Waver Velvet POV
The meeting went…well.
About as well as one would expect considering the people currently onboard the train. It felt like there was a fuse in the room ready to ignite at the slightest spark. Yet, contradictorily, it also felt like everyone was too afraid to light that spark.
I suppose the presence of a Magician would have that effect on people.
Many Magi go through life never experiencing something that could truly be called a predator. Not in the animalistic sense, but perhaps in the general scope of hierarchy.
Maybe I was less pressured due to fighting in the Grail War myself. After being surrounded by Heroic Spirits, I could remain calm in the face of such entities.
Most people didn't understand what it meant to be a Magician. Truthfully, I couldn't claim to know much about it either. Even my own students, they've only heard stories and been told to never anger a Magician. It was something almost all Magi learned—albeit something not strictly taught in a rudimentary sense.
Like telling children that if they don't behave, the monster under their bed is going to get them.
Though, in this case, the monster is very real.
A modern person able to contend with Servants.
Yes, since the majority of my peers and students have never seen such entities, it's hard for them to truly understand.
Oddly, it's the Enforcers that truly adhere to the rule. Out of all the families, all the Magi that have ever had the genius thought to cross a Magician—that we know of—not one had ever been an Enforcer.
When you fight those monsters, when you barely make it out alive after a Dead Apostle hunt, you begin to respect the true monstrous entities in the world. When you hear that there are individuals capable of single-handedly routing even the strongest Dead Apostles, you don't treat it as an amusing rumor.
Though, thankfully, it seems Mr. Schweinorg is…amicable. Perhaps even more so than our contemporaries.
I have heard rumors that Zelretch is also rather patient and thoughtful towards the younger members of our society. On more than one occasion, there have been newcomers who didn't know his identity and opened conversation with him, and he humored them.
Though, he also has no patience for fools.
The stories of what he's done to those who have angered or annoyed him are…vivid.
The youngest Magician that had appeared in recent times.
When I first met him at the earlier party this year, I expected arrogance and conceit. To my surprise, it seemed to be the exact opposite. Even being cautious not to use his name as weight to pressure others.
It was a surprise to know that the Wizard Marshal even had a grandson. And from what I've heard around, I wasn't the only one surprised by that revelation.
It's like he just came out of nowhere.
Many are wondering if they're even related by blood.
It had become something of a hot topic among many people in the Clock Tower, despite very few people even knowing what he looked like.
I believe there was someone selling his pictures as well, for a steep price. I don't recall hearing what happened to them, but eventually, that stopped.
Suffice to say, the younger Schweinorg is…an unknown, by almost all standards. I'm fairly sure I could make significant profit if I merely sold what little information I've discovered from our short conversations.
Even if it was nothing but idle conversation, it would fetch a high price, as many would pore over each word, trying to find anything relevant or particularly valuable.
Though, there was one thing I knew for sure. I knew that this younger Schweinorg was most certainly not the one who stole the relic, the one who 'invited' me to come participate in this auction.
He didn't strike me as someone who would scheme behind my back. Perhaps it was the Church Executor that went flying past the window in the brief time he was gone. But I felt as though he would simply walk up to me and kill me while looking me in the eye if there was a worthy enough reason.
Still, I was not any closer to discovering who the thief was.
Someone had managed to sneak past all my defenses, all the defenses of the Department, to steal a relic of my king.
For what?
I had a long list of enemies, but almost all of them would sooner just kill me if they were capable of that, rather than go through this effort.
Reines, thankfully, was willing to help. Perhaps because she, by association, was insulted by this thief, considering it was her family's Bounded Fields and defenses that were so easily penetrated. Even if I'm 'acting lord' of the El-Melloi family until Reines comes of age, she handles all these pressing matters.
His two companions, I believe I could cross them out as well. They seemed almost entirely uninterested in almost everything going on bar specific things.
The one named Salem—it wasn't my first time meeting her. Human? I couldn't tell at a glance, but that was my first guess considering she accompanied him to the party earlier this year. And the head of the Barthomeloi family showed no hostility with her legendary bloodline hatred for non-humans.
And the other one, she very plainly admitted to not being human. Not to mention the name she introduced herself with.
