Prolepsis 1

--Eyna--

Eyna opened her eyes. The sound of birds chirping had woken her up from her deep slumber. The sun was probably just rising over the horizon and set the start of a new day. She could feel the warmth of the sun rays shining through the windows onto her sleepy face.

After a few moments of disorientation, she pushed herself up into an upright position and searched with her hands for the walking-stick-like object leaning against the bed frame. Once Eyna found the item of desire she had to gather all her willpower to finally separate herself from the soft bed and stand up.

The floor creaked below her feet. After stretching her still numb arms and giving a satisfying yawn she made her way to the window facing the inner courtyard and opened it. Eyna was met with a refreshing gush of cold air which dispelled the previously stuffy atmosphere. Winter really was nearing. For a few minutes, she stood motionless at the open window and listened to the trees swaying in the yard ignoring the cold slowly crawling up her body. The hooves of horses as well as the croaking of carriage wheels on a cobbled stone path could be heard beyond the walls of the mansion. Many people were probably already busily walking on the street finding their way to work.

After closing the window again Eyna turned away in order to find her daywear. They were still located on the chair where she had left them yesterday before going to bed, neatly folded and distinctly separated from each other.

・・・

Ten minutes later, Eyna entered the dining room where her butler Agares was already awaiting her. Not even glancing over, Eyna went past her servant and approached the huge table. The hall was so big that her footsteps hitting the smooth marble floor produced an echo.

Like Enya had done so many times, she decisively chose the chair at the head of the dining table, where she quickly found an adequate breakfast arranged on multiple plates displayed in front of her. Like every morning, one dish was filled with many different fresh fruits, neatly cut into bite-sized slices. These exotic treasures were brought here from far away to ensure constant supply even at the onset of winter. The merchants seemingly used marvellous means unknown to Eyna to keep the fruits always unspoiled. No standard citizen would be able to pay even for one of these slices.

From a basket, Eyna could perceive the fragrance of newly baked bread. Toppings for the bread would be distributed all around the breadbasket, sorted into groups of different tastes. It really was a meal one couldn't find any fault with.

The butler himself didn't seem to be depressed from her distant behavior and pursued her to the table to fill up her glass of wine.

"Good morning, young Miss. You look good today," he stated as he usually did every morning.

"I know," Eyna didn't refute him and took a sip of the newly poured beverage. As she was silently enjoying her meal, the pounding in her head returned once again. She knew this happening all too well and the throbbing headache would only grow stronger if left unattended. The effect of the medicine was ceasing. Having noticed her change in expression Agares swiftly took out a paper envelope from his pocket.

"You should take your medicine" He advised her and placed it next to her on the table. When Eyna heard the rustling of the paper being placed on the wooden surface, she nimbly reached out to where the source of the sound had come from. Proceeding as usual she unfolded the envelope which was containing a powder-like substance.

Carefully, she elevated the paper to her mouth. An alkalescent fragrance entered her nose. With one immediate swoop, the medicine landed on her tongue and she quickly rinsed it with a gulp of wine.

Eyna somehow managed to keep a straight face without showing any emotion of repulsion. She was pretty pleased with her own ability to hide the displeasure. As compensation for the nauseating taste the pain in her head soon subsided and let her breathe out in relief.

To cover the nasty feeling in her mouth Enya quickly turned her attention back to the food on the plates before her.

・・・

"Young Miss, here are a few extra doses of medicine," her butler said after Eyna had finished her meal and was ready to leave the dining room. She turned to her servant and stretched out her hand in order to receive the additional packages of medicine. She then grabbed the items and let them vanish in one of her pockets. From the weight she estimated the amount being around five doses.

"Thanks. It is less than normal," she stated in a half questioning tone.

"You have perceived correctly. It is indeed a smaller amount than usual. The tensions in the surrounding area have further increased and many merchants are not daring enough to take this risk. Furthermore, the consecrated ingredients from the medicine need to be transported throughout the whole continent," the old voice humbly explained to her inquiry.

"Just double the purchase price. No matter how much the merchants value their safety with enough money each one of them will surrender to their greed," Eyna answered and was already disinterested in the topic.

"I understand. I will see that the supply will increase, separate from the pleads of these cowards calling themselves merchants," Agares said with a subtly dangerous undertone.

