Birds chirped and bright light penetrated my eyelids, bothering me enough to open my eyes. I found myself lying in the laps of a young girl. She had red lips, long and black hair, plentiful bosom, and a beautiful face.

“Oh, he woke up,” I heard a male voice and raised my head, only to see a short and black haired guy sitting with crossed legs at my ankles.

“Ekrok? How are you doing?” the girl asked with a concerned voice.

Ekrok? Is that me? I made a confused face, but I felt my memories return in the next moment. Rubbing the side of my head, I sat up and looked back and forth between the two. “Who are you? Where am I? What happened?”

“Hahaha, he is as energetic as ever,” the guy laughed.

“Mhm, but why can’t he remember his sworn brother and sister?” the girl whispered with the help of some wind magic, but my ears still picked up on it. The guy shook his head, making a helpless face.

Sworn brother and sister? What is this all about? What're your names?” I repeated my questions.

Sighing, the girl spoke, “My name is Elena Syracia and he is Dred Syracia-”

“Are you brother and sister?”

“No… We’re a couple,” she shook her finger.

“Eh? Aren’t you a bit too young to be married?” I blurted out as soon as it came to my mind. Oops? I should have stayed quiet.

“I’m not sure, but I don’t care,” she laughed.

“Alright. So Elena and Dred.”

“Yes, to your other question, we are on a plain, as you can see,” Dred moved his arm from left to right as to show me the grassland.

“I can see that… though now that I think about it, I can’t remember anything else, so it’s pointless to tell me,” I shook my head as I realised my question was stupid. “So what happened? I know a few things due to my inborn memories, but I don’t know even a single place, person or thing. Seeing my body, I believe that shouldn’t be the case, which means I have amnesia, right?”

“That seems to be the case,” both of them nodded.

“Hmm- could you tell something about me? Maybe I’d remember,” I said after pondering for a short period of time.

“Should we tell you about your childhood, the adventures you had with us, your tragic death or what? Oh, but we’ll have to talk about an ongoing event as well,” Dred listed a few things, but ‘my tragic death’ caught my interest more than anything.

“What do you mean by my death? I’m here alive and kicking,” I frowned.

“Uhm- this is related to what we’re trying to do. It’s happened years ago when you met a girl called Asa. She was a dragonkin and you fell in love with her at first sight. At least, that’s what you told us in the past. The problem was that she was the current emperor’s woman, not that she too wanted to be. But the emperor, called Padinyss, found out about it and killed her for cheating on him, and then you for touching ‘something’ that was his.”

“You looked different at that time and when we used necromancy to revive you, you asked for our help to punish Padinyss and take revenge. We accepted since we’re your friends… but you don’t seem to remember any of this,” she sighed and shook her head.

“You started serving Padinyss to get closer to him, but he found out about us” - Elena pointed at herself and then Dred - “and sent you to kill us, ignorant of your role.”

“The team you came with was strong and we managed to kill them, but you were a bit careless and the last of them hit you with some strange spell. I think it must have removed your memories or confused you,” she finished her explanation.

“And what did he find out about you?” I questioned, not seeing the whole picture.

“We’ve been going around destroying kingdoms who served him and he’s been looking for the culprits. Now he knows who to look for, so we and our team must hide. He knows our names, faces, everything! But it’s fine since we can change shape, luckily,” she laughed.

They’re forced to hide and live in fear because of my request? But they really don’t seem to mind it. If they went to such lengths for me, they must be friends, right? Ugh- if only I could remember! Well, I should stay with them for now.

“Can you remember anything?” she asked, her voice concerned.

I imagine it wouldn’t sit well with them that they sacrificed their lives just so their friend would forget everything and then live his own life. I can’t do that… I must continue what I started, but I need some time to work up all this, I rubbed my temples and closed my eyes.

“I can’t,” I muttered. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine, even if you want to stop all this,” Dred patted my shoulder. They seemed to care a lot about me, which felt good.

“Thanks,” I nodded my head. “I’m unsure of what to do. I don’t even know this Padinyss anymore and I have no memories of this girl called Asa, but if what you said is true, I feel I’d do what you said. I suppose you want me to continue what I started.”

“It’d be nice, but we’re not going to force you. We could just change our looks one last time and then live our lives in peace,” Elena said.

“Could you give me some time? A day is enough,” I asked hoping they’d agree.