Who doesn't know the names of the Ars Goetia, especially when the Kabbalah is a predominant path of Magecraft in this era?
I chose not to think about it.
Whatever the reasoning, it was beyond my paygrade.
But just as well, she did not strike me as the thief. There was absolutely no motivation, nor did I even know of her existence until now.
That leaves a few familiar faces.
There was Hishiri Adashino, a known member of the Policies Department. Her lack of care towards family ties or factions was…volatile, to my investigation.
People often say that Policies holds the true bastards of the Clock Tower, but after meeting her, I understood. It's not that they're particularly bad compared to the average Magi, but that their desires are often counterproductive to what most families pursue.
That is to say, a good portion of the Policies Department cares not for furthering their crafts or achieving the ultimate goal.
Despite the splendor and arrogance that the lords and ladies swagger around with, they would all trade it in a heartbeat for even a miniscule step forward with their chosen crafts. For many in the Policies department, their goal is the authority and prestige, rather than achieving merit through research.
This, of course, causes quite a bit of strife and tension, as a great many old families look down on such behavior and thoughts.
However, she had been 'put in her place' twice now. I did not want to be arrogant, but I had a hard time correlating the thief, someone able to sneak into our Department and overcome all our defenses, and this woman who was nursing her bloodied nose.
No, our interactions before—in the previous incident and investigation regarding the Fairy Eyes—she was very explicit about wanting to know of the Rail Zeppelin, so her presence here isn't anything strange.
So far, there are too many unknowns, and I simply didn't have anything to go off of thus far.
I would continue to observe for now.
The train taking a small stop would be a good time to collect information on the passengers without drawing unwanted attention to myself.
I made sure to watch most of the people leave before us. Lady Olga Animusphere was quick to depart with her companion. The others—I recognized some of them just by faces alone. Tollen Edmonds, an eighth-generation Magus, recently released a paper on Spiritual Matter and the interactions with The Fifth Imaginary Element through reverse granular consumption.
Marvin Ern-Tol, a second cousin of a son-in-law of the current lord of the Lore Department.
Ysabel Ketteridge, Thaumaturgical Historian.
Lazaro Veremund specializes in insect familiars.
Phineas Doruval, the heir to a moderate Mystic Code crafting family.
Several others, some bigger names, some smaller names, but all of whom I've never had any real interaction with.
"Mr. Waver, why are we stopping in the middle of nowhere?" Gray asked, looking out the window.
Truly, we were in the middle of nowhere. There were a few small forests in the proximity, but we were essentially in the countryside.
I pushed up my glasses, considering her question. "I cannot claim to know the details of this train, but if I had to make a guess, I would assume it has to do with the Leylines. Perhaps, this spot is on the intersection, and it requires careful calculations on how to proceed."
"You're not far off."
I glanced up to see Mr. Schweinorg lean on the seat next to me as his two lady friends walked past, towards the exit.
"If you don't mind me interrupting, I would gladly answer." He politely offered.
"Any chance for someone of your stature to give a lesson is our honor, Lord Schweinorg." I replied, not being fully empty with my praise.
How often does a Magician offer lessons or teach?
My students seemed all willing to listen as well.
"Here's a question for you all: is Magical Energy affected by gravity?" He held up a finger with an amused smile on his face.
"Yes." Caules responded.
"No." Yvette answered almost at the same time.
The two looked at each other.
"Of course it's not affected by gravity; wouldn't all the mana just be pushed down to the ground then!?" Yvette began to argue.
"If it weren't affected by gravity, then wouldn't the world's excess mana drift away from the planet?" He responded.
"Haha, those are good points and essentially the two prime arguments, if simplified. The answer is that you're both right." Mr. Schweinorg clapped his hands with a smile. "Mana, of course, doesn't follow the normal rules of what the Human Order calls physics. However, that isn't to say it's not affected by it either."
"How does that connect with the train having to make a stop?" Caules raised his hand as if we were still in the classroom.
Mr. Schweinorg looked at me as if asking for permission to continue, and I gave him a nod. He was courteous, knowing that I was their teacher and it would have been overly rude to lecture in front of me without my say-so.
