Chapter 35: The Administrator

“Asharra the First Homunculus. We meet at last.”

“And you are?” Asharra asked.

“Admin Schmidt.” The man replied as he fixed his neck tie.

Special NPC: Admin Schmidt

Race: Administrator

Level: ???

Title: Punisher

Faction: SYSTEM Admin Team

Party: Ban Hammer

“Are you God?” Dianne asked. “Are you here to save Miguel?”

“No, and yes.” Schmidt responded as he turned his glare to Asharra. “You and I need to talk.”

Asharra drew her mouth back in a snarl. “Administrators have no business here! Be gone!!!”

“Your master has no business interfering with players’ affair either.” Schmidt smirked.

“Hahahaha!” Asharra broke into crazed laughter. “Did God send you just to save this mortal? I did not know he is that valuable to him.”

Admin Schmidt shook his head. “This is not about Mr. Arevalo. This is about offending God himself.”

“And what did my master and I do to offend Him?” Asharra asked. “What gives you a right?”

“I care not about your offenses. My directive is to terminate those who offend God. I do not question, I only obey.” Schmidt responded.

“What if I hand him over to you? Will you let me live?”

It seemed that whoever Admin Schmidt was, he was powerful enough to make Asharra tremble in fear. She even tried to beg him for her life.

“God has already made his decision. And now, you will be subjected to…” Schmidt clenched his hands into a first and cracked the bones of his neck. “…deletion.”

Without a warning, Schmidt suddenly vanished and appeared instantly in front of Asharra. He punched the homunculus with a tremendous force and sent her flying and crashed into a wall as dusts and stones fell from the ceiling.

Asharra looked like she was in pain after she took just one punch. Schmidt grinned after he showed her the vast difference of their power. She stood up and charged at him with her claws, but Schmidt dodged all of the attacks with little to no effort and all of her attacks hit nothing but air.

“I will give you the same offer as you gave Miss Roque.” Schmidt said as he moved. “Surrender and I will give you the mercy of a swift termination.”

“Damn you!”

Asharra cursed as she continued her flurry of claw attacks. She even tried to surprise him as she swept her spiked tail to him, but still none of her attacks ever touched Schmidt. The Administrator was having fun toying with her and countered some of her attacks with fast jabs. He seemed to be holding back his punches. That was until she landed a hit and broke Schmidt’s sunglasses. Asharra grinned as she saw Schmidt spit out blood.

“I’m going to enjoy watching you die.” Schmidt said as he threw away his sunglasses.

Asharra charged again and attacked him. Schmidt didn’t move an inch and when the claws were about to hit him, he simply blocked it with one hand. To say the least, she was shocked. Schmidt gripped her wrist tightly as Asharra screamed in pain. He threw her to the wall and again, he teleported. As soon as she was on the wall, Schmidt appeared and threw countless of punches. It was so fast that his hands looked blurry. I realized that Schmidt didn’t actually teleport, he was rather too fast for my eyes to follow his movements.

Schmidt stopped for a moment as Asharra fell to the ground. He grabbed her by the tail and threw her up in the air and leapt. As soon as he leapt, he kicked her back to the ground while in the air. She crashed to the ground with such an intensity that she made a crater. Asharra was coughing blood and she couldn’t even move with her injuries. I think that Schmidt broke every bone in her body and she was barely holding on to her consciousness.

“Stop! Please!” Asharra cried as she begged for her life.

But Schmidt was unforgiving and relentless. He stared at her with cold eyes as he grabbed Asharra by the tail and dragged her around. “No! No! Please!”

My jaw dropped at how easily Schmidt defeated Asharra and he didn’t even use magic or skill. I looked at the others and all of them had the same reaction as me. We were awed at Schmidt’s display of power. I wasn’t only amazed, but I also became afraid of him. If Schmidt chooses to kill us, we won’t even see it. When he mentioned that he was the one killing those who offended God, I was glad that God let me off the hook when I prayed to him back in the hardware store.

Asharra cast her magic on desperation and fired off a couple of fireballs as he dragged her around. Schmidt didn’t even flinch nor did he try to dodge the attack and it left him unscathed. Instead, he became more pissed and he flattened Asharra with repeated smashes into the floor. At first she was screaming in pain and she begged profusely for him to stop, but after a few smashes, Asharra was making a whistling noise for breathing as she stared blankly at us.

