Oh, Iyer! Iyerpol! – Chapter 59

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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Yuziro
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A small, unremarkable city nestled within Kalak.

There, a girl blessed with extraordinary talent was born.

From a young age, her brilliance couldn’t be hidden, drawing the attention of many.

Basking in this attention, the girl flaunted her gifts.

Perhaps it was a stroke of incredible luck, but the girl’s family, though commoners, were among the wealthiest landowners in the city.

Her father, overjoyed, spared no expense in nurturing her talents.

Academics, martial arts, social graces – the girl excelled in every field, absorbing knowledge at an astonishing pace.

Renowned instructors and teachers frequented their home, and the girl, like a sponge, soaked up their every lesson.

The girl knew her talent was exceptional.

Her mental maturity far surpassed her age, and even in her early teens, she possessed a remarkable self-awareness.

She understood how gifted she was compared to others, and she held a quiet pride in her abilities.

Many predicted she would become a person of great influence.

Until ‘that’ day.

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“Miss!”

It was a holiday, and she had gone hunting with her father, as usual.

They had stayed in the forest until late in the evening, and the torch they had lit, caught by a sudden gust of wind, was ripped from its stand.

Fate, it seemed, was cruel.

The falling torch hurtled towards the girl’s head.

Those around her were too late to intervene.

Hearing her maid’s scream, the girl looked up just as the flaming torch struck her.

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By some miracle, the torch itself missed, but the embers clinging to it did not.

They showered the girl’s beautiful eyes, and she screamed, and collapsed to the ground.

At just twelve years old, the girl hailed as a genius lost the freedom to see.

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Zeta carefully placed her hand on her chest and took a slow, deep breath.

Closing her eyes, she inhaled and exhaled several times.

The tension that had frozen her features gradually eased.

“I apologize. I tend to be startled by unexpected events.”

“Oh, it’s alright.”

I waved my hand dismissively at Zeta, who bowed her head slightly.

Wait, she can’t see that.

I quickly lowered my hand.

“So, about you saying you needed me specifically…”

A creeping sense of unease washed over me.

It was a feeling I knew all too well, a feeling I desperately wanted to avoid.

Now fully composed, Zeta placed her hands back on her knees and spoke.

“I’ve long heard tales of the Blind Swordsman, Iyerpol. A blind adventurer in Tillasden.”

“Uh, hmm…”

“I trained relentlessly to meet you. I’ve put in countless hours of effort, and now, here you are, before me.”

Zeta slowly lifted her hands from her knees.

Her hands… were covered in scars.

Cuts, bruises, puncture wounds.

Every imaginable type of scar marred her skin, and in some places, the bones seemed oddly misshapen.

Unlike the delicate, slender hands of other girls her age, these hands spoke of a harsh life.

…Come to think of it, Zeta’s clothes covered almost her entire body.

If her hands were this scarred, it was likely her arms and legs were similar.

I didn’t need to see beneath her clothes to know they would tell the same story.

“Please, accept me.”

“…”

Ah.

Why was this happening?

Outwardly, I remained impassive, but inside, I was practically vibrating with anxiety.

I didn’t know Zeta’s story, but I knew she had endured a difficult life to reach this point.

But this was different from Belle.

Belle could improve with standard training.

Granted, that training mostly involved her getting pummeled, but… it still fell within the realm of normal instruction.

But this girl, Zeta?

Even if I accepted a blind girl, what could I possibly teach her?

Yet, here she was, presenting me with those scarred hands, pleading for me to take her on.

How could I refuse her in this situation?

If there is a way, someone please tell me.

I’d pay good money for a solution.

Hiding my inner turmoil, I addressed Zeta in as serious a tone as I could muster.

“I appreciate your high regard, but… you have nothing to learn from me. You must realize, I rely mostly on instinct.”

“It’s that instinctive aspect I wish to learn.”

“I’m sorry, but I can’t teach you something so abstract.”

“I’m a quick study. Please, accept me.”

She was persistent.

As persistent as Belle.

Despite my clear refusal, Zeta wouldn’t budge.

But turning away someone who had sought me out with such a story, with those hands… I couldn’t bring myself to do it.

Wait.

A sudden thought struck me.

“How did you even get here, by the way?”

Zeta had been alone since I first met her at the guild, and she had walked to my apartment unaccompanied.

There had been no sign of a guardian or companion.

“I traveled to Tillasden by carriage.”

“And after that?”

“I went straight to the guild. That’s where I found you.”

I replayed the events since meeting Zeta at the guild.

