“Perfect Score on an Ultra-Hard Exam! A Look into the Genius Girl’s Profile,” “The Earl’s Daughter’s Tragic Second Life,” “A Spectacular Debut as a Receptionist!”, “Surpassing Scholars!? An Exclusive on the Genius Receptionist Catherine Arkwright’s Work”…
A giant gear peered down at Wilfred through a gap in the wall.
Spread out on the large desk were back issues of newspapers and magazines.
Just looking at the headlines made Wilfred feel a bit weary.
However, since Wilfred had come here out of half curiosity to dig through these articles, he couldn’t complain too much.
Wilfred had visited the Rudolf Memorial Library.
Not only books but also back issues of newspapers and magazines published within the Federation were archived here. He had come to see them.
He was looking for articles from about two years ago when this Saktamburg had been obsessed with Catherine.
He wondered if he could get even a little bit closer to the real her.
From what Wilfred had heard, Catherine’s reputation among adventurers was divided.
Those who worked directly with her or had dealings with her admired her almost divine excellence and meticulous attention to detail, feeling a sense of reverence. Wilfred was among them.
However, other adventurers held a vague negative impression of her.
“She’s excellent, sure, but isn’t she just flaunting her intelligence?”
“She’s a noble from Ciel-Terra, right? She seems arrogant.”
“I’ve heard she has a bad personality. Just the other day…”
“There’s even talk that she used political power to transfer a receptionist she clashed with right after her appointment.”
The reasons for disliking her were often rumors heard from someone they couldn’t remember or tabloid articles read somewhere.
Or perhaps it was jealousy or prejudice against someone who came with a flamboyant reputation. The outlaws among adventurers might have had a natural aversion to her noble origins…
But Wilfred didn’t know how to refute such vague negative impressions.
In reality, Catherine was incredibly talented. But beyond that, Wilfred didn’t know much. It was difficult to defend someone he didn’t fully understand.
That’s why Wilfred was staring at the endless rows of letters, but he hadn’t achieved anything significant.
–Sure, these articles praise Catherine, but… they’re just imagining things and complimenting her based on that. They don’t really understand who Catherine is…
It felt like a poorly written story, Wilfred thought.
They skimmed over her surface achievements, imagined her inner thoughts, and added their own embellishments.
Of course, Catherine’s silence and refusal to step into the limelight also contributed to this situation.
When Wilfred met Catherine in this library recently, she spoke intensely about the “Rose Princess of Hellrage”.
Her demeanor was so fierce it was almost terrifying. What could possibly be inside her heart?
The stack of papers in front of him didn’t provide even a single clue.
Lost in the sea of letters, when his focus broke from exhaustion, Wilfred noticed it was already dark outside the small, porthole-like window. A wave of hunger hit him, making him regain his calm.
What meaning did this have for Catherine?
“Damn it… What am I even doing…?”
Sighing and cracking his neck, Wilfred began to gather the scattered documents.
Catherine seemed to be misunderstood and surrounded by malice. That felt unbearably unjust to him.
That’s why Wilfred wanted objective proof that others could see—that Catherine was a person worthy of respect.
However, no matter how many papers he piled up, he couldn’t see through to her true feelings, as if they were locked in a treasure chest with many locks.
This frustrated Wilfred immensely.
“…Whoa!?”
As Wilfred walked, holding a stack of documents, he let out a startled cry when he saw the very person he had been thinking about in the reading area.
Catherine, in her guild staff blazer uniform, was stacking files and books on a desk, just like the other day.
“Oh, Wilfred. Is something the matter?”
Catherine noticed him immediately and gave a perfect, painting-like smile and bowed.
“No, I was just surprised. Are you off-duty today as well?”
“I’m not off-duty, but I had something on my mind and stopped by on my way home.”
Wilfred, not wanting her to see the documents he had, moved them behind his back and handed them to a passing maid-type librarian golem with a tip. Normally, one would put away their own books, but it was possible to ask a librarian golem to do it (it was an unspoken rule that a tip was required).
The golem nodded expressionlessly and carried the documents away.
Fortunately, Catherine didn’t seem interested in probing what Wilfred had been doing.
Though she was looking at Wilfred, her hands were jotting down notes. She seemed to want to write down her thoughts before she forgot them.
The piled books were academic texts on the ecology of monsters, and the magazine she had open contained the latest scientific papers.
“Do you always live like this?”
“Live like what?”
“Spending all your time outside of work studying relentlessly.”
“It’s not that I’m—”
There was a pause as if she was searching for words, and Catherine’s hand stopped.
“To be honest, besides my home, workplace, library, shopping district, and hospital, I hardly go anywhere else.”
“I thought so.”
Catherine showed a slight, wry smile.
But it was light.
She considered her current life—days that seemed like she was wearing herself thin—as something natural. Or perhaps, like a monk undergoing austere training under noble beliefs, she didn’t see it as suffering because she considered her actions necessary.
Extraordinary.
She was driven by a fire that ordinary people couldn’t possess.
In the chaos that destroyed the country, Catherine had been involved in two major battles and survived both (the newspapers had covered that much).
