Chapter 1.2 - “Ahh… I′m Blind?!”

  “What's going on!?

  “I… I can't see anything!!”

  And yet I had the feeling—of moving.

  Or more accurately… like something was pulling me—hard.

  Am I falling?

  My head was buzzing like crazy.

  The light was too intense for me to see anything.

  Then—suddenly—sharp pain surged through my body…

  "Gahhhh… what!?"

  “Ahhhh…”

  The pain was unbearable.

  I felt like I was dying.

  But then suddenly—the pain began to fade.

  The light dimmed… just enough for me to open my eyes.

  — — —

  Streams of light in all colors flew past me—

  as if I was falling down through a beautiful, magical waterfall.

  Time slowed down.

  The light dancing around me—

  For a brief moment, I felt a sense of peace.

  “ehh what the—who!?... who's that?”

  A vivid sound in my head was trying to say something, I couldn't clearly hear.

  But the voice came from inside my head.

  I couldn't understand what it was saying,

  but it felt like it was…speaking to me?

  "Who are you?”

  I shouted at the voice!

  The intensity of it all was too much for me.

  I was losing myself… Somehow.

  the more I focused—

  the more my consciousness wavered.

  How long has it been now—?

  I couldn't tell!—as time seemed to slip away!

  ***

  Beneath the night sky on the green plains,

  it was peaceful and quiet.

  The stars shone brightly, lighting up the plains.

  Not many people tended to be around at this hour.

  However, it is a special occasion for two people.

  “Come on—don't fall behind.”

  “Grey, are you coming?”

  “Yes, yes—I'm coming, Jen!”

  Jen couldn't stop laughing while running along the plains.

  Just a few hours ago something wonderful had happened.

  “Jen… ahhh!”

  “Come on—just… wait a moment?"

  But Jen was too excited—

  she was completely overjoyed, because now, she was finally able to marry Grey. Something she had wanted for a long time.

  Despite disapproval from their families,

  they continued to fight—and finally… they had succeeded!

  Grey had been the driving force in convincing their families.

  He had fought tooth and nail to win them over.

  When he succeeded,

  Jen was overwhelmed—by how much he truly wanted her!

  Jen comes from Knight's family and was supposed to marry into a Baronet.

  This was to strengthen and secure her family's future.

  However, since she fell in love with Grey she couldn't go through with it.

  Even though the pressure from her family was immense—

  Grey somehow… had managed to convince them!

  gaining their approval in the process—though somewhat reluctant.

  That had the unfortunate consequence of Jen becoming disowned.

  However, she could not stop smiling.

  Experiencing how hard Grey had fought for her—

  filled her with endless joy and she couldn't help but fall deeper in love.

  “huf.. huf..huf..”

  Grey was panting, running after her.

  He was a brilliant scholar and well-versed in the art of Magic Craft.

  but he had zero stamina when it came to physical talents.

  Still, he was extremely persistent—and a really hard worker.

  This is something Jen truly admires about him, but… seeing him struggle like this.

  She couldn't help but tease him.

  "Oohh… come on.” she said in a sweet voice.

  “It's only a light stroll.”

  Grey looked somewhat perplexed.

  if she thinks this is a light stroll?

  I really don't wanna know how a normal one looks then!

  “You knight's family—sure amazing.”

  “Ohh, don't complain… we're here now!”

  They had finally arrived at their destination.

  It was a big open space with almost perfect flat terrain.

  It was the ideal place to go on a date, and enjoy the open night sky.

  “Ahh how nice… sure brings me back.”

  Grey couldn't help but admire Jen.

  She was very beautiful in the moonlight.

  “I had a feeling—that this was the place you wanted to go.”

  Jen looked at Grey with a huge smile. Her eyes were sparkling.

  It was hard to believe this was the same woman.

  Not long ago, she’d had been filled with tension and unease—

  now replaced with happiness and calm.

  Normally, she is very energetic, so this was a new experience for Grey—

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  seeing her like this.

  A smile formed on his face while thinking,

  I could get used to seeing her like this!

