Chapter 2 “Morning Walk”

After putting on my blindfold, I walk down the stair. One might consider that a blind person might be having difficulty to do a simple task like that. I don’t know about the other, but I certainly don’t find it difficult to do. Maybe that’s because I have the ability to perceive everything around me quite clearly with my remaining senses. If I have to explain it, I can somehow portray the whole world around me very clearly even with my lack of eyesight. My ‘seeing’ ability is even able to help me identify the material of the object around me, although I still couldn’t identify color as that is a domain exclusive to those who can see. I know that sounded rather far-fetched and impossible, but that is really what I can do.

“Watch your step!” I could hear my companion voice from downstairs. I let out a chuckle and was going to reply with something along the line of ‘You asked a blind man to ‘watch’ his step’ but decided not to since that might worsen the damage I’ve done even more. I opted to just quicken my step while being as careful as I could.

“Thank you for waiting.” I said to my companion as I reached the first floor of my house. I then walked toward the place where I put my walking stick and grabbed it immediately. “Shall we go?”

“Yes, we should.” The sound of the door being opened came to my ear together with the blow of the cold morning breeze that made my whole body shiver. I also reached my coat since it seemed to be a bit colder than usual. It was such an old coat that l don’t need to be able to see it to know how ragged it looked. But this is the only coat I have so I won’t complain.

“Nerva.”  I snapped my attention to my companion as I heard my name being called. “When are you going to replace that coat of yours?” Ah, I knew this would happen sooner than later. “I have to say that your appearance is quite… pitiful.” I guess the word ‘pitiful’ is not the term that was going to be used at me at first. The truth is probably much worse.

“Really now?” But surprisingly, I didn’t feel offended at all. I guess I really accepted that fact. “Can you explain it to me how my appearance is?” I asked my companion as I stretched my arm to give a better view.

“What? Your appearance?” I guess that was a rather strange request, eh? “Well, in a few words, you have the look of… a neat beggar.”

“Ho?  A neat beggar?” Truly a strange combination of words that is. This made me more and more curious. “Explain more.”

“Well, your coat has lost most of its color, leaving it with a very dull greyish brown. I can also see some of it has been torn and also creased so much.”

“Okay, that is a very detailed description of my old coat. No wonder I could feel a bit more draft than before. So that’s the beggar part, right?”

“Well, that and your walking stick that has chipped part here and there, I think that’s it. Now I suppose you want to hear about the ‘neat’ part?” I nodded. “Well, that’s because you are wearing your uniform for work, a grey shirt and a pair of black pants. Thankfully, they looked quite new since the company handed them not long ago. Or are they your old one?”

“The shirt is new, the pants is old.”

“I see. Oh yeah, fortunately your hair is still barely on the neat side. But I think you should cut it soon.”

“It is getting quite long, eh?”

“Want me to cut it for you?”

“What? A mere apothecary like me, asking the great militia captain Eryell Reystone, to cut my hair? What would the whole company say?” I let out a rather exaggerated gasp after I said that.

“Funny, very funny.” She then hit me softly on my arm after replying in a rather unhappy tone. “I’m serious here. Want me to cut it?”

“Hmm, maybe later.” As I moved my hand and brushed my hair near my neck, I still think it was on a bearable length for me.  “It’s still not that long yet.” I flashed a smiled at her. “But I’ll take that offer when it has gotten longer. Or I have moved away from the ‘Neat Beggar’ image. Whichever comes first.” A slight chuckle escaped my mouth as the particular strange phrase rolled over my mouth. That phrase really did come as a surprise for me.

My companion, Eryell, often did come up with the strangest combination of word I’ve ever heard. And I’m sure that I’ve heard the same comment about her from the soldiers in her company. Even without that unique trait of hers, she was already a celebrity among the local armed force. An expert spearman and dangerous hunter, she has made her name known on this frontier town of Fouge.

Fouge is a small fortified town located on the farthest border of the Kingdom of Astiard against its oldest ally, the Meyze Empire. As usual with any other border town, the town of Fouge benefited much from the ever bustling trade route that connects the two giant countries. Many merchant caravans passed through the gate of Fouge to continue their journey into the main part of the kingdom bringing a variety of goods and wares from and to the Kingdom of Astiard. As they passed through, the town profited much from them in the form of increased local trading, border fee, and also the use of many local facilities such as inn and stable. The town, with its relatively large population, clearly enjoys the increased activity from the trade route as best as they could.

