Steam Locomotive (3)

I couldn't help furrowing my brow at the information Marie had given me. I was the author of The Chronicle of Xenon, so why was she bringing up something like that? For a moment, I even thought it might be a bluff or a lie.

However, thinking it over, it was unlikely to be a bluff. If she had really wanted to lie, she wouldn't have needed to speak so discreetly. Marie had judged it truly important information and asked me to lend her my ear.

'...What is this?'

In my previous life, there had been a famous meme called the 'Hong Cheol-less Hong Cheol Team.' It referred to a situation where everything was perfect except that the most important part was missing. A similar expression was 'a sweet red-bean bun without the red bean filling.'

And that was exactly the situation I was in now. The author himself was right in front of her, yet she said she had invited some strange person, so I could only be bewildered.

'...Did Father make a mistake?'

I took a moment to sort out my thoughts, then faced Marie. She was grinning confidently, as though certain I could never refuse her proposal.

For now, confirming the facts took priority over my other questions. I asked quietly while maintaining my composure as best I could.

"...Is that true?"

"Yeah."

"You're really saying you're the author of The Chronicle of Xenon?"

"I told you. Don't you believe me?"

Of course I didn't. She had left the real author alone and invited some completely unrelated person instead.

But I couldn't say what I was thinking outright, so it seemed best to figure out exactly what had happened.

"Of course. As you know, it's been a year since The Chronicle of Xenon came out. During that year, there have been countless guesses about who the author is, but no proper clues. Even the imperial family searched for the author, but they couldn't find a lead."

"Yeah. That's right."

"But you found him? How?"

"I don't know the details either. The letter only said that they had found the author and would invite him to our estate. Dad said he happened to pick up the trail somewhere."

Hearing that, I thought back to how my manuscript made its way to the publishing house. I didn't know the details, but Father had said he had someone deliver the manuscript to the publisher.

As a former captain of the Navy Knights, he must have had connections in all sorts of places. Perhaps someone had picked up that trail.

Besides, before I came to the Academy, Father had mentioned that although he had managed to keep it hidden until now, he would eventually be discovered.

I habitually rubbed my pen callus lightly, then asked another question.

"Could it be an impersonator?"

"Come on. What crazy person would impersonate someone to a noble, let alone a ducal family second only to the emperor? If it really is an impersonator, they must not merely be out of their mind—they must not have a mind at all."

"Hmm... That's true."

Could Father really have made a mistake? It wasn't entirely impossible, so I was a little worried.

But the world was a big place, and there were plenty of crazy people. It might even be someone exploiting common sense against us. As Marie said, few people would dare swindle a duke, but there were plenty who gambled their lives for the chance to make a big score.

'For now, an impersonator seems more likely...'

If she had merely said they had found the author, I might have thought otherwise, but since she said they were inviting the author to the estate, the impersonator theory seemed more likely.

Therefore, my first step should be sending a letter home to find out what was going on. It would be best to keep the worst-case scenario in mind, just in case.

Once I had sorted out all my thoughts, I let out a long breath through my nose. Then I looked at Marie and quietly opened my mouth.

"So?"

"Huh?"

"What do you want me to do about it? Is there something you want to ask of me?"

The subject had gone full circle and returned to where it started. If Marie had shared such highly classified information with me, she must have wanted something from me.

Marie wore a blank expression for a moment at my question, then gave a bashful smile. Her confident look had vanished, leaving only embarrassment behind.

"...What about the proposal? Will you accept it?"

"What proposal?"

"I'll take you with me when the author comes to the estate. You're a fan of The Chronicle of Xenon too, aren't you? It would be nice if you could get an autograph."

An autograph... Come to think of it, I hadn't had a distinctive autograph of my own in my previous life either. At most, I had a signature I scrawled carelessly whenever I had to sign something.

But hearing Marie mention it made me realize I really did need an autograph. At least it would help in a situation like this—namely, against an impostor. I should probably start adding a handwritten signature to my manuscripts.