  “What is it Grey?" Do I have something on my face?”

  “Ahh nooo—I just thought of something.”

  “Ohh—anything… inappropriate?”

  “Noo… of course not,” he said, while smiling awkwardly.

  “Hihihi… I'm just teasing!—You’re way too easy!”

  She put her hand to her mouth.

  Or… to be more precise—it was a full-on grin plastered on her face!!

  Grey felt very embarrassed and awkwardly mustered up a grin while thinking he wanted to just lay down and die!

  “But you know,” she said, her eyes serious.

  “That promise you gave me when you took me here last time—

  I wasn't sure…no, I thought it was completely impossible!

  But… but for some reason, I couldn't help but believe in you.”

  Her face flushed red, and she averted his gaze.

  However, Grey held her by her shoulders,

  understanding the hardships she’d gone through.

  He couldn't help but wanting to embrace her, never letting go.

  “I promise you… not only on that day, but also from today on—

  I will take care of you—THAT'S MY PROMISE!!”

  Taken aback by his sudden outburst,

  a feeling of joy filled her, and she began to relax.

  Nervously, he leaned closer, and she closed her eyes.

  At that moment, the night sky suddenly lit.

  Jen and Grey flinched in shock.

  At that moment, the entire sky became illuminated in pure light,

  visible far and wide—across the entire kingdom.

  Everyone who witnessed the phenomenon was gripped with confusion,

  not knowing what was happening.

  A ball of light suddenly fell down like a meteor,

  heading straight towards Jen and Grey.

  They didn’t have the time to think or react,

  before the ball of light crashed down on top of the hill.

  Shocked, they looked at each other in disbelief at what they had just witnessed.

  "What… was that!!"

  “What just happened?” She said, in utter confusion.

  “It looked like a meteor—or rather a ball of light?”

  “What does it mean?”

  “I′m not sure—but that level of magic,” he immediately took off.

  “Hey where are you going Grey?”

  “To see it of course—come on Jen!”

  "Hey… wait!!"

  ———

  “Grey!... Grey!!”

  Jen took off chasing him down, but in a moment he was far off in the distance.

  “Of course… now he has no issue running like that!” She said while pouting.

  “That guy—Seriously!"

  ***

  In a green field beneath the night sky, Leo suddenly woke up.

  A gentle pressure caressing his face. He blinked a couple of times,

  trying to make sure this was not a dream.

  The atmosphere was calm, almost too calm.

  I tried to recall how I ended up here, but for a brief moment nothing came to mind.

  What—what was I doing?

  Where am I?

  The nausea hit me hard, and I dropped both hands onto my knees.

  My breathing became irregular as I tried to catch my breath.

  A wave of emotions surged within me, and I looked around frantically, scanning my surroundings for clues.

  I felt something in my hand—was I holding onto something so tightly?

  Wait… Did I grab something?

  When did I close my hand?

  I opened my hand—and to my surprise, it was a pendant?

  "What?"

  Confused, I examined it further.

  It looked like a pendant—but why am I holding onto it?

  I don't remember ever having something like this!

  It felt unreal… in fact, everything around me felt unreal?

  Did—did I take it from somewhere?

  It was a golden pendant, its surface was etched in a pattern that looked like letters.

  I did not recognize the pattern, but I felt a sense of warmth coming from it.

  It was gentle, steady and oddly reassuring.

  That is when something caught Leo's attention,

  something he was very familiar with but seemed suddenly—very strange?

  Did my hands always look this small? he thought, in utter confusion.

  No wait!

  Leo began to examine himself—that was when he realized he had shrunk.

  Everything felt bigger for some reason?

  Did I somehow become smaller?

  While Leo pondered this, looming shadows slowly began to emerge from the distance.

  The field was lit only by the night sky, the moon clearly visible.

  It was still very dark, and it was almost impossible for him to see anything clearly.

  Leo began to tremble and felt fear creep up. He knew he had to run if necessary,

  but the moment he tried to move, his legs gave out, and he fell to his knees.

