WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: nemui

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◈ The Forgotten Curse Knight ◈

Vol. 3 Ch. 3: Nice to Meet You, and Goodbye

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Theo liked mushrooms of every kind. Finding them in soup or pasta made him happier, and mushrooms were his favorite filling in Press Bread.

Fresh mushrooms were delicious simply grilled until they sizzled, with a pleasant bite. Dried mushrooms, their flavor slowly concentrated, were good too.

And now, after finishing his early morning training, Theo was moved by Mrs. Moran's homemade mushrooms and olives preserved in oil.

Finely chopped mushrooms and olives had been flavored with herbs and garlic, then preserved in oil. It was delicious piled onto crisp toast. He felt as though he could eat slice after slice.

"Mrs. Moran, this is really delicious! I love mushrooms...!"

"Oh my, I'm glad to hear it."

Mrs. Moran, one of the Gray Knights' junior staff, was an elegant woman with blond hair streaked with white, gathered neatly behind her head. Along with Noah, another member of the junior staff, she handled all the household work at Cinder House.

She took a notebook from the corner of a cupboard and wrote inside it.

"Theo → Mushrooms and olives preserved in oil"

Apparently, she kept track of people's favorite foods.

Theo stopped eating and looked at Mrs. Moran.

"You're... writing it down?"

Theo, who bore the Oblivion Curse, was difficult for ordinary people to remember.

That was why Mrs. Moran, Noah, and Administrator Archibald checked a poster on the wall that read, "If this face looks familiar: Oblivion Theo."

Theo had thought this notebook might be part of that effort, but apparently not.

"Hehe. I've been doing this for a long time. Even without the Oblivion Curse, people are creatures who forget."

Mrs. Moran opened the notebook so Theo could see.

It recorded the Gray Knights' likes and dislikes, along with foods that did not agree with them.

Each of these dishes probably held memories Theo did not know.

"Even if you didn't have your curse... I'm sorry, but I'm sure I'd forget all sorts of things. I'm already an old woman, after all."

Theo, who carried the Oblivion Curse, was obsessed with being remembered.

But people were creatures who forgot, regardless of Theo's curse. Theo did not think that was cruel.

Mrs. Moran gently traced the writing in a recipe with her wrinkled fingers.

"Where I learned to make a dish, who I ate it with, who liked it. Even if I forget memories like that... isn't it strange? My hands remember exactly how to make it and season it."

Mrs. Moran raised her face and looked at Theo.

Her eyes narrowed, as though she were trying to burn Theo's face into her memory.

"One day, I may forget you, Theo... but I can still make food you like. Even after I'm gone, someone else can look at this recipe and make it for you. That is how something remains within people, even when they are forgotten."

Oblivion was terrifying to Theo, but in truth, forgetting was natural.

Theo fought against oblivion, yet Mrs. Moran's way of living left a small impression on him.

(Even if someone forgets, something remains...)

A faint pain pricked his chest. Theo pressed a hand to his chest and followed the notebook's writing with his eyes.

There were names in the records that Theo did not know.

Perhaps they belonged to people stationed on the front lines in West End, or people who had died in the line of duty.

Curious, Theo asked.

"Have you worked here for a long time, Mrs. Moran?"

"Let's see, has it been nine years now...? I may be one of the old hands here."

Mrs. Moran was an ordinary person, not a Mad Walker.

What circumstances had kept her working at Cinder House for nearly ten years?

Theo considered that in a corner of his mind as he followed the words in the notebook.

The gentle handwriting and notes considering the Gray Knights' health were full of kindness, reflecting Mrs. Moran's character.

Just then, Beryl entered the dining hall, a woman with sand-colored hair and dark skin. When she saw Theo, Beryl waved one hand lazily.

"Hey, Theo. Come meet your big sis and Professor Gertrude."

Gertrude. That name was in the notebook too. Next to it was written: Be careful not to drink too much coffee.

Mrs. Moran spoke gently to Theo.

"Gertrude is in charge of Cinder House's infirmary. She also often visits the research facility in Erington."

"Um, is she... a doctor?"

Mrs. Moran looked troubled by Theo's question. For some reason, Beryl was giving a wry smile too.

"I think she's cut open more Termea than humans."

That was an alarming thing to hear out of nowhere.

Theo froze, and Beryl spoke in an especially cheerful tone.

"Well, you'll understand once you meet her. Your big sis will come along too."

* * *

"Well, well, Theo. Nice to meet you, and goodbye."

The one who spoke like an assassin about to kill someone was a woman in her mid-thirties with a faint smile on her face.

Her name was Gertrude, a member of the Gray Knights. She wore a white coat over her Gray Knight uniform, and her dark brown hair was carelessly tied back.

Over her left eye, she wore an imposing monocle fitted with several parts. Its lens was black, and it was difficult to see beyond it.

Theo stood there, swallowing hard, until Gertrude gave his shoulder a light pat.

"Then let us begin at once. Cast your oblivion on me."

"Isn't all of this rather sudden!?"

"Professor Gertrude is as full-throttle as ever."

Behind the shouting Theo, Beryl said this while pulling out an infirmary chair without permission.

Gertrude offered Theo a chair and sat directly across from him.

Theo had entered the infirmary several times before. It was a clean room with three simple beds lined up inside.

Along the walls stood a filing cabinet, a locked medicine cabinet, and shelves of sanitary supplies, all neatly arranged.

"Now then, my actions may seem somewhat abrupt, but there is a reason for them."

