Chapter 321: A Midsummer Night’s Encounter (1)
Flora’s behavior in the middle of the night made Rudger wonder.
Why now?
Rudger was about to say no, but he held his tongue.
Normally, he would have told her to stay away but fighting with Basara had taught him who Flora was and what she wanted. If he pushed her away, she would be hurt all over again.
‘I can’t help it.’
Rudger let out a small sigh and opened his mouth.
“Come in.”
He felt a flinch from the other side of the door, and then the door cautiously opened.
Rudger sat back in his seat and stared at Flora as she entered.
Once inside the room, Flora looked around cautiously until she spotted Rudger sitting still in the center of the room.
Flora’s eyes were blank, as if she were dreaming.
In the night, a pale moonlight cascades through the open window as Rudger sat still in his seat with the blue light behind him.
It was like looking at a dreamy painting.
“Come and sit.”
Rudger’s voice snapped Flora back to reality.
Flora realized her indiscretion and quickly took the seat across from Rudger. Her face was flushed, albeit slightly.
“I…….”
Flora tried to say something, but no words came out of her mouth. There was so much she wanted to say before she walked in, but now that she was face-to-face with Rudger, she felt like her brain froze.
At this rate, the awkward silence would continue but Rudger spoke up.
“Are you feeling well?”
His voice was uncharacteristically soft, and Flora’s head snapped up. She made eye contact with Rudger and replied in a slightly croaky voice.
“I’m…….I’m fine.”
“You’re not sick anywhere?”
“Uh, yeah. I was checked and they said there’s nothing wrong with me, in fact, they said I’m healthier than I’ve ever been.”
“I’m glad to hear that.”
Rudger said, but he kept a close eye on Flora.
The only light was the bluish moonlight streaming in from the window, but it wasn’t enough to distract him from seeing something.
“Hair.”
“What?”
“The color of your hair, it’s changed, a little bit, but it’s darker.”
“Oh.”
Flora nodded, realizing what Rudger was talking about.
“Yes. Apparently, the effects of the possession are such that once the color is gone, it never fully returns.”
Flora’s hair had been a bluish-blue color but now it was darker. It wasn’t completely black like it had been when Basara had taken over her body, but there was no hiding the faint black tinge.
“It shouldn’t be a problem, should I dye it?”
“You won’t have to. It’s not like you’re going to be penalized for it.”
In fact, Flora’s change in hair color was proof that her talent had blossomed even more than before.
The physical changes were the result of Basara taking over Flora’s body and forcing her to realize her potential.
Judging by the results alone, it was a sign of success.
“……!”
At that, Flora barely suppressed the smile that threatened to spread across her face. In truth, she had given it a lot of thought before coming in.
She wondered if the fact that her hair was darker than it had been before was a sign of a curse from the demonic possession. If it was, she would have to dye her hair.
Flora honestly didn’t want to dye her hair. It didn’t look bad on her, and she was happy to have a little bit of Rudger’s hair color.
In such a situation, how could she not be happy when Rudger told her it was okay?
‘I wonder if you feel the same way.’
Of course, Rudger didn’t know that, he was just saying it was okay purely as an advisor.
“I see. I’m glad to hear you’re not ill, so what brings you to me this late at night?”
Flora asked, a little taken aback by Rudger’s straightforwardness.
“Does it have to be something?”
“It’s ……Flora, people don’t usually come to me in the middle of the night unless they have something important to discuss.”
“……ah.”
Flora blushed as she realized her mistake. She tried to come up with an excuse, but her fingers tangled in her hair.
“Well, why not?”
“…….”
“At this time of night, can’t I come by?”
“No.”
Rudger said firmly and Flora pouted her lips as if hurt by the words.
Normally, she wouldn’t have done this, but Flora was feeling mentally closer to Rudger now. So much so that she would naturally do things with him that she wouldn’t even do with her old friend Cheryl.
“Hmm. Okay. Since you put it that way, I’ll cut to the chase.”
“Are you pouting?”
“No, I’m not pouting.”
“Well, let’s call it that then.”
“……What if I was, in fact, pouting?”
“You said you weren’t earlier.”
“I suddenly changed your mind.”
‘How do you want me to respond to that?’
“First of all, I just wanted to thank you for saving my life back then.”
Flora bowed her head as she said it.
“If it wasn’t for you, I might have been…….”
“Enough with the thanks. Like I said, I did what I had to do.”
“Well……people don’t usually do what they have to do, and it was pretty dangerous.”
“Well, we’re both okay in the end.”
“Yeah, well, anyway, I wanted to say thanks because I’m not going to be able to do it tomorrow, so I was trying to do it as soon as possible, which is why I’m here now.”
“Why not tomorrow?”
“You’ve done a lot of work on this case, and you’re going to have all sorts of people coming to see you tomorrow, and it’s going to be hard for you to find the time.”
Flora was right.
Right now he was in solitary confinement because of his injuries, but by tomorrow, he’ll have all sorts of people coming to see him.
‘The only good thing is that not many people saw it firsthand.’
Rudger thought of the witnesses.
He knew how to deal with the others but Casey Selmore bothered him.
‘Still, the fact that she knows who I am and hasn’t told anyone yet suggests she’s up to something.’
Except for Casey, the others didn’t matter. That’s where Eileen’s help would come in.
If she’s competent, she’ll quickly take the credit for this as if it was someone else’s doing.
However, Flora, unaware that he has some sort of deal with the First Princess, was convinced that Rudger would be busy starting tomorrow but Rudger didn’t feel the need to correct her.
“I see why you came in the middle of the night, but is this the end of your business?”
“No?”