“Well, waiting is the worst thing to do in our current position, but if that’s what you want. We’ll have to get away from here, though. I don’t want reinforcements to come here and catch us,” she furrowed her brows and helped me up.

Nodding my head, I stood up and looked around. I was in the middle of a forest and there were patches of dried blood on the trees and the ground, but no bodies. I guess they cleaned up while I was out. I followed them to a camp where many teenaged boys and girls resided. A red-haired woman came forth and hugged Elena without doing as much as a warn and then looked at me with curiosity-filled eyes.

“What is that stupid face for, Ekrok?” she laughed as she flicked my nose.

“Ah, wait! He lost his memories,” Elena grabbed the woman’s hand and pulled her back.

“He did what? But we’re going to continue, right? We can’t just up and leave like you,” she blurted out.

“Shh-” Elena hushed her and the two of them left. Elena whispered something but not even I was able to hear this time. What are they hiding from me? And why can’t they just leave like Elena and Dred said? Did they lie to me, after all?

“Come, I’ll show you to your temporary stay,” Dred patted my back and pushed me forwards.

I was led to a small hut, which had only a single room. “Since you’ve been living in the palace and serving Padinyss, you don’t have your own place, but we can’t stay in one place for long anyway. This is my hut, but you can stay here for as long as you want. I’ll go to Elena’s,” he picked up a few of things and after putting it in his storage ring, he closed the door.

Leaving the door opened only to a slit, he muttered, “The decision is yours to make and I really don’t want to hurry you, but I’d be glad if you could make up your mind. Maybe talk with the others in the camp. Who knows? You might remember something.”

“I’ll try.”

He closed the door and left me alone. What should I do now? Even if I’m closed in here, I can’t remember a thing, I sat down on the side of the bed and rubbed my temples. Haah- maybe I should try to talk with the others, though this place feels rather gloomy.

I looked around in the camp and noticed a few groups sitting on the ground chatting while others were meditating. Spotting a lonely guy in the middle of the camp, I decided to talk with him.

“What’re you cooking?” I asked as I leaned over the big cauldron.

“Oh, hello, Ekrok. It’s just stew and the meat is from a big Boar,” he chuckled and then took out a spoonful of it. After tasting it, I found it delicious.

“This is great! By the way, what’s your name?”

He shook his head in confusion and asked, “What do you mean? Ah, you must be joking,” he slapped his face and laughed.

“No, I’m sorry. I lost my memories due to a battle not far away from here.” Now that I think about it, how come they’re here and didn’t help?

“My name is Urnoth, but was there a battle? All I know is that Elena notified Audrey a few hours ago and told her that we should return to this camp,” he raised his brows.

I have no more questions… “In case you don’t know about it, I think she called you guys back because of that.”

“It could be true, but man, did you seriously lose all of your memories?”

Scratching the back of my head, I nodded. “Now I’m thinking if I should return to the palace and continue what I started or if we should stop. You can always change your looks and escape,” I laughed as I tried to pull the truth out of him.

“We can do what? It’s something only Elena and Dred can do,” he furrowed his brows.

“Anyway, could you help me call the others?”

Lost in my thoughts, I went up to the other groups and told them that food was ready. Looking at the hut Elena and Audrey entered, I went closer as I hid my aura. Ah, it seems it’s quite easy. I’m getting the hang of this! I used other methods as well to hide my presence and heighten my senses.

“We can’t just stop all this!” the red-haired woman shouted. I suppose she must be Audrey.

“Shh- I know, I know! That’s why we’re going to go through with it, even if he says no. I don’t want to lose all of you,” Elena soothed her.

“That’s nice and all, but if he isn’t helping us we’re fucking doomed! They almost found us this time and who knows whether the next group would find us or not? He was the only one who was able to notify us of their locations and so, we could pick them off one by one. If he quits, we’re going to be caught by the people who’re hunting us!” Audrey shouted.

“I know… that’s why I’ll fall together with you if it comes to that,” Elena’s shaking voice echoed in my ears. I turned around and almost stepped on a dried branch. Heaving out a sigh of relief, I moved my legs and quickly left the place and went back to my hut.

So that’s what they’ve been hiding, I leaned on my arms and hung my head. What felt the worst was that I had no feelings for them. I didn’t know who they were and I didn’t feel the need to care about their lives. But knowing that they’d throw away their lives for me, broke the dam holding me back.

