Chapter 92

Chapter 92

Perception

The matter concerning Yorphang was resolved in one smooth sweep.

The academy side finished almost everything that very night.

Catching her had been difficult, but they were certain when it came to handling things.

From what I heard, Yorphang had already boarded a carriage bound for the prison “Gehenna.”

I was summoned by Chairman Hubert Graham first thing in the morning.

When he said there would be an official announcement and asked what reward I wanted, I requested that my name be left out of that announcement.

Yorphang was just that famous.

At the moment, it would be troublesome if “Zeto, the blind student who caught the phantom thief,” became too famous.

For fame, revealing my presence to relevant parties during open class was enough. Any more than that, and it might become difficult for me to secretly move around outside.

Hubert seemed puzzled by my decision, but soon decided to accept my request.

Even so, Hubert said the fact that I had caught Yorphang remained unchanged, and told me to take a reward.

In truth, stripping Yorphang clean had already been more than enough of a reward, so I was not paying much attention to the reward given by the academy.

“Originally, did they award something like a medal?”

I felt it had been something like the academy awarding a medal and one’s fame rising on a continental scale.

However, since my name would no longer be included in the official announcement, I thought Hubert would ask if there was anything I wanted... but he said he had prepared something especially for me.

Hubert’s secretary placed one small flask on the table.

A potion, perhaps, or an elixir.

“...What is this?”

At my question as I felt the flask, Hubert opened his mouth.

“I went to an auction recently and found a strange elixir, so I bought it. It seemed just right for you.”

Soon, Hubert uncrossed his legs, bent forward, and pushed his head toward the box.

“It is an elixir made by the alchemy guild ‘Midas.’ It apparently has the effect of amplifying the senses.”

Sensory amplification.

It was a type of elixir I had never seen even in the game.

Hubert did not seem like he would bother lying over something like this, and if it was Midas, the foremost alchemy guild on the continent, it should be trustworthy... but the color was somewhat strange.

“Senses... How fascinating. Did you perhaps hear what ingredients went into it?”

I asked Hubert as if suitably curious.

Soon, Hubert hesitated a little, then eventually opened his mouth.

“...From what I heard, they ground up the brains of monsters that were born blind. Naturally, I did not hear the ratio or any other information.”

“The brains of monsters...”

“What does it matter? As the old saying goes, bitter medicine is good for the body. Hahaha!”

Watching my reluctant reaction, Hubert laughed loudly.

I did not know whether it would have an effect on me, who already had “Keen Senses”... but there seemed to be no need to refuse.

***

“Is it all right to use Midas’s name so freely? It was simply something that came out while searching the warehouse.”

Ithea said that to the Sage, who had been staring at the door Zeto had left through.

Then the Sage waved a hand.

“Well, does it matter much? The effect is similar, after all.”

“I think the difference is large between an unidentified liquid you claim was mixed with monster brains and an elixir said to be passed down among elves only as legend.”

The truth of the elixir slipped from Ithea’s mouth.

The elixir the Sage gave Zeto was none other than an elixir called “Earth Mother’s Grace.”

“Earth Mother” was another name for the World Tree.

As one could tell from the word “Mother,” this often caused friction between the Holy Kingdom and the elves.

It was not that the World Tree was truly an existence on par with divinity; it was merely the indigenous faith of the elves.

Originally, this elixir was something only high elves, who had the mission of protecting the World Tree until death, could take.

This elixir, extractable from the World Tree, appeared only once every few hundred years at most, so young elves had yet to even see it. No matter how long-lived elves were, several hundred years was a long time even to them.

Long ago, when the Sage had been in the Hero’s Party, this elixir was a gift he received from the elves after treating the diseased World Tree.

It also contained the meaning that, to the elves, the Sage was equal to a high elf who protected the World Tree.

The “Dew of the World Tree,” which Yorphang nearly stole this time, was also one of their gifts.

“...Those elves really are strange, aren’t they? Giving an elixir useful only to an archer to a mage. No matter how fond they are of bows.”

The Sage grumbled to Ithea, who kept nitpicking.

At the time, there had been no archer in the Hero’s Party, so to the Sage, it had been like a white elephant.

The Sage, thinking it would be stale to give money as a reward to Zeto, had searched the warehouse and found that elixir.

“In any case, is it not exciting? What kind of result will he produce next after growing from that elixir...?”

The Sage would watch, as he always had.

