Steam Locomotive (2)

It had been roughly half a month since Volume 8 of The Chronicle of Xenon was published. Before starting another refreshing day, I picked up the newspaper lying outside my lodgings.

There were two newspapers in total: one from the Hoitor Newspaper Company and the other from the Tootli Newspaper Company. The Hoitor Newspaper Company focused primarily on humans, while the Tootli Newspaper Company reported news broadly, without distinguishing between races.

Subscribing to newspapers from both companies made my subscription fees a little expensive, but it wasn't a serious problem. The living expenses my parents had given me were more than enough.

"Hmm..."

After finishing a simple breakfast, I opened the newspaper and began searching for the news I wanted. As everyone already knew, the news I wanted was about the newly published Volume 8 of The Chronicle of Xenon.

I started with the Hoitor Newspaper Company, which focused on humans. The moment I opened the newspaper, the news I was hoping for was right there on the front page. I leaned forward slightly to check what had been printed.

[The Chronicle of Xenon, which kept countless subscribers on tenterhooks. Finally makes its appearance. But...]

Sure enough, a wide variety of reactions were listed. Some critics took the opportunity to launch direct attacks, while many others offered assessments that squarely faced the bitter reality. Criticism of the nobility was a highly sensitive and provocative subject for them, so their reactions were only natural.

Still, there didn't seem to be any serious problems. To be honest, I had initially wondered whether I should include it, but hearing Leort's story had helped me make up my mind. If someone deliberately came after me to ruin me, I could simply hide or seek protection in the imperial palace.

'Well, I didn't write only about the dark side.'

If Count Castlerock, who had trapped Xenon, was a figure who revealed the dark side of the nobility, Count Kay was the exact opposite: a figure who revealed its brighter side.

Perhaps because of that, there were quite a lot of assessments praising Count Kay. Most of them praised him as the very embodiment of the virtues nobles should aspire to.

'It would have been dangerous without the Jeyros Revolution.'

This world, too, had an event similar to Earth's French Revolution. Perhaps because of that, it was rare to see nobles openly intimidate or discriminate against commoners. The bad habit of nobles looking down on commoners still remained, but I hadn't seen a situation like that yet.

What's more, as the saying went, one loach could muddy the water, but there were also many nobles with a firm grasp of right and wrong. I didn't even have to look far: Marie's family, the Rekillis ducal family, was putting noblesse oblige into practice.

A duke who ranked second only to the emperor lived by that ideal, so the nobles beneath him had no choice but to take notice.

I examined the reactions from each country one by one, then turned the page. Since the Hoitor Newspaper Company was based in the Minerva Empire, assessments from other countries appeared toward the back.

"Hmm..."

As expected, the Ters Kingdom was showing the most heated reaction. Since the Jeyros Revolution had broken out there, they were probably even more sensitive to a story like this.

The interesting thing was that almost everyone was enthusiastically tearing into Count Castlerock. Commoners, nobles, and even royalty were no different. They had all united in enjoying the fact that Count Castlerock had gotten what he deserved.

'The Ters Kingdom has little difference between commoners and nobles, right?'

The Ters Kingdom practiced a system of government close to a constitutional monarchy. It wasn't so much about reigning without ruling as it was about not ruling however one pleased. Perhaps because they had already been through such a painful upheaval, nobles who discriminated against commoners were severely punished.

I kept turning through the newspaper and checked the time. It was almost time to go to class. I had finished reading the Hoitor newspaper, but I hadn't even turned a page of the Tootli newspaper yet.

'I'll just read it after all my classes are over.'

I left the newspaper on my bed and prepared to head to the lecture hall. Before going outside, I didn't forget to check whether I had brought my lecture notebook. One fatal mistake like that was enough.

When I stepped outside, the refreshing morning air greeted me. I headed toward the lecture hall with a light step.

'By the way, how do I buy The Chronicle of Xenon at the Academy?'

The moment news of The Chronicle of Xenon's publication had come out, an enormous crowd had gathered in front of the bookstore.

Seeing that, I was too dumbfounded to say anything. By now, they had probably swept the shelves clean.

My parents had the first edition, so they wouldn't have any trouble reading it, but my older sister and older brother were another matter. Even the author himself couldn't buy a copy now that the first edition was gone, so I wondered how those two would manage to get it.

'It's amazing they managed to buy it until now.'

As I walked along thinking about that, I soon arrived at the lecture hall. The moment I entered, various conversations began reaching my ears one after another.

"Did you see Volume 8 that came out this time?"

"Of course I did. It was a little bittersweet, but apparently it went pretty much as expected."

"No noble would just leave a commoner alone after he accomplished something like that. What would have happened if something like that had actually occurred?"

"Hey. Did you buy the new one? If you did, lend it to me."

"No way. I haven't even finished reading it myself."

By now, it was a topic I could listen to with one ear and let out the other. I'd heard it so many times that I could brush it off easily. Checking whether my acquaintances were already seated was more important.

I roughly picked an empty seat and sat down, then looked around the lecture hall.

"Cecily, have you read Volume 8 of The Chronicle of Xenon that came out this time?"

"No. I haven't even managed to buy it yet."

"Oh, I see. I can lend it to you. Would you like to borrow it?"

"It's all right. I'm curious about the contents, but I can wait."

The only face that immediately caught my eye was Cecily's, and a large number of female students were clustered around her.

Cecily was answering the barrage of questions from the girls around her one by one, all while wearing an awkward expression. Apparently, she found the current situation rather overwhelming.

I briefly wondered why Rina wasn't beside her, then belatedly noticed that Rina was sitting separately. When I looked toward where she was seated, I saw that a number of female students had gathered around her as well.

