Chapter 652: 511 ’Galahad’_2
In summary, that’s about it.
The shock this must bring to a little girl who had forgotten everything can be imagined.
Anyway, Matthew had already stopped in his tracks and couldn’t move, standing there blinking and unable to take a step.
"What’s wrong?" Reiger also halted and, looking at Matthew, who was standing still, asked, "Don’t you want to believe it?"
"...No." Matthew shook his head, surprisingly calm, and even smiled, saying, "I believe Mr. Reiger, you definitely haven’t lied to me."
This trust was baffling.
"Aren’t you being too naive?" Reiger raised an eyebrow and said, "Just because I saved you doesn’t prove I’m a good person."
"Perhaps I did it on purpose, with the intention of using you for some goal."
"Don’t trust others so easily, especially here. If you dare let your guard down around those fairies, they will certainly deceive you into the kiln, making your life worse than death."
Reiger’s blunt warning was met with Matthew tilting his head.
Then, the girl said this,
"What’s a kiln?"
With that single question, Reiger was brought to a choke.
Reiger just stared at Matthew fixedly.
"?"
Matthew continued to tilt her head, looking puzzled, her expression extremely innocent.
"...Alright, forget I said anything."
Reiger immediately backed down in the face of those innocent eyes.
Faced with the girl’s overly innocent demeanor, even Reiger felt an inner reluctance to say too much, lest he tarnish that pure innocence.
Unfortunately, the girl seemed to misunderstand Reiger’s intention.
"I’m sorry, I’m too stupid."
Thinking Reiger was feeling impatient and didn’t want to explain too much, Matthew apologized while looking dejected.
This again brought a strong sense of guilt to Reiger.
"No, it’s not because I’m impatient that I don’t want to explain," Reiger unconsciously rubbed his temples and said, "It’s not a nice word, so I’m a bit reluctant to explain it to you too clearly, understand?"
"Is that so?" Matthew realized and then smiled again, saying, "I understand, then I won’t ask."
’Kiln is a bad word... Kiln is a bad word...’
Matthew repeated in her mind a few times, making a note of it.
Only then did Reiger bring the conversation back on track.
"Anyway, that’s the situation. You’re a combatant sent from Pan-Human History to stop the phenomenon of collapse. You just happened to wander into the Nameless Forest and were affected by the Curse of the Nameless Forest, which caused you to lose your memory," Reiger told Matthew, "But don’t worry, this phenomenon isn’t irreversible. With the right trigger, your memory will be restored."
"For now, you can accompany me. Your companions are with mine. Let’s meet up with them first and then discuss what steps to take next, okay?"
It was a measure of last resort.
The Curse of the Nameless Forest among Matthew and the others, although called a ’curse,’ was actually different from the conventional sense of the word, at least it was not a force with the nature of a curse.
If it were a force with the nature of a curse, Reiger’s "Diya Flatel" would have already cured Matthew.
"Diya Flatel" has the effect of breaking curses, and Reiger had several rank spells that removed curses or dispelled abnormal states, but none of them worked on Matthew.
Therefore, Reiger was at a loss about this condition and had to let it continue.
Unless Reiger used "Memory Manipulation," a magic that could control memories, on Matthew.
"Memory Manipulation" could browse, delete, or even alter someone else’s memories, and Reiger was entirely capable of using this magic to access Matthew’s memories, allowing her to review them and thus recover them.
However, using "Memory Manipulation" on others could lead to side effects, and with a bit of carelessness, it was very possible that it would cause the person to have confused memories and other abnormal phenomena, making matters worse.
And so, after some thought, Reiger ultimately decided against using "Memory Manipulation" on Matthew.
If it were an enemy, it wouldn’t matter if their memories were affected or not, as it would be of no concern to Reiger.
But Matthew wasn’t an enemy, and to be safe, it was better not to interfere haphazardly with her brain.
"After all, it can be restored later, so let’s just observe and see," Reiger thought.
Unaware of Reiger’s thoughts, Matthew, just like before, did not doubt Reiger at all and nodded directly.
"Okay, I will follow Mr. Reiger and will not run around randomly."
That appearance was still innocent, still obedient.
To be honest, seeing a girl with delicate features and a lovely figure be so utterly compliant and unquestioning towards himself, Reiger felt quite pleased.
After coming to the Fairy Country of Britannia, the people he fancied were essentially in the enemy camp, while in the friendly camp, except for an Altoria, the rest were not trustworthy; this situation somewhat amused Reiger.
In such a condition, Matthew’s groundless trust and compliance were quite comforting.
Although it was only a fleeting feeling, the girl’s behavior still made Reiger involuntarily grow fonder of her.
Just as Reiger was about to speak again, suddenly, he furrowed his brows.
"Mr. Reiger!"
Matthew also suddenly widened her eyes, pointing ahead in surprise.
"What is that?"
In the direction Matthew was pointing, a dark tide had appeared out of nowhere.
The true form of the dark tide was creatures that resembled mollusks, writhing their bodies as they surged towards them.
What else could it be if not Mors?
"They’re here too?" Reiger turned around to face the group of Mors and said, "Really persistent."
With a flick of his hand, the black blade known as the Fool immediately fell into his hand.
"Buzz!"
The Mors that comprised the dark tide had just stopped moving and were gathering the Curse on their bodies, accumulating a massive amount of dark Magic Power with a humming sound in the atmosphere, forming projectiles.
The very next second, countless dark barrages came flying in, turning into a dense hail of bullets, bombarding Reiger.
"Ka..."
The black blade in Reiger’s hand slightly came out of its sheath.
But before Reiger could make his move, someone unexpectedly acted before him.
"Please step back!"
The innocent girl suddenly flashed in front of Reiger, with an expression of firmness entirely different from before and raised her shield.
"Haah!"
With the shield thrust down, the girl let out a delicate shout, and a faint glow emerged from her body.
"This is...?"
Reiger paused in his action, looking at the Knight girl exuding a faint glow in front of him, his expression filled with surprise.
In this moment, the aura emanating from the girl did not seem inferior to that of the Elf Knights he had crossed swords with before.
"Cling!"
The shield in the girl’s hand also shone with light, as if it was blessed by some deity.
"Boom boom boom boom boom——"
The Mors’ barrage enveloped the area in a dense layer, pounding continuously on the heavy cross shield, setting off waves of dark explosions and impacts.
The relentless attacks from countless Mors would have made even a real Elf Knight withdraw for a time.
But the girl managed to ward off all the attacks with the shield in her hand, not to mention moving her feet, even the arm carrying the shield didn’t tremble in the slightest.
Impenetrable!
Absolute defense!
Watching this scene, only these two phrases flashed through Reiger’s mind.
And at this moment, the girl’s silhouette, in Reiger’s eyes, completely matched the word "Knight," without any discrepancy.
Who could be a Knight if not the one who guards the person behind them?
The girl was indeed a Knight.
"Elf Knight Galahad is here!"
The girl’s delicate shout followed.
"You are not allowed to harm innocent people."