Chapter 377

Huangquan?

Albedo's face rarely showed a hint of confusion.

"Oh... I know her, but Lord Ainz... does she have something strange about her?"

「」 (empty? Actually line 【4】 is just 「」? It's a blank line with quotes? It's just a pair of Chinese quotation marks with nothing inside. We'll treat as empty string; no names.

This sentence caused Ainz's thoughts to short‑circuit for a moment.

... What do you mean "does she have something strange about her"? Even a blind person could see something odd about Huangquan. They also saw Huangquan dance with the Black Swan; if they still aren't on high alert after that, their vigilance is truly worrying.

But Albedo, as the Overseer Guardian, clearly doesn't belong to this list.

Ainz's silence made the atmosphere in the Throne Hall instantly solemn. Though Albedo didn't know what offense she had committed, the Supreme Sovereign's reaction showed she had disappointed him with her recent words and actions.

"Lord Ainz! I'm terribly sorry! Please forgive me!"

Albedo knelt on one knee, respectfully lowering her head like a child waiting for punishment after doing something wrong.

"No, you don't need to apologize—"

Ainz turned his gaze to the other guardians, his staff striking the floor and ringing out a high-pitched sound: "Demiurge, tell me your opinion?"

"I... Lord Ainz..."

Even the usually talkative Demiurge couldn't say anything about this.

As Ainz gradually realized something was off, he questioned the other guardians—without exception, they either didn't remember what Huangquan had said or had forgotten everything, only recalling recent events involving Huangquan.

"How could this happen?"

Ainz took out a record scroll detailing every person's information since the Heavenly Canopy appeared, Huangquan included. But when the skin scroll was fully unfurled, his finger bones suddenly froze in midair.

The spot where Huangquan's information was recorded now only had a few blackened scorch marks. The writing seemed to have been erased by some indescribable force, and even the scorch marks were vanishing at a visible speed.

"This... this is impossible... what on earth is this?"

His voice caught in his throat.

A piercing chill ran up his spine—not magical cold, but a primal tremor from deep within his soul, as if some immense, unfathomable entity were sweeping across his world, leaving no trace and even erasing all records of Huangquan.

It wandered freely through the Nazarick Underground Mausoleum, the endless darkness its boundless sea.

(No line)

(No line)

They observed Huangquan, while in the shadows that colossal entity also watched them.

"A... Lord Ainz..."

Albedo anxiously lifted her head, gazing at the nearly powerless Supreme Sovereign on the throne.

"... Let's end today's meeting here, disperse."

Panting, Ainz steadied himself on his staff. He could somewhat understand the Black Swan's disarray and panic after the dance.

—— (just a separator line, no content) -> (none)

"The voice in the memory brings more blanks."

"... Just like someone erased it? Who did it?"

"Suddenly, a small girl's voice echoed in the Black Swan's mind."

Who are you?

——Who are you?

"The Black Swan frowned: '…This is…? No, this isn't a memory?'"

"That voice carried a hint of amusement: 'Oh… a Remnant, you serve the Flowing Light Memory Court… or are you an Incinerator?' It introduced itself cheerfully, 'My name is Constance… nice to meet you. We were supposed to meet in Pinokangni and share… a "heart‑wrenching" time.'"

(No line)

But we also have glossary for Pinokangni and Tianjie. So we will include those.

""But that seems impossible. The Banquet Star doesn't welcome Dahlias, and I don't need a coming‑of‑age ceremony… and you, I know what you're looking for…""

""Want 'her' secret? I can give it to you… then… enjoy that banquet for me." Constance smiled lightly, "May you leave with an 'unforgettable' memory.""

""Ring ring ring——""

"The phone on Huangquan's desk suddenly rang."

—— (separator)

"Bless this wonderful world."

"In the Adventurers' Guild, Kazuma sat with his legs crossed, eating grilled meat while pointing at the Heavenly Canopy."

(No line)

""Huh? Constance, this 【Destruction】‑type dangerous individual is still alive? Huangquan really dropped the ball on this…" He gulped a beer, lamenting that although Huangquan holds the title of Envoy, she doesn't know the precious wisdom of 'uprooting the weed' or 'this child must not be spared.'"

""But she doesn't seem like the type who enjoys killing, right? Last time she even wanted to let that… whatever duke go…" Aqua said, holding her cup, face flushed with drink."

"Listening to their excited chat, Darkness tilted her head, bewildered: 'Huangquan… do you two really know her that well?'"

""Nonsense, she's an Envoy—hard not to know her." Kazuma also wondered why Darkness looked that way, "Hey, you wouldn't have caught Aqua's idiot virus, would you?""

""Who are you calling an idiot?" Aqua jumped up angrily, but a second later she felt dazed, trying to recall what Huangquan even looked like."

""Strange, she seemed to have been chatting with Mr. Walter just a moment ago…""

"Vaguely, Aqua felt like looking at flowers through fog—her name and experiences were still clear, but like a damp photo they began to blur."

"Kazuma also sensed something off. Considering the earlier Simulated Universe Locust Plague's 【Abundance】 Path influence, he wasn't sure if they were affected by some Path, or if this Envoy herself had a special ability that imposed a 'memory loss'‑like debuff."

"He immediately had Aqua cast Purification Technique on everyone in the guild; a blinding flash erupted, but as the Goddess Magic faded… nothing changed."

""Seems useless, huh?" Aqua noticed her memory of Huangquan remained just as blurry."

""Looks like it can't be done…" Kazuma mused, "The influence from the Heavenly Canopy—maybe the Tianjie's Eris could help fix it?""

""Simple enough—when you die and meet her next, you can ask her to clear it. If you revive, the Heavenly Canopy's negative influence on you might just disappear.""

""Do I really have to wait until I die?" Kazuma sighed, "What if she can't help?""

""Then pull out her chest pad and threaten her with it!""

"... Hey, keep your voice down! Over in Tianjie, I can hear you crystal clear!"