Today, he is being tested for comprehension on a written test.
　So much so that he solved all the questions and got lost in thought.

A few days ago, he assassinated an assassin.
　I didn't feel comfortable killing my colleague, but I did it after deciding that I should do it.
　I wasn't worried about Epona being killed. What I was worried about was that if the assassination failed, Epona would become wary of the assassination.

'There wasn't much information we could get out of her.

As a result of the torture, we know that the mastermind behind this one is somewhere in the aristocracy.
　It's a relief that it wasn't the royalists.
　Touahade is a royalist, and we can't have a fight among our own people.

........Although the conflict between the royalists and the aristocrats is also sufficiently a family affair if you look at it on a national basis.
　And we know why Epona was targeted.
　In a sense, it was a perfectly legitimate one.

So that's it.

Tart's surgery will be done tonight. I've had enough practice and tomorrow is my day off.
　If you have [Super Recovery] like I do, you can get the bandage off right away, but in Tart's case, it'll take two days even if you use the enhanced self-healing power through magic power.
　The night before a holiday is convenient.

''The exam is over. We'll retrieve it.

The exam papers were collected.
　After a few moments, the chime goes off, signaling the end of the class.
　As usual, Tart and Dia run up to me, but lately there's been another one more.

'Me, I solved quite a few problems this time. It's all thanks to the study group.

Epona.
　There were many opportunities to teach her to study, as she was fatally behind in this class in terms of academics.
　If she didn't, Epona would not be able to keep up with the class in no time at all.
　After repeating this, it became a hassle to schedule every time and decided to hold study sessions regularly.
　For some reason, even Neusch and Finn joined in there.

'We're starting to build a foundation. At this rate, in another six months you should not need our help.

Epona is smart in her own way.
　In addition, she has a perfect memory ability that allows her to memorize things that come into view in an instant with her brave skills.
　From what I've heard, it's not just a memory ability.

It is a skill to memorize the opponent's movements, calculate and analyze them, and come up with a countermeasure. Perfect memory is just an added bonus.

After all, once you've shown a technique once, it's significantly harder to apply it the next time.

And apparently, once you've memorized it, you don't forget it.
Thanks to this, I'm getting heavier and heavier in every mock battle.
　........Well, I can say that it was worth it to get close just to learn about this skill.

''I'll do my best. I can't stay a failure forever either, you know.
Good luck. Good luck.

That's scary. I wonder how fast it will grow.
　He looks like he's having trouble hearing something, so I encourage him to say it.

'Why do you treat me so well?　After all, I'm the brave one.

She asks while keeping her eyes down.
　She's not very good at measuring the distance between people. She's dependent on them, but she's not confident, so she thinks 'who am I?' and that turns into distrust of the people around her.
　He's not a bad kid, but he's a bit of a pain in the ass.

I'd be lying if I said I didn't have it. But that's not all. I'm doing this because I enjoy being with Epona. I'm a terrible liar. I get cranky when I'm with people I don't like.
Well, that's good. I was a little worried because I thought that because I'm brave, Lug was just going out with me. But someday I'll repay you for all you've done for me!

I don't know how I could have told such a lie myself.
　But it's a necessary lie. It was to find out her weaknesses and to create a situation where she didn't have to kill the brave man who was the best.
　Tart began to fidget about the time.

'Roug-sama, we need to get to the library soon, or they'll cancel the seats we have reserved.
Oh, that's not good. The library is not very flexible. If I'm even a second late, someone else will take my seat.
'Well, if you can't use that one, you can use our room. We have a big dorm room.
No.

Tart and Diah speak up and deny it.
　Why is that?
　The room is cleaned up by the tart and I have no trouble being seen.
　There are some things that I don't want to be seen due to my profession, but I've hidden them away so that they won't be found for a few things.
　...because we expect someone to come into our room without our permission when we're not there.

''Haha, you're a rogue on your ass, aren't you? 'Dia and Tart, two asses would be heavy. Why don't you give one of them up to me?

Neusch asks, teasingly.

'I'm not going to. They're both my most important partners.'

As he declared this, Tart and Dia blushed, and Epona muttered that she looked like a child who wanted a toy.

Let's get a move on for now. It's a really bad time.

I gathered my things and stood up.

◇

It was a holiday night.
　I head to Tart's room.
　The surgery to give Touahade his eyes had been completed successfully the other day, and today we would finally see the results of the surgery.

'I'm nervous. I hope Tart can see properly with his eye.''
It's a tough call, but it could happen. I'm scared, too.

With that assassin, the practice was repeated and I made sure to take all the necessary precautions because I was going to be administering a tart that was unlike any other.

''Oh, Lug-sama, Dear-sama, it's finally happening, isn't it?''

Tart wears an eye patch on his right eye.
　Taking Dia's advice, he didn't perform the surgery on both eyes and only operated on the right eye first.
　In the unlikely event that the surgery is unsuccessful, he will only have to go blind in one eye.

I'm going to take the eye patch off now. But I'm going to tell you something beforehand. I need to know that you don't care. If you don't tell them in advance, they might say that the tart can't see so that I don't get depressed if the operation fails.
Ugh, there's no denying it.

Tart is one of those kids.

'Please don't do that. I don't mean to imply that I want to take responsibility or anything. If there's a glitch, a flaw, if it's detected early enough, we can fix it. But you know, the longer it goes on, the less you can do about it. Any little hiccup will do. We don't need to know if there's something wrong, or if you're not sure. Swear to me you'll tell me everything.
Yes, I will!

Tart and I stare at each other.
　His brightly colored left eye captures me.
　Slowly, he removes his right eye patch.

