Chapter 1: The World's First Grasp

Right after that voice appeared, everything suddenly seemed to freeze. Not long after—five seconds after the voice vanished—the noise returned.

Whether what just happened was real or not, as long as there's a chance to live, I have to try it. Isn't that right, Angga?

"...Ah, so this 'holy' empire prefers meaningless bloodshed instead? How ironic..." I laughed bitterly. Everyone present fell silent at once, probably staring at me and thinking, is this guy crazy?

"What do you mean, cursed demon?!" Emperor Caldiz's tone rose. There was a hint of confusion in the tremor of his voice.

"...War, war, and more war. Seems like you all love it, huh."

Tess! Tess!

My tears slowly flowed, then dripped down.

"You even need to cut off my neck just to claim that victory? If you're really brave enough, then cut off my neck and celebrate the 'false victory' you've all been waiting for. A victory earned by killing a quadriplegic, blind man. Maybe the real Dark Hero is laughing at you right now."

I smiled. Was that the best smile I could give?

Everyone present grew noisy again, though only in scattered whispers. My hearing is extraordinary—I could catch some of what they were saying.

"I-I guess that's true, actually. Now that I think about it, it'd be annoying to get laughed at by them."

"But what if he really is The Dark Hero? The tragedy from a hundred years ago could happen again."

The tragedy from a hundred years ago?

"Rather than pity him, I'd be more annoyed if we fell for a Dark Empire trick. They're cunning like that."

"True. What he said might make sense, but even if we kill him, it doesn't really change anything, does it? Better we follow Carrick's suggestion—if it turns out we're wrong, we deal with The Dark Hero then."

Ugh, even now, they still don't think of me as anything...

[ Quest Completed ]

Huh? How? Who—

"Your Majesty, stop the execution."

Amid the roaring, bloodthirsty cheers of the crowd, her voice cut through the front line like a clean blade. Clear, firm, and without a trace of hesitation. I could almost hear the weight of the iron armor she wore just from the way her chest swelled as she spoke.

"Lunaria Rosenberg, The 3rd Knight of Eldric Empire!"

The whole room gasped—the third-strongest knight of the Eldric Empire had just dared to interrupt an execution ordered directly by the emperor himself.

"Stop, Lunaria. Don't be disrespectful, or I'll cut off your head myself."

A male knight with a large build—his footsteps sounded heavier and louder than the rest—drew his long sword.

"Commander Rodric von Siegfried. As 'The 1st Knight of Eldric Empire,' surely you understand how absurd this situation is. Regardless, he is The Holy Hero." Lunaria's voice was steady and unwavering. She drew her own sword in response.

1st Knight versus 3rd Knight. Their auras alone, even standing still, were already lethal—let alone with swords drawn against each other.

"Didn't you hear, Lunaria?! Great Sorcerer Carrick said he is The Dark Hero. We don't know what will happen if we let him live." Rodric raised his voice, settling into a battle stance.

"You're insane! A quadriplegic, blind man like him can't even feed himself. There's no way he's The Dark Hero." Lunaria matched his stance, ready to fight.

"Oh, my dear Lunaria... Seems I forgot to tell you. If The Holy Hero who is summoned turns out to have a disability, then it's proof he's been contaminated by the holiness of this empire's land. Look at him!"

Huh? What is this? Why does it suddenly feel like my whole body is on fire, yet I don't feel anything at all?

"Oh My God! Black flames are coming out of his body! The flames of darkness!"

"Kill him! He's a demon! The Great Sorcerer was right."

"Kill him! Kill him! Kill him!"

Lunaria looked startled for a moment, then fell silent.

"...But my instincts tell me that what Bayu said might be true. There's no way my instincts are wrong..." Lunaria tightened her grip on her sword.

"Ha! Use your eyes. Maybe your hunter's instincts have gone dull. I trust my eyes, trained on the battlefield, far more than your instincts, which only work in some wilderness." Rodric said coldly.

"I trust my instincts, Commander. My apologies."

Lunaria snapped her fingers, and instantly the castle wall exploded. Smoke bombs suddenly scattered and burst, blanketing the entire castle in darkness.

My body was suddenly scooped up—a distinct scent of women's perfume wafted from her. This had to be Lunaria.

"Your hearing's sharp, right? Show me the way." she said to me shortly. I nodded.