Schmidt continued to smash her into the floor, even though Asharra looked like she was already dead. The floor was painted with Asharra’s blood and after Schmidt was finished, her body was flattened and disfigured beyond recognition. We didn’t level up from Asharra’s death, but we leveled up from the quest that God gave us.

Quest Complete!

Quest: A Mission from God

Progress: Find and rescue Miguel Arevalo (1/1)

Difficulty: C

Rewards: EXP and Gold (5) Gold Coins.

Level Up!

Level Up!

“I’ll take care of Mr. Arevalo. Here. Loot her corpse.” Schmidt said as he threw the corpse to us. “Consider it as God’s additional reward for your efforts.”

The rest of back away for a bit as we looked at Asharra’s mangled remains. Dianne and Eric couldn’t help, but throw up at the sickening sight. I, on the other hand, was glad that God and Schmidt were on our side. I can’t even imagine how we would fair against Schmidt.

I admit that our fight with Asharra was a bit anti-climactic. We wouldn’t be alive if Schmidt didn’t come. But then, it was really impossible for us to defeat her and when we combined our attacks, she would just heal herself forever.

Thanks for helping us, God!

You’re welcome and I also want to thank you for finding Miguel for me. Do me a favor. When Miguel wakes up, just put in a good word for me.

Sure. By the way, Admin Schmidt is cool.

I know, right? But the thing is, they are useless as fucks and they’re just a bunch of masturbating idiots and what Schmidt did today was the only time he became useful. Anyway, please avoid sucking up to me next time. This is just a one-time only. I had no choice but to intervene.

“Loot.” I said as I touched the corpse.

The corpse disintegrated into pixelated light and when it disappeared, tons of items instantly appeared. There were skill books, weapons, armors, rings, a large mana stone and lots of Gold Coins. After we accounted all the loot, we decided to store the loot in a bag and distribute it later after we made sure that Miguel was okay.

“Stand back.” Schmidt said.

We stood back a little as Schmidt extended his arms and cast some magic on Miguel. The crystal was shattered into tiny little pieces and the magic circle stopped from glowing. After that, the crystal that held Miguel imprisoned became whole again as it levitated in the air. The crystal was as large as a basketball. Unlike the blue light it gave off earlier, the crystal became black in color and it lets off a black mist. He took the dark crystal with him.

After that, Schmidt cast another magic on Miguel. There was a ball of light floating on top of Miguel and he screamed in pain as the light absorbed a great amount of the black mist in his body. Dianne and I almost wanted to go to him, but Schmidt stopped us.

“Are you leaving?” Melissa asked.

“Not yet.” Schmidt shook his head as he carried Miguel. “My mission is to make sure that he is fine.”

“Where are you taking him?”

“Anywhere, but here.” He pointed out the ceiling and it looked like it was about to collapse. He was right though. We can’t stay here. “I think there is a school in the front of this establishment.”

With that said, we followed Schmidt as he carried Miguel on his arm. I sighed in relief as I knew that he would be fine as long as Schmidt was here. Melissa was sad as she took a last look at Piper. She took Piper’s remains in her inventory and said that she would have her cremated later.

“By the way, Admin Smith…” Richard said.

“It’s Admin Schmidt. S-C-H-M-I-D-T. Please, call me Schmidt.”

“Oh, okay. So. Uhmmm. Can I ask you a question?”

“You are already asking a question.” Schmidt continued to walk without turning his head. “Go ahead. Ask and I will answer as best as I can. As long as the information is not classified.”

“Are you the one who kills everyone who offend God? I mean, it’s the rule, right? Use proper pronouns and such?”

“Yes, that is me.” Schmidt raised up his chin and it seemed that he was proud of his job. “There are others too, but God always assigns me for the most urgent and important missions.”

“Are you a human?” Eric asked.

“Heavens, no!” Schmidt shook his head profusely. “I am an Administrator.”

“What’s an Administrator?”

“That is the name of my race.” Schmidt explained. “Our race was created by God and our purpose is to make sure that everything in the SYSTEM is working in order.”