Though she didn’t speak much about what happened, something must have occurred that changed her.
Like the battle of Wesala, where Wilfred had been saved by the “Nameless Samurai.”
But did she need to push herself to this extent?
She seemed to move only for her purpose, like a golem. As if she were trying to stop being human.
The pride of a samurai lay in the way of humanity… Wilfred had been taught this by his two masters.
If one were to sharpen oneself endlessly, becoming a finely honed blade, it would not be a samurai but a demon.
If that was the cause of Wilfred’s fear, and the reason she was met with estrangement?
“Um… Do you have a moment now?”
Wilfred decided to take a leap of faith, as if jumping off Kiyomizu (a legendary cliff at the world’s end in Eastern legends).
* * *
Trailing a streak of light like a shooting star and spewing waste steam, the steam car sped along.
The city of Saktamburg was tiered, with the main urban areas stacked in a dish-like shape mostly to the south.
Multiple half-circular roads, known as the Rim Bridges, extended from the south side, connecting the same levels and serving as diagonal roads to different tiers.
Even at night, the traffic on the Rim Bridges remained heavy, with brass boars slicing through the wind.
The two of them walked along a lower-level connecting passage, like a hanging walkway on the side of the road.
“Aren’t these Rim Bridges off-limits to anything other than steam cars!?”
“Usually, yes! But there was a time when monsters frequently appeared here, so adventurers and guild personnel got blanket permission to access these connecting passages for surveys! They couldn’t keep filing paperwork for every patrol! That permit hasn’t been revoked yet, so it’s still legal to be here! I heard this from a senior colleague! Some curious guy checked the records at the city office to confirm!”
The two shouted to be heard over the wind and the constant noise of passing steam cars.
After a while of walking,
They climbed a short flight of steps resembling ribs and reached a small, bird’s-nest-like room with a meager windbreak, extending from the roadside.
“Look, we’re here.”
“Wow…!”
Catherine exclaimed.
Suspended in the night was a flood of light brighter than the galaxy.
From pure white to slightly tinted, from rectangular cutouts of windows to holographic advertisements projected in the air.
A mosaic tile art of night views, a shining tree of light piercing the heavens and earth stood there.
The Rim Bridge extending out in front of the city of Saktamburg offered a position from which one could survey the entire city. This location was secretly renowned as the spot with the most beautiful view of the cityscape.
Normally, one could only glimpse this view while passing by on a steam car, but from this restricted access corridor, it was possible to fully appreciate it.
“This place is known to those in the know as the spot with the most beautiful night view in the city. There’s a public observatory over there, but this spot is better.”
“I never knew such a place existed…”
“That’s a pity. If you’re in Saktamburg, you should come here at least once. Although, it’s not easy to access unless you’re part of the guild.”
Wilfred himself had only learned about this place from a senior adventurer, but he was now quite proud of it.
He was also relieved that Catherine was pleased.
Wilfred had a sudden inspiration and decided to invite Catherine to this spot.
He wanted her to feel human emotions by seeing this mythically grand scenery.
“…So many lights, and with each light, there are people’s lives.”
“Yeah, that’s right.”
The light from the city illuminated even this place.
Catherine’s face, faintly glowing in the light, was solemn as if she was in front of something great.
Wilfred had only thought the view was beautiful, but she seemed to think much more deeply.
“A city of two million, Saktamburg… Twice the size of Ciel-Terra, fifty times the population of the Keely County… Yet, even with this many people, it’s only a part of the federation’s 80 million citizens, and even less of the world’s population. I knew the numbers, but seeing it with my own eyes, it’s just…”
She seemed to mutter something like “even with so many people…”
Wilfred couldn’t grasp its meaning, but he sensed that her expression had softened slightly. That much he understood.
“Thank you, Wilfred. I feel like the fog has cleared unexpectedly.”
“N-no, I just thought it might be a good change of pace.”
Catherine expressed her gratitude with a genuine smile, not for work or social obligations.
Her face, faintly lit by the distant night view, was so radiant that Wilfred almost couldn’t bear to look directly at it.
What did she see and feel from this night view?
Should he ask or should he not, Wilfred hesitated a bit.
It might be a topic he shouldn’t delve into. However, it was a chance to learn something about her that he had not been able to figure out even after spending the whole day struggling in the library.
Just as Wilfred was about to ask the question.
A steam car running on the Rim Bridge suddenly stopped beside them.
And a man stepped out of the back seat.
“Well, I saw a familiar face and couldn’t help but come out… Am I interrupting?”
The man wore a black coat-like garment with an elaborate emblem on his chest and swords at both hips.
The overly short sleeves revealed functional, beautiful arms that looked like they belonged to a humanoid golem, made of steel and brass.
The man, with messy black hair that looked well-kept yet somehow unkempt, scratched his head with a brass hand and smiled with a mix of charm and mischief.
The unexpected encounter left Wilfred frozen, but his heart was racing with excitement.
He knew this man’s face. He was one of the men Wilfred admired.
“Second Knight Commander… No, now it’s… The Royal Knights’ Captain of the Kingdom of Western Ayursa, ‘Iron Arm’ Bertil Lagerbeck!”
