Resurrected Memories

To be honest, from his experience playing the original game, Greg didn't really have a good impression of the character named Chloe Ivy.

Her mouth seemed to be naturally equipped with a sarcasm and sharp-tongue module. Upon meeting her for the first time, one was highly likely to receive a condescending greeting of “small fry.” In the subsequent plot, she was even more enthusiastic about picking fights for no reason, making her one of the prime troublemakers for players during the early academy phase.

But now, this bratty girl who, in his memory, never shut up about “small fry,” was actually calling him “Big Brother” with such a devastatingly affectionate tone. She was even clinging to his arm like a koala...

Greg felt his brain's CPU instantly overload. He stood frozen in place as if struck by a petrification spell, completely forgetting to push away the Chloe who had lunged onto him.

“Hey! Greg—!”

An angry roar snapped Greg out of his daze.

Victoria stood before him, her stray hair standing on end. She grabbed the collar of Greg's uniform and yanked him toward her!

“This girl is clearly an acquaintance of yours! If that's the case, why did you have me come in to buy things for you? Or is this also a part of your roleplay!?”

Greg was actually completely bewildered by the situation himself. He had absolutely no idea that, other than Erin who was still back at the family estate, he also had a sister-type character.

“Wait! Calm down, Little Gray! It's not what you think! Actually, I also—”

He was just about to deny this bizarre relationship with Chloe. However, the moment that thought arose, it seemed to trigger a long-forgotten memory switch. A torrential flood of memory fragments violently rushed into his mind!

Images flashed, voices jumbled together, carrying a faded sense of age—

It was several years ago, near an inconspicuous little village on the outskirts of Duke Sass's territory.

At that time, a young Greg Sass, on his father's orders, had accompanied the family knights on a routine patrol of the territory.

It wasn't out of a sense of responsibility; he was purely bored and wanted to clear his head, while incidentally asserting the presence of the future Duke.

During the patrol, they happened to pass by that village and stumbled upon an unpleasant farce.

A plump, greasy minor lord, leading a few menacing servants, was surrounding a dilapidated farmhouse. He was shouting filthy demands, telling the people inside to hand over their daughter to pay off their overdue taxes.

This was clearly a clumsy excuse for extortion.

Inside the farmhouse, a trembling peasant couple pleaded desperately. Behind them, a brown-haired girl who looked barely ten years old, wearing patched-up old clothes, tightly clutched her mother's hem. Though she shivered with fear, her beautiful eyes flickered with a stubbornness far beyond her years... and a near-numb despair.

The minor lord muttered vulgarities like, “Though she's just a peasant girl, her face is quite pretty. I'll take her back and raise her for a couple of years, then...” as he reached out to grab the girl.

Just as this sickening scene was unfolding, Greg Sass, riding a tall horse and surrounded by knights, happened to pass by and glanced over.

He saw the brown-haired girl who was about to be seized, and he also saw her eyes, which still held a striking beauty amidst her despair.

“Tsk, she actually looks pretty good. A lot more pleasing to the eye than those pretentious noble ladies in the city. It'd be a pity if she got taken by that fat pig.”

The Greg Sass of that time probably only had such simple and arrogant thoughts in his head.

Perhaps he simply found her face pretty and felt it would be a waste, or perhaps he was just bored after patrolling all day and wanted to find some entertainment, or maybe he simply disliked the minor lord.

Thus, he casually waved his hand and, in the commanding tone of a prodigal son, said to a sword-wielding maid beside him:

“Allie, I've taken a liking to that girl. Go bring her over.”

Allie: “Tired of the old and looking for the new already, Young Master Greg? If that's the case, then my only choice is to kill you first and then commit suicide.”

The surrounding knights held their breath upon hearing the maid's explosive statement, pretending they hadn't heard a thing.

Greg: “Why does this have to end in my death?! I simply don't want to see that fat pig get his way!”

“Sigh, you really are greedy. I can't do anything with you.” Allie sighed and walked over.

