260

Chapter 260 — What If (8)

“Is there a tool that can change eye color too?”

In one corner of the city of Hudelen, Akata, a girl who had become fairly proficient in the local language, asked her senior while mulling over the contents of the letter that had arrived yesterday. Bracelets woven from high-quality threads dangled all along the girl’s arms.

“There are some, sure?”

“Really?”

“Of course.”

Why do you ask, though? At her senior’s added question, Akata shrugged. All three pairs of arms rose at once.

“A while ago, I heard a customer saying they were sick of being called ominous because of their eye color and that they had to do something about it somehow.”

“Eye color?”

“They had blue eyes, but there was brown mixed through them like stains.”

“Ahh. You do get people like that sometimes. They’re incredibly rare, though. Looks like you happened to meet one.”

In truth, she had seen such eyes while she was still living with her tribe, and among her people they were not particularly rare.

Akata smiled brightly while leaving that fact out altogether.

“So can people like that change their eye color too?”

“Well. It isn’t impossible.”

“Judging by the way you said that, I guess it’s expensive.”

“It is.”

“More expensive than changing hair color?”

“Yeah. Changing eye color can only be done with magic.”

“Why?”

“Well… you can’t exactly pour dye into your eyes, can you?”

“Ah….”

Akata understood immediately. After all, even when used only on hair, modern dyes were harsh enough that one had to brace for hair loss or scalp rashes. If someone poured dye that strong into their eyes, blindness would be the only future waiting for them.

“Hmm. That person’s clothes didn’t really make them look rich….”

“Then it’d probably be difficult.”

“Is it really that expensive?”

“Hmm. Well. The principle behind those products is to cast an illusion spell over a localized area—the eyes—so it wouldn’t be outrageously expensive by the standards of magical tools… but it’d still cost more than a million gal. Especially with the way things are right now.”

“Wow….”

A million gal.

Akata’s eight eyes widened at an amount far beyond what she could presently reach. She had expected a magical product to cost a fair amount, but she hadn’t imagined the number would have an entirely different number of digits from what she had expected.

“Why? Did you want to buy one too?”

“Why would I buy something that changes my eye color? If I were going to buy anything… I’d buy an item that makes it look like I don’t have the eyes on my forehead.”

“Uh….”

Racial discrimination had been steadily decreasing in the face of the common enemy known as demons, but that only worked for appearances people were already accustomed to.

The girl, whose appearance was rarer still than that of scale-covered Shaggi, had experienced every kind of discrimination Hudelen had to offer since arriving there. She had also long since realized that simply covering the six eyes on her forehead reduced that discrimination considerably.

“Now that I’ve said it out loud, I want one even more. If you can cast an illusion on the eyes, then you should be able to cast one on the forehead too, right? Then I wouldn’t have to cover my forehead with cloth, and I’d get my full field of vision back.”

And precisely because of that, the more the girl spoke, the more clearly she realized how valuable such an item would be.

If an illusion could change eye color, then it could also be used to hide scars. Perhaps it might even be possible to change the appearance of an entire face.

“…But something capable of that would be even more expensive, wouldn’t it? Since the area requiring an illusion would be larger.”

“Probably… yeah.”

How much would she have to pour into buying something like that?

And before that, what would she have to sell, and what would she have to do, to gather that much money?

The girl stretched two of her hands out in front of her. The things that had led Hudelen’s latest fashion trends, yet had been deprived of opportunities because of discrimination, came sharply into view.

“Still! I don’t think you need to buy an item like that!”

While she stood there quietly, the girl’s senior, who had been hesitating, suddenly shouted. Apparently, in that brief span of time, he had worked out something to say to comfort Akata; his face was covered in sweat.

“If you hide your eyes… sure, people might accept you right now, but later on, beings with eight eyes might end up being rejected. Eight eyes are something people should learn to accept. They aren’t something you should have to hide.”

“…Mr. Chelsea.”

“Of course, if what you’re going through right now is so difficult that you decide you have to hide them, I won’t stop you then….”

“I didn’t want one badly enough to be desperate about it, but that was kind of touching.”

She had only been talking without giving it much thought, so she hadn’t expected such a serious answer. When Akata said so, Chelsea’s face turned bright red.

