Academy Enrollment (1)
Risa stood frozen, utterly stunned by the sudden appearance of the man before her. She had clearly seen the goblin struck down from a completely hidden angle. Because of that, she had assumed the person responsible must possess extraordinary vision. Yet the one who showed up was a man with his eyes completely wrapped in bandages.
Is he just someone else? she wondered, her mind going blank.
At that exact moment, a gentle voice spoke to her.
"Are you alright?"
The blind man addressed her with courteous concern. Risa nodded slowly.
"Yes, I'm fine."
"That's a relief. I was worried I might have been too late to help."
"Ah, so you're the one who defeated the goblins here?"
"Yes, that was me."
Baran smiled innocently and scratched the back of his head. The moment she heard his answer, Risa's face filled with disbelief.
A blind man using a bow? How was something like that even possible? Even though she aspired to become an alchemist, she had never heard of a blind person wielding a bow.
Now that I think about it... There was no cane, the kind blind people normally used. Baran walked as naturally as anyone with perfect sight. Risa asked, her voice tinged with confusion.
"Are you truly blind?"
"Pardon?"
"Oh, it's just... you don't have a cane."
Those words made Baran flinch inwardly. If the woman before him had been an ordinary civilian, he wouldn't have felt any guilt. But the person he had just saved was none other than one of the sub-heroines.
I'm already surprised enough that she appeared here like this.
He never imagined he would be suspected in this manner. Still, it made sense. What kind of blind person could land a perfect long-range shot? On top of that, his movements were as fluid as any normal person's. Her doubt was perfectly reasonable.
Fortunately, he had prepared for this.
"Ah, my natural senses and perception are quite sharp, so I don't require a cane."
"I see. So that's how you managed to strike the goblins straight through the heart in a single blow."
Risa nodded, seemingly convinced by his explanation. Baran let out an awkward chuckle at her praise and smoothly changed the subject.
"More importantly, where were you headed?"
"Ah, I was on my way to Edin Academy."
"Then we can travel together."
"Pardon?"
"You see, I'm also a new student at Edin Academy."
"Oh."
She had thought his uniform looked familiar. Now she realized it was the exact same one she wore. In the next instant, she understood once again how a blind man could handle a bow with such skill. After all, Edin Academy only accepted those with exceptional potential.
"My name is Baran. It's a pleasure to meet you."
"Yes, my name is Risa. Thank you for saving me."
After exchanging a handshake, the pair made their way toward the coachman waiting in the middle of the road.
After paying a small additional fee, Risa received permission to ride in the carriage alongside him.
“......”
“......”
An awkward silence settled inside the carriage. I kept my Mind's Eye fully active as I observed Risa. It was time to check her status.
Name:Risa
Level:6
Class:Alchemist
Trait:Synthesis(★★★★)
Talents:
◈ Alchemy Production — Lv. 3
◈ Alchemy Theory — Lv. 2
It really was the Risa I remembered. I had checked just to be sure, but there was no mistake. She was the sub-heroine I knew.
Sigh. This is way too big of a variable.
My objective was to defeat the final boss, the Demon God. More precisely, to defeat the Demon God without getting entangled with the main cast or supporting characters. Becoming involved with them could easily trigger a butterfly effect.
If left alone, they would take care of the Demon God themselves. That was why I had planned to stay hidden at the academy and live my life as a background extra.
But who could have predicted that one of the supporting heroines would be getting attacked by goblins right from the start?
I hadn't cleared every route, but there had been one constant across all the ones I played: the beginning was always identical. Because of that, I never expected a variable like this to appear so early.
Whew. No, it's still fine.
Even though I had gotten involved with an unexpected character, it wasn't entirely a loss. For starters, rescuing Risa had earned me 1,000 points. Thanks to that, I could finally access the cash shop that had been locked until now. As a result, I would be able to grow much faster than originally planned.
Besides, she's only a sub-heroine.
I had merely crossed paths a little with someone who wasn't even the protagonist. Nothing more. There was almost no chance this would create any significant butterfly effect.
Just as I was reassuring myself...
"We have arrived."
We had finally reached the royal capital. True to its name, the streets were packed with people. We stepped down from the carriage and headed straight for the academy as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
When we were nearly at our destination, the students around us began stealing glances in my direction. It was obvious why I was attracting so much attention. Just to confirm, I sharpened my hearing.
"A blind man is a new student?"