Looking at Allie as she walked over in her maid uniform, the lord was initially confused, but his desire quickly showed on his face due to her outstanding appearance.

But with a flash of sword light too fast to see, the lord's pig-like body collapsed heavily into a pool of blood, losing all signs of life.

Only then did Greg Sass ride over and say nonchalantly, “Your daughter will be my maid from now on. As for this remote backwater, you will be responsible for managing it.”

With that, he didn't spare another glance at the grateful couple or the little girl who stared blankly at him, seemingly unable to process her sudden escape from despair.

To him, this was merely a trivial interlude during his patrol, like casually picking up a decent-looking wild flower by the roadside to put in a vase. As for whether the flower would wither or bloom afterward, he probably hadn't given it a single thought.

However, to the brown-haired girl named Chloe at the time, this nonchalant sentence was no different from pulling her back to the human world from the edge of an abyss she was about to fall into.

She didn't have to be sold to that disgusting lord as a plaything, nor did she have to spend the rest of her life in fear and humiliation.

She was even brought back to the grand and magnificent Duke Sass's manor, a completely different world she had never dared to imagine before.

Though she was only assigned to do minor chores, she could at least eat her fill, stay warm, and have a safe place to live.

More importantly, in the Duke's manor, she was exposed for the first time to knowledge that she, as a peasant girl, could never have otherwise touched... alchemy.

She found some basic alchemy tools and tattered introductory books in the servants' library. Like a sponge that had been dry for too long, she frantically absorbed all the relevant knowledge she could get her hands on.

The intelligence and sharpness that had been buried in the barren land began to burn quietly like a spark in the field of alchemy, which was full of infinite possibilities.

And the young master, as handsome as a god, who had pulled her out of the mire, was no longer just a benefactor or a master in her eyes.

He was the light that salvaged her from despair, the window that allowed her to glimpse the vast world, and the only miracle in her bleak childhood.

Big Brother—

This title, which mixed respect, attachment, adoration, and some emotion she herself hadn't fully understood, had already been silently repeated thousands of times in the depths of her heart.

Later, because of the talent she displayed, Greg Sass even funded her to come to Glory Cael Magic Academy for further studies.

And she did not let down Greg Sass's trust. With her hard work and talent, she quickly stood out in the Department of Alchemy and soon became the Representative of her year.

The torrent of memories slowly receded. Greg stood dazed, digesting this sudden influx of information.

“Holy crap... So I actually... did something so decent in the past?”

Greg felt his worldview take a slight hit.

But now that he understood the whole story, some of the doubts in his heart instantly vanished.

No wonder even the current Chloe had an inexplicable hostility toward Victoria and always picked on her... It turns out it was all because of me!

For a moment, Greg's feelings were rather complicated.

“But... why was such an important character relationship never mentioned in the original game at all!”

Greg grumbled inwardly, but on second thought, it seemed understandable.

After all, the original game was told from Victoria's perspective, focusing on the growth and adventure of the Hero. Greg Sass's role in the game was merely that of a villainous noble who caused trouble for the protagonist early on, provided conflict in the mid-game, and became a laughingstock in the late game.

Every time he appeared, his role was mostly to get beaten and provide material for the players to show off, serving to highlight the protagonist's growth and create satisfying plot points.

As for his relationships, past experiences, or inner world?

Who cared!

As long as he could deliver experience points to the protagonist and make players feel that this idiot got what he deserved, that was enough.

Therefore, things like him accidentally saving a girl who later became an alchemy genius, and being viewed by her as the light of her life—which might make the villain's image too complex—indeed needed to be deliberately hidden in a game that pursued a simple and satisfying experience, so as to maintain his pure role as a villainous tool.

Having figured this out, Greg could only accept reality.

The relationship was clear, but the current situation...

“Senior Greg...”

Silvia had walked in from outside the door at some point, standing just a few paces away from them.

Her long pink hair fell smoothly over her shoulders, and her hands were folded in front of her. Her posture was still elegant, and a gentle smile was plastered on her face as usual.

Yet, Greg inexplicably felt a shiver run down his spine.