“Sergeant Bella!”
Hardly had I noticed something amiss and reacted when Bella Meyer clapped both hands over her mouth and hurriedly disappeared into an alley.
I wasn’t the only one startled by this sudden action.
“……!!”
“Lumina!”
“Captain! We need to follow her!!”
We stood still for a few seconds.
We immediately chased after Bella Meyer. Deep inside the alley where she had turned sharply, she was struggling to vomit.
“Gwaaah─!! Kk, uuuh…… sss…….”
“Are, are you alright?”
I approached Bella and spoke softly while gently patting her back.
Why did she suddenly start vomiting?
Did she eat something bad?
No, that wasn’t it. Bella Meyer hadn’t eaten anything today. What came out was just a thin liquid.
“Cough! Cough, ugh…… Cough!!”
Bella coughed painfully while leaning on the wall.
Just as I was about to grab her, sensing something seriously wrong, Bella’s body collapsed to the floor like a snapped puppet string.
“Bella!”
I quickly caught her and managed to lift her up. Bella Meyer had already lost consciousness. If I hadn’t been close, she would have hit her head hard on the floor.
“Captain……”
Lumina Blue spoke with a worried voice. Although I didn’t know exactly what happened, it seemed we couldn’t go pick up our clothes now.
First, we should bring Bella back to the dorm.
“Shall I carry Sergeant Bella on my back?”
“Yes, I understand!”
Lumina approached and placed Bella’s limp body on my back.
Since she was completely unconscious, if the center of gravity shifted backward, it could be dangerous. So, I hugged her legs tightly with both hands to keep her steady.
“Krruuch……!!”
“Captain!! Are you okay!? Should I carry her?”
“No……! I’m fine!!”
Although my legs trembled with each step due to my frail body,
since I had been gradually building up my stamina after hurting my back while saving Lumina last time, I didn’t fall or stumble.
‘This time, it won’t happen.’
If not for Lumina not noticing properly, my back wouldn’t have been hurt in the first place. If I were fully conscious, I would have definitely looked at her pitifully.
Lumina still believed that I got injured during combat.
Well, it’s hard to believe that someone could injure their back while winning a battle and trying to pull someone out of the ground.
Even if I told her the truth, she might just interpret it as a lame joke.
With great difficulty, we finally returned to the dorm. The manager of the annex, who was serving guests in the lobby, jumped in surprise.
“What!? How did this happen?”
“We don’t know either. She just suddenly fainted…… Do you have a place where we can lay her down?”
“Here! Come this way!”
The manager calmly guided me to a sofa in one corner of the lobby. It was spacious enough for one person to lie down.
“Ron, immediately call a doctor. Luna and Ailys, bring pillows and blankets!”
As I struggled to move Bella onto the sofa, the manager gave orders to his servants.
It felt like they had a manual for handling such situations; the servants scattered promptly at his command.
The manager, while issuing instructions, approached Bella to roughly check her condition.
“Her breathing seems normal, and there doesn’t seem to be any major issue from the outside.”
“That’s a relief.”
Only then could I let out a sigh of relief. Since the immediate danger seemed under control, I checked her consciousness again.
“Bella, Sergeant Bella! Can you hear me?”
“E, eeh……”
“Sergeant Bella, try opening your eyes!”
As I held her hand, her closed eyelids trembled, and her previously hidden red eyes began to appear.
“Ca, Captain……?”
“Are you alright?”
“Where, where am I……?”
She struggled to turn her head. Meanwhile, Lumina had gotten a glass of water from a maid and briefly raised Bella to drink it.
“Drink this.”
“Uun……”
Bella drank the water obediently.
I had thought it might be a premonition of a magical surge, but fortunately, it didn’t reach that level.
“But where am I? This feels familiar……”
“It’s the dorm.”
“Dorm……? This isn’t our dorm? It doesn’t look like it……”
A clear sense of unease.
Seeing Bella Meyer looking around bewildered, I instinctively sensed something was wrong.
Dissociative amnesia.
Bella Meyer’s characteristic trait had manifested.
*
The doctor’s opinion was that it was a case of neurosis caused by sudden stress leading to fainting. Since there were no significant health issues, the doctor left without taking any special measures.
“Then I’ll go to the clothing store.”
“Yes, please do.”
