C206: Delica Kingdom (2)
It was a deep night and the full moon rose brilliantly as Casey Selmore, who left Baltanung, returned to her lodgings in Leathervelk.
The bluish moonlight streamed through the curtains onto her sofa.
"Um? Hehe."
Betty was sleeping there, curled up like a shrimp.
'Did she fall asleep because she was tired of waiting? It's amazing how an automaton can sleep.'
She didn't know if Betty was really sleeping or just pretending to be sleeping.
'It was the Delica Kingdom that made Betty like this.'
Casey covered Betty with a blanket and returned to her room. Her bed, full of all kinds of documents and piles of luggage, seemed to have no room to lie down.
She pushed her luggage moderately to create an empty space and flew over the bed.
On the rocking bed, Casey took out a piece of blue-colored paper.
'A piece of paper with the man's magic. I can use this to get a glimpse of his memory.'
The memory that can be seen is said to be random, when used by the 'typical' wizard but Casey Selmore was different.
Casey Selmore concentrated her magic on the paper on her fingertips.
Rudger's mana and Casey's mana tangled in the paper as she closed her eyes slowly. Her mind flowed somewhere far away, and the sensation of her body being submerged tickled her skin.
What she saw with her eyes open was the bottom of a fast-flowing river.
'The memory is similar to running water. It's like time from the past to the future. Here others will be eager to resist not to be swept away, but I am different.'
For Casey, who handles water, dealing with this flow was easier than anyone else. That's why she wasn't swept away in the huge torrent, and she was able to move where she wanted to.
Casey went back to the upper reaches of the memory.
Images passed by like a panorama in the translucent water of memories but she had no time to check them. If she got a little distracted she might be swept away.
Casey's goal was memories from the past that were hard to find but as she continued searching she discovered something and she let herself to be swept in the torrent of memory.
Her field of vision darkened for a moment and then regained its light.
"This is…"
When she opened her eyes she saw the scenery of the Delica Kingdom from three years ago.
A man has just entered the city in the landscape. His name was James Moriarty but now he's known as Rudger Chelici.
His appearance of three years ago and his present hasn't changed much. Rudger's face was the same as James'.
'You're so handsome that I can't take it anymore.'
A sharp face line and a nose bridge that looks like a sculptor carved them with all his might. His eyelashes were quite long, too.
From birth, he showed that he was a noble man.
'What the hell was he doing?'
She was surprised this is what he really looked like. However, compared to the days when he was called Professor James Moriarty, he was a little different.
'Am I looking at his memories from a third person's point of view?'
She wondered about it, but it didn't interfere with the memory, so she decided to keep an eye on it.
'He's getting emotional.'
She couldn't understand what he was thinking, but some of his feelings seemed to be shared.
Having just entered the kingdom of Delica, he was slightly excited by the overwhelming expectations.
"Is this the home of famous mathematicians and scientists?"
His eyes shone intelligently with anticipation for something. Casey looked at the ecstatic figure but came to her senses quickly.
'I can't believe you made that face all of a sudden. I was surprised.'
Her opponent is a dangerous man who kept changing his identity.
Re-energized, Casey looked closely at Rudger's actions so as not to miss anything. Now that she's in a ghostly state she can't stay away from Rudger, but she's not disturbed by anyone.
The first thing Rudger did was to travel around the capital and learn the geography. Then, when he saw a prominent bookstore, he stopped by there from time to time.
'Books?'
Rudger bought some books from a bookstore, mostly related to math and science.
'In the Delica Kingdom, there are many major books because the academic society occupies the foundation of the country, but why did he buy them? Is he going to study?'
It could be because he was not a professor yet.
The first time she met James Moriarty was when he was called professor. Although he was hiding his identity, his academic knowledge was real.
'Was he interested in learning? Why is he hiding his identity? Something's wrong.'
The sun went down and the night fell. Rudger slowly walked down the road to find a place to stay. At that time, a small shadow protruding from the alley collided with Rudger.
"What?"
"Oh!"
It was a boy in his mid-teens wearing a newsboy cap that bumped into him. When the boy saw Rudger, he bowed his head in surprise.
"I'm sorry my lord!"
