The Twenty Virtues Book 1- The Twenty Generals

40-The Ignorant

Knowledge. One of the greatest weapons and virtues that the human race has to offer, it is by far one of the main attributes that sets it apart from everything else. But just as with great powers come great responsibilities, knowledge also requires an equivalent exchange: the greater the size of what you want to learn, the greater the price. You can pay this price in two ways: Time or failure. Either you spend a lot of your time learning, or you learn through failure. That's how humanity has evolved over the years.

But sometimes humans can be quite ingenious; it's interesting what they do just to avoid paying the price...

Thus, we turn to the life of Narf, a blind girl, heir to an inheritance worth millions of dollars. She had never known her mother, only knew that she was a model who died during childbirth, and lived only with her father. A highly respected doctor among everyone around him, the girl had a perfect life. She had never seen herself, but everyone said how beautiful she was, with long golden hair. She always wore sunglasses to indicate her blindness, something her father always asked her to do.

The girl's life was wonderful. Despite her father being very protective and never allowing her to leave the house, she had never come into contact with other children. She was a maiden in a world of darkness, surrounded by caring servants. Her life was so beautiful in her grand mansion. Whenever she wanted, there were parties. On her birthday, there was always fun, and everyone loved attending her parties, idolizing her, and many even cried with the grandeur of her celebrations. When asked, all the guests said the same thing.

"Miss, believe me, your parties are the best things in the world. They save our lives."

Narf had no way of knowing if it was all true or not, but it always sounded genuine. Everyone always said her parties were the best things that could happen, and that everyone eagerly awaited the next one.

She envisioned the place like an amusement park, a festival with dances, food, and decorations everywhere.

But Narf still detected sadness in their voices, even if it was genuine. Even if she believed what they said, she still heard sadness and anguish when they spoke. She wished she could know; she always felt as though everyone was hiding something from her, but she didn't know what. Sometimes it was frustrating not to know, feeling as though she was missing out on part of the world.

But the girl knew nothing, and nothing knew.

Her father was the one who bathed her, worried that the girl might suffer an accident if left alone. Their relationship was close, and she was very proud of her father. His skills as a doctor were phenomenal, being able to cure anything after seeing it only once. It was always like this. When Narf heard about someone who fell ill, the next person who appeared with something similar, her father could cure them.

So, gathering the information Narf had: She was beautiful, rich, loved, and blessed. What more could a child want to know about herself?

This would change in one night.

The girl was preparing to sleep, having already bathed, combed her hair, removed her glasses, and lay down in her bed when she heard someone entering through her window. Someone who would completely change her perspective on what she truly knew and didn't know.

"Who's there?" the girl asked, receiving only a brief "shh" in response. From the voice, it seemed to be a child like her, but since she rarely met other children, she couldn't distinguish the gender. "Who are you?"

"Please don't tell anyone I'm here. I barely managed to escape."

"Escape? From whom?"

"What do you mean, from whom? From the guards, obviously."