“You scared the hell out of me, kid….”

“I think about this sometimes, but you’re too sensitive, Mr. Chelsea.”

“What are you talking about…? It isn’t that I’m sensitive. You’re just strong.”

“…Am I?”

“Yeah. Usually, this kind of discrimination is hard even for adults to endure.”

That was another opinion she had never heard before.

She had already gone through too much before this to become discouraged over something like this, and she also had a bundle of treasures that gave her strength when things were difficult. So she had always simply thought, This much is manageable, and moved on.

But perhaps that wasn’t something natural at all.

Perhaps she herself was the unusual one.

“If that’s the case, I’m glad.”

Akata toyed with a bracelet made from thread taken from her bundle of treasures. It made her strangely happy, as though she had just been told she was doing well.

Now she could face that person without shame.

“Hmm. Still, I’m going to sell the bracelets while hiding my identity. Discrimination or whatever, I’m not letting this trend pass me by.”

“That part is up to you….”

Separately, she couldn’t afford to miss an opportunity to make money.

She lifted the bracelet she had just finished.

It resembled the styles currently in fashion, but its pattern was more elaborate and sophisticated. The bracelet swayed in the girl’s hand.

“Hehehe. The original has arrived.”

“Good grief. Even when you laugh like that, you don’t look evil, kid….”

“But still. Isn’t it pretty funny that the people who said they wouldn’t buy something made by ‘that thing with too many eyes’ go crazy for it the moment I hide who I am?”

“Well, that’s true….”

“And if I work hard for a few weeks, I’ll be able to hold my head up in front of the Grand Chieftain too.”

“Ah, right. You said a letter came from the Great Forest.”

Chelsea, who knew Akata’s relationship with her homeland wasn’t particularly good, lightly scratched the bridge of his nose.

“Can I ask what it said?”

“Of course. It wasn’t anything special. How are you doing, things here are the same as always, I have a favor to ask, could you get something for me. That was about it.”

“…And you agreed?”

“It was the Grand Chieftain asking, of all people. I’m not close with the people back home, but the Grand Chieftain treated me well. And the request itself was so… kind of pitiful.”

“What was it?”

“He wanted a wig to hide someone’s baldness….”

“Ah….”

“I don’t know whether it’s a racial trait, but bald people are incredibly rare back home. So if someone actually went bald… isn’t that pitiful?”

“Yeah… that is pitiful… that’s worth helping with….”

While her senior unconsciously touched his own broad forehead, Akata grinned.

That was merely the story meant for outsiders. The truly important part had been in the latter half of the letter, but what would be the point of mentioning that as well?

Akata hid the truth behind another truth and grinned.

Read only on MUGEX

* * *

So the dye only works when I’m using the Disguise skill?

I turned my face this way and that, using my polished gauntlet as a mirror.

It wasn’t reflective enough to function like an actual mirror, but the blurred image was still clear enough to tell whether my eyebrows looked dark or light.

“…My eyebrows are gone.”

Strictly speaking, it wasn’t really a distinction between dark and light.

It was closer to: if I could see my eyebrows, they were their original color; if I couldn’t see them, they had been dyed.

It was almost certainly a valid way to tell, since whenever my eyebrows looked nonexistent in the gauntlet’s reflection, brown eyebrows could still be seen when I looked at myself in water.

If someone asked why they disappeared in the gauntlet, the only answer I could give was that the color was so pale it probably blended into the skin when the reflected image became blurred.

“Ha.”

Still, if my eyebrows became this faint, wouldn’t it change my overall impression considerably?

The eyepatch and scar beside my mouth were still problems, but eyebrows influenced a person’s appearance more than people tended to think.

Well, setting every one of those problems aside, the most disappointing thing was that the dye stopped working the instant I deactivated Disguise.

“Is Magic Resistance the problem…?”

I spent a while wondering why, and eventually found something that at least resembled an answer.

The main difference between the skill’s active and inactive states was the pile of debuffs attached to it, and among those, only one looked capable of causing this.

The difference in how long the dye lasted between the early and middle stages of Disguise also served as fairly strong evidence.

