Chapter 05: The Losing Heroine and the Character that disappeared
"Laura, don't go away! You can get lost!!"
I nodded in agreement at Master's words, even though I couldn't keep my gaze to go here and there.
--I've been an apprentice of Master for a few months now.
Today, I'm accompanying Master in a city that is second only to the Royal City in size and population in the whole country!!
She was going to visit one of her old apprentices, but I asked her if I could accompany her, and she agreed.
I remember this city - Sittenhelm.
It's one of the cities the main character traveled to in The Last Brave and visited in the first middle of the game.
In the game, you visit the Royal City first, so after that, visiting this city makes the player feel like it's more humble and small... Even so, the way they represented it, the panoramic views... It left a great impression on me.
Since we're going to visit the ex-apprentice of Master that lives here I'm sure she knows where are those places the game have shown, I'm sure we'll have a chance to visit them before leaving.
--Putting aside the impressions of my previous life, I'm currently gazing around the city.
What a bustling city!
In comparative with the village of Eme, what amazing difference!
The views are right in front of me!!!
Just as I saw it in "The Last Brave"!
Here and there, everything is just like I remember!
As I was thinking about this, I looked up at the building in front of me, where Master has just stopped.
This building has a refreshing feeling... With white base colors....Mmm, it looks familiar. Oh! Yes!
I saw this building while playing "The Last Brave", it was a bit larger than the surrounding buildings and the painted walls make it stand out from the surrounding area...I couldn't believe it was just a private house!
--As now I've learned from Master, yes, it was just a house - The house of her ex apprentice. The amazing decorations seemed to have been made just to catch the attention of the players, but the house wasn't involved in any events of the game.
I had no idea that the person, living in a house like this, was one of the disciples of Master, a humble Granny living on the outskirts of a small rural village.
Master touched the ringing bell's button and it rang loudly, after that we walked into the house... Master face told me it was ok to enter, like she wasn't waiting for an answer from inside.
I followed her, trying to remember the appearance of the NPC who lived in this house in "Last Brave".
If I remember correctly, it was a blonde woman... But that NPC appearance was very used... You can find persons like that in several villages and towns.
"Long time no see, Mercedez."
I peeked out from behind Master to see who was she talking to.... It seems I failed to discover the real owner of this house.
"Long time no see, Master. You look as well as ever... I'm so glad to see you again."
"Me too... But we're not done yet! There's someone I'd like to present to you"
The smiling ex-disciple who was chatting with Master - Miss Mercedez - was a beautiful woman with light green hair.
The first thing that jumped into my sight was the length of her hair.
The hair is long enough to reach the floor... That's not realistic, but it's a fantasy world, so I suppose here it's possible, right?
The next thing my eyes noticed was the shape of her ears.... They're pointy.
In The Last Brave, that ear shape means she's from a race of elves.
It was said, that they have a longer lifespan and stronger magical powers than any other creatures in this world.
That's why one of the members of the Hero's party was an elf.
The last thing that caught my eye was the color of her eyes.... as red as Master's.
The eyes, which are dark red but seem to be somehow bright... they have a strange charm that attracts everybody.... Like a jewel or ruby.
Suddenly, those red eyes turned to face me.
"Is that your new apprentice?"
"La- Laura Ampere, I'm very pleased to meet you!"
When I lowered my head, I couldn't see her reaction because of something fell over my eyes I only was able to see some gold reflects.
Ah!! It's a wavy hair... mine.
Although my hair color has given me a bit of "personality" in the game, now in this world I am somehow burdened by my blue eyes, which are very common here.
I think the staff of the game put a lot more of effort in Laura's face than in the others NPC characters, perhaps because she was given the job of being the main character's childhood friend, or rather, she was made to be cute to captive the audience.
But in front of the beauty of Miss Mercedez, who is like a celestial maiden or fairy, it's just ordinary or common.
Oh no! I had forgotten about Miss Mercedez presence, I was so focused on her beautiful and impressive character design.
I cannot understand why they did so amaze work to not be shown not even one time in the whole game, the events nor sub-events.
