Chapter 386

Rin Tohsaka: "Isn't this the story of Urashima Taro!"

Feng Xi: "More or less. It should be said that there are similar legends all over the world."

Waver: "Appearing from one point in time at another point in time, this is a changeling."

【"Hmm, of course I remember."】

【Grot was silent for a long time, then said: "If it's you, it's okay to say it."】

【"At that time, I was a young man full of ideals, and my late father often scolded me for that. However, when I accepted the patient sent to me because of this personality, my father insisted that he should be quickly transferred to a hospital with more hands, and he refused to back down. However, I finally arranged for him to be hospitalized."】

【"When he was found, he was covered in wounds, and the injuries were so severe that it was incredible he was still alive. Moreover, although the injuries healed surprisingly quickly, there was a big problem."】

【Second: "What problem? For example, no heart?"】

【Grot: "Where did you hear that?"】

【Second: "I will omit the details, but he said so himself."】

【Grot: "... hat's right. I couldn't send him to another hospital. He had a pulse, and blood was flowing. However, no matter what machine was used to detect it, no heart could be found. It felt like a dream."】

【"Not only that, even if the heart disappeared, it seemed that there was still a sense of pain. He would press his chest and roll in pain from time to time, just as if someone had just stabbed his heart."】

【"He uses the name Heartless, huh? That's a bit of an over-the-top joke."】

Waver: "No heart, so it's true."

He had always thought that it was just a legend or a vague exaggeration, but he didn't expect it to be the literal meaning.

Rin Tohsaka: "How is that possible? How can a person live without a heart?"

Tokiomi Tohsaka: "Heartless said that his heart was taken away by a fairy. If it's a fairy, it's indeed possible to have such magical power."

Kayneth: "Did his loss of heart happen before he joined the Jewel Jewel Mage's Association?"

Kayneth: "Heartless, what exactly is this man's past?"

【The Second remembered Heartless saying that his situation was a fairy's curse. And Atram found that this is a phenomenon originating from the characteristics of a changeling.】

【A changeling, huh? It seems that only he himself and the fairy who took him away know where Heartless came from.】

【Gray: "Master, do fairies really exist?"】

【Second: "Although there are so-called Phantasmal Species and things similar to a magus's familiar, fairies in the true sense are a mystery whose full picture we still cannot grasp."】

【"In a sense, it might be a deeper mystery than the Age of Gods magic. After all, it is said that King Arthur's holy sword was given to her by the Lady of the Lake."】

【Grot continued: "However, that period was only about three weeks."】

【Second: "Three weeks?"】

【Grot: "Yes, he disappeared about three weeks later. Huh? Why did I forget before?"】

【Second: "You said he disappeared? What's going on?"】

【Grot: "Hmm, it was a clear winter morning, and he suddenly disappeared without a trace. The hospital bed sheets were neatly remade, and he disappeared so thoroughly that I doubted whether what I saw was a hallucination."】

【"Yes, the timing matches."】

【The Second pressed his chin and said: "The records also say that Heartless started operating in the Clock Tower a few months after that time. Most likely, Lord Norwich, who heard the rumors of the 'god-hiding,' or someone very close to him, secretly assisted Heartless."】

【Gray: "Lord Norwich?"】

【Second: "I said before that Heartless is Lord Norwich's adopted son. Lord Norwich is the 'Daddy Long Legs' in everyone's mouth at the Clock Tower, and being his adopted son is actually a quite successful identity."】

【Gray: "Master said he is Hishiri Adashino's foster brother, right?"】

【Second: "That's exactly it. Including the Department of Law, Lord Norwich's adopted sons are in various organizations of the Clock Tower."】

Gordes: "This can also be considered a form of diversification. It's just that Lord Norwich put it directly on the table."

Kayneth: "The benefit of doing this is that he can quickly expand his connections. Norwich, he really has a way."

【Second: "Please think carefully, were there any strange events during his hospitalization?"】

【"Strange events?"】

【Grot's expression suddenly became hollow, and his eyes began to wander.】

【Looking at Grot like this, the Second's heart couldn't help but tighten.】

【Grot had subconsciously said—"Why did I forget before." This means that the Clock Tower should have performed some kind of memory processing on him at that time.】

【If the Second were good at this kind of magic, he could directly dig out this memory processed by the Clock Tower from the depths of the other party's mind, but unfortunately, he is not good at this.】

【Now he can only bet on Grot's own strength. If he can't remember, then this clue is broken.】

Rin Tohsaka: "Why did the Clock Tower process his memory?"

