31 『Vertum』 (1/2)

Jack, the newly named Vertum, appeared in the prison of the underground Vilisyrteria City, walking along the center corridor between the cells. His eyes resting on the female form curled up on the ground in shackles in the center of her little space.

Coming to a stop in front of the cell, his eyes traced over her.

The hair on her head was but an inch long, if not shorter. Her eyes seemed empty, especially as they looked up to him as she cocked her head up from the ground.

She couldn't use words. She couldn't shout for help. Even as she sniffled, she couldn't make any verbal sounds that indicated that she was crying.

In a way, he took pity on her. In another, he didn't care all that much. He didn't find that weird either, he hardly knew her, so he had no sentiments towards her. The dragon didn't really want to know her either.

An idea, an epiphany, had come to him as he was thinking about how he could reintroduce himself to the people of the Village.

”You wouldn't mind being a guinea pig, now would you?” He'd ask rhetorically before pushing the cell door open after unlocking it with a wave of his hand.

She was shaking her head frantically, trying to roll away from him, but the only direction she could go was against the wall.

He'd grab her by the shackles, pulling her up into a seated position before grasping the side of her head. He could see the fear in her eyes, the light had returned. She thrashed side to side, pulling from him, if she still had hair it'd definitely be knotted in his hands by now.

”The more you struggle, the more I'll hurt you.” His eyes flickered to her face and she immediately paled, freezing in place. ”Good.”

He could only thing she was believing that if she were to stay still and appease him, that he wouldn't harm or kill her. In a way she was correct, but he was definitely going to harm her, but not in the physical sense.

She couldn't speak, so she couldn't question him. In turn, her eyes were filled with not only fear, but questions that she couldn't ask otherwise.

Vertum closed his eyelids partially before reciting the name of the spell he was going to use.

”『Control Amnesia』!”

Just like that the memories she once had were at his command. It felt natural using this spell to warp and change these fathomed images. She knew his name as Jack, what he wanted to do was change it to Vertum.

While he did this, she couldn't scream, nor could she protest.

Even if she wasn't shackled with anti-magic items, that stopped her from casting magic in order to counter him, she wouldn't have been able to stop him. His magic had been too high of a tier.

This experiment lasted for several minutes to an hour, taking multiple tries to get done what he wanted done. That was when he mastered the technique at the end of the nonstop experimentation with the human female.

Though she couldn't speak, she mouthed his name whilst blankly looking up at him.

During this experiment he had ended up obliterating the faces and names of those she held precious, her colleagues, her pets and even her family from her memories. She wouldn't be able to recognize anyone, except him.

Releasing her head, she laid back on the cold stone floor, almost like a doll. Staring up at the ceiling as she rolled side to side slightly as she tried to get into a comfortable position, before curling up again.

”You'll be of further use to me yet...”

His words caused the girl to tense up and shake.

Vertum just scoffed at her reaction, as if he hadn't even taken himself seriously when he had said that line. ”I always wanted to say that,” he made his way towards the open cell door.

Slowly she raised her head to look at his back as he stopped right outside the door frame.

Turning his head, he looked to her. ”When I'm done with you, you'll forget the Slane Theocracy.” A faint smile formed over his lips as he closed the barred door and locked it.

Without further ado, he made his way out of the prison, using his ability to teleport freely throughout the city with the ring to do so.

The Dragon then appeared at the very entrance, which lead outside to the Great Forest of Tob. Without any reservation, the young man stepped outside and into the natural light of the morning.

”Jack-san!” A voice squeaked, and his eyes darted towards a girl half hiding behind a tree.

”Nemu...?” Vertum snickered quietly as he walked towards her, before kneeling down in front of her and ruffling the top of her head. ”Where's your sister?”

”She's back at home watching the wall being built,” she couldn't help but smirk at him, looking into his amethyst eyes. ”She might come looking for me soon.”

”I see... Mind if I try a magic spell on you?” Vertum wasn't really asking, it was more of a nice way of informing her that he was going to do so.

Failing to recognize this, she shrugged. ”What kind of spell is it?”

”It's a harmless one, I made sure to work out all the kinks first.”

Blinking at his words, she felt his hands wrap around her head almost like a circelet. ”What're you...”

”『Control Amnesia』!”

Vertum had used the spell again, this time on Nemu, Enri's little sister. He used it for a mere few seconds this time around, replacing all references to Jack as Vertum. He also erased the last few moments where he had asked to cast the spell and actually casted it on her.

Nemu remained smiling, ”Vertum-san, why is your hands around my head? Is this some kind of game?” She placed her hands on his wrists and lightly pulled them from her head.

Allowing her to remove his hands from her head, he chuckled lightly. ”Perhaps,” he would then poke her nose lightly before standing up and looking towards the village.