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Chapter 41: The Omniscient Eyes, Redar
Chapter 41: The Omniscient Eyes, Redar
Chapter 41: The Omniscient Eyes, Redar
“Dad, I’ve been curious about this for a long time. What is it?”
“What are you talking about, Redar?”
My eyes are special.
It was a fact that Redar Lebringer realized when he was a child.
Whenever he looked at others, there were beams of light around them.
Even when he looked at himself through a mirror,
“I see something around people when I look at them… I’m not sure what to call it.”
“Oh? Then, will you let me know when you find out what it is?”
“Yes, I will. I’ll tell you first, Dad.”
“Haha, I’ll be waiting.”
However, Redar couldn’t find any meaning or value in those rays of light.
“Dad, I can’t see that strange thing anymore.”
“Hmm? Oh, you mean the light. Why? Do you have any idea why you can’t see it anymore?”
“I’m not sure, but I think it’s a relief. It was quite uncomfortable. Plus, isn’t it strange? When I told my friends about it, one of them asked if I had some kind of disease.”
“That’s rude. What did you do to that friend?”
“I scolded him and he apologized.”
“Hahaha! That’s my son.”
“Anyway, I’m happy. I can’t see that strange thing anymore.”
My eyes are not special.
They’re strange.
In the end, Redar came to the conclusion about his eyes.
Thankfully, if he wished not to, he could no longer see the beams of light.
Thus, Redar lived and forgot about his eyes, eventually going from a child to a teenager.
And from a teenager to a young man.
As the eldest son of the Lebringer family, he began to receive formal education for the family.
He learned how to handle his body, and how to use a sword.
He learned how to behave from the teachings he received.
Most importantly, he learned how to handle mana.
It was one day when the way Redar saw the world changed rapidly.
He suddenly became curious.
What would the meaningless beams of light he saw in his childhood look like to him now?
Curious, Redar looked at his swordsmanship teacher, Olgin.
And he wished to see the beams of light again.
After a very long time, the beams of light reappeared.
“Huh?”
The beams of light had changed.
They contained consistency and rules that were not there before.
Redar was able to read the meaning within it through these rules and consistency.
It was red.
It was fierce like burning flames.
Such beams of light formed five layers in a row.
That was the light beam that Redar saw from Olgin.
The Olgin that Redar knew handled mana with the unique fire energy of the Lebringer family.
Such mana and swordsmanship were fierce like burning flames.
He stayed at the 4-star realm.
Five beams of light.
And Olgin’s realm, staying at the 4-star.
Mesmerized, Redar asked Olgin.
“Olgin, didn’t you recently enter the 5-star realm?”
Surprised, Olgin answered.
“H-How did you know that…? I just achieved this yesterday, and no one else knows yet -”
That day, Redar realized.
These beams of light represent the power of the subject.
His eyes had the ability to recognize the power of the subject.
***
After realizing his abilities, Redar often spent time outside the castle observing people.
“Hmm?”
One day, he happened upon a type of light beam he had never seen before.
The ‘rank’ of the light beam itself was insignificant.
It was merely two light beams, and its form was also unstable.
This indicated that the subject was at a 2-star level, and their understanding of the skills they were handling was low – or the depth of the skills they were handling themselves was superficial.
It was the kind of light beam you could easily see in any bar.
However, what was peculiar was its color.
The light beam had a faint bloody red tint.
‘A bloody red color…?’
Redar went over his memories.
Had he ever seen a bloody red light beam before?
No.
‘I feel sick.’
Redar felt an indefinable unease from the bloody red light beam.
What also troubled him was that the owner of such a light beam was a mere barmaid at a tavern.
Those at a 2-star stage and handling ordinary skills can be easily found in any bar, that’s true.
However, this only applies to the adventurers who primarily patronize the taverns.
Martial artists at the 2-star level could easily be found among seasoned adventurers in their late twenties.
But a young barmaid at a tavern being a 2-star martial artist?
And on top of that, owning an ominous-colored light beam he’s seeing for the first time?
“Suspicious.”
Redar trusted his abilities.
He used the influence he held as the eldest son of the Lebringer family to investigate the barmaid.
Assassin.
That was the identity of the barmaid revealed through the investigation.
To be exact, calling her an assassin was a bit of a stretch.
She just happened to indirectly come into contact with the Harashin, and was bestowed a fake assassination technique, making her an inheritor of the Harashin barrier.
What Redar realized through her existence, which involved luring gullible adventurers by changing her appearance into a young woman using the assassination technique and then robbing them, was clear.
Assassin –
The fact that the Harashin had a bloody red light beam.
The Harashin were loathsome beings whom someone surely wanted to exterminate.
Also, they were awkward beings someone wouldn’t want to be associated with if possible.
Redar – or rather, the Lebringer family belonged to the latter category.
At least for now.
But one never knows when the story might change.
Therefore, Redar decided to vividly remember the inherent bloody red color of the Harashin.
***
The Omniscient Eye.
That name followed Redar around the time he was about to graduate from the Academy.