"Do that," Eyna approved, seemingly unaware and not caring of his means to increase the supplies. Besides, she already knew that he would succeed. Then she added.

"I will leave the mansion until evening and will be staying in the academy throughout the day."

"I will wait for your return."

・・・

Eyna stepped outside the mansion onto the already busy street. In her left hand, she was holding a wooden cane that was pointing in front of her onto the road. With a steady pace, Eyna integrated herself into the never-ending river of people. People were loudly chattering and shouting at each other as one would expect from the bustling main street cutting through the middle of the city of Eichstätt.

While this town had been a trading center in ancient times, it now was only a shadow of its former glory. Since the never-ending war started, the human economy had been stagnating unceasingly. The fact that its location was relatively near the battlefront didn't help much in this respect.

At the very least the density of soldiers was because of that a little bit greater which let the town have a relatively high public order.

Eyna could suddenly perceive the smell of ashes. However, from the lack of heat and the serene behavior of the other pedestrians, the fire seemed to be already extinguished. Last night, the building next to her probably had burned down to the ground. As this incident did not have anything to do with her, she just continued her journey.

As Eyna was walking along the streets of Eichstätt she suddenly felt a piercing gaze resting on her. She tilted her head in each direction, trying to pinpoint the origin of her discomfort. After a few moments of searching, she found out that the owner of the gaze was probably hovering in the middle of the branching street, watching over the endless stream of people as they were finding their way to work.

It was an angel. The flying being had been overseeing the daily commotion below his feet until it had spotted her. Using her memories of the past Eyna could imagine the appearance of the divine creature vividly. The angel was probably completely clothed in white, wearing a cowl-like robe adorned with glittering golden thread. Long blond hair and perfect blue eyes would be decorating the spotlessly smooth face.

Just by their impeccable divine appearance, one would immediately fall onto their knees in order to worship this beautosness, if it wasn't for the condescending and disgusted emotions shown on the angel's face. This ugly expression immediately destroyed the otherwise perfect godly aura.

Not that the angels themselves would care for their outer appearance. All humans would have to bend their knees one way or another.

Having found the origin of the gaze Eyna could quickly figure why she had grabbed the attention of the heavenly being. While all the other humans walking on the street had subconsciously lowered their heads to the one hovering above them, Eyna hadn't even noticed this bringer of fear.

However, Eyna saw herself not really being at fault. Because of the fact that angels could fly, they didn't produce any footsteps and each of their graceful movements was done without making any sounds. The only way she could directly perceive the godly creature was the fast-spinning halo on the top of their heads. The twirling emitted a high-frequency noise almost impossible to hear with the human ear.

While having hundreds of shouting people walking around her, Eyna naturally wouldn't notice this small discordance unless she was actively searching for it.

However, the angel himself wouldn't care for her excuses even if they were in her opinion justified. So the only thing she could do was quickly lowering her head and let herself drag along with the flow of people.

After a few seconds, seemingly having lost interest, the angel let his gaze stray. He had probably discovered her disability and Eyna could vividly imagine his disgusted expression after seeing a human individual which was even more defective than the rest of this inferior race.

As Enya gained distance to the branching where the divine creature had been she breathed out a sigh of relief. Ever since she had lost her eyesight five years ago, similar incidents had happened throughout the time while she was staying in this city. However, the density of divine beings seemed to spike the last few days.

With the ability to see, heavenly beings were not difficult to spot. It would be more the opposite. First and foremost they almost always made themselves clearly visible, by hovering above the ground and showing their superiority. At least in their own territories, angels had nothing to fear, so they gladly displayed their perfection to these lowly beings called humans. Furthermore, their active presence lowered the chance of a revolt. Not that humanity would even have the slightest chance of putting up a fight against the divine. But it still would be an annoying task to bring back order to the city.

Secondly, an angel among humans always stood out. The perfect appearance, their wings as well as their spinning halos hovering above their heads were defining features separating them from the mortals.

Not to forget, their halos would always emit a blinding light which made them stand out like fireflies in the dark. One of the few advantages of being blind was to not get eye cancer each time such a creature neared.

However, the problem was with perceiving them without relying on visual inputs. Otherworldly beings wouldn't smell, make next to no sounds, and wouldn't even imagine being touched by lowly creatures such as Eyna.

This left her with no other choice than to listen to her own intuition or to try to filter out the distinctive humming of the halo in order to perceive the presence of an angel.