NOVPUB‘This is a problem.’
Whether it was because of something I said or her own imagination running wild, for a brief moment, her gaze was clearly fixed on something far beyond me.
Hans was already standing off in the distance, nervously keeping an eye on us.
At this rate, we’d waste an unreasonable amount of time.
“Are you finished with what you came for?”
I spoke a bit sternly, with a tone of reproach, and Casey, who had been lost in thought, snapped back to attention.
Without showing any sign of surprise, she gave a faint smile and nodded.
“Yes. I am. Sorry for taking up your time unnecessarily.”
“It’s fine.”
Well, if she withdraws on her own, I have no complaints.
Besides, there was no hint of suspicion in her voice.
Considering how sudden the encounter had been, I should be grateful. She didn’t seem to realize that I was James Moriarty.
Waaaah!
Just then, a cheer rang out from afar.
The announcer’s voice, amplified by a magic loudspeaker, followed with a soft echo.
At the same time, a doll-like blonde girl came running toward us.
“Casey! What are you doing over there?! The match is about to start!”
“Oh dear, where is my mind? I asked for directions and then got completely distracted. I’ll be going now.”
I gave her a nod and glanced at the girl—Betty.
‘Automaton Beta, created for the same purpose as Arfa. So she’s been accompanying Casey this whole time.’
Judging by how casually the girl scolded Casey, the two seemed quite close.
She appeared to express emotions much more freely than Arfa.
At least I’m relieved.
Thanks to her, I’m rid of a troublesome person.
Just as I breathed a silent sigh of relief, a tiny droplet floated up in front of me and shimmered.
It popped!—and transformed into a tiny business card that landed on my palm.
Naturally, my eyes followed Casey as she was pulled away by the girl.
As she was being dragged off, Casey looked back and winked at me, mouthing her words.
—Call me if you need help.
And before I could say anything, she vanished from my sight.
‘Unstoppable, that one.’
I let a bit of mana flow into the card in my hand and lightly scanned it.
While I did, Hans crept up from the distance.
“What was that just now? And that blue slip of paper in your hand?”
“A business card. She left it without asking.”
“A business card? Hmph, can’t you just toss that sort of thing?”
“It’s not an ordinary card. I can feel mana from it—some kind of signal marker. She’ll know the moment I get rid of it.”
“Huh. There’s magic like that?”
“She’s a mono-elemental mage. She uses a unique system, so it’s not strange that her magic would be different.”
At my words, Hans nodded enthusiastically.
“Well, seeing you, it makes sense such things are possible.”
“In any case, Casey Selmore doesn’t seem to know my identity yet. Giving me the card was less about suspicion and more about trying to build rapport. Still, the fact that I caught her interest even in this identity is a little concerning.”
“Do you think she noticed anything suspicious about you?”
“No need to worry. I’ve scrubbed all the habitual behaviors I displayed in my previous identity.”
“...You can scrub habits?”
Hans looked scandalized. I just shrugged.
“Erasing minor behaviors consciously is basic training.”
I’ve spent my whole life wearing masks.
Naturally, the mask I wore as James Moriarty and the one I wear now are completely different. There’s no risk of being caught by some minor gesture.
Still, it doesn’t mean I have nothing to worry about.
And the reason is... the way I looked when I was James Moriarty.
‘Back then, I didn’t wear a disguise.’
The only real differences are that I now slick my hair back and wear different clothes.
At the time, without the mimic mask, I relied on soft light magic to subtly manipulate the lighting and create the illusion of a different face.
Of course, even that is enough to completely alter a person’s impression, so most people wouldn’t recognize me.
‘But someone like Casey Selmore... I thought she might still identify me just by appearance.’
Judging by her reaction, I was thankfully wrong.
If even someone with her level of observational prowess couldn’t tell, I shouldn’t have to worry about anyone else.
“Hans. Actually, you’re the one who should be worried.”
When I pointed him out, Hans blinked and pointed at himself in confusion.
“Me? What did I do?”
“If the Casey Selmore I know saw your outfit and behavior, she’s already locked you down. If you run into her again, it’ll be troublesome.”
“She doesn’t even know my name, and I left right away. She’d remember that?”
“Don’t underestimate her. She’s the kind of woman who reaches the truth from the tiniest thread of a clue. If she saw us talking, even from a distance, she’s likely memorized your characteristics.”
“Then... what should I do?”
“For starters, don’t wear that outfit again. And try to carry different accessories—things that make you look like someone else, like a different profession.”
Casey Selmore doesn’t remember people by face alone.
She memorizes voice, tone, footsteps, small gestures, even eye movements.
She uses a broad array of puzzle pieces.
On the flip side, if you can remove just a few of those pieces intentionally, you can avoid suspicion about being the same person.
Of course, if we keep running into her, we’ll get caught eventually—but for fleeting encounters like this one, we’re safe.
Hans, however, was horrified that all this was necessary after just one brief encounter.
