one ear and looked around.
In the distance, the children Cyrus had mentioned were racing joyfully through the garden. There were quite a few of them. Five. All roughly the same age.
A few things stood out as odd. For noble children, they were running around with far too much wild abandon. Their hair was greasy, and their faces and fingernails were caked with dirt.
That's the kind of look you usually only see on commoner kids.
I was thinking that this noble raised his children in a rather unusual way when Seolhyang carefully rose from her seat. I'd been distracted looking elsewhere, so I scrambled to my feet as well.
"Today was a pleasure, Lord Cyrus. I hope we might meet again."
"A visit from a beautiful young lady is always welcome. Ah—though my wife might not feel the same. Hahaha."
"Then I'll take my leave."
Leaving his unfunny joke behind, Seolhyang walked straight out of the mansion. I stuck right by her side and immediately launched into trash-talking Cyrus.
"He has a wife and still says a young lady is welcome… What a total womanizer."
"…"
"And with three kids already, he must be some kind of massive pervert—"
"Could you be a little quieter, please?"
"…Yes. I'm sorry."
Seolhyang didn't say another word after that. An ominous silence clogged the space between us like a blocked toilet all the way back to the inn.
She finally spoke again just as we reached our room.
"Evan."
"S-Seolhyang. About earlier, that was my fault—"
"Forget about that. I have a few favors to ask."
"—Yes! Anything you need!"
"Tomorrow, could you arrange a carriage back to the city for me?"
As she said it, Seolhyang held out a coin purse. I stared blankly down at her hand, unable to process what she'd just said.
Only after she gave her hand a little shake, as if to ask what I was waiting for, did it hit me—she had no interest in Cyrus at all. She wanted to go back to the city.
"I'll take care of it right away!"
"It's rather late, so it may take a while. And since we need to leave first thing tomorrow, there won't be many people willing to take the job. Take your time if you need to—just find someone reliable. Ah, and we'll need supplies for the return trip as well. Could you prepare those too?"
Evening. The hour of twilight. It was far too late to start making arrangements now. Even if I spent the entire night running around, it might not be possible.
But instead of complaining or saying it couldn't be done, I simply nodded.
"Leave it to me."
And with that, I walked straight out of the room.
She wanted to go back with me—what reason did I have to say no?
I wanted to get out of this city—away from that damn noble scumbag—as soon as humanly possible.
Hurried footsteps pounded away into the distance. Only after they had faded beyond hearing did Seolhyang slowly rise to her feet.
He's gone.
She knew full well that finding a carriage and supplies for a departure tomorrow, starting now, was impossible. That had been the point.
To keep Evan wandering the city all day, so he couldn't interfere with what she was about to do.
I brought him along thinking he might be useful… but I can't use him after all.
Evan was young and pure-hearted. He was suspiciously kind to her—almost as if he'd fallen for her—but even someone like him would try to stop her if he realized what she intended.
Her lifelong wish was finally within reach. She could not allow anyone to stand in her way.
Well then. Shall we?
She pulled a set of black clothes from her luggage and put them on—a single garment that dyed her entire body in darkness.
Seolhyang changed without any help, as though she could see perfectly well. She tied back her hair, then launched herself out the window. Her lithe body pushed off the windowsill and soared into the night sky.
On the way to and from Cyrus's mansion, she had already mapped out every building and landmark along the route. A woman who had spent her entire life training for nothing else could pull off such superhuman feats as if they were nothing.
Bounding from rooftop to rooftop, she arrived at the mansion without the slightest difficulty. She slipped inside without making a sound, her footsteps soft as falling snow.
"—Wh-who's there!?"
Whether by rotten luck or because the mansion's security was a cut above the ordinary—she found herself face-to-face with the same servant who had greeted them that morning.
Seolhyang listened to the fear-soaked voice calling out from a distance and wordlessly drew a dagger.