Last Gun Alchemist-Chapter 101: Fifth Trial—Tower Defense Part Twenty-Five

For Ezra to use his hearing as his eyes, he relied on something simple yet very difficult.

The sound of collisions.

The wind moved through every space, filling every gap, brushing past everything in its path, and because of that, anything that stood within that space would interrupt it, collide with it, and create a difference in sound.

That difference...Was what Ezra focused on.

Of course, even though he could now sense that something was in front of him or beside him, he still couldn’t fully tell what it was. Whether it was a tree, a rock, or something else entirely, the shape remained unclear. But that didn’t stop him, he continued listening, separating and differentiating the sounds.

As he circulated his Cognis, he sharpened his focus further, dividing the sounds one after another, isolating the difference between the wind brushing against tree bark, the rustling of leaves, the dull resistance of stone, the loose shift of sand, and even the subtle distortion caused when the breeze passed around a human body.

Each sound was different and with that understanding he could now picture what was around him. It wasn’t easy, not at all, but Ezra had already trained his body, and he was already skilled at using his hearing with Cognis, which made this process faster for him than it would be for most people and like that...A new stage of Cognis control slowly opened before him.

All he needed now was to form his second star to step fully into the Binder rank.

Once he did, his control over Cognis would rise far above that of most others at the same level.

As the flow of Cognis moved through his veins and gathered into the palm he pressed against the grass, the world in front of him began to take shape.

Not clearly, but enough for him to identify what was around him.

He could now map what was ahead of him a little, but to fully understand everything. He had to remain still for a long time, focusing on sensing all the sounds around him.

What Ezra relied on to keep track of everything he sensed...Was his memory.

Not just a normal memory.

Ezra could store what he perceived and recall it in detail, which was one of the reasons he had been seen as an intelligent child back home, though that alone had never been enough to earn his father’s approval due to how weak his physical constitution was and always falling sick.

Ezra was not only able to think quickly, he could remember things accurately and still remember things for a long time, which meant, the information he gathered now would not be wasted.

This is why his ability – The Book of Memories, was easy for him to use. If someone else had this same ability as him, being able to quickly understand and remember all the information that was given by the ability would be very difficult for the person, but not for Ezra.

"Is it working?"

Fay asked quietly, her voice soft as she stood nearby, watching him with confusion still clear on her face.

He had been kneeling for a while now, one hand on the ground, not moving, not even speaking.

It was strange, but she needed to understand something.

Anything, at least know if he was progressing.

"Yes..." Ezra replied. "But... could you please not ask me any more questions for now?"

His voice remained calm.

"Since I’m not yet a Binder ranked Alchemist, I’m only relying on pure concentration, and it’s quite fragile."

A short pause.

"So, I can’t afford any distractions." He added, "You can leave me here if you feel tired."

"Okay..." Fay nodded slightly. "Good luck."

Fay folded her arms, watching instead of leaving, she chose to stay.

***

Back in the castle, Bale and Veda walked out from the back of the castle together smiling as if Bale hadn’t just been crying his eyes out moments ago.

His face looked brighter now and lighter.

"It’s getting late," Bale said, turning to one of the boys among his executives.

"Gather everyone, so we can start cooking."

He paused.

"And also... use the spray Big-sis gave us to remove the smell of the Zyphoric Acid."

The boy nodded, bowing slightly to both Bale and Veda before leaving to pass the message.

"The Zyphoric Acid does smell bad..."

Veda said casually.

"But it dissipates quickly. That’s why we didn’t need to buy the spray on our side."

"I didn’t know that..."

Bale replied.

"That’s why I told you to study chemistry more."

Veda said with a light scolding tone.

"Argh..."

Bale looked away.

"Sir Bale, Sir Veda."

A familiar voice called as the girl who had guided Ezra earlier approached, walking alongside the medic girl.

"Ah... Lisa."

Bale smiled.

"You look better, Sir Bale."

She said, her voice soft.

"Yes... yes, I am."

He nodded.

"Where are Ezra and Fay?"

"Oh... they went outside," Lisa replied, her voice carrying a slight hesitation as she recalled what Ezra had said. "He mentioned something about mapping out the whole area... to draw traps." There was confusion in her tone.

"Okay." Bale nodded, though he didn’t fully understand why she sounded like that, since he didn’t yet know Ezra was blindfolded.

"Oh... so he’s already doing that."

Veda smiled faintly.

His eyes shifted toward the direction they had pointed and for a moment he remembered, a bit about his training time, when he trained to improve his hearing ability.

The words his master once told him...

’If you want to sense danger and want to be able to read movements, then you must first understand the wind. Learn how it shifts, how it bends, how it reacts to the environment... only then can you begin to predict what cannot be seen.’

That training had not been easy for him, it had taken him one and a half years just to grasp the basics and even then, it wasn’t as perfect as he liked.

"...I can’t believe he has already reached that stage this fast."

Veda muttered quietly.

A faint drop of cold sweat formed at the back of his neck as he looked toward the far end where Ezra and Fay were said to be impressed.

Time passed and night came fully.

The castle was lit with torches, their flames flickering as shadows stretched across the walls, and the smell of food began to spread through the air as preparations were completed.

Ezra and Fay returned before the food was served.

The moment Bale saw Ezra... his body reacted instantly; he ran toward him.

Fast.

"What happened to your eyes?!"

His voice rose, filled with worry, his expression turning tight as he stared at the bandage covering Ezra’s eyes.

"I just strained them." Ezra replied with a plain expression.

"Just strained?!" Bale’s voice sharpened. "You literally can’t see! Like this"

Confusion mixed with concern as he leaned closer, trying to understand what he was looking at.

