Girls' Dormitory
The results of the class placement exam were out.
"What class did you get into?"
"No idea... I died without even getting to do anything..."
"Oh, right. You said you ran into her, didn't you? Eisel..."
"The heirs of the Four Great Elemental Families all got into Class A. Lucky bastards."
Students were huddled in front of the bulletin board, murmuring among themselves.
I squeezed through the crowd and tapped a random student on the shoulder.
Even though I had already seen the results myself.
This was a necessary performance for me.
"Excuse me. I'm terribly sorry, but could you help me find where my name is?"
"Huh? Oh, sure. What's your name?"
"It's Zeto."
"Zeto... Zeto... Oh! There it is!"
"Which class is it?"
"Class A! Wow, that's amazing... Wait, looking at you... You're the guy who fought Amon, aren't you?!"
"Ah... Yes."
...I had accidentally picked someone far louder than expected.
His booming voice echoed across the plaza, drawing the attention of the surrounding students.
"Amon? Oh, I remember. The guy with the blindfold."
"Didn't his gauntlet literally shatter back then?"
"That was insane. How do you turn a solid block of stone into powder with just a sword?"
"Turns out the Caliguses aren't all that. Getting beaten by a blind guy."
"I died trying to pick a fight with him. He's ridiculously strong. He was deflecting magic left and right."
The situation was becoming incredibly burdensome.
Fortunately, no one seemed to have recognized my Dispel or tried to interrogate me further, allowing me to slip away from the crowd unscathed.
Acting... really isn't easy.
I couldn't help but admire Eisel, who played her part as naturally as breathing.
To ensure a safer academy life, I made sure to emphasize my blindness whenever the opportunity arose.
It was a necessity for survival.
Constantly drilling the fact that I was blind into everyone's minds.
My goal was to build up enough benefit of the doubt so that if I ever made a slip-up, people would naturally overlook it.
For instance, asking for the name of a shop I was visiting for the first time.
Or acting frustrated during the exam because I couldn't see the screen to know what was happening.
They were trivial things, but they added up.
Furthermore, because this world lacked any assistive technology for the blind, such as braille, I couldn't even set foot in the library.
The library held various storylines and quests, but for now, I had to put them on hold.
Well, I suppose it would be a different story if someone offered to read to me.
It wasn't entirely out of the question.
Now that I had confirmed the exam results, I had a significant amount of free time.
I was completely free until tomorrow, when the first classes would begin.
I looked down at the bracelet on my wrist.
The Bracelet of Origin.
An Epic-grade item, it possessed the effect of increasing both mana and health regeneration.
Mana is consumed the moment it leaves the body.
Whether it was casting spells or channeling mana into a blade to unleash sword qi or sword force, all of these actions drained mana.
Since it belonged to Reina, a magic user, it must have been the perfect item for her.
It would undoubtedly be of immense help to my training as well.
Faster health regeneration meant I could push my physical limits even further.
Training would be nice, but...
I had other business to attend to today.
The essential prerequisite to unlocking the true potential of Ghost Swordsmanship.
It was time to start preparing for the creation of a Yodo—a Demon Blade.
First, I needed to gather the materials.
Materials that would allow a sword to withstand the intense demonic energy.
Buying them at an auction house was an option, but I didn't have that kind of money yet.
Some of the materials were so rare that their prices were astronomical.
Therefore, gathering them myself was the best course of action.
The first material I needed to acquire was a 'petal.'
A petal for forging a sword?
It sounded absurd, but it made sense in this context.
A Demon Blade was far from an ordinary sword. Although it shared the same appearance and purpose, it was essentially a vessel designed to contain a soul.
Naturally, an ordinary flower wouldn't suffice.
It had to be an incredibly rare flower.
Fortunately, it wasn't far.
The only reason I chose to gather this material first was simply because it was the closest.
The problem was that the flower grew inside the academy's girls' dormitory.
The girls' dormitory. Naturally, males were strictly forbidden from entering.
Because of this, one of the most common tips for players was: "If you're going for a Ghost Swordsmanship build, always start with a female character."
If I had followed that tip and transmigrated into a female character instead of Zeto... I probably would have suffered a mental breakdown by now.
Having one's gender swapped was not something easily brushed aside.
"Whew..."
I let out a sigh of relief.
Giving up on the petal and using an alternative material was an option.
However, it was close by, and if I could just get inside, gathering it would be incredibly easy.
It was also a flawless material for forging a Demon Blade.
So, I decided to give it a shot.
In fact, considering my unique 'traits,' this might actually be feasible.
If all else fails, I'll just sneak in at night.
Since the material was a petal, waiting until the blooming season ended would cost me too much time.
The flower was always in bloom during the early stages of the game, so it had to be now.
"Hey, student! Males are strictly prohibited past this point!"
A guard patrolling near the dormitory stopped me in my tracks.
"Ah..."
I scratched the back of my head and waited for the guard to approach.
"Why is a guy trying to..."
The guard caught sight of my face and trailed off. This was my cue.
"...I'm so sorry. I have something urgent to tell a friend. She... seemed very angry with me. The thought of losing her made me lose my head..."
I hung my head low, pouring as much raw emotion into my voice as possible.
"Ah, you're... visually impaired... A friend, you say... Sigh, what a mess."
"It's fine. I suppose I can always make new friends. She was such a wonderful person, though..."
The guard clicked his tongue in sympathy, then suddenly clapped a hand onto my shoulder.
