After leaving the coast, Riezel did not choose to teleport back to the Nameless Forest with Mash, but instead walked there slowly with her.
Because of her amnesia, Mash had even forgotten her own name.
Her mind was blank, and a look of confusion was constantly on her delicate face, so much so that Mash did not even suspect Riezel or worry that this stranger might do her harm and simply followed obediently behind him.
If Riezel were to bring Mash directly to the Nameless Forest now, he was certain she would only become even more confused, perhaps even uneasy.
Considering she had not yet figured out what was happening, nor did she remember who she was, if he brought Mash to meet Artoria, Oberon, or even her original companions in such a state, she might not be able to handle all this information at once.
For this reason, Riezel decided to give Mash some time to adjust.
However, seeing the confusion in her eyes only grow stronger with no sign of easing, Riezel thought it best to speak up first.
"My name is Riezel Brynhart."
While walking along the road to the Nameless Forest, Riezel suddenly spoke, introducing himself.
"Just call me Riezel."
Riezel’s sudden words seemed to startle the girl.
"Uh, um..."
Once Mash reacted, she hurried to speak, but did not know what to say.
Even though she had forgotten many things, at least some basic common sense remained.
Now that Riezel had introduced himself, by all rights, she ought to do the same, given that she still remembered this bit of common sense.
However, how was she supposed to give her name?
"My name is... what...?"
As Mash murmured blankly, Riezel spoke up at just the right time.
"Your name is Mash Kyrielight, and you’re a Demi-Servant from Chaldea."
Riezel’s simple and clear words made Mash’s eyes light up.
"Mash Kyrielight..."
Was that her name?
Indeed, it felt very familiar to her, but...
"Chaldea? Demi-Servant?"
Mash couldn’t help but wonder what those two terms were.
"Looks like you really did forget everything."
Riezel gazed at Mash with a helpless expression.
"All I can say is, your luck truly is awful. You all had just arrived in Faerie Britain, but you happened to enter near the Nameless Forest. If you’d arrived somewhere else, you wouldn’t have ended up like this."
On this point, it truly was just bad luck for Chaldea.
Other than the area around the Nameless Forest, the rest of the coastal regions around Faerie Britain were all safe for entry. At least, in the original work, aside from Chaldea, who entered near the Nameless Forest, nothing else that drifted here from outside the Fairy Kingdom ever had any issues.
Artoria was the best example.
Sixteen years ago, this Fairy of Paradise had drifted across the sea to Tintagel in a small boat. She had been just a baby then, with a pile of treasure and the Staff of Selection at her side, and entered without a hitch.
Over the ages, many things had drifted here from beyond Faerie Britain, but there had never been an incident.
Only Chaldea, unfortunately, had to enter near the Nameless Forest, which resulted in everyone falling under the curse of the forest, and probably all losing their memories, including their names.
If Riezel and the others hadn’t come here on their own, then, according to the original work, Chaldea’s people would have had to struggle for quite some time to recover their memories and begin to regroup.
Especially that Master from Chaldea, the true foreign traveler—in the original work, they encountered Artoria, the Child of Prophecy, while suffering from amnesia. Now, however, Artoria was sticking with—or rather, following Riezel’s side.
If things continued as in the original, Chaldea’s Master would never meet Artoria in the Nameless Forest.
If the Child of Prophecy and the foreign traveler never had their fated meeting, the plot would probably change dramatically, and the Chaldea group might face even more hardship than in the original.
Considering all this, Riezel could only say they had bad luck.
Of course, Mash knew nothing about any of this, because all she knew was that the young man in front of her, who seemed to have rescued her, appeared to know a lot about her and her forgotten past.
Because of that, Mash mustered her courage and spoke to Riezel.
"Can you tell me who I really am, and how I ended up like this?"
As she asked, Mash bowed to Riezel, showing a gesture of genuine request.
"Of course." Riezel agreed without hesitation. "Even if you didn’t ask, I would have explained it to you anyway."
With that, Riezel explained to Mash, in simplified terms, everything about her origins, the situation at Chaldea, and the reasons why she had ended up in her current state.
Naturally, this included information about Proper Human History, the Lostbelt, the Fairy Kingdom, and why Chaldea had come to this place.
All of this information left Mash completely stunned.
"Proper Human History is about to face destruction? So... the world is ending?"
"I’m in another world? Not the world I was born in?"
"I’m a Demi-Servant? And I’m here to stop this world’s destruction from affecting ours?"
Mash muttered with a dazed expression.
It was easy to imagine how much of a shock this would be to a young girl who had forgotten everything.
Mash simply stopped in her tracks, blinking blankly, unable to move her legs.
"What’s wrong?" Riezel also stopped and looked at Mash, who was staring blankly. "You don’t wanna believe it?"
"...No." Mash shook her head and, unexpectedly, calmed down rather quickly, even managing a smile. "I believe you, Mr. Riezel. I know you wouldn’t lie to me."
It went without saying that her trust truly came out of nowhere.
"Aren’t you a little too naive?" Riezel raised his eyebrows. "Just because I saved you doesn’t mean I’m a good person. Maybe I did it on purpose, maybe I want to use you for something. Don’t trust people so easily, especially in this place. If you let your guard down around those fairies, they’ll trick you into a brothel, and you’ll end up living a life worse than death."
He gave a blunt warning, but all he got in return was Mash tilting her head.
Right after that, she spoke.
"What’s a brothel?"
Upon hearing this question, Riezel was completely speechless and simply stared at Mash.
"???"
Mash still had her head tilted, with a completely innocent look on her face.
"...Alright, just forget I said anything."
Riezel immediately gave up under that pure, innocent gaze.