“Why do you help us? Why help Miguel in particular?” Dianne asked. “Miguel said to us that God didn’t like doing favors for mortal pests like us. Why would we be special?”

Fair point. I was asking the same thing myself. I wonder what God wanted with Miguel. Whatever the reason God had for helping us, I didn’t care.

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

“I do not know God’s intent. Even if I do, I will not be allowed to answer that question.” Schmidt replied. “That subject is between God and him. I do not ask questions. God gives orders and I only obey.”

We exited the dungeon and we went to a school just across the hardware store. There were a few zombies left outside, but they suddenly fell to the ground and died as Schmidt walked without even taking a glance at them. It seemed that his mere presence was enough to kill these monsters. Perhaps he was using magic or a skill that we didn’t know. Or maybe it’s a holy skill like Mark’s. When we arrived at the school, Schmidt asked us to hold on to Miguel for a moment.

“What’s that for?” Richard asked as Schmidt drew a magic circle on the school’s gate. “Are those runes?”

“It’s a barrier.” He replied. “It’s a ward against the undead. It’ll protect everyone inside the building.”

After that, he took Miguel back and carried him. There were a few leftover zombies inside the school as we’ve already blown most of them with the bombs. What bothered us was that most of the zombies we encountered there were just little children. Again, Schmidt killed most of them while Mark blessed the corpses as we walked.

As if Schmidt already knew the place, he led us to a clinic where it had soft beds and other medical supplies.

He laid him down on the bed as he performed more magic on him. Miguel was still unconscious at that time and he was as pale as a corpse. Not to mention that he was also thin and he was literally skin and bones with no muscle and fat. He really looked like a corpse. We almost didn’t recognize him and he changed a lot in appearance for the worse. We only recognized him for his beard and when we remembered that Daria mentioned that he lost his left eye and left hand.

I didn’t want to touch him as I get the feeling that if I hold him, he would break. You know the feeling that when you hold a baby and you’re afraid that you might kill the baby just for holding it? Yeah, that kind of feeling. I remembered that when I held my baby cousin in my arms, he was small and he looked very fragile and when I touched the baby’s head, I felt a soft spot of his skull. I think I touched his brain and that could be the cause why he became retarded. That traumatized me for life.

“What are you doing to him?” I asked.

“I am doing what I can to restore his body.” Schmidt said. “The magic that Asharra used is a ritual that is forbidden by many. The dark mana inside him corrupted him too much and that’s why he wasted away most of his flesh just like the Necrotic Curse.”

“Wouldn’t that make Miguel an undead in just hours?” Mark asked. He was the group’s holy magic user, so he was probably curious.

“I also thought about that.” Schmidt nodded. “His curse is something I haven’t seen before. I even searched our SYSTEM archives and found nothing. But when I studied him and I concluded that the unique dark mana signature was the one causing the disruption of his connection with God. I think the dark mana was inside him for days now given that God could not contact him for that time.”

“If that’s true, why wouldn’t Miguel detect it earlier?” I asked. I remembered that Miguel was adept to magic that he could sense the dark mana inside me when I got cursed.

“The Dark Lord probably used the dark mana inside him to manufacture illusions inside his mind. He is the god of falsehoods and I wouldn’t be surprised if he used such cowardly tactics to hide the dark mana from Miguel. God has been trying to contact him and He wanted to avoid interfering with players as much as possible after the 8th day, but the Dark Lord left him no choice.”

“Would he be okay?” I asked. “I mean, will he be back to normal?”

“I’ve already removed all the traces of dark mana in his body. Unfortunately, the damage was already done and I could not reverse it. His connection with God was permanently severed and He won’t be able to talk to him through the SYSTEM. But at least, Miguel still had the basic access to the SYSTEM, but he and God wouldn’t be able to talk like before.”

“What I mean by normal is, would he be… uhmmm. Look the same after you’re done?”

“I cannot restore the muscles and body fat that he lost in instant without turning him into an abomination. Even with the help of runes, it will take months. His physical condition is called Flesh Waste similar to what you humans call emaciated as a result of the curse. He will need nourishment.”

“So we’ll just have to feed him?” Dianne asked.

