Chapter 9

Reshulla, Robin and I are now at the front gate of Weorold Academy. Supposedly, the three of us planned to walk here but since time is unforgiving, we rode on a car, my car.

Since we will be driving to school, I thought I could go to Mr. Douf and ask about what happened last night, but something happened that surprise Reshulla and I earlier.

This is how it went…

When I reminded everyone about the morning lectures, Reshulla said that even if we ran their Robin and I will still be late. So I proposed to use my car.

They gave me a dazed look.

Is it really that surprising for me to have my own car? But I guess people at my age rarely have one. Both of them started asking me questions like “You know how to drive?” or “Do you have a license?” and of course I answered with “I do know how to drive.” and “Of course I have a license.” and made my way to the house’s garage.

I grabbed the remote on for the garage’s gate which is at the wooden bowl on top of the shoe counter and headed to the front lawn. Reshulla and Robin stood at the front of the garage’s gate and waited for me to open it.

You could hear the sound of the gate while the gate slowly opens and suddenly…

“KYAAAAAAaaa!!! Hurk…*gulp* *chough* *chough*”

I heard a scream of a girl and looked back; I saw Reshulla doing the same and looked back and we both found the cause of that girly scream.

Robin was breathing heavily while having her hand rest on her chest. I guess that gulping sound is from the gum she accidentally swallowed.

Her breathing slowly turn back to normal and looked at me with a serious eyes and came closer to me.

“James, are you telling me that all 3 of these cars belong to you?”

Robin suddenly grabbed my shirt.

For some reason I didn’t want to answer her but I don’t see anything wrong with me telling the truth, so I gave her a quick nod and answered her with a “Yeah, they are.”

For a few seconds her hands that’s resting on my chest, started to tremble.

“J…James, you help me a lot for letting me stay here at you’re place, but can I ask for one more thing?”

“S…sure, what is it?”

Wait! Your face is getting closer! Don’t tell me she is asking for a kiss! But Reshulla is here! We can’t! My heart isn’t ready yet!

“Please let me drive us to campus.”

I had my eyes tightly closed but after hearing her request, I looked at her while saying “What?” with a dazed look.

Reshulla who’s right behind her gave the same reaction as I did.

Robin who usually has a Cool aura is now gone and the one in front to me is a Robin who looks like a child with sparkling eyes. She is even acting like one and started saying “Please, Please.” repeatedly.

“I don’t really mind letting you drive, but…do you have a license?”

Her innocent child like smile disappeared and avoided my question while looking somewhere else.

“I…I do have a license, but it’s only for scooters and bikes…”

After hearing her answer, I respectfully refused her.

From my house and all the way to the front of the campus gate, Robin who is right next to me is pouting in silence. I feel bad for saying no, but seeing her make this kind of reaction makes me think of her someone really adorable.

By the way, what Robin is wearing right now are my clothes. My shirt was too big for her so she made one shorter by

twisting the end and tying it, so now you can see her navel…it’s not like I keep looking at them though! Really, I’m not!

As for her pants, it was my mother’s black tight pants. Luckily my mother forgot some of her clothes at my house.

As for Reshulla, she honestly said she was jealous and took a shirt for her own. She was about to wear it, but I told her that what she is wearing right now suits her. Wearing her light orange turtle neck sweater and a black skirt with light brown stockings together with her usual high heels and pure white lab coat with light orange leaf patterns at the end, makes her not only look beautiful but also intelligent. She didn’t give me back my shirt though; she said she’ll use it as for her new pajama.

As for me, I’m wearing black long sleeve shirt with baggy blue pants with its legs tucked inside my black military combat boots. I don’t really like standing out so I wear my clothes normally, they are normal right?

As I drive my way inside the school gate, I started to hear a lot of noise and found thousands of students at the entrance.

Booths, signs and some are even cosplaying while talking to other students.

“Wha…What’s going on?”

I’m so surprised right now I almost cut what I was about to say. At the back seat of my car, Reshulla started to explain to

me the reason for all of these students out in the open.

“Remember the time I told you to pick a club you want to enter yesterday?”

“Yeah, you told us to find one quickly or we’ll be having difficulty finding one today…oh so that’s why.”

“I knew you would figure it out James. Yesterday was just a warm up for all the different clubs, but today is the real Club Recruiting.”

When I look around I see different kinds of booths and some are even the same, like 3 booths for the Cooking Club. The only difference is whatever their cooking I from a different country.

I’m actually excited to see all this different kinds of stalls and clubs, but…

“With all these people here, I won’t be able to get to the campus’ parking lot.”

I couldn’t even see a single opening with so much students roaming around. I planning to use the horn, but I might disturb the surrounding stalls. So I held back on doing so.

