Chapter 128: Can you still see me?

Ephnel smiled faintly, her hands resting quietly on her lap.

“Thank you for yesterday… And to those men, please tell them thank you, and I’m sorry.”

“I’ll pass it on.”

Masaki Hinaki paused.

“But they didn’t die for you, so don’t take it to heart.”

“Mm…”

“Can you get up and move around now?”

“That’s not a problem, but walking on my own is still a bit difficult.”

Ephnel’s injuries were neither too severe nor too light.

With crutches, walking a few hundred meters wasn’t an issue.

If the situation were urgent, she could even fight as an Agent, although her combat effectiveness would probably be less than fifty percent.

“It will take at least two weeks to fully recover, right? In that case, for the Maesakawa mission in ten days, you and Erincia should stay behind and guard the city.”

“Let’s talk about that when the time comes. More importantly, how much intel have we gathered on Seiran and the Angel?”

“Not ideal. The Angel is the Apostle organization’s top secret. We’re still in the process of interrogation and investigation.”

Masaki Hinaki said, then changed the subject.

“You don’t need to worry too much about these things for now. We’ve recorded all the information you gave us. The rest is just a race against time. Compared to our work, I have… some bad news to tell you now.”

“What bad news?”

“About your eye…”

“Go on.”

Masaki Hinaki looked at Ephnel with a complicated expression.

Ephnel seemed calm.

She sighed and took out two folded pieces of paper from her pocket.

“I just got your post-op check-up report. Ephnel, I’m afraid your right eye can’t be saved.”

“—!?”

The tote bag slipped from her hand and fell to the floor, but Yukina didn’t even notice.

She stood outside the hospital room, one hand frozen on the doorknob, completely lost.

She had just come back to get something she had left behind.

As she was about to open the door, she heard the conversation inside.

Although the room was well soundproofed, it wasn’t impossible for Yukina to hear the conversation inside.

However, when she heard the content, Yukina’s heart skipped a beat.

“…Ephnel, your right eye is permanently blind…”

That was Masaki Hinaki’s voice, stating a fact that Yukina never wanted to hear.

“…The Angel’s beam is activated Erosion energy…”

“…The Erosion has completely destroyed the structure of the eyeball. Although we’ve basically cleared out the residual Erosion in the eye, the damaged parts cannot be recovered…”

“…It’s probably the same principle as ‘Remnant-ification.’ With our current human technology, it can’t be repaired…”

“………”

‘Blind?’

‘Naoko, she…’

“Yukina?”

A sudden call came from behind her.

Yukina’s hand trembled.

She took a step back and saw Yonomori Nami looking at her quizzically.

“Didn’t you just come from the elevator…”

“I just…”

Her voice was strained, and her vision blurred in an instant.

Yukina quickly knelt down, burying her head as she gathered her things from the tote bag.

“S-sorry!”

“Wait, Yukina!”

Yonomori Nami wanted to say more, but Yukina had already run off without looking back.

The dreary rain continued to fall outside the window, with no sign of clearing up.

The sky had been so clear last night, not looking at all like it would rain.

But the rain had been falling since morning without a break.

Masaki Hinaki slowly explained to Ephnel about her right eye.

“Alright, I understand. You don’t need to say any more.”

Ephnel interrupted Masaki Hinaki.

“I’m not finished yet…”

Masaki Hinaki pouted, casting a resentful glance at Ephnel.

Ephnel gazed at the gloomy sky outside the window, twirling a strand of hair that had slipped from her shoulder.

“For this kind of thing, you only need to tell me the result. Since it’s an incurable injury, it doesn’t matter how it happened… It’s just one eye. It’s not enough to defeat me.”

Ephnel’s voice was soft, as if drifting from a faraway place.

She quietly withdrew her gaze and lowered her lashes.

She slowly raised her hand, the pad of her finger resting on her right eye, gently rubbing it.

Layer upon layer, her right eye was thickly padded with gauze.

Ephnel couldn’t see her own hand.

Even if she moved her eyeball, all she could see was pitch black.

Through the gauze, she couldn’t feel temperature or even the slightest vibration.

Only waves of sharp pain rose from the depths, stabbing straight into her mind.

“An eye for an eye. I will go to Seiran personally to settle this.”

Masaki Hinaki looked at Ephnel in silence.

She didn’t see any particular expression on Ephnel’s face.

Of course, it was impossible for Ephnel not to care at all, but as an Agent, she was already mentally prepared for this.

Dying at any time, in any way, in any place, was not strange—for an Agent, every day was a countdown.

They had this understanding.

When she was on the operating table, Ephnel had already learned the general condition of her body from the doctors.

Because she had faced Seiran’s “beam” head-on, her right arm was the most severely injured, followed by her right eye, which had also been affected.

Agents can repair most physical injuries, thanks to the catalyzing and extending effects of Order energy on bodily functions.

But this self-healing mechanism, based on biological instincts, is completely ineffective on wounds that are inherently irreparable.

For example, severed limbs or missing internal organs.

And when Ephnel’s eye was hit by the beam, its internal structure underwent an “alteration,” or “infection.”

The structure of the eyeball was altered, rapidly developing in the direction of a Remnant.

The residual energy was highly active and was quickly consumed and absorbed.

The rest was completely devoured by Order energy, leaving nothing behind.

But the already destroyed structure of the eyeball was completely beyond recovery.

This was the direct cause of her blindness.

In contrast, her right arm was covered by skin.

After the surface layer of skin was removed, new skin would grow under the stimulation of medication, guided by Order energy.

Surgical removal was one of the most effective methods for Agents to suppress the Erosion Rate, but obviously, this procedure could not be applied to the eye.

Once it’s removed, it’s lost and won’t grow back.

So Ephnel had chosen conservative treatment at the time.

As it turned out, no miracle occurred.

“Mm… alright then.”

Masaki Hinaki sighed. She didn’t insist anymore, folding the report in her hand and putting it away.

Agent-related check-up reports or medical records were also considered confidential information and couldn’t be carelessly discarded.

“If you want, I can find someone to make you a custom prosthetic eye. Although it’s a replacement, it can be made to look exactly the same as the original. I happen to know an old friend who is very good at this.”

“I’ll consider it.”

Ephnel lowered her eyelids and turned her head to look at Masaki Hinaki.

“But, Hinaki, you didn’t come here this time just to tell me a piece of bad news, did you?”

“Mm, of course. There are a few other things I wanted to get your opinion on…”

Masaki Hinaki said.