C238: Chance Encounter (5)
Rudger unwittingly reached out and grabbed the spirit of darkness running toward his face.
While amazed by the soft touch felt at the fingertips, he wondered at the sudden unexpected behavior shown by the spirit of darkness.
'The spirit is not afraid of me?'
Rudger, who deals with the power of God, is a being that spirits shun. Of course, the attitude towards him varies depending on the class of the spirit.
Intermediate spirits can cooperate with him if they agree but usually they tend to be hostile or reluctant towards Rudger.
'But as soon as he saw me, he rushed in.'
Is it full of courage or fearless? Or, unlike its appearance, it might be a fairly high level spirit.
"Oh, my".
When Selina saw her spirit spring on Rudger screamed when she realized it was caught in one hand.
"Mr. Rudger, are you okay?"
"Yes."
Rudger held out the spirit in his hand. Even at the moment when Rudger's hand held him, it was staring at him all the time.
Selina accepted the ball of black cotton and clasped it in her arms.
"You can't run wild."
The spirit showed a disapproving expression but Selina held it with a stern look on her face.
It was like a mother scolding her child no matter how Rudger looked at it.
"It's amazing. I didn't expect it to be a spirit of darkness."
"Oh, yes. I've only heard of it, but this is the first time I've ever seen it."
"What are the reactions of other spirits teachers?"
"You're the first person to see it, Mr. Rudger."
"Oh."
Rudger patted his chin and examined the spirit of darkness.
"That's incredible."
The scarcity and value of a spirit of darkness, at least within his knowledge, could not be guessed. However, Selina did not seem to know much about the rareness of this spirit.
It would be better to tell her in advance now so that she wouldn't be surprised later.
"Teacher Selina, do you know what kind of spirit the spirit of darkness is?"
"What?"
Looking at her reaction, he didn't think she knew it well.
"Isn't the spirit of darkness just a rare spirit?"
"It's not so simple. Teacher Selina, what do you think darkness is?"
"Uh…… Do I have to answer now?"
Selina was embarrassed by Rudger's sudden showing off his teacher side as if some switch was flipped.
"What do you think?"
Selina seriously pondered and came up with the answer because it was an atmosphere where she had to answer.
"The darkness is literally black with nothing. Isn't it the opposite of light?"
"People usually think so, but……."
From Rudger's reaction, Selina felt sullen because she seemed wrong.
"Teacher Selina, what would it be like if there was nothing in this world?"
"Nothing?"
"Yes. Grass, trees, land, wind, water and even light. A complete blankness and emptiness without any of it. What do you think that is?"
"That is…"
Selina's eyes were on the spirit in her arms without realizing it.
"No way, this kid".
"That's right. It's the darkness."
Rudger pointed to the narrow street where Selina was standing. At the shadows cast on the road, to be exact.
"A state of absence where there is nothing. That's what darkness is. The opposite of light is not darkness. The absence of light and everything else is darkness."
"Then…"
"The fundamental significance of the element of darkness is that it is much larger and vaster than you think."
For example, there is night after sunset but there is no complete darkness in the dark.
Even in the dark forest where there is no light, there is something visible. This is because the starlight and moonlight in the sky are present in very weak amounts, but light exists.
Any object reflects light although it is very weak. Therefore, scholars sometimes call the concept of darkness 'minimization' of light because it was practically impossible for light to not exist.
The same goes for dark attribute magic. In the end, dark attribute magic is nothing more than 'imitating' darkness with mana.
The same is true in the case of Rudger's magic beast, [Aether Nocturnus]. It looks like a black shadow, but it also could not be considered complete darkness. Therefore, even in the Tower, [Colour] titles are given for each attribute element but the black spot that represents darkness always remained empty.
But Selina's spirit of darkness is pure darkness without any impurities.
Considering that spirits are spiritual beings born from pure natural elements the spirit of darkness was not just a fake imitated by magic, but real darkness.
"Maybe it's a really great spirit."
"What? This kid is that impressive?"
Selina didn't understand Rudger's way of talking because the spirit of darkness she held in her arms was so small and cute.
Rudger patted his chin as if thinking for a moment and opened his mouth.
"It may sound like a random question, but do you believe in God?"
"Uh, um. maybe? If it's a matter of believing or not believing, I'm probably on the believing side."
"Why do you believe?"
Selina was taken aback by the question, but answered calmly.
"There are many people who believe in God, and in fact, there are events like God's grace recorded in history."
"Then let me ask you something else. Do you think demons exist?"
"I heard many rumors about them but I don't believe in them."
Selina thought Rudger was kidding, but Rudger seriously asked back.
"Why do you think they don't exist?"
"There are no demons, are there?"
"Can you prove to me that they don't exist?"
Selina was speechless at Rudger's words.
Basically, proof is a word limited to 'existence'.
Rudger, who saw Selina confused because she didn't understand, smiled and said.
"Miss Selina, for those who believe there is a God, it is easy to prove it. Because if you show me just one proof that God exists, that's enough."
"Yes?"
"But on the other hand, to say that demons don't exist, you have to prove 'everyone' that there are no demons anywhere in the world."
At the word everyone, Selina widened her eyes.
She understood what Rudger was trying to say.
"Yes. Even if I claim that there are no demons, there might be demons somewhere in the world that have gone unnoticed by anyone."
Selina was also interested in Rudger's theory and showed that she had not become a teacher at Theon for nothing.
"That's right. Proof of existence is easy, but proof of absence is impossible. And that child."