Since we still needed to meet the prince, Lumina went alone to get the ceremonial attire that we couldn’t pick up earlier.
I stayed behind in the dorm to monitor Bella Meyer’s condition.
Although there was no risk of a magical surge, it was always best to prepare for the worst.
“Bella.”
Knock knock. I knocked on the door cautiously.
“You may come in.”
When I entered Bella’s room, she was sitting on the bed in comfortable pajamas.
Holding a parrot in her arms, Bella Meyer looked incredibly fragile compared to her usual image.
“How much of your memory has returned?”
“Some. It doesn’t seem like too many memories are gone. Just the ones from when we set out, I guess.”
Bella Meyer spoke more actively. Her forced smile felt transparent, which made it even more painful.
“I momentarily forgot that I had dissociative amnesia. I’m sorry.”
“There’s no need for you to apologize, Captain. This is the first time I’ve experienced this since you took command.”
Bella Meyer added bitterly.
“At first, I thought it had gotten better, but…… Today it was much worse. Losing consciousness is rare these days.”
“This happens often……?”
She nodded in response.
“I don’t know how much memory is lost, and once it’s gone, I can’t remember. In the past, it was extremely painful, but after joining the 3rd Regiment, no one pays attention to me anymore, so it’s better. No one asks if I remember things.”
“Bella……”
“It’s become a routine for me. But, I think you must have been quite surprised. I’m sorry.”
I couldn’t properly respond to her apology. After all, I was the one who should be apologizing.
“……”
The heavy silence that inevitably followed.
Given that dissociative amnesia is a condition that cannot be easily brushed off, there wasn’t much I could do when it recurred.
And the ‘sudden onset of neurosis’ as the doctor put it.
Clearly, Bella Meyer started vomiting right after seeing the Strigoi being escorted.
In any case, it seemed there was some connection between Bella Meyer and that group.
This must be related to why she transitioned from being a noble lady to a low-ranking mage officer in the borderlands.
But I couldn’t ask directly.
Like Lumina’s ‘incident,’ there was a high chance it would trigger Bella Meyer’s trauma.
What if saying the wrong thing worsened her condition?
“I’m really fine. This isn’t even severe.”
“How severe would it have to be?”
“Um, forgetting my name and origin? There were times when years of memories vanished in an instant.”
Why hasn’t she been discharged yet?
The more I heard, the less I understood.
Bella Meyer’s condition was far more serious than I had imagined. Dissociative amnesia doesn’t just mean losing bits of information; it’s much worse.
“……Sergeant Bella, this isn’t right. You should request a discharge—.”
“No, Captain. I like it here. Actually…… I want to delay my discharge as much as possible.”
Bella Meyer’s calm voice filled the air.
“The only place I can confirm my identity is in the military. Even if I lose my memory, just seeing the uniform in the corner reassures me.”
The emptiness in her red, glowing eyes conveyed her complete resignation. I could feel deeply what she was saying.
I hated it, but I also loved my past fiercely. Faded combat uniforms. The smell of gunpowder, the scent of bl**d.
I was also a ghost trapped by my identity as a soldier.
“I understand. I was…… too presumptuous.”
“The parrot was brought along for this reason. To prevent losing all memories if I ended up in a foreign place. It’s a parrot I’ve raised since I was young. Even if I forget everything, I can regain my memories through the stories I told it.”
I turned to look at the yellow parrot in its cage. The bird was preening its feathers calmly.
It must serve as a trigger for her to recover her memories.
“Well, I kind of understand now. Why I’m here and what I should do.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes. To meet the prince properly tomorrow, I need to sleep well tonight.”
“Rest is absolutely crucial.”
“……Will you stay by my side?”
Bella Meyer said, slightly averting her gaze.
Even though she said she was completely fine, I already knew she hadn’t fully shaken off her anxiety.
Silently, I pulled a chair over to sit beside Bella, who was huddled on the bed.
“Just watching you until you fall asleep isn’t difficult.”
“Really…… You’re surprisingly kind despite your appearance.”
Bella crawled into the covers, and I watched her silently from the chair.
“See you tomorrow, Captain.”
“Goodnight.”
After a while, she started tossing and turning before finally falling into a peaceful sleep.
“Captain……? I’m back.”
“Hush.”
Lumina had just returned to the dorm.