“That will be dangerous. I’ve seen this before in my time at Mindanao. You can’t just feed him solid food or else he’ll die.” Mark said.

“Yes, but do not worry. I’ve already fixed his digestive organs to enable him to eat normally when he wakes up. But to be safe, feed him with foods that are easy to digest.”

Schmidt stopped casting his magic and turned to us. “I still need to observe him to make sure I haven’t missed anything and there might be other complications. I need you to do something.”

“What is it?”

“His body will be weak because of his extreme muscle loss. Mr. Arevalo won’t be able to stand properly or travel with you without help. The clinic already has a wheelchair, but he will need food supplements and vitamins to help him recover. Also, I don’t know how long he will remain unconscious, so he’ll also need intravenous therapy.”

“You mean dextrose?” Mark asked.

“Yes, that would suffice.”

Eric, Melissa, Richard and Mark went outside to grab the things that will help Miguel recover while the rest of us stayed with Miguel and Schmidt.

As we wait for Miguel to gain consciousness, Dianne and Schmidt talked about potions and he was happy to talk about it. It seemed that Schmidt was also a nerd when it comes to alchemy and his tone and way of speech changed when talking about alchemy. I was afraid that God would be angry because Schmidt was giving too much, but there was no loud boom in the skies, so we thought it was okay.

We learned that his title ‘Punisher’ has been just one of his many titles like High Alchemist, Archmagus and Rune Lord. We only learned from him that we actually had an option to hide our titles if we didn’t want the others to see it, but those with high level of [Observe] can see all hidden titles. You just have to say: Hide Title: Title name to hide the title and Show Title: Title name to show it again.

I didn’t understand most of what they were talking about, but he gave her some tips on how to make her potions more potent and he even gave some of his ‘secret’ potion recipes. We learned that Schmidt was the one who wrote the book Alchemy for Dummies.

“So who wrote this book?” I asked as I held Magical Laws and Theories for Dummies book.

“Tsk.” Schmidt huffed and clicked his tongue.

“You don’t want to meet him. He’s arrogant and a huge asshole. Can you believe that he dared to belittle alchemy? Heh. He doesn’t realize that there’s nothing more worth studying than alchemy. What an ignorant prick.”

I was spooked for a bit when Schmidt showed the same expression when Asharra broke his sunglasses. Thankfully, Dianne quickly changed the subject and turned it into alchemy subject again and he was back to his calm and cheerful attitude.

“Ah. It’s been a while since I had a good talk like that. To tell you the truth, all of the Administrators hate listening to me when I talk about alchemy. They said it was boring and it doesn’t make any sense, but they just don’t understand its basic concepts.” Schmidt said. “Thank you for listening, Miss Duria.”

“W-well, I should be the one thanking you. You’ve been very helpful to us…” Dianne blushed as she scratched her head. “Thank you for saving us and please, call me Dianne.”

Schmidt gave her a smile and shrugged his shoulders. “No need to thank me. I’m just doing my job as an Administrator.”

He pulled something out in the air and gave Dianne a book. “Here you go.”

“O-oh no… You’ve done enough. I can’t take it.” Dianne said as she waved her hand.

“No, no, you should take it. Come on, take it. It’s my gift to you.” Schmidt took Dianne’s hand and gave her the book. “You won’t find any books on alchemy that are better than that and it’s not even for sale in the Shop. I wrote that myself too, by the way.”

“Thank you.”

“Isn’t alchemy the greatest subject ever?” Schmidt let out a high pitched laugh and high-fived Dianne.

Beth and I looked at each other as we felt that we were out of place. Dianne and Schmidt would continue to talk all day and night without rest and they haven’t run out of topics to talk about in alchemy.

I’ve waited patiently for Miguel to wake up, but it was already night. His breathing seemed normal and when I touched him, his skin felt warmer to touch, unlike a few hours ago. The others were back and they looted a hospital nearby. Even though they said that there were still a few zombies inside, Mark finished them off quickly with his holy magic and with the help of mana potions. They looted food, the supplements and other supplies that we would need for the journey.

