Vol3 Chapter 46 Getting to Know Them

Amos avoided looking at the remains, knowing he couldn’t bear to stare any longer. Instead, he shifted his focus to the people gathered around him.

If something happened to our memories...

Maybe the problem wasn’t just his. He’d assumed their matched simply because they agreed on what had happened. But agreement didn’t always mean the truth. If this ruin had taught him anything, it was not to trust something just because everyone else did. He needed to understand them more.

Not as adventurers.

As people.

If they had truly been together for years, their memories would naturally intertwine in countless small ways—shared experiences, inside jokes, old arguments, and familiar habits.

Things that would never be written down anywhere. And if even one of them clashed with someone else’s memory, Amos might finally have a lead. He headed back toward the group.

"So," Amos said casually, "how long have you four been together?"

Daren looked at him.

"That's a random question."

"Is it?"

"Kind of."

Harold chuckled.

"We've been together for quite a while."

"How long?"

Harold thought for a moment.

"Since before we reached A-rank."

Daren nodded.

"Long enough that I can't remember what it was like adventuring without these idiots."

Vena gave him a flat look.

"You're the idiot."

"See?"

Daren gestured toward her.

"This is exactly what I'm talking about."

Tessa offered a faint smile, and Amos watched closely. The exchange felt natural—too natural to be staged, or at least, it would have been hard to fake.

"So, you've known each other for years?"

"Yes," Harold answered.

Amos nodded.

"Good."

That gave him something. He sat down on a nearby piece of fallen stone.

"Then tell me something."

The four looked at him.

"Something?"

"Anything. How did you meet?"

Daren immediately pointed at Harold.

"His fault."

Harold sighed.

"Why is it my fault?"

"Because you recruited us."

"I did not recruit all of you."

"You recruited me."

"And then you dragged Vena and Tessa into the mess."

Vena crossed her arms.

"I joined because I thought you two would die without someone competent."

Tessa laughed softly while Amos listened, slipping in small, harmless questions. Nothing that would raise suspicion or hint at his sudden curiosity about their past. He asked where they’d first met, which monster had been their toughest fight, who was the worst cook, who usually took first watch, who got injured most often, who tended to get lost, and who had the worst sense of direction.

The answers flowed effortlessly. Harold and Daren bickered over a few, but Vena set them both straight.

Tessa occasionally remembered details the others had forgotten.

Amos paid attention to every answer, every pause, and every correction.

Every time one of them said, No, that's not what happened.

That last part was especially important.

Because disagreement was exactly what he was looking for.

Yet strangely—

They were impressively consistent. Daren recalled the same stories as Harold, and Vena remembered the same events, though often from a different angle. Tessa would sometimes toss in details that made the others say, “Oh, right.” But nothing ever outright conflicted—nothing Amos could work with.

He leaned back slightly.

So, their memories really are connected.

That was even more unsettling. If their memories had been entirely separate or made up, contradictions would’ve been all over the place. Instead, they shared years of experiences that meshed together flawlessly. Which meant the strange inconsistency in the ruin wasn’t just faulty recall. Something had happened. Something exact. Something that had tampered with this one part of their memories.

He kept his expression calm, though his mind instantly drifted back to them. His fingers curled a little tighter against his knee.

No.

He pushed the thought away before it could develop.

There was no reason to connect the two.

None.

He looked back at Harold.

"One more thing."

Harold raised an eyebrow.

"Go ahead."

"Before coming here... had you ever separated from the team for an extended period?"

Harold considered it.

"Not really. We've had situations where one or two of us had to split off temporarily, but we've always regrouped."

Daren nodded.

"That's basically how we've operated."

Vena added, "We've been a team for too long to casually split up."

Tessa smiled.

"Besides, Harold would worry himself sick."

"I would not."

"You would," all three said almost simultaneously.

The questions eventually turned back toward Amos.

It was only natural.

He had spent the last several minutes asking about their history, and now Daren seemed to realize that he had been getting all the attention.

"Alright," Daren said, pointing at Amos. "Our turn."

Amos raised an eyebrow.

"What turn?"

"You've been interrogating us."

"I was asking questions."

"That's what interrogating means."

Vena nodded. "He's right."

"You're both making this sound much worse than it was."

Tessa smiled. "Then you won't mind answering."

Amos sighed.

"Fine. Ask."

And they did.

At first, the questions were simple.

Where had he learned to fight?

How long had he been an adventurer?

What kind of monsters had he fought before?

What was the strangest dungeon he'd ever explored?

Why did he prefer certain weapons?

What was the story behind some of the equipment he carried?

Amos answered everything.

There was no particular reason for him to hide most of it.

He shared tales of his past adventures, describing the places he’d been, the monsters he’d faced, and the lessons he’d picked up along the way. When questions came up that he couldn’t fully answer, he’d just admit he wasn’t sure or say it wasn’t worth getting into. The conversation slowly took on a relaxed tone. Daren even chuckled at a few of his stories, while Vena occasionally jumped in to call out his exaggerations.

Tessa asked more technical questions about his magic.

Harold mostly listened, occasionally adding another question when something caught his interest.

Amos answered them all.

And yet—

Something was bothering him.

It was barely noticeable at first.

A tiny discomfort somewhere in the back of his mind.

Like the sensation of forgetting someone's name.

Except he couldn't figure out what he had forgotten.

Amos paused halfway through answering Tessa.

"...and that's when I—"

He stopped.

Tessa looked at him.

"When you?"

Amos blinked.

"...When I realized the monster wasn't actually attacking me."

He wrapped up the sentence as if nothing were unusual. No one else seemed to catch on, but Amos did. A faint frown crossed his face.

What was I about to say?

He searched his mind, but there was nothing—no trace of a clue, just a blank void. Still, he kept talking. Then, a few minutes later, it happened again. Harold asked him about an old expedition, and Amos answered immediately.

Everything was there, yet between one memory and the next, an unexplainable gap lingered—a small, missing piece.

Amos's fingers slowly curled.

What is this?

He’d always relied on his memory, especially lately. That’s why the contradiction in this ruin unsettled him so deeply.

He was certain of what he remembered, of what he had lived through. He knew the left passage, the crack in the floor, the dead end. He knew he had never crossed the underground stream. Yet, here was physical evidence saying otherwise. And now it was happening all over again—except this time, there was no one else’s memory to challenge his own.

There was simply nothing. Just a blank. Amos stood there, staring at the floor for a moment.

"Something wrong?" Harold asked.

Amos immediately looked up.

"No."

The answer came smoothly.

"I'm just tired."

Harold gave him a quick once-over before nodding. Amos offered a faint smile as the conversation rolled on. He answered each question, recalling every story they brought up, yet that nagging feeling lingered, tucked away at the edge of his mind.

Amos eventually glanced back at the remains. His expression stayed the same, but an unsettling thought crept into his mind.

I know I'm forgetting something.

The thought wouldn't leave him.

Amos looked away from the remains again.

He forced himself to focus on the conversation.

"I was not stuck."

Daren was telling some ridiculous story about Harold getting stuck halfway through a collapsed tunnel.

"You were absolutely stuck."

"I was assessing the structure."

"You were sitting on the floor."

"Because the floor was stable."

Vena sighed.

"I still don't understand how you became A-rank."

Tessa quietly laughed.

Am I the problem?