The tea didn’t have a particularly strong smell, yet she figured out what it was. Nainiae looked quite surprised. She looked at the woman.
“The scent… You can smell it?”
“As blind as I am, my sense of smell is quite good.”
Having heard the woman, Nainiae thought about Sera, her fellow maid. She sniffed and sniffed, but her gaze ran into Riley’s gaze. She tumbled and prepared teleportation magic.
“… First, how about we introduce ourselves?”
The woman felt around the table and grabbed the tea cup. Riley also followed suit and grabbed his tea cup and introduced himself.
“My name is Riley.”
He thought about giving a fake name. However, he felt like she might notice, so he decided to tell her his real name. However, he skipped his family name.
“Riley?”
“I believe this is my first time meeting you. Do you know that name?”
“…”
The woman with the blinds shook her head. It seemed that she was thinking hard about something. She said,
“No, this is my first time hearing that name. However, I think it has a great meaning.”
She promptly introduced herself.
“My name is Inaril Esodams.”
“Esodams?”
.bg-ssp-10081{margin-left:auto;margin-right:auto;display:flex;justify-content:center;} “It is not a nobility’s name. It’s just a name.”
Earlier, the woman had praised Nainiae for her superb tea brewing skills. She realized she could no longer hear Nainiae’s breathing. The woman perked up her ears.
“The young lady who came with you…where did she go?” 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶
“She went to the restroom.”
It seemed Riley had prepared a response. He answered immediately.
Riley asked the next question right away.
“This is a question I didn’t get to finish asking earlier. Have you been living here for a long time? The building is pretty old and the furniture’s are pretty old too. Everything looks very old?”
“Yes, it has been… quite a while.”
Having heard Riley’s question, Inaril fiddled with top of the cup. She nodded and said that was the case.
“Ever since I became blind, my sense of time had been fading. It would be difficult for me to tell you how long it has been since I settled in this place.”
She added that it had been pretty long since she had settled here. Next, she asked about Riley.
“So, Mr. Riley… Considering how your voice sounds, you must be quite young?”
“Pardon? Ah, yes.”
“That young lady earlier… Are you two lovers?”
“What the, that’s so out of the blue…”
“Um, what should I say? The atmosphere?”
‘You can’t even see, so just what atmosphere are you talking about…’
Riley looked dumbfounded. He felt a presence from the rear, so he casually turned his head.
‘… They are back?’
“Um? Wait…”
Riley turned his head around to look, but he casually moved his eyes back because of what Inaril said.
“…?”
“That just now… Perhaps it was just my mood. The young lady who brew me a cup of tea must be a mage. She is quite skilled on top of that…”
Inaril’s blind was directed exactly at Nainiae who had just appeared before Riley.
‘How did she know?’
She talked about the atmosphere between two people. Although she shouldn’t be able to see, she figured out exactly who it was that had just appeared through teleportation. Riley narrowed his eyes and glared at Inaril.
“Are you really blind?”
“Yes, I cannot see.”
Having heard Riley’s question, Inaril brought her hand toward the blind on her eyes. She started to slowly untie the blind that was wrapped around her eyes.
“What are you doing all of the sudden…”
The blinds that covered her eyes was untied, and… her face that was hidden underneath was revealed. Riley’s mouth opened on its own.
“…”
“Will this be enough as the proof?”
On Inaril’s face… On her eyes to be precise, there was a long cut wound. It appeared to be the result of someone cutting across her eyes with a sword.