The day after the battle with the dragons at the fifth level of the Sundial Forest, the White Wolf Shop was experiencing its biggest boom since it opened.

　The White Wolf Store was in full swing, the biggest business since it opened.

　Not only adventurers who wanted to prepare for the future, but also ordinary townspeople came to the store to buy weapons.

　Swords. Spears. Bows and arrows. All sorts of weapons are sold one after another.

　It's easy to see why.
　The appearance of dragons and wyverns has made them anxious, and they want to be prepared for any danger they can.

　Of course, amateurs can't stand a chance against dragons, but it's natural to think that it's better than being unprepared.

　Besides, there is no guarantee that only dragons will appear in the Sundial Forest.

　The possibility that there will be demons that even ordinary people can barely resist is undeniable, and in that case, the presence or absence of weapons will be the difference between light and dark.

''Next up!　Four daggers and four small silver coins!
A spear?　About my height?　Luke, where was the spear again!
'Master Luke, the hunting guild has sent us an order for more arrows!　They want arrows for anti-magic use, not for hunting!

　It wasn't a situation where I could handle it all by myself, so I had Sylvia and Sakura help me today.

　But even so, we clearly still don't have enough manpower.
　At this rate, we're going to go bankrupt soon.

''White wolf's, do you have a minute?　I need to talk to you about something important.

　Just as I was about to be too busy to be giddy, a full-body armored figure, clearly not a customer, came to the counter.

'Garnett? Have you come to ditch work or something?
Of course not. Felix has given us the day off. You don't want anything to happen to the boss's family. We've been underestimated.

　Clinking his armor, Garnett made a gesture as if to say, 'Oh dear.

'So, I take it you're already well.
Hey.
All right, this is what you're looking for. Put the boxes over there on the display rack.

　I force the heavy wooden box, so heavy that my arms almost shake, onto the careless garnet.

'Whoa!　Heavy!　Oh, hey, what's this?
What's with the whetstone?
"It's not about what's in there!　You want me to work too!

　Garnett is not happy about it, but we have no intention of backing down.

I'm busy and dying, as you can see. If it's not about knightly business, it can wait. The sooner we serve you, the sooner we can talk.
'Yes, Lord Garnett. Look at the procession behind you. There's no rest for Lord Luke today.
'Gooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo ......!　You just do it, do it!

　Sakura warned him, and Garnett began to help display the merchandise, half-heartedly.

　Although I let myself do it, it seems like a strange sight to have a knight in full body armor working in a weapons store.

　However, it seems that Garnett's skills are suited for strengthening physical functions as she lightly carries such a heavy box with a grinding stone under her arm.

　The number of customers eventually dwindled in the evening, and the place finally became about the same level of crowded as usual.

''...... Huh. Things are finally settling down.

　I was somewhat annoyed by Garnett's visit at first, but as it turned out, I just wanted to thank him for coming.

　I really appreciated the fact that he was able to finish the heavy lifting in particular with ease.

　The weight of the weapons, which are lumps of metal, when they are bundled together is extraordinary.

　Just fetching the crates from the warehouse in the back to replenish the merchandise requires a lot of physical strength, and today we had to make several round trips, so Garnett's visit was truly a boatload of work.

'Luke-san. Why don't you go take a break?
Yes, that's right. Isn't Lord Luke the only one who has been working all the time? Leave the shop keeper to us.
Well, I'll take you up on your offer. Garnett, if you want to talk to me, I'll hear it in the back. It's a break.
Whew, I made it. I thought we were gonna lose the light.

　He took Garnett to the dining room of his store and home.

　Then Garnett carefully checks the door locks, takes off his full-face helmet and places it on the table.

　His golden hair is plastered to his face with sweat.
　It's probably because he ran around yawning in full armor.

　Furthermore, he began to take off not only his helmet, but also his armor, leaving him in an unbalanced outfit, with his upper body wearing only thin, sweaty innerwear, as if it were midsummer, and his lower body unchanged from when he was in his armor.

'If you're going to change, can you wait until we get back to the inn?
No, man. I just want you to see this guy.

　Garnett picked up the knife that was hanging around his waist and slashed vertically from the center around the neck of his inner garment.

　Then, with a thin flush on her cheeks, she spread the cleft with her hand and showed me the cleavage-less sternum area of her chest.

　It's not something you should stare at too much, but he told me to look at it, so I observe it properly.

　It's a beautiful white skin with not a scratch on it.
　There are no traces of the dragon's claws ripping through and exposing the 'inside' to the cruelty.

