Chapter 11 – Memories

Huh? Why is everything... black?
Where am I? I remember killing that lion-like monster... and now... what?Am I dead too?
While I was panicking, I suddenly heard a soft voice — the voice of a young boy.
"Mom! Dad! I’m so happy today! Today’s my birthday!"
I saw a boy sitting on a chair, and a woman and a man — probably his parents — were celebrating with him.
“Wow! My boy turned 10 today. Happy birthday!”“Happy birthday, sweetheart!”
The boy beamed: “When I grow up, I’ll be just like my dad! He’s so cool and always takes care of me!”
It was a wholesome scene... until it turned into something horrifying.
The next thing I saw...
That same couple, lying on the floor — dead.The boy... crying... screaming...
“Mom! Dad! Wake up! Please! PLEASE!”
Then... a shadow appeared.A heavy, sinister voice echoed from it:
“Boy, do you want to see your mother and father alive again?”
The boy, desperate and broken, just nodded.“Yes... I want that... please...”
The shadow placed a hand on the boy’s head — and in that moment, I felt everything: sorrow, pain, desperation... and shattered dreams.
All of it twisted together… and took the form of a monster.
Yeah — the same monster I had just killed.
The memory ended there, and I snapped back to reality. My eyes flew open.
Mira was sitting beside me, looking down with worry.
“You’re awake! Are you okay?”
I blinked at her. “What… happened?”
“After you defeated that monster, you collapsed,” she said. “You were crying in your sleep… I didn’t know what to do, so I waited for you to wake up.”
That… memory wasn’t just a dream. It was real. Somehow, I had entered the memory of the beast I just killed.
That memory... it was definitely connected to the Memory Eater.
Still thinking about it, I turned to check on Shimon — he was still unconscious, lying nearby. He didn’t look good.
I started rummaging through my item box.“Do I have any potions or bandages…?”
But before I could pull anything out, Mira interrupted:
“Wait! I can try something. Healing magic.”
I looked at her, stunned.“Huh? Healing magic?! You never told me you could use that!”
She shrugged. “There was no need until now. Let me focus.”
She began murmuring a spell. A soft, warm light glowed from her hands — even from a distance, I could feel the comfort in it.
The light enveloped Shimon. His face, once twisted in pain, slowly relaxed.
He opened his eyes.
“Thanks… Mira,” he said quietly.
I blinked.
“EXCUSE ME?! What about me? I saved your butt out there and you’re just thanking her?! You good-for-nothing, ex-noble…”
He looked at me and bowed slightly. “Forgive my rudeness. You’re right. Thank you for saving me — I owe you one.”
Guilt hit me like a slap. Maybe I overreacted.
I sighed.
“...Sorry for insulting you.”
“It’s alright,” he smiled. “No hard feelings.”
I looked at him and blurted out:“You’re my real friend. Please don’t leave me.”
I KNOW, I KNOW! That totally sounded like a girlfriend line, but come on! He’s so calm and cool even when insulted. Where do you even find guys like that?
But just to be clear…
I. Am. NOT. Into. Guys.
Don’t get any weird ideas, okay? I’m straight as a blade. Sorry for your disappointment.
Anyway, as I was having that moment, Mira made a face like, “Ughhh... can you two go flirt somewhere else?”
I snapped. “Hey! You shut your mouth!”
She yelled back, and suddenly we were bickering like siblings. Shimon just watched us and said with a slight chuckle:
“You two are pretty close, huh?”
At the same time, we both shouted:
“Definitely not!”
He laughed. “Okay, okay. My bad…”
Eventually, we settled down and I shared what I saw during the battle.
I told them everything — the boy, the birthday, the tragedy, the shadow, and how that boy became the monster.
“I think… that shadow — the one in the memory — he has something to do with the Memory Eater. Or maybe… he is the Memory Eater.”
They nodded slowly.
“If what you saw is true,” Shimon said, “then that monster wasn’t just a beast… he was once a boy.”
Mira looked down. “And the Memory Eater twisted his pain into that form…”
“Yeah,” I replied. “We finally have a clue about that bastard.”
As we were talking, the corpse of the monster began to glow faintly.
Shimon stood up instantly, ready to fight again.
But then…
A soft voice echoed:
“Thank you.”
It was the boy’s voice — no doubt about it.
The light from the monster’s body rose gently into the sky, drifting upward like a spirit finally freed.
Before it vanished completely, I heard it again:
“Thank you… for saving me… from that hell…”
And just like that… silence fell.