She had walked with a surprising ease, blending seamlessly into the crowd.

I hadn’t noticed anything amiss, hadn’t suspected her blindness.

Not just walking, either.

I hadn’t realized she was blind until she dropped the cup.

She had moved with such natural grace.

…Was that even possible?

“So, you’re saying you walked here… normally?”

“Is there a problem?”

Zeta tilted her head, her expression suggesting she saw nothing unusual about it.

“You do it, Master.”

“…”

I fell silent, resting my chin on my hand to hide my mouth.

My leg, which had been trembling internally, now began to shake uncontrollably.

Wait. Calm down.

“Please, accept me.”

Zeta repeated her request, her voice flat and unwavering.

Me, silently trembling, chin in hand.

Zeta, impassively pressing her request.

The heavy silence that had settled between us was broken by Belle, who opened the door and entered.

“I brought a towel! …Oh?”

Belle, having rushed in, looked back and forth between Zeta and me, her expression puzzled.

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“…Sigh.”

I looked up at the clear, cloudless sky.

It seemed oblivious to the storm raging within me.

Lowering my gaze, I looked down at the small courtyard next to the building.

There, Belle and Zeta stood facing each other, wooden swords in hand.

A mock duel.

My idea.

Zeta, blind.

Belle, sighted and possessing a talent I had acknowledged.

The outcome should have been obvious.

It *needed* to be obvious.

But…

“Ugh!”

Zeta’s attack, a flurry of two, no, three strikes, sent Belle stumbling back with a groan.

Sweat poured down Belle’s face as she parried the blows, but Zeta pressed forward relentlessly, each step bringing another merciless attack.

The duel was one-sided, Belle pushed back by Zeta’s relentless assault.

Watching Zeta wield her sword like a whip, I couldn’t help but mutter under my breath,

“…Insane.”

There was no better way to describe what I was witnessing.

This girl… Zeta, was a genius.

Perhaps the most incredibly gifted person I had ever encountered.

Humans perceived 80% of their surroundings through sight.

This meant Zeta was operating with 20% of the information most people took for granted.

She couldn’t see where her opponent was, where their sword was aimed, or even if there were obstacles nearby.

Yet, she was overwhelming Belle.

Watching closely, I began to understand how she did it.

Zeta had waited for Belle to strike first.

After parrying Belle’s initial attack, she had launched her own offensive.

Almost every strike began by hitting Belle’s wooden sword.

She would disrupt Belle’s stance with the impact, then thrust her sword into the exposed opening.

If Belle managed to block, Zeta would strike her sword again, disrupting her balance and repeating the attack.

This girl… she was tracking the movement of Belle’s sword.

That’s why she had yielded the first strike, using Belle’s initial attack to gauge the position of her sword.

She was calculating the trajectory of Belle’s recoiling sword, predicting the location of Belle’s hand based on the position of the sword’s hilt.

And then, she would attack.

…Was this even humanly possible?

‘But she’s only fifteen…?’

No, wait.

She really can’t see?

Crack!

As I pondered, the duel ended.

Belle’s wooden sword flew through the air, clattering to the ground.

Overwhelmed by Zeta’s relentless assault, Belle had lost her grip.

Zeta, her wooden sword pointed at Belle’s head, stood victorious.

“Haah… haah… haah…”

Belle sat on the ground, drenched in sweat.

Zeta, her sword still pointed at Belle, remained motionless.

As the reality of her victory settled in, Zeta lowered her sword.

Belle… looked utterly bewildered.

It was understandable.

The duel had been completely one-sided.

Belle had been outmatched in both skill and strength.

But Belle, there was nothing to be ashamed of.

You weren’t weak.

This girl was simply extraordinarily strong.

Zeta sat down on a nearby tree stump, her back straight, and quietly caught her breath.

Even in repose, her posture and demeanor exuded a quiet dignity.

I continued to watch her, my gaze fixed on her composed figure.

She was blind, yet she moved with such control and precision.

I recalled our last conversation.

‘Teach me the abstract aspects, even. I’ll learn it.’

‘Learn it…?’

‘Please.’

“…”

I had agreed to take her on.

I knew she would have followed me regardless, and I couldn’t ignore her circumstances.

If she was determined to learn, what choice did I have?

But after witnessing the duel, my complacency had vanished.

She was far beyond what I had anticipated.

I looked up at the sky again.

“…Did I just make a terrible mistake?”

But the indifferent sky offered no answers.

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[Unlike iyerpol, zeta is ACTUALLY blind. She’s actually cracked lmao]