Because Rudger's well-dressed, noble-style appearance reminded anyone of an aristocrat the boy was scared since he bumped into him and left black stains on his clothes.
"That's enough. I'm also at fault for not paying attention."
"Well, but because of me, the stain on the clothes……."
"You mean this?"
Rudger smiled when he saw the stain on his coat.
"It doesn't matter, clothes can be washed. Boy, are you hurt?"
The boy opened his mouth wide at Rudger's words. Unlike his first impression, he was very gentle.
Casey, who was watching, almost shouted, "I can't believe it."
'What is this guy? Why are you so gentlemanly?'
It was the very opposite reaction from when she first met him, although she spoke a little bitterly at their first meeting.
'Is that acting, too? No he's not, because now I can feel some of this guy's feelings.'
When he lied, she could tell at once. Nevertheless, there is no sign of falsehood in his words.'
'Did you always have this personality?'
A completely unexpected fact made Casey feel like the reality she knew was being denied.
"I'm fine."
As the boy said so, he wanted to get out of here as soon as possible and as soon as he tried a shout came from the alleyway where the boy popped out from and soon a man appeared.
"Finally, I found it! You thief!"
"Thief?"
It was only then that Rudger realized that the boy had a book in his arms.
"Finally found you thief!"
"Oh, no!"
The boy cried out in a rage.
"I paid properly!"
"What?!"
"It's because you don't want to sell it!"
"Hmph! It must have been stolen money anyway! I was suspicious, so you just left the money, took the book and ran away! Besides, how can a dirty little boy like you read such a difficult book?"
Rudger knew roughly how things were going.
The bookstore owner held out his hand at the boy. The boy froze at the sight and closed his eyes tightly.
"Let's stop here."
Rudger stood in front of the bookstore owner.
"……Who are you?"
The bookstore owner retrieved his outstretched hand as he looked at Rudger's attire. At first glance, he looked like an aristocrat, so he had no choice but to be careful with his words and actions.
"It's not very nice to see a grown adult persecuting a child."
"That's the thief who stole our store's books! What are you talking about?!"
Instead of answering, Rudger flicked a coin at the bookstore owner. The owner, who grabbed it reflexively, looked at the golden coin and opened his eyes wide.
"That much money will be more than enough to pay for a child's book or should I get the change?"
The bookstore owner hurriedly left the place in case Rudger would tell him to return the money.
The boy, who was looking around, bowed to Rudger with a shiver.
"Thank you for your help but I have no money to pay you sir."
"I don't care."
"What?"
"It's just my pure favor to pay for it."
"……."
The boy's eyes shined with a warning light.
"You seem suspicious."
"I understand. If you really think so, I'll do this. I'm new to this city and I don't know the way. Can you tell me a place with good accommodations? If you do that, I won't take the money for the book I paid for a while ago."
"Really?"
"A transaction is cleaner than a simple favor."
At those words, the boy's complexion brightened.
"Then leave it to me!"
The boy led the way and Rudger followed him while Casey was watching them.
'He's more normal than I thought'
Casey thought that Rudger would enter in force but the beginning was trivial.
'But that boy…….'
Casey felt a sense of indescribability at the sight of the boy guiding Rudger.
'We'll see.'
That man just hasn't shown his true colors yet so she was going to keep an eye on him for now.
* * *
The accommodation the boy guided him to was an inn in a remote place. However, the inside was quite neat and the price was low.
"That's where I live."
"Are you here?"
Just in time, a cute little girl appeared from the inside. Apparently she was the boy's sister and was trying to greet her brother, but found Rudger with him and hid behind her brother's back.
"Brother, who is that?"
"This is my benefactor and guest. You don't have to be too scared because he's a really good person."
As the boy smiled and said, Sally walked up to Rudger and bowed her head.
"Hello."
"Yes, it's nice to meet you."
"You can stay here! It's hard to find a cheap place like this! The owner's food is delicious!"
"You, Arte!"
At that time, the innkeeper appeared with a roar.
He was a man like a bandit with a rough beard and Rudger's first impression was that he had been through all sorts of hardships.
"Mr. Keck."
"Where did you go?"
"I just took a walk."
