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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Yuziro
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The girl became a recluse.
Unable to see, she lost all will to live.
She couldn’t move on her own, feed herself, or do anything at all. She simply lay there, existing like a puppet with its strings cut, time passing meaninglessly.
Her sight wasn’t entirely gone. But unless something was directly in front of her face, her vision remained a hazy fog, obscuring everything.
Those around her tried to comfort the young girl, but… their words couldn’t heal her.
Once confident in her exceptional talents, the girl now saw herself as irrevocably broken, unable to find a reason to live.
A year after losing her sight, the girl hadn’t left her room.
Then, one day, her maid returned from a visit to her hometown.
As she gently wiped Zeta’s body with a damp cloth, the maid chattered cheerfully.
“Miss Zeta, have you ever heard of someone named Iyerpol?”
“……Iyerpol?”
She hadn’t.
Such an unusual name, she would have remembered it if she’d heard it before. The girl thought so, anyway.
“Near my hometown, there’s a city called Tillasden. Many adventurers live there. Iyerpol is one of them.”
“…….”
She wasn’t interested.
There was no reason for her to know such a person, and since becoming a recluse, the girl had lost interest in others.
There was no point. No point in forming relationships.
“This adventurer, Iyerpol… he’s blind, you see.”
“……?”
“People call him the Blind Swordsman, Iyerpol. He wears a black cloth over his eyes, but he’s stronger than other adventurers. They say because he can’t see, his other senses are much sharper.”
“Isn’t that interesting?”
The maid’s question stirred the girl, whose gaze had been fixed on the ceiling for so long.
Delighted that the girl had shown even a flicker of interest, the maid began bringing back stories of Iyerpol every day.
Tales of the Blind Swordsman’s exploits.
How remarkable he was.
Like a bard singing in the square, the maid recounted Iyerpol’s adventures to the bedridden girl.
In the maid’s stories, Iyerpol was a triumphant adventurer who refused to be defined by his disability.
“Iyerpol…”
The girl’s vision remained clouded, a persistent, hazy fog.
But through the maid’s daily tales, an image of the adventurer, Iyerpol, began to form in her mind.
He was like her, yet he existed in a world of dazzling light.
A powerful flame ignited within the girl’s chest. A flame of motivation she thought she’d lost forever.
That flame kindled a small spark in the girl’s fading spirit…
“Oh my, Miss!”
The girl emerged from her self-imposed confinement.
Highly self-aware, the girl understood the nature of this newfound motivation.
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“…….”
“…….”
I sat in a chair, leaning forward, my arms resting on the backrest.
Zeta sat quietly before me, hands folded in her lap.
A moment of silence. Then, I raised my index finger.
“The first thing you need to learn is… to paint a picture in your mind.”
“I’m already doing that.”
“……Really?”
Zeta’s immediate reply caught me off guard. I lowered my finger.
I realized she couldn’t even see my finger.
“I gathered stories about you, Master. I’ve been studying how you move.”
“Hmm…”
“I believe I can replicate the basics. I’ve figured out that you use sound and vibrations to perceive your surroundings. And that you can gauge the distance between objects. Years of training have allowed me to achieve this much.”
“I see…”
“I can walk without difficulty, and even spar, as long as I’m not in a crowded area with too many variables.”
…Was that… possible?
Was that even humanly possible? Perceiving the world through sound and vibration? She was like a bat.
It felt like I was talking to someone from another world.
Her abilities were beyond my comprehension, leaving me momentarily speechless.
I could still see, even with my eyes closed. A world of black and white, but I could distinguish objects. I had a semblance of vision.
Vibrations and sounds? That was beyond my understanding.
Who was this girl?
But I couldn’t reveal my confusion.
She believed… she firmly believed we were the same.
And frankly, admitting otherwise would be incredibly embarrassing.
I decided to embrace this bizarre situation.
“……Zeta, you’re remarkable. I acknowledge that.”
“Thank you.”
“But that’s why I’m concerned. You’ve already achieved so much despite your disability. The life of an adventurer is dangerous… I’d rather you not risk your life unnecessarily.”
I spoke with a tone of genuine concern, hoping she would simply turn around and go home.
But of course, she didn’t. Zeta shook her head.
“If you can do it, Master, so can I.”
“…….”
“And for the record, I’ve severed ties with my family to be here. I have nowhere else to go.”
“What?”
What was she talking about?
“My father said I could leave only if I disowned my family. So, I did.”
“……I’m sorry, I don’t quite understand. Could you explain?”
“He didn’t want me to become an adventurer. If disowning my family was the price of leaving, then I had to pay it.”
