I don’t see anything.

Shh… It’s starting.

I see flashes of red, white, and black.

This must be before the memory part of the brain is formed.

Does anybody want peanuts?

Shhh!

Shhh yourself! Nothing is happening yet! Ouch! Why did you hit me?

Don’t be rude, moron! I apologize for my friend’s rude behavior, elder.

Elder, my ass! I’m only forty this year.

Shut up, all of you, it’s starting.

My eyes aren’t as good as they used to be. Can somebody narrate it to me?

Sure. The image is clearing up. I see a room, a bed, a cabinet, dolls… tons of dolls. The place looks expensive.

That room… No, it can’t be…

So the devil was born into wealth, huh? Pah! I knew someone as evil as he must’ve been spoiled rotten as a child.

No… I think this is a girl’s room. There, a girl is reading a book on the bed. She shouldn’t be older than four.

That child… It-it can’t be!

Why is there a girl? Where’s the devil?

He must be nearby, otherwise, this scene wouldn’t show up in his memory.

She must be important to be the first memory he has.

My first memory is of me shitting in the yard. Plus, that’s not how the spell works, moron. Memoria will pick up clear memories — events that make an impression on him.

Okay, who’s the girl then, his sister?

Watch and find out.

The girl is pretty cute. Blonde hair. Green eyes. Ashamed, she appears to be a waste.

How could you tell?

How can I not tell? Look at her. Can you sense any mana from her?

Isn’t that because she’s just a vision?

Kid, you never experienced Memoria before, have you? Focus and you can smell the medicine in the air. The heat coming in from the windows. The softness of the bed.

Whoa, you’re right! I can even perceive presence outside the room!

Oh, now I feel it too! Small. Manaless. Heading for the door.

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A boy walks into the room. Black hair. Dirty clothes. About six years old.

That’s the devil, right?

It must be.

That’s strange… His eyes are brown, not red.

You say that as if it’s hard to change eye colors. It’s the fact that he’s also manaless that’s strange!

… You’re right.

Shhh! They’re about to speak.

“Amy! I came to visit! How are you today? Do you have a headache again?”

“I’m going to if you don’t shut your smelly mouth, stupid brat.”

Aiya! That’s cold as ice!

Hearing something like that from your… sister? Childhood friend? Ought to leave a mark.

No… No, it can’t be her. It can’t…

Master? Are you okay? You look pale.

That girl… that girl is… No, no, it can’t be her…

“My breath is still smelly? But I just brushed my teeth before coming here.”

“Huh… What do you want from me, brat? Speak quickly and leave.”

“I told you, I’m here to see you.”

“You came. You saw. Goodbye.”

Okay, there’s cold, then there’s this iceberg.

The devil spent his formative years dealing with that? No wonder he grew twisted.

Shut up! All of you shut up! Don’t you dare insult her!

Master!? What’s wrong? You’ve been acting strange since you saw the girl.

The girl… the girl… That girl is… Amelia…

“Why are you so grumpy, Amy? Do you have to poop?”

“I’m grumpy because an annoying brat won’t leave me be. And I never gave you permission to give me a nickname, gardener’s child.”

Ouch! I can’t feel the devil’s pain from here.

So the devil came from a humble upbringing… Yet he already set his sights on the young miss of the house. Hmph! How presumptuous!

“Don’t be like that… Miss Amelia. I came to play with you! Being stuck in a room all day should be boring, right?”

“Not with a good book.”

“What are you reading? Is it a bedtime story? Ooh! Ooh! Maybe a story about knights and dragons?!”

“Geography.”

“Gee-o… Gee-or-gaa…”

“It’s a map of the world.”

“Oh! Cool! You like reading this stuff because you can’t leave the room right?”

Kid, abandon ship! Abandon ship! You can’t say that to a bedridden girl!

“Me, I enjoy listening to knights because I’ll become a knight one day!”

“A waste like you? Don’t kid yourself, boy. You’d be lucky to be a servant like your parents.”

Seep! Ice cold!

The voice is fading out.

The following conversation mustn’t have been memorable.

Or, or, or, he was so devastated by the insult that everything else turned into a blur.

…Yeah, that too.

But look, the boy puts on a smile and chats happily with the girl.

More like he’s running his mouth as she focuses on the book.

…Yeah, that too.

I sense another presence approaching. An adult. A mage.

This mana resonance… feels familiar…

That man! It’s—

Master!?