Also, I understood that my assumption of knowing the owner of the house just for a memory of the game was false.... That person I saw in this house must have been an errant NPC.
"You're a lovely young lady. I'm Mercedez-Bloom, nice to meet you. I've heard you're a pretty good apprentice."
Ahhh.... That smile... Is it possible for her to be even more beautiful! So beautiful! So beautiful!
What a wonderful person she is.
"That's right, let me introduce my disciple as well. Arnolt!"
A dark-haired boy came out of the back of the house at Miss Mercedez call. The boy was - frighteningly handsome.
Judging by his height, he seems to be a little older than me... Maybe about 12 years old.
He's not an adult yet but the childishness had already begun to disappear from his face.
The eyes of the same color as his hair, the smooth nose, the drawn lips, every part of his face is perfectly shaped.
I don't see any flaws, so handsome.... It wouldn't be a lie to say that he's one of the Miracles of the Creation.
If I had to comment on a forum, the future hero of this world - Lucas - also has a very handsome face.
But, It's the first time I've ever seen a boy with such a face in this world nor in my memories!
I was so focused on his face that I was being rude, so he gave a fast gaze that told me he felt uncomfortable about it and looked away.
"..."
Muted. I'm not going to say anything! I can't obviously!!
When I was trying to recover my voice to give a decent greeting to him, Miss Mercedez came to my rescue.
"I'm sorry, he's very polite but shy. He's a little older than Laura, his name is Arnold Rocco, even if he's still a student his talent for alchemy is not easy to equal."
I smiled vaguely at Miss Mercedez, and tried to greet him again, "Hello," but he didn't even look at me.
By the way, the name "Arnolt" is considered very cool, but "Rocco" it's a pretty cute surname.
The moment I laughed in my mind about my own trivial ideas, such as "it doesn't feel wrong for a pet or small animal but a person...", I remembered "I've thought of something similar before".
"Rocco" That last name, "the old me" heard it somewhere.... Yeah! I've heard of it. In my head, there is a voice that revived.
--My name is Elvira Rocco. I'm a genius sorcerer!
In the memory, a young face grins with a toothy grin.
Her large black eyes blinked.
Her black hair swayed.
The pointy ears that can peek out from the interstices of black hair at that time. Yes, she was an elf.
A genius sorcerer with an enormous amount of magical power in her small body!!!
Rocco.
The person who went by that surname.
That's-- one of the party members of The Last Brave, Elvira Rocco!
I remembered it well.
For "me", Elvira was one of my favorite characters.
In battle, she kicked off her enemies with overwhelming firepower, and in the storyline, despite being young, Elvira was smarter than anyone else.
When she introduced herself as Rocco in that game event, I thought it would be a perfect fit for her since she was so small and cute as a small kitty.
Yeah! My memories aren't wrong this time, I'm sure of it.
In addition to the fact that they share the same surname, the color of their hair and eyes .... Elvira and the boy in front of me now - Arnolt.
Also, the shape of the ears, earlier, I was so distracted by his handsome features that I didn't even look at his ears properly.
When, our eyes met I looked at the floor in shame. Then, at once, thinking about this I raised my gaze to see his face again.
His ears are-- they are pointy!!!
Oh no! Don't tell me?
Did they ever mention that Elvira had an older brother or cousin?
Think Laura! Think!!
"I" was desperately trying to remember.
There was a mention of parents.... yes!
Yes, there's an event about the backstory of Elvira's character, a scene with her father, mother, and even her grandparents.
But Elvira couldn't have had a brother.
There is not a single mention that she have a brother in the whole game.
If that's the case, it could be a line of cousins and other distant relatives...
Just as I was thinking about it, a sentence suddenly came back to my mind.
--Elvira's brother couldn't be added to the main timeline because of the budget's limitations.
Yeah, the staff....
That sentence was pronounced by a staff member during an interview about the "Last Brave".
I don't remember if it was a game magazine...., Comic-Con, an official interview with the fans, social media or information on the internet, or what medium I read it in.
In the first place, it is ambiguous whether it was an official staff member who said it or just a rumor on the Internet.
