Chapter 47 : We Should Eat First

“Hey, why did you run away?”
Sheryl appeared by Schiller’s side at some point. Her eyes were blankly staring into the void, her hands behind her back, as if holding something.

She approached Schiller step by step. He wanted to scream, but couldn’t open his mouth.

“Why! Why! Why!”

Her voice wasn’t loud, but it held a strange sense of terror.

“Heh heh, but it’s okay now. I’ve already dealt with all the obstacles… Hey, come home with me?” She pulled her hand from behind her back, and there was…

“Ha!”

Schiller had never felt so scared of dreaming about a beautiful woman. He sat up from the bed, drenched in sweat, and began to slowly process the dream he had just had. In the dream, what was it that Sheryl was holding…

He seemed to have woken up in fright before he could see that scene.

Although he tried to think about it again, he came up with nothing.

The birds outside the window were chirping, and the occasional high-pitched shouts of a girl seemed to be the source of his awakening. The voice was clear, cute, and innocent. In his previous life, Schiller had no doubt that she could win the best voice actress award without even practicing.

“Last night… I was buried in Ophelia’s chest.”

He had no memory of what happened after that. It was then that he suddenly realized.

“My clothes!”

He quickly lifted the blanket and frantically touched his body, confirming that “there” was nothing unusual.

For some unspeakable reason, he was now very sensitive to the feeling of fatigue there.

His fingers felt the touch of burlap—Ophelia had changed his clothes.

Although the rough cloth was not as comfortable as the silk he was used to, it was better than being naked and being treated like a pervert.

“Status normal…” Since there was no mirror, he couldn’t confirm his current state.

“Phew…” After confirming that his body was fine, he pushed open the door of the house. The sunlight outside was so bright that he couldn’t open his eyes for a moment. At that moment, he felt that this sunlight was so… nostalgic!

“Ah… the long-lost sunlight!” He opened his arms, imagining himself as the falling Icarus. The feeling of freedom moved him to tears.

“Being imprisoned by a beautiful girl… I never want to experience that again in my life!”

It is said that in a certain island country, there was a story of a novelist being imprisoned by a strange high school girl, but the feeling of being unable to move on his own was simply too painful!

He had to be fed to eat, and his toilet needs were taken care of by magic potions inside his body. Even bathing had to be done under her watchful eye.

“My dignity… my dignity!” He was in tears, grateful for this hard-won freedom.

And so, he watched Ophelia, who was doing something unknown in the sunlight, with tears in his eyes.

“Hey! Hey! Hey!”

Ophelia slowed down, found the right moment, and pounced on a pheasant that was strolling on the ground. The pheasant was still leisurely eating, unaware that danger had already arrived.

“Got it!”

She rolled over and broke the pheasant’s neck in a fluid motion—she was surprised by the smoothness of her own actions. This was her first prey of the day. From the beginning, she had been trying to talk to the pheasants, hoping they would give her a few eggs.

“Hey, can you give me a few eggs?”

But the pheasants just gave her a haughty look. Some even rushed over and pecked at her legs.

“This, this is no ordinary pheasant. I must use a heavy hand!”

And so, Ophelia was locked in a fierce battle with the pheasants.

“Ah!” “Don’t bite my skirt!” “Ah! Don’t run! My lunch!” “Stop! Hand over your eggs!”

It was this fierce battle that woke Schiller up.

Ophelia looked at the dead pheasant in her arms. For some reason, she thought of a person’s neck. Could it be broken so easily…

Her thoughts were quickly interrupted, because… a scorching gaze had been watching her from the beginning.

Ophelia didn’t know what expression to make. According to her reasoning, this Schiller—was very likely her boyfriend!

But what she had seen last night made her feel very complicated. Including his condition, the two of them must have a lot to say to each other…

Ophelia forcibly interrupted her own thoughts. She took a deep breath, picked up the pheasant, and walked towards him.

She looked up and down at Schiller, only to find—that he was in tears, looking at her with affection.

“Eh… eh… are you okay?”

“I’m fine… I just, met something very nostalgic, very important (freedom) again.”

“! You, you, honestly!”

Ophelia’s cheeks turned crimson. She never thought Schiller would be so direct, so eager to express his love.

But then again, since she was his lover, her sudden disappearance would surely make him uneasy.

So, if Schiller could maintain his original attitude after learning about her amnesia, she would forgive him.

After all, she was the one who disappeared without a word.

Ophelia gathered her courage. She felt her voice trembling slightly:

“That, that! Actually, I have amnesia! I don’t remember anything except your name and mine!”

“So, even if you’re my boyfriend, we have to start over now! That’s right, start as friends!”

She closed her eyes tightly. She had imagined the man’s rage after learning the truth, and she had also imagined that he would use violence against her to force her to submit… but nothing happened.

Ophelia timidly opened her eyes.

Schiller was looking at him with a scrutinizing gaze.

“You mean… you came here purely by coincidence?”

“Hmm… it was an accident…”

“Wait, Ophelia.”

Ophelia puffed out her cheeks, frowning:

“What, my name is Opheliel, Opheliel!” The girl thought Schiller was deliberately teasing her name, and she thought angrily: ‘I’ll only leave him one leg of the roast chicken later… no, I’ll just give him half.’

Schiller’s gaze moved away from him, his reaction as if he had gotten some kind of answer.

“…Opheliel, let’s talk.”

“Talk?”

“Let’s talk about everything ‘you’ have been through so far. In return, I will tell you what I know (with reservations).”

Schiller turned his head. He had never felt that fate was so full of twists and turns. But if Ophelia had really lost her memory—no, all the evidence showed that she had indeed lost her memory. Would the direction of the story change drastically?

“But, why?”

There was likely only one reason for amnesia—exhausting one’s life force on top of using up all one’s magic.

Only in this case would memory become a substitute for “life force.” In the game, there was also such a scene in Ophelia’s route. If Ophelia was overused, irreversible memory damage would appear on her.

“But who?”

He had checked Ophelia’s level. Her high-tier strength could be said to be almost unrivaled. At least among the people he knew, Ophelia’s strength was at the forefront.

He didn’t think anyone could easily force her to the point where she had to consume her own life force to escape.

With a heart full of questions, he reached for—the pheasant.

“Um, can we eat first?”

At this moment, his eyes were only filled with the desire to eat.