Chapter 14 - The Joy of Vision

  Daniel sat there, holding Felicia in his arms, conflicted.

  Her sobs had quieted to occasional hiccups against his shoulder, but her grip on his shirt remained fierce, as if she was afraid he might disappear if she let go. He could feel the dampness seeping through the fabric where her face pressed against him.

  When she had suddenly asked to call him brother earlier, he had frozen for a second. The words dredged up memories he usually kept buried deep.

  Is that why I'm doing this?

  But then he saw the blush on her cheeks, and he realized she wasn’t joking. She wanted a brother. A real brother, not like those bastards bullying her and wishing her dead. That's what she saw in him, though she hadn't had the courage to say it outright before that moment.

  And judging by her mortified expression afterward, she still wasn't sure she should have.

  He had already considered her family, so was this such a significant change?

  Of course it was. It was massive—especially for him, who had once lost his sister.

  But he still accepted her outstretched hand.

  Perhaps we both need each other…

  Felicia spent the next hour simply walking around in the hotel room and studying things with her magic sight. The wonder never seemed to fade from her face. She would occasionally laugh to herself, touching and moving things, as if to make sure they were really there.

  Daniel followed after her, unable to suppress his smile as he watched her discover the world.

  He was reminded of the videos of people seeing color for the first time, or hearing for the first time. Those same emotions were swirling in his chest now, only amplified a thousand times.

  "There's so much information!" she exclaimed, stopping in front of a wall covered with detailed paintings. Her hands hovered inches from the canvas, not quite touching. "Like my mind struggles to handle it all. Will that get easier?"

  The paintings were mostly landscapes—rolling hills, distant mountains, and a lake reflecting sunset clouds. For someone who had lived in darkness, it had to be overwhelming.

  “Yes, it usually does. But as your range increases, you will also notice your mind focusing less on any individual point. Much like how you can feel your clothes on your body, but you can focus on the touch of your fingers, for example.”

  She nodded thoughtfully, tilting her head as she processed the analogy. "So you have to consciously look for things?"

  “Yes, you cannot focus on everything at once. But a focus area can increase in size with practice.”

  “How far can you see?”

  “I haven’t tested the full range, because that would take a lot of mana. But a few hundred meters should be no problem.”

  "That far?" Her voice pitched higher with amazement. "I can barely do ten if I turn up my mana spending."

  If anything, he had vastly undershot the range he could see in. His magic sight could probably cover the entire city, but saying that might discourage her, or even scare her. Besides, what use was seeing everything when you couldn't meaningfully focus on it all?

  “You’ll increase it with practice and leveling. Do you know your level, by the way?”

  "No, I haven't tested it. No index, you know." A bitterness crept into her tone.

  “Right, I need to fix that. I know a good place, as well.”

  "Oh! I can use one now?" The excitement was back immediately, replacing any trace of resentment.

  “You should be able to, but the holograms won’t be visible to you. You would need a version that displays things in solid light. I’ll fix that for you.”

  Actually, modifying an index shouldn't be too difficult. Just need to convert the light projections to compressed mana constructs...

  The door to the room opened with a soft click, interrupting his thoughts. A familiar voice asked, "Is the training going well?"

  Elizabeth walked in with a bag of clothes in her arms, surveying the scene with her usual composed look. Her eyes moved from Daniel to Felicia, taking in their positions by the wall of paintings.

  “Liz!” Felicia cheered, eagerly running toward the source of the sound.

  "Careful, Felicia!" Elizabeth called out, quickly moving forward to intercept what she clearly expected to be a collision.

  Instead, Felicia caught her in a perfect hug. “You look just like I remember! Only a tiny bit older!”

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  Elizabeth went rigid with shock. "What? You can see me?!"

  Her gaze snapped to Daniel, who was still standing by the wall. Behind her carefully maintained mask, he could see a storm of emotions—disbelief, hope, and something that might have been tears threatening to spill over.

  "I can see everything! It works!" Felicia's voice was muffled against Elizabeth's shoulder, but her joy rang clear.

  Daniel felt a surge of satisfaction at the head maid's expression. "I told you she was talented," he said, not bothering to hide his smugness. "I was planning on heading out for a bit myself. Will you two be alright here?"

  He had several errands to run, and frankly, Felicia deserved some time to process this breakthrough with someone who had known her longer than a few days.

  Felicia pulled back from Elizabeth's embrace, turning toward him. "I can't join? I would love to look outside!"

  Daniel wouldn’t mind bringing her, but one of his errands was a bit sensitive. Specifically, he was planning to visit the cathedral and learn about the origins of the religion. After a quick visit to Rowan, that is. Besides…

  "You should take some time to replenish your mana. I expect it's running low. I won't be gone for long."

  "Ah, I didn't even notice." She blinked, only now becoming aware of the drained feeling that came after extended magical use. "Stay safe, then!"

