Memory Manipulation (2)
At first, she really thought she was someone Louis knew. Otherwise, there would be no reason for Louis to hesitate to recall his memories.
Since she was someone Louis remembered, I decided to trust her for the time being.
However, there was a strong sense of incongruity when Louis started recalling his memories.
When Louis first saw this girl, emily, he reacted as if he didn't know her. Of course, it's normal not to recognize someone immediately after a long time, but the problem came immediately afterwards.
As soon as Emily said something along the lines of "Do you remember?", Louis instantaneously recalled memories related to her.
The same went for Pram and Rio. It felt like memories they never had were simply being created in their minds. Silia, who had been observing all this, couldn't help but sense something was off.
No matter how resistant Louis might be to ordinary sorcery, she couldn't just sit idly by and watch such an unnatural situation.
"When you make eye contact with her, do new memories pop up in your head?"
Silia could roughly infer what Emily's ability was. Up until now, everyone who had made eye contact with her—Louis, Pram, and Rio—all had memories implanted of her as an acquaintance of theirs.
It went beyond merely creating memories; even shared experiences had been fabricated to the point where the affected people found it difficult to reject her.
"Hm..."
Emily let out a sigh, her expression showing she'd been exposed.
"Excuse me, big sis. This is an important moment—could you not interrupt? I'd like to have some time alone with my husband right now."
"'Husband'? The idea that someone like him has a girlfriend is ridiculous."
"What do you mean by that?"
Really? What is she talking about?
Just as Louis was wondering the same, Silia jabbed a finger at him.
"The fact that you even have that doubt proves you've never actually spent time with this guy! After living with this bad-tempered jerk for over a year, even pretending to be his girlfriend is too much to bear!"
"Excuse me?"
"Do you really think a weirdo like this could have a girlfriend? Even girls who were love-struck the first time they saw his face would probably run away within a day!"
"Hey, now."
Louis, dumbfounded, tugged at Silia's collar.
"Are you really okay saying that right in front of the person involved?"
Trying his best to sound calm, Louis tried not to escalate the situation further. Silia just snorted.
"Yeah. I'm saying it so you can hear every word."
"I see. Elder Sister, looks like you're not afraid of anything these days?"
"Did I say anything that's wrong?"
"......"
For a moment, Louis nearly lost his composure. He barely managed to restrain his rising fist.
"Guys, do you agree with her?"
Wanting to make sure, Louis asked Rio and Pram directly. Pram, dodging his gaze, stammered out a reply.
"Well... um... Should I say young master has a good personality... or not..."
Whether to agree or disagree. As Pram fumbled, unable to give an answer, Rio spoke up.
"I like young master. That hasn't changed at all."
Really? Then would Rio be the only one on Louis's side?
"But I also think not a single thing Silia-big sis said is wrong. Liking someone and their personality are totally separate things in my opinion."
"......"
Louis's face twisted in disappointment. Maybe it was because the kid was almost an adult now, but she was getting pretty good at talking back. Of course, for Louis, that wasn't a good thing.
"Anyway, there's no way someone like Louis would have a girlfriend like you! Louis, are you seriously still thinking about that girl?"
When Silia asked, Louis nodded. The image of the girl Emily kept lingering in his mind. He even felt as if he truly had childhood memories of her, as if they'd grown up together.
'This feels just like something I actually lived through.'
That's how deeply the memory of Emily had invaded his mind. He couldn't easily shake the worry that maybe it really was true.
[Don't recall it anymore, boy!]
Suddenly, from within Silia's Bloodline, Frederick's shout echoed.
[Close your eyes! Don't even look at that girl called Emily.]
This time, Mirianne's warning was heard, and Louis promptly closed his eyes.
[Leave it to us. It's a bad match for you to fight her.]
[If you make eye contact with her again, it'll only become a headache.]
If what the two had said was true, not only Louis but everyone else here shouldn't be fighting her either.
Her ability to create nonexistent memories just by meeting your gaze. The moment you tried to fight, your eye contact would determine the outcome instantly. It was literally a cheat-like ability that no one could resist.
"So, in the end, are you all trying to keep me from spending time with my husband?"
"Stop babbling about 'husband' or whatever. It's nonsense."
Silia was fuming at Emily's continual references to Louis as her boyfriend.
[Sorry, but Louis already has someone. Isn't that right, child?]
"Well... yes."
[In short, a mere demonkin like you has no chance with the boy.]
At Mirianne's remark, emily's expression hardened. She clearly hadn't expected her identity to be discovered.
"How did you know?"
[We're not just ordinary blades. More importantly, when we blocked your ability just now, we became certain.]
At Mirianne's words, emily slowly curved her lips into a smile.
"Huhu. I've been found out, I see."
With that, emily's ears became pointed, and her skin turned brown. Only now did a presence radiate from Emily as she revealed her true form as a demonkin.
"That was true?"
Up until now, Louis hadn't sensed any hint, scent, or presence of a demonkin, but now, even with his eyes closed, he could sense it.
The fact that there was a demonkin able to disguise herself so thoroughly that even he hadn't noticed—Louis was greatly shocked, eyes still shut.
"Shame I couldn't get myself a boyfriend, hmm?"