"Does that even make any sense?"
"Who knows, maybe he's in the production department."
"But can you even craft anything if you can't see?"
"Wait, isn't that a red badge?"
"What? The combat department?"
"No way. What the hell?"
It was only natural for the students to react this way. Edin Academy was the gathering place for every talented individual across the Manchester Continent. Only those with outstanding potential were accepted. So seeing a blind man enter the combat department was bound to shock them.
I've drawn a serious amount of aggro.
Was this what celebrities felt like? As I pondered that, Risa spoke up beside me, her voice full of concern.
"They're only acting like this because they don't know how skilled you are, Baran."
"Ah, it's quite alright. I'm very used to this sort of situation."
My answer only made her look at me with even more pity. Seeing that expression actually made me feel a little guilty. I ignored the uncomfortable stares and continued toward the auditorium.
A short while later...
"Wow, there are so many people."
"There really are."
We had arrived inside the auditorium. The moment we entered, I immediately began searching for empty seats. I turned to Risa.
"There are two seats open over here."
I guided her to the empty spots and sat down. Soon after, Risa stared at me with a surprised look on her face.
"Um... is there some reason you're looking at me like that?"
"Ah, can you tell that I'm looking at you?"
"It's not exactly that I can see it, but I can feel the gaze. I've received so many stares over the years that I've grown sensitive to them."
"I see."
"By the way, why were you staring?"
"Oh! It's just that even though you can't see, you found the seats so easily."
"Aren't people sitting all around us?"
"Yes, that's true."
"I simply searched for a place where I couldn't sense any mana. After all, an area without mana would naturally be an area without people."
Of course, the real reason was that my Mind's Eye let me see everything in every direction.
"That's fascinating. Most blind people would find that sort of thing inconvenient."
"I've lived this way since birth, so at this point I simply accept it as nor..."
"Ahem. Ahem."
A deep, resonant voice suddenly filled the auditorium. We turned toward the sound. A professor stood at the podium, holding a magic microphone orb. It looked like the entrance ceremony was finally about to begin.
In that case, I might as well spend the time looking for the protagonist.
The entrance ceremony ended faster than I expected. Well, it wasn't as if entrance ceremonies were usually long affairs. Once it concluded, Risa and I headed toward our respective assigned temporary classrooms.
As I walked, I fell deep into thought.
What is this? Why isn't the protagonist here?
During the brief ceremony, I had scanned every male student present. Yet, contrary to all my expectations, the protagonist was nowhere to be found.
Why on earth is the protagonist missing?
Could my possession have already triggered a butterfly effect? As I entertained that reasonable suspicion, I arrived at my destination. I opened the classroom door.
The next moment...
"He's seriously in the combat department?"
"How did a blind person even get accepted?"
"Did the academy make a mistake?"
"Maybe he got in through connections?"
"I've never seen anyone like him among the nobles, though."
The students inside the classroom stared at me with uncomfortable, burdened gazes. I did my best to ignore them and took a seat in an empty chair.
At the same time...
Let me check one more time.
I scanned all the male students again. Sure enough, the protagonist was still nowhere to be seen.
This means he's either in a different class or not at the academy at all.
My head spun from the unexpected variable. I had never imagined I would be hit with something like this.
Even though I had no intention of getting involved with the protagonist...
His complete absence was another matter entirely. Just to be sure, I checked for the other main and supporting characters.
At least the others are here.
Lillia, the daughter of the Eldorado Merchant Guild. Shanon von Gloster, representing one of the four elemental families. And Sherry von Patrick, whose exceptional talent rivaled even the protagonist's.
The protagonist was missing, but the rest of the story's key figures were present. At this point, why was only the protagonist absent?
Sigh. I'll think about this later.
Rather than worrying about the missing protagonist, I needed to focus on the class placement test that would take place today. The first-day placement test was usually random, so I couldn't predict the exact contents. Still, because the format was always roughly the same, I could prepare to a certain degree.
Therefore, thinking about the upcoming test would be far more useful to me right now than pondering the absent protagonist.
Just as I was recalling everything I knew about the placement test...
CRAAAAASH!
The window suddenly shattered. Every student in the classroom jumped in alarm at the unexpected noise.
The very next instant...
GRRRRAAAAAWR!
A bipedal wolf — a lycanthrope — burst through the broken window.
Seeing it, I muttered quietly to myself.
"Seriously, nothing's going my way today."