I Pretended To Have Amnesia and the Hero’s Party Becomes Obsessed

26 – 4. The end of obsession (1)

[Request Report No. 275]

Author: Rem

Client: Hero Amy and three others (Hero Party)

Objective: Transportation of designated goods from Ecer to Aholtle

Participants: Excluding the 8 individuals who were on personal quests, a total of 35 members of the Rose Rem Mercenary Corps and 7 additional members recruited locally, making a total of 42 members.

Success status: Success, commission fee received on 10/28, no money deducted.

Details:

A strange commission in many ways.

As soon as we left, we were ambushed by the sorcerers of the command. They seemed to already be aware of our transportation plans and even set up a siege network.

Therefore, it was determined that there is a spy among us.

To create confusion during the pursuit, the personnel were divided into small groups and each went on a different route to Ahotle (Here, the leader separated from the commission for other matters).

However, as soon as the personnel separated, the sorcerers suddenly stopped moving. It was as if they completely gave up the pursuit and we couldn’t even find a trace of their presence.

The mercenary group arrived in Ahotle without any damage. It was discovered that the recipient of the cargo had died, but a new recipient arrived after three days.

The commission was concluded when the client Parsley handed over the cargo.

…

However, it couldn’t be concluded.

Before the commission was finished, Clara suddenly declared her departure from the party of adventurers and returned to the papal office.

The other members hurriedly left to the east as soon as they handed over the cargo. The destination is unknown. I wanted to find out, but contact with the members of the adventurer party was impossible.

I tried to reach out to them several times, but Irene stopped me.

Being busy with a new commission was their excuse.

Eventually, I couldn’t even see their faces until I left Ahotle.

And the identity of the spy and the sudden halt of the pursuit by the sorcerers still remained unknown.

It cannot be concluded like this.

We need to conduct a thorough investigation into this commission as soon as the leader returns.

Meeting them again, having a proper conversation…

The pen stopped as a white figure brushed past the field of view.

I raised my head and looked out the window.

Gray sky, white dots drifting down on roofs and roads.

I opened the window and reached out towards the falling dots. Finally, a snowflake landed in my hand.

The bronze hand couldn’t feel the cold, but I melted the snowflake with borrowed warmth.

It was the first snowfall of the year.

Unconsciously, I found myself smiling. It wasn’t a season where firewood and alcohol cost three times as much.

It was simply because I realized how much time had passed.

I sighed and looked up at the sky.

Even if I had left with the adventurer party, what was once high and blue was now wrinkled and grey, pressing against the rooftops.

Three months had already passed since the commission ended.

However, I had not met any of the party members.

“…Damn it.”

***

I grimaced and spoke to Klebans sitting in front of the fireplace.

“There never was a spy in the first place, right?”

Klebans tilted his head after taking a sip from his bottle.

“I wracked my brain for three months, but there was no way for a spy to pass information to the Commanders.”

“…No way?”

Klebans kept his eyes fixed on the flickering flames as he spoke.

“If they passed information through magic, there is no way you wouldn’t have noticed, and if they used black magic, there is no way I wouldn’t have noticed. If they tried any other obscure means, that long-eared giant would have picked up on it.”

Klebans’s plump thumb pointed towards the tuft of fur. The fur, with long ears peeking out of it, shivered and spoke.

“…My name is Shaveek de Fascitarodi Ner si Ollaminea Koon Dinar…”

“Yeah, Sharik the damn bastard, you haven’t seen anything, right?”

The tuft of fur split, revealing a pale face. Frowning, he nodded.

“Yeah, my ears and eyes didn’t catch anything suspicious. I swear on our mother tree.”

Then, he disappeared back into the patchy fur.

I looked disdainfully at the shivering elf, then turned back to Klebans.

“So, if there is no way to pass on information, there wasn’t a spy? Then how did they know our location in advance and set up an ambush?”

“I don’t know, they probably invented telepathic black magic or something.”

I furrowed my brow.

“That kind of answer is something anyone would…”

“Hey, it’s been thirteen years since I gave up the position of Inquisitor.”

Klebans finally turned to me. Whether it was because of his intoxication or the fire, his eyes were bloodshot.

“I’m not some expert who knows everything about society. I’m not the same as I used to be.”

As he said that, Klebans patted his plump belly. Disgusted, I spoke.

“Still, you should be better than me.”

“Yeah, that’s why I gave my opinion. Without any special means of communication, it’s right to assume there was no spy in the first place.”

And then, Klebans drowned his throat in alcohol once again and glanced at me.