For some reason, he had the feeling he would meet him again—no, often.

***

Today was the last day of open class.

For a while, the city was noisy with talk of Yorphang.

Since Phantom Thief Yorphang had been caught overnight after the magical power supply was cut off, the academy’s prestige rose greatly.

My name was not mentioned.

The academy side only announced that internal personnel had caught her, and did not disclose exactly who had caught her.

Among people, there was a rumor going around that Instructor Kaliman had caught Yorphang.

At one point, I ran into Kaen carrying a uniform in her arms. As it turned out, the uniform Yorphang had been wearing was hers.

It was something I had not realized at all, so I found it interesting and spoke with her for a short while.

She said the window had been open, and Yorphang seemed to have targeted the moment she was showering.

I hardly had the chance to speak with anyone else.

Everyone seemed busy interacting with family they had not seen in a long time.

Eisel should have had more free time than most, but I had not seen her since the Colosseum.

Well, I assumed it was a regressor’s circumstances.

Like that, time passed, and before I knew it, night had come. I had seen off the Saintess as she left the academy and had just returned to the dormitory.

While resting in the dormitory with Sierra, I received Bernice’s summons, and I thought what had to come had finally arrived.

Entering the room, I set one badge down on the table and took off my coat.

A silver wing pattern was engraved on the badge.

It was the badge of the Silver Wings Knights.

In the end, I accepted Bernice’s proposal.

Since I was a student, I did not fully belong to the knight order. It was more that I had one foot in it... perhaps a workaround.

It was a rank that seemed hastily created, called “honorary knight.”

Now, even if I killed demons, I would be able to leave the aftermath to the knight order as someone belonging to the Silver Wings Knights.

Aside from that, if something troublesome happened outside the academy, it would be a good tool to prove my identity.

The moment I accepted her proposal, Bernice began calling me not “Student Zeto,” but “Zeto.”

She said that Vice-Captain Eclin would come to tell me the location of the branch near the academy sometime soon, then left with the words, “Then I will see you again, Zeto.”

[ Hm... ]

After Bernice left, Sierra, freed from the cursed blade, glared at the badge and let out a hum.

“Does accepting the proposal bother you?”

I approached and asked her.

From Sierra’s perspective, it would be understandable to hesitate, since Bernice could see her.

[ It is not that. The Saintess’s words are right. Looking at what this disciple of ours gets up to, you did need a “fence” around you... ]

Sierra’s cool voice continued, and then she glanced at me.

“Haha... True...”

Feeling awkward, I scratched my head.

[...More importantly, when do you intend to drink the elixir? ]

Sierra was talking about the flask on the table, the elixir I had received from the chairman.

The elixir made by grinding monster brains... I had not yet opened the lid or smelled it.

“Sensory amplification...”

Though Hubert had described it that way, it was no different from a reward he had prepared especially for me. It seemed he had anticipated in advance that there would be another occasion to reward me someday.

Even if it was something I did not remember and that had not actually happened, he had possessed great goodwill toward me from the beginning.

“I should drink it, yes...?”

I placed a hand on the flask on the table.

Grinding up the brains of blind monsters to create an elixir that amplifies the senses. Perhaps because they were alchemists, their thought structure was truly novel.

Still, surely they would not sell something with no effect.

Soon, I opened the flask’s lid.

“It does not smell that bad...”

It was not a clean ash color, but a strange gray that looked as if clay of various colors had been mixed together, so I thought even the smell would be horrible. But this was...

...yes, a smell I often encountered in the forest.

It was a scent that called things like phytoncides to mind.

Had they ground in fragrant leaves so it would not be nauseating?

[ Huhu, if your tongue grows strange again, I can simply cook for you again, can I not? Do not worry and drink it. ]

Perhaps frustrated that I had opened the lid but not drunk it, Sierra urged me on.

Then I tipped the flask back and drank it down.

“Why is it refreshing?”

It did not especially taste like monster brain.

It reminded me of a certain beverage modeled after “pine needle tea.”

“Not exactly to my taste, though.”

I thought it was rather decent compared to its contents.

“As expected, Midas is different...”

I tapped the empty flask and marveled.

I could personally understand why they were the greatest alchemy guild on the continent.

That heart they had as alchemists, thinking of the potion-drinker.

Their sincerity reached me.

[ Does it taste all right? ]

Sierra, who had been glancing at me as I made a fuss, asked.