However, the sentence was firmly burned in my memory.
With so much in common between them, in a world where all NPC are nearly clones, the surname and physical characteristics so specifics... it's hard to think of them as complete strangers.
Elvira and Arnold should be connected somehow.
Having said that, it is not as if the potential for others characters to be related is zero, but...
While I was thinking about that, another question crossed my mind.
"In the game there's someone that died.... Isn't he, Arnold, the "dead character" of "Last Brave"?"
"Laura, I'm sorry we've just arrived, but there's a herb garden just around the corner. Could you please go and pick up this herb for a moment?"
My thoughts were interrupted by Master's call.
Reflexively, I looked up to her and a paper was held out in front of me.
"Oh, yes!"
All that was written there were familiar herbs we can find in Eme, so I won't have troubles to recognize them, but when I tried to remember the location of a nearby herb garden, I couldn't figure out where it was.
I feel like, I had a map of the city of Sittenhelm in my mind, but there was no herb garden that I remember.
Did there ever exist a herb garden in this town? If so, why I didn't see it?
I have explored the whole place when I was playing and when I arrived I checked out every corner I can see, but I don't remember any garden at all.
It's funny, I thought, but Master said that there must be some kind of herb garden nearby, if that's the case, I can only assume that I've overlooked it.
Then it thought about it, isn't a herb garden the perfect place to relax and think without interruptions?
And, it's just a mental image I've, but it should be a quiet place, and it would be great if I can be alone for a while.
If I say it to her, those words would have sounded like the words of a studious person right?
But before that, Master nodded her head with a satisfied smile and said.
"You can go and explore it as much as you like."
I sometimes feel like she reads my mind, but it is true that I desire to see the medicinal garden in this big City.
--Yet it was much more of a desire to collect my thoughts, though.
With a sigh of relief, I was about to leave Miss Mercedez' house.
At that moment, the words of her made me stop.
"Then, Arnolt, show her the way, so little Laura won't get lost."
Please congratulate me... Give me a pat on the back for swallowing the surprised word I was to pronounce.
I turned around with unprecedented agility and waved my hands in front of my face with a twitchy grin on my face.
"No, no, no, no! There's no need for that"
It will be very uncomfortable if Mr. Arnold is there.
The person who interrupted my words was not only Master nor Mercedez, but also Arnold himself.
"Follow me."
His voice is still somewhat high, and I realize that he is still a child, too, although it is a matter of course.
This is not the time to be thinking about the fact that his face and eyes are so stripped of their youthfulness.
I was going to refuse again, saying I wouldn't be able to concentrate if there's someone else there, but he didn't give me time to do so.
My plans went awry, but I convinced myself that I hadn't figured out the location of the herb garden in the first place, so I followed him silently.
*******
I was dumbfounded when I saw the medicinal herb garden he led me to.
It's much bigger than I imagined!! This is so, so marvelous! There're so many herbs that if I don't pay enough attention I can overlook some incredible ones.
Isn't this place where <<the Fountain Plaza>> was located?
According to my memory, there was supposed to be a very large fountain here and a beautiful park surrounding the fountain.
<<The fountain plaza>>, which was used as a stage for several events.... now it has been transformed into a medicinal herb garden.
I wonder if this herb garden will replaced by The Fountain in the future....
It's not impossible... There're just 8 years until Lucas come to this city during his journey, though.
....
No, wait!!
I'm sure Fountain Plaza was in one of the characters' flashback scenes.
I remember it well because it was such a memorable scene.
The scene must have been a childhood memory of that man, the eldest of the party members accompanying the hero.
He was born and raised on this city, having lost his parents to demons at an early age.
He is a hard-working person who raised her sister and brother alone... even when he was still a child himself.
The flashback scene .... it skipped over a decade from the time he lost his parents to the time he became a knight and went to the royal capital, and later met the hero.
In other words, the fact that there is no fountain plaza "now" is contrary to "Last Brave" story I know.
It's a flashback that made me inadvertently cry, I'll never forget it.
--Here, for the first time, I questioned the memories "I" have.
Are these memories real? Indeed, everything in Emme's village matched my memory perfectly.
