Chapter 86 - 86. The Truth That Lies

The bandages covering the eyes of the man in front of me were flawless and pure white, similar to my dress and gloves.

Well, except for the bandage, unlike me, it was full of black light.

Silky hair that was easy to see in the Orient.

The stylish black coat over his shoulders blended well with his uniform, creating an atmosphere like a black and white masterpiece.

I suggested Jetto to have a cup of tea for a while, and he readily agreed.

There was a cool breeze blowing with the smell of grass all around.

To be able to have tea time in a quiet forest, why did Ecclin find a place like this again?

He told Innes and Ecclin to guard the area for a while.

Innes stopped me, but I wanted to talk to him alone.

That's because I felt like I could dig into him more.

"...Dalian was well done, Cadet Zeto."

Soon, Jeto, who was in front of the table, puts the teacup down on the table and smiles lightly.

"Thank you for taking good care of me."

There was still an ominous aura about him as he answered, but he decided to put aside his worries about it for a while.

'To pour purification as soon as we met... Me too...'

I begged forgiveness for having offended him, and he said, 'Good is good.' Replied by saying

Jetto looked around for a moment and didn't have many questions.

From his point of view, he came without notice, so he must have a lot of questions.

As if he had been waiting for this meeting all along.

'Isn't there a lot of questions...'

Wouldn't it be difficult to meet a saint in her own way?

Even though her saintess was showing interest in him, he didn't seem very interested in me.

He was just being friendly, as he had heard from Xerath.

I responded with a soft smile to the smile he was holding.

It was an action that might not mean anything to him, but it was because the corners of his mouth went up without my knowledge.

'It's the power to make people feel comfortable...'

My gaze goes to the eyes of Jeto, who was sitting opposite and tilting his head.

His eyes were not visible.

A pure white bandage around his eyes took its place.

Even so, he was 'staring' at me.

He felt it while talking to him, but his head was always facing the other person, giving the impression that he was listening to the conversation.

'Every single one of these trivial things must be the result of his hard work...'

Although he had been told that he had a special ability called kigam, it occurred to him that it was not an ability he was born with.

"This may sound a little obvious, but Cadet Zeto doesn't have trouble with his eyes. Still, his skill with the sword is amazing."

"Eyes... Are fine. It's all thanks to Master that I can handle the sword."

"Master... You have a really good teacher."

It wasn't that strange that Master was there.

However, the expression 'it's okay' bothered me.

Okay.

Strangely, unlike the words that were spat out to give reassurance, in the sense of not caring, I could see that the words were a firm 'truth'.

He was saying he was really fine.

'What kind of life have you lived...'

...Can I truly express that I am okay with losing the light of the world?

I don't know what accident he got into, he lost his eyesight because of something, but it means that he has no resentment left for this.

When I vaguely looked at his condition from a distance, it was judged that treatment was impossible.

He didn't feel curable.

...Unsurprisingly, in one way or another, it was already way too late.

"Saint?"

After I'm silent for a while, Jeto calls me.

Even though I only had a few words with him, he kept me thinking.

Soon, I closed my eyes, opened them once, cleared my head and continued talking.

"...I'm sorry. Then let's get to the point. I was looking for Cadet Zeto... I was actually looking for one person. An acupuncturist with white bandages around his eyes."

"Acupuncturist... Can I ask why you were looking for an acupuncturist?"

Jeto asked me cautiously.

He didn't come to catch him for committing a crime, so what are he worried about?

His question was cute, so I laughed.

"Hehe, I guess it was just to express my gratitude. I was feeling a lot of gratitude for treating the sick lamb on my behalf. I couldn't shake the feeling that I owed it to my heart."

"...I see."

"Just in time, I heard about Cadet Zetto from Echlin, who was attending the open class for me. I strongly believe that Cadet Zetto is the person I was looking for. Do you have any thoughts on this?"

At my question, Jetto taps on the table.

Seemed to be worried.

Am I worried about how far I know?

Soon after he finished his calculations, he opened his mouth.

"...Is Miss Emilia doing well?"

Jeto said softly.

He seems to have decided not to hide it.

