The Main Family Is About to Die Out, so I, from a Branch Family, Am a Seed Provider (WN): Chapter 65

 

Chapter 65: Awakening

 When I woke up, I saw a girl staring at me.

"Ah."

 I felt a sense of déjà vu as I looked at the girl's clear, straight, dark blue eyes, and her hair, the same color as her eyes, dancing around her shoulders.

 When I was looking at the girl reflected in my blurred vision.

"O-Ojisan! H-he's awake!"

 Her eyes wide opened, but the next moment, she shouted and disappeared from my sight.

"...!?"

 As I was about to call out to the girl who had quickly left, I felt a sharp pain in my throat. The taste of rusty iron spread into my mouth. 

 I can't even move my body, let alone speak, but I'm in a lot of pain. Really, I'm trying to remember what happened.......

"Are you awake?"

"!?"

 An old man who suddenly appeared from the edge of my vision called out to me, and I unintentionally let out a groan.

"Oops, sorry. Did I surprise you?"

 The brown-skinned old man, who looked down at me with an appearance similar to a mummy, gently placed his hand on my chest.

"Fumu, it seems that there is still some damage left in your body so you can't speak."

 Then, while he was touching me, the old man put a jug of green liquid in my mouth, which I wondered where he had brought it from.

"For now, let's start with the medicine."

 He said so and tilted the jug.

“Nbuh!?”

 I tried to spit out the indescribable bitterness that was spreading in my mouth but wouldn't let me.

"Drink slowly"

 No, it's bitter and fucking awful. I can't swallow that!?

 ……Of course, I couldn't say it, so in the end, I swallowed down the medicine that came into my mouth with several gulps.

"Pu, haa...!?"

"Well, that's enough."

 The old man stared sullenly at the contents of the jug, which were more than half full, and stroked his white beard, which was growing around his chin.

"Um, who... are you?"

"Oh, can you speak?"

 The old man's face took on a surprised expression as he asked that question.

“I hear that the younger you are, the faster you recover, I envy you.”

"No, um..."

"It's Schultz, Schultz Element"

 Schultz Element placed the jug ​​he was carrying and searched inside the black half-coat he was wearing. Eh, what is he doing?

"Well then, let's start with self-introduction. Oh, and where you were before you came here, please give it in detail."

 Schultz pulls out a small stack of parchment scraps from inside his cloak, pulls out a chair from somewhere, sits down on it and said in an aloof tone of voice.

"Um..."

“Ah, and by the way, this is not my hobby, okay? This is an officially commissioned interview."

"O-okay..."

 I was able to get some information quickly, but it seems that this is an infirmary somewhere in the imperial territory.

"Well, I knew from the start that you weren't an imperial soldier, so there's no problem."

"Eh?"

 As my eyes widen at the sudden new information, Schultz sighs somewhat dismissively.

“You’re not used to bargaining, so you don’t seem to be a spy. I'll ask you in that condition."

 I haven't said anything yet, but more and more information comes out. Maybe he is watching my reaction. As a result, he has concluded that I'm not a spy. No, but...... to begin with.

"Then let me ask you in these three choices. Kingdom, Commonwealth, Principality. Where are you from?"

"Eh, no, I'm..."

"Hmm? You realize that keeping silent is useless, right?"

 I knew he was looking for a reaction. But I still didn't seem to understand the important part.

“Hiding one's origins? No, but..."

"No, um, in the first placeーー"

 I finally told the old man in front of me, who is looking at me with suspicion, that I have no memory.

"...You don't have any memories?"

 Rather than being surprised, he looks at me with suspicion, wondering if I'm lying. I was interrogated by the old man about spying, so this is normal.

"Well, that's why I can't answer where I'm from. I can't even remember my name."

 How I got here from where I was born. In addition, the memories of friends, acquaintances, and even parents and siblings have vanished.

"Fumu, it doesn't look like a lie."

 Seeing me like that, Schultz reacted like he still couldn't believe it.

"Well, why don't we just have a normal conversation? Don't you get tired of this constant questioning?"