  He was afraid to look at the shadowy figures, but he forced himself to stand.

  He felt as if his strength had left him, unsure what was going on.

  Ahh, why does my body hurt so much? Was I hit by a truck?

  Just standing took a lot out of him, but he somehow managed.

  If it comes down to it… I don't think I'll be able to run away, he thought while sweat poured down his face.

  — — —

  Grey moved with haste through the field; it was way easier than traversing Cleinwalth’s forest. Despite growing up there, he preferred the openness of this place, where no weird things hid in every nook and cranny—ready to kill you.

  Jen was right on his tail, surprised at how fast Grey could suddenly move when he was excited. With her training she had no problem keeping up with him, but she had to put in more effort than usual. It took her a while to fully catch up.

  “Ahh, Grey! Don't just leave a lady behind!!”

  “Ohh, come on! This is no problem for you. Or are you saying a scholar with no stamina is beating someone from a knight's house?” he said while grinning.

  Jen pouted at him, looking away as if she were insulted.

  She had a hard time admitting that it took a bit of effort to keep up.

  She began to speed up even more and almost crashed into Grey,

  who suddenly came to a full stop.

  “Wait, why did you?”

  “Look over there… Can you see?”

  “See what, Grey? It’s very dark”

  He pointed in the distance at something. Jen had to squint her eyes.

  A dark figure was standing in the distance.

  “What is that? It looks tiny.”

  “Can't you see? It's just a kid.”

  Jen took a harder look, the dark figure took on the shape of a boy.

  She was very surprised and before she could say anything, Grey had already gone toward the boy.

  “Geeeshh… Impatient, are we?” she said while shaking her head.

  ***

  Something is coming, Leo thought. He was preparing himself, it was terrifying being thrown into all this madness…

  While he was preparing himself, he held the pendant tight. As the figures approached he formed fists in both hands, ready for the worst.

  However, the moment the figures came close enough,

  Leo realized it was two people.

  It was a man and a woman approaching him.

  They came close enough but stopped a few meters away, so as to not frighten him.

  Hmmm… Why are they wearing those medieval clothes?

  Could it be that I landed in a cosplay event?

  But isn’t this a weird place to do cosplay?

  Or did I miss something… Wait… did I hit my head without noticing and get one of those short-term memory losses? Leo’s head began to spin from overthinking.

  Suddenly, the man started to talk to him, but Leo did not recognize the language.

  “Sorry… Can you repeat that?” Leo said to him, with a confused look on his face.

  The man looked surprised, the woman then began to talk to me, but again to no avail. I couldn't understand what she was saying and shook my head.

  They seemed surprised and looked at one another.

  The man tried again to communicate,

  however, this time something sounded different.

  If I were to guess, his dialect seemed to have completely changed as if he were speaking a different language.

  Of course, having lived both in Europe and Japan, I was accustomed to hearing different languages and could pick up the subtlety of each. A skill I’ve developed through the power of travel—and, of course, the internet.

  “Sorry, I still don′t understand—gibberish?”

  In that moment the man and the woman froze in place; they looked somewhat confused, but also seemed in distress. Even though it felt like much longer, they had only been standing frozen for a moment.

  A feeling of awkwardness filled the atmosphere.

  Leo tried a smile to put them at ease,

  but it didn’t help—the situation was already awkward.

  He also found himself frozen, thinking how stupid it all was.

  Aren't we all adults?

  This should be easy to handle… Right?

  The man and the woman stared at each other,

  then gestured if they could come closer.

  I nodded in agreement.

  That is when Leo realized something horrible.

  The closer they came to him, the bigger they became.

  It was not until they were at arm's length

  that Leo finally realized the horrible truth.

  He looked down at his hands—utterly confused.

  “No, no way… What? It can’t be—I’m…”

  His face became pale, and his body trembled.

  A cold sweat trickled down his face as he came to the realization.

  “No way…”

  — — —

  — — —

  — — —

  — — —

  “I've become a child?”