"I'll spare you the hours of long and windy explanations. But, essentially, Leylines give off their own gravitational fields due to the concentration of Mana. As Waver expertly guessed, we're right now situated on about…three, maybe four Leylines intersecting. And it's no secret that the Rail Zeppelin runs on the Leylines, using them as tracks. Knowing this, what do you think they're doing?" He asked them.
I crossed my arms, nodding to myself. He wasn't doing a bad job of teaching; he seemed to have a knack for it.
"...picking which 'track' to take?" Gray hesitantly whispered as the other two glanced at her.
Mr. Schweinorg just smiled. "You're not wrong. Essentially, it's linking up to the correct Leyline. Due to the gravitational fields that Leylines emit – albeit not large enough to affect the world in a normal sense—the train has to be careful about spatial turbulences. If you want to be rather pedantic about it, the train is currently harmonizing with the correct Leyline to continue the trip."
They all nodded as if now understanding.
Though, there was significant information left out. Much that even I would have a hard time grasping, that they're not yet at the level of coming into contact with.
He has a natural charisma that makes him a good teacher. Part of that seemed to come from a noticeable excitement as he explained. Like he was having fun explaining it in the first place.
"You can heap on the praise now." He winked towards them, obviously joking. "Make sure to mention how handsome I am; I like that compliment the most."
However, before anyone could say anything, there was a familiar snort from the bag that Gray was holding. "He sounds just like that flowery bastard."
Gray quickly went to shush it, shaking her bag embarrassingly.
"Pardon?" Mr. Schweinorg tilted his head.
"Gray, be careful of his type! They have charming smiles and fancy words, but it's all just to pick up girls—hey, wait, stop!" She took out the cage holding her Mystic Code and shook it aggressively. "Shut up!"
"Ahem." I cleared my throat. "I apologize; her Mystic Code is…talkative."
Mr. Schweinorg looked at me, then back at her Mystic Code—Add. He narrowed his eyes at it, and I felt a strange tension. "Merlin?"
The Mystic Code that had been whining had suddenly stopped, and even Gray blinked.
"I've heard someone call him that same 'nickname' before." Mr. Schweinorg. "Flowery Bastard, that in particular. Curious."
I looked at Gray, who began to shy away.
"A living spirit inserted into it or a copy?" He asked.
"Um…it's not…" Gray fumbled her words.
"Percival, Gareth, Gaheris, Palamedes, Tristan, Lancelot, Bedivere, Galahad, Kay, Agr—" He stopped because Gray's Mystic Code shifted in the cage. "Kay."
I clicked my tongue.
Should I say, as expected of a Magician? A few hints, and he figured it out so quickly.
"I was trying to be polite, and I wasn't going to ask questions that I knew were going to be…delicate." His tone shifted, and I felt the hairs on my arms stand up. "However, if my brother-in-law's soul was shoved into a Mystic Code, someone is going to die."
There was silence, not because no one had anything to say, but because a strange pressure lightly pressed on us and it made speaking difficult.
I gulped but forced my mouth open. "Lord Schweinorg." The pressure immediately dissipated, making it easy to speak.
"Waver, I respect you a lot. I know you don't particularly like being a teacher, but I honestly have nothing but respect for what you do and how you do it. So if you tell me that I'm overreacting, I'll believe you."
That was…certainly a strange position I was in. I didn't know that I had the respect of a Magician like this, but now wasn't the time to dwell on it.
"It's a pseudo-personality." I said carefully.
He just nodded, and true to his word, he seemed to accept it. "I believe there will need to be a talk later. I wasn't going to pry, but now, that went out the window." He got up. "I came over because I wanted to invite you to come picnic with us outside while we wait for the train. Olga was going to join. However, if you decline, I would not be upset." He excused himself, leaving the train car and heading out.
I let out a breath, as did the others.
"Wait, Brother-in-law!?" The Mystic Code exclaimed.
I lit a cigar, letting out a long sigh.
It was never easy.
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Wilhelm POV
My mood was…odd.
I overreacted; I need to apologize later. I wanted to wait until they calmed down; a sincere apology was appropriate, not one while they were almost cowering from me.
Regardless, I adjusted my mood and headed out.
The girl had already set a table up and waved me over.
"You had a moment." Salem nodded, obviously noticing my small outburst.
