MK 033 – Blood, Sweat, and — 

---

[…Uhh….] (Kunon)

Commencing experiment–

Failure. 

Kunon then documents the experiment and checks what might be the cause of the failure.

Then–

Commencing experiment–

Failure.

And Kunon’s pen started to move again.

This episode of Kunon had repeated itself enough for him to build several mountains of papers on his desk.

Kunon can’t see in the first place so he doesn’t need any source of light.
As such, the concept of time of the day for him is meaningless. Whether it’s morning or night, it won’t hinder Kunon to study, experiment, and write up his failures using magic.

This is what Kunon had been doing over and over again.
He’s been stuck in his room all this time and the only person who’d made contact with him is his handmaiden when she comes over to bring him food once a day.
He only asks for it whenever he is hungry regardless whether it’s day or night.

Kunon abandoned everything else, his physical and magical training, and weekly meetings with the Princess and Zeonly, to devote himself to creating his eyes.

[…Another dud, huh…]

*Tak!*

Kunon threw his pen to the table and decided not to think anymore.
He already performed more than a hundred of experiments.
From the most possible solution to the least, he tried everything that he can think of in that order but to no success. 

[-A-a-aahh, that hurts..]

‘Just for how long did I sit and write this time?’

Kunon wonders as his body’s whole stiff and cracks even on the slightest of movement.

[—Alright!]

*Pak!*

Kunon slaps both of his cheeks with his hands.
He’s currently stuck.
And he’s getting burned out.

‘So a break is a must!’

Kunon then leaves his quarters for the first time in a while and walks toward the main estate.
The night has fallen for quite a while already, it seems.

[O-oh… It’s you… I’m about to hit the sack, you know…] (Ixio)

The first thing Kunon did when he arrived at the main house was to invade his brother’s room just to find him already wearing his night cap.
Any minute later, Ixio would have already fallen asleep.

‘I thought the temperature’s especially cold but I guess the night’s already deep and it’s winter.’

That being said—

[Brother, to the sauna we go.] (K)

[Haaa? You want to head to the sauna this late? Right at this hour? I have classes tomorrow, you know?] (I)

[I want a break. Let’s go.] (K)

Ixio takes a better look at his brother who has a straight face after saying something so selfish and notices that his complexion looks a little bit pale.
Also, he can’t feel the funny and humorous vibe Kunon usually has right now.

‘I guess he’s feeling really stressed out.’

Ixio now realizes that Kunon is telling the truth that he really wants to take a break.

Afterall, he is also aware of what Kunon has been up to recently.

‘It must have been really hard. I guess he’s currently in a slump.’

Whether it is to read funny novels or swing his sword around, Ixio can sympathize with Kunon as those were his own ways to relieve stress when he’s tired studying all the time.

[…Did you tell Father?] (I)
[Eh? Can’t we just go there ourselves?] (K)

There was a time when Kunon read what a sauna is and tried to perform an experiment to replicate it in the main house. It turned out to be great and it’s now being used occasionally by the family.

‘It didn’t turn out what I expected but… This kind of thing is also nice once in a while.’ (K)

[Father loves going to the sauna more than I do, you know. If we don’t call him out, I’m sure I’ll get an earful… Ah, forget it. You go head to the sauna first, I’ll fetch Father. Also, don’t let Mother know about it, okay? She’ll nag at me once she knew we didn’t invite her.] (I)

Regardless, Ixio will be the one who’ll get the short end of the stick between the siblings.
Pretty unreasonable considering it is Kunon’s idea, but that is something Ixio didn’t want to argue and just accepted.

Afterall–

‘It’s just a sauna. It isn’t usual for my little brother to come over and ask something. If it’s for him, then this isn’t too much of a big deal.’

That night, by the time all young kids had fallen asleep, the three men of the Gurion estate spent their time relaxing in the steam sweating their bodies to their hearts’ content.

They took a bath afterwards, of course.
It’s just that Ixio had almost fallen asleep while Arson happily drank his next beer.


It’s been three weeks since Kunon isolated himself and continuously performed his experiments.
For this night, at least, he returned back to his quarters and happily lay down on his bed.

—

[…Another failure…]

Kunon’s experiments continue.

He is not getting any kind of results no matter how many times he tries, still, he didn’t find any reason to stop so he’s still pushing forward.

However, there are times that his focus suddenly wavers just like now.
His mind refuses to think about anything and he just wants to flip everything upside down and go to sleep.

It’s a natural feeling considering Kunon’s been stuck in dead ends all this while.
He’s getting too exhausted after not seeing any kind of progress no matter how much he tries.

[Hmmmmm!!!!]

Kunon stands up from his chair and stretches his hips when suddenly—

*Crack!*

His back cracked and made a sound. Once again, he’d been sitting on his chair for quite a long while.

[…I guess I need a little break.]

Zeonly told him something before.

Whenever he finds himself stuck on a subject, he should pause, keep his distance from it, breathe, and take a look at it from a different perspective.

Zeonly told him that if he keeps on stressing about the same subject on his desk, his vision will be kept in a tunnel and he won’t be able to observe his surroundings and consider other possibilities.

‘That’s why if you ever find yourself stuck with a problem, it’s better to clear your thoughts before trying again.’

For Zeonly, he uses naps to clear his head and take a break when he’s stuck. Kunon doesn’t have anything specific at the moment.

[Sauna, huh… Nope. Not feeling like it.]

After saying so, Kunon leaves his quarters and heads to the main mansion.

