4 — Gods and Goddesses Disturbed My Loneliness

After that event, I took a shower to remove stains and bacteria from my entire being.

As if I were growing up... confined within the castle's ruin. And yes, all alone.

I soaked my sweaty body, along with my fragile dignity, in the bathtub while pondering what had just happened when I was mapping Myra's memory some time ago.

Anyway, on an unrelated note, this bathroom was perhaps too luxurious for my liking.

With a bathtub and a shower inside, the wooden floor was intricately carved with flowery patterns, while the wall was covered with papers. Overall, it was too dramatic.

However, I couldn't help but get distracted by such an annoying sight.

Thus, I made some bubbles while considering the whole thing as my final verdict.

So, based upon my readings...

It was indeed Myra's Being that had been manipulated.

There was indeed a woman wearing the teacher's uniform—or to be precise, a long black gown with a formal shirt. At first, I had assumed it was Professor Melia. Her face had been blurred, and it could be that she had intentionally done it to erase her identity.

Apologies for using the exact same word for dramatic effect. I couldn't help it.

So, who might that be?

"May I join?"

That question, which apparently worked as a distraction to my exceptionally rhythmic cadence, ended my chain of reasoning abruptly. Almost instantaneously, I looked at who was speaking.

Oh look, the embodiment of nuisance herself.

"I never gave you any permission in the first place."

I replied while still soaking my body.

Do I look like I care about your very existence at all?

"Heh. Didn't I tell you already?"

"Efficiency."

She said that while leaning her head, and with no clothes on. Her chest was simply bare, hanging just like that. Everything was just... wide open, way too visible in front of me. Did anyone in her royal family ever teach her the basics of normal demeanor? Or even some sense of decency about what acts should be considered acceptable by societal norms nowadays?

I mean, simply put... at least have some shame!

Meh, mine is bigger anyway.

I sighed and shrugged before nodding, not caring whether she actually would or not.

It's not like I expected any mad plot twist from her anyway...

She walked casually with those low-hanging fruits in perhaps the most shameless way I had ever seen, as if she were a man, then joined the bathtub like nothing had happened.

And seriously, this wasn't the first time, nor twice, nor thrice.

It happened every single day, yet I still felt the need to be concerned about whether "common sense" as a language actually existed inside her brain in the first place, given the audacity.

She then rubbed my shoulder from behind.

I could sense a playful smile forming on her lips right behind me, one that was more than enough to make me shudder at the thought of what could have been had I seen it in front of me in the first place.

You really enjoy doing this to make fun of me, don't you?

Also, it's not like she needed to take a bath!

"So, why did you suddenly run after being so idiotic, hm?"

She pressed my shoulder forcefully with intensity, applying pressure like that to this fragile body. Maybe she didn't care enough, and she thought I was being reckless.

No, this must be intentional.

"Not your business—ah! Stop that!"

She never did, and instead pressed even harder than before. She knew I would be dodging her questions like usual. So, a push was certainly needed according to her silly logic.

"O-okay! I surrender! Give, give up!"

"So?"

She looked at me, her face almost making contact with my shoulder.

"Erm, let's say I was confused for a bit."

I swirled my hair until it wrapped around my finger.

"Confused about what, exactly?"

I paused for a few seconds before replying.

"It's... complicated."

It indeed was, though not as much as—

"How much compared to the Philosophy of Magic?"

Okay, how did she know?

"Not that much, I guess."

She rubbed my shoulder gently, trying to help cleanse my body.

"I see. Then… shall we make out now?"

Ew, no. Never! Die!

One would have thought insanity itself belonged to this girl instead of her being a madwoman. Also, how come she used the word "shall" so casually, as if this were a tea lesson? Unbelievable!

"Do you want to get smacked on the head? This is serious."

She stopped playing around, and instead came up with something unexpected, even for me.

"Let me guess…"

She paused for dramatic effect, then continued. I could totally imagine her deadpan face.

"Oh, my. Myra broke my rhythmic cadence after such an unfortunate 'reading' of her mind. It suggested there was something off about her memory, given the implications of those observations."

Way too formal, and way too pompous. Stop pretending you know what I'm thinking about.

"Maybe I shouldn't allow you to be here. You make me feel like I'm going to die."

"Don't say that." She snapped her middle finger against my forehead at the same time.

I really wanted to say, "Ouch!" in a dramatic fashion and then scream for help, but maybe I simply accepted that she was right about it. Though, I only did it as a joke. Nothing serious.

"So, who manipulated her memory?"

She asked, her tone interrogating.

"I have come up with a hypothesis, but I don't know whether I've got enough evidence."

She leaned closer.

