Chapter 15

Chapter 15

At the Same Time, They Were

—Stab.

My sword pierced Relial’s heart, and the focus in his eyes rapidly hardened.

The bulging muscles of Relial also slowly lost strength, transforming into a fairly scrawny body.

The character Relial had quite a lot of story behind him.

He appeared in the middle part of the game as a powerful villain under the name “Relial the Slaughterer.”

With the single blood magic called Blood Strength, which enhanced physical strength, he gave the player a hardship.

One day, information was posted in the game community that “Relial the Slaughterer” could be stopped in advance.

The information said that in the early part, there was a bandit hideout in the village of Gustel near the academy, and Relial was there.

If the player visited that place in the early part of the game, they could meet not “Relial the Slaughterer,” but “Relial the Unyielding,” who was only level 13.

“Relial the Unyielding” was truly weak.

Some users gave opinions that it seemed to have been made so that killing him deliberately in the early game would make the game easier.

Through the journal he had recorded, which was somewhere in this hideout, his story was also revealed.

Things like “The Grudge of the Wicked.”

Or the meticulous plan he had continued for five years.

Users who had thought until then that he was simply a villain mad with slaughter were able to feel the depth of the game once again.

After this information was revealed, the persistence of countless Relials began to be broken in the early game.

The reward that could be obtained after defeating Relial the Unyielding was the rare metal, vampiric iron.

If one was not a Demon Swordsmanship character, one could sell it on the black market and make a decent amount of money, but there was the drawback that the damage of blood mages appearing in the game would gradually grow stronger.

Since I possessed Demon Swordsmanship, I intended to use the vampiric iron to craft a cursed blade that would help me far more than money.

“I did intend to come before it was too late, but I came earlier than planned.”

For at least several months from now, Relial would not have completed the bloodstone, so I only needed to come before then.

He was a villain.

At the same time, he did not know how to give up.

Even in the game, he announced through his lines that he would not give up until the end, but after directly clashing with him, his persistence was almost frightening.

“In any case...”

It was time to collect the spoils.

First, I checked my status window.

<​Zeto> Lv.16

Skills Owned

-Demon Swordsmanship Lv.8

-Keen Senses Lv.7

-Weakness Detection Lv.MAX - Effect of [Blindfold of Piercing Insight] currently applied

Remaining Skill Points: 2

Items Equipped

-Blindfold of Piercing Insight [Legendary]

-Shabby-Quality Eastern Sword [Normal]

-Vibrant Silver Necklace [Rare]

-Bracelet Bearing Wishes [Epic]

“...Two levels.”

Since this was before he became Relial the Slaughterer, the experience was not enormous, but including the bandits I killed a short while ago and Relial, I had gone up two levels.

It was not a high number, but considering their level, it was not low either.

The four skill points I obtained previously from Edward’s first class had been invested into “Keen Senses.”

From a game perspective, it was hard to see that as an efficient investment.

But now that the game had become reality, the effects and meanings of skills had changed little by little, so it was a choice I could make.

Part of it was also because I realized acting blind was not easy.

If I were truly a blind man capable of sensing perception, then I should know who someone was without turning my head, and I should know where I was even if my field of vision went dark.

“Keen Senses” was perfect for that act of perception. As I raised its level one by one, I could feel the effect.

I deliberately lured Relial’s subordinates, numbering over ten, into the dark passage and fought them there.

Simply having sharper senses did not mean it was easy to quickly apply them in real combat.

Still, I was able to gain real combat experience, so it was not without results.

I decided to save the two skill points I had obtained this time for a little longer.

There was one thing I felt while fighting Relial.

Demon Swordsmanship without a cursed blade could not show its true performance, so I strongly felt that I was weak compared to my level.

I was somehow able to beat him with Weakness Detection, but that was not a good sign for me.

Fortunately, the creation of the cursed blade was not far off.

I needed to save points to invest in the skills I would newly acquire through the cursed blade.

The materials I had obtained were the petal and the vampiric iron.

What remained were monster byproducts and an object containing memories.

Monster byproducts could be resolved somehow whenever I had time or money, and I had a rough idea of where to find an object containing memories.

“The problem is... the blacksmith.”

I could not entrust the creation of a cursed blade to an ordinary blacksmith.

An ordinary blacksmith would not even try to make an ominous weapon such as a demonic sword or cursed blade, nor would they have the skill to make one.

There were three blacksmiths capable of crafting a cursed blade.

Among them, I planned to visit the one located closest.

“They have a rather difficult personality, so I don’t know if it will go well.”

The night was still deep.

There was plenty of time to return to the academy.

I moved around Relial’s room as if I were familiar with it.

When I pushed one bookshelf back, a space was revealed.

It was Relial’s secret vault.

The various wealth he had accumulated through banditry, as well as a lump of iron with a bewitching red glow—vampiric iron—entered my sight.

The vampiric iron was large enough to make a sword.

