CHAPTER - 23 { Blindness }

Inside a room, Vlad sat on the bed and looked at the man before him.

"Stare at me."

The man, a doctor, asked as he widened Vlad's eyelids and checked the eye.

"This, I have never seen before. Doesn't it hurt?"

He asked with a confused and curious expression on his face.

"It doesn't."

Replied Vlad. The doctor nodded and then pressed the area around the eyes and asked again.

After a few more techniques, the doctor sighed and leaned back on his chair.

"Any change in your vision?"

Vlad didn't immediately answer but looked down on the ground and pondered.

"Not really."

"If you lie, it will be you who will suffer later. So I will ask again, any change in your vision?"

The doctor stared at Vlad's face seriously. He held a clipboard with many papers clipped on it.

"... No."

Seeing Vlad giving the same answer, the doctor nodded his head and wrote something on the papers.

"If so, there's nothing we can do about this. You can only hope that your vision remains fine."

Said the doctor, he got up and exited the room. Not long, Rose and Mike entered with meal packs.

"How do you feel?"

Asked Rose as she sat beside Vlad while Mike pulled the chair near the bed. She then handed one of the meal packs in her hand to him.

"Fine. Any orders from the commander?"

Vlad looked at the meal pack and asked with a straight face. Mike had already opened the meal pack and started eating.

"Om nom nom, not yet."

Mike continued to eat even while talking which caused Rose to be irritated.

"Eat or talk, don't do both at one time."

Rose glared at him. Mike lowered his head in defeat, but he still munched on the hard meat pieces.

"About my gear, did you tell it to the Commander?"

Vlad opened the meal pack and saw rice, some curry and very few pieces of hard meat.

"I did. Later come with me to get and adjust the new gear for you."

Vlad's eyes were blanking staring at the pieces of meat on his meal pack.

"How does it feel to die?"

Suddenly, Vlad asked with a curious face. Both Rose and Mike stopped eating and looked at him with confusion.

"I mean, does it hurt while we are dying? What comes after death? Afterlife in hell or heaven? Does hell and heaven really exist? How does one go t-"

"Vlad!"

Rose called his name. Vlad looked up at Rose and Mike to see frowns on their faces.

"... Sorry. I am just… confused."

Vlad stayed silent the entire time as they finished their meal. But Rose and Mike kept glancing at him from time to time.

They saw the white lines in his eyes, like spiderwebs it had spread around the irises.

Staring in Vlad's eyes, it was as if they were getting swallowed slowly.

"Let's go."

With Rose taking the lead, Mike followed after while Vlad was the last.

His steps were slow but his eyes moved quickly and scanned the entire room again.

'My vision, it really has been affected now. I can already make out the difference from before.'

* * *

In their room, Vlad and Mike slept on their respective beds.

Due to the deaths of many new and old members of the Survey Corps, many rooms were emptied.

Some even had a whole room for themselves while many decided to share one room.

"Captain, why do titans exist?"

Asked Mike, he had his right hand raised and his eyes were on the ring on his middle finger.

This ring belonged to Vector, which now was given to Mike.

"If I knew, why wouldn't others?"

Responded Vlad half-heartedly. Mike stopped talking to Vlad as he knew it was futile.

To make Vlad talk, or converse with him, it was a very difficult task that even Rose got a headache.

'My vision, if it was at 90% before now it had gone to 80% after the last mission outside the walls.'

'It isn't really a problem to use my ODM gear or see. But I am unable to see far in the distance. I need to wear glasses but it would be suspicious.'

'Truly troublesome…'

Vlad had lied to the doctor because of many reasons. One of which was that it was related to his ability to see the future.

Also, if the commander got news of it as the doctor would definitely report, Vlad might not remain in the Survey Corps for long.

A defected soldier is almost a dead soldier in the battlefield. So what if Vlad had potential, if he was blinded even a kid could kill him.

'No, I can't become blind!'

Vlad's eyes opened as the black color parts of his irises glowed in dark light.

The white lines also glowed as if to control, then both the colored parts dimmed again.

'At first I didn't really think or care about it, but the price for this ability is really too much.'

To get blinded in a world that had titans roaming around just waiting for a chance to kill you, how dangerous.

'If I really reach a point where I have to become blind, I might still be able to use this ability to see.'

Just to be safe, Vlad had prepared many methods to deal with the blindness.

After knowing about this ability, Vlad tried to find the merits and demerits immediately.

If by any chance, Vlad has become blind. He could see the scenes of the future a moment later and guess his surroundings.

By this, he could still 'see'. But the future that Vlad sees is of something when he doesn't interfere.

If he does, the future will likely change but Vlad could somehow make out the changes by seeing the future again.

That's if he becomes blind and doesn't lose this ability of seeing the future.

What if he loses this ability the second he becomes blind?

What if he can't see the future anymore even after he is blinded?

Both were the same but in one case he had the ability but can't use it, in the other, he completely loses it.

"Fuu…"

Exhaling, Vlad stopped thinking for the moment and calmed his mind.

'This is something I can only know in the future.'

"Hehe…"

A laugh came out of Vlad's mouth. Mike raised his eyebrow while he faced the opposite direction.

'I have the ability to see the future and find the answer to all the questions I have but I can't… What a problem.'

Vlad found his situation quite funny and also miserable.

* * *

Three days later___

The sun was at the top, few clouds floated in the sky while birds flew by.

"Why are we tasked to guard the Wall?"

Rose stood at the edge of the huge Wall and stared down at the town before her.

"This is the work of the Garrison Regiment but why are we really positioned in this particular side of the Wall?"

Rose held her chin and thought of many events, activities or missions.

But not one was related to this.

'Maybe something big is going to happen.'

That is the only thing Rose could come up with as an explanation.

"Don't think too much."

Vlad walked from behind and stood next to her. His eyes stared at the town with darkness.

"But I didn't expect to see them here."

Muttered Vlad, he glanced to the left side and saw a few soldiers from the Garrison.

Those were the ones who had left Vlad on his own to protect the headquarters building in Trost.

'I haven't forgotten you all…'