Because of the nature of the skill, the longer Disguise remained active, the more sharply my Magic Resistance dropped.

And in line with that, the dye lasted longer too.

Yeah. This had to be the cause.

“You were barely even noticeable in combat, so why are you getting in my way only now…?”

Why had Magic Resistance been useless at every other time, yet become an obstacle now of all times?

Grumbling, I checked the time.

If my eyebrow color suddenly reverted while I was walking through a city or talking to people, that would be a serious problem.

So I had no choice.

I absolutely needed to learn how long the dye would last in case something went wrong.

Rustle.

At that moment, the bushes beyond the gathering area the Mountain Lord had created for me shook.

My legs, which had been bent while I harvested mushrooms, straightened again as I drew my sword.

Srrr.

The hair of the wig I had continued wearing so I could get used to it slid softly downward.

I had loosely tied it back because of its awkward length, but apparently the hair tie had slipped out again.

Crash!

Meanwhile, the trembling bushes finally split apart, and a leopard burst through them.

For a creature living in this forest, it was fairly small. Maybe it was still young.

The hand that had raised my sword in a proper grip twitched, then reversed it.

Now my gauntlet was holding the blade of the longsword instead of the hilt.

Thud!

I dodged the leopard’s charge and smacked its hide with the broad face of the sword’s pommel and guard.

However, the dynamically moving leopard’s body was curved, which caused both ends of the guard to rake across its hide.

Slash!

A clear wound opened between the fur, and the area began turning red.

“Oh….”

I stared at the blood smeared across the guard with an awkward expression.

Back when I played the game, I had seen an animation where the character killed an enemy by driving the end of the guard into the back of their neck like swinging a pickaxe, but I had forgotten about it because I’d never had any particular reason to use it….

Thinking about it again now, I could really feel just how much of a self-taught hack swordsman I was.

Without the combat system’s corrections, wouldn’t I probably have died ages ago?

Hiss!

…But right now, the System could genuinely be either the real Demon Knight or the demon, couldn’t it?

Then were they the ones providing that correction too?

With nothing but a bizarre feeling about a truth I really hadn’t wanted to know, I lightly kicked the charging beast in the belly.

Animal abuse or not, I couldn’t exactly cut it to death with a sword.

If there had been people nearby, I would have killed it for their safety, but what need was there now?

This was the compromise I had settled on.

So please, hurry up and realize I’m prey you can’t defeat and go away….

Grrrrrr….

Had my desperate wish finally gotten through?

The leopard at last came to its senses.

It still seemed tempted by my flesh and continued circling me, but at least it stopped trying to attack.

However, if I simply ended things here, there was a chance it would watch for another opening and attack again.

I drew up my Mana to give it a more definite warning.

Drip.

Blood immediately began running from my nostrils, and my fingertips curled.

Slash!

From the ground directly in front of me to the leopard’s paws, four claw marks tore through the earth.

The terrified leopard bolted away in a panic.

That was a relief, but my nose was now in pretty bad shape.

“Snff—ah, damn it.”

Seriously.

Mana Backflow was absolutely ridiculous.

How did it make any sense for my nose to start bleeding immediately after using Mana once?

I grumbled with complete sincerity and dropped onto the ground.

The tree where clusters of mushrooms had been growing was now supporting my backside as well.

For reference, I had already harvested the mushrooms from the exact spot where I sat, so no innocent mushrooms were crushed beneath me.

[Waaah! Waaah!]

Then, after my nose, my eardrums developed a problem too.

“…You came again?”

[No, why is your nose bleeding again? I brought you something to eat. Want some of this, at least?]

Such a noisy serpent.

The corners of my mouth lifted slightly.

[Huh? Huhhh? Where’d the lunchbox go?]

And when the Mountain Lord proceeded to make an even greater spectacle, my raised lips finally parted.

Pfft.

At the breathy sound of laughter, the Mountain Lord’s head whipped around.

[Y-you laughed?]

My lips immediately closed again, and the eyes that had curved into crescents straightened as though nothing had ever happened.

“No such thing happened.”

[No, you just laughed!]

“I did not.”

[But—]

“I said I didn’t.”

It was an ordinary day.