'They couldn't track me down with just one handwritten signature, could they?'

That would be difficult even on Earth, with its advanced scientific technology. Even if magic existed, it probably wouldn't be used for something so trivial.

In any case, setting that aside, I decided to accept her proposal. I wasn't sure whether it was an impostor or not, but at the very least, I wanted to see the person's face.

"All right. What do you want?"

Marie kept her embarrassed expression and answered in a small voice.

"Could you teach me some history?"

"History?"

"Yeah."

"Why all of a sudden? You hate history."

"Well, you see..."

The situation Marie described was roughly as follows.

As everyone knew, students needed a certain score to advance to the next year. Thus, Marie was focusing on the subjects she was interested in while dropping several others, including history.

She said it was relatively easy for her since it amounted to reviewing what she had learned from her family.

However, everything changed after the letter arrived from her family. Her father—Duke Reckillies—had set one condition for her.

She had to score at least ninety points in history. If she failed to do so, he told her not even to dream of reading The Chronicle of Xenon ever again.

I couldn't understand why he had singled out history when she could simply do well in her other subjects, but Marie's explanation that followed made me understand.

"The Reckillies family places great importance on history. We believe that we can correct the present by learning from the mistakes of the past and seize the initiative over the future. That's why we've made sure our children receive history lessons since long ago."

"Is that an ideology passed down from your ancestors?"

"Yeah."

"Hmm..."

I admired them inwardly. I had already known they were a family with sound principles, but the Reckillies family was wiser than that.

This was why the family had remained strong even though hundreds of years had passed since the founding of the Minerva Empire.

On the other hand, their home education was... difficult to praise as particularly good. Perhaps Marie hated history because she was rebelling against it.

In my previous life too, one reason children hated studying was the pressure their parents put on them.

So I asked Marie whether my guess was correct.

"Is that why you hate history? Because your family is always riding you about it?"

"Oh! Exactly! How did you know?"

"It's just one of those things."

Whether Marie continued looking at me with admiration or not, I went on with what I wanted to say.

"But is it okay for one student to teach another? I don't particularly mind. We could just treat it as a review session."

"It should be fine since it isn't cheating, right? If not, we can just do it secretly from time to time."

"What do you mean, do it secretly?"

While the two of us were talking, a familiar voice squeezed its way into the conversation. It was a seductive voice capable of shaking the hearts of countless men.

Naturally, both Marie and I turned toward where the voice had come from. When I turned around, Cecily was sitting in the seat behind us, though I had no idea when she had arrived.

She was looking at us with her eyes half-lidded and a face full of mischief.

I addressed Cecily, whose arrival I hadn't even noticed, in a slightly put-out tone.

"...When did you get here?"

"Just now. I saw the seats behind you were empty, so I came right over."

As soon as I heard Cecily's answer, I first checked where Rina was. Several female students who had been chatting away beside Rina for some time were seated in a row around her.

I could have sworn there had been quite a few students beside Cecily as well, so I wondered how she had slipped away.

"Anyway, will you answer my question first? What do you mean, do it secretly?"

"Uh..."

I didn't answer immediately, instead gauging Marie's reaction. She was making no effort to hide her discomfort. I couldn't help finding that strange; unlike Rina, Marie had always gotten along fairly well with Cecily.

Because the atmosphere had changed so strangely, I couldn't bring myself to answer readily. Then Marie rested her chin on her hand and spoke in a gruff voice.

"It's nothing. Isaac agreed to help me study history."

"History? Didn't you say Marie hated history?"

Cecily opened her eyes wide in puzzlement. It seemed she knew very well that Marie hated history too.

At that question, Marie let out a deep sigh, then spoke in a slightly lowered voice.

"...My family told me to make sure I got a good score in history. They said that if I couldn't score at least ninety, I'd never be allowed to read The Chronicle of Xenon again."