"Let's talk about it with Professor Ren. He might be able to help us."

Wait, that chopstick guy again? Ew, impossible.

Ren Liebekraft Seraphine. He is Lily's mentor for her Extra, swording. A distant cousin from a cadet branch of the Seraphine family—close enough to share the name, far enough that neither of them pretended it meant anything.

That's all. No further introductions needed.

"I don't—"

All of a sudden, the door blew wide open.

Oh no, it must be that little spirit.

"YIP! MASTER!!!!"

She jumped... wait, no. Let me repeat that again properly. She ran toward the bathtub, then jumped, causing the word "SPLASH!" to become a sound effect rather than a verb.

Followed by "BOOM!", obviously.

"So, what are you both talking about?!"

Oh dear Gods and Goddesses, can I take a bath in peace? Why do you have to make me suffer?

I can't resist this test, exam, or whatever it is of yours anymore.

They really loved turning everything related to me into some kind of contrived banter setup mostly seen in circuses during festivals. What grief, this really is something.

Seriously, how much patience do I really need here?

The end.

I mean, of this banter... obviously.

But of course, it wasn't the end. It never was.

Myra was now fully submerged in the bathtub, her tail flicking water everywhere, her ears twitching with that particular energy she only got when she was about to cause problems on purpose. She surfaced with a gasp, shook her head violently, and sprayed droplets across the entire bathroom like a wet dog who had just discovered the concept of chaos.

"Kon! Master! You didn't answer me!"

"I didn't answer you because you didn't ask me anything yet."

"Yip! I asked what you were both talking about!"

"You asked that after you jumped in. That's not how questions work."

Myra tilted her head. Her ears flattened, then perked back up. She was thinking. That was always dangerous.

"Kon… so what were you talking about?"

I looked at Lily. Lily looked at me. Neither of us said anything for a long moment.

Then Lily, because she was the embodiment of nuisance and had no sense of self-preservation, said: "We were talking about you."

Myra blinked.

"Kon?"

"About your memory," Lily continued. "About the fact that someone has been tampering with it. About the fact that Clara here decided to dive into your head without asking permission first, and nearly got herself killed doing it."

"Lily—"

"No," she said, cutting me off. "She deserves to know. You went into her mind, Clara. You saw things that weren't yours to see. And then you came back and collapsed on the floor like a puppet with its strings cut. She ran because she felt you poking around in her head. She knows something happened. And now you're going to sit here and pretend everything is fine?"

I opened my mouth. Closed it. Opened it again.

She was right. I hated that she was right.

Myra was looking at me now, and her eyes—those bright, curious, impossibly innocent eyes—had changed. They were still bright. Still curious. But there was something underneath them now, something that hadn't been there before.

Fear.

"Master," she said, very quietly. "What did you see?"

I reached out and touched her head. Her fur was wet and warm. She didn't pull away.

"I saw someone," I said. "Someone who hurt you. Someone who took pieces of your memory and hid them somewhere you couldn't find them. I don't know how many times she did it. I don't know why. But I saw her."

Myra's ears flattened all the way down.

"Kon…"

"I'm sorry I didn't ask first. I should have."

She was quiet for a long moment.

Then she said: "Was it the white lady?"

The room went very still.

"White lady?" Lily repeated.

"Kon. The one with the hair like snow. She comes sometimes. She smiles at me. She tells me to forget things, and then I do." Myra's tail curled around her legs. "I don't like her. But I can't remember why."

I felt something cold settle in my chest.

"You remember her," I said. "Even though she made you forget."

"Yip. Only a little. Only when I try really hard."

That was impossible. If the memory manipulation was as thorough as it had looked, Myra shouldn't have been able to remember anything. Not the woman. Not the visits. Not even the feeling of forgetting. But she did. She remembered just enough to be afraid.

Which meant the spell was imperfect.

Which meant there was a flaw in it.

Which meant there was a way to undo it.

"Lily," I said slowly. "Get dressed. We're going to see Professor Ren."

"I thought you hated Professor Ren."

"I do. But he's the only person I know who might be able to tell me what kind of spell leaves a hole like this in someone's memory. And right now, that's more important than my personal feelings."

Lily stared at me for a second, then nodded.

"Fine. But if he tries to lecture you about sword theory again, I'm leaving."

"Deal."

We climbed out of the bathtub. Myra stayed in the water, watching us with those bright, frightened eyes. I paused at the door and looked back at her.

"Hey," I said. "We're going to fix this. I promise."

She tilted her head.

"Kon… even if you have to break into someone's mind again?"

"Even then."

Her tail gave a small, hesitant wag.

That was enough for now.

...