Schmidt told us that he needed to rest and instructed me to call him if Miguel wakes up. Even though he was strong, I didn’t know that he also knew the meaning of exhaustion. The others also went to take a rest because Schmidt assured us that the barrier he made was effective. Dianne and I volunteered to watch Miguel while taking shifts. Dianne took the first shift while I closed my eyes for a bit.

When I woke up, I saw Dianne dozing off and trying her best to stay awake. I decided to take over and let her sleep. It was still dark outside and it was hard to keep track of time.

I looked at the pendant that I bought in Camp Aguinaldo. It was a silver necklace with a heart shaped pendant. I was told by the seller that it was a magical item that increases agility.  I bought a pair of it and gave the other to Miguel. I would’ve given it freely as a gift, but he complained about the stats, so I charged him for it in my annoyance.

I looked at Miguel and even though, he seemed to be completely naked when we found him, it made me smile every time I think about how he was still wearing the necklace that I gave to him. I was just glad that he didn’t lose it and I’d like to think that it was important to him.

After a few moments, I saw Miguel opened his eyes. I shook Dianne to wake up and told her to get Schmidt immediately.

“Miguel?”

Miguel looked around and when his eyes turned to me, he gave me a puzzled look and asked: “Who are you?”

“I’m Claire. Don’t you recognize me?”

“W-who…” His forehead wrinkled. “Who’s Claire?”

I didn’t understand what he meant. I mean, I did, but my mind couldn’t process it. “I’m Claire. Don’t you remember?”

“No. I-I can’t… I don’t…” He shook his head. “Who’s Miguel?”

My heart was shattered. Tears just fell from my eyes and I couldn’t stop crying. Finally, Schmidt and the others arrived.

“What happened, Claire?” Dianne asked. “Why are you crying?”

I didn’t answer them as I couldn’t stop crying. Back then, I was hoping that we could save Miguel in time and we were glad that he was alive even though he changed. What I didn’t expect was this kind of change. Miguel didn’t recognize anyone even Dianne, his own sister. I realized that we were already too late to save him.

“Who’s Miguel? Is that me?” His breathing became ragged as he looked at us in a panic. “Who am I?”

“It’s what I’ve feared.” Schmidt as he sighed. “He lost all of his memories.”

“But how?” Beth asked.

“Normally, when a mortal turns into a lich, they would undergo physical and magical changes in their body. The first stage is the conversion of their mana to dark, the second will be emaciation or wasting away of flesh. On the third stage, they will die and rise again as lich. I think…”

Schmidt shook his head and talked to himself. “No, that’s not it. Liches aren’t supposed to lose their memories.”

“It must be the Dark Lord.” He muttered. “There’s no doubt about it.”

“Why would the Dark Lord remove his memories?” Eric asked and clenched his fist.

“Desperation, perhaps? It’s probably because he knew we would come for him.” Schmidt replied. “If he couldn’t get Miguel to serve him, then no one will ever have him.”

“What are you talking about?” Miguel asked. “What… What’s going on?”

“It’s alright. Everything’s going to okay.” Dianne sat on the bed beside him and took out a bottle of sleeping potion. “Drink this.”

“No.” Miguel shoved the bottle away from him.

“It’s okay. Trust me. It’ll make you feel better. I promise.”

Miguel nodded as he took a few gulps and coughed. Dianne gently rubbed his back as she helped him lay down. “Just rest. Everything’s going to be alright.”

After a few moments, Miguel closed his eyes and went into deep sleep. Dianne then turned to Schmidt. “Is there something you can do about this? Please, I beg you…”

Schmidt shook his head as he looked down. “I am sorry. I cannot restore his memories. It’s impossible. Even magic has its limits.”

Dianne wept as she tried to beg Schmidt, but he shook his head repeatedly and made it clear that there are some things that even magic could not solve.

We’ve all felt anger and resentment to the Dark Lord. Even Schmidt was shaking in fury, when he concluded that he couldn’t do anything about Miguel’s condition. Suddenly, there was a loud thunder that boomed outside. Afterwards, a ball of light suddenly appeared in front of us. Unlike Schmidt’s magic, this ball of light was brighter and as bright as the sun itself.

“My Lord!” Schmidt quickly went down to his knees and knelt before the ball of light. He looked at us and waved his hand down. “Get down. Kneel.”