“He was planning to eat a bloodstone of this size all by himself... No wonder he would become strong.”

Unfortunately, it seemed difficult to take all the wealth. I only took things that were reasonably light and fairly valuable.

I carefully placed the valuables and the heavy vampiric iron into the cloth I had brought, and immediately began slowly leaving the cave.

***

Soft moonlight seeped into the room through the wide-open window.

Yuri Clementine, the owner of the room and the one lying on her stomach on the bed, had still not been able to fall asleep even at this hour.

“Zeto...”

It was because of Zeto, the first friend she had ever made.

To Yuri, he was truly an incomprehensible person.

Her curiosity about him never ended.

Yuri liked that Zeto.

Yesterday, Yuri had met Zeto, who had suddenly appeared in the female dormitory.

The clothes she wore had been a little revealing, so she had been embarrassed, but Zeto was blind.

Feeling embarrassed was, if anything, strange.

In any case, Yuri had been curious about why he had come there, but the conversation with him ended before she could even hear an answer.

“Zeto, what are you doing there?”

“If nothing’s going on, hurry up and let’s go. I’m hungry.”

Because Eisel appeared, acting far more familiarly toward Zeto than she did.

Yuri had been full of questions like, since when? But she could not ask anything.

Because Eisel, pushing Zeto’s back, had been looking at her with cold eyes.

For some reason, Yuri found that terribly vexing.

It was not so strange for Zeto to have friends other than Yuri. Having several friends was not strange.

Yuri had merely thought that she was the closest to Zeto.

Yesterday, that matter had kept Yuri awake at night. But today, she was unable to fall asleep even more severely than yesterday.

Edward’s first class.

In the illusion magic Yuri saw, something truly horrible had occurred.

The sight of Zeto dying powerlessly entered Yuri’s eyes.

At the time, Yuri had not realized at all that it was an illusion.

She had been in a state of intense fury.

So there had been no room for anything else around her to enter her eyes.

Yuri’s mind had been filled with the thought that she would burn that trash, who dared to kill her friend, dared to kill Zeto, leaving not even ashes behind.

He was not an easy opponent, but... Yuri succeeded in burning that trash.

But then Yuri’s vision suddenly changed rapidly.

When Yuri came to her senses, Zeto was sitting at the table beside Edward, whom she should have just burned away.

Only then did Yuri realize that she had been caught in illusion magic.

However, when she saw Eisel sitting demurely beside Zeto and drinking tea, she grew irritated for no reason.

While calming herself and sitting quietly at the table, Edward’s peculiar question followed.

“Who died first within the illusion magic?”

Yuri did not answer that question right away.

She could not answer.

There was no way she could say beside Zeto, and especially beside Eisel, who “seemed closer to him than she was,” that Zeto had died, and that she had gotten angry and burned Edward because of it.

But then Zeto answered Edward’s strange question.

“For me... it was Student Yuri beside me.”

“The second was Student Eisel.”

In Zeto’s illusion, she had died before Eisel.

But in the illusion Yuri saw, Zeto had definitely died first, so...

Yuri’s mind began turning quickly.

Perhaps Zeto felt closer to her than to Eisel.

They had a connection from the first day too.

The familiar casual speech Eisel used with Zeto... Yuri had only been late because she was inexperienced.

That was what Yuri thought.

It was a somewhat childish thought, but to her, Zeto was her “first” friend, so its meaning was great.

“I arranged the order of death according to the order of intimacy the person felt.”

Her prediction was exactly correct.

According to Edward’s words, it meant that Zeto felt a greater sense of intimacy toward her than toward Eisel.

Only then could Yuri smile.

Now, such a Yuri had a different worry.

“The next time I meet Zeto, I can act familiarly like today, right...?”

In a way, had they not openly confirmed their close friendship with each other?

Yuri found that somehow embarrassing.

Of course, Zeto did not know that he himself had died in Yuri’s illusion, but she was still embarrassed.

“Are friends originally this embarrassing with each other...?”

The existence of the man named Zeto was gradually growing in size within Yuri’s heart.

***

“Save me... Please...!!”

—Crackle!!

I mercilessly cast lightning magic on the guy crawling along the ground.

The guy died without even managing the slightest scream. It was not my first time killing a person.

That guy was the last, so the area around here had been cleaned up.

They were disgusting people who, despite being human, worshiped demons and offered other humans as sacrifices to them.

I had deep ill fate with demons.

Wiping away the filthy blood that had splattered even onto my face, I quietly looked up at the night sky.

“Why?”

Why wasn’t I first?

That “red-haired” girl had been irritating since the previous round.

Intimacy...

It must not be anything special.

The instructor was different from the previous round, but this was only the first class, and kind Zeto would eventually come to my side just like back then.

“...Right?”

But no answer came back from Zeto.

Forget Zeto, there was no longer anyone alive here other than me.

After that, I stood there for a long while, only looking up at the sky.

He was my Zeto.

He had to be “only mine.”