I Became Blind Swordsman at the Academy.

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I scramble to my feet, rolling Sheddie off my chest.

I tried to regain my composure, but I could hear someone's gentle nudging next to me. However I didn't have to turn my head to know who it was.

…It was Yuri.

She was sitting in a chair beside the bed, curled up on the bedspread, sound asleep.

'I ate the nourishing food that Yuri prepared for me yesterday…'

…I didn't even remember how I fell asleep. I wasn't tired enough to lose consciousness so it must have been the food that made me feel so feverish.

Then Sierra came into view.

[…]

I expected her to be angry like last time, but she wasn't.

…No. From the way her face was contorted, it was clear she was upset.

Still… I realize that not much happened last night.

Soon, Yuri rolls over on her stomach, apparently awakened by my presence.

"Ugh…"

She must have fallen asleep in an awkward position and her body must be very stiff.

"…You must be very uncomfortable, I think I took your bed away from you…"

I said that to Yuri, who was still lying on the bed, rubbing her eyes.

"Ugh… It's okay."

Yuri pushed herself up and leaned back in her chair to stretch.

Now it was time to organize the situation.

***

I thought Yuri couldn't cook but the food was delicious.

That was strange, but then something even stranger happened.

As I leaned back in the carriage that was now as familiar as my bed, I glanced at my status window.

In the list of skills I have, I see a new one.

'Surging Power… Like Ki Sense, was a new skill to me.'

It must have come from Yuri's cooking.

As simple as the name suggests, it's a passive skill that strengthens you to the point of bursting with power.

It was just a matter of what that 'power' was but as usual, when a skill appears in the status bar, I'll naturally get a sense of what it is.

The enhanced strength was not muscle strength…It was a man's strength.

In other words, it was a skill, but it felt like a boost.

'It's called the Clementine family's nourishing food…'

It wasn't a food I was familiar with, but at least I knew what it was for. Well, that doesn't mean that Yuri, who fed me the food, knew the effect.

I couldn't resist the drowsiness that overtook me after eating the food but unlike the last time, Sierra didn't get angry.

She simply told me to rest assured that nothing had happened and continued to praise Yuri for her self-control.

I'm not sure what kind of self-control that is, but I'll take it.

It was a somewhat unprotected sleep, but nothing happened. Yuri didn't know about the effect of the supplement, so there was no one to blame and no need to blame.

I had to apologize to Yuri for taking her bed away from her because of my unexpected sleepiness.

Just the day before, I had heard the same apology from Kaen, but this was different.

Yuri was grateful and I hadn't expected her to prepare a meal for me just because I had a little blood dripping from my mouth.

I had something for her, too but the item was so valuable that I had to have a good reason to give it to her.

'If I could, I would have given it to Yuri before she was in danger…'

This time, I gave it to her because I really appreciated the food she had prepared.

"Zetto…Even though you said you got it from the Labyrinth, is it really okay to give it away like this…?

Yuri hesitated, as if the item was a burden. It was understandable, but it would be harder to give it away if it wasn't for this.

After all, I had picked it up in the Labyrinth, and even if I pretended, it wasn't something I needed.

I pushed the status window out of view and looked up as the carriage rattled, and the back of my head bumps against it.

Edward's class was a joint combat drill again today. It's going to be more of the same until we leave for the desert soon.

It wasn't too difficult to organize, so our group quickly finished the battle but unfortunately, Aizel and Yuri were in a different group.

After the battle, I asked Edward if I could go home early, and he graciously agreed.

I had work to do today and it was best to get back to the carriage as early as possible. With Sheddie's powers, I could easily avoid prying eyes, even in broad daylight.

[Hmm…reincarnation…]

Sierra murmured as she rested her chin on my shoulder and wrapped her arms around me.

I had told her part of my plan. To be precise, it was a plan for the Hero.

In the original game, you meet the reincarnated Hero in the middle to late game but since Aizel dies in the middle of the game, it's something that happens after that.

As I grew faster, there were more things I could do and more future stories I could twist.

My growth was for this but it was much faster than I had anticipated, and I decided that I had reached a point where I could touch the hero, which was a pretty important "root" of the story.