But together with that benefit, a series of problems followed. There are two major problems faced by the town because of the bustling trade route. The first one is the problem regarding bandits and robbers that litter the whole area around the town that view the passing caravan as their prey. The bands of outlaw hide themselves under the dark cover of the thick forests that surround the town. They lurk and tail unsuspecting merchant and then ambush them. After stripping them clean of their valuable belonging, be it human being or trading goods, they will leave them to die in the middle of the forest just like that. The other problem is the increase of crime inside the town itself. There has been report of increased amount of pickpocket and thievery inside the town. The majority of the victim was the travelling merchant and their group that either made camp or rent a room in the inn. If it is not handled properly, before it might disturb the relationship between the two great countries, the town itself will lose their peace because of the growing number of criminal.

To solve those two problems and many others that slowly piling up, the town formed a group of armed force. At first, it was made entirely from the local residents that want to help their hometown. But as time went on, the kingdom saw the urgency of the matter and sent professional soldiers and mercenaries to help the town protect one of the most important frontier towns in the kingdom. As of now, the local militia is consisted of a mix of professional soldiers, mercenaries, and local residents. With the increased of robber and crime activities inside and outside of the town, the increase of armed forces in the town is a very good news, both for the merchants and the local residents.

After the formation of the mixed militia, a new and much complex chain of command is in order to lead the growing armed forces. At first, the royal palace sent a few of their commander to lead them. But it was found to be ineffective due to their lack of knowledge and orthodox training, which made them unable to lead the soldiers on the dense forests and uneven terrain around the town. After many discussion –and a lot of pressure from the merchant that become victim of the increasing outlaw activity– the royal palace decided to adopt a hybrid chain of command. It means that the highest position is still held by an officer chosen by the royal palace, but all of the other positions should be held by experienced officer that has been there for quite some time. It was a suitable change that has gave a much better result for the past couple of years.

Among the many commanding officers in the ever growing armed force, the Reystone family has taken several important posts. It is understandable since they were the family that proposed the creation of the armed forces in the first place. Furthermore, they have been a prominent family in the area and have been known for their ability as skilled and deadly hunter. For numerous times they have roamed inside the dense forest, looking for a good hunt every now and then. But as time changes, their prey have also shifted into those who were threatening the peace of Fouge and their surroundings. Many outlaws have been the target of their precisely aimed arrows and bolts and their bodies have been left to enrich the forest’s soil to atone for their sin in their life.

One of those officers is, of course, my companion here, Eryell Reystone. She has taken command the troop that is tasked to scout and patrol the whole forest. As one of the youngest officer, and a female at that, she had a rather rough time at the beginning of her career. From what I’ve heard, she had been offered a better and easier post by her family, but she refused the offer immediately. She opted to that particular position as that position allowed her to still explore the forest in her free time with an excuse for patrol and other work related task. Thankfully, as time went on, she had the acknowledgement of her fellow officer and her subordinate. Rumor has it that it was a change that happened in only one night, but that’s another story altogether.

“Be sure to greet grandfather today, Nerva.”

“Oh, he’ll be the there today?” So today really is an important day if the famous head of the Reystone family is going to be present. “I’ll be sure to do that. Let’s hope that I won’t forget it when get there.”

“Sheesh, you and your forgetfulness.” She let out a sigh after hearing my rather worrying reply. “Remember, he always wants to settle the score with you.”

“That old man really is a stubborn one, isn’t he?” I shook my head as I remembered our little ‘bet’ that day. He still bugs me about it whenever we met. But I guess that is also the thing that allowed me to still be employed there with a certain condition. “I could say the same about his granddaughter too.” I said with a snicker.

“Ah, yes, I aggr–Wait a minute!” She stopped walking for a second and then raised her voice. “You’re talking about me!?”

“Why yes, I am.” With a calm voice I reply to her while also stopping near her and faced her. “What are you doing there? We’re going to be late.”

“Oh, no! What do you mean by that last remark of yours, Nerva!?” Still with her raised voice, she demanded an explanation. Her hand was pointed at me with such speed that the wind that was produced by her gesture was able hit me in the face. I let out a sigh that probably made her a bit angrier.

“I may not be able to see your face, but along the way we walk, you probably put a sour face. Frowning all the way, maybe even until now.” Although I couldn’t see her expression, she probably widened her eyes after hearing my comment. That and also her surprised gasp told me more than enough.