Faced with how genuinely pure this girl was, even Riezel felt he shouldn’t say too much, so as not to taint her innocent thoughts.
Unfortunately, the girl seemed to misunderstand Riezel’s meaning.
"Sorry, I guess I’m just too stupid."
Thinking that Riezel was annoyed and didn’t want to explain further, Mash apologized with a look of deep disappointment.
However, this only made Riezel feel even more guilty.
"No, it’s not that I’m annoyed and don’t want to explain..." Riezel said, rubbing his temples instinctively. "It’s just not a nice word, so I feel awkward explaining it to you. Do you understand?"
"Oh, is that it?" Mash immediately understood, then smiled again. "I understand, then I won’t ask anymore."
’A brothel is a bad word... a brothel is a bad word...’
Mash repeated this to herself a few times, making sure to remember it.
Only then did Riezel get the conversation back on track.
"In short, that’s how things are. You’re a combatant sent by Chaldea in Proper Human History to stop the collapse phenomenon, but because you accidentally wandered into the Nameless Forest, you were affected by its curse and lost your memories."
Riezel summarized for Mash.
"But don’t worry, this isn’t something irreversible. As long as there’s an opportunity, your memories will come back."
"For now, you can stick with me."
"Your companion is also with my group. Let’s go meet up with them first, and then we’ll figure out what to do next, got it?"
Honestly, this had been a rather helpless decision.
Even though the so-called Nameless Forest’s curse that affected Mash and the others was technically a curse, it was not the same as an ordinary curse—in fact, it did not actually have the characteristics of a curse.
If it really had been an actual curse, ’Dia Fratel’ would have healed Mash long ago.
Dia Fratel was capable of dispelling curses, and among the Tier Magic Riezel had mastered, there were several that could remove curses or abnormal statuses, yet none of them worked on Mash.
Because of this, Riezel had no solution for her current state and could only let it continue, unless, of course, he used something like ’Control Amnesia,’ a magic that could manipulate memories.
Control Amnesia could browse, delete, or even alter another person’s memories, so Riezel could easily use this magic to retrieve Mash’s memories, let her see them, and restore them that way if he wanted.
However, using Control Amnesia on someone else could bring about side effects. If he wasn’t careful, it could cause memory confusion or other abnormalities, which would only make things worse.
In the end, after some consideration, Riezel decided not to use Control Amnesia on Mash.
If it were an enemy, it would be a different matter—whether their memories got messed up or not would have nothing to do with Riezel.
Unfortunately, Mash was not an enemy, so just to be safe, it was better not to mess with her mind.
’Her memories will recover eventually, so it’s best to just wait and see for now.’
Riezel decided to use a wait-and-see approach.
Mash, of course, had no idea what was going through Riezel’s mind and, as before, did not doubt him at all and nodded right away.
"Alright, I’ll stick with Mr. Riezel and won’t wander off."
Mash still looked just as innocent and obedient as before.
Seeing a girl with such a delicate face and a lovely figure being so trusting and compliant with him, Riezel honestly couldn’t help but enjoy it a little. Ever since arriving in Faerie Britain, most of the people he liked were on the enemy side, and among his allies, except for Artoria, there was no one he could trust.
Such a situation struck Riezel as rather ridiculous.
Given all that, Mash’s unconditional trust and obedience were genuinely comforting for Riezel. Even if it was just a fleeting feeling, her behavior really did make him like her even more.
Just as Riezel was about to speak again, he suddenly frowned.
"Mr. Riezel!"
Mash’s eyes also widened, and she pointed forward in surprise.
"What’s that?"
In the direction Mash pointed, a wave of darkness had appeared out of nowhere—they were creatures that looked like some kind of soft-bodied animal, wriggling their way toward them.
What else could it be besides Moss?
"They’re here too?" Riezel frowned as he turned to face the Moss. "You guys are really persistent."
With a flick of his hand, Hermit appeared in his grasp.
*Buzz!*
At the same moment, all the Moss that formed the black wave stopped moving.
Gathering the curses on their bodies, they built up a huge amount of dark magical energy with a buzzing sound, forming projectiles.
In the next instant, countless black projectiles rained down in a dense barrage toward Riezel.
*Clack—*
Hermit in Riezel’s hand slid slightly out of its sheath, but before he could act, someone moved ahead of him.
"Please step back!"
Mash suddenly flashed in front of Riezel, her expression now full of determination, completely different from a moment ago, as she raised her shield.
"HAAHH!"
With a loud shout, Mash slammed down her massive shield as a faint light shimmered around her.
"What?"
Riezel’s hand paused as he looked at the girl in front of him, her whole body now glowing faintly, feeling surprised.
At this moment, the presence she exuded was no weaker than the Fairy Knights Riezel had fought before.
*Zing!*
At the same time, the shield in Mash’s hand was shining as well, as if it had been blessed by some god.
*BOOM!* *BOOM!* *BOOM!*
In the next second, the Moss’s bombardment poured down, slamming repeatedly into the heavy cross-shaped shield, causing explosions and shockwaves of darkness.
Even a true Fairy Knight would have had to back off when facing such a barrage from so many Moss, but Mash surprisingly stood her ground, effortlessly blocking every attack with her shield.
In fact, she did not move a single step—her arm holding the shield did not even tremble.
Solid as a fortress!
Absolute defense!
Watching this scene, only these two phrases flashed through Riezel’s mind.
At this very moment, Mash’s back was the very image of a ’knight’ in Riezel’s eyes—nothing could have been more fitting.
Someone who could protect those behind her—if that’s not a knight, then what is?
"Fairy Knight Galahad, present!"
Mash’s gentle shout suddenly rang out.
"I won’t let you hurt Mr. Riezel!"