“It was the most delicious elixir I have had so far.”

[ I am curious what effect it will have. ]

That was right.

What mattered was whether it had an effect.

“Nothing especially seems different...”

To experience the elixir’s effect, I focused on my ears, but there was no particular effect.

It was just when I thought of opening the status window.

—Piiiiiiiiiiii!!!!

A sharp ringing suddenly pierced my ears.

Then Sierra caught me as I staggered and nearly fell.

Fortunately, the ringing was quickly fading.

[ Disciple, are you all right?! ]

Sierra, holding me, asked with wide eyes.

“Ugh...”

Her voice ringing inside my head sounded unusually loud.

In the middle of that, the status window appeared before my eyes.

After scanning the status window, I could not hide my bewilderment.

<​Zeto> Lv.39

Skills Owned

-Demon Swordsmanship Lv.22

-Sierra Style: Rebellion Against Heaven (Incomplete) Lv.5 - Effect of [Demon Swordsmanship] currently applied

-Perception Lv.5

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

-Acupuncture Lv.5

-Night Vision Lv.MAX

Remaining Skill Points: 4

Items Equipped

-Blindfold of Piercing Insight [Legendary]

-Bracelet Bearing Wishes [Epic]

-Cursed Blade “Sierra” [Bound]

-Necklace Containing the Hero’s Protection [Epic]

-Tear of the Dead [Engraved]

-Subspace Pouch [Unique]

My level remained 39, having risen two levels from 37 after catching the wyvern.

What mattered was the skill.

...A different skill had filled the place where Keen Senses had been.

It happened sometimes.

Skills that upgraded to a superior version when certain conditions were met.

But even for me, who had played the game for a long time, this was a skill I had never seen before, not even once.

And yet it was a word far too familiar to me.

Perception.

“Why is that there...?”

***

Meanwhile, Yuri saw off her father, Zeras Clementine, and went to the library.

While Yuri had been showing Zeras around the academy, he had kept going on about Zeto, saying things like “A son-in-law... Hmm... Zeto, is it...,” causing her great hardship.

Especially when they met Maxim Caligus, Amon’s father, it had been quite the sight.

“Maxim, I may have a son-in-law soon too, hahaha!”

Only after night fell could Yuri coldly send away Zeras, who had kept embarrassing her like that.

And so, Yuri had come to the library to return a book.

The Saint and the Princess.

It was a fairy tale with such a simple title.

It was so popular that it had been released as a novel in an expanded edition like this.

It was a fairy tale she had liked since childhood.

After reading it, she understood why she had been looking for it lately.

There were parts where the Saint and Zeto’s personality and manner of speaking seemed to overlap.

It was a secret she could tell no one that, while reading this book, Yuri had immersed herself by thinking of the princess as herself and the Saint as Zeto.

“I must be crazy... seriously.”

Yuri emptied her head and moved her feet inside the library.

“Hm?”

Then Yuri saw a familiar platinum-blonde girl.

It was Eisel.

Eisel was sitting in the exact same seat where Yuri had met her last time.

At the time, when Eisel suddenly said she wanted to read the book first, Yuri had thought perhaps she had found someone with the same taste.

Eisel returned the book after only one day.

Yuri had wanted to hear her impression, but Eisel’s expression when she returned it had not been good, so she had not asked.

“Last time, she was reading a book related to curses.”

Would she be reading that kind of book this time too?

Eisel’s expression over there looked quite serious.

Recently, Yuri had not seen Eisel smile.

She had never been one to smile much in the first place, but her expression was more serious than her usual indifferent face, as if she had many worries.

Yuri carefully approached Eisel.

Eisel seemed focused on the book and did not notice Yuri approaching.

Yuri quietly leaned her head forward toward Eisel and scanned the contents of the book she was reading.

“...If you want to kiss, first, the mood, the atmosphere, is important...”

After reciting one line of the book inwardly, Yuri tilted her head.

“Eisel...?”

Soon, Yuri called Eisel.

“Uh...”

Only then did Eisel take in Yuri, who had approached right in front of her, and hurriedly lifted the book.

Had she raised the book to hide its contents?

Because now the title on the cover was visible.

Without thinking much, Yuri read the book’s title aloud.

“101 Ways to Capture a Man...?”

Soon, Yuri and Eisel’s eyes met.

Yuri showed a somewhat cold smile and thought.

Why was Eisel reading a book like this...?