Damn it, I can’t sit here and be indecisive. I’m sure if Asa was still alive, even if I don’t know her anymore, she wouldn’t want me to stay idle and wait for my friends to die for me… It sounds bad even to say it. Alright, I’ll tell them my decision, I jumped up and opened the door, only to see Audrey who was about to knock on my door. Everyone sat at the table eating and chatting.

“Come and eat with us,” Audrey said.

“Okay, but I have to do something before that.”

“What?”

I stopped in front of the table and said with a loud voice, “May I have your attention for a moment?”

Everyone turned silent and looked at me. Clearing my throat, I said, “I’m not sure if Elena or Dred told you, but I’ve lost my memories.”

Before they could turn noisy, I continued, “They told me what sort of position you’re in and I’ve also made my decision. I’ll go through with what I started, even if I can’t feel the hate I probably felt for this man, called Padinyss. Hopefully, I’m not going to fail…”

“Did you really lose your memories?” some of them asked.

“Yeah, he didn’t even know my name,” Urnoth replied in my stead.

“That’s strange…”

I sat down next to Dred and he gave me a plate of stew. “Here you go. Eat a bit, maybe it’ll make you remember,” he laughed, visibly much happier than before. I guess they still felt worried.

After eating, Elena and Dred told me what I needed to know about them, about Padinyss, about the world, and what I could and couldn’t do. Of course, the last one was related to my undercover personality as Padinyss’s servant. Although I felt a bit sad to leave these people, who were so nice to me, I knew if I wanted to keep them alive, I’d have to do what I had to.

--- Dred’s POV ---

“Haah, he finally left,” I shook my head.

“I know what you mean… it took a whole fucking day and about thirty tries to finally make him accept all this shit and turn him into a person we wanted him to be,” Elena sighed.

“Did you wipe his memories so many times?” I raised my brows.

“It’s thirty-one times if you want me to be exact…”

“But Master, why was it so hard to make him accept his ‘fate’?” Urnoth asked with interest.

“That’s because he was a first ranked divine beast and even if he died, his pride was there. Not to mention that he didn’t seem to care about your and our death before,” Elena shook her head.

“Well, we tried shouting, forcing him, being simply nice to him, but it seems like only acting and thinking of speeches worked out…” I sighed, tired after failing so many times. After healing our wounds, we dragged him far away from the forest and met up with Audrey and the others. We had to make him understand what he had to do and what he couldn’t do, which wasn’t the hard part. It was to make him believe that we were his friends and that he should care about us.

“At least, now we realised that there is only one way to change one’s mind, their hearts,” I said.

“Hahaha, I’m quite sure we took good care of his heart, though.”

“You know what I mean.”

“Mhm- of course,” she leaned closer to give me a kiss.

“There you go again,” Audrey sighed while Urnoth turned to look away, his face a bit red. How shy.

“You did well performing your role,” I said.

“Thanks, Master!” he bowed all happy to hear my praise. “Though I think the others are a bit envious now,” he looked at the others from the corner of his eye.

Seriously, the only thing that can make them envious is our personal attention… I shook my head.

“Well, I think we did well. We’ll see how this turns out, but even if Ekrok realizes something, I can just take away his life and go on to do our own things,” Elena said in self-satisfaction.

“Just you wait, we still have Jake and Cor to worry about, not to mention that Ekrok did find out about us somehow. If they really have a way to track us down, we might be in a bit of a pinch,” I frowned.

“I think we’re going to be fine if our plan succeeds,” Elena leaned on the table.

“Either way, Audrey and the dark scars should proceed as planned and you’ll be able to contact Ekrok through this,” I gave her a small crystal ball. “He had it on him, as it turned out,” I explained.

“Nice! Now then, you two should go and start slaughtering powerful monsters and get stronger,” Audrey waved her hand.

“What? But I was so happy to see you all again and you’re sending me away? Aren’t you being cruel?” Elena leaned over the table to hug Audrey. Grabbing the back of her clothes, I pulled her back into her seat.

“Sit.”

“What? I’m not a dog,” she grumbled.

Touching her lips with my thumb, I caressed her face, “Just behave.” As usual, she turned submissive and nodded her head.

“It’s amazing that Master can deal with Master Elena so simply,” Urnoth remarked.

Elena was an unruly girl, but she tended to listen to me, at least. “Shall we retire for today? We’re going to leave tomorrow,” I asked, looking at the red sky.

“I’ll go to bed as well,” Audrey nodded her head and stood up in the next moment. Once she left, I went to bed with Elena and slept… after a bit of fun.