“Hans, you have a habit of crinkling your nose a bit when you speak. If you can’t fix that, then at least do something else to throw it off—like tremble your lips or squint hard. A small habit is like a personal ID. If you can’t erase it, you need to change it.”
“...Unbelievable. I’d rather just avoid people and sneak around in peace.”
“That’s not a bad option.”
Hans was clearly fed up, but what could be done?
Still, once he’s told, he usually follows through, so I wasn’t too worried.
“Sir! Look at this!”
Just then, Seridan came running toward us, her short legs pattering rapidly across the ground.
Her face was lit up with a bright smile—she must have enjoyed herself thoroughly.
But she wasn’t coming alone.
“Professor Brino?”
“Oh? Professor Ludger Cherish?”
Seridan had come back with none other than Professor Brino, the man behind today’s golem activation event.
Just as I found it unexpected, Brino seemed just as surprised to see me here. He widened his eyes, then soon offered a warm smile.
“Well, this is a surprise. A student who seemed to love golems came up and struck a conversation, and as we spoke, I realized she had quite the knowledge in golem and mechanical engineering. I got curious who her guardian might be, and lo and behold—it’s you, Professor Ludger.”
“We’re somewhat acquainted, but I wouldn’t say I’m her guardian. Besides, she’s a dwarf.”
“Oho! That makes sense! I was wondering how she knew so much. If she’s a dwarf, that explains everything.”
“Mister, I told you—I’m not a kid!”
It seems Seridan had been repeatedly trying to assert that she wasn’t a child.
But from appearances alone, she still looked very much like one. Brino probably assumed she was just pretending to be an adult and laughed it off.
Realizing his mistake, Brino bowed to her politely.
“My apologies, Miss Seridan. That was rude of me.”
Seridan grinned playfully in response.
“Then give me that golem blueprint!”
“Th-that’s a bit much, even as a joke...”
“Aw, what a shame.”
To ask for a golem blueprint is essentially the same as asking a mage to hand over their spell formulas.
The fact that Brino didn’t get angry was remarkable in itself.
I gave Brino an apologetic nod in her stead.
“Sorry. Seridan’s not very familiar with human etiquette just yet.”
“Hoho, I understand. Dwarves are said to be very stubborn. I’ve met one before myself, and if anything, Miss Seridan is quite tame in comparison.”
When Brino called Seridan tame, Hans gave him a baffled look from the side.
“If that insane bomber is the tame one, then what kind of demons are the rest of the dwarves?”
Seridan, still smiling sweetly, immediately drove an elbow into Hans’s stomach.
Guh! he grunted, doubling over, and Seridan muttered something in a cold tone beside him.
Judging by how pale Hans’s face turned, she probably just threatened to test his constitution with various animal fangs back at the hideout.
“By the way, Professor Ludger, did you come to see the golem activation too?”
“Yes, I did.”
“That’s surprising. I wouldn’t have thought you were interested in this sort of thing.”
Brino realized his poor phrasing and quickly waved his hands in denial.
“Oh, I didn’t mean that in a bad way! What I meant was just...”
“I understand. Most mages don’t view golems in a favorable light.”
And I, in particular, am in charge of the elemental manifestation curriculum—the branch most traditionally regarded as orthodox.
From Professor Brino’s perspective, his assumption was reasonable.
“However, I personally don’t draw distinctions between types of magic. I find golems to be quite fascinating as well.”
“Oh! Is that so?”
At my response, Professor Brino’s eyes lit up.
“Then could I trouble you to tell me which part of today’s demonstration stood out to you? I’ve been hoping to hear feedback from a colleague.”
“Hmm. The DT-3000 model you unveiled today was quite intriguing. Compared to previous fixed-frame golems, the fact that it’s capable of transformation alone opens up a wide range of applications.”
“That's correct!”
“But if there's any concern,” I continued, “it's that transforming a golem in that way puts considerable stress on the joints and connecting segments. You wouldn’t be able to use conventional metals for something like that. Did you happen to invent a new alloy ratio?”
Professor Brino’s eyes widened.
“Y-yes! That’s exactly right. Good heavens—how did you figure that out so quickly?”
“If the golem isn’t just transforming for show but for practical, multi-functional purposes, then ordinary metals wouldn’t suffice. You’d need something with high heat and pressure resistance, excellent malleability, and strong mana conductivity. Naturally, the traditional materials wouldn’t be enough.”
“You’re right. When we tested it, ordinary steel just wasn’t enough. So...”
“You added chromium. You initially mixed in a corrosion-resistant metal to reduce maintenance needs, didn’t you?”
That’s stainless steel.
Brino now nodded like a man whose soul had been knocked loose.
“In the end, I think it’s a splendid golem.”
I had nothing to criticize.
Even if I didn’t point out any flaws, with the skill it took to create that, Professor Brino would’ve noticed on his own anyway.
All I could do was give encouragement.
“H-heh. Hearing that from you, Professor Ludger... I don’t know what to say. I’m honored.”