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“W-What!? N-No, I d-d-didn’t, I just…” The way she stuttered her speech is also one of her habit whenever someone see through her like that. “W-Wait! What does that have to do with me being stubborn?”

“You’re still bitter about my comment.” I relaxed my pose and shifted my weight onto the walking cane as I started my explanation. “After I reject your offer, you were angry. You didn’t want me to know that so you rushed downstairs, hoping that somehow you can calm that anger. Fortunately, you managed to, but only part of it.” I paused to gauge her reaction. Since she was still silent, I think I can continue. “But that anger of yours rose up again because I put aside your offer for cutting my hair jokingly. It angered you slightly.” I could hear her fidgeting and her atmosphere emitted a somewhat awkward feel. I guess being read open like that would make anyone reacted like that. “Do you want to deny that, Eryell?”

“…I won’t.” Even if she is a stubborn one and wants to deny that fact, there is another trait of hers that overcome that intention of hers and preventing her from doing that. And that is her strong belief that one should never lie, not even at the smallest thing possible. “I won’t deny that.”

“May I guess the reason of your anger?” She didn’t give any reply. I’ll take it as a yes. “The first one is that you were angry simply because I rejected and also laughed at your request. The second one is that I bring up stuff about the difference about our rank. Did I guess that right?” Once again, there was no reply. Chances are I hit her right on the sore spot. A few seconds passed without any of us uttering a single word. To my surprise, she was the one that break the silence first.

“..I hate it when you read me like that.” The voice no longer carried the same harsh tone as before. It was more akin to a little girl’s voice that’s been found out being naughty by her parents. “I know that you are not weak. But it’s just that–“

“Forgive me, but I have to ask you to stop.” My voice cut her sentence since I don’t want to hear it. Somehow that doesn’t feel well with me. “I didn’t say you did anything wrong. If you think carefully, I should be the one apologizing.” I then walked toward her. “Should I kneel down in front of you or should I prostrate? Would that be enough?”

“W-What!? Don’t do that!” Her panicked voice entered my ears. “There’s no need to do that!”

“You are still angry. I can see, no, feel it clearly.”

Yes, I can’t see it as I am blind. There’s no doubt about that. But as I mentioned before, I could portray the whole world around me. To do that, I have a few different ways of doing that in my everyday life. One of the easiest ways –and also the simplest– is through the way sound bounces off every object and reflected back to me. All I need to do is either made a light noise with my mouth or hitting the floor beneath me with my walking cane. Since my house is built entirely out of wood, the sound my foot made each time I move around is enough for me. But when I move outside, I need another source of sound such as the tapping sound of my walking cane. I could, once again, portray them as each sound came back into my ear. As such, my ears are much more sensitive to the normal human being. Maybe even a bit better than a beast.

Together with that, I could also gauge people’s emotion as my experience told me that each emotion is strongly connected to their body language. For normal people, those ‘language’ are visible and could be seen by their eyes in the form of expression and gesture. Although I couldn’t see a person’s expression, I could still ‘see’ their gesture by using my ability. But there is another aspect that I deemed much better to reflect someone’s emotion. I ‘see’ them by hearing their heart rate. Different heart rate indicated different emotion. And that, as I have also experienced, is much harder to be faked then faking one’s expression and gesture. Because of that, I could clearly ‘see’ that my companion here has been struggling to keep her anger from exploding from the time we got out of my house.

“But there’s no need to do it to that extent!” I could feel her hand on my shoulder as she said that, probably stopping me from doing any of the things I’ve said before. I promptly smiled at her.

“If you are angry because of my joke and teasing, it is entirely my fault. It is all fun and play until someone got offended, right? Besides…” As I moved my left hand toward hers, I could felt the heat from them. “If something like this could appease your anger, I wouldn’t mind doing it.”

“What do you mean appease?” She let out a sigh after saying that. “Am I a god or something?”

“To me,” I paused and bring her hand toward me and kissed it lightly on the back, “a Goddess is more likely.”

“W-W-W-What!?” The combination of my words and my action has surprised her so much that her heart rate became much more erratic than before. It has turned wildly and the interval between each pulse has varied so much that it has no longer made a perceivable pattern for me. In a short time, she experienced a combination of panic, confusion, and embarrassment. What a very colorful person she is.

And if one was wondering whether I was just lying about her being a Goddess to me, they would be mistaken. That was my true and honest feeling about her. To me, Eryell Reystone is like a Goddess to me. Maybe she is just a normal human being for everyone else. But to me, she is anything but that.