But that didn’t stop Robin though.

*BEEP!! BEEP!!*

“Hey! Get out of the way! We can’t get through!”

*BEEP!! BEEP!!*

Since Robin is in a bad mood, she was getting impatient and annoyed by all the noise the students were making, so she leaned towards me and started honking the car’s horn.

*BEEP!! BEEP!!*

Dozens of students twitched and look our way and almost all of the people remained silent with sharp stares.

“…Why are they looking at us like that?”

I didn’t do anything, so are they giving me the hairy eyeball?

Though they gave me enough room to go forward, they just keep staring at us with a strange look. I feel like their analyzing me for some reason.

Damn it, I wish they’d move faster so that I could get to the parking lot! This is embarrassing!

I have no idea on why they are staring at me, but it seems like Reshulla and Robin knows the reason why.

Reshulla then leaned forward and told me.

“I’m sure the reason why you’re being the target of all this attention is because of “This” right here.”

Reshulla patted the driver’s car sit. Wait…you mean…

“You mean to tell me that it’s all because of the car?”

She didn’t answer back, but Reshulla gave me a wary smile and single nod. The one who answered my question though is Robin.

“Of course they’ll be staring at you! You’re driving a Mustang Shelby GT350! With its 5.2L V8 engine with a flat-plane crank that produces over 500 horsepower!”

She’s showing her child like eyes again…

“I…I see…”

I’ll be honest here. I have absolutely no idea what Robin is saying right now. I don’t even know this car’s name. Back then, I only bought this car because it’s fast and I could use it just in case I needed to give chase. But I got this feeling I shouldn’t say it to her; she might get mad at me.

But there is one thing I need to confirm to Robin.

“Does that mean that a normal college student isn’t supposed to have this kind of car?”

“Of course not, this car cost tons of money. Well, not unless the student’s parents are filthy rich.”

“S…seriously?”

Damn…now I feel like I want to hide somewhere.

Since the students are now making room for me to move, it’s gotten a lot easier, but now the whispers and stares are the ones that making it hard for me to continue moving…sigh…

I finally made it to the campus parking lot. But the embarrassment of having a one man parade will most likely take time to disappear from my head.

Now I know what “Piercing stares” mean. They hurt! The people’s judgmental eyes hurt! If their stare we’re bullets, I’d be full of holes right about now!

As I think about the embarrassing event that happened to me, I got off the very expensive car that I had no idea about until now and headed to one of the faculty buildings.

Of course Reshulla and Robin followed.

But one of them was sulking. Robin still wants to drive the car and keeps on making small glances at the parked car.

I wanted to talk to her about the footage we got, but she just keeps looking back and giving me the answer “…Yeah…” or

“…Sure…” with a lifeless expression. I guess I have no choice but to give up.

“Hey uh… Robin? I know I said that you can’t drive it, but I guess you can drive it once in a while. But you have to take me along to. You know, for safety reasons.”

“Really, you mean it?”

I then gave her a wary smile and made a cross mark on my chest as a promise. A true man never backs down on his words!

Robin must really be happy, she’s skipping after all; she opens a new gum and started chewing with a smile.

I, Reshulla and Robin, walked towards the 1st year college building while looking at the club stalls.

And then I spotted something very intriguing.

“Huh? Did that stall singe say something about 4 different kinds of milk shake?”

I can’t wait for the class brake to come! I’m getting excited just thinking about trying all 4.

“Hehe, hey James, you’re smirking.”

“Wha? Oh crap…”

Reshulla saw me in such an embarrassing time. Guess I couldn’t hide my excitement, though her laugh just now wasn’t

really insulting in any way, more like I find it really attractive.

“Moriarty!”

As we continue our walk, I heard a voice of a man whom I recall meeting yesterday night.

A tall man in a expensive looking suit slowly walked towards us while avoiding bumping on to the students, Mr. Douf Dorrel with his dandy appearance.

“Hey there, Douf.”

“Good morning Mr. Douf.”

Reshulla and I greeted him while Robin introduced herself while offering a hand shake.

“This is the first time we meet. My name is Robin Altorez.”

“Nice to meet you Ms. Altorez. I’m Douf Dorrel.”

I was only able to notice it now, but a lot of female students are staring at us slightly blush cheeks, must be because of Mr. Douf’s Dandyness.

“Which reminds me Moriarty, do you have spare time? I want to talk to you about what happened last night.”

Oh! Right, I was being called over by him. Almost forgot about it. Actually I did forget about it, sorry.

But this sure is a great time for him call for me.

“About that Mr. Douf, I think we found something in that accident.”