“No need to be. I’m merely stating the truth. You deserve to take pride in your work, Professor Brino.”
Unlike my “Source Code,” which was simply a reconstruction of preexisting knowledge, he had developed a transforming golem entirely from his own inspiration.
While I followed a path already laid out, he had forged a new one.
The word “genius” suited someone like him—not me.
“To be that brilliant and this humble, too!”
...Though for some reason, the more I reassured him, the more burdened his gaze became.
“Either way, it’s been an enjoyable exchange. And, Professor Brino, if I may—there are several people over there who’ve been wanting to speak with you for a while now. Is that all right?”
I gestured toward a group of students who were lingering nearby, watching Brino eagerly but unable to approach out of shyness.
Among them, I spotted Clara Hanis—a promising alchemy student supported by the Alchemy Department, who also took my class.
“Oh! You’re right. Thank you again for your feedback today.”
“The pleasure was mine.”
Professor Brino walked over to the students.
I stood there quietly, watching as they began to pepper him with questions about the golem—and as he welcomed each of them with patience.
Somewhere along the way, Seridan had naturally joined their group.
To learn and to teach—
It was always a beautiful thing to witness.
“For someone who became a teacher so reluctantly, you seem surprisingly suited to the job,” Hans remarked.
“Do I?”
“Of course. That sharp edge in your expression’s totally gone. You’re even smiling fondly at the kids.”
I nodded at Hans’s comment.
“At the very least, this world isn’t the one we used to live in. Don’t you think so?”
“Well, I won’t deny that this place looks peaceful and good. But personally, I find it a little uncomfortable.”
I turned to Hans with a questioning look.
He exhaled deeply, his face heavy with mixed emotions.
“We weren’t like that when we were their age. No... the truth is, we couldn’t be.”
“Hans...”
“I didn’t grow up in such a blessed environment. To be honest, this is all just shameful jealousy.”
To be chosen for talent.
To grow up in comfort.
To want for nothing.
For Hans, such a sight must have been viscerally repulsive—like a rash rising under his skin.
“They’re too different from us.”
His voice, hollow and tired, drifted aimlessly in the air.
He’d never had a proper life, not with that cursed body of his.
“When I was running for my life, kids here were living out their youth with laughter. When I was freezing in sewage, they were probably chatting in warm dorm rooms with roommates. And even then, they had the nerve to complain and whine.”
As he vented his anger at the world’s unfairness, I found myself recalling a moment from my own past.
It was a long, long time ago—but I still remembered that day vividly.
I had been riding buses across the city, looking for a cram school, when I saw an ❖ Nоvеl𝚒ght ❖ (Exclusive on Nоvеl𝚒ght) apartment tower soaring into the sky.
It was so tall that even with my head craned back from right below, I couldn’t see the rooftop.
To be honest, I was overwhelmed.
Everything a person could ever need to live was inside that tower—and it was clearly too expensive for someone like me, even if I died and was reborn again.
Then, I saw a family come out of the building.
Most of all, I remembered the child—maybe ten years old—holding his father’s hand.
The boy had a father, and he had a home that most people couldn’t even dream of.
And yet, his face was scrunched up with frustration and complaints.
At that moment, I felt an indescribable hollowness.
Did that child ever have to work for that life?
He was simply born into a good family.
What some people can’t reach even in a lifetime...
...others are handed at birth.
That was when I realized the truth:
This world is deeply unfair.
And this world was no different.
No, perhaps it was even worse.
There were still children who couldn’t study even if they wanted to, who worked in soot-choked factories and were exploited without proper pay.
Children who could do nothing but gaze longingly at those from happy, wealthy homes.
And maybe not even gaze—maybe even that was forbidden to them.
I’m sure Seorn students have their own struggles.
Magical study is no easy task, after all.
But is that truly a tragedy?
Compared to children who are exploited for labor and can’t even afford to eat, the complaints of these students don’t even qualify as complaints.
And still, they know no gratitude.
Just because they were born with magic, they rise to a pedestal the rest can’t reach.
It’s unfair.
Deeply unfair.
Not that I was any different in thinking so.
Even if I could use magic, I always lived a life where I had to hide my identity and face death daily.
And yet—
“Hans. To people like us, who lived as we did, the rest of the world probably looks like some peaceful flower field.”
I fully understood how Hans felt.
As if I hadn’t felt the same things myself.
“But even so, I can’t blame the children.”
The reason is simple—and pathetically small.
—Because the children aren’t at fault. 𝓷ℴ𝓋𝓅𝓊𝒷.𝒸𝓸𝓶
A child should not be blamed for having something.
It’s disgraceful for an adult who once starved to rip candy from a child’s hand just because they think the child doesn’t deserve it.
Isn’t that just pathetic?
If you’ve become an adult, then you should act like one.
No matter what anyone says—
“Children should smile.”
All an adult can do is try to make sure that the next child doesn’t have to live the same life they did.
To show them a better path. That’s all.
