Chapter 86: False Truths
The bandages covering the eyes of the man in front of me were as spotlessly white as my dress and gloves.
His hair was the kind of jet-black that could easily be found in the East. Combined with the black, sleekly designed coat draped over his shoulders and his uniform, he looked like a black-and-white masterpiece.
I offered Zetto a quick cup of tea, and he readily accepted.
A cool breeze was blowing in the air with the smell of grass.
What kind of place had Ecline found to have tea in the tranquil forest?
I told Inés and Ecline to keep an eye on the area for a while. Although Inés stopped me, I wanted to talk to him alone. I felt like I could dig deeper into him.
“…The fight went well, Cadet Zetto.”
Zetto, who was at the head of the table, set his teacup down on the table and smiled faintly.
“I’m glad you enjoyed it.”
There was still a hint of foreboding in his tone, but I decided to put it aside for now.
‘I can’t believe I purified him as soon as we met. I can’t believe it…’
I asked him to forgive me for my rudeness, and he said that it’s alright.
After a moment’s consideration, Zetto didn’t ask any questions.
Although from his perspective, this was an unannounced visit and he must have a lot of questions. It was as if he had been waiting for this meeting.
‘I wonder why he doesn’t have many questions…’
A saint is a difficult person to meet in her own right but he didn’t seem very interested in her, even though she was expressing interest in him.
He was just being as friendly as she’d been told by Jeras so she returned his smile with a silent one.
It probably meant nothing to him, but the corners of my mouth twitched upward.
‘The power to make people feel comfortable…’
My gaze fell on the corner of Zetto’s eyes, who was sitting across from me and tilting his head.
I couldn’t see his pupils as the white bandages around his eyes had taken their place. Yet he was ‘looking’ at me.
His head was always turned towards the other person, giving the impression that he was listening to the conversation.
I thought to myself, ‘All of these little things must be the result of his hard work…’
I’d heard that he had a special ability called precognition, but I doubted it was something he was born with.
“This may sound a bit obvious, but Cadet Zetto doesn’t seem to have any trouble because of his eyes, and yet he’s quite skilled with the sword.”
“My eyes are……fine but it’s all thanks to my Master that I can handle a sword.”
“Master…You have a really good teacher.”
It wasn’t so strange to have a teacher. But the word ‘fine’ bothered me.
It wasn’t just a reassuring word, spoken in the sense of not to worry, but strangely enough, I could tell it was a solid “truth”.
He was really saying that his eyes were fine.
‘What kind of life have you been living…’
…can you really say you’re okay with losing the light of your world?
I don’t know what happened to him, or what caused him to lose his sight, but I do know that he doesn’t hold any resentment towards it.
When I looked at his condition from a distance, I realized that it was incurable.
…Of course, somehow, some way, it was already too late.
“Saint?”
After I was silent for a while, Zetto called out to me.
I’d only shared a few words with him, and he was already pulling me out of my thoughts.
I squeezed my eyes shut and opened them once to clear my head before continuing.
“…I apologize, but let’s cut to the chase: I’m looking for none other than Cadet Zetto… Actually, I was looking for a man with a white bandage over his eye…An acupuncturist.”
“An acupuncturist…May I ask why you were looking for an acupuncturist?”
Zetto asked me cautiously so I wondered if he was worried that I was here to capture him for a crime.
I laughed at how cute his question sounded.
“Hmph, it was just to express my gratitude. I was feeling very grateful to you for healing the sick lamb on my behalf, and I couldn’t help but feel like I owed you a favor.”
“…I see.”
“As it happens, I heard about Cadet Zetto from Ecline, who attended the open class on my behalf, and I have a strong suspicion that he’s the one I’m looking for, and I was wondering if you had any thoughts on that.”
At my question, Zetto taps his fingers on the table, looking troubled.
I wonder if he’s wondering how much I know.
When he’s finished, he speaks up.
“…How is Ms. Emilia doing?”