"I’m not blind." Ezra said. "I just can’t open my eyes because they can’t handle the reflection of light right now."

"...Okay..."

Bale exhaled slowly, relieved, but still concerned.

"Then why are you here when you’re supposed to be resting?"

He turned toward Veda.

Veda simply waved at him, smiling.

That only made it worse.

"...Why did you bring him here?"

Bale asked again, more confused now.

"I’m here to help."

Ezra answered before Veda could speak. 𝐟𝐫𝕖𝗲𝘄𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝕧𝐞𝚕.𝕔𝕠𝐦

"And I’m also using this as a chance to train my hearing." He pointed at his ear.

"He’s working on drawing trap layouts for us," Fay added quickly. "To help fortify the castle for the third wave."

Bale looked back at Ezra; his brows still slightly furrowed, still wondering how he could do something like that with his condition.

"...How are you going to manage with your eyes like that?"

"I have my ways." Ezra stretched his body slightly, his muscles reacting to the fatigue left behind by his earlier use of Cognis.

"And aren’t I moving just fine?"

"...Hmm." Bale stroked his chin slowly; he had noticed that within the time he ran to Ezra.

Ezra already knew it was him even though he could see him and he already moved around the castle fine with just his hearing alone.

"Then... this training must really be useful." His expression changed slightly. "I should learn it too."

He clenched his fist lightly, then followed Ezra as they all sat down to eat.

The atmosphere around them still held traces of anxiety.

It hadn’t disappeared, not completely, but the atmosphere of the group was getting better especially with the new stocks of weapons, supplies that Vera had provided, Veda’s presence, Ezra’s help with drawing out traps, for them to set up and Bale back to smiling in his normal cheerful nature.

All of it slowly eased the tension, little by little.

After a short rest, everyone slept and morning came quickly.

Work resumed almost immediately.

Ezra returning to the same place he had started from the day before, Fay followed him again to assist him in case anything happened.

This time, they advanced slightly closer toward the castle, though the distance was still far.

Ezra stopped, then bent down placing his hand on the ground and resumed continuing the mapping process linking what he sensed now with what he had already stored in his mind from the previous day.

Meanwhile, after taking care of Ezra’s bandages and making sure they were properly secured before he left to continue his work, the medic girl did not stay idle. She joined the rest of Bale’s medical team, stepping into the area where the injured had been gathered.

The space was filled, not with noise, but with low voices.

Groans and heavy breathing.

People sat or lay down in uneven positions, some leaning against broken walls, others stretched on makeshift bedding, their bodies wrapped in layers of cloth and bandages that were already stained.

She knelt beside one of them, then another.

Carefully cleaning wounds, rewrapping bandages, checking breathing and checking pulse, during this noticed a problem which due to the fact Bale’s group did not have anyone who followed the path of Flora Alchemy or one trained in traditional medical practice.

None of the people assigned to the medical team didn’t know much on first aid treatment and other stuff about medicine.

Most of them had only started learning after their groups merged and when the realization for a medical team became painfully clear during the second trial.

So now, they tried to learn and copied what they had seen from other candidates who had knowledge on the field, they weren’t good, not even close, but they were trying and right now that was enough.

On the other side of the castle, Veda assisted with the heavy work.

He moved through the broken areas, lifting chunks of stone that had fallen from the walls, his muscles tightening as he carried them one after another, stacking them away from the main path to clear space.

At the back where the worst of the battlefield had been the group worked with Zyphoric Acid.

The liquid hissed as it touched the bodies of the Ground Apes, eating through flesh and bone, reducing what had once been massive creatures into something far less, gradually the corpses disappeared in number, one by one and with that, the castle began to change.

The remains of the Ground Apes were gone, most of the broken stones had been cleared out, the space though still damaged was now usable and so they moved on to the next step.

The catapults that had survived were repositioned, their frames adjusted and secured again, while the machine guns were brought back into place, their angles checked, their positions refined for better coverage.

At the same time, others who were now done with their work began circulating their Cognis, recovering it back to its peak.

Finally, before night fully arrived, Bale began his training, his hearing just like Ezra.

Veda helped with guiding him and correcting his mistakes.

Of course, Bale struggled, falling down a lot, hitting walls and passing people, but with determination to grow he continued without giving up.

Seeing this, A few of his members joined him to also train their hearing.

The second day passed and Ezra finally finished mapping out the whole castle and battlefield, front and back.

He woke up early, before most people had even begun moving.

The air was still, cold and quiet and sat down in the center of the ground floor of the castle placing a large sheet on the table that he moved together, he took out another large sheet and another.

The kind he normally used when designing weapon models like the Baske or other guns he had created, then he began to draw everything he mapped out in his mind.

The castle, the broken walls, the cleared paths, the positions of structures, the layout of the land, the slopes, the dips and the accurate distances of all the structures.

Every single detail, pulled directly from his mind.

His hand moved steadily across the sheet, the sound of the pencil dragging across the surface sharp in the quiet morning.

The drawing finally took form, precise, almost too accurate that it looked real.

As if someone had copied the entire place from above.

He used more than five large sheets, laying them out and connecting them together.

Completing the full structure of the area, then he moved on to the traps.

He didn’t design them the same way he had in his own base since some of the materials for the traps wasn’t available for them to use, but he made sure they were actually better and more dangerous than the ones he set in his base.

He drew some especially inside the castle itself because Bale no longer had the protection of the crystal energy field, which meant if the monsters broke through the traps in the battlefield, they could easily enter the castle, but now with the traps Ezra laid out, it became possible to manage that issue.