Theus looked at Ash, then turned to Gaia.
Ash was the person Monica relied on most. She had always called Ash "big sister," wishing she could cling to her every day.
Gaia was Monica's best friend. Though the two of them spent all day tinkering with explosives and blowing up toilets, they had brought a great deal of life to the territory, and many people liked them.
But now, as Theus looked up at the two of them, he felt as though a frigid hand had slowly closed around his heart.
"You two... don't remember Monica?" Under Theus's gaze, they both nodded.
Theus swallowed with difficulty, forcing his brain to start turning as he tried to understand what was happening.
Monica—that little girl—had simply vanished from everyone's memories?
Not even her familiar kin or her best friend retained the slightest memory of her?
If not for Theus, no one would remember her. No one would know that she had disappeared without a sound.
Like water leaking from the sea.
No one remembered what had happened beneath the calm surface. Only when the sea was nearly dry would they realize something was wrong—but by then, it would already be too late.
Wait!
He had happened to mention Monica today. Could there be more people, more things, that had silently disappeared—
Without him even noticing?
A hair-raising chill crawled up his spine.
Calm down, calm down. Theus took several deep breaths and forced himself to think.
Suddenly disappearing from memory... Theus abruptly recalled a term: submerged memories.
Chloe had told him about them—secret histories that the brain would automatically overlook and could not retain.
Could it be... that everything related to Monica had become secret history?
No, that wasn't right. Submerged memories were merely hidden deep within one's mind, not completely forgotten.