“H-H-How could you say something like that so easily!?” Still with her raised voice, she literally screamed at me. Thankfully, I didn’t notice anyone on the road near us. Either that or they hid themselves quite perfectly, which is a quite noticeable feat considering I could sense them with my sensitive hearing.

“Saying something that is nothing but the truth is always easy for me.” I pulled back her hand again and kissed it again. “Especially toward someone I have opened my heart to.”

“Ugh…” If I could see her face right now, I could swear her face would be redder than anything. I could say that since I could senses her heat has risen considerably just from touching her hand and also her heartbeat has risen much more than before. I think I should stop this or her heart would explode. “Do you…plan to do this every time I’m mad?”

“If that is enough, and it is to your liking, then yes. If not, then I’ll gladly lower myself to prostrate in front of you.”

“…Damn you.” Even though it was a cursing word that came out of her mouth, I didn’t contain the usual feeling one would feel when hearing that. And to add to that, it was delivered with a rather quiet voice. “I could never win against you.” As she said that, she averted her face from mine.

“So do you forgive me, my dear Eryell?” For a few moments, she went silence. Then she retracted her hand from mine.

“There’s nothing to forgive for. Let’s just…forget about that.” Hearing that, I chuckled. “What?” Oh, she was getting angry again. What a temperament girl she is.

“Nothing, my dear.” Another though of teasing her came into my mind but I decided not to. Her heart beats has normalized and it seemed that she has calmed down. Provoking her would bring nothing but troubles. “I am thankful for being forgiven.” I bowed at her.

“Stop talking and acting like that when we’re alone.”

“If you say so, my dear Eryell.” I smiled at her again. For a few moments, she went silence again. But this time, there’s no change in her heart beats. It did raised a bit when I said that last sentence, but then it normalized immediately. This time, I’m the one that is confused. If the change is too little, not even I could understand it. “What is it?”

“Erm…do you sensed anyone around us?” What did she mean by that?

“Hmm? Around us?” I concentrated to heighten my sense slightly. Even after that, I failed to notice anyone except little critters such as birds and squirrels on top of the tree. After all, the path that led to my house is anything but popular due to the small number of buildings. “No, there’s no one.” I said as I shook my head.

“I see….” Another pause. This repeating event has made me rather awry and tense. “Then turn around and face that way.”

“Which way?” Did she forget I can’t see?

“Err…sorry. Just turned around.” I tilted my head slightly to the side at her order. But before I could voice my mind, an order was barked at me. “Just do it!”

“Y-Yes, ma’am!” I instinctively replied and turned around at the same time. “Is this all right–Waahg!”

“Just b-b-be quiet!” The thing that made me let out a rather uncharacteristic scream was none other than her hand being wrapped around me while her head rest on top of mine. She could do that easily since Eryell is much taller than me. At my full height, I only reached her shoulder. Although, she did say to me that she herself was much taller than the average female while I’m in the average, so it didn’t really bother me. Well, in the first place, our differences are much more than just simply body structure, so it didn’t really bother me at all.  “Let me do this in silence.” After that, she kept hugging me, pressing her shapely breast onto my back and making me feeling her warmth being transferred to me. Her hair also draped over me slightly, allowing some of the scent of her favorite soap that was left on her hair tickled my nose. It smelled pleasant for me. Such a shame I couldn’t see her hair. But feeling it was enough for me.  Overall, the whole experience is a very pleasant one for me.

“Uhm…my dear Eryell.” After being in her grasp for quite some time, something tickled my curiosity.

“…What is it?” Ah, she sounded a bit upset. I seemed to have disturbed the mood for her.

“Mind enlightens me why do I have to turn around?”

“…I don’t’ want you to see my expression when I do this.”

“I can’t see, you know?” I said with a-matter-of-fact tone.

“…Quiet.”

“…Yes, my dear Eryell.” It seemed that she was just too shy to see my face head on. She is, as always, act a bit spoiled whenever we’re alone, not that I have anything to complain about it. The least I can do is to warn her whenever someone’s going to see us. Fortunately, she had decided to let go of me first before anyone could see us. I guess she’s content enough.

“…Thank you.” After saying her thanks, she coughed a bit to regain her composure. “We should get going, Nerva. We’re going to be late.” And with that last sentence, the sound of her boot came to my ears as she walked in front of me. I let out a small smile as I walked behind her to follow her. Until now, it has been a rather pleasant start of the day for me. And judging from my companion’s steady heart beats, she seemed to share my opinion.