"What do you think, Rina? Even if it's a novel, don't you think it's going too far?"

"Hmm... I'm not sure. If we don't do anything wrong, we can hold our heads high. If it were me, I would recruit a hero like Xenon outright, though. Cases like that happen frequently in reality."

"Then why do you think Xenon refuses to accept a noble title? Count Kay even encouraged him to join his knight order, saying he could become a noble."

"Given Xenon's personality, he must have decided that being a free adventurer suited him better than being a noble."

Unlike Cecily, who was flustered, Rina was dealing with the girls in a calm and elegant manner.

She looked just like an adult telling children an entertaining story, and I almost let out a small laugh.

'Why are they sitting separately?'

Cecily and Rina usually went everywhere together. At least as far as I knew, I had never seen the two of them apart.

But now they had split up, and they were sitting quite far from each other at that. Since I had only ever seen them together, I couldn't help but wonder.

'Did they have a fight or something?'

I alternated between looking at the two of them, who were being worn out by the crowd of female students, then turned my gaze forward. It wasn't something I needed to worry about right now.

'But where did Marie go...'

Just as I had that thought, someone sat down beside me and greeted me brightly.

"Hi!"

Speak of the devil.

Marie waved at me with a bright smile. I waved back and gave her a casual greeting.

"...Yeah. Hi."

"What? Why are you being so unenthusiastic?"

"It's nothing."

Marie usually arrived at the lecture hall early, so I was a little curious about why she was coming at this hour, but I didn't bother pressing her.

With Cecily and Rina sitting apart and girls swarming around both of them, Marie might have chosen to sit beside me for that reason.

In the meantime, Marie asked after me in her characteristic lively voice.

"What did you do over the weekend?"

"I read."

"What book? Don't tell me Volume 8 of The Chronicle of Xenon?"

"No. A history book."

"Ew. A history book?"

Marie looked as though she had heard something she absolutely shouldn't have. As I had mentioned before, she hated history enough to shudder at the mere thought of it.

When I silently nodded, Marie spoke in a tone that made it clear she couldn't understand me at all.

"Why would you go out of your way to read something so boring? Especially when The Chronicle of Xenon is right there."

"I thought it was interesting."

Besides, Professor Elena's office was filled with history books and papers I had never encountered before. These days, I was living for the pleasure of reading them.

Teaching Cindy composition felt like it was going to give me an ulcer, though. Her comprehension was so disastrous that I had to chew everything up and digest it for her before she could barely understand it. Still, she wasn't lacking in enthusiasm, so I couldn't bring myself to insult her.

"Right. Everyone has different tastes. Anyway..."

Marie glanced slightly behind her and trailed off. Her gaze was directed toward Cecily and Rina.

Then she shook her head from side to side and spoke in a tone that suggested they were hopeless.

"They're still at it."

"Did something happen?"

"Oh. You don't know? They had a fight at a café yesterday."

So they had fought after all. I had more or less expected it, but it was still surprising.

I alternated between looking at Rina and Cecily, who were still surrounded by female students, then asked Marie,

"Why? What did they fight about?"

"I don't know either. I just happened to see them while passing by."

"Hmm..."

Was there really a topic those two would fight over? No matter how much I thought about it, nothing suitable came to mind.

"Anyway, did you read the new volume of The Chronicle of Xenon that came out?"

While I was thinking hard, Marie asked me in a slightly excited tone. I came out of my thoughts and faced her.

Her eyes had narrowed into a smug grin, which somehow made her seem irritating. It was almost as if she were feeling superior. I raised one eyebrow and answered,

"No. What about you?"

"Heh heh heh."

She didn't answer, merely letting out a strange laugh. The moment I saw that reaction, I knew Marie had bought Volume 8.

And sure enough, the moment she opened her mouth, the answer I had expected came out.

"Of course I got it. Even the volumes I hadn't been able to buy until now. Dad pulled some strings."

"Did you? You didn't do anything illegal, did you?"

"Of course not. I just used connections. It's definitely not illegal."

Was it really necessary to mobilize connections just to buy a few books? And this was the ducal family with the second-most power after the emperor's.

While I was inwardly dumbfounded, Marie spoke with a teasing expression.

"Jealous? If you are, just say so. If you really want it, I could lend it to you."

"No thanks. I can buy it later, even if it takes time."

More importantly, I was the author. I was waving a hand and answering curtly when...

Marie gave me a look that seemed to say, See? What do you think now? Then she let out a deep sigh.

"Phew... If that's how you're going to be, I'll have to bring up something you can't possibly refuse."

"Something I can't refuse?"

What on earth could she be talking about? While I wondered, Marie glanced around. She looked careful, as though she were worried someone else might hear.

Eventually, she waved a hand as if telling me to come closer. With questions rapidly piling up in my mind, I brought my face closer. Marie suddenly became flustered and shouted in a hushed voice,

"Hey, hey! Not your face—your ear. Your ear!"

"Oh."

Only then did I turn my head and show her my ear. Marie sighed, then cupped both hands around her mouth and brought them to my ear so her voice wouldn't escape.

"Don't be surprised when you hear this. Actually, Dad told me something that will really shock you."

"Something? Did the duke send you a letter or something?"

"Yeah. It said..."

Marie paused for a moment, then glanced around once more. After that, she whispered into my ear,

"My dad says he's found the author of The Chronicle of Xenon."

"... ..."

Those words alone made my heart seem to drop with a heavy clunk.

"He even invited the author to our house? Apparently, the author accepted without hesitation."

"...What?"

I couldn't help frowning at her explanation.

What the hell kind of nonsense was this?