But what about when I came to Sittenhelm? Neither the medicinal herb garden nor Arnold nor Miss Mercedez.... anything of that matches my memories.
No... This cannot be...
In my stupor, I thought what can be the reason of all these changes...
But the only thing I could think about was that "I" - Laura--- I've been actively trying to take a different path for me ... not the path I've been assigned as a character of "The Last Brave", right?
Is this the reason of all of this?
If I continue on this path I chose... It will have an impact on this world? What will happen next?
No, this cannot be just for the decisions I took, right?
In any case, it might be better not to rely too much on "my" memory from now on.
"ehemm"
"Huh, ah, yes?"
I had completely forgotten about the medicinal herbs, but Arnolt called out to me with a grumpy expression.
I looked at the somehow disgruntled, distorted, well-toned face and remembered that I had wanted to think alone about the relationship between Arnolt and Elvira, that's because I came here in the first place.
I wonder if Arnolt is related to Elvira.
If so, is it Elvira's brother who was rumored to be a "dead character"*?
Or is he a distant relative... such as a cousin?
Assuming that Arnolt is the brother of Elvira, the "dead character"... can a "dead character" be alive in the world of "Last Brave" just because he's off-screen?
It would be quicker if I could ask him if he has a sister named Elvira, but... How should I say it? Would it sound weird if I suddenly ask him when we have just met?
Given Elvira's age at the time of this story, she should have been born already... but it's weird if someone that you nor your sister know suddenly ask you about her right?
"Why did Miss Berta choose someone like you as her apprentice?"
I was thinking so hard on those ideas that honestly, I didn't understand the meaning of the words.
After a while, I sensed there was a vague feeling of... hate - or rather, jealousy - being directed at me.
Berta is the name of Master... but... what does it mean? He tried to become her apprentice but she refused?
"Berta-san is famous for not taking apprentices. Only three persons have been admitted for her as her disciples, including my mentor, Miss Mecedez. You're the fourth."
"Huh............."
"Even after I went to that remote village.... but she rejected me."
Chapter 05: The Losing Heroine and the Character that disappeared
"Laura, don't go away! You can get lost!!"
I nodded in agreement at Master's words, even though I couldn't keep my gaze to go here and there.
--I've been an apprentice of Master for a few months now.
Today, I'm accompanying Master in a city that is second only to the Royal City in size and population in the whole country!!
She was going to visit one of her old apprentices, but I asked her if I could accompany her, and she agreed.
I remember this city - Sittenhelm.
It's one of the cities the main character traveled to in The Last Brave and visited in the first middle of the game.
In the game, you visit the Royal City first, so after that, visiting this city makes the player feel like it's more humble and small... Even so, the way they represented it, the panoramic views... It left a great impression on me.
Since we're going to visit the ex-apprentice of Master that lives here I'm sure she knows where are those places the game have shown, I'm sure we'll have a chance to visit them before leaving.
--Putting aside the impressions of my previous life, I'm currently gazing around the city.
What a bustling city!
In comparative with the village of Eme, what amazing difference!
The views are right in front of me!!!
Just as I saw it in "The Last Brave"!
Here and there, everything is just like I remember!
As I was thinking about this, I looked up at the building in front of me, where Master has just stopped.
This building has a refreshing feeling... With white base colors....Mmm, it looks familiar. Oh! Yes!
I saw this building while playing "The Last Brave", it was a bit larger than the surrounding buildings and the painted walls make it stand out from the surrounding area...I couldn't believe it was just a private house!
--As now I've learned from Master, yes, it was just a house - The house of her ex apprentice. The amazing decorations seemed to have been made just to catch the attention of the players, but the house wasn't involved in any events of the game.
I had no idea that the person, living in a house like this, was one of the disciples of Master, a humble Granny living on the outskirts of a small rural village.
Master touched the ringing bell's button and it rang loudly, after that we walked into the house... Master face told me it was ok to enter, like she wasn't waiting for an answer from inside.
I followed her, trying to remember the appearance of the NPC who lived in this house in "Last Brave".