“Really? That’s a big help for us. I wasn’t able to find anything when I got here. Not even from the surveillance cameras.”

Huh? Not even in the surveillance cameras? That’s weird, earlier this morning; Robin was able to get the footage in the security system.

But I had a feeling this would happen, so I asked Robin to make a copy and save it at the laptop. We brought it for this purpose after all.

And most of all, this event got me even closer to knowing the culprit’s identity. I just need to ask him something.

“Mr. Douf, by what time did you get here to check the cameras?”

“Well, I got here pretty early. About 7 or 7:15 I think. Why do you ask?”

“I’ll explain it to you, but I don’t think we could do it here on a crowded area.”

“Good point, come on let’s head to my lab and talk there.”

Huh? He has his own lab? Here in campus?

I guess Reshulla saw me pondering, so she answered on his behalf.

“Guess he didn’t tell you that, not only is he one of the founders but he is also a Professor who teaches here in the academy.”

Wow, not only is he dandy but smart to. Oh, but before we go.

“Can Robin, I mean Altorez come with us? She’ll be a great help to us.”

“Sure, the more help, the better.”

As we enter Mr. Douf’s lab, I remembered about our morning lecture, but he quickly explained that they were canceled, because of the heavy recruiting of all the clubs.

Wouldn’t that mean I panicked and rushed over for nothing!?

(Reshulla’s POV)

I Reshulla Morrigan accompanied by two of my students, Robin Altorez and James Moriarty, who so happens to be the man I longed for, are being lead by Douf.

We finally got away from the student crowded area and we are now at the hallway leading to Douf’s lab.

But let’s put that aside for now. Because right now, the little boy who whom I remember back in my childhood is now a man, a tall hot man.

When I meet James 8 years ago, he was like…a doll. Standing next to his mother, lifeless, emotionless and honestly, I was scared of him.

But when I was kidnapped by a group called the “Abate Femme Fatale”, he was the one who saved me; he even ignored her own mother’s orders. This of course shocked me since he was like a puppet being controlled by his own mother.

Well, enough about the past. That happened a long time ago, so it isn’t important. Though I’d be lying if I said I was unfazed when James forgotten about me, but I can’t really blame him for it.

But like I said, that’s all in the past and what’s important is now and boy was it was it worth the wait.

The little boy I remember is now standing tall about 6 feet in height. Even the way he walks is so manly.

“Umm…prof?”

Robin, one of my students called out to me.

“Hmm? What is Robin?”

“Nothing, just…you’ve been grinning for a while now.”

Eh? No way. seriously? I’ve been grinning? Now that I noticed, even James is looking at me. Iyahn…don’t look at me like that.

We eventually made it to Douf’s lab. As I recall Douf is a professor specialized in history and artifacts. So he has a lot of equipment that makes his work easier do his work, which includes a dozen of computers we could use.

“Come on in, it might be a little messy. But I didn’t really have the time fix the place up.”

As we made our way inside, a young orange-red haired woman who seems to be tinkering with one of the old pots noticed us. She stopped her task and walked closer to us.

“Prof. Douf, did you meet with the people you were looking for?”

“Abby, good timing, I would like you to meet James Moriarty and Robin Altorez. James was with me when the explosion

happened, so they’re here to help.”

Right after Douf’s introduction, another person came in who seem to be in a panic. He looks to be in his 40s and wearing a lab coat. By the way, Douf is wearing his lab coat to. Not as nice as mine though, mine has more style.

“Prof. Douf! I heard what happen. Are you OK?”

“Yes, I’m alright. Thankfully James was there to help.”

“Is that so? Thank you for helping my friend.”

This geezer held out his hand gave James a hand shake.

“Oh? Prof. Morrigan, you’re her to.”

Huh? Do I even know this person? How does he know me?

Douf must have noticed my reaction so he made me recall this old geezer.

“He is Prof. Hikens. He teaches the first years just like you, so he should be in the same building as you. You must have seen each other.”

“I don’t remember him nor do I even care and I don’t really see the point on why I should.

””“…………………”””

Hmm? What’s wrong with everyone? Why are they looking at me like that? Did I do anything weird? Everyone besides

James is giving me this strange look.

“…haha…its fine Prof. Douf, this isn’t like the first time this happened.”

This old geezer gave of a dry laugh and it’s pretty obvious he is giving us a forced smile. More importantly, what was this guy’s name again? Douf mentioned his name earlier…I forgot, oh well.

I didn’t really try to remember this geezer’s name but I did notice something about him. This geezer still isn’t letting go of James hand.

“*POP* hey old man, for how long are you going to be hold his hand?”

“Oh right, I do apologize about that.”