Or so Kunon had said but he still ended up in the sauna.

[—*Gulp* *gulp* *gulp* *gulp*, Aahhhh~~~]

All because he got caught by his mother, Tinaliza.

She had discovered recently that the men in her family had taken a sauna behind her back and she felt frustrated.
As such, all this time, she waited for Kunon to visit.

The sun had already set for quite a while when Kunon arrived in the main house when a maid spotted him and immediately reported it to his mother. 

And upon seeing her son, Tinaliza cried—

[I haven’t tried going into the sauna before!]

It just so happened that Arson went home early today so the three of them went to the sauna to enjoy themselves. As for Ixio, he still isn’t home yet.

And ofcourse, they’re accompanied with beers.

Kunon’s mother who appears to be more noble and tranquil amongst the women of nobility is right now drinking her fill much more daringly than his father.

Kunon cannot see her but Tinaliza has a towel draped around her body as she gulps down a large glass of beer with her other hand on her waist.

‘What’s the best way to avoid dehydration in a sauna? Beer!’

Or so it appears upon looking at the madame of the Gurion estate.

[This is it! Who needs wine when you have beers! Anything’s fine as long as there are beers!]

Tinaliza can’t contain her excitement upon experiencing her first sauna and beer.

As for her husband who recommended her the drink while inside the sauna —

[I’d still love you, dear.]

As for what he meant with that whisper, nobody knows. 

–This night happened two months after Kunon isolated himself.

Kunon rehydrated himself with detoxified water before heading to his quarters. Then he slept comfortably.

—

[—!!!!]

*Thud!*

The chair had fallen when Kunon abruptly stood.

But that isn’t something Kunon is bothered about right now.

[Finally!! This!! This is it!!]

‘I shouldn’t forget this feeling!’
‘I shouldn’t forget this experiment!’
‘—It was just a moment but I was able to see!’

It was different from the colors Kunon can recognize using his mana. The image he saw had been more detailed and distinct.

He felt it.
The things that he had only recognized from the images he read from the books.
In the place where he can only recognize colors, Kunon was able to recognize figures that have been exactly the same from what he just knew.

‘Will I ever forget that sensation? NO!’

Kunon swore to himself that he will never forget this moment.
To do that, Kunon’s hand writes at an unrecognizable speed to immortalize that instant.

He writes down the experiment he just performed.
And, after all this time, the clue that he had finally grasped.
The way that he found after being stuck in dead ends after all these months.
Now that he found his way, he will never stop.

Careful not to commit any mistake, Kunon repeatedly recited what happened while writing on his desk.
Just to make sure, he wrote another copy in case the first one gets ruined by water or ink.
Even if the chance of this document to be lost is low, Kunon won’t settle and had to prepare an insurance in fear that he might lose this writing.

Kunon’s thoughts kept on moving.
Now that the possibility had opened its doors for him, he decided to continue straight to rush in.

However – 

Kunon kept his calm.

After he finishes writing his second copy, he stops and turns to the bed to get a good night’s sleep.

Kunon wants to be in perfect shape in conducting further experiments from this point onward.

—This happened three and a half months after Kunon isolated himself.

—

[….]

What lies in the center is a water mirror.

It’s a thin and flat mirror made of water that is meant to reflect the scenery before it.
Kunon designed a flow pattern on it to transfer the scenery it reflects to his mind in real time with no delay. 

To protect the water mirror, it is enveloped in a transparent water ball as its case.

—It’s rather minimalistic and simple.

Kunon had tried many different experiments starting with the most complicated theories down to the practical ones but now he realizes that he had been overthinking things right from the start.

He didn’t have to use any complicated engineering techniques.
He only needed a simple structure and did not even require a relay.

He could just directly connect his mana to the water mirror and it will transfer the images.
It was just that simple.

Once Kunon started to think in that direction, the rest of the work became much easier.

[—…I can see… T-this is what it looks like… A vision, scener— ahh…!?]

Kunon was at a loss of words and couldn’t really tell his emotions. 

Then he was attacked by a severe migraine.

—It was an information overload brought upon by the fact that this is the first time that Kunon was able to see and his brain couldn’t process the amount of data and images it received right away.

This happened even though he just looked around in his room.
If it was outdoors, then the repercussions might have been unimaginable.

[…I did it… I did it…]

But that’s only the case for now.
It’s just that Kunon hasn’t adjusted yet from the sensation of being able to ‘see’.
Once he gets accustomed to it gradually, then there should be no worries.

Kunon finally accomplished his dream.
Kunon can now see using magic.

–Three months and three weeks have passed since Kunon isolated himself.

He can’t help but cry in happiness and eventually fall asleep.

Despite the floor being cold, Kunon was able to sleep soundly.

The cold winter has finally ended and spring begins.

---

Translator’s Notes:

1. I remember reading this chapter touched with Ixio, smiling because of Tinaliza, then cried a little at the end seeing Kunon finally succeed. 🙂 I just felt happy for the boyyy. I thought things would end here though to be honest xd
2. Kunon aside, dear reader, if you are working as well on something yourself, I wish, like Kunon, you won’t give up even if you’re stuck. I hope you find your path soon. And eventually, smile, and maybe even cry, once you reach your goal! 🙂
3. For everyone that’s tired, take a breather, and let’s take Zeonly’s advice into our minds. It works for me. My break would be light novels though and sleep.
4. We’ll be having a break tomorrow! Happy weekend!

---

Previous |Table of Contents| Next