"Relationships... are all about timing. I made plenty of foolish mistakes in my youth, too. But once things get tangled up, it's incredibly hard to untangle them."
It seemed this guard had a dramatic past of his own, as he empathized with me deeply.
"...I'm sure a lad like you won't cause any trouble. Here, take my badge. Go on, make things right with her!"
The guard pinned his badge to my chest and sniffed, wiping his nose.
Wow, that actually worked.
I hadn't expected it to be this easy. Perhaps I had just lucked out with a particularly sentimental guard.
And just like that, I bypassed the formidable barrier of the girls' dormitory, a place normally heavily fortified against any male presence.
Stepping into the girls' dormitory—a veritable 'uncharted territory' for any male—I was greeted by a long, sprawling hallway.
The layout wasn't all that different from the boys' dormitory.
My destination was the backyard. I just needed to walk straight to the end of the hall.
"...Is that a guy?"
"How did he even get in?"
"Who knows? Just leave him be. Looks like he's blind anyway."
"Wait, isn't that the guy who hangs around Yuri Clementine?"
"Are they dating or something?"
"No way. The proud and mighty Yuri Clementine?"
I passed several female students along the way. Though they whispered and stared, none of them tried to kick me out.
Eventually, I made it to the backyard. Fortunately, it was completely empty.
It was around here somewhere...
I began rummaging through the flowerbeds. After searching for a few minutes...
Found it.
A fully bloomed flower finally came into view.
The Last Petal of Blanche.
That wasn't the name of the flower itself, but rather the name of the item—the material.
This flower possessed a sacred energy, granting it a powerful resistance against malevolent forces like demonic energy.
I recalled that there was a tragic backstory associated with this flower, but unfortunately, the details eluded me.
I pulled a small glass vial from my coat, carefully plucked the petals one by one, and placed them inside.
With that, the gathering was complete. Compared to the effort it took to get inside, the task itself was incredibly simple.
Now, I just needed to make a clean exit.
I slipped the vial back into my coat and walked back down the hallway as if nothing had happened.
Things were going smoother than expected.
The remaining materials were a rare metal, some monster byproducts, and an object tied to the memories of the soul to be sealed.
I planned to gather them bit by bit whenever I had free time after classes.
It's still morning... Maybe I should spend the rest of the day training.
Training, quests, leveling up, and forging the Demon Blade. I had to balance them all perfectly.
Which meant my schedule was about to get a lot more hectic once classes officially started.
I wish I could split myself in two.
Just as I reached the end of the long hallway and the exit came into view...
"...Zeto?"
Someone walking down the stairs called out to me. The voice belonged to Yuri Clementine.
She looked as though she had just stepped out of the shower. Unlike her usual neatly braided style, her crimson hair hung loose and damp over her shoulders.
Instead of her uniform, she wore casual attire—a rather revealing black sleeveless top that immediately caught my eye.
"Why... are you here...?"
Yuri was visibly flustered. After all, a male—who had absolutely no business being in the girls' dormitory—was casually strolling through the halls.
What excuse should I make this time? I hadn't anticipated running into anyone I knew, so I hadn't prepared a cover story.
"Well, what a pleasant surprise to run into you so early in the morning."
"No... Why are you here? Don't tell me..."
I tried to play it cool, but Yuri's eyes instantly narrowed. She was suspicious.
If those suspicions were confirmed, that look would undoubtedly morph into utter contempt, as if she were staring at a filthy beast.
But I had a unique advantage. At the very least, I was immune to that kind of suspicion.
Since Yuri was slow to realize the obvious, I just needed to gently nudge her in the right direction.
"Don't tell you what?"
"...No, never mind. Of course not. What on earth was I thinking? How ridiculous of me."
Yuri's gaze finally landed on my blindfold. Realizing her momentary lapse in judgment, her tense expression instantly softened.
Meanwhile, I... couldn't take my eyes off her chest, which was now fully exposed to my gaze.
Freed from the constraints of her stiff academy uniform, her figure was spectacular. My conscience was hanging by a very thin thread.
The more understanding she became, the more guilt pricked at the corner of my mind.
It's just basic instinct, I told myself.
With a sheepish smile, I spoke to her.
"Haha, it's fine. It must have been quite a shock. I was just about to leave after taking care of some quick business. I even got permission from the guard."
I pointed to the badge pinned to my chest, courtesy of the sentimental guard from earlier.
"So... what business did you have here?"
Perhaps feeling a sudden wave of self-consciousness despite believing I was blind, Yuri crossed her arms over her chest as she stepped closer.
Under normal circumstances, this wouldn't have been an unusual distance, but right now, it was incredibly dangerous.
A highly potent 'weapon' capable of bringing almost any man to his knees was drawing near.
Business... right, business. I needed to answer her innocent question, but my mind was drawing a complete blank.
The alluring aura she exuded, completely oblivious to its effect, was thoroughly scrambling my brain.
It was then that another familiar voice echoed from behind me.
"Zeto, what are you doing there?"
She spoke to me with casual familiarity, despite us never having agreed to drop honorifics. Wearing a completely indifferent expression, she delivered a bombshell.
"If you're done, let's go. I'm hungry."
"Eisel... Ludwig...?"
Yuri stared blankly, utterly dumbfounded. But honestly, my mind was just as chaotic as hers.
...What is even happening right now?
Out of nowhere, I had somehow been cast as the guy who had snuck into the girls' dormitory first thing in the morning just to visit Eisel.