[57] Gage Symmetry (3)
“Shina! Keep your eyes open! Come to your senses!”
“brother! Live and live…!”
Shiina was not in a state to keep her cool. However, it was impossible to cross the river with the physical abilities of two young people. Armin realized he had to do it alone.
‘All we have to do is go to the Delphonse area. From there, the quantity will decrease because it is a delta. At the current rate, it should arrive in about 20 minutes.’
20 minutes? It was a long time. Can you survive 20 minutes in the rapids with a confused Shiina?
‘That’s stupid. I have no choice but to do it.’
Armin calmed down. The scene unfolding before my eyes was grotesquely distorted. Broken logs were coming down. I twisted my body with all my might. Even when water gets into his eyes, when a huge rock strikes him, or when a sharp tree cuts his skin, he continues to move through reality.
‘Just a little… just a little more!’
I felt Shiina’s tiny hands pinching my waist. It was miserable to feel that a weak life depended on him for everything, but a greater sense of duty awakened his spirit.
After a hellish time passed, the destination began to appear far downstream. But there was no way to get there. A broken tree toward the river was blocking the path.
“Listen to Shiina. We should avoid that. The only way to do that is to get into the water. your brother will hold you down Hold your breath, hold your breath, then rise again. Understand?”
“brother! scared! I can not!”
“I have to. you can do it. trust me!”
“brother! oh…!”
When the two vortices interlocked, the speed of the rapids more than doubled. In an unexpected situation, Armin bit his molar. The garbage of the flood attacked like a monster with only my head floating in sight.
Armin was chomping to the point of cramps in his feet. Sharp things scratched through the body. Continuing to bleed, his body temperature dropped, and he was losing consciousness. In the meantime, I came to a tree blocking the road. Looking at it from a close point, there was no other way but to go into the water.
“Shina! Goes!”
Armin glared at the approaching tree and timed it. And right before they collided, he pressed Shiina’s shoulder.
“Now!”
Shiina’s screaming voice drowned in the water. As Armin pressed down on Shiina, the sharp skin of the tree trunk that was wet with water expanded in his field of vision. However, all his nerves were focused on the hand holding Shiina. And the moment she passed under the tree trunk, she let go.
‘done! Success!’
Armin looked at the tree trunk approaching him with a faint smile. It was fortunate that he was able to save Shiina. And until that moment, he hadn’t closed his eyes.
“Brother!”
I could hear Shiina’s voice drifting downstream.
Shiina’s story ended there. The children bowed their heads in solemn hearts.
“I was swept to the Delphonse area and rescued by villagers. Thanks to being out of the woodlands, there were no dangerous structures and even the fainted Armin brother floated to where I was. The people of the school went out and treated it, but the diagnosis was permanent eye damage. Since then, my brother has lost his sight.”
“okay. Such a story for the two of you…”
“My brother taught me how to overcome fear himself. Thanks to you, I was able to overcome the overflow. But my brother lost his light. The greatest talent in the school’s history… that’s how it stopped.”
Sirone was heartbroken. It is not an exaggeration to say that losing eyes to humans means losing almost all of them. He couldn’t read books, and learning magic was bound to be a limitation. I could see how disappointed and distressed he must have been without seeing him.
“I met my brother after hearing that he came here three years ago. Since you are developing a painting style that draws light. That’s why I volunteered to be a model.”
“I see. Without knowing that, we misunderstood…”
Misunderstanding the relationship between the two as an affair was itself an act of disrespect to them. Just when the atmosphere was about to get dark, Armin brought tea and refreshments.
“Did I interrupt you? It’s rare for Shiina to bring up things from the past.”
“brother.”
“First, listen to the car. It’s not good, but it’s got my wife’s secret, so it’ll fit in your mouth.”
“Ah, thank you, I will eat well.”
Sirone and the others received the teacup in a happy attitude. It is said that he turned to a painter, but he showed a genius talent for magic 20 years ago. Although they could blame their unfortunate fate, they couldn’t look down on Armin as aspiring wizards.
Armin returned to the canvas and offered a seat in the back.
“ruler. Then I’ll have to work on it too. Can’t the guests wait over here?”
“Ah yes. Sure.”
The three of them took a teacup and moved their seats. Nade looked at Shiina and asked,
“Hey, I’m really sorry for asking this question, but you’re not painting nudes, are you?”
Now that I knew that Armin was a painter, I didn’t care what kind of art he did. However, I thought that it would be difficult for Shiina to do so in front of the disciple.
“ha ha ha! No matter how blind you are, you cannot ask too much of your dear sister.”
“But from what I heard earlier, let’s take off our clothes…”
“Oh, that’s it. Can you show me Shiina?”
Shiina opened the closet and took out a coat made of silver foil. The reflection of the light was so dazzling that it was difficult to even look at it. Sirone covered her face with her hand and said.
“wow! It is very bright.”
“You can’t see things accurately with the Spirit Zone alone. It is to feel the light by coating a person or object with a luminous body. In that sense, a tinfoil coat is a very good tool.”
“It is unique. To feel the light and paint a picture.”