From Emily's pocket, she pulled out the ring she'd earlier tried to put on Louis's finger. The ring with a gold band suddenly turned pitch black, then merged with another to transform into a massive scythe.
"At this point, I guess I'll just have to force you to be mine, won't I?"
"You talk about making him your boyfriend right after trying to brainwash him. Nonsense."
"Not at all. I mean it. If I can make memories, I can make you my boyfriend as many times as I want. Isn't that right, husband?"
As Emily spoke toward Louis, venom flared in Silia's eyes. Simultaneously, both Pram and Rio radiated killing intent.
"I'll definitely kill that wretch."
"If she can create any memory at will... then of course she mustn't exist in this world."
It wasn't just about making someone your boyfriend. She could create memories of getting married, building a life together—anything at all. She could even fabricate memories of sharing a night in bed.
"Yeah. That woman is a being that mustn't exist."
"Agreed."
Sensing this instinctively, Pram and Rio immediately prepared for battle.
[No! You two close your eyes and stay put!]
[If you try, you'll end up with fake memories too.]
Just as advised, both Rio and Pram were, in truth, unable to take part in the fight either. If they recklessly joined, they could end up like Louis and only interfere, confused by false memories.
"Huhuhut. Big Sis, you're no exception, are you?"
Emily smiled and looked into Silia's eyes. Her ability—creating desired memories instantly just by making eye contact. However, it didn't work on Silia.
"My, my, you closed your eyes too?"
Just before her memory could be manipulated, Silia closed her eyes and avoided it. Dodging that psychic power was impressive, but it didn't improve the situation.
"But can you actually fight properly if you can't see?"
Unless her other senses had developed, Silia wouldn't be able to move well. Seizing the opportunity, emily swung her scythe at Silia, aiming for her throat like the grim reaper.
Clang!―
"Huh?"
Even with her eyes closed, Silia lifted her Bloodline and blocked the scythe.
"How did you do that?"
Seeing this, emily was puzzled, but Silia wore a slight grin.
[Sorry, but this girl has us.]
[As her own blood, we are acting as her eyes for her.]
Because the Bloodline had its own consciousness, it could move on its own. Thanks to that, Silia could move as naturally as usual while her eyes were shut.
"Ugh!"
As Silia's fierce sword strikes rained down, emily barely managed to block with her scythe.
Clang!―
But Emily didn't go down easily, parrying Silia's aura-imbued Bloodline with her scythe. As the sword echo rang out noisily, Silia's eyes widened in astonishment.
'Heavier than I expected.'
She looked like she'd go down in one duel, but in reality, she didn't. Thinking about it, the girl came here to catch Louis, who was not an easy target—there was no way someone weak would arrive for that purpose. It made sense for her to be strong, but that naturally led to questions.
"You're not an ordinary demonkin, are you?"
"Huhuhu. I wonder?"
Emily laughed and wreathed her scythe in dark aura, launching a series of slashes. Instead of coming in a straight line, the attacks came flying from various directions like bats. Silia then recalled the swordsmanship she'd learned from her adoptive father, Andrew.
Right then, the Bloodline began spinning rapidly, deflecting every slash. But the power was greater than she'd expected; she couldn't deflect all of them, and some strikes left wounds on Silia's body.
"You sure you're okay? The wounds keep adding up."
No matter how much Silia blocked Emily's endless strikes, cuts just kept multiplying. If she just kept blocking at this rate, she'd never gain the upper hand.
"Who doesn't know that?"
Silia was aware of this more than anyone else. In fact, she wasn't simply deflecting the slashes.
"Huh?"
At that moment, emily's mocking face widened in shock. Every slash she'd launched was now returning to her.
"What is this... grhk!"
Suddenly, her own attacks rebounded back at her, catching Emily off guard. The trick lay in Silia's swordsmanship, which was rotating the twin blades. By spinning the Bloodline like a windmill, she could block attacks. For ranged attacks, it was like redirecting the current of flowing water—she could change the direction of the assault.
Because of this, Silia had redirected every attack she'd blocked right back at the sender.
"As if this would—!"
Refusing to be taken down by her own assaults, emily deflected all the returning strikes with her scythe. But now, Silia's cuts, imbued with aura, joined in.
Crack!―
With that sword strike, the scythe broke.
"Urgh!"
Rolling across the ground, emily stood back up and glared daggers at Silia.
"That wench...! Do you even know who I am?"
"Who are you?"
"I am..."
"Don't care."
Suddenly losing interest, Silia just turned her back on Emily. Sure, the scythe had broken, but did Silia really think the fight was over?
'Foolish!'
The scythe that broke wasn't a real scythe, but one conjured by magic power. As it could be summoned endlessly, emily conjured another, preparing to attack again.
"You'll be dead soon anyway."
"What?"
Just then, a presence appeared behind Emily. Standing there, eyes shut, was Louis, his fist clenched.
"How..."
How had he made it here with his eyes closed?
"I can hear your voice right here."
Replying, Louis clenched his fist. The moment he brought his fist down, emily's body froze in instinctual terror.
Covered in scales, Louis's fist struck Emily's face. With an uppercut, the flying Emily found herself, for the first time that night, getting a close-up of the moon.