C242: Rhapsody on a Rainy Day (1)
"How did this happen?"
Upon arriving in a forest far outside the city of Leathervelk, the Clockwork Knights were speechless at the horrors before their eyes.
"Hey, youngest. Didn't you say there was a forest here?"
"What? Yes, it was. It's obviously not big because it's called Lamore Forest, but there should have been a place with thick bushes."
"But what the hell is this? There is nothing."
The forest no longer existed in the place where the Knights looked. Countless scars, upturned earth and even huge craters dug everywhere. The trees were gone, and the common rocks were nowhere to be seen.
"Oh, my God. Is there a war going on?"
This kind of scene could not come out unless a large-scale bombing was carried out. However, to blow up a forest an enormous amount of gunpowder was required.
Although it was outside the city, if a large number of people had moved, reports would have been made in advance.
The Knight Commander was lost in thought for a moment, stroking his chin.
"Commander, maybe someone secretly conducted an experiment here?"
"Experiment?"
"Yes, something magical. If that's the case……."
When one of the knights next to him carefully expressed his opinion, another colleague criticized him.
"What experiment, you idiot? Besides, if someone would do an experiment, they would do it in a more remote place and not destroy everything like this."
"Is that so?"
"Yes, there must have been something else."
The Knight Commander, who was still listening, looked back at a new knight and asked.
"Rookie, what exactly was the report that came in today?"
"Well, that's……."
When the chief of the Knights asked, the clumsy youngest said, with a shaking voice.
"The sky outside the city turned red, and a moment later, there was a huge noise that shook heaven and earth."
"The sky turned red?"
"Yes, I'm sure that's what I heard."
"That's strange. How can the sky turn red in this sunny weather?"
He didn't understand from the words that came in the report, but was even more confused when he saw the actual tragedy. Obviously something happened here, but it was impossible to guess exactly what it was.
"Could it be that the Beast of Gévaudan reappeared?"
One of the knights said.
"The Beast of Gévaudan?"
"Yes."
The Knight Commander tried to tell him not to talk nonsense, but he shut up. He clearly saw the huge monster suddenly appearing at the Kunst auction house so it wasn't impossible.
'If a monster like that appears and sweeps the surrounding area, that's understandable.'
However, the scars on the ground were not something that could appear simply because a giant monster ran wild. The craters engraved here and there were signs of an explosion no matter how he looked at them.
The knight came up with different opinions.
"It seems like a magic experiment to me."
"I think it's related to cryptids."
"What if it's a top secret project secretly carried out by the military?"
After they were done the rookie knight also gave his opinion.
"Uh, maybe."
The others paid attention to him as well.
"The site of destruction is wide, but considering that the form is somewhat similar, wouldn't it be done by a wizard?"
"What? Wizard?"
"Yes, it's a very powerful wizard, too. But I think there were two wizards that fought."
At that, the senior knights exchanged eyes and burst into laughter at the same time.
"Hahaha! Our youngest has a very interesting idea."
"He's funny, too. What kind of wizard would fight in a place like this behind others' backs?"
"That's right. Are there two wizards who can create this kind of misery in the first place? You have to say something that makes sense."
The face of the recruit who gave the opinion turned red with shame while the Knight Commander, who was just listening, swept his chin.
'A wizard.'
He is a stranger to magic because he only walks on the path of the sword but since he became a Knight Commander, he inevitably learned about magic, whether he liked it or not.
To cause this level of destruction, at least within the knowledge of the Knight Commander, it had to be at least a sixth wizard and sixth-ranked wizards were not common.
'Was it really a battle between sixth-rank wizards?'
It couldn't have been possible. The youngest opinion had too many loopholes.
The commander sighed and shook his head.
'I don't know. I have no idea.'
For now, the investigation was going to continue, but the Knight Commander suddenly thought so. No matter how much research they do, they won't get the results they want.
'Many strange things have happened in Leathervelk these days.'
The commander, who thought so, frowned at the words of the knights.
'Those guys.'
It was the same with the knights.