...... It's nothing to worry about. I didn't think there was a mistake in the [repair], I was surprised.
'Yeah, your [restoration] was perfect, man. That's the problem.

　Before I could ask him what he was talking about, Garnett quickly continued.

"Your skills, you can't undo a wound you've healed?
Is ......?

　He tilts his head, not understanding the meaning of Garnett's statement.

　Undoing a wound?　You mean the injuries from the dragon?　If you put that stuff back, you'll die this time.

　No matter how much, he shouldn't be making such a demand.
　In other words, the wound that Garnett is talking about should not be the same as that damage he received from the dragon.

　The chest that was [repaired]. Another wound that I want to undo. So, there is one answer.

'Ah, I see ...... there was a scar on your chest before you were hit by the dragon, but it was gouged out and 'overwritten' by the claws. And you only want to put that scar back on.
That's what I mean. Can you do that?
He said, "I don't have enough words for you. I can't say if I can or not until I try .......

　I sat down in my eating chair and poked my cheek against the dining room table.

Basically, the [Restoration] skill restores the object based on the memory of what it looked like, but how much of that memory can be drawn out depends on the situation.

　This would be a more detailed explanation of what I once gave to Sakura.

'Yes, ......, let's say you have a carved wooden slab, for example, and its surface has been scraped off.
It's a metaphor for my body and my scars.
'Correct. At this point, if someone who doesn't know the carving was there tries to [restore] it as fast as possible, they may not be able to draw out the memory and go back to a 'blank slab of wood' ...... or almost so.

　It was the same for me at that time.

　As a result of my efforts to close the fatal wound in the quickest and shortest time possible, I ended up applying 【Restoration】 based on the intact state, and the existence of the scar that existed before was not reflected.

　The result would have been different if they had been able to [repair] it without hurrying, but that was impossible under those circumstances.

'We won't know if we can restore the sculpture from that state unless we try. There are so many factors that come into play, such as the length of time since the carving was done, the time lapse since the previous [restoration] and so on.
I mean, what else?
If the sculptor put a lot of thought into it, it's easy to restore, and if the sculptor made it at random, it's hard to put it back. There are so many to choose from, I've lost count.
Ugh, ...... does that even affect you?

　Garnett's expression is twisted in a heartbreakingly troublesome way.

　I feel the same way.
　Among the many 【Restoration】 cases, the rewind of 【Restoration】 is quite a troublesome part of the process.

''...... White Wolf's. Try it anyway. Please.
'If you're going to ask honestly, this guy is quite a bit of work. Was it by any chance an honorable injury or something?　If I turn it off, the higher-ups will be angry at me.
What can I say: ...... Well, that's about it.

　From the muddled nature of the words, it was apparently different.

　Not exactly an injury of honor as a knight, but a scar that I never want to erase.

　I have no idea why, but there's no reason to be reluctant to try it.
　It's a good opportunity to see how far I can go now.

'Well, try to think strongly of that scar, then. Because if you pull the memory out of your mind hard enough, maybe you'll have a better success rate.

　That's the guy who says 'it's worth a try'.

　If the memories that reside in the one being 【Restored】 will affect the 【Restored】 outcome, then maybe it's worth it.

　I put my hand on Garnet's chest and quietly poured my magic power into it.

''Skill activated, 【Restoration】 begins: ......

　At that moment, an intense scene flowed into my head.




　--flames. Smoke. A mansion is burning. The smell of burning human beings wafting through the air.

　The owner of the memory was running down the corridor of the burning mansion, being led by a woman who looked like her mother.

　A burnt pillar collapses, blocking her path.
　I turn around and see a man holding a sword right in front of my eyes and nose.

''Garnett!''

　The mother is the bearer of this memory - she holds her young daughter in her arms and winces.

　A long sword is thrust into her back.

　The merciless blade pierced the body of the mother who protected her child, and the tip of the blade carved a wound into the chest of the little girl--




----

　After finishing [Restoration], I took my hand away from Garnet's chest.

　In the center of the chest where there was not a scratch, just around the area protected by the sternum, there was a trace of an old sword wound floating around.

'I think it's done ....... Check it out.
'Oh, wow!　Well, it's all back to normal!　Thanks, white wolf!

　Garnett gave a big boyish smile.

　...... What was the image he just had?
　Could it be that [Analysis] had caused a strange action and read the memories Garnett had in mind?

　But I didn't have the courage to confirm it.

　I had a feeling that this wasn't an area that a stranger like me could step into.