Uncertainty

The immense curtain extended limitlessly in both directions, the sight of it had left Frank perplexed. At first, he might have thought it was perhaps part of man's magic, but it didn't seem to be anything like that. Besides, it didn't seem to be secretly monitoring him, as at the moment when his memories as a transmigrant were projected, they would probably imprison him to extract more information, and thus the magic would end. Yet, he still found himself in that abyss. Therefore, he quickly deduced that this had nothing to do with that elegant Enchanter.

Maybe... Is this my hidden power? The kind that transmigrants usually acquire in novels...

His fondness for novels would quickly lead him to an exciting conclusion, but he would soon face a reality check.

I can't take for granted that this isn't actually something negative. Before thinking I'm blessed, I need to verify it. But how?

He would quickly try to see if he could control the curtain or perhaps the surroundings with his mind, like the great owner of a space. Unfortunately, nothing like that happened; mental interactions were not possible, and it didn't seem to have any effect. Perhaps he would have to make physical contact with that curtain, which seemed to be his only solution.

Tremblingly, his hand would reach out to grasp that curtain. To his surprise, despite the fact that the curtain seemed to extend infinitely on both sides, it quickly shrank to Shin's size, leaving an opening through which he could slightly move the curtain to one side to see what it concealed. With a deep sigh, his action would proceed.

"Shin, someday I want to be a great Guardian like you!"

"Haha, you'll surely surpass even me, Ein."

In Shin's vision, he could see himself—or rather, the original Shin—conversing with his younger brother as usual in the backyard where they took their fencing classes. Carefully observing his surroundings, he might notice that his vision came from the shadow of a tree, watching them from this shadow.

I remember this; it's one of the fencing classes I had with Ein a couple of days before the escort. This means that these are technically my memories... Perhaps this is a magical effect? I don't think this is the work of that Enchanter, at least not my presence in this form...

While Shin was analyzing the situation from the shadows, holding that "curtain," he might notice a figure that didn't belong to the memory in one of the corners similar to him. With long, dark hair that blended with his elegant suit, plus an added dark blue trench coat open, he observed the situation calmly, trying to find any abnormalities. Then, a door would materialize from light beside the man. The man would slowly open it, revealing what seemed to be a room with a man sitting at a table with two others. The first had fairly common features for the country, a well-defined jaw and notable facial hair, though not enough to form a beard. His somewhat tousled hair was a grayish tone. The other two had hoods, making it complex to analyze their features.

That memory seems to be right when we were organizing with the Enchanters, although at that time, we knew nothing about it... He's inspecting Shin's memories one by one to reach the crucial moment when the situation happened. Why not skip directly? Some kind of restriction? The truly important thing is that if he continues this way, he will reach Shin's last memory where he dies, practically exposing me completely... I have to prevent it! But how could I...

While his mind was in a storm of ideas searching for a solution, his gaze would catch something. A simple leaf from the tree would fall into the shadow where the "curtain" was being opened. Upon falling into it, it would sink instantly as if that shadow were a deep sea. The leaf would fall, and he would quickly notice a distortion in the memory; that plant had ceased to exist in that memory, swallowed by the darkness of the void behind the curtain. Noting this, Shin would not hesitate to experiment quickly. He would survey the scene carefully, stretching his hand from the shadow to break a branch, bringing it into the shadow. Again, it had disappeared from the memory, as if it had never been there to begin with.

My memories as a transmigrant are hidden thanks to this void that not even Mr. Dwan is able to access or realize its existence... Maybe I could hide memories? Although I only extracted a couple of things from the memory, I only altered it a bit. Perhaps if I think about it? Before it didn't work, but I hadn't focused my thought on something specific nor was I holding the curtain...

With no time to lose, he would quickly think that he wanted to hide the entire memory where he was, concentrating on that thought. At that moment, the darkness behind the darkness would shoot out, entirely filling the entire memory, devouring every corner of it to leave only a dark void from which a light orb would blossom. It was the very memory that had been consumed by darkness. Shin would go through the curtain to walk toward the orb, taking it lightly. Memories flowed again, without the branch or the leaf, as they had been individually separated from the memory. Noticing that the entire space was completely dark, coupled with the fact that the curtain appears in these types of spaces, he would conduct another experiment.

He would think about that curtain, trying to see if he could "conjure" it into this space. He would extend his hand slowly to notice that his hand grabbed the same "air," soon taking the form of a curtain that he could open. This would bring satisfaction and excitement to Shin; he was slowly starting to use magical means! He didn't have much time to marvel at the strangeness of this magic because he had to hurry and deal with the memory of the original Shin's death. Considering that this curtain was capable of "casting" glances and even interfering with memories, he would know what to do. Firstly, he would observe the darkened space and quickly make all the darkness enter the curtain again through his thoughts, releasing the orb in that place, expanding again in his memory.

It would be strange if a memory that Mr. Dwan had already observed disappeared without explanation from my head. I shouldn't leave traces or clues of my existence.