With that said, we all knelt before the ball of light. Schmidt instructed us to keep our heads down and only talk when permitted to, otherwise, we would offend Him and we would be punished. I drenched in cold sweat when I learned that the ball of light was God himself. Rather, a manifestation of Him.

“Schmidt, you incompetent fool!” A deep booming voice echoed throughout the room. Judging from the tone, God seemed to be furious.

“I-I apologize my Lord!” Schmidt stuttered and fidgeted.

“Didn’t I tell you that your mission was to make sure that Miguel would be the same as before? How dare you disobey me?!”

“Forgive me for my incompetence, m-my Lord.”

“I had enough of your excuses! You will be severely punished your disobedience!” God said.

“Please my Lord, mercy…” Schmidt almost kissed the ground as he knelt. “Mercy!”

“If any of you have anything to say, you can say it now. Otherwise, I will take back this useless servant of mine and punish him!”

Dianne stood up in front of Schmidt and knelt. “Please spare him…”

An even louder thunder boomed outside. “You do not understand your place, girl. Step aside.”

“I beg you for mercy, my Lord. Schmidt did what he can to save Miguel.” Dianne said.

“As I said, girl. You do not know your own place. I have given him orders and I expected it to be done without delay.”

“But my Lord, if it wasn’t for him, we won’t be able to save Miguel and we would’ve died.”

“Dianne stop that. You’ll get us killed.” Eric said in a low voice.

“Silence!” God shouted. “Schmidt. Come here, now!”

Schmidt stood up as he slowly walked towards the ball of light. All of a sudden, an idea came to my mind. I remembered that I have Miguel’s memories. Well, not all of them, but I had his memories from the time he can remember up to the time that he accidentally transferred it to me. It wouldn’t be complete as Miguel made more memories after that, but at least it was something.

“Wait!” I stood up, but Beth held my wrist and forced me down to kneel again.

“You have another thing to say to this schmuck’s defense?” God asked.

“My Lord, if you can look at my memories, you can see that I have obtained Miguel’s memories when he cured me of the curse. I think I have an idea how to transfer those memories back to him.” I answered.

[Fuck it, Claire! Don’t lie to him! Are you really dumb enough to say anything to save Schmidt?] – Melissa

[I’m not lying, it’s the truth.] - Claire

The ball of light’s brightness became weaker and more calmed. “Go on.”

“I have a skill that you granted me on the first day and a few days ago, I learned that I can use [Charm] to show my target anything I wanted them to feel. If I use it to Miguel, perhaps I can bring him back his memories.” I explained.

“So you inherited his memories, I see… Hmmm… Interesting.”

“Yes, my Lord.”

“You see my point? You see how useless Schmidt is? He can’t even think of a solution and here you are, petty humans succeeding at every turn where my Administrators fail. Come back here, Schmidt, I decided that I will personally attend to your punishment for this humiliating failure of yours.”

Schmidt’s face turned pale. He knew that he would still be punished. Fortunately for him, I got his back. I appreciated it when he saved us from the Asharra and I would pay it back.

“But my Lord, there is one problem…” I said.

God let out a deep sigh. “What’s the problem?”

“I do not have enough mana to keep the spell up and even if I rested, it would take a long time. I would need Schmidt to transfer his mana to me as I use my spell.”

“Hahahahaha!” God let out a laugh. “Ahhh. It looks like these mortals save your ass this time, Schmidt.”

“Yes, my Lord. I am sorry, my Lord.” He said.

There was a pause for a few moments.

“Very well, you may proceed, Claire.”

“Thank you.” I said.

“And Schmidt. I will postpone your punishment until you are done. If you succeed, I will forgive you for your incompetence. But if you don’t…”

“I will not fail you again, my Lord!” Schmidt said. “I promise I will do my best!”

“You better. I want it to be done as soon as possible.”

“Yes, my Lord. At once!”

The ball of light faded away after that. We sighed in relief and we felt like we could breathe freely again. Schmidt was crying tears of joy as he shook my hand. His hands felt cold to touch and drenched in sweat. He went from a confident man to a sniveling coward when God appeared before him. “Thank you! Thank you!”

“It’s okay.” I said as I tapped his shoulders. “You have a way to transfer your mana, right?”