Olga was sitting there, so I wasn't going to overly explain. "I was mistaken about something and overreacted." I said simply. "I don't think Waver and the others will be joining us now."
Venelana reached over and grabbed my hand silently with a smile. "Make sure you apologize then."
"I will." I smiled back. "So, have proper introductions been made? I realized you hadn't introduced yourself before, Salem." I gestured to Olga.
"We have become acquainted." Olga replied, sitting up properly in her seat with her attendant sitting next to her protectively.
Salem nodded. "We were discussing the effects that Stars have on Dark-Aligned spells."
Huh, that sounds rather neat.
I took out Sir Wiggles and set him on the table. I also let Lady Wiggles come out; her belly was looking a tad bit bigger.
"This is my familiar, Sir Wigglesbottom Fluffytail Octavius Benedict III, Crown Prince of the Emerald Kingdom, Duke of Carrot Island, General of the Northern Armies, Lightning Born, and the Devil Slayer. Head of the Chaldean Department of Phantasmal Beasts. King of France, First Mate of the Flying Dutchman, King of Asgard, and Sorcerer Supreme." I made sure to hold him up to properly announce his arrival to the mortals.
To proclaim his divine status, he hopped across the table and into Olga's arms as if it were natural.
Olga stared at me, clearly not knowing what to say.
She must have been overcome with divine reverence for the All-Rabbit.
"And of course, this is his pregnant wife, Lady Wiggles. Be gentle; she's due soon, I think." I gently rubbed her, and much to Olga' astonishment, she floated through the air into Olga's arms right next to Sir Wiggles.
It was slow, but she slowly shifted from stoic to excited as she held the two rabbits. I think she was warring with herself with how much enthusiasm she showed.
"Are they both Phantasmal Beasts?" Olga asked in a whisper.
"I'll tell you a secret." I leaned in, and she seemed to unconsciously mimic me. "Sir Wiggles is actually a Divine Spirit."
She blinked, and the expression she made gave off the impression she didn't believe me. I didn't care; I wasn't going to try and convince her. Getting her to stop acting all uptight around me was more than enough.
"You know, Lady Wiggles is due soon, as I said. If any of the kids takes a liking to you, I don't think either of them would be opposed to letting their kid follow you thereafter." I said casually.
Her eyes widened. "You're offering me a familiar?"
"Sir Wiggles is more like family; I'll never treat his kids like a commodity to give away. However, eventually, the kids have to leave the proverbial nest. At that point in time, I don't think they'd be against it." Through my link with Sir Wiggles, I knew he wasn't against my remarks.
In fact, he particularly liked Olga. Though, that was mostly the other Olga.
But to Sir Wiggles, Olga was Olga, so it was irrelevant.
Slowly, but surely, she pressed her face into the fur of Sir Wiggles.
I think that answered that question.
Even her attendant was looking at the scene warmly.
Though, I never actually got her name. "I hope I'm not being presumptuous, but I don't believe I was introduced to your companion." I know some families are very keen on the 'help' not speaking or interrupting.
I wasn't one hundred percent familiar with how her family handled things.
Olga perked up, and funny enough, she looked happy that I asked.
Proud even.
"This is Trisha Fellows; she's a member of the Fellows family, the most prominent branch family of the Anismupheres." Olga stated.
Given the opening, Trisha smiled politely. "I'm Trisha Fellow; it's my honor to meet your acquaintance, Lord Schweinorg. In addition to the duties of attending to Lady Olga, I'm also her tutor."
"It's because of Trisha that we attended this auction." Olga continued. "Before the reveal and rumors spreading of those Mystic Eyes of Providence, Trisha –" She paused, looking surprised and sheepish. She glanced at Trisha, who kept her expression neutral. Olga cleared her throat. "I suppose it's not a problem to reveal this information to someone of your status since we're cooperating. Trisha possesses Mystic Eyes of Precognition. She foresaw the presence of Rainbow-ranked Mystic eyes being auctioned. Before the Mystic Eyes of Providence were revealed."
"Future sight?" Venelana asked. "That's…peculiar."
"I'm skeptical." Salem added.
Olga frowned. "It's easily provable –"
"No, I believe she possesses such eyes." Salem pursed her lips and looked at me. "You explain."