If I remember correctly, it was a blonde woman... But that NPC appearance was very used... You can find persons like that in several villages and towns.
"Long time no see, Mercedez."
I peeked out from behind Master to see who was she talking to.... It seems I failed to discover the real owner of this house.
"Long time no see, Master. You look as well as ever... I'm so glad to see you again."
"Me too... But we're not done yet! There's someone I'd like to present to you"
The smiling ex-disciple who was chatting with Master - Miss Mercedez - was a beautiful woman with light green hair.
The first thing that jumped into my sight was the length of her hair.
The hair is long enough to reach the floor... That's not realistic, but it's a fantasy world, so I suppose here it's possible, right?
The next thing my eyes noticed was the shape of her ears.... They're pointy.
In The Last Brave, that ear shape means she's from a race of elves.
It was said, that they have a longer lifespan and stronger magical powers than any other creatures in this world.
That's why one of the members of the Hero's party was an elf.
The last thing that caught my eye was the color of her eyes.... as red as Master's.
The eyes, which are dark red but seem to be somehow bright... they have a strange charm that attracts everybody.... Like a jewel or ruby.
Suddenly, those red eyes turned to face me.
"Is that your new apprentice?"
"La- Laura Ampere, I'm very pleased to meet you!"
When I lowered my head, I couldn't see her reaction because of something fell over my eyes I only was able to see some gold reflects.
Ah!! It's a wavy hair... mine.
Although my hair color has given me a bit of "personality" in the game, now in this world I am somehow burdened by my blue eyes, which are very common here.
I think the staff of the game put a lot more of effort in Laura's face than in the others NPC characters, perhaps because she was given the job of being the main character's childhood friend, or rather, she was made to be cute to captive the audience.
But in front of the beauty of Miss Mercedez, who is like a celestial maiden or fairy, it's just ordinary or common.
Oh no! I had forgotten about Miss Mercedez presence, I was so focused on her beautiful and impressive character design.
I cannot understand why they did so amaze work to not be shown not even one time in the whole game, the events nor sub-events.
Also, I understood that my assumption of knowing the owner of the house just for a memory of the game was false.... That person I saw in this house must have been an errant NPC.
"You're a lovely young lady. I'm Mercedez-Bloom, nice to meet you. I've heard you're a pretty good apprentice."
Ahhh.... That smile... Is it possible for her to be even more beautiful! So beautiful! So beautiful!
What a wonderful person she is.
"That's right, let me introduce my disciple as well. Arnolt!"
A dark-haired boy came out of the back of the house at Miss Mercedez call. The boy was - frighteningly handsome.
Judging by his height, he seems to be a little older than me... Maybe about 12 years old.
He's not an adult yet but the childishness had already begun to disappear from his face.
The eyes of the same color as his hair, the smooth nose, the drawn lips, every part of his face is perfectly shaped.
I don't see any flaws, so handsome.... It wouldn't be a lie to say that he's one of the Miracles of the Creation.
If I had to comment on a forum, the future hero of this world - Lucas - also has a very handsome face.
But, It's the first time I've ever seen a boy with such a face in this world nor in my memories!
I was so focused on his face that I was being rude, so he gave a fast gaze that told me he felt uncomfortable about it and looked away.
"..."
Muted. I'm not going to say anything! I can't obviously!!
When I was trying to recover my voice to give a decent greeting to him, Miss Mercedez came to my rescue.
"I'm sorry, he's very polite but shy. He's a little older than Laura, his name is Arnold Rocco, even if he's still a student his talent for alchemy is not easy to equal."
I smiled vaguely at Miss Mercedez, and tried to greet him again, "Hello," but he didn't even look at me.
By the way, the name "Arnolt" is considered very cool, but "Rocco" it's a pretty cute surname.
The moment I laughed in my mind about my own trivial ideas, such as "it doesn't feel wrong for a pet or small animal but a person...", I remembered "I've thought of something similar before".
"Rocco" That last name, "the old me" heard it somewhere.... Yeah! I've heard of it. In my head, there is a voice that revived.
--My name is Elvira Rocco. I'm a genius sorcerer!
