Not as He Appeared

Akari was in shock. After all, he didn’t appear blind to her.

“I get that a lot. Unfortunately, I don’t know what looking blind, or not looking blind, is supposed to look like. But I assure you, mademoiselle. The only thing I see is the aura that emanates from everything in this world.”

Akari still found what he was saying to be unbelievable. Revisiting when she’d ran into Mihd back at the carriage, his choice of words suddenly began to ring a bell.

“I change my mind. I’d like to have that painting.”

“No way, I said I’d pay you for it.”

“You can keep the money.”

“A deal’s a deal. You can’t change your mind now.”

Akari sulked, the sense of how passionate Mihd was about the painting filling her with a flood of remorse.

“Then let’s add a new deal. You come with me, and not only do you get to ride in the carriage, but you also get a place to stay for a day or two… hopefully.”

“I get to keep the painting?”

“You get to keep the painting, but you allow me to show it to someone.”

Mihd twisted his mouth sideways as he considered the offer, peeking out towards the carriage off in the distance. “Where exactly will I be staying?”

The owner of the pub was furious. “Absolutely not!” he fought, “This isn’t a tavern.”

Mihd sniffed around the bar, ecstatic about the selection of liquors available.

“It’s only until Azu gets back, this should cover it, right? I’m sure you have a spare bed somewhere.”

The owner looked upon the pile of coins, a tug of war brewing within his face. Akari had abandoned her plan to find a script user, instead settling for using the cash she’d made as payment to keep Mihd in the village.

“Why don’t you just keep him at the house you’re staying in?”

Akari’s face flinched at the thought, arguing, “Do you think it would make sense for me to be holed up with that in the same room?”

Riding himself of his opposition with a large breath of air, the owner reluctantly agreed to provide lodging for Mihd, “But only for two days tops! If Azu doesn’t show back up by then, he’s out!”

Akari paraded in her successful first self-imposed mission. She’d hoped that by coming across Mihd and his painting, then she would soon begin to make better sense of exactly what this world was.

That hope, however, was soon on the brink of collapsing.

Three days passed and the owner was now at his wits end. Akari clung on to him, desperately trying to stop him from dragging Mihd out of his pub. The owner’s massive size proved undefeated, however, as Akari was simply dragged along like a bug latched onto his clothes.

“The amount of liquor he’s stolen from my bar probably amounts to twice the amount you paid me. He’s gone!”

Mihd was tossed through the door, landing in the dirt road outside the pub. Akari lost her grip and fell backwards onto the ground. As Mihd reached his hand out for his painting, he latched onto to a pair of legs.

Standing before him was Azu, having just returned to the village mere moments prior. Mihd couldn’t see the confused glare staring down upon him, but he certainly could feel the rising pressure radiating from Azu. As too did Akari, who wondered how exactly she would possibly explain away her choice to ignore his warning not to leave the village.

Back at the house, as expected, Akari had to endure the scolding spewing from Azu, who was equally angry with the bar owner for letting her do so. What bothered her the most was not that he was angry, but rather, disappointed. It was then that she made the decision not to keep her dreams a secret from him anymore. Realizing that she would need every bit of help she could get.

“I’ve been having these strange dreams. Like experiencing different memories that I don’t remember having. About the tribe, my friend, Kuro… and mind control.”

The thought plunged her back into confusion, haunted by the idea that another version of herself somehow lingered within… one she had no recollection of. “I don’t know. After that I got scared. I thought if mind control could be possible then I should find a defense against it.”

“You should’ve waited until I got back.”

“You were gone for forever.”

“Don’t overexaggerate it.”

“It’s not an overexaggeration; I don’t live as long as you do!”

As the two quarreled back and forth, Mihd made himself comfortable on Akari’s bed, forcing a raging roar from her as she kicked him off of it. Overwhelmed by the sheer chaos within his home, Azu pushed to get everyone’s mind back on track.

“Either way, the human mind is too complex for someone to control it with scripts. I may not be one to speak about what people are capable of when it comes to scripts, but I’m fairly certain a possession script used on the human mind would be a much larger undertaking than Sir Didact’s deep-dive.”

“Then just don’t try to control the mind.” Mihd’s sudden interest in the conversation yanked their attentions, with Azu pressing Mihd to explain further.

“All you really need to do is control the body. The mind could remain intact, although in order to see, the user would have to commandeer the eyes which could be done the same way a looking-glass script uses reflections to spy on people.

Azu was astounded by the drunkard’s knowledge. Although variables still surmounted, the theory was plausible. “What would a blind man want with a guild?” Azu asked, now curious to know more about Mihd. “I don’t take you for a beggar.”

“Believe it or not, I’m a Counter-Scytale. Turns out that my knack for feeling out unique auras in things bode well for finding prying eyes.”

Azu’s eyes narrowed, latching onto Mihd with laser focus. Realizing that who he was now staring at was not the man he had anticipated, with a single question rattling his thoughts. Just who is this guy?