Chapter 57

‘Oh no.’

Armin was only 11 years old at the time, so he could only expand his Spirit Zone and avoid obstacles.

“Siena! Open your eyes! You can’t lose your mind!”

“Brother! S-save…!’

Siena could not calm down.

It was impossible for the two young kids to cross the river with their physical abilities.

Armin realized he had to do it alone.

‘We just have to get to the Delphons region like this. It becomes a delta from there, so the volume of water will decrease. At the speed we’re going now, we will be there in about 20 minutes.’

20 minutes was too long.

Could he hold out from the rapid currents with a semiconscious Siena?

‘How stupid.’

Of course, he had to do it. He had no choice but to do it.

His view was dimming. He was starting to see scenery that was distorted strangely.

They approached countless life-threatening objects.

Armin twisted his body with all his might.

He did not let his eyes stray away from the sight in front of him, even as muddy water pained his eyes, his body slammed against rocks, and broken trees tore his skin.

‘Almost there.’

He felt Siena’s tiny hand pinch his waist.

He felt extremely pressured knowing that a fragile life depended on him. But because of that, a greater sense of duty awakened in his mind.

He saw their destination lower down the stream.

However, there was no path. Trees that broke towards the river were brutally blocking their way to the delta.

“Siena, listen up. We have to pass under those trees. I will press you down, so you have to hold your breath for as long as you can. Swim as fast and as far as possible, okay?”

“Brother! I’m scared! I can’t do it!”

“You can do it! You have to!”

As they passed between two whirlpools, the speed of the current doubled.

In the unexpected situation, Armin grit his teeth.

With only his head and neck above the water, all the debris as a result of the flood came at him like a behemoth.

He was trying to stay afloat so hard to the point he could feel a cramp coming to attack his legs.

Sharp objects scratched Armin’s body as they passed by him. He was bleeding profusely.

His body temperature began to fall even faster. He was slowly losing consciousness.

Finally, they arrived at the tree that was blocking their way.

“Siena! Here we go!”

Armin calculated the distance and waited for the perfect timing.

Right as they were about to collide, he pressed down Siena’s shoulders.

“Now!”

Siena’s scream was drowned by the water. And Armin, who was barely holding on to his consciousness, noticed that the sharp base of a wet tree was getting bigger and bigger.

Even with that danger, he concentrated all his nerves on the hand that was pushing Siena under.

It wasn’t until Siena got under enough trees that his hand went slack.

‘Good job, Sie—’

CRASH!

At the same time as Armin smiled faintly, his face smashed into the tree…

Despite knowing he could lose everything, he still did not close his eyes.

“BROTHERRRR!”

He heard the sound of Siena’s voice fading down the stream.

* * *

“...That’s what happened.”

Shirone and his friends were at a loss for words.

“I was rescued by the villagers after being safely washed away to the Delphons region. There weren’t any hurdles after I passed the woody area. Later, Brother Armin was also found. He was unconscious. People from the academy were mobilized to treat him, but the diagnosis was permanent eye damage. After the incident, Brother lost his eyesight.”

“I see… So that’s what happened.”

“He personally taught me how to overcome fear. Thanks to him, I overcame Overflow… But the price for doing so was his light. He went from being the greatest genius in the history of the academy to… It ended just like that.”

Shirone’s heart felt heavy.

For a human to lose their vision… It was no exaggeration to say it was like losing almost everything.

One couldn’t read books, and learning magic was bound to be more difficult and restrictive. He could tell how disappointed and distressed Armin must have been.

“I recently found out that my brother came here three years ago. He told me he’s developing a style of painting that involves drawing light. That’s why I volunteered to be his model.

“We didn’t even know that… I’m sorry.”

Armin brought in refreshments just as the atmosphere was about to get dark.

“Did I interrupt? It’s rare for Siena to talk about her past like this.”

“Brother.”

“First, here’s the tea. It’s not the best, but it is my wife’s secret recipe, so I think you will find it to your liking.”

“Oh, thank you.”

Shirone and the others politely took the tea.

Armin returned to his canvas and offered some seats behind it.

“Then first things first, I will have to continue my work, so could my visitors wait here?”

“Yes, of course.”

The three held their teacups and wobbled over.

Seeing Siena return to her position on the bed, Nade cautiously asked.

“Um… What did you mean by ‘Not wearing it today?’ If it’s like a nude, we’ll be happy to get ou—”

“Haha! Even though I can’t see, I would never ask my sister to do that. Siena, can you bring that thing out?”

Siena took a foil coat out of the closet. It was hard to even look at it because of how much light it reflected.

“That’s very bright.”

“I cannot accurately see objects using the Spirit Zone alone, so I cover a person or an object with a luminous body so that I can feel the light. In that sense, the foil coat is a very useful tool.”

“I see… But wow… To draw by feeling light.”

“In return for losing my eyes, I am able to draw things other artists cannot. However, today is the last time I will be drawing Siena. A good sponsor has appeared, so I have to move out in a few days. That is why I didn’t want her to wear the coat. I wanted to draw the natural feel of her without the coat discoloring her beauty.”

