Chapter sponsored by L, Head_Snapss & Dinamura. Thank you for your support.
Casey and Rudger stared at each other silently. At first glance, it might seem like they were just passing each other on the street, but Passius could see the complex, nuanced emotions in Casey's eyes as she looked at Rudger.
'Hmmm. This is another…….'
Passius stroked his chin, intrigued. It was quite strange that Casey Selmore reacted like that to Rudger.
'Casey Selmore, a single-attribute wizard who was given the title of [Colour] by the Tower. I'm told she has a reputation as a genius detective, and that her personality is selfish and quite eccentric.'
The look on Casey's face as she looked at Rudger was, well, what could he say?
It was a complex mix of emotions. A love-hate relationship, if you will.
'But in Rudger's case, there's no change in his expression.'
Rudger's expression remained the same as he looked at Casey. His eyes were so still that it was hard to tell what he was thinking. Either he was truly emotionless, or he was hiding it and not showing it.
Passius decided to wait and see what would happen.
"……."
"……."
Casey and Rudger remained silent.
Since they were standing so still, Rudger spoke first.
"Mentor Casey Selmore, you've been doing a great job taking care of your students."
The strangely tense atmosphere relaxed a bit with that statement as Casey nodded in agreement.
"I do it for the juniors, so it's not that hard."
"Is it?"
"Yeah. More than that, where is Mr. Rudger in such a hurry to go?"
"I'm not really in a hurry."
"Your companion next to you seems to be."
Casey asked, glancing at Passius. She didn't recognize the other man as a Royal Guard, but it was clear from the look of him that he was something.
If nothing else, Casey's piercing gaze analyzed him quickly.
"You're a knight, and a pretty good one at that."
"Huh? Did I introduce myself?"
"No. It's just that from the way you look, and the way you're standing, I'm guessing you belong to the imperial family. You've got the manners down."
Passius was inwardly surprised. He had dressed lightly before leaving the Imperial Palace since walking around in his Royal Guard uniform would draw too much attention.
He'd even kept his sword out of sight, but Casey had noticed at once.
Passius realized she wasn't called a genius detective for nothing.
"……You're not going to do anything dangerous, are you?"
Casey asked, looking at Rudger.
She was trying to sound casual, but the subtle worry in her voice was enough for Rudger to hear.
"Why do you ask that? Are you worried about me?"
Rudger looked at her questioningly and Casey realized her mistake, blushed slightly.
"I was just asking!"
"Right."
"Yeah. Besides, I think something happened."
As she said that, Casey looked back and forth between Rudger and Passius. From what she could tell, Passius was an imperial knight.
A knight of considerable skill and, judging by the way he spoke, at least a high ranking knight.
Such a man traveling with Rudger?
Rudger is a criminal with a hidden identity. It didn't make sense that such a man would be traveling with an imperial knight.
If he had been arrested, she would have thought that this man had finally been identified, but if not…….
'He's still a teacher, and he is working with someone in the imperial family.'
Then what is the job?
Casey couldn't tell, but she could sense a strange undercurrent running through the capital.
It might explain why she'd caught glimpses of members of the Nightcrawlers and the Cold Steel Knights as they wandered the neighborhood.
'Trina is here so I could ask her but I can't see her now.'
So she was left to make an educated guess from these few clues.
The problem was that the man in front of her had every reason to know.
"He……."
Casey opened her mouth, then closed it again. She had no idea what to say.
She'd uncharacteristically applied to be a mentor so that she could meet Rudger and talk to him. But despite several opportunities along the way, she never did.
Every time she looked at that face, her heart kept hurting.
Why did she keep seeing that face staring back at her, expressionless, and why did she keep seeing the crooked smile he'd worn that day when he'd fallen off the waterfall?
People hailed her for taking down the criminal of the century while Rudger left the stage alone.
The stark contrast was stuck in Casey's mind.
He is the one who should be praised more than anyone else, but people don't realize it.
"Go ahead."
When Casey stuttered, Rudger urged.