They were having a serious discussion with each other and uttered some annoying words.
"Why are the Paladins of the Lumensis order here…….?"
Knights in white armor and cloaks appeared. Unlike the knights these days who wear uniforms, they are still clinging to old-fashioned clothes.
The paladins belonged to the Leathervelk Diocese but since this was under the jurisdiction of Leathervelk, the Clockwork Knights came forward, but the Paladins roamed the site as they pleased, as if they didn't care.
No matter what they say, it will be of no avail since the paladins armed with the madness called faith, won't listen to anything.
"What shall we do, sir?"
"Ignore them. They won't listen to anything we say anyway."
You don't avoid poop because you're scared, but because it's dirty.
As they were talking one of the Paladins approached the Clockwork Knights.
"Nice to meet you."
"… … What's going on?"
The person who approached was a middle-aged paladin with a benevolent smile.
"May the blessings of the parents be with you."
"Never mind, get to the point."
"I'm here to share my opinion on this tragedy that took place today."
"Opinion? What is your opinion? It just seems like someone did this."
The knight commander's tone was cold, as if he didn't want to talk, but the paladin didn't blink an eye.
"I'm not saying, let's work together to find out because we can guess who did it."
"……."
The Knight Commander narrowed his eyes to see if Paladin's words were true but nothing could be read from Paladin's smile.
"…Really?"
"Yes. Don't you feel the unique energy in this space?"
"There's such a thing?"
"Yes. We, who serve the Lord Lumensis, can know for sure. The smell wafts from everywhere. There is only one being that smells like this disgusting blood."
"Who is that?"
"The only vampire in the world."
The paladin frowned as if the word was unclean.
"It's an entity that the Church has been tracking for a long time to eliminate."
* * *
"Mmm."
Selina opened her closed eyes and raised her upper body to look around.
"Where is this?"
Obviously, she was walking with Rudger during the day, but when she came to her senses, night had already come.
As soon as she realized it, Selina was horrified.
"Oh, right! Mr. Rudger!"
"Did you call me?"
"Woah!"
Selina involuntarily screamed at the sudden voice behind her.
"Oh my gosh. You scared me."
"Sorry."
"Where is this place? Why am I here?"
Selina looked around and what came into her eyes was a bench in a park with a panoramic view of the city of Leathervelk.
"You didn't know. Teacher Selina suddenly collapsed, so I brought you here."
"What?"
Selina was embarrassed to hear that she suddenly collapsed.
"Did I really do that?"
"Yes, I think you were very tired."
"I wasn't. I was very lively today."
Selina said so, but her stupidity almost made me cry.
'Stupid Selina, what are you doing? It was a rare opportunity.'
Even the meal was completely canceled due to an unintentional guest. She thought about going to see a musical together, but when she looked at the time, it seemed that she couldn't even do that.
Selina had mixed emotions, but she pursed her lips and the first thing she said was an apology.
"Sorry."
"Why are you apologizing?"
"Because of me, teacher Rudger wasted his holiday for no reason."
Looking at the time, Rudger seemed to have continued to take care of her, who had fainted. Come to think of it, she had a similar experience on the festival day.
'What's wrong with my body?'
Selina was bound to get more depressed then the spirit of darkness appeared in Selina's arms.
"Esmeralda?"
The Spirit of Darkness climbed on Selina's shoulder and rubbed her cheek as if comforting because she felt good that the night had come.
Selina smiled at her.
"Are you consoling me? Thank you."
Rudger watched the scene and sat quietly next to Selina and said,
"Teacher Selina doesn't have to be sorry for me. Rather, I am responsible for not being considerate."
Selina felt sorry for Rudger, but it was Rudger who was rather sorry.
Selina, who should have enjoyed a pleasant day, fainted for half a day because of the sudden appearance of Grander.
It was Rudger who actually knocked her out, but perhaps something more troublesome would have happened if he hadn't knocked her out on the spot.
"Mr. Rudger is kind, even though you don't have to be so considerate."