"Lunaria! Have you forgotten your oath never to attack the emperor, no matter the circumstances? I stood in your way so you wouldn't touch him, but your attack still struck him! 'Heaven's Punishment' will cut your strength in half!"

"Sorry, Bayu, I'm going to freeze part of your body. Don't worry, I'll leave your head untouched."

SHRAAK! Ice crept up from the tips of my feet to my neck. My body froze instantly. FWOOOSH! Suddenly, flames spread across the right side of Lunaria's body.

"Lunaria! Y-your body is burning!"

"Heaven's Punishment. The entire right half of my body will burn away, just to get you out of here. I hope you can explain everything to me after this. Let's go, quickly!"

I guided Lunaria through the safest and fastest paths, and we managed to escape the empire's territory, heading into the wilderness—from the leaves brushing against me and the sounds of animals, I figured we were already in a forest.

[ Reward: Companion 'till the end ]

Huh? Is the reward Lunaria or something? That's way too delayed.

"We've arrived at the hideout."

Calling it a hideout felt like a stretch—it seemed more like a cozy little house tucked in the forest. I could hear the trickling sound of a river with a turning waterwheel, a horse neighing happily at the sight of its owner, Lunaria, birds chirping—I couldn't tell what kind, since I couldn't see them—and even the sound of dense trees, judging by how cool and crisp the air felt, I guessed there were a lot of trees around us.

"Ah, so it's still daytime. But why does it feel so cold?" I asked. Even mornings in Sidoarjo could never get this cold.

"Because it's autumn right now. But how did you know it's daytime?"

"Hmm... the warmth of the sun, the sound of birds chirping, how many animals are active, things like that."

Lunaria (I think) nodded. She sat me down on her simple wooden bed, then melted the ice that had frozen my body.

Suddenly I remembered about 'Heaven's Punishment.' "Ah, the fire that was burning you, has it gone out?"

"Heaven's Punishment ends once the punished either surrenders or leaves the territory. Half my body is charred now, but it's fine. I've heard there's plenty of magic that can restore even severe physical injuries back to normal."

Lunaria pulled a wooden chair up in front of me.

"Haah... Honestly, I didn't want to save you if the risk was this big. Why should I betray an entire empire for someone as paralyzed and blind as you?" Lunaria let out a heavy sigh, as if she wasn't fully at peace with having saved me either.

Well, honestly, I was pretty frustrated with myself too, being someone who couldn't do anything.

"I never asked to be summoned to this world either. My world doesn't know magic, let alone conflicts with some demon race or whatever this is."

"Oh wait, I forgot something." Lunaria got up from her chair and ran out of the room. We were still inside the house, apparently, judging by the sound of wooden furniture.

Hmm, wooden cups and plates? Maybe that's normal in this world.

Maybe this world had the atmosphere of the 18th century, heavy with all things royal—Angga used to tell me stories like that—so things that sounded ancient and strange in my world were probably modern and common here.

"Here, eat this. I forgot to prepare something for you—we rarely get guests here." Lunaria set down a tray with a plate of snacks and a glass of water.

"...Ahaha, I can't eat by myself..."

Lunaria smacked her own forehead—right, of course.

"Haah, your life really is a handful, huh... Wait," Lunaria's voice suddenly trailed off.

"...How do you go to the bathroom?"

Gulp. Right, that too.

"...Aaah, well—"

VROOM!

[ Quest: Show one unique ability that will impress her. ]

A unique ability?! I can't even move!

[ Reward: A chance to restore one part of your body ]

WHAT? SERIOUSLY? My arms and legs could go back to normal?

I thought for a moment. Maybe I really was summoned to this world to become The Holy Hero. If things kept going this way, there was a chance that something even I never thought was possible could actually happen.

The ability to become a normal human being, without any disability.

This is insane. If I could go back to normal, maybe little by little I could become more independent. I wouldn't have to be such a hassle like this.

"...Well?" Lunaria asked. Ah, right. It'd already been five seconds.

"...Usually Angga helps me. He's my best friend, and he's also been taking care of me since we were kids. We grew up together at the orphanage."

"Oh, I see." Lunaria began feeding me. "Open your mouth, you can't die of starvation here. I don't want my bed smelling like a corpse."

Uuuh... Was she doing this willingly or not? And what was her actual reason for saving me, anyway?

Even though her blunt words stung a little, well, what could I do. The truth was, I really was a burden to her.

