"What an astonishing effect."

  The apothecaries in the room were all taken aback as they watched the scene unfold.

  After witnessing the previous process of concocting the potion, they no longer had any doubts about Samuel's identity as an apothecary.

  Now, objectively assessing the potion's effects, they realized that the addition of Murkrow's feather had significantly enhanced its potency.

  A new Awakening Potion formu... Several apothecaries silently recalled the process they had just observed. This was a brand-new formu—worth a fortune.

  "Sir, should we give it a try?"

  "Even if this potent Awakening Potion can't rouse Baron Reiser, it certainly won't have any negative side effects."

  Samuel turned his gaze to the baron's son. This was the final step, but even he wasn't entirely confident.

  Sir Beryl hesitated. He wasn't well-versed in the field of apothecary, so he gnced at the senior apothecaries for guidance. To his surprise, they were all nodding without hesitation, their expressions even carrying a trace of admiration and anticipation.

  So this guy really is an apothecary... Sir Beryl opened his mouth, his deep-seated bias against commoners urging him to refuse. But the attitudes of these seasoned apothecaries reminded him of just how foolish his prejudice was.

  In the end, he gave a slight nod. "Alright, let's try it."

  With his approval, the senior apothecaries immediately got to work, carefully administering the potent Awakening Potion to Baron Reiser.

  At that moment, everyone's attention was focused on the baron lying on the bed. Even the lord himself stood up and stepped forward to observe.

  "He moved! The baron's hand just moved!"

  "It's working! This Awakening Potion is working!"

  "Father, wake up! Please wake up!"

  Excited voices filled the room. As Baron Reiser's eyes slowly fluttered open, a wave of cheers erupted.

  He woke up.

  So Baron Reiser really had fallen victim to Hypnosis...

  Sitting beside the caged Petilil, Samuel furrowed his brows slightly.

  If it had been Sleep Powder or something simir like Spore, he could have attributed it to an accident.

  But Hypnosis was different. That wasn't a move that just any wild Pokémon could learn—especially not one that could have casually approached Baron Reiser in the first pce.

  It was possible for wild Pokémon to wander into the outer city or the slums of Ambition City, but the castle district was under constant surveilnce by the city guards. No wild Pokémon, not even a Ghost-type capable of invisibility, could have made it inside undetected.

  Unless... it wasn't a wild Pokémon at all.

  If someone deliberately orchestrated this, bypassing the guards and getting close to Baron Reiser, then this was a completely different matter.

  "If it wasn't a wild Pokémon… then who is targeting Baron Reiser?"

  Samuel frowned in thought. As a League Investigator, his instincts immediately kicked in.

  If the culprit managed to evade the guards, then they must have been highly familiar with their patrol routines. That alone would significantly narrow down the list of suspects.

  Beyond that, the motive was crucial. Had Baron Reiser offended someone recently? Or was this a dispute over interests?

  The attacker had used Hypnosis to put the baron into a deep sleep—clearly, they didn't want him waking up. But why not simply eliminate him altogether? Was there something stopping them?

  And where had Baron Reiser been before the incident? Who had he met? Now that he was awake, they might finally get some answers.

  "What happened? Did I fall asleep?"

  "And, Lord… why are you here?"

  As Baron Reiser slowly regained awareness, he pressed a hand against his dizzy head, his expression dazed as he looked around.

  "Father, you're finally awake!" Sir Beryl excimed in relief, then quickly asked, "What happened st night?"

  Hearing his son's question, Baron Reiser frowned slightly and tried to recall the events of the previous night. But no matter how hard he thought, his mind was completely bnk.

  What's going on? What did I do st night?

  He kept asking himself, but all he felt was a vague sense that he had forgotten something incredibly important. No matter how much he strained his memory, he couldn't remember.

  "I... I forgot."

  After a long moment of silence, Baron Reiser clutched his head in distress. "Something must have happened, but I… I can't remember."

  His words caused a shift in the atmosphere. The apothecaries immediately rushed to his side to examine him.

  Mira took a step back, her expression darkening. She had already sensed something was wrong, and now the baron's condition confirmed her suspicions.

  She cast a discreet gnce at the knight Kevin, who responded with a slight nod before quietly retreating. The moment he reached the doorway, he picked up his pace and swiftly left.

  Meanwhile, on a chair beside her, the Prinplup yawned, briefly opened its eyes, then shut them again, seemingly uninterested in what was unfolding around it.

  Samuel, on the other hand, silently observed everything, but inwardly, his thoughts were in turmoil.

  Forgotten... Forgotten…

  This scene was all too familiar.

  The original owner of his body had also inexplicably lost all memories of the night he died!

  Was it that same Hypnosis user who erased Baron Reiser's memories?

  And what connection did this have to the original owner of his body?

  Though both had lost an entire night's worth of memories, the situations were completely different. After all, the original owner hadn't simply fallen unconscious—he had died.

  Moreover, the original owner had been a mere commoner. Would the culprit really go to such lengths to erase his memories before killing him?

  Previously, Samuel had dismissed the memory loss as an accident—perhaps a side effect of his reincarnation into this body.

  But now, seeing Baron Reiser suffer the same fate made him question that assumption.

  Could it be that the original owner's memories were erased as well?

  Had he uncovered something so dangerous that the perpetrator had to silence him permanently?

  And then there was that shredded doll in his old room… It convinced Samuel that the original owner had been targeted by something sinister.

  Could it have been that same Pokémon?

  Piecing together the fragments of both incidents, Samuel felt a headache coming on. The clues he had were too scattered—he couldn't make sense of them yet. All he could do was formute hypotheses.

  Of course, he could just be overthinking it. There were plenty of reasons someone might lose their memories.

  Baron Reiser's amnesia could simply be a side effect of Hypnosis.

  After all, Hypnosis was an attack on the mind. It was entirely possible that the move had caused mental disarray, leading to memory loss.

  That wasn't outside the realm of possibility.

  -----

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