Flora raised an eyebrow, and Rudger crossed his arms, adopting a tell me more attitude.
“Well, you know…….”
“What do you mean?”
“You see, Mr. Rudger, in my dream…… No, I don’t know if I should call it a dream. Anyway, you showed me that unusual magic.”
“I did.”
“What was that?”
Rudger repeated, not understanding the gist of the question.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“No, I mean, you know, the one you used, Mr. Rudger.”
“Yeah.”
“What the hell was that?”
“You ask a strange question, Flora. You’re talking about magic but you ask me what it is, what am I supposed to say?”
“Was that magic?”
Flora repeats with a scowl but Rudger didn’t understand her attitude.
“Didn’t I say I was going to show you magic?”
“You did…….”
“Well, if I said it and used it, it’s magic.”
“…….”
The logic was so perfect that Flora was speechless.
She moved her trembling lips closer together and found her voice.
“So, it really is magic?”
“Yes.”
“But that kind of magic is not…….”
“You’ve never heard of it. Is that right?”
Flora nodded.
“Of course, because it’s not magic that exists, I created it myself.”
“You created it? But it’s not normal to create magic of that magnitude, is it?!”
“The magic I use is simply unaffected by hierarchy. It’s a literal miracle, a power that requires no training and no chanting.”
“And how do you do that…….?”
“Faith. Flora.”
Rudger stared at Flora with a steady gaze.
Looking into those blue moonlight eyes, Flora felt like she was walking through a dream.
Faith.
The word that Rudger had spoken was stuck in her mind.
“Faith in magic, a mind that seeks mystery and a sincere will to fulfill it, all of those things make up true magic.”
“True magic sounds like nonsense, but it’s strangely believable when you say it.”
She saw with her own eyes what Rudger did in that field of red flowers.
“Flora, you saw it. It’s magic, no matter how much you try to deny it.”
“…… Yes, it is, and I was puzzled, too, so I asked you to confirm it, because it’s magic that has never been revealed before.”
“I get it, so what was it like?”
“What do you mean, what was it like? The magic? It was, I don’t know how to put it into words.”
She tried to keep her voice calm, but Flora still felt her skin crawl just thinking about it. Her fingertips trembled, her body tingled.
It wasn’t fear but excitement at the prospect of a new mystery.
A shiver ran through her body like a stallion on a prairie, raising the skin on her back. Her heart pounded like an active volcano, and her head burned like an overload.
As a wizard, it’s hard not to feel exhilarated, both mentally and physically, to witness the magic of the century with her two eyes.
“Flora, why do you think I showed it to you?”
Flora swallowed hard at Rudger’s question.
“Why, why?”
“I know the value of my magic, and that’s hard for people in this world to accept.”
“……It’s not like that, it’s almost a revolution.”
“A revolution is a big word, a force to be reckoned with but to me, it’s all the same.”
“Ah, yes.”
Flora felt a surge of excitement run down her spine. That’s right. This was who he was.
She found herself slowly adjusting to Rudger’s behavior.
“To continue my question from earlier, do you know why I showed you that magic?”
“It’s because…….”
Flora thought about why Rudger would show her this great magic.
The answer popped into Flora’s head at once, but she hesitated before answering.
What if she answered, and what if she didn’t?
Then she might die of embarrassment.
Flora didn’t like expectations since she had lived a life of being betrayed by expectations.
Maybe it would be the same now but this time, she wouldn’t push him away like a prickly hedgehog.
Flora took a deep breath and spoke.
“Because I, uh, can use that magic?”
“That’s right.”
“……!”
Flora gulped at Rudger’s answer.
“This magic I use is not something that can be easily copied by someone else. Even the most talented wizard of the Lexer class will fail as many times as a novice who has just begun practicing magic.”
“Then why did you show me…….?”
“Because you have talent beyond that.”
“But even so, that’s weird. You’re just showing it to me because I can learn it?”
“Shouldn’t I?”
“Of course not!”
“It’s my magic, I can do what I want with it.”
“That’s……!”
As Flora began to argue, she realized it would be a meaningless rant.
Rudger was not a man to be judged by basic common sense in the first place.
“Given your talents, and the path you have ahead of you, it is my judgment that ordinary magic……will not suffice. That’s why I’ve shown you a new horizon of magic and the path you must take.”
“……Why would you do that for me?”
“I told you, I cannot allow a wizard with your talent to be oppressed by humans who do not recognize your value, and yes, I cannot stand idly by while others pass on the torch.”
Flora had to stifle the glee that threatened to surge through her at those words. Otherwise, she might have jumped out of her seat and let out a shout of joy. More than that, she didn’t want to show Rudger her ugly side.
“I’ve given you all the clues to the new magic. All that remains is for you to utilize it.”
Rudger appreciated Flora’s talent. She was the only student in the class who could perform a simple version of his Coordinate Designation magic.
Now that her potential had been forcibly unleashed by Basara, Flora’s possibilities were even more wide open than before. Maybe she would go where he hadn’t gone before.
“…… Okay. If that’s what you say, I’ll try my best.”
“Your best is not enough. You have to try like hell.”
“I’ll do that even if you don’t say so.”
Rudger nodded in satisfaction at that curious answer.
“So you’ve asked all the questions you wanted to ask?”
“No…….In fact, there’s still more I’d like to ask you about, like that mark on your back.”
“It’s a family affair.”
“Okay. I’m not going to bring that up because it’s probably hurtful to you, too. Instead, there’s just one thing I’m curious about.”
“What is it?”
Flora asked, narrowing her eyes at Rudger as if that was her real question.
“What’s the……connection between you and that girl Rene?”