My Glasses Will Be Able to Conquer the Whole World, I Suppose

, I’ve already brought down a ton.
But having obtained this composite bow, now I am able to handle large prey as well.

“I’m sure you can draw a bow of that level, right? Give it a try.”

Upon being prompted, I take out the bowstring that I keep on me at all times, and string up the composite bow.
I make sure to string it as tight as it can go without bending the bow.
I do it again and again, just as taught.
The way to string the longbow that Shishou uses is so complicated that I still can’t do it, but this one I can string just like I do my old one.

I pluck the bowstring to confirm that I’ve strung it properly.
A dry note rings out.
Well, yea, that should do.

It probably doesn’t need to be said, but this bow is different from the one that I’ve been using up to today.
The weight is different, the length is different, the strength needed to draw it is different, the overall balance is different.
It’s going to take some time for me to get used to it.

“Try aiming at something.”

The arrow that he hands me is of a length that I’ve never used before.
The weight is also different.
It’s an arrow that can fly much further and pierce much deeper.
Surely it would not fly like I expect if I loose it like I’ve been doing so far.
This, too, I will need to accustom myself to.

I plant my feet, bring up the bow, draw, and loose.

——Fast.

With speed beyond what I’d expected, the arrow pierces into the piece of leather being tanned that’s hanging from a scarecrow.

“Oh, you’re already hitting the target.”

No, that was a miss.
I was aiming at the corner.
But the arrow is standing smack dab in the middle.

It’s no good if I’m missing at such a close distance.
I can’t use this yet in real combat.
I need more practice.

…………Ah.

“Shishou.”

“Yea?”

“Thank you.
I’m very happy.”

I am happy about the glasses, but I am even happier about receiving this present.

“Hehe, it’s fine that you’ve taken a liking to it.”

Shishou laughs embarrassedly.
As I thought, this really isn’t something I want to see clearly and vividly and distinctively.
His forehead…… no, let’s just stop looking.

“Well, if you said that you don’t need it, then I woulda socked you good though.”

Ahh, right.

Every time he brought up “it’s about time for you to get a new bow,” I did refuse and say I didn’t need it.

——Because I thought that if I got a bow that can hit far away, my bad eyes would get found out.

The fact that my eyes got worse after that incident of near death due to Shishou’s fart, I haven’t told anyone.
And I don’t intend to ever tell.
It’s not something that anything can be done about even if I do tell, and would just bother whoever it is that I tell.
My eyesight might have dropped a bit, but I have all four limbs and am in perfect health, so that’s good enough.

It would have been fine if Shishou didn’t know my original eyesight, but he did test me when he accepted me as his apprentice.
Well, I mean, of course he would.
Eyesight is directly tied to range, after all.

If I changed to a bow that can aim far away, he would immediately become aware of the fact that my eyes had gotten worse.
And then, judging by how I haven’t had a serious injury ever again since, he would realize that that incident was the cause.

In the first place, that incident was partly my fault.
I don’t want Shishou to bear the full burden by himself.
Though I still do want him to apologize for the smelliness and for purposely targeting my face.
On that front, I am holding a rather deep grudge, actually.
That moment was definitely the worst possible timing for Shishou to release all the ill will that’s been fermenting inside his body.

But well, even that’s now been pretty much resolved thanks to my glasses.

I immediately throw myself into practice to familiarize myself with my new bow.
Perhaps due to having used the same bow for so long, the new one still feels kind of strange in my hands.
I need to make my hands, body, eyes and ears, and sense become used to it as soon as possible.

“Eil, you will surely leave the village tomorrow.”

What?

After seeing me shoot about ten arrows, Shishou suddenly says something weird.

“Why?”

“Because of your glasses.”

……? What about them? Though they are incredibly handy.

“To be honest, even I’m not sure what your ‘Talent for Megane’ is.
I’ve seen my fair share of the world, but it’s my first time even hearing of it.
Part of me feels like it’s just a practical joke, but part of me feels like it surely has its own meaning and usage.
However, what I can say for sure is that it was created through Materialization.
In other words, you do have the talent to become a magician.”

Well, I suppose that’s so.

“That’s why you will go to the city at least once.
Just as Horun did.”

Ah, I get it.
Even if it’s an incomprehensible Talent like ‘creating glasses,’ Materialization still lies within the realm of magic.

“So tomorrow, I will be departing together with the soldiers who’ve come to Albat?”

“That’s about it, yep.”

“Understood.
I’ll go, wrap things up in a flash, then come back as soon as I can.”

Just as I turn away to resume my practice, Shishou calls me back to continue the conversation.

“It’s a good opportunity for you.
Go take a good look.
Not just at the capital, but also at the world.”

“Eh? Why should I?”

“Because you are talented with the bow.
Far more so than me.
Surely there is a mountain of people who would need your skill, people who are waiting for you to enter their lives.
And for you, it would be an opportunity to grow.

You can return to the village if you want.
It’s your freedom to choose to live in this village for the rest of your life.

However, there are many things in life that you can only do in the moment.
I won’t tell you to force yourself to find something.
But at least make the effort to look.
You haven’t even tried doing that yet.
Search for your own potential.”

Potential.
Potential, huh.

…… How am I even supposed to respond here?

“All I want is to just get by without being found by anyone, though……”

I hate being on the receiving end of attention, and I hate being conspicuous.
If possible, I’d very much like to continue living quietly in this village.

The next day.

Bright and early, the soldiers who came to conduct the Ceremony of Determination knocked on the door to my house.

“We did deliberate for quite a while, but…… we have determined it to be indeed ‘a magical Talent,’ so we are ordering Eil of Albat to present himself at the royal castle.
On authority of the king.”

At the very edge of his words, I can really tell how conflicted they had been.
But well, the final decision seems to be to bring me along.

Departure would be immediately after breakfast.
I would be riding the carriage that the soldiers took to get here.
On authority of the king.
On orders of a guy that I’ve never even seen before.

Two years ago, this was what happened to Sis.

But that time, the entire village came out to see her off.

In my case, the village do come out to see me off too, but everyone is still puzzledly going “Megane?” “Megane…?”

——And it is in this way that I leave the village that I had been born and grew up in.