"To be perfectly honest, none of us really trust the ability to 'see the future' in such a broad sense. For example, now that you revealed this information, what if I stopped the auction?"
Olga looked at me for a moment and then genuinely seemed to consider my words. "...then it wouldn't be true."
I nodded. "The moment you acquired this information, it was no longer reliable. And there are other discrepancies. For one, you wouldn't be able to scry me with your eyes. My grandfather either, for that matter. Due to the nature of our Magic."
It was obvious she hadn't considered that aspect of both of them.
"Other people, unless your eyes were at the rank of Rainbow as well, some people can shrug off that kind of thing and go unnoticed. I'm sure you've looked into the Church people that arrived. The Burial Agency member is Ciel. You won't be able to precog her unless you push your eyes beyond your limits. Lastly—and I'm not pointing this out to be mean—unless your eyes are also Rainbow level, why are your eyes able to foresee a direct hierarchical Mystic Eye?" I posed as my final statement.
Actually, I wasn't one hundred percent sure on that last one. Mystic Eyes was not my area of expertise, but I believed the question was worth proposing.
"You raise valid points, Lord Schweinorg." Trisha said calmly, not at all offended. "These were points we hadn't considered."
"Dear, I'm a little confused. I'm not familiar with your terminology; can you explain the 'Rainbow' when describing the eyes?" Venelana tugged on my sleeve.
"I believe Olga here would be able to explain better. Admittedly, Mystic Eyes aren't my forte." She looked a little crestfallen after my words, so I wanted to let her regain her confidence.
It irked me that her confidence was so easy to…rattle.
Olga immediately perked up, seemingly happy for the chance to 'redeem' herself. She hadn't even disputed my words or tried to argue, which I found…displeasing.
The Olga I knew wouldn't have even hesitated to get into an argument with me to try and stand her verbal ground.
"The ranking system we use is based on the Mystic Eyes color." Olga started. The most basic usually shine with a red or green color; they belong to the simple category of 'red' as we designate them. The ascended order—next is Gold. From gold there is Jewel. Jewel Ranked Mystic Eyes are considered exceedingly rare. And of course, at the top, Rainbow ranked Mystic Eyes." Olga explained, puffing up proudly.
Cute.
"Balor's eyes are Rainbow Ranked. Generally, Rainbow Ranked Eyes touch on the realm of Gods. Though Jewel Ranked aren't far behind and can often straddle the line." I added with a smile.
"Thank you, that clears up a lot of my confusion." Venelana said politely.
"O-of course!" Olga responded happily. "A-and, we did not simply attend on a whim. We procured our own research into the auction." The last bit was…hesitant? Like she was unsure if she should say it.
"If you did your research, I'm sure the data you acquired must have supplemented any inconsistencies then. Knowing your work ethic, I'm convinced that you did your due diligence."
Really, how shitty is her family that a few words of praise have her looking like she'd happily jump off a bridge if I asked?
"Trisha! Go get the documents we brought along; we can show Lord Schweionrg the data we obtained to support everything." Olga said excitedly.
"Right away, Miss Olga." Trisha quickly stood up and hurried back to the train.
It was nice to see Olga coming out of her shell.
Smolga.
She wasn't looking my way, so I quickly snapped a picture with both the rabbits in her arms.
"So, tell me about this insight with regard to Stars and Dark—"
There was a scream. A shrill one that caught everyone's attention, the kind that you could feel in your chest.
No one reacted immediately, but I felt something was off.
I gave the girls a look and quickly got up from my seat to go check the commotion.
I followed where everyone was looking and moved inside into the room car, and Waver had beaten me there with his group.
He didn't say anything on my arrival, but seeing his hardened expression, I knew it wasn't good.
He was staring into an open door to one of the rooms, and I could see the blood seeping across the ground.
I peered inside and let out a sigh.
It was the body of Trisha that I had seen a moment ago, the head nowhere to be seen.
Before I could even utter a word or start planning on how to break this news to Olga, another shout was heard, but this one filled with anger. At the other end of the car, one of the room doors was kicked open from the inside.
It was Ciel; she walked out, furious.
There was a thin line on her neck that was still visibly healing, and fresh blood was seeping down her neck.
Someone had tried to kill her too?
This was getting more complicated.
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A/N
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