“In exchange for losing an eye, I can draw what other artists cannot. But today is the last time I draw Shiina. A good sponsor appears and we have to move in within a few days. That’s why I wanted to show Shiina’s natural feeling. I feel like my beauty fades when I wear a coat.”
Shiina’s cheeks turned red.
“Your brother is also really… you don’t have anything to say.”
“haha! What do you think? In my head, you are still a nine-year-old kid.”
“Okay, let’s get to work quickly. When Keira comes back, you won’t be able to work.”
Sirone and the others wiggled their fingers and toes at the subtle and itchy air current. It was clear that they were like brother and sister, but they were not related by blood. Perhaps the reason why Shiina reacted more violently than usual to the rumor that she was having an affair was because she still had some lingering feelings for Armin.
“Then let’s begin. I’m drawing according to my feelings, so it will end earlier than usual.”
As Shiina took a stance, Armin grabbed charcoal and began drawing out a rough outline. Sirone and the others watching from the back admired his skills. It looked like a rough drawing, but the lines followed Shiina’s outline.
“wow! amazing.”
“Shh.”
Iruki raised his index finger and warned Nade. Not being able to see the eyes is a fatal flaw for a painter, so more concentration than usual would be required.
However, Sirone tilted her head. It was really strange. Even without a luminous body, Armin was accurately transferring even the detailed features of Shiina onto the canvas.
‘How is this possible? Is the density of the spirit zone that high? Even so, these details…’
If the spirit zone has considerable density, precise descriptions may be possible through synesthesia. It was the same principle as leaving footprints in the mud. However, I know that even Jonathan Etela has not reached that level.
The drawing has become more precise. Shiina had a beautiful smile that was rarely seen at school. Armin used the bread like an eraser to perfectly embody that smile on the canvas.
Sirone burst into exclamations inwardly. I heard that one of the most difficult things for a painter to express is the lips. This is because the feeling changes according to the subtle changes in the corners of the mouth.
‘I see. This is impossible.’
No matter how high the density of the spirit zone is, it didn’t make sense for a blind artist to catch even this part. The thought gave me goosebumps, and a sense of portrait revived again.
“Hey… Mr. Armin.”
“yes?”
Armin smiled and shook his head slightly. Sirone pondered for a moment whether it was okay to ask this question. If he was wrong, it would be a great disservice to him.
“Could Armin-san…”
But he couldn’t bear to ask. The chill of the supernatural sense penetrated deep into his bones.
“Can’t you see the eyes?”
Armin’s hand, still smiling, stopped abruptly. Calmly putting down the charcoal, he turned to Sirone and said.
“yes. I can see.”
Sirone was speechless. Are the eyes really seeing? But why did Shiina-sensei not know?
Armin, who had completely turned towards Sirone, removed the cloth covering his eyes. Numerous scars were carved around the closed eyes.
‘It’s obvious that you’re hurt, but how can you see it? No, you were covering your eyes from the start, right? But what about being visible…’
“You must have a lot of questions about me. I will show you.”
As Armin slowly opened his eyes, Sirone’s breath stopped. There were no pupils. It’s hard to say that it was a substitute, but the empty eye socket was filled with bright light.
“Yes Nade Iruki! see that one? huh?”
Sirone slapped Nade on the thigh in a sense of urgency. However, the feeling transmitted through the hands was strange. Hardness as if touching an object. Turning his head to look at his friends, he jumped up with a shocked look on his face.
“Nonsense! how?”
Nade wasn’t even moving. Iruki was also looking at the canvas with a smile on his face. I hurriedly moved and looked at Shiina, but it was the same. It just stayed there, hardened like a wax figure. Armin approached behind Sirone, who was in confusion.
“It’s been a while since a guest came to my room.”
“Could this be…?”
“yes. you’re right. It is the magic of stopping.”
Sirone turned around with a bewildered expression. Stop is a magic that only wizards who use the speed of light can do, and throughout history, those who have reached this level have been counted on their hands. In a word, he was experiencing the absolute realm of time magic.
“Sit. Let’s talk calmly. Because I have a lot of time.”
“Haha…”
Sirone laughed awkwardly. Certainly, if time had stopped, time could be said to be infinite.
“Actually, I was nervous while drawing. You never know when Sirone-kun will come into the station field at this time.”
“How did you know I would notice?”
Armin pointed to the light embedded in his eye socket.
“The organ called the eye takes in light and reconstructs it into visual information. But I, who have no eyes, feel the world through light itself. It’s a pretty terrible experience. The shape of an object that normal people perceive looks completely different to me.”
“It’s called Idea.”
There is no guarantee that the human senses will accept the truth. Maybe the bricks are as soft as jelly. The fire was cold, and a lover’s sweet kiss might have been painful.
“Let me introduce myself properly. I am Armin of Gwangan. A sorcerer known to those in the know as the Eternal Reflector.”
“But Armin-san was a magician when he was young…”
“Yes. It was an unfortunate accident. I left the Olifer School and wandered the world aimlessly for 15 years. A world of only darkness.”
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