He may have decided that he no longer needed to hide.

He took a sip of his tea and smiled.

"As expected, it was you. Cadet Jeto. It would have been more comfortable if I had known my name, but now I can understand why I didn't tell you my name. I don't think you were an academy cadet... Anthony would be shocked if he knew this. Hehe... Thanks to you. Emilia-san is in very good health."

"Fortunately, the."

"I didn't know that mana exhaustion could be cured with acupuncture... Cadet Zeto seems to have a lot of knowledge about acupuncture, right?"

"...Not that much. Fortunately, I had experience of treatment before."

What he said quietly was the truth.

'I know it's a fairly rare symptom, but I've never been treated before...'

The more I got to know him, the more difficult it was to figure out what kind of path he had walked and what kind of person he was.

Even after talking, his 'mystery' did not disappear.

"But how did Cadet Jeto... Come to visit Anthony?"

"Just knowing that the poor little lamb was there...He just thought he had to treat it."

Soon, Jeto showed a wry smile.

He seldom uttered a lie.

If you are a human being, when you have a conversation, you should see that he tells a lot of lies, big or small, but he was only spouting the truth.

It was hard to fully grasp him even though he was revealing everything like a piece of transparent glass.

However, from the words I just said, I understood why he was called the 'blind saint' everywhere he went.

There was one consistent point in his actions.

He treated sick people without any pay.

He agreed to treat Antony's daughter Emilia and give him the reward Antony had promised, but he was unwilling to accept it in full.

He said that Anthony had managed to persuade him to pay him.

It's the same in town too.

He went around the village and treated the residents who were suffering from minor illnesses. It also did not receive any payment.

Village chief Thomas said he never paid him.

'A saint, he was like a saint! The saint from this fairy tale!'

Emilia's words as she pushed her children's book at me with her small hands flashed through her mind.

Did she say it was a famous children's book?

People might have seen a saint from a fairy tale overlap with him.

Zeto and the saint from the fairy tale gave people hope.

'The way he speaks... Is a bit similar...'

...Anyway, this may be because of my mood.

In any case, it became clear that he was a blind acupuncturist.

My meeting with him was more satisfying than I expected.

"Anyway, thanks for the good deed, Cadet Zeto. May the Lord's blessings be upon you."

I put my hand on his chest and bowed respectfully to him.

"No. I just did what I had to do."

It's what you have to do

Does he even have a mission like me?

When the peaceful chirping of birds passed, and the grass rustled in the blowing wind.

I opened my mouth as I put down the cup I had taken a sip of.

One important question still remained.

"Cadet Zeto, but..."

"...Yes."

"This is an important question both for me and for the Templars, so I think you should answer it accurately. Cadet Zeto recently..."

After a little while, my question flies to him and sticks.

"Have you ever killed a demon?"

My sincere voice quietly echoes in the calm forest.

""...""

Silence soon follows.

Whether or not he was related to the demons was a very important issue.

After all, there was information that a man with bandages around his eyes was also found in the city where the dead bodies of demons were found.

Jetto turns his head to look at the forest.

Soon, his lips open.

"...There is."

"Then why didn't you take the devil's horn..."

"Because I don't belong anywhere."

Truth.

It was true again.

'Aside from the fact that he, an academy cadet, single-handedly subdued demons, more than that...'

I leaned a little more towards him and asked.

"Even on our side, it was completely uninformed that the actor in that play was a demon."

My words continue, and soon the smile disappears from Jeto's lips.

"He was the guy I was chasing from before."

There was an inexplicable pain in his voice.

"...A personal grudge?"

At that time, the corpses of the demons encountered at the site were promiscuous and cruel. If it was due to resentment, this also made sense.

I don't know what happened to him, but it wasn't uncommon to see someone who had a grudge against the demons.

There was a war 10 years ago right now.

I mean, it was there sometimes.

Those who do not belong to any institution, but are caught up in the feeling of revenge and want to capture the demons.

However, Jeto's answer was a little different from what I expected.

"It's hard to say there's no resentment... But the most important thing is to save lives. ...People."

Said Jeto and tilted his head.

