WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Mordor
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Mistaken as the Dungeon Boss Monster ◈
Chapter 66: Oblivion
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Cecilia's trembling bothered me, so I pushed her back for the moment.
That was all I did, yet she looked up at me with wide eyes.
"...Master?"
She looked like she might burst into tears at any moment, and my resolve weakened for no reason.
Then I remembered her trying to kill me, and a chill ran down my spine.
"I-I'm Ria. It really is Ria...."
Cecilia's level was pink, reminding me of Charlotte's.
Simply because she thought I was her Master, she showed me boundless affection and attachment.
On the other hand, I had only just learned that she even had a Master.
If I'd known beforehand, I could've pretended to be her Master and escaped this crisis.
If I brought her over to our side, our strength would increase several times over.
'That's far too selfish.'
What she saw when she looked at me was clouded by misunderstanding.
What if she later realized I wasn't her Master and that I had used her?
Resistance wouldn't matter. Everyone would die that day, and the dungeon would collapse.
'...If I tell her I'm not her Master now, will she turn on me?'
Once she learned the truth, she might try to kill me again like before.
Still, pretending to be her Master would be like carrying around a ticking bomb.
The moment I claimed to be her Master, it was obvious she'd keep clinging to me like this.
Fine. It was all or nothing.
The moment her level turned red, I decided I'd destroy the Moonlight Sword.
Keeping my eyes on the Moonlight Sword, I opened my mouth.
"First, let's make one thing clear. I'm not your Master."
"...What?"
I just wanted Cecilia to leave without any further conflict.
And I wanted her never to come back.
Of course, Cecilia had slaughtered the Extermination Party, so she probably had nowhere to go.
That wasn't my concern.
All that mattered was my safety. Just having Cecilia near me made me feel like my life was in danger.
"Not only am I not your Master, I don't know you."
"...."
"I don't hold any hostility toward you. So let's end this here. I want you to leave. That's all."
I kept my eyes on the Moonlight Sword while discreetly watching the color of her level.
For now, it remained a deep pink.
It felt like walking a tightrope.
"Go back to where you came from. And don't ever come here again. We're not your enemies."
Honestly, just standing before Cecilia made my legs shake.
She was someone who could kill me easily, someone who had nearly killed me.
Just because I had the Moonlight Sword didn't mean I could easily subdue her.
She was an opponent who would be difficult even if we all attacked together, so compromise was the only way to survive.
Try keeping someone this frightening close by deceiving her into believing you're her Master.
I wouldn't be able to live a single day without worrying.
I was scared, but I had no choice but to send her away somehow.
My face was reflected in Cecilia's tear-filled eyes.
Seeing such a beautiful woman cry hurt, but she was also a woman who could kill me without effort.
I hardened my heart and focused only on her gaze.
Cecilia rubbed her eyes wildly with the back of her hand.
"Then... why didn't you attack me?"
"...."
"You're the Boss of an Abyssal Palace. You defeated Wilhelm, Balm Monk... the Margrave, and the Great Sage too. Why did someone like you do that for me?"
Because you moved faster than my eyes could follow.
I barely held back what I wanted to say.
"And, Masteeer.... The Raurava Ruby Crystal, you broke that too, didn't you? You knew everything, didn't you, Master? Okay?"
The Raurava Ruby Crystal....
Come to think of it, that was the item mentioned in the notification window that appeared when I tried to destroy the Moonlight Sword.
When I'd visited the Demon Realm once before, I'd heard about the Demon Realm's Seven Jewels.
Raurava was a medium for mental manipulation that broke down its target's mental strength.
I was starting to understand how everything fit together.
It was obvious that Cecilia had mistaken me for her Master after the mental manipulation was undone.
I didn't know the details, but that was the only explanation that came to mind.
Suddenly, Cecilia collapsed to the ground.
Her trembling hands grabbed my legs.
"Me too, Master, okay? I understand how you feel. I know how betrayed you must've felt.... Y-you did nothing but worry about me until the very end...."
"...."
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry.... I didn't recognize you and tried to kill you. I-I don't even know why I did that. B-brainwashing! That's right! It was because I was brainwashed...."
Cecilia wrapped both arms around my legs.
I could feel how tightly she held on, as if she'd never let go.
Cecilia barely swallowed her tears.
"I'm Ria. I won't ever do it again. I missed you so, so much, Master. Can't you accept me again, like before? Please...?"
This was incredibly awkward.
I'd told her over and over that I wasn't her Master, so why did she keep acting like this?
"There's nothing more to say. Go."
"Ah...."
I removed her arms from around my legs.
Her empty eyes stared directly at me, but I ignored them.
After helping her up, I pointed toward the stairs with my fingertip.
Cecilia stared blankly at me.
Like a lost child, tears streamed endlessly down her face. Even when she covered her face with both hands, they wet the ground like rain.
