Me, the Weakest Member of the Hero’s Party? I’m the Villain Though? - Chapter 59
My mind started working more sharply than ever.
Thinking of the woodcutter in the forest when we first met, and how I’d lied about losing my memory, I’d always prided myself on my ability to handle situations and talk my way out of things.
To be honest, the former excuse hadn’t really worked, but at the time I managed to get by anyway.
But now, nothing at all was coming to mind. In times like these, all you can do is reuse a method you’ve already used.
“I… don’t remember.”
With a vague expression, like someone called in front of a hearing, I spoke hesitantly. Whether they believed it or not was up to them. Usually, they didn’t.
“You don’t remember? You mean you don’t remember leaving the bedroom, crossing that long distance, and even entering the dungeon in the forest?”
Sure enough, Kyle muttered incredulously.
Of course it was hard to believe, but I had to make him believe it.
“Yeah. I just fell asleep. Now that I think about it, I feel like I had a dream or something… but I’m not sure.”
I figured Kyle would be suspicious, but I couldn’t come up with anything better than this old excuse.
“Do you think this might be related to your lost memories? What do you think, Elonen?”
Kyle looked at Elonen with a serious expression.
“Hmm, I don’t know either. To be honest, I’ve never heard of a mage losing their past memories. Maybe Gerard would know more about this?”
Why did the conversation have to shift to Gerard? Gerard was always so suspicious that it was exhausting.
“Yeah, we’ll have to ask Gerard when he gets back.”
Just as Kyle said that, the door opened and Gerard came in. That guy was never going to make it as a yangban. Or in local terms, I guess he’d never become an aristocrat.
“I told you not to talk about me when I’m not here, didn’t I?”
Gerard grumbled in a displeased tone, as if he thought we were gossiping about him. Either way, Kyle asked brightly,
“Gerard, are you done with your research already?”
Research? What on earth would Gerard be researching, all of a sudden? Curious, I asked cautiously,
“What research?”
“Oh, that. Since we were at the dungeon yesterday, we cleared everything out. We brought back the lich’s staff and book. Gerard said he’d study them.”
Kyle explained with a cheerful face. At that, my mouth dropped open without realizing it.
“So you killed the lich?”
A fleeting memory of the lich talking to me with a smile flashed through my mind. Kyle nodded as if to say it was an obvious question.
“Of course.”
The lich had wiped out the mercenary company and was turning beasts into monsters, so it was reasonable enough for the hero to take him down. Still, unlike what the lord had said, he hadn’t been harming or threatening the villagers…
No matter how I thought about it, the ending left a bad taste in my mouth.
“Wasn’t the lich an immortal mage? How did you manage to kill him?”
I found myself asking, and Kyle tilted his head in response.
“How did you know the lich was an immortal mage?”
“Oh, I just heard it somewhere.”
Even if I’d lost my memories, I was supposed to be a former great sage. Being treated like someone who knew nothing felt a bit unfair.
Apparently satisfied, Kyle nodded and continued.
“A lich seals their soul in a life vessel, so all you have to do is find and destroy it. It took a little effort, but thanks to Gerard and Kakaros, we managed it pretty easily. And while Elonen was treating you, you were able to survive.”
While the whole hero’s party was engaged in an important battle, I’d been lying there passed out from poison smoke… Somehow, that made me feel wronged.
“But shouldn’t you have talked to the lich before killing him? To find out whether he’d actually harmed the villagers or not?”
Thinking of the lich who’d died under false accusations, I spoke cautiously. But Kyle immediately retorted,
“Why listen to what a monster has to say? Monsters are evil creatures that attack humans. So they all have to be destroyed. Thanks to us, the lord and the villagers are finally at peace.”
If Kyle put it that way, I had nothing left to say. I just shrugged my shoulders once.
“So, are you ready to listen to my story now?”
Gerard, who’d been listening to our conversation, stepped up to the bedside and asked.
“Oh, sorry. Go ahead. Did you find anything out?”
Kyle belatedly turned his attention to Gerard. At that, Gerard tossed a book onto the bed.
“This is one of the books the lich had. In here, there’s a spell he was engraving onto the magic stones. I’ll have to decipher it to figure out exactly what it is.”
