Chapter 65 – Memory Lapse?.....Conversation

I’m enjoying after lunch tea on the wood deck.

It has already been two days.

Communication with Rope? None.

「Did I miss something?」

Where are you? Where are you placed? I felt a little bad since I should have asked.

Can’t I find it using the return spell?

From what god-sama has said, I think it was called “magic stone”.

That means it is somewhere in the country that was the source of the problem.

Come to think of it, Rope said its power is being used.

In other words, it was most likely near the king who was using its power.

How about now?

The king is already dead and no one should be using the power of the magic stone.

But it is likely won’t be left as it is.

For safety purposes, they should have moved it away from the new king.

No, perhaps the new king might also choose to use its power.

But in that case, how can Rope speak with me?

No, I have too little information.

By the way, why was I so sleepy that day?

I can remember that we were talking about something important.

But for some reason, I couldn’t get rid of my sleepiness.

I could have listened to the details if I had been firmer.

「Haa, when will we be able to communicate again? I have no choice but to wait for its call.」

I hope that the power I sent didn’t do anything to it.

No matter how you think about it, I sent too much.

I’m a little nervous.

But still, this character is kind of reckless.

Accepting anything without prior knowledge.

After all, even though I suddenly heard its voice, I was able to converse with it without any discomfort.

If I was the original me, I would have thought it was a ghost when I suddenly heard a ghost and screamed everywhere like a little girl.

No, I would probably faint rather than scream like a girl.

Considering the degree I’m changing….I’m kind of scared.

I’m not proud of it but I really can’t handle ghost-related things.

Absolutely impossible!

No, it’s not just ghosts…hahaha. I suddenly felt depressed remembering how useless I am.

I mean, it’s amazing that I responded like it was normal.

However, I feel like this character of mine is getting dangerous.

What’s with this character?

Definitely not me.

But strange enough, I don’t feel uncomfortable.

It’s a far cry from my original character.

Even so, I’m accepting it.

In fact, I even think that it’s part of my character.

Honestly speaking, it’s weird.

I’m afraid that if I don’t consciously think of it as another character that is different from mine, it will take over.

「The more I think about it, the scarier it gets.」

Well, when was the last time I noticed this?

….areh?

I don’t remember.

Why can’t I?

It had to have been very recent.

Was it when we found the infant angels?

No, it was a little later, I think.

When we found the egg?

Funny, I’m sure I have a good memory but I can’t remember.

「Haa, am I being influenced by some sort of power?」

I mean, what is it trying to do to make me forget something I should have remembered?

That would be pointless.

Then, am I just getting forgetful?

「I don’t know. I can’t figure it out.」

At times like this, I had to think in a different direction.

At least that’s what a certain TV show said.

Let’s see, another direction….how did I notice that my character is changing?

Yes, how did I notice?

Thinking about it now, everything is strange.

After all, while I recognized that I’m scared, my behavior was not quite right.

Usually, when you get scared, you cower.

But I acted immediately and destroyed things fast.

I suddenly recognized that I’m not the type who’ll do that and recognized that something’s not right.

「…..yes, for some reason, I felt I’m doing something unexpected. 」

I’m sure there must have been a trigger.

…..can’t remember that too?

I’m beginning to feel uneasy about my memory.

As I’m recalling in turn what happened a while ago, it suddenly becomes dark.

I rush down from the wood deck to the field and look around.

I saw Boss-san, Shuri, and my other companions.

I looked at the sky and saw that the sun had turned black.

「What the….areh?」

From the field, Usa and Kuuhi came running to me while shouting something.

They cling to me around my waist.

「It’s okay.」

I gently stroke their heads slowly to calm them down.

I’m about to tell them to go to the living room when the sound of an explosion echoes through the sky.

I quickly grab them in my arms and crouch down on the ground while looking up at the sky.

In the sky, light appeared everywhere followed by a series of small explosions.

After watching for a while, the entire sky was covered with a dazzling light so I turned my gaze away and squeezed my eyes shut.

