Braun frowned slightly, cautiously approaching.
Around the cabin, several vividly feathered blue jays fearlessly perched under the eaves, tilting their heads to scrutinize the visitors;
Fluffy squirrels clutched acorns and squatted on the window sill, their large, round eyes filled with childlike curiosity;
Braun even saw one or two shy white-tailed deer peeking from the edge of the distant forest, their gaze soft and bright.
Anyone witnessing such a scene would relax, but Braun became increasingly vigilant. He almost silently walked over, gently pushed open the door, quickly slipped inside by lowering his head and sidestepping.
The interior space was higher than expected. Braun could straighten his back, but he risked accidentally bumping into various jars hanging down from the beams.
The dim light revealed a cluttered yet peculiar arrangement; tilted shelves lining the walls were stuffed with parchment scrolls, and the workbench was scattered with mortars, hammers, and tongs. Suspended everywhere were dried, unknown plants, while the cauldron on the stove still bubbled away.
It seemed the owner had been here recently, though for some unknown reason had temporarily left.
The most eye-catching feature in the room was on the opposite wall—there hung six or seven magic wands of varying lengths and materials, resembling a hunter's display of animal heads above a living room fireplace.
Abigail was visibly shocked, with more fragments of memory surging into her mind—
A cold, skinny finger, its tip seemingly glowing silver, was slowly reaching towards her. She stared blankly, able to count the coarse calluses on the fingers, yet with absolutely no instinct to flee or resist;
A hoarse, elderly voice whispered very close by: "Forget it, forget those feelings that made you betray yourself… You hate Wizards, they are your most loathsome enemies… You will be loyal to the Scourers, loyal to… me…"
She opened her eyes on an old wooden bed, not knowing who she was, not even having the sense to sit up, feeling only an emptiness and void as if her soul had been emptied.
Suddenly, a soft laugh came from beside her.
Abigail turned her head to find Bloren standing not far away, his face wearing a condescending smile filled with mockery and appreciation.
Their eyes met, and Bloren seemed to remember something, quickly adjusting his expression. He walked over swiftly and asked with concern, "How do you feel, Abigail?"
...
Abigail gasped, subconsciously retreating a few steps, only stopping when she bumped into the table with a "bang."
Braun quickly stretched out his hand to stabilize a nearly fallen bottle, turning to face Abigail, who was drenched in cold sweat, understandingly asking, "Remembered something?"
"I remembered… I forgot everything here…"
Abigail said with a dry voice.
Her heart was still pounding wildly in her chest, and the emptiness and fear of being forcibly stripped of herself made her feel dizzy even with just a few seconds of memory recall, as if her stomach was churning.
Braun observed her for two seconds, noting that Abigail had no intention of explaining, just squeezing her eyes shut and, upon reopening them, they were filled with hatred and resolve.
He nodded, no longer focusing on Abigail, walking to the bookshelf, and quickly flipping through the parchment rolls.
——The erratic scratches, if not for their somewhat organized arrangement, could easily be mistaken for random doodles by a bored person.
Braun: "..."
——Great, can't understand a single word.
He decided to take all of these back for his master to study slowly—after all, the backpack on him had been enchanted with The Undetectable Extension Charm by Vid, so not only these paper rolls, but even a hundred times more items could fit inside.
Just as Braun was about to continue searching—
"Squeak…"
Accompanied by the sound of friction, in the corner of the room, a seemingly indistinguishable wooden trapdoor had been opened from below.
The two immediately became alert, swiftly drawing their weapons, only to see a figure holding a kerosene lamp climbing up a simple wooden ladder.
It was an elderly goblin, even smaller than typical goblins, with an extremely hunched back, deep brown skin covered in layers of wrinkles.
His pointed ears drooped, and his nose was long and pointy, with scars along the edges as if torn, wearing clothes that looked like a Wizard's robe, only shorter, seemingly more suited for forest activities.
The old goblin, seeing the tense Abigail, showed no surprise in his cloudy eyes, as if he had long anticipated this.
He cracked a smile, his hoarse voice saying: "Ah… you've returned once more, child. You were slower than I thought this time."
Abigail's heart raced, gripping her magic wand, she sternly asked: "Are you the Dream Weaver?"
"They do call me that." The old goblin waved his hand, "If you need a name, you can also call me Grimson."
Abigail stared intently at him, a thousand words in her heart to ask, but she opened her mouth only to say one sentence: "You… seemed to know I would come?"
