A dull longsword and a heartbroken villager

The scream was as shrill as the simultaneous screams of several people.

The monster, which had been cut in two by Bray, struggled on the ground for a moment before falling silent.

“…” Bray remained silent, his right eye constantly scanning the surrounding environment.

Where did that sound come from?

"—Walk along the darkness, until the end of darkness." The aged voice rang out once more.

The voice was incredibly ethereal, as if someone were speaking beside you, or as if someone were talking to you from an incredibly distant place.

Bray finally decided to do as the voice said.

Anyway, Bray didn't know what to do in this nightmare.

Soon Bray reached the end of the market, and that so-called end of darkness was probably the end of the market.

—"Looking up at the bright moon in the night sky."

Bray looked up and found that the moon looked exceptionally bright after he left the market.

The moon's faint light illuminated the earth, dispelling the mist.

—"Then gaze ahead; that is the guidance you need."

"Are you the one speaking?" Bray raised an eyebrow.

In front of Bray was an elderly man in a wheelchair.

This should be a normal person, not a monster.

The old man didn't speak, only making muffled, hoarse "ah ah" sounds.

This old man is mute.

Moreover, the old man kept his eyes tightly closed the whole time.

"Everything you desire to know can be found in reality."

"You can't see anything?" Bray realized that the old man was not only mute, but also possibly blind.

Bray himself had lost sight in one eye, a fact that he was acutely aware of.

"Creak—" The old man did not answer Bray's question, but simply turned his wheelchair.

"Fools presume to peek into the truth and to look down on the gods."

"But little do people know that the truth cannot be seen in the dark."

The old man's voice echoed in Bray's mind.

Words that could not be spoken were directly reflected in Bray's mind.

"You're speaking too formally. Can you be more direct?" Bray offered his opinion directly.

He really doesn't like to beat around the bush when he talks.

"Wait for dawn, then greet the next night, and you will know what you want to know."

"Find me after dawn."

The old man pushed his wheelchair and disappeared into the endless night.

By the time Bray came to his senses, he was already out of the nightmare.

“Three minutes, that’s the time you’ve been spacing out this time.” Naruko tapped Bray’s forehead. “Three minutes, that’s a bit long.”

"Yes, you're really impressive in a way for being able to space out for so long."

"So, what did you gain from spacing out?" Naruko asked, arms crossed, looking at Bray.

“Yes.” Bray nodded.

This night was actually quite fruitful.

"Did nothing else happen tonight?" Bray asked.

"It's so quiet, so quiet that Levy is asleep." Naruko pointed to Levy, who was sleeping while holding Bray.

"She was tired too."

Not to mention Levy, even Bray herself was feeling a bit unwell from staying up all night for several nights in a row.

Having an irregular sleep schedule is nothing to be proud of.

---

The next morning, Bray reported to William that everything had been normal that evening.

Well, that's the reality, if we don't count the nightmare that Bray entered.

William seemed relieved when he heard that everything had gone smoothly that night.

There was no word of that man going mad in town this morning; it seems that the man's madness yesterday was just a coincidence.

If another one of them goes crazy today, William really needs to consider whether there's something wrong with Bray and the others.

It's not fair to blame William for thinking that way; in coincidences, it's easy to shift all the blame onto others.

Ultimately, the blame will fall on Bray, who was on night watch for the town.

After all, none of these accidents had happened before; they only started after Bray arrived.

Bray had no idea what William was thinking, and even if he did, he wouldn't care.

At most, I'll just quit and leave Knighttown.

With most of the commissioned money in hand, Bray wouldn't feel too bad.

After finishing his conversation with William, Bray walked down the street and looked up at the gloomy sky.

The overall tone of Knight Town is dark.

It's the same even during the day; you just get used to the atmosphere after a while.

Bray told Naruko to go back and put Levy to sleep.

Of course, Bray also wanted Naruko to get a good night's sleep.

As for Bray, his goal was to find the old man from that night.

The old man told him to find him after dawn.

In other words, he was found this morning.

"The blind and mute old man, this must be the place." Bray looked at the ordinary wooden house in front of him.

There really was a blind and mute old man living alone in the town.

The old man appeared to have moved in from outside.

This disabled elderly man lives a good life despite having no one to care for him.

And it wasn't just that the old man was blind and mute; he also seemed to be deaf.

Bray found it hard to imagine how the old man had survived all by himself.

Standing at the door of the cabin, Bray hesitated for a long time.

If you're deaf, knocking on the door is probably pointless, right?

"Creak—" Just as Bray was hesitating whether or not to knock, the door of the cabin was pushed open.

An elderly man in a wheelchair opened the door for Bray.

"..." Bray was stunned for a moment, not expecting someone to open the door first.

"Knock knock!" The old man tapped on the wall, signaling Bray to follow.

Bray didn't say anything and just followed.

Even if you speak, the old man can't hear you.

The elderly man in the wheelchair is undoubtedly the same one who appeared in my nightmare.

However, the appearance is slightly different.

The elderly man in real life was wearing a blindfold and had a very obvious scar on his throat.

The wheelchair is very high, so that even when the elderly man is sitting, he is about the same height as Bray.

"Squeak, squeak, squeak—" The wheels of the wheelchair made a dull sound, indicating that it hadn't been maintained for a long time.

Bray followed the old man through the corridor to the study.

In the study, there are countless bookshelves, each filled with books.

Although he couldn't see anything around him, the old man easily picked up his cane from the side of the study table.

"Ah..." the old man uttered, pointing with his cane to a book on the bookshelf.

"This book?" Bray asked.

Unfortunately, the old man could not answer.

This interaction is really difficult.

"Ahhhhh..." Then the old man pointed to another bookshelf.

"There's another one like this?"

Bray took the two books down from their respective shelves.

Neither book had its title written on its cover.

Moreover, the book isn't very thick; it's the kind of book you can finish quickly.

“Ah…” Then, the old man raised his cane and pointed out the window of the study.

The tip of the cane pointed directly at the town's clock tower.

After doing all this, the old man pushed his wheelchair to the table and did nothing.

“…” Bray looked at the old man who hadn’t moved for a long time, and finally opened the book in his hand.

The first one is a diary.

"February, sunny."

"My best friend and I both sensed the existence of a being that transcends all living beings—is it God? Or something else entirely?"

— "December, cloudy."

"On this day, we successfully summoned Him, but we also paid the corresponding price."

— "December, rain."

"He may really be a god. He is great and holds the truth, which is incomprehensible and uncontrollable to ordinary people."

"I embarked on a journey to seek the truth with my dearest friend."

"February, sunny."

— “My close friend believes that as long as you have enough ‘eyes’ and ‘brains’, you will definitely be able to see and understand the truth.”

—"But I believe that only by depriving oneself of all senses can one see and understand the truth."

"But my best friend doesn't agree with my point of view."

— "December, rain."

"Due to differing beliefs, my best friend and I eventually broke up, and this ending was heartbreaking."

— "December, rain."

"I intend to strip myself of my senses and embark on a journey to find the truth."

— "December, rain."

"Indeed, it is very difficult to take away one's own senses; one must first overcome one's inner fears."

— "December, rain."

"My dearest friend went astray; he finally began experimenting on innocent people."

"I need to stop him."

— "December, rain."