A Rider Doesn't Need a Youth Romantic Comedy [33]

“The whole squad was wiped out?”

Holding the report, Joseph felt it somewhat unbelievable.

He hadn't joined yesterday’s containment operation against the unknown entity.

At that time, he’d been busy handling his own tasks, and—unless something unexpected happened—he was scheduled to transfer temporarily to the Bald Eagle Branch.

But unexpectedly, something like this had occurred in the meantime.

It seemed his transfer would now have to be delayed.

Not that Joseph minded; after all, that side was relatively peaceful. This place, however, clearly needed him far more urgently.

“You could say that,” Makoto Rōma, leaning against his chair, replied with a troubled expression.

“No casualties, at least—but every single squad member lost all relevant memories. They don't even remember why they went there.”

“In that sense, calling it a total wipeout wouldn’t be wrong.”

After hearing Katsuyama Denshin’s scream, the Task Force members hadn’t impulsively charged into the villa.

Instead, they’d calmly waited outside the wall for further instructions from above.

Their objective this time was the unknown entity—not to protect some serial murderer.

Indeed, as soon as the Institute had targeted Katsuyama, all his little secrets had been thoroughly dug up.

Ordinary criminal acts of ordinary people weren’t within the Institute’s jurisdiction, after all.

“So, what’s next?”

Putting aside the report, Joseph turned his gaze toward Rōma.

The current situation had gone far beyond mere trouble.

They knew absolutely nothing about this being.

They had even repeatedly forgotten about its existence.

Even though Dr. Seymour had quickly enacted emergency measures after noticing abnormalities, the best he’d managed was letting the staff inside the Institute’s base barely recall the existence of such an entity.

And even then, one careless moment and it would slip from memory again.

“No idea. For now, there’s nothing we can do.”

Shrugging his shoulders, Rōma showed a helpless expression.

When faced with anomalies like this, even Amazon became powerless.

Extraordinary strength, speed beyond humans, and exceptional regenerative abilities—

All these abilities proved utterly useless when confronting anomalous phenomena beyond human comprehension.

Rōma had no good solutions for this either.

In the beginning, he'd even struggled greatly dealing with ghost-like entities.

Though he'd since overcome that particular weakness, he couldn’t deny he still struggled with anomalies like this.

“Hah?”

Joseph stared at Rōma incredulously.

Just like that, no solutions?

Wasn’t the Human Order Security Organization supposed to be humanity’s protector in the shadows?

Suddenly, Joseph felt like he'd boarded the wrong ship.

It was as if Zoro had believed he’d boarded the Pirate King Straw Hat’s ship, only to realize later he’d really just boarded the ship of some random guy in a straw hat.

“Calm down,” Rōma said placatingly, gently pressing down the air with his palm, expression completely unruffled.

“Dr. Seymour has already reported this issue. Reinforcements should arrive soon enough.”

Hearing this, Joseph relaxed slightly.

If it was completely unknown, fine; but knowing something potentially deadly to civilians was lurking nearby, Joseph couldn’t simply ignore it.

“So then, what are we supposed to do now?”

After sitting back down, Joseph asked again.

Since Rōma had brought the documents specifically to him, there must be something he needed Joseph to do.

“Do about what?”

Seeing Rōma’s genuinely confused expression, Joseph fell into silence.

Was this the so-called phenomenon of forgetting anything related to that entity?

After painstakingly re-explaining the entire situation, Joseph repeated his question yet again.

“Oh, right—Dr. Seymour wants you to use Hermit Purple to confirm whether TN-349 (Tentative Number-349) is still inside the villa.”

Digging a photo out of the document pile, Rōma handed it to Joseph.

It was a blurry image captured by a particularly determined investigator at the very last moment, transmitted back to base just before the agent also lost his memories.

They still didn’t know why TN-349 hadn’t killed them outright, but that didn’t mean the Institute could tolerate its presence outside containment.

“Alright.”

Taking the photo, Joseph studied the entity curiously.

It looked vaguely like a humanoid monster in a suit.

Judging from clothing alone, it resembled a priest at Sunday service—but that twisted, distorted face couldn’t have been less priestly.

More like aged tea leaves soaked in filthy water for two days.

Joseph rubbed his chin thoughtfully, making such an assessment.

“The Institute’s current response is to mobilize significant manpower and surround Katsuyama’s villa completely.”

“And the orders are clear—if anything is seen leaving the villa, the alarm must be sounded immediately.”

While Joseph examined the photo, Rōma continued briefing him, though midway through, his voice trailed off abruptly.

Did he forget something again?

Joseph, in contrast, showed no such memory lapses.

He guessed it might be due to Hermit Purple providing him with some resistance against such anomalous memory manipulation.

Though he couldn’t perfectly remember the entity at all times, with its effect weakened, recalling its existence became manageable.

Picking up a Polaroid camera from the desk, Joseph inhaled deeply.

“[Hermit Purple]!”

His hand, wrapped in twisting purple vines, slammed downward, heavily denting the Polaroid camera.

White smoke drifted upward as it spat out one final photograph before being completely destroyed.

Rōma glanced helplessly at the now-useless Polaroid on the table.

Joseph clearly had other ways to use Hermit Purple, yet stubbornly insisted on using a Polaroid.

Something about reminiscing on his glorious younger days.

Rōma had nothing to say on that matter.

“It seems it’s still in the villa.”

Handing the fresh photograph to Rōma, Joseph casually tossed aside the ruined camera.

Hermit Purple hadn't clearly captured TN-349’s figure, merely providing a vague image of Katsuyama’s villa.

But that was enough. Confirming its location inside was sufficient for now.

“I’ll contact Dr. Seymour.”

Examining the photo, Rōma gently tapped his earpiece.

Immediately, Dr. Seymour’s voice burst through—shouting angrily:

“I don’t care what the damn budget looks like—keep that thing contained! Turn around once in your office and see it half an inch from your nose—you’ll lose several years off your life!”

Apparently, whoever had been watching 650 had slacked off.

The moment nobody had their eyes on it, it slipped from the room, nearly giving Dr. Seymour a heart attack.

“Doctor, we've confirmed TN-349 is still in Katsuyama Denshin’s villa.”

“TN-349? What's that? Do we even have such an entity on file?”

Dr. Seymour’s confused voice transmitted not just clearly to Rōma but also to Joseph, who’d just connected to the channel.

Forget I said anything.

Joseph felt suddenly exhausted.

---

This is a fan translation of 骑士不需要青春恋爱物语 by 青琮 All rights to the original work belong to the creator. Please support them by exploring their original work or sharing it with others if you can. Thank you for reading and supporting my efforts to bring this story to a wider audience!