"Smile."

Sheddie, in my arms, purrs at my smile so I stroked her fur.

The goal of the plan was simple: bring the Hero to the Academy.

Most Academies in other places had bad things happen to them, like not being safe inside the Academy, or having a black cloud invade the Academy on a random day, but at least the Innocence Academy was different.

From the Black Blooded Trio to the Sage at the very center of the Labyrinth and even headmaster, Juliut, is someone the demons can't easily touch.

Foolhardy demons had set foot in the Academy a few times before, and the results had been deadly.

Based on what I've seen in the game, it seems that in recent years, Edward has been responsible.

Because of this, the current demons were reluctant to even set foot in the Academy.

At the very least, they know they can't win on our home ground.

Furthermore, with the prophesied "resurrection" of the Demon King only a few years away, the demons saw no need to make a fool of themselves and hasten the war.

That's why he wanted to bring the Hero to the safety of the Academy.

[If what you say is indeed true…things seem to be escalating.]

It was a strange thing for Sierra to do but it was something she would have to deal with as long as she was my Spectral Sword, not someone else's.

I always sought to use my knowledge from the game but it wasn't easy to be honest with Sierra. However I couldn't refuse to use my knowledge nor could I choose to risk the lives of others when there was a safer, easier way.

At least I hadn't lied to her, so she could only trust me this time.

[By the way…]

Sierra spoke up, and I turned my head slyly in her direction.

[…Even if you do bring the Hero with you, how do you plan to convince him, after all, you're a stranger to him.]

Sierra pointed out the flaw in the plan.

Even if I could get her to a safe place before she was in danger, the question was how to get her there.

I tilted my head again at Sierra's question and rubbed my jaw.

'Well…'

It wasn't like I was going to bring her in right now. What I was going to do this time was just laying the groundwork.

Today's task was to deal a major blow to one of the demons' intelligence organizations that would be able to get information on the Hero.

This would slow down the demons' ability to reach her, and I would take advantage of that to bring her to the Academy.

I had an idea of what I wanted to say to convince her, but it seemed like a good plan to meet her personality to be sure.

Like in the game, I won't get two chances.

***

Papers fly through the air and loud noises fill the place.

"What the fuck, you bring this shit in as information?"

"Ugh…It's so fucking loud, I can't do my job."

"What, is that asshole done talking? We're going to have a fight?"

"Yeah, he got me, that son of a bitch. I didn't like that."

All the information gathered by the demons that fearlessly set foot on human soil is gathered here. Oh, not all of it, but one of the branches, divided by region.

Not only do they collect information, but they also organize it.

Humans had something called an intelligence guild, but this was the intelligence guild of demons.

Not all demons are strong and have a talent for killing people. However, they all wanted to be strong.

This place could be seen as a 'pit' where those who had no talent but couldn't let go of their desire to be strong gathered.

It was a place where countless demons gathered, but none of them bared their horns on their foreheads.

Weaker demons couldn't even hide their magic properly, so they weren't allowed to show their horns in this place.

That was one of the few rules and policies here.

"…Those dumbasses fight all the time, all the time…That's why I don't even want to trade with the red ones."

The asshole with the monocle in front of me is a guy named Jorgal, and he's my boss.

In fact, we were coworkers not too long ago and he was a lowly red-horned demon like me but somehow he got some good connections and suddenly started killing a lot of humans, so his horns changed color.

His once-red horns became a little, very little, duller.

To the outside world, it was a very subtle difference, but to the demons, the color meant a lot.

"What do you think? Oh, right. You too… Uh-huh…"

Turning his head, Jorgal pointed to my forehead, then sighed in exasperation.

He knew full well that I was still a red horn.

I was at the bottom of the food chain, even in this disgusting, horrible pit.

It was bad enough that I had no talent for magic, but to have my horns change color was something else entirely.

To demons, horn color was a measure of strength and rank.

'…Son of a bitch.'

It was clumsy to say that the one who had killed a human was better, especially since it hadn't been long since the color had changed.

At least if my horns changed color like Jorgal, I would have been better at handling magick than he was.

…Maybe.

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