In the memory, a young face grins with a toothy grin.
Her large black eyes blinked.
Her black hair swayed.
The pointy ears that can peek out from the interstices of black hair at that time. Yes, she was an elf.
A genius sorcerer with an enormous amount of magical power in her small body!!!
Rocco.
The person who went by that surname.
That's-- one of the party members of The Last Brave, Elvira Rocco!
I remembered it well.
For "me", Elvira was one of my favorite characters.
In battle, she kicked off her enemies with overwhelming firepower, and in the storyline, despite being young, Elvira was smarter than anyone else.
When she introduced herself as Rocco in that game event, I thought it would be a perfect fit for her since she was so small and cute as a small kitty.
Yeah! My memories aren't wrong this time, I'm sure of it.
In addition to the fact that they share the same surname, the color of their hair and eyes .... Elvira and the boy in front of me now - Arnolt.
Also, the shape of the ears, earlier, I was so distracted by his handsome features that I didn't even look at his ears properly.
When, our eyes met I looked at the floor in shame. Then, at once, thinking about this I raised my gaze to see his face again.
His ears are-- they are pointy!!!
Oh no! Don't tell me?
Did they ever mention that Elvira had an older brother or cousin?
Think Laura! Think!!
"I" was desperately trying to remember.
There was a mention of parents.... yes!
Yes, there's an event about the backstory of Elvira's character, a scene with her father, mother, and even her grandparents.
But Elvira couldn't have had a brother.
There is not a single mention that she have a brother in the whole game.
If that's the case, it could be a line of cousins and other distant relatives...
Just as I was thinking about it, a sentence suddenly came back to my mind.
--Elvira's brother couldn't be added to the main timeline because of the budget's limitations.
Yeah, the staff....
That sentence was pronounced by a staff member during an interview about the "Last Brave".
I don't remember if it was a game magazine...., Comic-Con, an official interview with the fans, social media or information on the internet, or what medium I read it in.
In the first place, it is ambiguous whether it was an official staff member who said it or just a rumor on the Internet.
However, the sentence was firmly burned in my memory.
With so much in common between them, in a world where all NPC are nearly clones, the surname and physical characteristics so specifics... it's hard to think of them as complete strangers.
Elvira and Arnold should be connected somehow.
Having said that, it is not as if the potential for others characters to be related is zero, but...
While I was thinking about that, another question crossed my mind.
"In the game there's someone that died.... Isn't he, Arnold, the "dead character" of "Last Brave"?"
"Laura, I'm sorry we've just arrived, but there's a herb garden just around the corner. Could you please go and pick up this herb for a moment?"
My thoughts were interrupted by Master's call.
Reflexively, I looked up to her and a paper was held out in front of me.
"Oh, yes!"
All that was written there were familiar herbs we can find in Eme, so I won't have troubles to recognize them, but when I tried to remember the location of a nearby herb garden, I couldn't figure out where it was.
I feel like, I had a map of the city of Sittenhelm in my mind, but there was no herb garden that I remember.
Did there ever exist a herb garden in this town? If so, why I didn't see it?
I have explored the whole place when I was playing and when I arrived I checked out every corner I can see, but I don't remember any garden at all.
It's funny, I thought, but Master said that there must be some kind of herb garden nearby, if that's the case, I can only assume that I've overlooked it.
Then it thought about it, isn't a herb garden the perfect place to relax and think without interruptions?
And, it's just a mental image I've, but it should be a quiet place, and it would be great if I can be alone for a while.
If I say it to her, those words would have sounded like the words of a studious person right?
But before that, Master nodded her head with a satisfied smile and said.
"You can go and explore it as much as you like."
I sometimes feel like she reads my mind, but it is true that I desire to see the medicinal garden in this big City.
--Yet it was much more of a desire to collect my thoughts, though.
With a sigh of relief, I was about to leave Miss Mercedez' house.
At that moment, the words of her made me stop.
"Then, Arnolt, show her the way, so little Laura won't get lost."
Please congratulate me... Give me a pat on the back for swallowing the surprised word I was to pronounce.