Rudger pointed to the spirit of darkness Selina held in her arms.
"The spirit of darkness is literally born out of pure darkness. Darkness is the complete absence of light. It proves its absence."
"So that's what it was."
Selina nodded as if she understood why Rudger said this after seeing the spirit of darkness.
Selina, who realized something, asked, while shivering.
"Then you're not going to experiment with this kid or anything, are you?"
"Why would I do that?"
"Huh? You weren't?"
"I'm just telling you because I don't think you know what your new contracted spirit is worth."
In the first place, Rudger had little interest in spirits.
"If I was interested in spirits and wanted to research them, shouldn't I have contracted a spirit?"
"Oh, yes."
Selina recalled that Rudger was hated by spirits.
In fact low level spirits avoided Rudger because they were scared of him.
"But why did this child run to Teacher Rudger?"
"I don't know about that either."
Rudger said so and stared at the ball of cotton in Selina's arms. It was also staring at Rudger as if it wouldn't lose.
Even as he was wondering about the spirit's unexplained hostility, Rudger felt a strange sense of déjà vu.
"What is the name of this newly contracted spirit?"
"Oh, you mean this kid?"
Selina said with a smile.
"It's Esmeralda."
* * *
At the scene where people gathered after the water spray broke out, Merylda and Cheryl realized that they had no more reason to fight.
'I missed Selina!'
'Mr. Rudger is gone!'
Rudger and Selina disappeared in the sudden disturbance.
Merylda and Cheryl were on opposite ends, but they were both worried.
Merylda was worried that because of her anxiety Selina wouldn't be able to do something on her own while Cheryl worried that something might happen because the two of them were together.
'What should I do? I can't find them by myself.'
'What can I do? If this continues, their date will end safely.'
The two, who were agonizing over different issues, locked eyes.
"Until we find them."
"Let's move together."
A temporary alliance was thus formed.
However, just because the number of hands increased from one to two, finding a missing person seemed far away.
"Where did the two go?"
"Shouldn't they have moved to the most likely place to go in this area?"
"For example……?"
"A dating spot……?"
There are many attractions on Royal Street, but only one of them was a dating spot.
'Musical theater!'
It is rumored that if you come to Royal Street, you must stop by at least once.
She didn't know about Rudger but she was sure Selina would have offered Rudger to go there. However, the problem here was that the two did not know the geography of this place yet.
There was a long way to go because there were so many people walking around, even if they were looking for a sign.
They didn't want to waste their time in this spot since they had to find Rudger and Selina as soon as possible, thus they had to find someone who knew the geography of this place well.
However, no matter how much they looked around the street, they could only see people from the outside.
'I'll miss it like this.'
Merylda and Cheryl saw a man.
"The sign of a beautiful woman who is in trouble."
"……."
"……."
The beautiful blonde man with exotic skin looked relaxed as if he had come out for a walk.
No matter how they looked at him, they had no choice but to regard him as a resident living here, but the problem was his unique frivolity.
'I think I'll get tired if I get involved.'
Normally, she would have avoided him, but because of the situation, Merylda took courage as the older person and approached the man.
"Hey, I have a question."
"Yes, go ahead, beautiful girl. Do you happen to want a cup of tea? You have an eye for things."
She couldn't believe he said that from the first time she met you. He was not an ordinary human being.
'What is this guy? Do I look easy?'
Merylda folded her arms thinking so.
"I'm sorry. Whenever I see pretty people, I do this without realizing it."
"…Well, then I'll let it go."
Merylda fell for the compliment on the man.
'……Miss Merida, your guard is too weak.'
Cheryl looked at them with a subtle gaze from the side. Meanwhile, the conversation between Merylda and the man continued.
"Oh, you're looking for the musical venue. I know it well. I'll show you around."
"Oh my! Thank you so much!"
Cheryl decided to follow along, although it was hard to believe.
* * *
"… Esmeralda?"
"Yes."
"Why did you name it that way?"
"I just had that feeling. The name I've heard many times in my dreams. I thought there was a good reason why this kid made a contract with me."
"… Is that so?"
Rudger recalled Esmeralda, who was supposed to be Selina's real personality.
She was bound by Quasimodo and acted like a doll, but became free and rose to heaven.
Surely that spirit has nothing to do with the actual Esmeralda. Even if it's similar, it's only the black that resembles the color of her hair.
"I think it's a good name."
Selina's expression brightened at his words.
She thought that if she continued like this she could naturally suggest the next destination to Rudger.
When Selina was nervous about how to bring it up, Esmeralda, the spirit of darkness in Selina's arms, trembled and was summoned back as if running away.
"Esmeralda?"
Rudger's face, which was still, suddenly became seriously cold.
"Mr. Rudger?"
Selina called his name, but Rudger did not respond to her. His eyes were fixed at the end of a narrow street where there were no people.
Rudger has always been calm, but this time it was different.
'Is he afraid?'
Rudger was clearly showing fear.
Surprised that there was something that Rudger Chelici was afraid of, Selina's eyes naturally turned to where Rudger was watching.
There was a beautiful blonde girl like a doll there. She wore a wine-colored dress with a lot of frills and a parasol to cover the sunlight in one hand. She looked like a woman from an aristocratic family coming out for a walk alone.
The girl was staring at them, standing still on the spot and Selina wondered what she was here for.
As soon as her red eyes passed her, Selina trembled without realizing it.
'Somewhat, a strange feeling…….'
Then the girl's pink lips moved.
"It's been a while, my student."