Then, instead of the curtain choosing the memory at random, Shin would close his eyes and focus on that particular final memory while slowly opening the curtain. Upon opening his eyes, he could notice that the view in the curtain was that rainy forest with corpses in the background. In front of him was "him," lying on the ground crawling backward in horror as a female figure with a long silver sword covered in crimson liquid, dripping on the ground, approached. Shin took advantage of the circumstance to observe the figure in detail because at this moment, the original Shin was too scared to remember the details of his assailant so easily. But in a memory projected by his subconscious, no detail would be missing.

Tap, tap, tap...

The steps approached with torturous calmness, as if it were death itself coming to claim his life at a slow pace. Cold sweat drops fell down Shin's forehead as he hoped the features of his killer would be revealed by the moonlight. A notably young face, perhaps even younger than Shin himself, would present itself. Crimson red eyes, outstanding beauty with soft features and a balanced face. Not much flesh, but not a lack of it either. A serene and fixed expression, as if it were a rock; it didn't seem like she was about to end someone's life.

Just as she was lifting her sword, darkness resembling tentacles shot out swiftly from the "air" itself, wrapping the assassin in that memory along with the original Shin to drag them deep into the curtain. Their expressions remained unchanged as if none of that were happening. Soon, their figures would disappear from the memory, while Shin emerged from the dark void. He still didn't know if he could complexly alter his memories to manufacture a reality that didn't happen. That would take experimentation time he didn't have at the moment. So, his idea was simple: Impersonate himself.

This way, with that assassin out of this memory, he could act as if he were running to escape and thus deceive Mr. Dwan. Heh, this isn't bad since it's me who I am about to impersonate after all. Right?

***

Dwan was observing the departure of the soldiers outside the Cobalt City without any unnatural situation. Everything seemed to be going perfectly without the influence of any Enchanter. It seemed that until the moment of the incident, everything proceeded normally.

It doesn't seem like there's anything abnormal in the days before the event, which means that Shin Hin never made a deal with the assassin to let him live in exchange for something. The possibility of him being an Enchanter is also null; I checked his memories, but none pointed to that. He's just a normal guy working as a Guardian to support his siblings economically...

Dwan's face turned deep as he sank into his thoughts about the possibilities of the case. Even though he fervently believed that there was something wrong with Shin, he couldn't find it. So far, the documentation of his life was quite common and mundane; the most notable thing is that he is emotionally unstable, but that mental state is natural considering his family and social history. Partly the reason he had been traveling from memory to memory from a certain date until now was not only for research purposes but also because he couldn't jump to a specific memory at an exact time and day. The control of his magic was still not so precise, and because of this, he had to appear in memories from nearby dates. He also couldn't make large jumps directly into the memory because to jump into memories, he needed to create "connections" with that memory represented by doors. This required mana depending on the distance between both memories. As there were several days between the memory where he appeared and the incident, he couldn't make a quick jump; that would exhaust his mana noticeably, and his unstable magic could kick him out of Shin's mind.

So, he had no choice but to make small trips between memories, taking advantage of this to inspect the possibility of a treaty before the incident. Dwan would extend his hand into the air as a door of light materialized in front of him, opening the way to a dark and rainy forest. Upon exiting, he would notice a figure with golden hair with a certain amount of blood on him, coupled with his hair being tousled, as if he had gone through an intense moment. He seemed to be running with all his might through the forest.

Pam pam pam! Plap!

His heavy steps, due to his speed, would sometimes merge with the damp sound of an occasional puddle generated by the rain that he would step on. Dwan would simply follow him silently; he didn't need to hide, after all, this was just a memory.

Pum!

Finally, due to the damp ground, Shin's feet would lose friction, causing him to slip and fall backward on the ground, panting as he looked back, as if trying to see if someone was following him, only to meet a silent Dwan watching him, searching for any abnormality but finding none.

Noting how in the memory Shin would eventually faint for a few moments and then wake up confused and terrified, he would walk slowly past Dwan as if he couldn't see him at all, observing the corpses of his comrades, revealing a heavy expression as he examined the situation. Throughout the process, Dwan couldn't notice any incongruities. Finally, the sound of footsteps would be heard coming from the end of the path, which was the direction to the city entrance.

The arrival of Den, Liya, and Albert, just as reported. Shin Hin, the only survivor, was found behind a tree, hiding when he noticed their presence, probably out of fear that the assassin had returned.

Promptly, the whole situation unfolded exactly as reported. Shin was put to sleep with Albert's magic and then taken back to Cobalt City. As he watched him leave, Dwan couldn't deny the innocence of the boy and clear his doubts about him. But still, there was something that didn't feel right; his instinct told him that there was something off in the situation. Turning his head toward the dark forest where Shin was lying moments ago, an inexplicable sense of uncertainty born from his own instinct invaded his body as he gazed into the darkness generated by the night and the trees.

Chapter end