“No…it’s alright.”

I was about to say the same thing, but Robin got to him first. I was troubled by it but James seems to be troubled in a different sense. He only stood there, staring at his hand.

He had the same look back when we we’re in his house.

“Excuse me Prof. Hikens? Do you work here with Mr. Douf?”

“Oh no, I don’t work “With him” I work “For him”, though I don’t really go to the digging sites myself. I only stay here in the office and do the paper work.”

The orange-red head with a lab coat continues…

“He might be saying that, but the paper work is actually hard to finish. Anyway, I’m Abigail Mikkins and for the record I’m not a professor, I’m a 2nd year student here. Prof. Douf just lets me hang out in here.”

Hang out? I’ve known Douf for 4 years but he isn’t the type to just let anyone in his lab, especially when it comes to artifacts.

“Abby, we’re going to talk about what happened last night, so can lock the doors for us?”

“Oh, it looks like I might be in the way, so I’ll go back to my work. Its good to see you safe Prof. Douf.”

Huh? Who was that? Since when was he here?

As soon as the old guy left, this “Aggy” girl locked the doors behind us. She stayed inside so I guess Douf told her about what happened. But still, for someone so young to gain the trust of Douf is surprising.

We got deeper into the lab, Douf then told us to use his computer since it has better security than the normal computer that the staff uses.

Robin took out the laptop and connected it to Douf’s computer. She then tapped the keyboards and different kinds of images spout out of the screen.

As a Witch, these kinds of thing are a little hard for me to understand. Truth be told, I sometime get a hard time using my smartphone. I can’t really expose that to anyone though. Especially to James, he might think I’m too old fashioned.

James told Robin to play the footage we got this morning, Douf was surprised to see this since he himself wasn’t able to get it. Thus making James explain everything, as well as the theory he thought up.

It’s nice to see “Detective James Moriarty” on the case. Hehe…that thinking face of his is good looking to. Though as I recall the “James Moriarty” in the book is actually an enemy of a detective, right? How ironic.

Douf asked James the same question we did, that one of the Founders might be the culprit. But James told him the same answer he gave us, so Douf gave out a relief sigh.

But James, still in his thinking pose, is giving of a worried look, so I asked him what was wrong.

“I was just thinking about the golems.”

“Huh? But didn’t you take care of them already?”

“Douf is right; we’ve seen you take them down so why worry.”

James just stood still for a minute and finally told us what he thought.

“The number of golems are too many to go unnoticed. There is no way the security would ignore 11 or 12 people going

inside the campus, especially by that time.”

James is right, with that amount of intruders; the security should have called in for back, thus making the culprit’s presence more noticeable.

“But even though I say that, I’m still not sure on how they got in. I mean, none of the cameras show anything. But I do have a guess.”

“*POP* And that “guess” is?”

“The culprit might have made those Golems here inside the campus grounds.”

Those words surprised not only me but Robin and Douf.

Douf ponders for a while and asked James if he knew the location, but apparently James still has no idea.

“I might know where it is.”

We heard a surprising answer, so James, Robin, Douf and I turn towards the one who voiced out those words.

There stood the orange-red haired assistant/student of Douf’s lab, with a bright smile.

“When Moriarty said that those Golems might have been made inside the campus ground, it finally accrued to me.”

“What do you mean by that Abby?”

“It’ll be better if I showed you.”

This “Addy” girl…or was it “Amy”, ran towards one of the many shelves in the lab and brought out a box and quickly remove its lid.

“You see this? This is the golem that attacked last night, well apart of it at least. Prof. Douf asked me to get them this morning so I could analyze it. And when I did, I found 2 different components.”

Abby then pulled out two papers in a folder and laid it to the table…Huh? Did I just have her name right? Hehe I knew I could do it.

“The first thing I found first was of course “Cyclotrimethylene-trinitramine” or also known as Royal Demolition Explosive, or RDX for short is what C4 is made of.”

Cyclo…Cyclopsri…Psyco…I can’t say it; I’ll just stick with RDX and C4.

Abby then points to the other paper and continue to tell us what she found.

“And the other thing I found is “Histosols” these things can’t be found anywhere but a high climatic mountaintop, which we can find behind the 3rd year section of the academy.”

Impressive, now I know why Douf keeps her here.

And with this “clue”, Douf proposed to go to mountain and check along with some security.

But still, who in the world is doing this things and most of all, what is he aiming for?

Hello its me Zylos101, i actually started to post on this sit 3 days ago and i really happy that you people read it, i'm kind of embarrassed though. i'm not really sure if you can put images in here, i would like to though. i actually like to draw the characters here. but still thank you for reading my work.