This girl… she was strange. Her thought process was completely alien.
I was starting to understand what kind of person she was.
They say there’s a fine line between genius and madness.
Zeta seemed to embody that saying.
“And what about the carriage you mentioned?”
“That was my father’s last gift to me, as his daughter.”
“…….”
I’m so sorry.
I’m so sorry, Mr. Zeta’s Father.
I apologized to her father in my mind. I could picture him, tearfully sending his daughter away. I couldn’t bear to look up.
…Was this her resolve?
Like Belle, had Zeta risked everything to be here?
Her scarred skin told a story of immense effort.
The resolve to abandon her family and travel to Tillasden alone, as a blind girl. That wasn’t a small feat. Even if Zeta was a bit… unusual.
A blind girl, inspired by a blind adventurer, abandoning everything to seek him out. How could I turn her away?
…I had intended to keep my distance.
I nodded.
“It will be difficult.”
“I already know that.”
“……Alright, fine.”
I nodded again at her reply, rubbing my temples.
I didn’t know what to do.
I had no idea what to teach her…
I would try my best to impart the skills I used, the senses I relied on.
And after that?
I would leave it to Zeta’s genius.
She would learn, wouldn’t she? She was a genius, after all.
…I had no idea.
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And so, Zeta joined Belle, training under the same master.
Having burned all bridges, Zeta adapted to life in Tillasden with surprising ease.
She shed her privileged past, becoming a trainee alongside Belle.
Both Zeta and Belle were penniless, aside from the little money they had on hand.
Naturally, they ended up staying at Iyer’s apartment.
Belle, surprisingly, was delighted to have Zeta join her.
“Zeta! Let’s spar!”
Perhaps happy to have a girl her age around, even if younger, Belle readily engaged with Zeta.
The sparring sessions Iyer had conducted with Belle now included Zeta.
Today, too, the two girls were sparring in the courtyard behind the building.
Swish!
“Ugh!”
Belle groaned, stumbling back from Zeta’s sharp thrust.
While Belle had been easily overwhelmed at first, she had shown remarkable progress, her natural talent shining through.
But she was still no match for Zeta.
Belle’s sword flew from her grasp as she parried Zeta’s low attack, landing hard on the ground.
“Ouch… You’re amazing, Zeta.”
“……Good work.”
Zeta sheathed her sword as if it were the most natural thing in the world, then sat down on a tree stump to rest.
Belle looked down at her hands. Her palms stung where they had been scraped by the hilt of her sword.
Back in her village, Belle had been the strongest among her peers, but she hadn’t been able to defeat Zeta even once. Despite Zeta being two years younger, and blind.
Belle clenched her fists.
A small trickle of blood oozed from her scraped palms.
“……You’re amazing, Zeta. So strong, even though you can’t see.”
“I trained.”
“It’s more than just training! You should be proud of your effort!”
“I’m not proud at all.”
Belle tried to sound cheerful, but Zeta simply shook her head.
“Still, it’s admirable. Admiration is a powerful motivator. To think you worked so hard, just because you admire Senior…”
“……Admire?”
“Yes. I came here because I admire adventurers. Just like you came here because you admire Senior.”
Zeta’s closed eyelids flickered open.
Her unusually pale eyes, unlike those of most people, gazed in Belle’s general direction.
“I’m sorry, but what I feel for Master… what I feel for the adventurer Iyerpol… isn’t admiration.”
Belle sensed Zeta’s displeasure.
Zeta rose from the tree stump, sword in hand, and walked past Belle, heading back inside.
As she passed, Belle heard Zeta murmur something under her breath.
“What I feel for the adventurer Iyerpol… is humiliation.”
With that cryptic utterance, Zeta disappeared inside.
“Humiliation…?”
Belle was taken aback by Zeta’s strange behavior.
Zeta’s expression hadn’t been her usual calm demeanor.
Belle realized she should head back inside as well, and began to gather her things.
Or rather, she tried to.
“You there. Do you reside in this building?”
Belle looked up at the husky voice behind her.
Impeccable uniform. A sword at his hip. Several soldiers standing at attention behind him.
Belle realized he was a knight and nodded quickly.
“I’m looking for a resident named Iyerpol. If you know where his room is, tell me.”
The brown-skinned knight spoke.
Belle tilted her head, surprised to hear her senior’s name from a stranger.
“Excuse me, but who are you…?”
“I am Nikolai Tobias, of the Feiler family.”
The knight, Nikolai, stated his affiliation, then continued.
“I’ve been ordered to bring the adventurer Iyerpol before the Feiler family.”
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