“Friend, you’re showing all your underwear if you sit like that.”
“Are you, are you crazy?!”
“There’s a hair sticking out of your nose.”
“Sir Redar! That’s going too far!”
“Hmm? Have you already broken up with the girl you hung out with a week ago?”
“Si, sir Redar…!”
“You, what did you say?”
What a grandiose name. Its original meaning was mockery.
“Hey, Redar. How can you, with those big eyes, always watching people, be so clueless?”
Observing light beams had now become his only hobby and his biggest interest.
His friends mocked Redar, who would observe people with the blue pupils of his big omniscient eyes all the time, but was particularly clumsy when it came to communication with people.
However, as time went on, not only mockery but also reverence was contained in the name Omniscient Eye.
Redar hid his abilities from others.
Even from his parents.
Revealing such a peculiar and alien ability to others was inauspicious.
Nevertheless, Redar’s ability, combined with the exceptional swordsmanship he inherently possessed, was brought to light.
“You have a weak point at your left waist.”
“But I’ve told you many times, my field of view is too narrow.”
“You seem like you would suit a bow better than a sword.”
Martial artists spend their lives confronting themselves.
Those martial artists who had failed to discover their weaknesses in their lifetime, the owner of transcendent insight, who can see and know at a glance,
Omniscient Eye Redar.
From the time he entered the academy until graduation, he never lost the position of the top student in the swordsmanship department. Now, not just the academy and Arienne, but the entire continent knew that name.
The realm of the 7-star.
A genius who managed to reach the realm of a hero, the place where an ordinary person could never reach, before he even reached the age of 30.
Known as a hero who stands at the forefront of mana field purification, more than anyone else.
***
After graduating from the academy, Redar headed straight to the Great Mana Field.
In the Great Mana Field, he devoted himself to purifying the Mana Field.
The people unanimously praised Redar’s choice as a step taken with the strong sense of duty he had as the eldest son and heir of a great family and as a hero.
“This place is more fun.”
But Redar wasn’t as heroic as the world knew.
He was closer to an eccentric rather than a hero if put to question.
Interest. And fun.
That was why Redar went to the Great Mana Field and why he stayed there.
It was probably the extension of his light beam observation, which became his only hobby and his greatest interest.
Demons, dark magicians, monsters, supernatural beings, criminals, and the like.
All sorts of dangers that were hard to encounter in the ordinary world permeated the Great Mana Field.
Redar went to face these dangers that were hard to come across in an ordinary world.
To meet and observe all sorts of light beams that were hard to come across in the general world.
It was an adventure.
However, since the purification of the Great Mana Field itself was a commendable feat, nobody objected to his choice.
Then, after Redar had been entrenched in the Mana Field for some time,
He suddenly left the Mana Field.
He had received a message.
It was a message containing the news that his adorable younger sister, Drin Lebringer, was entering the academy.
Given the talent of his adorable younger sister, she would surely top the entrance examination without a hitch.
How could he be called a brother if he didn’t send a word of congratulations on such a joyous day?
After a very long time, Redar stepped out of the Mana Field and headed straight to Arienne.
He arrived at the Lebringer mansion located in the 1st District of Arienne.
“Let’s see how much my little sister has grown~”
In order to surprise Drin, he sneaked into the mansion without making a sound.
The first thing he saw as he followed the smell of food into the hall was a 7-layered light beam, which was hard to encounter even in the Great Mana Field.
‘Oh…! Ah, what is it?’
Redar was excited for a moment, but then he was immediately disappointed when he recognized the face.
It was Yena, the maid of the Lebringer family.
Redar immediately lost interest in Yena’s familiar light beam and turned his gaze elsewhere.
A woman of elegant demeanor, with her distinctive blonde hair curled up at the ends.
‘Let’s see – 3 stars at that age? Quite impressive.’
A beam of light divided into 3 layers.
The color of the transparent light beam.
The flow and shape of the light beam, wild as a whirlwind while unstable.
‘She handles a spear – no, a rapier. Then she must be a lady of the Espien family. Who is next-‘
A woman that reminded him of a fox with her expressive eyes, and her distinctive lush, orange hair.
Two clear light beams and one vague light beam.
‘She barely reaches 3 stars. Well, it’s not bad at this age. Judging by the slight mix of Wind and Fire- probably a miss of the Teln family. Who’s next-‘
A petite woman with an emotionless expression, a black mask, and a rare light blue bob hair-cut stood out.
‘This lady is also slightly less than 3 stars. And this faded gray is… Bauer? Unexpected. I didn’t know Drin invited Bauer to the Lebringer residence.’
Redar looked around at the girls sitting at the dining table and made a face as if he found them interesting.
The level of their light beams, considered by themselves, were nothing special to Redar who had encountered numerous light beams in the Grand Magic Field.
However, considering their ages?
‘Is this Drin’s discerning eye? She’s only gathered girls with promising futures.’
They had light beams full of future promise.
Redar decided that he should visit Arienne frequently, if only to watch the growth of those light beams.