For Selina, who did not know that, she had no choice but to think that Rudger was comforting her.
"But it's too late. The day is over."
The city was full of light, but Selina felt something was missing.
She had to go back to Theon now because of tomorrow's class, it was the end of the happy holiday.
"I wanted to enjoy it properly, even a little bit."
Rudger stared at Selina's profile and opened his mouth.
"You don't have to worry about that."
"What?"
"Just in time."
As Rudger looked one way, Selina's gaze naturally turned there.
On the street, where only the light of the street lamp shone softly, a group of people slowly approached them.
"Mr. Rudger, what's with them?"
"These are the musical actors that Selina has longed to see."
"The actors? Why are they here?"
"This place has long been used as a place to practice performances. It's noisy inside the city, so they hold a small event in a quiet park like this."
"What?"
"You're lucky. Today happens to be the day."
The musical team settled down and soon began to dance and sing together.
"Wow."
When she saw them, Selina completely erased her wonder at this wonderful coincidence. It was because she thought she would regret it for the rest of her life if she couldn't even enjoy this moment due to doubts.
Sitting on a bench with Rudger and watching the actor's performance was more than what she wanted.
Then raindrops fell from the sky. She thought it might have been at a time when the lights flowing from the city looked gloomy, but as expected, it eventually began to rain.
"Oh, it just happened to rain……."
Selina was in a hurry to think that the performance might be cut off in the middle because of the rain.
Then Rudger, who was sitting still, moved. As he stirred his hands lightly, the rain that was falling escaped as if it had been blocked by an umbrella.
The rain throughout the city avoided this space. Despite the jealousy of the sky, the performance continued without stopping.
Rudger added a little service to that as a subtle light began to flow out and beautifully illuminated the performing musical team.
"Wow."
There was a rainstorm in the city but the people put on a great performance against it and Selina couldn't keep her mouth shut at the dreamy sight.
Esmeralda, who was in her arms, also calmly watched the performance.
Rudger looked at her with satisfaction.
'I'm glad you're happy.'
Because of him, Selina's holiday was gone, so he felt uncomfortable if he didn't repay her like this. Fortunately, Selina truly enjoyed the small event.
The musical lasted less than half an hour. However, the time was more valuable than ever for Selina, although it might have been shorter.
"Clap, clap clap!"
As Selina smiled and clapped her hands, the musical actors bowed politely to Selina and thanked her.
In time, only two people were left at the scene where the performance group stepped down and the silence was lingering. The light disappeared and all that remained in the park was the dim light of the street lamp.
Rudger rose from the bench in the increasingly thick rain.
"Let's get going."
"Yes, we should. It seems like it's raining more and more."
"I hope to see a proper musical next time."
Selina shook her head at the remark.
"No, it was already a valuable experience. Rather, I am more satisfied."
"I'm glad to hear that."
"Thank you, Mr. Rudger."
Selina smiled brightly.
Rudger saw her and handed her the umbrella he had brought in advance.
"Use this."
"What? What about Mr. Rudger?"
"I have another spare, so it's okay."
"But you should go with me……."
"I still have something to do, so I'll stay a little longer."
Selina nodded at the nuance not to ask for the detailed reason. It was a little disappointing, but she decided to step down after being satisfied here.
"Then I'll go first. See you tomorrow."
"Yes, I'll see you tomorrow."
"I had a lot of fun today."
Selina smiled at Rudger and walked away with a brisk pace.
Rudger released the magic after confirming Selina's disappearance but he opened his black umbrella before the raindrops fell.
Rudger, who was standing still, opened his mouth.
"Why don't you stop watching and come out now?"
Then, the presence that was felt not far away came towards him.
"Sorry. I didn't mean to do that on purpose."
Rudger slowly turned his head. There was a woman who appeared to be in her mid-40s, wearing a white outfit and a white hoodie.
She looked at Rudger with a smile in the pouring rain, not even thinking about using her umbrella.
"So."
Rudger looked at her and opened his mouth.
"What does someone from the Church of Lumensis wants with me?"