I turned around with unprecedented agility and waved my hands in front of my face with a twitchy grin on my face.
"No, no, no, no! There's no need for that"
It will be very uncomfortable if Mr. Arnold is there.
The person who interrupted my words was not only Master nor Mercedez, but also Arnold himself.
"Follow me."
His voice is still somewhat high, and I realize that he is still a child, too, although it is a matter of course.
This is not the time to be thinking about the fact that his face and eyes are so stripped of their youthfulness.
I was going to refuse again, saying I wouldn't be able to concentrate if there's someone else there, but he didn't give me time to do so.
My plans went awry, but I convinced myself that I hadn't figured out the location of the herb garden in the first place, so I followed him silently.
*******
I was dumbfounded when I saw the medicinal herb garden he led me to.
It's much bigger than I imagined!! This is so, so marvelous! There're so many herbs that if I don't pay enough attention I can overlook some incredible ones.
Isn't this place where <<the Fountain Plaza>> was located?
According to my memory, there was supposed to be a very large fountain here and a beautiful park surrounding the fountain.
<<The fountain plaza>>, which was used as a stage for several events.... now it has been transformed into a medicinal herb garden.
I wonder if this herb garden will replaced by The Fountain in the future....
It's not impossible... There're just 8 years until Lucas come to this city during his journey, though.
....
No, wait!!
I'm sure Fountain Plaza was in one of the characters' flashback scenes.
I remember it well because it was such a memorable scene.
The scene must have been a childhood memory of that man, the eldest of the party members accompanying the hero.
He was born and raised on this city, having lost his parents to demons at an early age.
He is a hard-working person who raised her sister and brother alone... even when he was still a child himself.
The flashback scene .... it skipped over a decade from the time he lost his parents to the time he became a knight and went to the royal capital, and later met the hero.
In other words, the fact that there is no fountain plaza "now" is contrary to "Last Brave" story I know.
It's a flashback that made me inadvertently cry, I'll never forget it.
--Here, for the first time, I questioned the memories "I" have.
Are these memories real? Indeed, everything in Emme's village matched my memory perfectly.
But what about when I came to Sittenhelm? Neither the medicinal herb garden nor Arnold nor Miss Mercedez.... anything of that matches my memories.
No... This cannot be...
In my stupor, I thought what can be the reason of all these changes...
But the only thing I could think about was that "I" - Laura--- I've been actively trying to take a different path for me ... not the path I've been assigned as a character of "The Last Brave", right?
Is this the reason of all of this?
If I continue on this path I chose... It will have an impact on this world? What will happen next?
No, this cannot be just for the decisions I took, right?
In any case, it might be better not to rely too much on "my" memory from now on.
"ehemm"
"Huh, ah, yes?"
I had completely forgotten about the medicinal herbs, but Arnolt called out to me with a grumpy expression.
I looked at the somehow disgruntled, distorted, well-toned face and remembered that I had wanted to think alone about the relationship between Arnolt and Elvira, that's because I came here in the first place.
I wonder if Arnolt is related to Elvira.
If so, is it Elvira's brother who was rumored to be a "dead character"*?
Or is he a distant relative... such as a cousin?
Assuming that Arnolt is the brother of Elvira, the "dead character"... can a "dead character" be alive in the world of "Last Brave" just because he's off-screen?
It would be quicker if I could ask him if he has a sister named Elvira, but... How should I say it? Would it sound weird if I suddenly ask him when we have just met?
Given Elvira's age at the time of this story, she should have been born already... but it's weird if someone that you nor your sister know suddenly ask you about her right?
"Why did Miss Berta choose someone like you as her apprentice?"
I was thinking so hard on those ideas that honestly, I didn't understand the meaning of the words.
After a while, I sensed there was a vague feeling of... hate - or rather, jealousy - being directed at me.
Berta is the name of Master... but... what does it mean? He tried to become her apprentice but she refused?
"Berta-san is famous for not taking apprentices. Only three persons have been admitted for her as her disciples, including my mentor, Miss Mecedez. You're the fourth."
"Huh............."
"Even after I went to that remote village.... but she rejected me."