"… No, nothing. I just wanted to check this one thing."
"What do you mean?"
Why didn't he tell her the truth of that day? As much as she wanted to ask, Casey knew she wasn't ready to ask that question yet so she decided to ask something else.
"Something's been happening in the capital lately, hasn't it?"
Casey asked in a low voice that wouldn't be heard by the students waiting behind her.
It was not a question as she was asking with a vague sense of certainty.
"Hmm."
Rudger thought for a moment. He wondered what would happen if he said yes to Casey Selmore here.
'It would certainly be helpful. Her abilities would be best suited to finding those who hide beneath the surface of this capital city.'
Rudger glanced over Casey's shoulder at the students. Most of them were looking this way curiously, but their faces were bright.
Perhaps because Casey had been walking them around and telling them stories. Some of them looked familiar, they were Julia Plumhart and Sedina Rosen.
'If only I could take Casey Selmore with me on this trip.'
The students would be coming to the end of their field trip.
Rudger's gaze snapped back to Casey.
"No. Nothing is happening."
"……is that so?"
"Yes. I have to go check if the other mentors are doing well, so I'll be on my way."
"Oh."
Before Casey could say anything, Rudger swept past her with Passius in tow.
Casey could only stare after him as he walked away without a word. Her outstretched hand hesitated, as if she were trying to reach out.
Rudger had moved away from the group of students Casey was leading and Passius, seeing his chance, asked.
"Are you all right?"
"What do you mean?"
"If you'd called Detective Casey Selmore for backup, it would have been a big help here, but I don't think you need to pretend everything's fine."
Even if Rudger hadn't asked for backup, he would have given him a piece of his mind.
When asked why he withheld the truth, Rudger shrugged it off.
"Even if I don't ask, she must have noticed."
"Why do you think so?"
"Because she's a smart woman, and she's persistent. If she'd already noticed something was wrong, she wouldn't have believed me even if I denied it outright."
"Isn't that a guess?"
"No, I'm sure of it. She's the kind of person who will make her own moves, even if we try to stop her."
Passius's eyes narrowed. It was as if he were mockingly asking how Rudger knew that but Rudger ignored the stare and continued.
"First and foremost, this is a mission for the two of us. There's no place for anyone else's hands in it."
"Even if they might be able to help?"
"If we can't do it on our own, then we'll need help."
"So you're telling me that you're going full steam ahead anyway."
"You're not confident?"
Rudger asked, turning around, leaving Passius speechless.
He smirked and shook his head.
"Oh, no. You've got me beat."
It dawned on him that this man had a way with people.
'He's got a subtle air about him. This is no ordinary man.'
For Passius, mediocrity is something that comes from lineage, not ability.
Having spent so much time in the Imperial City of Devalk, Passius has met many nobles and royalty. As a result, even when he encountered a nobleman who hid his identity, he was able to guess his identity by his demeanor alone and Rudger fit right in with his senses.
'Strange. If he's a wandering vagabond, as the Princess says, why does he exude an air of royalty?'
It didn't make sense to Passius. His behavior was far too strange for royalty anywhere.
'But if nothing else, I can see why Princess Aileen has been coveting him.'
With that thought, Passius suddenly remembered Casey Selmore, whom he had met earlier.
"Mr. Rudger, there's something else I'm curious about."
"What else?"
"Didn't you meet Detective Casey Selmore a little while ago?"
"I did."
"What exactly is your relationship with her?"
"……?"
Rudger shot Passius a look like he was asking him a question.
"……Didn't you hear everything from the Princess?"
"Yes. Given what happened three years ago, I have a rough idea, but based on Detective Casey Selmore's reaction……I think she has a vague idea of Mr. Rudger's identity."
"Is that a problem?"
"No, it's just that something's not right. Shouldn't a detective be grinding her teeth if she knows the identity of a criminal? But……."
"But?"
"Detective Casey Selmore's reaction was, how shall I say, very complicated. Should I say, she doesn't hate you?"