‘Huh?’
At this moment.
There was an existence that grabbed Redar’s attention.
Correct.
An existence.
Redar couldn’t tell if it was a male or a female.
Whether it was a child or an elderly, he did not know.
Whether it was a human or another species, he could not tell.
Nothing could be seen.
It looked like it was smeared with black paint over a picture.
A black curtain hid its existence.
‘What is that?’
Redar stood next to Yena and stared blankly at the unidentified existence for a moment.
Realizing that the black curtain was an illusion created by his eyes, he concentrated his mind on his eyes.
Then the black curtain was lifted.
The existence behind the curtain was revealed, and Redar almost burst into laughter.
The existence that appeared after the curtain was lifted was so- insignificant.
He was a man with an expression so awake that he seemed he might just fly away with the wind.
However, Redar’s expression quickly turned serious when he witnessed the light beam the man possessed.
It was a dark red light beam.
A vivid colour of dark red he had never seen before, not even from the direct heirs of Harashin nor the direct masters he encountered in the Grand Magic Field.
Just focusing on the dark red colour that was so vivid it seemed like one’s eyes could go blind from looking at it, that man was without a doubt, a Harashin.
‘Interesting.’
However, the shape of that light beam was strange.
The form of the light beam that any Harashin would typically possess.
The shape of an assassin’s technique.
He could not see a hint of this assassin technique in the man’s light beam.
There was only one possibility that could explain this.
‘Born with it?’
That man was born with the talent for assassinations.
If he were to join Harashin, he could easily ascend to the position of a direct master.
No, even beyond a direct master, he possessed the talent to surpass the Eight Fingers.
His talent was a transcendent talent, incomparable even to the inherent swordsmanship talent he himself had.
He could assert this.
After all, even his own light beam, which he could check through a mirror, was not as vivid as the man’s.
‘Relieving.’
Redar felt relieved.
He was glad that the man had not yet joined Harashin.
And that his light beam was still only two layers.
Redar had discovered a seed of disaster, a potential that could be reborn as a great evil threatening the world’s existence.
With his enormous blue pupils, Redar stared at the ominous light beam.
***
“Big brother! What brings you here…!”
Miss Drin, who spotted Redar belatedly, expressed her joy across her face.
‘She’s thrilled?’
Well, he is family, and it has been a while since they have seen each other.
‘But why on earth is he here now?’
As far as I knew, Redar rarely ventured out of the mana field once he entered it.
Also, he possessed the all-seeing eyes which had the ability to see through the essence of others.
‘… Surely he can’t see something, can he?’
It brought to mind the talents for assassination techniques and dark magic that I possessed.
I had a chilling sweat running down my back.
“Big brother…?”
“Could it be…!?”
“The omniscient eye…!”
The three ladies rose abruptly from their seats and saluted when they heard Miss Drin’s words.
With that, Redar casually waved the hand holding the chicken leg.
“Ah~ Everyone, don’t mind me and just continue with what you were doing.”
Redar rose from his seat and addressed Miss Drin.
“I thought our little sister would be alone as usual, celebrating the academy entrance exam, so I hurried over. But, what’s this? You’ve brought friends home and are having a good time?”
“Oh, big brother, what are you talking about!”
Miss Drin turned bright red and protested.
I was particularly upset about this.
He’s teasing Miss Drin, not me.
Besides, her reaction was priceless.
‘Is she angry?’
I had to let it go, he is her family after all.
“Haha, what am I saying. I’m glad, little sister.”
Redar, who had risen from his seat, pushed in his chair.
“Huh? Big brother?”
“If I stay here absent-mindedly, I’ll inevitably hear more about the all-seeing eye. I think I might ruin the mood. So, I’ll leave now.”
“Are you leaving already?”
To our regretful Miss Drin, Redar gave a slight smile.
The blue eyes filled with warm familial love. For the first time, it felt like the initial awkwardness had disappeared.
“As I said, if I keep sticking around, I feel like I’d just ruin the mood.”
“But…”
Redar then glanced at the three ladies with a smirk.
“Thanks, ladies. For spending time with my little sister.”
“Oh brother, really…!”
“Please take care of my little sister, okay? And-”
Redar then looked in my direction.
“And you, are you my little sister’s friend as well?”
To which, I confidently replied.
“Yes.”
“Is that so?”
Then, Redar’s face twisted.
Why?
Are you jealous?
But it’s too early for that, bub.
“Moreover, I’m the first friend Miss Drin made after coming to Arienne, as she herself admitted.”
“…”
Redar’s expression furrowed even more at my follow-up.
“This is…”
After mumbling to himself, he suddenly approached me.
“This has become rather troublesome…”
Thud.
Redar laid his hand on my shoulder.
In that state, he looked at Miss Drin and said,
“Drin.”
“Yes?”
“I apologize for this.”
In that moment, the world around me twisted.
When the world returned to its original state.
Only Redar and I were left around.
“…”
With his hand still on my shoulder, Redar asked again,
“What are you?”
The large, blue eyes stared straight into mine.