The surgery had given it a slightly darker color. When the surgery is performed on those of Touahade, it turns them gray, but in Tart's case, it only reduces the saturation of the eye.
　It was unfocused due to the fact that he had been wearing an eye patch the whole time.

'Master Lugue, it looks quite blurry,'
'That's because I've been covering it with an eye patch the whole time. Look at this light.

It creates a magical light and tells me to stare at it.
　It's coming into focus.

'Oh, I can see properly now.
Okay, let's move on. You're coming with me.

He pulls back on the tart's hand and moves to the window.
　He opens the window and points to a mountain far, far away.

First of all, look at that mountain with just your unoperated left eye.
I can see it.
'Then tell me the great tree at the top of that mountain, and the number of branches that grow from its trunk. Then tell me what kind of creatures are in those branches.
I can't see it. I don't even know if there's a tree like that, let alone a branch.

Yes. You'd need binoculars to see it from that distance.

Then start with your right eye.

Tart puts his hand over his left eye and looks at it with his freshly operated eye.

'Wow, there's a really big tree. And I can even tell how many branches there are. It's faint, but I never thought I could see so much. Sixteen. Sixteen!　But you can't even see the little animals on top of it in a blur.
Put some magic in your eyes, just as you would to enhance your physical abilities. Slowly, slowly.
Oh, I'm starting to see more of them, a squirrel, and three birds I've never seen before, let's see, and even a mantis.

I can even see an insect perched on a large tree a few kilometers away.
　That's Touahade's eyes.

'Enough. Is there anything else?'
After being strengthened with magic, Master Lug, Lady Dear, and I seem to be surrounded by glittering grains of light.
What you see is magic. Put a little more magic in it. If you do, you'll see this world full of mana.
It's beautiful. This is the mana of the atmosphere. The power of the world. Wow, it's very, very nice. This world is so beautiful!　This is the world as Master Lug sees it!

The tart spun around with an enraptured face, flipping her skirt.
　It was adorable and I fell in love with it.

'Farsightedness and magical vision were no problem. The next one is the real deal. Check your kinetic vision. Tart, step back just short of the wall.
Like that?
Yeah. Now, I'm going to throw the ball and you're going to catch it. Put more magic in it. It's going to be really strong.

Take out one of the assassin's tools.
　It looks like a white ball the size of a fist. Surprisingly, this one had many uses, and it was in a magical storage bag, the [Crane Leather Bag].
　I play a little prank on the ball and then swing it over.

Seeing me, who had strengthened my physical abilities with magic power, Tart also strengthened his physical abilities and put more power into his eyes.
　Touahade's eyes are showing their true value.
　After confirming that, I swung and threw it.
　The pitch, which was strengthened with magical power to strengthen his physical abilities, reached a speed of two hundred kilometers per hour.

Tart received the ball.

Catching a ball in the high 200's of kilometres per hour is amazing, but Tart could have done it without the eyes of Touahade.

It's another thing to check.

'Wow, you're going to celebrate!　I'm glad.
Okay, you've passed. It's the last thing I wanted for my tart to have, the ability to see at superspeed.
'What do you mean, rogue, tart, celebration? You never said a word about that!

Dia's eyes are black and white.

'I was writing a message on the ball,'
'Yes, the ball was spinning, but I was able to read it properly.
Wow, Touahade's eyes, I couldn't read that stuff at all.

It's no wonder Deere can't see it.
　Not only is the speed of the ball in the second half of 200 kilometers per hour, but it is also spinning at over a hundred revolutions per second.
　It's impossible for ordinary eyes to read the message written on such a super-speed, super-high revolving ball.
　Unless you have special skills, though.

"Well, let's go to the capital immediately. It's a bit pricey, but it's nice to have a change.
Yeah. It's a celebration of Tart's successful surgery. We should have a party.
I'm looking forward to learning a lot about cooking.

You should just have pure fun at times like this.
　But I like these tarts.

'If the surgery was successful, that means your left eye will be operated on too, right?
No, it's just for a few days to make sure. We're going to school tomorrow anyway. We'll do it the night before the next holiday, anyway. And keep this on.
What's this tiny, transparent thing?
It's a tool called contact lenses. When you wear them, you see the same eye color in both eyes. Wouldn't you be surprised if your eyes suddenly changed color?
'Oh, yes. I'll take good care of it.

Tart quickly put on his contacts.
　It looks the same as before.

I know it's going to be tough training from tomorrow, but good luck. When you master those eyes, you'll have a different level of strength than you had before.
If that happens, I'll be able to help Master Rouges more than ever before!
''You'll be able to use the wind magic I made for you much better. ........I have to make a trump card too. Any more points difference might be really bad.

I'll refrain from doing so today because I'm sick, but tomorrow I'll let you get used to the Touahade's eyes in a live-fire style training session.
　The eye of seeing too much is hard on the brain. It will take some time to get used to them.

Don't get hung up on me. I'll use the special budget.
Yeah, well, let's order some more booze on the rocks.
'Then I'd like to ask for a cow I raised just to eat. I've heard rumors about it, and I've always wanted to eat it at least once in my life. I've heard it's so tender and delicious that it's incomparable to the cows we work with.

The girls know it's rude to refrain from doing so in these situations.
　It's going to be a fun party today.
　But you had better be careful not to be followed. If you are only a baronet's son and it is known that I'm spending a lot of money in the expensive shops of the royal capital, it will cause a lot of strange rumors.
　I think we should have a private room in a high-class restaurant to protect our customers' privacy.

We'll rendezvous there after we change. We're going to a nice place, so please do not hesitate.
I'll dress up as best I can!
I'm pretty sure I have a dress that could kill a rogue.

I'm looking forward to seeing you both in your dresses.
　Let's hurry up and get dressed and go to town.