"What? Isn't that a book you're hiding behind you? Did you go to the bookstore again and buy that useless bunch of paper?"
"It's not useless!"
"Arte, listen up. People like us don't have time to put anything in their heads. We're busy making a living day by day."
"I got it, so stop it! I've heard that story more than 100 times already! And here! We have a visitor today!"
The owner, who was about to make a speech, belatedly opened his eyes wide when he found Rudger.
"Who are you?"
"The child to you. I'm your guest."
The owner stared at Arte with an incredible gaze at the word guest, his eyes were asking if it was true.
"Yes, I brought him here."
"Hahahaha! Well done, Arte!"
The owner, who was trying to scold Arte a while ago, burst into a cheerful laugh and changed his attitude.
Arte pouted his lips and glanced at the owner.
"Guest, I proudly say that there is no other place around here that is more comfortable than here!"
"I've already explained everything"
Seeing them squabbling with each other, he thought it wouldn't be bad to stay here.
"Arte, you brought him here, so show him the room."
"I was actually going to do that. Sir, please follow me."
Rudger followed Arte up to the second floor of the inn.
"This is the room where you will stay in the future. I clean every day, so there's not much dirt."
"It's cozier than I thought even though the price is cheap."
"I told you. There's no place like this."
Rudger said he understood and unpacked the luggage he brought right away. Arte opened his eyes wide as if he had found something unexpected while looking at it.
"Huh? Isn't that a new thesis book?"
"You mean this? While I was in the city today, I stopped by some other bookstores and came across them so I bought them."
"Wow, that's really hard to get."
"Is that so? I guess I was lucky."
Arte's gaze did not fall from the book Rudger purchased.
"Are you interested?"
"Yes?"
"You seem to be quite interested in learning. When you were chased by the bookstore owner, you didn't want to let go of the book even if you died."
"Yes, that's…well, that's right. My dream is to become a great scholar."
"That's cool."
"Is it cool? Others laughed at me for dreaming out of place."
"There is no such thing as a dream that is out of place. Dreams are the freedom of imagination that the person can unfold."
Rudger presented his thesis book to Arte.
"If you're interested, would you learn from me?"
"Really? Why would…….?"
"Because a child who has not neglected learning in such a difficult environment needs a suitable reward."
Arte said as if he was encouraged by the words.
"Then I'll learn. I want to learn!"
"Yes."
It is a city where he will stay for a long time so it wouldn't be bad to teach him while staying together.
"Please call me teacher from now on."
"Yes! Teacher!"
* * *
That's how two weeks passed.
Rudger stayed at the hostel and was busy with personal studies and teaching Arte.
"Teacher, I'm not sure about this!"
Arte had a passion for learning and was very smart. In short, he was a gifted child who learned everything quickly, so Rudger felt some kind of joy in teaching Arte.
"Yeah. What's this problem?"
"It's a recent question submitted by the conference!"
"If it's an academic society, it must be Ordo University, which is famous in Delica Kingdom."
"Yes! A high-ranking person from the academic society put the prize money on it! I thought you could solve it teacher."
"This guy. The prize money was your goal."
"Hehe. It's a coincidence."
"Give it to me."
Rudger glanced at the problem Arte had brought then he took out a pen and began to write down the formula on paper.
Arte looked at his figure with admiring eyes.
Only the sound of a square pen rang in the room and after a while,
"I've solved it all. Here, take it."
"Huh? Already?"
"Already? It's already been an hour."
Arte realized that he had been staring at Rudger's solving the problem for an hour.
"Thank you, sir! I will post this and come back!"
Rudger told him to do so without much thought and devoted himself to research again.
Three days after that Arte came to Rudger, who was immersed in research in his room as usual.
"Sir."
"Arte, what's going on?"
Arte's appearance was different from usual. His face was red, and he was panting so Rudger wondered if he was sick.
"I got an invitation from Ordo University."
"Invitation?"
"The question that you solved three days ago! The president wants to meet with the person who solved it."
Arte clenched his fist and said in an excited voice.
"The Kingdom First Society has officially invited you!"
At that cry, Casey, bored of watching, pricked up her ears.
Ordo University was the place where she first met James Moriarty.