Siena’s cheeks warmed.

“You’re so… What nonsense.”

“Haha! So what? You’re still a 9-year-old child in my head.”

“Okay, okay. Just draw it quickly. After Mrs. Keria comes back, you won’t be able to work.”

Shirone and his companions’ fingers and toes squirmed at the subtle and warm, yet awkward atmosphere they felt.

It was clear that they were like brothers and sisters, but the same blood did not flow through them.

Maybe the reason why Siena reacted more extremely at the mention of the affair was because she still had lingering feelings for Armin.

“Alright, I’ll begin. I’m just drawing what comes to me, so it’s going to end earlier than usual.”

As Siena took a modest posture, Armin picked up the charcoal and began to draw the outline.

When Siena’s appearance gradually became more concrete, the party of three could only admire.

“Wow, so fast.”

“Shhh.”

Yiruki warned

Being unable to see was a fatal drawback for an artist, so Armin would require more concentration than the usual artist.

Of course, there was that plausible thought, but Shirone found something odd.

‘That’s weird. Very weird.”

Even without the luminescence, Armin was accurately capturing even the smallest of details of Siena.

‘How is this possible? Does that mean his Spirit Zone is that precise? But even so…’

Increasing the density and specific gravity of the Spirit Zone may enable precise descriptions through synesthesia. However, Shirone couldn’t understand how even the feelings from Siena’s expression were captured in the drawing.

The art became more detailed, and Siena was wearing a smile that could not be seen at the academy.

Amrin perfectly embodied her smile using bread like an eraser.

Shirone was almost certain.

‘I see. This is impossible.’

One of the most difficult parts of portraits was the corner of the mouth. This was because even a very subtle change in angle completely changes the feeling of the art.

“Um, Mr. Armin.”

“...?”

As Armin smiled and turned his head slightly, Shirone thought for a moment whether he could ask such a question.

If he was wrong, his question would be extremely impolite.

“Perhaps, does Mr. Armin…”

However, without asking, nothing could be known, so Shirone mustered up the courage.

“Can you see?”

Still wearing that smile of his, Armin’s hand froze midair.

He put down the charcoal and twisted his body.

“Yes, I can see.”

Shirone was at a loss for words.

Did he really mean that he could see with his eyes? But why didn’t Ms. Siena know of this?

“You must be curious. Why don’t I just show you myself.”

With his body facing Shirone, Armin untied the piece of cloth wrapped around his eyes.

There were numerous scars around his wrapped eyes.

‘I’m positive he was hurt, but how can he see? No, he had his eyes covered in the first place. And yet…’

At that moment, Armin slowly lifted his eyelids and Shirone felt his heart stop.

There were no pupils. It wasn’t quite a substitute, but the empty socket where the eye should be was filled with light.

“N-Nade, can you see that?”

Shirone slapped Nade’s leg in a hurry.

However, when he hit Nade, he felt as if he had hit a hard metal instead.

Shirone turned his head and looked at his friends. He jumped to his feet in horror.

“No way! How?!”

Nade was frozen stiff. Not even his eyelids were moving.

Even Yiruki, who was resting his chin on his hand, and Siena, who was sitting on the bed with a smile. They were motionless like wax dolls.

Armin approached from behind Shirone, who was in a panicked state.

“It has been a long time since a guest visited my room.”

“Is this…?”

“Yes, it’s a spell called Stop.”

The bewildered look returned to Shirone’s face.

Stop was a spell that only mages who could handle super-light speed could cast, and throughout the entirety of history, only a select few were known to have reached such a level.

In short, Shirone was experiencing the absolute realm of Time magic.

“Have a seat. Let’s relax and talk since we have plenty of time.”

“Ha… Haha.”

Shirone gave an awkward laugh.

If time had actually stopped, then ‘plenty of time’ was an understatement.

“Actually, I’ve been quite nervous for a while now because I didn’t know when you would notice.”

“How did you know I would notice?”

Armin pointed to the light in his eye socket.

“The organ called the eye takes in light and reconstructs it into visual information. But I, who is without eyes, feel the world through light itself. And it’s quite a horrific experience. What I see is completely different from how ordinary people perceive the form of objects.”

“So it is the ideal version of sight, then. No interpretation or reconstruction.”

The human senses were not true and infallible. After all, the human senses could be fooled.

“I’ll reintroduce myself. I am Armin of the Eye of Light. Those who know me refer to me as the Mage of Eternal Cintana.”

‘Eternal Cintana.’

As soon as he heard those words, Shirone realized why Armin used the expression ‘room.’

“How… How long have you been in this room?”

“Time does not flow here, so I cannot answer that. However, if you convert it to the number of thoughts, it should be around 120 years.”

Shirone couldn’t imagine how strong a genius mage who contemplated and ruminated for 120 years was.

“But when you were young, Mr. Armin…”

“Yes, it was an unfortunate accident. I left Olifer Academy and wandered aimlessly around the world for 15 years. A pitch black world without even a single ray of light…”