Tokiomi Tohsaka: "It should be for the confidentiality of magic, not wanting the information of magic to be spread out."

Caules: "We finally found an important clue, but then something else went wrong."

【Time passed second by second, and soon after—】

【"... hat's right."】

【Grot suddenly whispered: "Yes, that's right, at that time... eyes... couldn't see..."】

【Second: "Eyes? Are you talking about Heartless's eyes?"】

【"No, it's my eyes."】

【Grot shook his head and said: "At that time, I suddenly got a strange disease, and the scenery in front of me would disappear irregularly. It wasn't a piece of darkness, but purely the loss of the feeling of being able to see itself. Although it was only for a short ten minutes, I was very afraid that I might have some brain lesion."】

【"Because I had just fallen out with my father at that time, I was very busy, so I didn't go to other hospitals for examination and just let it go."】

【"However, after he touched my back with concern, my vision returned to normal."】

【"I looked back in surprise and found that he was smiling very happily. Ah, that was the first time I saw him smile. Since then, I have never had that symptom again."】

【"After that, we started chatting often. Our tastes in reading were very compatible. When I recommended classic science fiction works to him, he eagerly finished reading them quickly and exchanged thoughts with me. We often discussed Asimov's Three Laws of Robotics and the works of Heinlein after he married his second wife. When I came back to my senses, we had been chatting enthusiastically for almost an hour."】

【"Ah, although that was a dream from decades ago, it reminded me of my feeling of wanting to be an astronaut before."】

Caules: "This, could it also be Heartless's trick, experimenting with some kind of magic."

Waver: "It's possible, or the curse on him affected others."

Kayneth: "Affecting vision, making scenery disappear, I've never heard of such a situation..."

【Grot: "How is it? I tried to recall everything I could think of."】

【"... hank you, this information is very helpful."】

【The Second bowed to thank him: "You must be very tired, I'm very sorry."】

【"It's nothing. It feels very pleasant to have a chance to chat with you after a long time."】

【Grot asked: "Um, is he living happily?"】

【"Although it's strange for me, who forgot him for many years, to say this, he is a gentle young man. Although he himself should have been in more pain, he has always been concerned about me."】

【"I once jokingly asked him: 'If you are willing, would you like to be my assistant?' Hmm, if he had agreed, would my life have changed a little?"】

【Second: "I cannot judge his life. However, it seems that he has a group of disciples who cherish what he said—'Dedicate your life to the most brilliant thing.'"】

【"Really?"】

【Grot smiled: "Oh, I said that to him—he said he had nothing to do, and I told him, then go find the thing that is brilliant in your heart. Moreover, human beings should dedicate themselves to the brilliant things they find."】

【"So that's it, disciples? Did he Matsuwanko Matsuwanko Take disciples? Hmm, that's really gratifying. Oh, it turns out that there are really things worth being happy about when you get old."】

Rin Tohsaka: "I feel like this doctor is not talking about Heartless at all."

Caules: "The Heartless when he was young and the Heartless now are really two different people."

Gordes: "This is how time changes a person."

【When the Second left the clinic with Gray, the sky had already darkened.】

【"Just a little bit... even if I didn't reach the truth, I could probably reach a place close to the truth. This last bit of breaking through the hole feels so far away..."】

【Recalling what Grot told him, the Second always felt like he was about to grasp something, but he couldn't grasp it. For a moment, he felt upset, and his hand unconsciously reached into his pocket, touching the gold coin inside.】

【"Stater gold coin..."】

【The Second took out the gold coin and muttered while looking at the pattern on it.】

【Gray: "Master also talked about that kind of gold coin in Slur. Have you investigated it before?"】

【"I've wanted to get one for a long time, but I couldn't afford it..."】

【The Second smiled bitterly: "Let's not talk about this. Various Stater gold coins are popular in the cultural circle around Greece, among which Iskandar's gold coins are particularly popular. It can even be said in terms of monetary economy that it was Iskandar who connected the East and the West. That great king was also an object of worship in the areas he conquered."】

【"Wait a minute, worship... I see, is it worship? It's worship!"】

【Gray: "???"】

【Second: "Currency is the oldest form of worship that continues to the modern day. The antiquity and thickness of its worship can be understood without explanation in class. After all, modern society is established on the belief in the value of currency."】