"Sniff, sob...."
Her shoulders shook again and again with each sorrowful sob.
Reluctantly, Cecilia moved away from me.
I felt a little sorry for her, but that was all.
Once she disappeared from sight, I let out the relief I'd been holding back.
'Please don't come back.'
Honestly, I should've killed her while she was letting her guard down like this.
Then there would've been no aftermath, and I could rest easy.
But how could I do that?
Seeing her like that, I couldn't kill her even if I could.
It struck me again that I was too softhearted for my own good.
Afterward, I instructed Charlotte to clean up the battlefield.
The Minions of the Night recovered Carleon. At the edge of my vision, I saw Balutak and Isabella, who had regained consciousness in the meantime.
Just as I was about to ask Isabella how she was feeling,
"...Boss."
Charlotte suddenly called me.
She held a crystal ball in her hand, as if to show me something.
The moment my eyes fell on it, a sigh slipped out.
Cecilia was sitting on the ground on the upper floor, sobbing with her face buried in her knees.
Apparently, she still couldn't let go.
Could she just leave already?
"What will you do?"
I couldn't force Cecilia out through violence.
Even if it were possible, we'd have to endure enormous losses.
I didn't know anymore.
The situation was already a mess, and I didn't want to worry about Cecilia any further.
"Leave her. She'll get tired and go on her own."
* * *
Charlotte looked at the crystal ball and let out a deep sigh.
Two days had passed, yet Cecilia remained in the same spot like a stone lodged in the ground.
The Boss might have stopped caring, but Charlotte couldn't.
Step, step.
She headed toward the first floor, where Cecilia was.
As the sound of her footsteps drew close, Cecilia lifted her head from afar.
The skin around her eyes was damp and flushed light pink.
Her hopeful eyes fell on Charlotte, then quickly dimmed.
When Charlotte approached, Cecilia worked her lips.
"I'm grateful to you. You saved my Master."
Mumble, mumble.
Cecilia spoke in a muffled, slurred voice.
Charlotte looked down at her with indifferent eyes.
It didn't matter what she felt.
"I have something to ask you."
For the past two days, Charlotte had been forced to suppress the questions that kept returning to her.
She wanted to ask, but questioning the Boss would go against proper etiquette.
"Are you saying you were the Boss's disciple when he was alive?"
"...Yes."
Even if it was only Cecilia's one-sided claim, it was clear enough.
The Boss had killed even the Great Sage in a single blow, yet he hadn't resisted this woman in the slightest.
He could have killed her in one strike without even laying a hand on her.
No matter how Charlotte thought about it, the Boss must have deliberately allowed Cecilia to attack.
"Tell me what the Boss was like when he was alive."
Cecilia sharply raised her eyes.
"You don't know anything about Master...."
'I remember everything.'
It infuriated Cecilia that a Witch who knew nothing was by the Boss's side.
"I don't know about the Boss's life before becoming undead. I saw the Boss in his current form and have served him ever since. I asked because I was curious, that's all."
"My Master is the Hero Lucas."
"So the Boss was a Hero."
If he was the rising star's Master, then of course he had to be a Hero.
"My Master wasn't just any Hero. He spent his entire life for humanity, then was executed."
Executed? By the Empire?
Charlotte's eyes widened as she urged Cecilia to continue.
"He's pitiful. He gave everything to the Empire, yet he was executed merely for protecting a Witch. Over such a pathetic charge...."
Cecilia glared at Charlotte in the middle of speaking.
After biting her lip, she choked back tears for a long while before opening her mouth.
"It's because of you. Because of Witches, my Master died."
"Are you in any position to say that? Who was the one who tried to kill the Boss?"
Cecilia pressed her lips together.
Soon, she lowered her head weakly.
"I'm sorry...."
"...."
Even as Charlotte watched her, her thoughts turned elsewhere.
A Hero who had protected Witches when he was alive.
Fragments of distant memories seemed almost within reach.
"When and where did the Boss save those Witches?"
"What?"
"I'm asking when the Boss saved the Witches."
"...Ten years ago. In a forest in the remote north."
Ten years ago, in a remote northern village.
It was undoubtedly the massacre that had taken Charlotte's hometown.
Perhaps it was because she had been young.
It hadn't even been that long ago, yet her memories of that time were blurry.
All that remained vividly was the sorrow of losing her hometown and her hatred toward humans.
Afterward, Charlotte had hidden from the Empire's eyes and lived in seclusion, knowing little of the world.
That was why she hadn't known of Lucas's execution until now, and only now realized what kind of person the Boss had been.
'Ever since then... me....'
It was regrettable that Charlotte couldn't remember what happened ten years ago, but the Boss might have saved her.
No, he had saved her. Charlotte firmly believed it.