  “That won’t be a problem,” he replied, patting her shoulder as he walked by. He glanced at Elizabeth, seeing a newfound gratitude and trust in her eyes as she looked back.

  The door closed behind him with a soft click, and he could already hear Felicia's excited chatter beginning again, peppered with Elizabeth's amazed responses.

  She's going to be okay, he thought as he made his way down the hotel corridor. Better than okay.

  The Cobblestone Index Shop remained unchanged from two days prior, except that it was now closed. A sign on the door indicated that the area was undergoing technical renovations. Through the windows, Daniel could see that all the indexes had been removed from their usual displays, leaving empty glass cases and bare shelves.

  Not wasting any time with customers, huh? Busy making improvements?

  He sent a careful tendril of mana through the door, activating his magic sight to peer inside. It would likely be considered rude to search someone’s property like this, but eh. Who would know?

  Sure enough, the old craftsman was hunched over his workshop in the back room, completely absorbed in the process of taking apart another index. The device's components were spread across his workbench like the organs of some mechanical creature. Three indexes, seemingly completed with his improvements, sat in pristine velvet cases behind him, while the hundreds of others were stacked crudely on the floor beside him.

  Guess I can’t blame him for thinking of them as trash now.

  He knocked on the door, politely the first time. The second time, less so. The third time started to stress the hinges. People were staring.

  Time for a different approach.

  Rather than risk a fourth knock that might actually damage something, he simply reached out with his mana and manipulated the lock mechanism directly. It was protected by formations, but those were bypassed with ease. The door swung open with a soft click.

  “What the hell are you—Oh, Daniel! How nice of you to stop by!”

  The change in demeanor was so immediate that it was hard not to laugh. But it was how he expected the old man to react, which is why he dared to unlock the door in the first place.

  "I'm sorry for intruding, Rowan." Daniel stepped inside and closed the door behind him, noting the controlled chaos of the workshop area.

  “Nonsense! You could burn the house down and I wouldn’t mind.”

  The old craftsman was probably telling the truth, Daniel realized.

  “I see you’re busy making improvements. How’s it going?”

  “Oh, slowly. The improvements require careful precision, and some parts have to be changed entirely. I’ll probably open up when I have a few dozen ready, though. Any more would threaten my livelihood.”

  “Sounds like a plan. You’ll have them lining up outside once they see what you’re making.”

  “Indeed! I don’t know where you came from, sonny, but if you were to say another planet, I wouldn’t be shocked.”

  This time, it really was hard to keep a straight face. Earth was another planet, of course, though most of the knowledge that had enabled him to help Rowan came from Artorias's memories rather than his own technical background. Daniel had only contributed a few programming concepts and innovations from Earth.

  "Well, let's keep that a secret for now," he said with what he hoped was an appropriately mysterious smile. "The reason I'm here is actually to buy an index from you."

  Rowan blinked in surprise, setting down the delicate tool he'd been using. "Really? You couldn't make one yourself?"

  “I could, but I was in the neighborhood, and I don’t know where to get the parts I need. I will be making a few changes, of course, but I hoped I could buy one to get started.”

  The old man laughed. "Hah! You think you'll be able to give me any money? Here, have all three if you want! Or some of the older ones?"

  The generous offer was touching, but Daniel held up a hand. "One is quite enough, thank you. It's for a young girl, though. Do you know what they prefer?"

  "Ah, then diadems are quite fashionable right now! Very popular with the younger noble ladies. Or maybe a necklace? Those have a certain elegance..."

  Daniel thought of Felicia's practical nature, her frustration with the superficial concerns of her social class. "I don't think she cares much for fashion, honestly."

  "Oh, a girl of function over form, very good!" Rowan nodded approvingly. "Then I am quite partial to bracelets or glasses myself. You would know the advantages of the bracelet, of course—discreet, difficult to lose, always accessible. As for the glasses, they're very useful if you have reduced vision, or if you dislike the hologram projections."

  “Well, she’s blind, so I don’t think that’s the best one.”

  Rowan's expression shifted to puzzlement. "Blind? Won't that be rather difficult, then? The interface relies entirely on visual elements."

  “A little, which is why I need to make changes.”

  "Mmh, I see..." The old craftsman's eyes narrowed with curiosity. "Well, I'm quite curious about how you would solve those problems. Would you like to use my workshop?"

  "Free of charge?"

  Rowan's grin was almost mischievous. "Unless you'd let me pay you for the privilege of watching?"

  Daniel grinned back. "Then free of charge it is."

  He couldn’t help but like the old man—a true artisan, thirsting for the perfection of his craft more than anything else. No wonder he managed to compete with the great Sievermans, who seemed to have spread out across the entire world.

  And after this, straight to the cathedral. I have a few questions for those fools.