Zetto said slowly, he seems to have decided not to hide it. Maybe he decided he didn’t need to hide it anymore.
In response, I took a sip of my tea and smiled.
“So it was you, Cadet Zetto. I would have felt more comfortable if you had given your name, but now I understand why you didn’t. I never would have guessed you were an Academy cadet… Anthony’s going to freak out when he finds out. Hmph. Thankfully, Miss Emilia is in very good health.”
“I’m glad to hear that.”
“I didn’t realize that mana exhaustion could be treated with acupuncture… Cadet Zetto, you must be quite knowledgeable about acupuncture?”
“…Not so much, I was lucky enough to have treated it before.”
The words that came out of his mouth were the truth.
‘I know it’s a fairly rare condition, but you’ve treated it before…’
The more I got to know him, the harder it was to figure out his path and who he was as a person.
His ‘mystery’ wasn’t going to go away even if she talked to him.
“But Cadet Zetto…How did you find your way to Anthony?”
“I just knew that the poor lamb was there…and I had to give her some medical attention.”
Then Zetto smiled a bitter smile.
He rarely told lies. It would be fair to say that most people would tell lies, big or small, in a conversation, but he was telling only the truth.
He was like a piece of transparent glass, revealing everything without hiding anything, and it was hard to get a complete picture of him.
But with that said, I can understand why he was called the Blind Saint wherever he went.
There was one thing that was consistent about his behavior. He healed the sick without asking for compensation.
After curing Anthony’s daughter Emilia, Anthony agreed to pay him the reward he had promised, but he refused to take it.
Anthony finally convinced him to accept the payment.
He also traveled from village to village, curing the people who were still sick but didn’t get paid for that either.
The chief, Thomas, said he never paid him.
‘A saint from the fairy tale!’
I remember Emilia’s words as she thrust the storybook at me with her tiny hands.
It was a famous children’s book and maybe people saw a fairy tale saint in him.
Zetto and the fairy tale saint gave people hope.
‘The way he talks… A bit similar…’
…But maybe it’s just my mood.
In any case, it became clear that he was the blind acupuncturist and the meeting with him was more satisfying than I expected.
“In any case, I thank you for your good deed, Cadet Zetto. May the blessings of the Lord be upon you.”
I placed my hand on my chest and bowed to him respectfully.
“I did what I had to do.”
I wonder if he has a mission like I do.
The peaceful chirping of birds passed by, the grass rustling in the breeze as I set my teacup down after a sip and opened my mouth to speak.
I still had one important question to ask.
“Cadet Zetto, are you…?”
“…Yes.”
“This is an important question for me, and for the Knights, so I think it’s important that you answer it correctly. Cadet Zetto has recently…”
I trailed off, and my question flew at him.
“Have you ever killed a demon?”
My serious voice echoes through the silence of the forest.
“”……””
Whether or not he had any connection to demons was a very important question.
There was information that a man with a bandage over his eye had been seen in the city where the demon’s corpse had been found.
Zetto turned his head and looked out into the forest. Then his lips parted.
“…Yes.”
“Then why didn’t you take the Demon Horns with you…”
“Because I don’t belong anywhere.”
Everything he said was the truth.
‘Aside from the fact that he, an academy cadet, single-handedly destroyed a demon…’
I asked, leaning a little further toward him.
“We had no idea that the theater actor was a demon, either.”
I say, and the smile fades from Zetto’s face.
“I’ve been after him for a while.”
There’s an unidentifiable bitterness in his voice.
“…Is it a personal grudge?”
The corpse of the demon we encountered in the field was messy. If it was due to a grudge, it was understandable.
Whatever his history with demons, it wasn’t uncommon for someone to hold a grudge against them.
There was a war ten years ago.
It happened from time to time that people who weren’t affiliated with any organization were simply driven by the emotion of revenge and wanted to capture the demons but Zetto’s answer was a little different than I expected.
“I wouldn’t say I hold a grudge, but… The most important thing is to save lives…..”