Grimson let out a chuckling laugh, moving to the bubbling cauldron, picking up a long-handled spoon to stir, saying: "Of course I knew. Otherwise, what do you think… caused your memories to start resurfacing?"
Abigail's breath caught: "You meddled with it?"
"Oh, don't be so wary, child." Grimson said slowly, "And have your attendant put the knife down, such a little thing can't hurt me."
Abigail still held her magic wand tightly, just like Braun still held the knife, neither of them showing any signs of relaxing.
Grimson sighed, stretched out his thin fingers, and snapped—
"Snap!"
"Bang!"
The knife in Braun's hand was instantly disarmed, nailed to the wall like lightning, its handle still vibrating with a "buzz."
"See, such toys are not a threat... and neither is the magic wand in your hand."
Grimson cast his gaze around the magic wands displayed on the wall, the meaning clear.
"Why?" Abigail persistently asked, "Why do you want me to recover my memory? That shouldn't be Bloren's request, right?"
"A little 'insurance.'
Grimson admitted readily.
"Last time Bloren brought you here and asked me to completely erase your memory... I left a backdoor. As time goes on, or under strong stimuli, the real memories will seep out like olive oil in a barrel."
He cunningly winked and said, "But you're not very good at acting, child. They later noticed something was wrong and asked me what was happening. I said you had previously learned some rudimentary Occlumency, which made the resistance stronger than expected... they believed me, haha... a bunch of fools."
"So why are you helping me?" Abigail ignored his evaluation of Bloren and the others and continued to ask, "Aren't you the 'Dream Weaver' among the Scourers?"
"'Dream Weaver'? Hah! After cooperating for so long, those guys like Bloren have treated me as their yes-man, completely forgetting why I cooperated with them!"
Grimson said indignantly, putting down his spoon, turning around, his eyes fixed on Abigail, his tone becoming more serious:
"Because I saw clearly, child. Bloren... he is not a true warrior, not someone who can complete the cause of 'purification' together with me."
"You've made it this far, I guess you've realized it too—Bloren has long secretly allied with certain Wizard forces, and to him, Scourers are just a stepping stone, a tool to use you hot-blooded fools."
"He only wants to use this identity to gain benefits, without any intention to truly purify the wizard scourge from this world."
"Ha, he thinks I don't know! He doesn't even consider how many people he has sent to me... I have already known everything from those poor souls' minds!"
Grimson was angry for a while, then looked at Abigail, satisfied again and said:
"Fortunately, there is you, Abigail... I saw flames in your eyes, saw hope! You are one of the few who truly uphold the meaning of the existence of Scourers, more firm and valuable than him."
"But first, you need to wake up, see through the true face of those worms and traitors around you, and not be confused and used by them anymore."
"Of course, I can't just watch you completely abandon your dreams, or even turn to the Wizards' side—that would be the same as being dead."
"You are a warrior! A revenge seeker! I've never lied to you about that... so child, don't betray your past self!"
"So..." Abigail trembled slightly all over, "For this, to make me break with Bloren and the others, you've altered my memories again and again, but never let me completely forget everything?"
"Indeed! But don't worry, I've kept all your memories!"
Grimson extended a withered hand warmly, saying, "As long as you agree to uphold the faith of the Scourers and continue to cooperate with me, I can return your real memories to you completely and intact!"
"This was your dream too, wasn't it? Cooperation brings you no loss, and you can escape Bloren's control, winning the loyalty of other Scourers entirely!"
"How about it? Shall we form a new contract?"
Abigail looked at the hand in front of her, at the eyes across—Goblin's turbid eyes becoming round, full of inevitable confidence and joy.
An enormous sense of absurdity rushed over.
[—Does he really think I'd agree? Who does he think I am?]
Just as she was about to speak, Braun, who had been silent, suddenly said:
"How can you guarantee that what you return to her are her real memories, rather than a concocted, twisted story?"
Grimson's smile instantly vanished, he suddenly turned his head, glaring viciously at Braun, sharply retorting:
"What are you? Do you think you have a voice here? Abigail, is this the attendant you brought? How dare he question me casually?!"
Abigail took a deep breath, suppressing the confusion in her heart. She didn't correct Braun's identity but instead stepped forward, firmly saying, "If you want to cooperate with me, answer his question, Grimson!"
The old Goblin's face changed several times, then slowly said: "Guarantee? Hah... because when I want to alter or control a person's memory, they simply have no room for resistance. Just like this—"
Before he finished speaking, he drew out a short, black magic wand at a speed difficult to see, quickly flicked it, its tip instantly bursting forth with a lightning-like silver light, shooting directly at Braun!