All the while, sound of explosions echoed through the air.

I wonder if my companions are okay?

How long has it been? The sound stopped and the light that I had felt when I closed my eyelids disappeared.

I gently open my eyes and check my surroundings.

I see Shuri and the others are already moving.

The dragons also seemed to be checking the area around the field from the sky.

Looking at the sky, I wonder if the sun, which had turned back, has returned to its original color but it’s too bright for me to see.

「Is it really okay?」

Usa is shaking and crying and Kuuhi also has tears in his eyes.

「It’s okay. Everything has calmed down now.」

「Really?」

Usa asks me in tears.

「Yeah, look around. There’s nothing happening anymore, is there?」

If something suddenly happens again, I’ll be a liar.

That made me a little nervous but I have to calm her down somehow.

「Yeah」

「Usa, it’s going to be okay. His lordship is with us after all.」

「Thank you, Kuuhi.」

I gently stroke Usa and Kuuhi’s heads.

After a while, Usa’s tears stopped as if she had calmed down.

Seeing this, I urge them to return to the living room.

They looked worried but seemed relieved when Ai and the others arrived.

「Ai, take care of them.」

「Understood.」

After Ai replied, two dogs, probably Raki and Ami, nodded.

I watched them and the three dogs go to the living room, then went to Koa and the others who were gathered in the square.

「Does anyone knows what happened?」

「Your lordship, I already asked everyone but no one knows what’s going on.」

Koa responded to my question and looked at the sky. Fluffy, who was flying above, came down.

「We can’t find such phenomenon on our knowledge.」

Knowledge?

….ah, special knowledge that dragons were born with.

「I see.」

Does anyone have any ideas?

Will something happen to the forest again?

I hope it’s something we can deal with.

「Marshmallow and Fluff Ball will be checking the forest from above. What should we watch out for?」

Fluffy asks but I don’t know what they should watch out for since I don’t even know what’s going on.

What should I tell them?

「Yeah, check if there are things that were not in the forest until now.」

There’s a possibility that the apprentices made something and it only appeared now.

Ah, that means there should be a divine power source now.

「Detection.」

I cast detection magic to the entire forest to search for divine power.

I feel my consciousness flowing through the forest as if it were caressing it.

It’s a feeling I have never felt so far.

So far?

What am I talking about?

….well, okay.

「I can’t feel any divine power.」

That means it is probably not those apprentices.

「What should we do?」

「For now, check for something new from the sky.」

Maybe they were just hiding divine power with some kind of technique.

「I understand. I will take my leave.」

「Be careful.」

Fluffy flies to the other dragons who were waiting in the sky for my order and checks the forest.

This will tell us if anything unusual has appeared in the forest.

「We will check the forest from the ground.」

Boss-san says that and leaves the square with her children.

Shuri and the others followed.

「If you think it’s dangerous, run away as soon as you feel it. Don’t do something risky.」

They lifted their legs in response to my words and scattered in all directions.

「What’s going on? And here I thought I already solved all the problems…..」

I look at the field.

I noticed that the farming corps is split into two groups doing two separate things.

The first group is patrolling the perimeter of the field and the second group is working in the field.

I’m impressed with their ability to respond immediately.

「Is everything okay?」

『Everything is okay』

When I called out to one of the farming corps that was nearby, a voice echoed in my head.

For some reason, for the first time this day, I felt a little uncomfortable.

Hnn?

What’s this?

Something feels so wrong now?

What is it?

I look at the farming corps in front of me.

It should have been the same as usual.

「Farming corps, is everything the same as usual?」

『…..maybe?』

The farming corps tilted its head at my question.

I stare at it.

Is there something wrong?

I look around the area with a feeling of discomfort not knowing what’s wrong.

Then, my gaze meets with Koa and Chai’s.

They both looked at me and made a “grrr” sound.

「………………………….ah! Words!」

Yes, why are they talking to me like everything’s normal!