Ascension from Dual Professions

Chapter 277: Chapter 261: Don’t Forget, Thunderclap at the Manor

Jon stood at the entrance of the grand cathedral, looking down the steps.

Thanks to the joint efforts of the Giant God Workshop apprentices, the Radiant Knights, and the followers of the Sun, the mindless residents in the vicinity were being brought under control with surprising efficiency. Special teams were even sent to pursue those who had already wandered farther away—there was strength in numbers, after all.

Of course, simply controlling the residents was far from enough. All their efforts would be for naught if they didn’t deal with the source of the problem.

Though the cathedral had no shortage of personnel, they couldn’t possibly cover the entire city. For instance, without anyone to stop them, the residents in the rebel-controlled zones would eventually reach Red Crying Castle.

Jon knew damn well the rebels weren’t gathering so many living people for anything good—they were either planning a mass sacrifice or some kind of Evil Magic ritual.

As a certain great man once said, "Whatever our enemies support, we must oppose." In this case, that meant: "Whatever our enemies want to do, we must disrupt!"

To that end, he had already tasked Leona with coordinating their people to form an elite mobile unit. He would personally lead this unit behind enemy lines to buy time for the main force’s advance.

But before setting out, he still had a little time.

"Dolores, you don’t regret it? You have a chance to escape your past right in front of you."

Jon tilted his head, his gaze falling on the purple-haired girl sitting on the cold stone steps of the cathedral.

Her head was lowered, focused on adjusting her bowstring. Her slender yet powerful fingers plucked it deftly, making the string emit a faint, taut creak. The last rays of the evening sun struggled through the thick clouds of gunpowder smoke, dancing on her short, choppy violet hair and tracing the delicate lines of her profile.

"Priestess Arianna told you, didn’t she? She can remove the influence the Moon Thief placed on you. The only thing is, it will make your past memories a bit blurry."

He paused, his tone softening.

"A person’s life is short, yet it can also feel very long. It’s only normal for past memories to fade, especially after the trauma you’ve been through..."

Dolores’s fingers froze on the bowstring, and the faint creak came to an abrupt halt.

She looked up at Jon, first blinking her gem-like amber eyes. Her long lashes cast small, fan-shaped shadows beneath them. Then, a smile so bright it was almost dazzling bloomed across her face.

"Thank you, Boss. Thank you for being so thoughtful..."

"But... I’ve decided to keep these memories..."

The young Ranger gently caressed the back of her bow, seeming to drift into a distant memory.

"Because... I’m an orphan, you see..."

"If I forgot my past, sure, I might live a happier life. It’d be like shedding a heavy burden; I’d walk with a lighter step—"

she said softly, a rare, almost imperceptible trace of bitterness in her voice.

"But if I did that, wouldn’t it be even harder to find my real parents? Every faint shadow, every possible clue... would be gone forever."

Hearing this, Jon’s eyes flashed, and his rock-steady expression softened slightly.

’Right... How could I have said something like that?’

’While I was telling her to forget her past, did I ever stop to think about my own parents, far away in another world, suffering unimaginable torment because of my ’disappearance’?’

Dolores, of course, knew nothing of Jon’s past. She continued speaking with a near-stubborn honesty.

"Besides, my adoptive mother... even though she did this to me, putting these invisible shackles on me,"

"but... during those dark, sunless days in Pestide’s lair, she was... actually pretty good to me. She fed me, taught me skills... even if her gaze was strange sometimes, like she was observing some rare product of Alchemy... at least she never let me starve or freeze."

She shook her head, as if trying to shake off some clinging emotion.

"I don’t want to just mindlessly forget her, tossing her aside like an old, unwanted dress. I want to ask her myself! I want to stand right in front of her, look her in the eyes, and ask her myself!"

"Why did you do it? Was there some reason you couldn’t tell me? Did you ever, even for a moment... see me as a ’person’ instead of an experiment?"

As she finished, she shot to her feet, planting her hands on her slender yet resilient hips. She lifted her chin, her face once again breaking into that signature, cheerful smile tinged with a hint of triumph, and declared loudly to Jon.

"So, that’s that! Don’t you worry about me, Boss! Instead of choosing to forget, sweeping my past into a corner like trash, I want to—clearly and completely—remember everything about it!"

"The good, the bad, the happy, the sad—I want it all! It’s all a part of who Dolores is. If even a little piece is missing, then it wouldn’t be the real ’me’!"

Her words were like a stone tossed into still water, sending ripples through Jon’s heart.

He looked at the girl standing before him, hands on her hips, her smile radiant. He saw the mix of sun-like fearlessness and a hint of imperceptible stubbornness in that smile, and he sighed to himself.

’Looking at her was like looking in a mirror. Hadn’t he had thoughts just like hers?’

’If he hadn’t decided to let her make her own choice this time, where would his own heart have wandered off to?’

And so, after a moment of silence, Jon pushed these thoughts aside and spoke.

"I understand."

"Then take your ’everything’ with you, and stay close."

"Right!"