Chapter 17
Chapter 17
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 17
Chapter Title: The War Hero Pretends to be OOOO (3)
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S-grade Mana Core Pafnil's explosion.
It was an explosion like a Meteor spell crashing down, but I didn't die amid the blast.
There was the minor issue of everything covering my body getting burned away, but my hair and eyebrows included, no part of my body was scorched.
And after that? What did I do?
I threw on a suitable black robe I'd snatched from one of the Empire's masters, then casually dove into the river.
Drifting along with the current, I spent some leisurely time bobbing like a buoy, hoping a new connection might come my way as I floated downstream.
If I'd ended up carried out to sea, I would've just waited quietly near some sandy beach, pretending I'd washed ashore.
Waiting patiently for someone to find me.
Like this silver-haired beauty speaking politely to me right now.
"Are you okay?"
"I... I'm fine."
Remember this.
You are not Hans Wilhelm.
The moment it's revealed that I'm Hans Wilhelm, this woman's gaze would change in an instant.
The slight wariness a baron's noble lady feels toward someone who seems like an extraordinarily unusual figure, mixed with her kind heart's desire to help—that gaze would be gone forever.
Fear and awe, along with longing for the continent's hero.
"Really? You're not hurt anywhere, right?"
"Yes. Thank you for your concern."
The political gazes that countless people from the Grates Kingdom had once sent my way wouldn't be the same as this ordinary, everyday look directed at a regular person. It would vanish for good.
"Um, miss?"
Normally, you wouldn't call a noble lady "miss."
But before I even started my act, I'd treated this silver-haired beauty in a way that turned her budding 'suspicion' into mistaken 'certainty.'
"Do you... know something about me, by any chance?"
"......"
"I'm sorry. That might sound strange, but I don't really know who I am."
"You've lost your memory."
"Lost my memory."
"Yes. I don't know who you are... but you're no ordinary person."
This woman.
She'd spoken politely to me upon waking from my faint.
"This is the Arsin Barony in the Senderan Duchy. I'm the youngest of the baron's three daughters, Diela Arsin."
"Diela Arsin."
The moment I heard that name, I instinctively moved to adopt the posture of noble etiquette.
"......?"
Then I froze for a second, putting on a puzzled expression.
As if thinking 'Why am I taking this posture?' I showed confusion about my own identity, tensing up my body fully.
"Just as I thought."
Watching me, Diela nodded with a face full of conviction.
"I don't know what incident you got caught up in, but you can stay at the Arsin Barony until your memories return."
"Pardon?"
"The Arsin Barony isn't so impoverished that we'd chase out someone who's lost their memory."
"Th... thank you. I'm grateful, but."
I put on an innocent expression, placing a hand on my chest as I asked,
"Why are you being so kind to me?"
"Well...."
Your movements carry the etiquette of nobility, which isn't something perfected overnight, so at the very least, you're presumed to be a noble who's lost his memory.
Instead of voicing such a mercenary thought, Lady Diela answered with a bright smile.
Being mistaken for an amnesiac noble.
That wasn't just some random setup on my part.
They'd already been suspecting 'maybe,' and I'd merely driven the wedge home with simple actions that my body remembered despite the amnesia.
I hadn't deceived them.
If anything, Lady Diela had jumped to her own conclusions.
'I really can't stand it.'
Whether I reveal my identity as Hans Wilhelm later or just vanish, I can vaguely read people's thoughts through the mana flowing from their bodies when judging them.
This woman.
'She's curious about my background, but fundamentally a good person.'
If I'd acted unnoble, she wouldn't have bothered with polite speech.
In other words, even if I weren't a noble, what she was about to say would be the same, just phrased differently.
"The Arsin Barony will take responsibility for you until you recover your memories. And I'll help you. To get them back."
This woman is fundamentally kind.
Meeting her as amnesiac A instead of Hans Wilhelm allowed me to have this romantic exchange with such a pure, good-hearted beauty.
-Kyaa! Sir Hans Wilhelm in our house!! Hero of the continent! I'm a fan!!