Zetto tilted his head as he spoke as if he was stating the obvious.
He was still telling the truth.
‘To save people.’
He wasn’t wrong.
Demons feed on human life to increase their power. Where they are, death inevitably follows.
That’s why I, too, want to destroy as many demons as possible.
“…While there is nothing wrong with exterminating demons that lurk in human lands, it is best to keep them under the control of the state or an organization.”
Maybe it was because he was a saint, and he was seeing things the same way I was.
Demons harm humans that’s why the idea of exterminating demons is simple.
I should be curious about the source of the information…but I don’t think it’s fair to ask since he was not yet mine
I’d been thinking about something for a while so I opened my mouth, gently grasping Zetto’s hand across from me.
“…In that spirit, I would like to recruit Cadet Zetto into my Order, the Order of the Silver Wings.”
“…Recruit?”
“Yes. Considering Cadet Zetto’s character and strength, I don’t think it’s too much of a stretch, but I need someone like you.”
I said, smiling brightly and Zetto shakes his head in disbelief.
I can feel his emotion in his grip but he doesn’t push my hand away.
He scratched his head with his other hand and opened his mouth.
“Are you telling me you’re going to allow me…I mean, a man…into your Order?”
“That would be unusual, a male knight in the Order of the Saint…”
“No, more than that, I’m a cadet of the Academy. I have no intention of leaving the Academy, but…”
“Hmph… That’s right. Since an academy cadet can’t be a member of the Knights… so I’ve been thinking… why don’t you join our ‘secret’ organization?’ It seems like Cadet Zetto has been going around outside the Academy anyway… If Cadet Zetto is going to be hunting demons in the future, wouldn’t he at least need a safe ‘fence’?”
“A fence…”
Zetto muttered, thinking back to what I said.
I wonder if he’s on to something however I can’t help but think that this could only benefit him.
“Oh, I heard that Sword Saint has expressed interest in Cadet Zetto…is it because of Sword Saint?”
“No, no. Nothing happened with Mr. Sword Saint.”
“…Good, then.”
It seems that Sword Saint hasn’t taken Zetto away yet.
As for the demon’s information, it would be better to ask him when I’m more familiar with him.
“Well, there’s still some time left in the open class period, so take your time.”
“…Okay.”
Zetto replied somewhat hesitantly so I decided to give him a little more time. It would be too sudden for him, and he might feel overwhelmed if I pushed too hard.
I talked about everything I wanted to talk about, and the conversation came to a close.
After that, I listened to Zetto tell me a bunch of boring stuff about the Academy before letting him go.
The conversation was quite enjoyable, Zetto was a mysterious man.
He never told me the slightest lie until the end.
It was almost strange, but it’s not like there’s no such thing as a man who is truthful in every moment. This was true of Inés alone.
And since I felt so strongly that I wanted to hold him in my hands, I made up the whole “secret organization” thing without consulting Ines and Ecline… but I guess it won’t matter.
“How was your conversation with Cadet Zetto?”
Inés asked, coming up to me after Zetto had left.
I stretched myself and stood, then I answered Inés in a cheerful voice.
“…He was just like the saint in the fairy tales.”
“You mean the fairy tale you were reading…”
Yes, I think I might have a ‘saint’ friend, hehe.”
“Saint, you’re talking too much.”
“That’s how much I liked him.”
I looked past Inés, who was making an impression, and starred in the direction where Zetto had disappeared.
‘Though there is a catch,’ I swallowed hard.
‘The negative energy didn’t disappear all the way…’
It was rather disturbing that the aura was so faint that it was almost imperceptible, as if it had been refined.
‘I don’t think he’s going to use his evil powers to defeat demons.’
I’ll need to get to know Zetto a little better to find out.
There were few men around. Still, they probably know more about men than I do, especially Ecline, who I remember seeing occasionally discussing men with the other members.
“…So, how do you get close to a ‘guy’?”