Chapter 22

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Episode 5 - Hunting Festival [2]

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"That’s all Professor Ashly said."

During the break, in the cafeteria.

As she finished her sandwich, she had also finished explaining the announcement to Rinna.

"Competing against upperclassmen—isn’t that really hard?"

"Not for me."

If we’re talking about second- and third-year cadets, the strongest would be a six-star, and that would be the student council president. The second strongest would be the third-year representative.

The strongest second-year would be the representative, with a strength of around five stars.

In perspective, Holy Academy is a place where individuals who will make a name for themselves in the future are born.

’Well, if we’re talking about who will be the strongest in the Academy’s history, it would be Lumina.’

Lumina, however, leaves the Academy halfway through her third year.

If she had graduated from the Academy, she would have been the first eight-star cadet to do so.

Naturally, she would be considered the strongest.

’Ugh, anyway, today I’m going to check out the Golden Forest.’

I only have two goals today.

First and foremost:

I need to check the situation in the deep part of the Golden Forest.

’I want to take a look to see if I can find an anomaly, and maybe I’ll manage to avoid the Demon Beast’s appearance.’

Although it is unlikely, I would at least like to avoid the Demon Beast from appearing.

If there is no way to avoid it, I would at least like to find out its current whereabouts.

’A Demon Beast is not born as such; it is a monster tainted by the Power of Chaos. If I can figure out which beast has been tainted, I will be able to prepare an antidote.’

Any player would seek Lumina’s help in this Chapter; however, the Holy Land Chapters and Lumina’s actions are designed so that they barely interact.

In short, Lumina cannot help the player overcome the Chapter more easily for other reasons.

These reasons would be the interference of villains who seek to kill the children of the Five Houses.

’All the main characters are under constant surveillance by the villains.’

At any moment, they’ll try to kill them.

’So, for that reason, it’s unlikely that Lumina will help, not until the Demon Beast appears.’

However, there’s a chance that Lumina might not even make it in time to help stop the Demon Beast.

In that case, Clementine would be the second option; however, only if she appears.

’Then it would be the first death of one of the main characters.’

This is the main reason for my research in the depths of the Golden Forest.

The first reason is to prevent the Demon Beast from appearing.

The second reason for going there is simple.

’There is an item necessary to facilitate things.’

Of course, it’ll be hard to find that item since it appears randomly throughout the Deep Region.

’The three regions of the Golden Forest are too big. Just getting to the Deep Region takes a lot of time.’

With a sigh, I finished eating all the sandwiches I had, then drank the rest of my coffee.

"You’re addicted to sandwiches and coffee. Don’t you feel sick just from eating that?"

Rinna muttered, looking at the coffee can in her hand.

"I’m a four-star; something like a common food poisoning doesn’t affect me, unless it’s beast meat or something similar."

Rinna raised her gaze and said.

"You heard me."

As if it were obvious, I responded.

"When I said my senses are sharp, I meant it literally, all of them. So if I really focus, hearing a noise from several kilometers away is easy for me."

Rinna’s eyes widened, and seeing her reaction, I couldn’t help but feel confused.

"Y-you mean... you can hear what people are doing if you want to... and t-that includes... when people are taking a bath..."

"...."

"Don’t read too much into it. I’m not a pervert. If anything, your imagination is pretty perverted, you know?"

I smiled and continued.

"Unless you want me to eavesdrop on you."

Rinna’s eyes widened, then she stood up, turned around, and ran out screaming.

"I’m not a pervert!!!"

Some cadets looked at Rinna as she ran out of the cafeteria, but before they could look at me, I had already disappeared.

***

〖Is it a fetish of yours to annoy others, or are you just naturally like that?〗

"Master, you should know how boring it is to be alone most of the time without even joking around a little."

I don’t think I should have done that, though, since there was a problem.

No, it’s not just a little problem; it’s a big problem.

"Damn, how am I supposed to know where the Golden Forest is?"

In the game, the path to the Golden Forest wasn’t shown; a loading screen would just appear when you chose to go to the Golden Forest.

The Golden Forest is so big that, if combined with the Academy map, it would be too much for most computers to handle.

’Ugh, this is such a hassle.’

Classes end before lunch break this week.

After leaving the cafeteria, there were no more classes.

Due to the Hunting Festival, the second half of the day is free for hunting wild beasts.

Walking through the Academy’s campus, cadets were coming and going everywhere. I looked at the perfectly manicured gardens.

’If only I could see this whole place.’

That was a thought that constantly crossed my mind.