...She thought of me too much like an idol and her stalker fan, but considering the gazes from the ladies at the Grates Kingdom's banquets, it wasn't far off.
Anyway.
"Th... thank you so much. I don't know how to repay this kindness."
The pure feelings of a beauty that Hans Wilhelm would never see made my heart feel at ease naturally.
Just talking with a beauty whose atmosphere was worlds apart from the spider- and mantis-infested social halls of the royal family, where someone like Princess Sylvia might try to bind me with forced marriage.
"Hmm... kindness."
Swoosh.
Lady Diela reached out toward me, pointing in one direction.
"I'd like to check if you can read and write. Will you follow me?"
"Read...!"
"Yes. Come this way. We'll figure out what kind of 'work' you can do."
Work.
One regrettable thing was that this Arsin Barony clearly wasn't wealthy.
If it were the Wilhelm Barony, they'd feed, house, and bathe an amnesiac beauty without batting an eye, but here, they couldn't afford such luxuries for a stray.
The Senderan Duchy itself was like that.
They'd succeeded in defending the duchy's capital from the Empire, but many had died or been injured in the process.
If the war had dragged on, the ducal family would have been wiped out, the nobles reduced to commoners, and the Senderan Duchy would have vanished into the annals of history.
"Follow me."
The third daughter of the Arsin Barony, Diela Arsin, kept glancing back at the man following three steps behind her, observing him closely.
Face—handsome.
Not some peerless beauty who could conquer the world with looks alone, but compared to the sleazy only sons of noble houses who reeked of entitlement, he had a fresh, innocent charm.
Body—perfect.
The physique visible through his clothes, his build, and the muscles that couldn't be hidden even by fabric made him look like a knight who'd trained diligently for years.
A man with a far superior body than any knight in their house.
Though amnesiac, he was surprisingly calm and composed for someone who'd lost their memories.
'He's definitely an incredible knight.'
Not like those soldiers who got knighted en masse after chowing down on battlefield scraps to survive in the Senderan Duchy—not like them, but a true knight who'd reached the level of wielding aura like the Grates Kingdom's knight orders, able to infuse mana into his blade.
The most likely scenario: a knight from the Grates Kingdom who'd lost his memory and drifted here.
He hadn't been particularly shocked by the interior of the baron's mansion, and every glance clearly showed him pondering his identity over and over.
If he'd been a commoner, even in a baron's house, he'd have gaped in awe.
Not being surprised meant he was used to walking these halls—or even grander noble estates.
'He might be even greater than I imagine.'
Diela was convinced.
This man was no ordinary guy.
So, to prepare for when he regained his memories, she absolutely couldn't treat him carelessly.
For that reason, right now—
"Hey!"
"......!!"
She thought it would be trouble if they ran into them, but just then.
"You picked up a man, huh?"
"Mother...!"
"Oh ho ho! So you're finally an adult, are you?"
A middle-aged woman with golden hair cascading like frills appeared from the opposite end of the corridor.
Wearing a lavish dress unfit for the barony's budget, the golden-haired, blue-eyed woman approached with a fan adorned with frills, her corset cinched tight enough to gather even her soul into her proud chest as she stood before Diela.
"As the wife of the Arsin Baron, I can't forgive letting just any man into the bedrooms."
"Mother...!"
There are things mothers and daughters should and shouldn't say, but this was a blatant insult to Diela.
"Don't speak so carelessly. I brought him because he might die, to take care of him—not with any such intentions!"
"It's always the ones who say that who end up wearing nothing but negligee and signaling you to sneak into their room at night."
"Mother...!"
"Girl, you're giving me a headache. Who do you think you're calling so casually? Insolent brat. Who dares speak to whom like...!"
As the baroness's right hand rose with palm open, Diela's body froze solid.
A long-habituated posture.
One that would minimize damage when that palm flew toward her cheek—
Thwack.
"......?"
"What do you think you're doing?"
There was a dull thud somewhere.
"Right now."
Before she knew it, the man had stepped behind her, grabbing the wrist Jasmine was swinging with one hand.
"What do you think you're trying to do to the lady?"