Of course, it was tragic that he had died protecting Witches.
Still, Charlotte hadn't been the one who had caused his death.
Rather than feel guilty, she swore to spend the rest of her life serving the Boss who had saved her.
She'd always felt that way, but now her resolve became even firmer.
'We were connected from that moment onward.'
A faint smile appeared on Charlotte's lips.
Looking at Cecilia before her, Charlotte even felt a strange sense of superiority.
The Boss had abandoned Cecilia and chosen her instead.
Even if Cecilia had been a close disciple when he was alive, she was nothing to the Boss now.
Charlotte, on the other hand, had been saved by him when he was alive and was fated to serve him for the rest of her life.
"You tried to kill the Boss. You actually came close to succeeding."
"...."
"How can you still cling to the Boss? The Boss wants you to leave as well. Leave the dungeon while the Boss is still showing mercy."
"No."
Cecilia's determination was firm, as if she intended to be buried there even if she died.
Charlotte glared at her for a moment, then sharply turned away.
"I have something to ask too."
Charlotte sighed and turned back around.
It was true that she'd learned about the Boss's past thanks to Cecilia.
"What is it?"
"You're a necromancer, aren't you? You should know a lot about undead."
"What do you want to ask?"
"Does Master... really not remember me?"
She still couldn't let go.
Charlotte clicked her tongue with a furrowed brow.
"That may be the case, or it may not."
"...What does that mean?"
"It means exactly what I said. Most undead forget their memories from life and lose their sense of self."
"Ah...."
Even the word for the dead carried the meaning of oblivion.
Cecilia let out an unconscious sigh.
Then she suddenly shook her head.
"No. That's not it. If Master had forgotten me, why didn't he attack me? He saved me instead."
"The Boss may remember. Higher-ranked undead retain their memories from life."
Hope filled Cecilia's eyes.
Only higher-ranked undead retained their memories from life.
And Master was an Abyssal Palace Lord.
"But in the Boss's case, it's difficult to be certain."
"...Why?"
"The Boss is a Death Knight. Judging only by his body, he's a mid-to-high-ranked undead. Retaining memories from life would be difficult."
"But Master is the Boss of an Abyssal Palace."
"That is true as well. The Boss is no ordinary undead. His body is that of a Death Knight, but his soul's rank surpasses even the Lich King."
"Then...?"
"There are quite a few precedents similar to the Boss. He probably remembers things in the same way they did."
Many undead possessed high-ranking souls regardless of their revived bodies.
They had one thing in common when it came to their memories from life.
"At first, they retain only fragments of their lives. Only the memories that formed the major pillars of their lives. But as the soul wears away, even those memories disappear."
"What do you mean, the soul wears away...?"
"What you did two days ago would be one example."
"...Me?"
"You inflicted a fatal wound on the Boss's soul, didn't you? As a consequence, many memories must have been lost."
In an instant, Cecilia went completely still.
A fatal wound that had driven the Boss to the brink of death.
The horror of that moment kept stabbing into her mind.
"The most precious memories are lost first. The reason the Boss didn't recognize you was probably─"
After those words, Cecilia couldn't hear another thing.
The more she thought back on what had happened, the more wrong it had felt.
Master had accepted the attacks without resistance and even undone the brainwashing.
That was clearly what happened, yet after waking up, he didn't recognize her.
Even though every circumstance proved it was Master, Cecilia couldn't understand why he denied it.
As though those memories had been lost in that brief moment.
"Ah...."
The most precious memories.
For Cecilia, there were only the memories she had shared with Master.
She'd thought countless times that Master must feel the same way she did. She'd wanted it to be true.
But she hadn't wanted to realize it this way.
Master's memories with her had also been his most precious memories. That was why he'd lost every memory he shared with her.
As Cecilia's senses faded, the world seemed to recede into the distance.
There was no sound to hear, yet a strange ringing filled her ears.
She had ruined everything with her own hands.
Regret that had formed a knot in Cecilia's chest rose without restraint.
A shallow breath slipped through her lips.
Her chest hurt as though pierced by needles. It grew worse, as if there were a hole in her chest and icy wind was cutting through it.
Her waist buckled, and her forehead sank to the floor. Her body jerked uncontrollably from the pain in her aching heart.
A strange cry, neither a groan nor a scream, poured from Cecilia's mouth.
Why had she understood everything only after Master had forgotten it all?
* * *
Charlotte closed her eyes and left, turning her back on Cecilia as she wept bitterly.
Secretly, Charlotte felt relieved at the sight.
'I don't know about you, but it has nothing to do with me.'
If Charlotte's guess was true, the Boss had lost only the memories from life.
In other words, the memories since becoming a Death Knight would remain untouched.
Death Knight Vargoer.
A Lord of the Seven Palaces of the Abyss was all Charlotte knew.
Footnotes:
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