"Aha. So you asked Isaac for help? Isaac knows a lot about history, after all."

Marie nodded, apparently with no intention of denying it. Once Cecily saw her affirmation, she looked at me with interest.

I flinched at the bewitching gleam in her red eyes. They were like the eyes of a predator staring at its prey. In any case, I had a bad feeling.

"Then can I join too?"

As expected, my unease had been justified. Marie must have anticipated this development as well, because she answered in a tone that suggested she had given up on everything.

"Do whatever you want. It doesn't matter, since Isaac is the one who has to give permission, not me."

"Can I?"

"...Yes."

I couldn't bring myself to say no, fearing the trouble that might come afterward. When Cecily received my permission, she smiled brightly and thanked me.

It was a little burdensome, but having a beautiful woman like Cecily smile at me made my face grow hot.

I coughed to regain control of my face, which was beginning to heat up. I was trying to change the subject.

"...Lady Cecily? There's something I'd like to ask you, if that's all right."

"Why I fought with Rina?"

"Huh?"

How did she know? Had she really learned mind reading?

When I was taken aback, even if only briefly, Cecily giggled and said,

"You might not know this, Isaac, but your thoughts tend to show plainly on your face. Marie agrees, doesn't she?"

"To some extent."

"...Is it really that obvious?"

As I listened to them, I felt my face. I thought I was a fairly good actor, but apparently that had only been my misconception.

Marie snickered when I fumbled at my face, dumbfounded. She wore an expression that said it was pathetic.

"You remember the time you accidentally gave me a picture? Do you know what color your face was then?"

"Of course not."

"That pale face of yours turned bright blue in an instant, then went back to normal. Anyone could tell you were flustered."

"No, that was... ha."

There was nothing I could do about my face changing color. No matter how good an actor was, no one could change their complexion at will.

"...Let's set that aside for now, Miss Cecily."

"Yeah."

"Why did you fight with Miss Rina?"

"It was nothing. And we've already made up."

"Then why did you fight in the first place?"

Cecily shrugged and answered my question kindly.

"Because Rina practically gave away the entire plot of Volume 8 of The Chronicle of Xenon."

"... ..."

"I guess Rina thought I'd already read it. I got a little angry because of that. We made up, but that's also why we're sitting separately. Every conversation I could overhear was about Volume 8."

It was a perfectly understandable reason.

*****

By the time the humanities lecture had ended, some time had passed.

While Isaac was briefly in the restroom, the white-haired beauty Marie was staring blankly at a single picture. Just then, Cecily, who had finished taking notes and stood up from her seat, suggested to Marie,

"Marie, aren't you going to the restroom?"

"Huh? Not particularly."

"Really? Then what are you looking at?"

Cecily showed interest in the picture Marie was holding. Marie glanced at Cecily, then explained in a calm tone.

"It's the illustration attached to Volume 8 of The Chronicle of Xenon. It's called a steam locomotive, and it plays a fairly important role in the story. Want me to tell you about it?"

"No. Don't tell me. You know what happens if you do, right?"

"Then never mind."

And so Cecily left the lecture hall as well. Once Cecily had gone outside too, Marie focused even more intently on the picture.

"Hmm..."

The name of this picture, which was practically the core of Volume 8 of The Chronicle of Xenon, was a steam locomotive. It was an unprecedented masterpiece invented by an eccentric dwarf who devoted his entire life to carrying on his master's dying wish.

Most people were currently pouring their attention into the criticism of the nobility at the beginning of the volume, but interest in the steam locomotive was no less intense.

Many people said it was absolutely impossible to build such a means of transportation, while others judged that, if invented, it would advance civilization by several stages.

But what drew Marie's attention above all else was the steam locomotive's appearance. It had a cylindrical body with wheels underneath, and the apparatus that released steam was attached to the front like a horn.

And Marie had seen something similar to this picture before.

"It looks similar, but maybe it doesn't..."

She scratched her cheek at the ambiguity.