Soul Scour, Soul Scour, I’ll perfect you one day, and today’s that day! There’s still three more bad people I can test this on. “But what should I try to find out this time?” Mm, I think I know how Soul Scour works now: The most recent memories are at the top. The memories from a long time ago are underneath those. And the very important memories are at the bottom! Those are the super bright and shiny ones. For the last person, I only burned two bubbles, but those were the bright and shiny ones. This time, I’ll try not to burn any bubbles, but if I have to burn some, they’ll be the ones from the top. Right, when practicing, there must be a focus. The goal is to enter and exit without turning this man into an idiot. “Soul Scour!”

Mm, as I thought, the most recent memories are at the top. There’s a picture of me in one of them! I…, I want to touch it. I’m going to touch it. Ooh, this man, he’s … terrified of me? What!? But I’m so cute and adorable! It was Mrs. Feathers that beat him up; why is he more afraid of me than her!? Grr, I’m burning this memory away. It makes no sense, and things that don’t make sense shouldn’t exist. Return to the natural order! Hmph. Alright, it’s gone. Just burning away one memory shouldn’t hurt, right? Mm, I’ll go out and check just to make sure.

“Huh? Where am I? Who are you? Untie me!”

Well…, he seems to have forgotten a few things, but he’s not limp and drooling! Great! Does that mean people only turn into idiots if I burn away their deepest memories? Hmm. Ah! I’m not trying to learn how to turn people into idiots! That’s the opposite of what I want to do. What am I even thinking? Sheesh. It’s time to practice some more. “Soul Scour!”

Alright, was there something I wanted to learn specifically? I’m sure there was…. Right! Is Ilya related to this person somehow—that’s what I wanted to know. Ilya, Ilya, Ilya…, I don’t see anyone with purple skin in any of these bubbles…. Let’s go deeper. Mm, nope. Still no Ilya. Why aren’t there any sounds coming out of these bubbles? I can only see a moving picture, but some of them are too similar. Should I burn the similar ones away? Mm, I’ll do that. Why would someone want duplicate memories anyway? Copies, copies, go away. Burn, burn, burn. All done. And now that those are cleared up, there’s the fuzzy, darker memories. Hmm…. Aren’t these completely useless too? They’re already on the verge of being forgotten…. Okay, I’ll clean them up as well. And … just to make sure he hasn’t turned into an idiot, I’ll exit again.

“Where am I? Who are you? Why can’t I remember why I’m here?”

He’s still talking, which means he’s perfectly fine. Let’s continue. “Soul Scour!”

Ooh, there’s another bubble of me looking into his eyes. Yup, that’s me Soul Scouring him. He’s not scared or nervous at all, just super confused. No problem. I knew Soul Scour wasn’t that bad. Anyways, most of the darker bubbles are gone, and now I can easily see the really bright ones! Since I don’t know if Ilya’s in any of them, I’ll check them all. Let’s see…, this bubble has a memory of his parents. Is this what it feels like to have loving parents? Hmm…. It makes me uncomfortable. I’ll scrub it away. Ah. I wasn’t supposed to burn these shiny ones, but I couldn’t help it! Just one of them wouldn’t hurt, right? Mm, I’m not sure. I’ll go outside and check.

“You…, you’ve messed with my memories, haven’t you? It feels like something’s missing. I don’t know who you are, but you should realize what—”

“Soul Scour!” He was very talkative, and he knew I was Soul Scouring him. That means he’s completely fine. Anyways, let’s look through these other shiny bubbles. Oh. He’s naked in this one…. I’m not going to touch it. Hmm, this one looks like a way younger version of him. It probably doesn’t have anything to do with Ilya. He has a lot of shiny memories. What’s this one? It’s…, mm, touching it will help me figure it out faster instead of staring.

Ooh, he was an alchemist. This is him taking an alchemy test to enter some kind of valley filled with pills. Wow, alchemists have to learn a lot. He’s … making my head hurt. Why does he know so much crap!? The names of ten thousand herbs…, the properties of each herb…. I’m going to puke. Can I even puke? I can’t puke without my stomach! Ugh, that’s it, I’m burning it away! Burning it … away? It’s not burning. Help! Why isn’t it burning!? There’s a layer of…, is that water? There’s a layer of water protecting the bubble from my flames! That’s, oh, is that his sea of consciousness? There was something about Soul Scour mentioning people could defend themselves from it if their consciousness was strong enough…. But if I can’t purge these memories, I’ll die of a headache! My vision’s already going blurry. Urgh, I’m leaving! So much information’s being stuffed into my mind like the formulas for heat-resisting pills and cold-resisting pills and virility pills and foot-washing powders and…. Wait a second. Virility pills!? Durandal needs those! They really exist! Agh! But first, I have to leave!

I’m out! “Whew! Blargh! Urp….”

“Lucia!? Are you okay?” Softie appeared by my side in an instant and made my vomit disappear somehow. “What happened? Did you suffer a backlash?”

Backlash? Mm, that happens if the other person’s sea of consciousness devours mine. That didn’t happen though…. “I think I learned too much. I feel sick.”

Softie stared at me, but she didn’t say anything. Then, she pulled out a handkerchief and wiped my mouth. “You worried me there for a second, but thankfully, you’re still you.”

I’m still me? What’s that supposed to mean? Mm, that doesn’t matter right now. “Quick! Pull out a jade slip and record this. I found out the recipe to fix Durandal’s penis problems!”

“My what? I don’t have any problems down there!”

Mhm, yeah, okay. If he’s not getting me pregnant, then there’s a problem with his penis! And this is the solution. “The most important ingredient of this pill—which can even turn a rock virile—is the core of a world tree!”