“And why are you so fixated on that issue in the first place? The mission is already over, we’ve received the payment.”

I could not help but shut my mouth at those words.

Because Klebans was right.

I am a mercenary.

Regardless of the outcome of the commission, as long as I get paid, it’s a done deal.

However, even though I had received triple the originally agreed-upon compensation, I had been wrestling with this issue for three months.

No, beyond wrestling with it, I was trying to turn it into not just my suspicion but everyone’s suspicion.

Why, exactly?

…

No, in truth, I already know the reason.

It was the only way I could reunite with the adventurer party.

After the commission, they had disappeared to places beyond my reach.

Clara had returned to the Papal Palace, a place I should never set foot in, and the others, I didn’t even know where they were now.

In order to meet them again, I had to somehow turn this discomfort into a solid problem.

Persuade the noble patron who commissioned the adventurer party to call them back.

So that I could meet them again and resolve any misunderstandings.

Especially with Clara.

[Please use this body created for you to your heart’s content.]

I grimaced, recalling the morning when I had risen alone from the bed.

“Moreover, isn’t that more urgent than this right now?”

Klebans suddenly pointed to a place with his thumb. Following his thumb and capturing the scene in my sight, I unintentionally sighed.

“Ugh…”

Originally an inn counter, it had been converted by me into a workspace.

There, piles of documents I needed to handle were stacked like a mountain.

It was the result of the commission in Aholotl ending, and I had headed to the western conflict zone.

…I’m sure I roughly dealt with everything and went to bed. How did it pile up like that again?

“…Right.”

I felt the desire to retire welling up again and headed towards that place.

I picked up the documents and thought.

But revisiting things that were already done was a difficult task to arouse others’ interest.

I tried writing reports and submitting them to the relevant department, tried to gather our kids’ responses and conduct our own investigation.

However, could it be the fault of conservatism taken too far?

Our kids didn’t show much enthusiasm, and to top it off, there wasn’t even a leader to listen to me.

There has been no response to the submitted report even after three months had passed.

…Consistently, it felt like they were slipping away from my grasp.

Well, it’s okay if they drift away.

After all, these were people I never expected to meet again when I initially parted ways.

However, the guilt I felt toward how they perceived me felt almost pathological. Moreover, from what I could recall, the evidence was weak at best.

I had to ask about that part. And if it was a misunderstanding, I had to resolve it.

I couldn’t leave some of the most precious people I’ve met in my life in such a state.

But how on earth should I…

Bang!

The inn door swung open rudely, revealing a familiar face.

“Youngest? I told you not to open the door so harshly…”

No, not just one familiar face. Faces.

A woman with blue hair and a strangely friendly demeanor.

“Irene…?”

I looked at the porter of the warrior party carrying Faye on their back and widened my eyes. Then I turned to Faye.

Perhaps due to the cold or embarrassment, Faye’s face, now remembered, scratched her cheek and said, “Th…thought you might freeze sleeping on the street in this winter.”

I looked back at Irene. Her unconscious face was certainly pale, her lips tinged with purple.

But instead of the dying woman there, I looked at the road.

The road that moments ago seemed cut off, drowning me in despair.

I felt things sparkling in my chest and shouted.

“Quick, bring warm water and soup! Clivance, get the first aid ready now! Faye, you stay with Irene, and follow me!”

The three-month-long frozen time began to flow again.

***

Waking Irene wasn’t difficult.

Just a touch of Clivance’s healing, providing a warm bed, and her color returned.

The next morning, I heard from the snitch that Irene had woken up.

And now, running to the room where she was staying, upon hearing the story.

I was choosing my questions while taking a deep breath.

First, asking directly where the warrior party is would be too aggressive. Or perhaps, ask to meet with them.

Instead, it’s better to comfort her and earn goodwill first.

The woman who had treated that precious return ticket as if it were nothing almost froze to death on the street.

A significant gap. Clearly, something big must have happened.

And, dealing with overwhelming events can crush a person’s spirit.

So, let’s save questions about the warrior party or such things for after she regains composure.

I suppressed my impatience and opened the door.

“…!”

And then, I realized that my previous concerns were completely meaningless.

Irene, tilting a bottle of alcohol, met my eyes. Though our colors were different, the confusion contained within was the same pair.

However, one eventually solidified, while tears began to well up in the other, accompanied by sorrow.

After downing a whole bottle of alcohol, Irene looked at me with wet eyes.

“Miss Rem…! The, the warrior party got disbanded…!”

…Her voice was soaked with immaturity, almost drowning in drunkenness.