 Even though I'm just recovering, I'm wasting my strength feeling each other out.

“…Ordinary people don’t know how to read minds though.”

 Schultz muttered so with eyes full of suspicion, but even if he said something like that, I would just say, "I don't know about that."

 Even for me, the only thing I've lost is my memory, and my knowledge hasn't disappeared.

 To be honest, I don't even know why I got into this situation.

 From there, I can give you a quick rundown of how I got here.

 According to the old man, I was in a near-death state one month ago in the river flowing at the foot of the mine.

 He said it apparently, because that is not a popular place and it was based on the testimony of the girl who found me. Therefore, he said, it is not very accurate.

“Then let me ask you one last question.”

"Yes..."

 With that, Schultz moved slowly and touched my cheek with his brown-skinned hand.

“Are you okay with being touched like this by the people of Vu-alheit?”

"Eh?"

 It wasn't an interrogation-like question he had asked before, but he asked such a trivial thing.

"What do you think?"

"No, well, I'm fine with it. Ah, if I'm forced to say it, I just don't enjoy being touched by an old man."

 And to be honest, it's just too much for me to be stroked around by a wrinkled, mummy-like man who might likely be dying.

"Do you want me to change the ointment to salt from tomorrow?"

"I'm sorry, I'm joking. Please give me a break, really."

 I was reminded once again that the old man in front of me was in charge of my treatment.

"Well, I'll believe that you have no memory is not a lie."

"T-thank you very much?"

 I couldn't tell from just looking at Schultz what it was that made him think that what I was saying was credible. However, the interview seemed to be over for now, as Schultz took his hand away from mine and put the small sheaf of parchment he was holding in his pocket.

"Fumu. But then, you yourself don't know anything about how you ended up here, right?"

"Y-yes."

"I see. If you don't remember anything, you can't even talk about it."

 I nodded honestly at Schultz's words, and for some reason, the face of the old man in front of me, who resembled a mummy, changed to a slightly more difficult expression.

"...You really don't remember?"

 Hey, you old man, you just admitted to yourself that I have amnesia...... Well, it's not so easy to get people to believe you, is it?

"It's not so much that I don't remember, it's more that I feel like it slipped away."

 It's like the painting on the paper itself is gone, not a painting eaten by insects or something.

 Even though I say I have amnesia, I don't even know my own name, let alone my origins, but for some reason I have knowledge.

 When I was asked earlier which country I was a spy for, the Kingdom, the Commonwealth, or the Principality, I could tell the location of those countries, but I couldn't remember the current head of each country.

"Speaking of which."

"Hmm? Did you remember anything?"

"Ah, no, if I had to say, I remember someone's butt."

 In the midst of all this, there was only one memory that remained, a white-grazed memory. I think it was a girl. And I'm sure it is...... a border between the buttocks and the hips.

"Remembering that kind of thing. I don't need it now."

"Yeah..."

 Even though I had gone to great lengths to tell him about my only remaining memory, Schultz cut it off. Terrible.

"Well, anyway, that's the end of the interview."

 Schultz stood up and tucked the blank parchment into his pocket.

 Schultz then gave me some information.

 That this is the infirmary in the second dormitory in the village of Vu-alheit. He told me that I would not be able to go in and out freely for the time being, and that it would be some time before I would be able to move again, judging from my physical injuries.

 Although I had lost my memory, it seems that my treatment in the village will be decided later because I am an outsider.

"So that's about it. Do you have any questions?"

"Ah, there is one thing I would like to know."

"Hmm? What is it?"

 As a person who has no memory, I have some discontentment at being accused of something I don't remember, but I would like to ask this one thing.

"Who is that girl who helped me?"

 The moment I asked. For some reason, the mummy-like old doctor's gaze sharpened. Eh? Why?

"...It's something you don't need to know."

"Eh, I just want to say thanks."

"That's what's unnecessary. Don't pry into it."

 Snap*. Schultz glared at me as if to say, "I will not allow you to go any further."

"No, but at least tell me her name."