My mouth started chewing the food she gave me. What was this? Seemed like bread, but why did it taste like this?

"...Why is the bread black like this?"

Lunaria instantly froze.

Ugh, how stupid of me. She went through the trouble of cooking even though she can't cook!

"...Ah, sorry. I didn't know you forced yourself to cook even though you can't—"

"How could you tell it was black?"

Huh? So it wasn't because she was offended about the cooking?

Lunaria's voice sounded very careful. But from her tone, she was just cautious, not treating me like I was dangerous or malicious.

"...Mmm, how do I explain it? I don't really know myself."

"Can you use magic? Magic eyes?"

"No, no, I definitely can't use any magic at all. Try showing me something else, let me guess the color."

Lunaria picked up a brown wooden cup from the table and held it in front of me. "What about this?"

"Hmm, brown?"

Lunaria looked startled. "What about this?"

A dagger. "Hmm..." Like the color of the kitchen knives back at the orphanage, what was it called again...

"...Silver?"

"Wow, that's amazing! That's not magic?" Lunaria looked astonished, her eyes sparkling. "It's not magic. Back in my world, this is part of a martial art called 'Silat Merpati Putih'—seeing without eyes, only through sensing vibrations. Well, though I could never fully master the whole martial art itself."

I explained at length to Lunaria about this vibration-sensing technique. It's fairly well-known among Indonesian people, so much so that some mistake it for shamanism or magic practice, even though it's completely real. This vibration-sensing skill also helps many blind individuals with daily activities, allowing them to recognize shapes, colors, textures, even direction. Of course, they perceive it in a different form. Lunaria listened with great enthusiasm, so much so that her long blonde hair swayed along with her overly excited movements. She said she wanted to learn it herself someday.

[ Quest Completed ]

Huh? Wait, that was easy?!

[ Reward: Choose which body part you want restored. ]

Honestly, I wanted to restore just my legs. But since it was only one reward and not a pair, well, there wasn't much I could do about that. And on top of that, Lunaria's words earlier kept nagging at me...

...How do you go to the bathroom?

That really got stuck in my head.

My right hand—I needed that to take over Angga's role all this time.

Instantly, my right hand was wrapped in a golden-yellow light. Both Lunaria and I were startled by the sudden light enveloping my right hand.

At first, it began as a strange pinch of warmth deep in my chest, which then spread downward like a stream of scalding mercury flowing across my right shoulder. For 25 years, that arm had been nothing but a lifeless, cold lump of flesh. But suddenly, I felt a sensation like millions of invisible needles pricking beneath my skin. It was an immense pain... yet it was the pain I had missed the most, because it meant my nerves were being forced awake. Slowly, bit by bit, I tried to move my pinky finger. My brain sent signals that had never been given to nerves that had just come back to life after 25 years. The miracle was happening.

The tip of my right pinky finger twitched, 0.01 millimeters.

This is it! This is it!

Lunaria noticed the tiny movement of my pinky. "?! Could it be...?!"

I choked up. Tears began falling from my eyes.

"Hic, aaah... So this is what it feels like to move a body part other than my head..."

I smiled while crying tears of joy. My right hand slowly rose, trying to feel around, reaching for the beautiful face in front of me. A brave female knight. Lunaria Rosenberg.

"So it turns out, 'seeing' with your hands directly really is the best way, huh, Lunaria? I can recognize your face so much better now."

Lunaria smiled back, deeply moved, holding my hand. She let tears of joy fall too.

"Even though I don't understand what just happened, somehow I can feel it." she said, smiling widely.

"That empathy you have—that's exactly why you wanted to save me, Lunaria."

I could 'see' Lunaria's face in more detail now, my savior. Clean and smooth. "May I touch this?" I asked her, and she nodded in response.

The right side of Lunaria's face, burned from saving me. It felt rough, yet dry. Her hair slipped through my fingers, incredibly soft.

"...Incredible..."

I raised my right hand. The autumn air passing through my fingers suddenly felt real. Slowly, with intense trembling that drained all my strength, my breathing growing ragged, my fingers began to curl inward. My thumb met my index finger, then slowly locked together. I made a fist. For the first time in my life, I could feel the shape of my own palm. I couldn't hold back the sob catching in my throat. Good God... this hand is real. I can grasp my world now.

[ Reward: Right Hand Ability Acquired. ]

***