“Yes, yes. I have that skill.” Schmidt nodded profusely. “That’s a good idea. A good idea indeed.”

“This is a lot of memory and I don’t even remember most of it. About 20 years of memory. How long do you think it would take?”

“Do not worry. I will give you a boost in intelligence. It’ll take two days. Tops.” He replied.

“So how exactly did you get Miguel’s memory?” Richard asked. “Is it even possible?”

“I don’t know how I got it. But when he cured my curse, all of his memories were jammed in my head.” I shrugged.

“So it wasn’t a lie, huh?” Eric said.

“Nope. It’s the truth.” I said. “Let’s do it. Come on, Schmidt.”

Miguel was still in a deep sleep even after what happened. I didn’t exactly know how Miguel transferred his memory to me in just a few minutes, but our method will have to do. Schmidt drew a magic circle on the clinic’s floor with a red and blue chalk. I didn’t quite understand rune magic, but from what I read from the magical law book, it was an entirely new subject of magic.

We laid down Miguel on the floor as Mark took an IV bag and connected a tube to Miguel. After that, Schmidt and I began the process of transferring his memory back into him. Miguel reacted immediately as I cast [Charm], I felt that there was a barrier in his mind that was preventing me from penetrating it. The barrier was strong and it resisted my illusion, but Schmidt assured me that I could do it as the magic circle will boost my magic and to keep trying.

After a few moments, I finally entered his mind. Even though the barrier was pierced it kept repairing itself. So every now and then, not only I play his memories, but I also had to maintain the hole of the barrier. It was a mind-numbing work. Schmidt cast [Mana Transfer] to me as I drained my mana.

However, there was one flaw with the method that we used. Since my memory was also limited, I couldn’t remember everything in details. I mean, I could remember the gist of it, but the details such as the time of the day, the color of his shirt on that day, how he usually takes baths and all of his everyday routine. So in order to make the whole process faster, I compressed all of these little memory of him and played it in his mind just once.

I showed him the events that changed his life. Like the fire in their house and how it killed his grandfather and his baby brother. Yes, he had a brother and he was just a baby when he was killed by the fire. It was a devastating event for his family and it changed him. That was why he was afraid of getting trapped and suffocated on fire.

I also showed him the memories of all the persons he ever met, their interactions with him, how he knew them and how they changed his life. Like when his grandfather shaped him from a wimpy kid into a wimpier kid and how his mother made him strong by motivation and care. I also gave a special attention when I showed him his memories of me.

I made myself look good in his memories and manipulated just a little tiny bit of it. Like how he saw me as the most beautiful woman he ever met. You might think that what I did was cheating and a bad move, but it didn’t really matter because as a matter of fact, Miguel really did see me exactly as that. It was very flattering when I saw it and it could be one of the reasons I fell for him. One thing that bothered me for a bit was that he used me in most of his fantasies and by ‘using’, I meant exactly as you think.

Of course, I also included all of the bad memories and I didn’t change it because the Miguel I knew was grumpy, paranoid, hypocrite, liar, sexist, racist, and a huge asshole. Changing those memories won’t make Miguel the same. After that, I transferred all of his knowledge and everything that he learned. It was surprising how I remembered those, but I think it was Schmidt’s magic boost.

A day has already passed and I took a moment’s rest while the others went outside to clear out the remaining zombies and to loot supplies. I still wasn’t quite finished yet as I haven’t transferred the events of the apocalypse. I was tired and I wanted to sleep badly, but I resolved to keep myself awake and finished the job.

I finished transferring his memories only up to the point when he cured me of the curse. After that, I showed him my memories of the events to fill up his missing memories. Since it was my memories, he can see my perspective on it. That was where I made the memories in third person perspective.

Finally, I wrapped it up by showing him that we made love to each other. I didn’t know what happened to him when he was travelling alone and I also didn’t have the memories of the Dark Lord. Maybe there are some memories that are best left forgotten.

“It’s done.” I panted as my eyes grew heavy.

“You should take a rest.” Schmidt said. “We’ll take care of him.”

I didn’t know what happened after that. I just blacked out and found myself lying on the bed beside Dianne on the next day.