C209: Guest (2)
Rudger was worried when he heard a guest came.
'I don't think there's anyone who can come now.'
That made him even more nervous.
'No. There's no point in thinking about it here. If I'm not going to run away, I have to face it.'
Rudger, who had finished thinking, opened his mouth.
"I see. Tell the guest I'll be right there."
"No, you don't have to. I came here myself."
With that said she pushed the employee away and came into his teacher's office.
Rudger, who was nervous, relaxed his shoulders when he saw her.
"Was the guest you Casey Selmore?"
"Why do you feel strangely relieved?"
"You can leave now. Good work."
The employee his head.
"Hmm. Is this your office?"
As the employee closed the door and left, Casey slowly looked around the inside of the teacher's office with her hands behind her.
Rudger frowned at her.
"Why don't you tell me what you came for?"
"What, do we have to have business between us?"
"Between you?"
It was Sedina who responded to the remark.
Casey looked at Sedina and greeted her with a gentle smile.
"Oh, that's right. There was one more person. Hello sweet lady, what's your name?"
"……Sedina Rosen."
"Sedina Rosen. Seeing that you're staying here, I think you're his assistant, right? Is the teacher nice to you?"
Sedina nodded instead of answering but her gaze towards Casey wasn't friendly and Rudger intervened because he thought there would be a fight at this rate.
"Sedina, you wait in the assistant office."
"But sir."
"It's fine. I have something to talk with the guest."
When Rudger said so, Sedina was forced to leave for the assistant office. Of course, she didn't forget to stare at Casey once on the way.
"Oh, no. I must be hated."
Casey looked at Sedina leaving and shook her head as if she was disappointed while Rudger stared at her.
"So what business did you come to me for?"
"Are you already being so cold-hearted? You enjoyed our secret meeting last night."
Casey winked with a playful smile but there was no way Rudger was ignorant of her intentions so his reaction was cold.
Casey patted her chin.
"That's weird. People usually like it when I do this."
"If you call closing an eye a beauty, I'll tell you that you've been wrong for a long time. There's no fool who would get caught in that in the first place."
"Everyone liked it when I smiled at them."
"It's because they're stupid."
Rudger realized that this detective girl was in many ways different from common sense. Her ability was so outstanding that she lacked empathy and she could not understand other people's feelings.
"It's funny that you just called it beauty."
It was just that her natural appearance was outstanding, so she mistakenly thought that what she did worked well with other people.
"Are you trying to get revenge on me for what happened last night? Is this the 'I will confess and punish you'?"
"What?! Who confesses to whom?"
"I'm glad to hear that. You're not my cup of tea."
"That's funny! You're not my type either."
"I thought you were an obsessive person because you secretly stalked me for three years."
"Of course not!"
Casey proudly shouted no, but in the eyes of a third party, she was severely obsessed. Only she didn't realize it.
Casey, who had tried to cut Rudger out for no reason, stared at him and found a lunch box on his desk.
"Were you a vegetarian?"
"I thought it would be like that in the future."
"What do you mean?"
"There is such a thing. Forget it, just answer what I asked you a while ago. Why did you come to see me?"
Rudger got up and walked over to Casey. As the distance between the two grew closer, Casey naturally looked up at Rudger.
'It's so big.'
Casey didn't avoid Rudger's gaze, thinking that the man was tall and broad-shouldered. She felt like she was losing to him.
"Are you asking why? There's no way you don't know."
"Well. I am Rudger Chelici, a teacher at Theon Academy, and I have no idea what you are talking about."
"Are you saying that you will thoroughly protect your identity?"
"You're a very rude guest."
"Ha. You're going to deny it until the end, right?"
It was then that Casey, who had been staring at Rudger, suddenly reached out.
'What?'
Rather than reaching out naturally, her movement was somewhat weird.
He didn't know what it was, but he didn't want to deal with her, so Rudger lightly pulled his body back and avoided her touch.
"What are you trying to do?"
Casey, who opened her eyes wide, immediately made an excuse.
"You have dust on your shoulders."
Rudger shook his head at her lame excuse.
"I don't know why you came to me, but if you try more meaningless tricks, I'll kick you out with my teacher's authority."
"Ha, funny. Did you say you don't know?"
"What?"
"You took advantage of me like that."
Seeing Casey shaking her fists, Rudger felt that she would explode if he left her like that.
Rudger sighed.
"……Sit down for now. Since you're here as a guest, I'll treat you to a cup of tea at least."
Saying so, Rudger took the tea provided inside the office and handed it to Casey. Originally, it was an assistant professor's job, but he was the one who sent Sedina away.
"Drink."
"Isn't it poisonous?"
"Should I drink it in front of you?"
"…… No, that's enough. I don't think you're going to use such a dirty trick."
Casey, who was staring at the teacup in front of the guest table, took a sip of it. She, who intended to criticize as soon as it tasted bad, opened her eyes wide to the scent of soft tea.
'What is this? It looks like a luxurious tea.'
She was going to find fault with him, but he gave her a luxury tea. Besides, his methods were perfect, so there were no flaws.
'This person is good at brewing some kind of tea.'
Casey grumbled inside and slowly savored the aroma. When she controlled her emotions inside, her hot head calmed down.
'Whoo. Yeah. Let's be calm.'
At first, she tried to calmly draw Rudger's true feelings, but something came over her the moment she saw his brazen face greeting her with an expressionless face while doing such a thing yesterday made her angry.
Her pride was so hurt because she thought she was the only one seriously worried.
"You seem to have calmed down a little."
When Rudger said so, Casey only glared once with a sharp gaze, but did not argue further.