Gertrude held her elaborate monocle in place with one finger and spoke with that faint smile still on her face.

"Administrator Archibald has told me about you. You have already performed some tests on your abilities, have you not?"

"Yes. Only 〈Self-Forgetfulness〉 and 〈Designated Oblivion〉, though..."

"Indeed. Your Oblivion abilities can broadly be divided into three types. 〈Constant Oblivion〉, which makes ordinary people forget you, and the voluntarily activated 〈Self-Forgetfulness〉 and 〈Designated Oblivion〉."

Gertrude spread paper on the table and wrote 〈Constant Oblivion〉, 〈Self-Forgetfulness〉, and 〈Designated Oblivion〉 on it.

〈Constant Oblivion〉 had been observed even before Theo awakened as a Mad Walker.

It was the phenomenon in which people around Theo, excluding the Blessed and Mad Walkers, found him difficult to remember or forgot him quickly. Rather than being constantly active, it could be said that it was a power he could barely control, constantly leaking out.

The voluntarily activated 〈Self-Forgetfulness〉 made its target lose its sense of self. It put enemies into the classic state of "Where am I? Who am I?" and interfered with their actions. It was effective against Termea as well.

Then there was 〈Designated Oblivion〉. It could take away a specific memory, but at a great cost.

"You have already enlisted an ordinary person's help to test 〈Designated Oblivion〉. When you take away a specific memory, the person completely forgets you as well. Is that correct?"

"...Yes."

With Beryl present, Theo had asked a soldier he trained with to take part in a simple test: he made the soldier forget what they had eaten for breakfast.

As a result, he had successfully taken away that specific memory, and the soldier had forgotten Theo.

He had not tried it yet, but Theo was certain that 〈Self-Forgetfulness〉 would have the same result. Ordinary people had no resistance to Theo's Oblivion Curse. Thus, simply coming into contact with Theo's curse made them forget he existed.

"Then have you ever tested what happens when 〈Self-Forgetfulness〉 or 〈Designated Oblivion〉, both voluntarily activated abilities, are used on a Mad Walker?"

"That..."

Theo unconsciously clenched his fists in his lap.

When he forced out his answer, it tasted bitter.

"...I haven't."

"Why have you not? Because it pains you when someone you have grown close to forgets you."

"...That's right."

Theo had already grown fond of the people he had met at Cinder House.

The easygoing captain JJ, caring Beryl, immortal Carla, spiteful Hugo, drunken Rosé, calm and mature Hulk. There were difficult people among them, but he had still spent time with all of them.

Theo's 〈Constant Oblivion〉 did not affect Mad Walkers.

But what if using 〈Self-Forgetfulness〉 or 〈Designated Oblivion〉 made them forget him? That frightened Theo.

Gertrude scratched her pen across the paper as she spoke smoothly.

"Are 〈Self-Forgetfulness〉 and 〈Designated Oblivion〉 effective against Mad Walkers? And will the price be that they forget you? These two points should be understood soon. Therefore, I, a Mad Walker, intend to help test your abilities... but."

Gertrude paused and hugged herself while still holding her pen.

"If, while we are speaking like this, you come to feel affection for me... Oh, what a tragedy. You loved me, but I remember nothing at all about you."

"Um...?"

Affection was rather too much of a stretch, so Theo could only give a slightly unenthusiastic response.

Theo looked at her as though wondering what she was talking about. Gertrude grinned.

"That is why I wish to finish the test before our bond deepens. Do you understand?"

Behind Theo, Beryl muttered a retort.

"You're amazing, Professor Gertrude. It sounds rational at first, but there are so many things to call out."

Theo thought about it. Could this be Gertrude's way of being kind?

Theo would be hurt if someone he had become even a little close to forgot him.

That was why Gertrude had proposed a test that would hurt Theo as little as possible. She was even putting herself on the line.

Thinking of it that way, gratitude welled up inside Theo. What should he do? He would probably feel sad if Gertrude forgot him already.

"Still, to think I can have such a precious experience with my own body. It is truly delightful. Ufufufufufu."

Gertrude's smile deepened. It changed from a faint smile into one of rapture.

Only now did Theo notice. The eye not covered by her monocle had dark circles beneath it and was slightly bloodshot.

"You see, I love Termea. Is it not wonderful to experience a Termea's curse firsthand?"

"Huh?"

Beryl looked Theo straight in the face as he froze.

"She's not lying. This woman stabbed the Blood Tail of a captured Termea straight into her own left eye. She's a true Termea freak."

"Huh?"

Theo could not help staring at Gertrude's left eye, the one beneath that elaborate monocle.

Gertrude lifted both corners of her mouth and spread her arms.

"Come, let us begin the test! Beryl, keep a record of this exchange for me."

"Ah, I see. If Professor Gertrude forgets Theo, I just need to show her this."

"Your understanding is quick. How helpful."

Gertrude peered into Theo's face and cradled his cheeks with her long, slender fingers.

Her pale face looking down at him wore a smile that seemed likely to appear in his nightmares.

Honestly, Theo was the one who wanted to forget.

"In case my present self forgets you, I will say it beforehand. Goodbye, Theo."

So that was the true meaning behind her first words, "Nice to meet you, and goodbye." It was somehow philosophical.

"Oblivion is a kind of parting. It is lonely, yet not lonely, because we can meet again. Ufufufufufu."

It was a positive thing to say, yet why did it make Theo's spine feel so cold?

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