"……."
Rudger didn't answer the question but he vaguely harbored a similar feeling. It was impossible for him not to notice the change in Casey's demeanor from the person who, not so long ago, had been desperate to catch him.
"Maybe she just happened to know the truth about Ms. Rudger."
"……What difference does it make if she knows it?"
"Hmm. Still, it's better than not knowing."
"I'd rather she didn't know."
He didn't know how Casey learned the truth about the past but knowing it doesn't change anything.
The past is the past. It's already happened, and the water that's been spilled can't be picked up and put back on the plate.
"Because knowing doesn't change anything."
Rudger was so adamant that he didn't dig any deeper. But judging by Rudger's reaction, there was no doubt that there was something going on with Casey Selmore.
A secret relationship between a man and a woman who were both quite famous in the world was something that piqued his personal interest, but for now, he decided to focus on the job at hand.
"So, what do you see around you?"
Passius spoke to Rudger in a normal tone, but his eyes never left his surroundings.
They had just passed the group of students led by their mentor a moment ago.
There must be something out there, like the remnants of the Liberation Army, lurking and spying on the others.
"Sir Passius., do you see them up ahead?"
"Where do you mean?"
"One o'clock, the man sitting in front of a fruit shop, reading a newspaper."
"Confirmed. We also have a middle-aged man leaning against a street lamp looking at his watch at seven o'clock."
"The number looks like two."
"We're two, too."
"I'll take the fruit stand."
"I'll take the gentleman over there, then."
The two men moved in unison.
Passius moved stealthily and struck the middle-aged man in the back of the neck, lightly stunning him.
"Oh, no. Let me help you up."
He acted like a companion that would help his friend that passed out.
Rudger, on the other hand, was a little different. He openly approached the fruit store and bought an apple from the owner.
The Liberation Army intelligence officer sitting nearby took one look at Rudger and casually got up from his seat and slipped into the alleyway.
He realized at once that Rudger was a Theon's teacher and was on his way to the secret branch to deliver the news.
Ahead of him, a shadow in the dark alleyway jumped up and blocked his view.
"Ugh! What, what!"
That was his last cry.
The stretching shadows quickly parted, turning into countless ropes that wrapped around the man. Rudger gently stomped on the man's back as he slumped to the ground, unable to move.
"Did you get him?"
"Yes. And you?"
"Me too."
Passius, who had brought the stunned Liberator agent with him, plopped him down next to the shadow-bound Liberator.
"You caught him faster than I thought. Now what do we do? I don't think they're going to give up information easily."
"We'll have to make them."
Rudger's eyes gleamed menacingly.
Bound by shadows, the Liberator tried to look nonchalant, but a cold sweat ran down his cheeks.
"Which method do you prefer?"
"Usually I'm more of a physical torturer, but lately I've wanted to see if I can touch the mental part with my magic."
"Sounds like me. I have an imperial secret torture method, that can't be endured without telling the other person what they want know."
"Do the Royal Guards learn such things?"
"I was the only one who learned it separately. It's a necessary skill for a job like this, but it's more useful than you'd think, though most people are crippled by it."
"I guess it doesn't matter, though."
The two men said scary things to each other.
The magic from Rudger and the aura from Passius invaded the space as the shadow-bound liberator's complexion paled. The pressure was too much for a normal person to bear.
"Ugh! Ugh!"
He twisted and tried to shout something, but his mouth was gagged by the shadow, and he couldn't get any words out.
"Oh. He's trying to say something, isn't he?"
"It's probably bullshit, or he's vowing never to blow."
"Ugh!"
"The way he's writhing around so desperately, it looks like he really wants to say something."
"I think he might use some deception tactics."
"Still, don't you think we should give him a chance?"
The Liberation Army soldier nodded desperately at Passius' words.
Rudger snapped his fingers, and the gag that bound his mouth was released.
"I'll tell you, I'll tell you everything!"
Rudger and Passius looked at each other at the same time, and then nodded slightly.