 I still insisted. Schultz thought for a moment and then muttered in a low voice.

"A child named Alice."

"Alice?"

 As I said the name of the person who saved me, Schultz stood up.

"I'll see you later. If you need anything else, you can ask one of the caretakers."

"..."

 He forcefully ended the conversation and walked out of the room.

 Somehow, it's like he's confessing that there's a reason he doesn't want it to be probed. Moreover, I just exchanged based on the reaction.

 ……No, maybe that’s the aim. Are you expecting to get some information by observing how I probe about that person?

"Well, that basically means he doesn't believe me at all. You've got to be kidding me."

 Being set an obvious trap, I unintentionally shouted to myself, but the response was silence.

"Haa."

 I don't want to say it was a waste of time, but for some reason, I was tired.

 I tried to close my eyes as I drifted off to sleep......

"Excuse me for disturbing you!"

"!?"

 I was woken up by a girl who came barging into the room with such energy.

 Before I could say anything, a girl approached me.

 Her dark blue hair was cut at her shoulders. The girl with a baby face and brown skin look down at me as I lie on the bed, smiling. Or rather, the girl I saw when I woke up is her.

"Um, what's your name?"

"I'm Alice!"

 She answers with a lot of energy. Innocent, such a difficult word came easily to my mind.

"I-I see, Alice-chan. Also, I heard that you helped me, thank you."

"Eh? Me?"

"Eh? No, the old man told me that you brought me here."

 A doctor who looks like a mummy... If I believe what Schultz says, then this girl is the one who saved my life. But.

"Ah, that's definitely me, but it was Aria-chan who pulled up Onii-chan from the river and told everyone about it."

 Apparently, it's just a little different.

“Aria-chan?”

"Yeah, Aria-chan. She's a girl who comes to the village several times a month."

 I was tilting my head at the name I had never heard before, and Alice pressed her cheek with her index finger and spoke vaguely about that time.

"Um, the shop owner was there that day, too. When I was shopping with Aria-chan, Aria-chan suddenly disappeared."

"And the next time you found her, she was holding me?"

"Amazing! How did you know!?"

 Alice came close to my face. The tips of her hair spilled from her shoulders brushed my cheek, and the sweet scent tickled my nose.

"I-is that the end?"

 So won't you move away from me for a minute? It's insanely close.

“By the way, I'm the one who called Schultz-san!”

"Thank you for that."

 When she said that proudly with a rough snort, she finally removed her face.

"Um, so where is Aria-chan?"

"Outside the village now! It will be next month when she comes!"

 Alice answered cheerfully.

 As I was thinking of the day when I would be able to meet Aria in my mind, Alice began to change the bandage with a familiar hand.

 Or rather, since this girl easily told me her name, I guess that old doctor really intends to find out what I'm going to do after this.

 Specifically, if I were a spy, I would make contact with the first person who found me and recover my belongings. Or, I might go to the scene and look around to see if I have dropped any items with sensitive information on them.

 It is even possible that he gave false information for that purpose and is coming to sway my mind to probe harder against the girl named Aria who Alice mentioned.

"Haa..."

 Thinking that far, I let out a sigh.

"Stupid."

"Hmm? Did you say something?"

"Ah, no, it's nothing."

 Alice peeked at me as I mumbled to myself, but she responded by shaking her face from side to side.

 Yes. It's a stupid story.

 After all, I really have no memory of how I came here. In other words, I can't remember a single thing I had before I got here, and because I can't remember, I don't even bother looking for it.

 On the other hand, it would have been possible to determine my identity from my personal belongings, but I can say that such an interrogation was conducted because it did not lead to identification.

"Okay, now it's all cleaned up."

"Ah, thank you, Alice-chan."

 As I sighed inside my heart at that silly old doctor's farce, Alice smiled at me, as she had just finished replacing the bandages.

 ……Or rather, maybe this girl is also keeping an eye on me.

"Well, I'm going shopping, so take it easy!"

 That's what I thought as I watched Alice rush out of the room, seemingly full of energy as usual.