Although I could "see," it was only in black and white, and even white was simply lines that outlined everything around me.

’The life of a blind person is empty.’

I soon entered a pavilion with a lake in front of it.

That was precisely why I entered this pavilion.

’Maybe she’ll come even if she sees me here.’

I was sure she would come here first, then go to the Golden Forest, and that’s when I would follow her.

Sitting in a chair, the pavilion felt a bit cramped.

There was a table and four chairs in the center. The entrance was behind me, and the front faced the lake.

When you think of a pavilion, some people think of a kind of "tea time" for noblewomen to show off, gossip, and so on.

For others, it’s an ideal place to play board games, especially for the elderly.

’It would be for those who prefer to be alone or those who have a lot to think about.’

Or simply for introverts like me.

In any case, I soon heard footsteps as the minutes passed.

They stopped for a few seconds, as if undecided, but finally continued walking.

She soon entered the pavilion, took a seat in the chair across from me, and placed the book she was carrying on the table.

She opened the book and started reading.

The person sitting across from me was Diana Arsene.

She is the only daughter and heiress of the Arsene family.

She is a character who has lived most of her life in solitude; since the day she was born, she has never seen the outside world.

’The Arsene House would be more like a prison.’

Diana is the kind of person who doesn’t know how to make friends, strike up conversations, or form friendly relationships.

In short, she’s antisocial, not because she wants to be, but because she doesn’t know how to start.

If it weren’t for the academy, she would probably be locked up in the Arsene House.

’Her only hobby is reading books.’

For her, a book is like exploring the outside world.

Since her family wouldn’t let her leave the house to keep her from feeling lonely every day, she found reading books about the outside world addictive.

’Looking at her emotions, she seems nervous, indecisive, and... bittersweet.’

Naturally, it’s hard for Diana to hate you, but it’s even harder to be her friend.

In the game, simply being Diana’s friend would earn you generous rewards.

’But that’s just a game setting. Will the Mission Window really give me a reward?’

In any case, Diana doesn’t see me the way everyone else does; she just wants to talk to someone.

’Then... let’s get started.’

Because of my almost nonexistent emotions, I didn’t feel nervous or anything like that.

After taking a deep breath, I opened my mouth and said:

"You’re Diana Arsene, right?"

Instantly, she froze; seeing her emotions, it was total chaos.

’Ha, I didn’t think the reaction in real life would be any stronger than in the game.’

Her lips parted slightly, and a barely audible voice said:

"Y-yes..."

To me, it was as clear as day.

In any case, seeing my reaction, she hid her face in the book like a frightened cat.

"Aren’t you curious how I know who you are?"

She probably has more curiosity about me than any other character, even more than Lumina.

That would be Diana. It’s unlikely she’d ever seen someone with a visual impairment like mine.

’Especially since I’m a swordsman; to her, I’m a whole new discovery.’

"Y-yes."

I smiled slightly and said:

"You know that every person has unique traits and traits that can be acquired through training, right?"

She nodded, but quickly said:

"Yes."

"In my case, my senses are trained beyond the highest level of mastery, so I can distinguish each person’s heartbeat."

Of course, there’s more: body odor, breathing rate, and other details.

The Senses of the Nine Heavens is a trait that only Adel can possess.

Usually, this trait would be called <Superhuman Senses>, but mine has a different name.

In any case, Diana nodded and said:

"T-that’s... incredible."

As if bragging, I said:

"Of course I’m awesome, right?"

For the record, this is not my personality.

I couldn’t "see" her face, as she was hiding it with the book, but I could sense her emotions.

In particular, the emotion of joy was strongly etched.

’So, my joke made you laugh, huh?’

Well, we’re off to a good start.

Still, I don’t find it easy to talk to Diana.

But I decided to talk about the outside world anyway.

"Although I can’t see, there’s a place I could call ’fantasy.’ That place is known as the Floating Continent or the Sky Islands."

Diana slowly stopped hiding her face in the book and began to stare at me, absorbed in everything I was saying.

Anyone would say I’m a compulsive talker, but just this once, I adopted that kind of personality.

Anyway, Diana nodded and rarely said "yes," "great," "amazing," etc.

She never spoke a complete sentence; just one word each time she opened her little mouth.

She was Rinna’s counterpart.

After several minutes, I finished talking and said,

"I think an hour has passed. Hey, could you guide me to the Golden Forest?"

Diana said, this time without stuttering:

"Yes."

I stood up from my seat, and she did too. Then she took the lead and said:

"Here."

I nodded and followed her.