As if you were asking something so obvious.

He was still telling the truth.

'To save people?'

It was not wrong.

Asmodians increase their strength by absorbing the vitality of humans.

Where there are them, death inevitably follows.

That's why I want to subjugate as many demons as possible.

"...It may not be considered a crime to subdue the demons hiding in human lands, but it is better to subdue the demons as much as possible under the control of the state or institution."

Maybe it was because he was the one who was called a saint, and he was looking at the same place as me.

Demons harm humans.

From an extremely simple idea, he came to subjugate the demons.

I should be curious about the source of the information... But I think it's impossible to ask that.

He wasn't mine yet.

So, what I was going to say was decided.

It was an idea I had in mind before.

I opened my mouth, gently holding Jeto's hand across from me.

"...In that sense, I would like to recruit Cadet Zeto into my order, the Silver Wing Knights."

"...Recruitment?"

"Yes. I don't think it's too far-fetched considering the character and strength of Cadet Jetto. We needed talent like Cadet Jetto."

I said that with a bright smile.

Soon, Jeto tilts his head and is bewildered.

His emotions are transmitted from the hand he was holding.

He couldn't shake my hand.

He scratched his head with the other hand and opened his mouth.

"Is it true that you are going to enlist me...So a 'man' in the saintess's knights?"

"It must be unusual. To have a male knight in a saint's knights..."

"No, more than that, I am an academy cadet. I have no intention of quitting the academy..."

"Huh... That's right. Academy cadets can't belong to the Knights... That's why I've been thinking about it. Why don't we work 'secretly'? It seems like Jeto cadets were openly stepping out of the academy anyway... If Cadet Zeto is going to catch demons in the future, wouldn't he need a safe 'fence'?"

"Fence..."

Jetto murmured, retracing what I had said.

Is there something stuck?

I feel like this is the only thing he can benefit from.

"Ah, I heard that the Sword Saint showed interest in Cadet Zeto... Maybe it's because of the Sword Saint?"

"No. Nothing happened with the sword saint."

"...Then I'm glad."

It seems that the swordsman hasn't lost a player yet.

As much as the Sword Master, who said he doesn't have a single disciple, expressed interest, there should be no need to mention force.

As for the information about the demons, it would be better to ask them when you become more familiar with them.

"Well, there's still a little more open class period, so let's think about it slowly."

"...Yes."

Jeto's somewhat hesitant answer followed.

He decided to give him a little more time.

Even for him, it must be sudden, and if he pushes too hard, he might feel burdened.

We shared everything we wanted to share and the conversation flowed towards the end.

After that, he listened to Jetto's nonsense about the academy and let him go.

The conversation was quite enjoyable.

Jetto was a mysterious figure.

He didn't tell me a single lie until the end.

It was to the extent that it felt strange, but it was not at all that he was a true person every moment. It was the same just by looking at Inez.

So, from a certain moment on, I had a strong desire to hold him in my hands, so I made myself a 'secret knight' or something without consulting Innes and Ecclin, but... I don't think it will be a big problem.

"How was your conversation with Cadet Jeto?"

After Jeto left, Inés approached me and asked.

Then I stretched out and stood up from my seat.

Then, in a clear voice, he answers Inès.

"...He was just like the saint in the fairy tale."

"You mean the fairy tale you read then..."

"Yes, I might have made a 'saint' friend. Hehe."

"Saintess, you're talking too much."

"That's how much I liked it."

Leaving Innes frowning behind her, she gazed intently in the direction where Jetto had disappeared.

'Although there are some snags.' I finally had to swallow the word.

'Negative energy didn't go away until the end...'

It was rather nerve-wracking that it was so feeble that it was hard to notice, as if the energy had been refined.

'I don't think he's going to use evil powers after defeating the demons.'

To find out more, I think I need to get closer to Zeto.

Be intimate

I looked at Inès and Ecclin in front of me with a sudden question.

Needless to say, there were hardly any men around.

Soon they stare at me.

Still, don't they know more about men than I do? In particular, I remember seeing Ecclin talking about men with the members from time to time.

"...Hey, what should I do to get close to a 'man'?"