After finishing the tea, Casey lightly laid down the teacup and stared at Rudger with clearer eyes.
"There's something I want to ask. Are you hostile to the Black Dawn Society after all?"
"……."
"Well, I guess so. The factory in Baltanung was the secret branch of the Black Dawn Society and I tried to get rid of it."
Rudger held out some papers to Casey Selmore without saying a word.
"What is it?"
"Read it."
Casey, who received the document, quickly scanned it with her eyes.
After a while she took her eyes of the papers and she stared at Rudger with disbelief.
"Is this for real?"
"I brought it myself from there."
"………Was it related to them, too?"
"Looking at your reaction, you came to Baltanung after the traces of the terrorists who attacked the Kunst auction house."
"You're so quick-witted…….Yeah, I got their gunpowder and analyzed it. It took time, but I managed to find it."
Casey, who was nodding with her arms crossed, suddenly felt a strange feeling and raised her head.
"No, wait. Why am I having such a normal conversation with you?"
"You're nitpicking about everything. Anyway, I'll hand this data over to you. Work it out on your own."
"Why are you passing it on to me? Do you think I'm your subordinate?"
"You don't have to do it if you don't want to. I was just trying to help you because I'm investigating the case, but I can't help it if you refuse. I have no choice but to do it."
Rudger tried to take back the documents but Casey stopped him.
"What are you doing? Didn't you say no?"
"No. I changed my mind. I'll do it."
"……."
Rudger shook his head but understood why Casey was acting like that.
'You just don't want to do what I tell you.'
She's been called a genius all her life and felt defeated for the first time.
To be used by someone and to move as he wishes was an insult to a self-respecting person. That's why she insisted not to move as Rudger wanted.
'However, didn't you come back to square one? After all, you do what I tell you to do.'
Perhaps Casey can't afford to think that far now.
'She makes excuses, but in the end, she only chooses the side she thinks is right.'
Therefore, even if he handed her the data and made her catch a black Dawn Society, she was going to do it while showing that she didn't like it.
As if she could read his thoughts, Casey was furious.
"I don't know what you're thinking, but don't get me wrong. I'm not doing this because you told me to, but purely because I think the Black Dawn Society guys are dangerous. Do you understand?"
"Yes."
"We have to make sure that this is clear. Never, never, never because you told me to do it."
"I said yes."
"Hmm. And don't worry. I'm leaving you alone for now because there's no clear evidence, but later, you know? I'll put you in jail if you let your guard down."
She had a very unpredictable personality, but Rudger thought he could get used to it a little. Rudger nodded, drawing a soft arc around his mouth.
"I'll look forward to it. Try your best."
"…That'll bring me bad luck."
"It was a compliment."
Casey eventually dropped her shoulders because she felt more miserable than ever. The man in front of her is annoying, but the more important thing right now is to deal with the direct threat of the Black Dawn Society.
It was an inevitable choice but it's not like she lost anything.
"If you're done with your tea, go out now. I have work to do."
"Your job as a teacher?"
"Of course not."
"Is the research on increasing the amount of mana emitted also related to your work as a teacher?"
At Casey's point, Rudger narrowed his eyes.
"You peeped quickly in that short time."
"It's the fault of the person who left it visible."
"Usually, you notice everything with just one glance."
"What can I do if I'm too good? Is that even possible? Increasing the amount of mana emission will not be easy."
"It's possible, so we`re recruiting people for tests. We need proof."
"What? You're not going to do anything dangerous, are you?"
Casey stared at Rudger with serious eyes that were saying 'I won't forgive you if you do such a thing.'
"Don't talk nonsense. There is nothing dangerous."
"How do you prove it?"
"Because I'm the living witness."
"What? You?"
"Yes, but I can't prove it properly by myself because it is necessary to compare the figures before and after the changes. That's why we're recruiting applicants."
"……Is it possible without side effects? What's the way?"
There's no way he would teach her but Rudger suddenly recalled Casey Selmore's position. She is a detective by profession but she is also a magician with the title [Colour]. Her fame in the world of magic is enormous.
'Well, if it's her, maybe…….'
"I can't explain the detailed method, but if I have to summarize it……It's a kind of overload."
"Overload?"
"I will forcefully control the amount of mana released and in that state I'll try to increase it. To paraphrase, it's similar to knights wearing sandbags to strengthen their bodies."
"……How do you control the mana emitted? Are you using magic handcuffs?"
"The magic handcuffs do not suppress the release of mana, but forcibly cut off the flow of mana so that magic itself cannot be used. What I use is different. It's a very old, ancient way."
"An ancient way?"
"Casey Selmore, how much do you know about the magic of the ancients?"
"What? Compared to now, I heard that the technique has not been established, so it is at a crude level."
"Certainly, the sharpness and neatness of the current magic would be superior. But there are some areas where people in ancient times were better than the people today."
That is the amount of mana emitted. In other words, it was the power of the spells used.
"Ancient wizards did not neglect training to increase the amount of mana emitted. At that time, the amount of mana was proof of strength. It was as strong as it was crude."
"Such a method existed? If there was such a thing, why has it not been known until now?"
"Because the genealogy has been cut off. To be exact, there is no one left who can interpret the words of that time."
Rudger got up from his seat and pulled out one of the books stuck in one wall of his study.
"It is a copy of the 'Larsil language' that no one has been able to interpret because it has been lost."
"Larsil is an ancient language that is almost a thousand years old. Why all of a sudden?"
"It contains the recipe for the drug. Ancient wizards used this training method to increase their mana pool."
At that, Casey had to grab her thighs tightly with her arms to keep herself from standing up.
'What? This man can interpret an ancient language whose genealogy has been cut off?!'