NOVEL FROG Chapter 95: Interlude 9 – Tim
Chapter 95: Interlude 9 – Tim
Location: Magicon Empire; Magicon System; Terra; Imperia; FBC
“Ughhh,” Tim wakes up with a groan.
Dammit, how much did I drink last night? And where am I?
He sits up and looks around. His view is still a bit blurry, and he has to blink a few times. There are other people around him. He’s inside a living room, just barely on one of the sofas. Most of the others are just lying on the floor.
Oh! It’s Sara’s dorm room! Right, she teleported us there last night. Where is she though? All the girls are missing… Even the twins. Hmm, probably with the others in their rooms.
Tim notices Fabio stirring and stands up to talk to him without waking the others. Fabio starts a bit when Tim puts a hand on his shoulder but relaxes when he sees who it is. “Morning, Tim… You know what happened?” He manages to groan out.
“Yeah, more or less… We’re in the girls’ dorm. Looks like we drank way too much last night. I have to leave though… Can you tell the others when they wake up?”
Fabio holds his head. “Yeah, I can do that,” he looks at Tim with a hopeful expression. “You don’t have something against a hangover, do you?”
Holy shit, I must’ve been even more out of it than I thought… How could I forget that?
Tim manages a grin. “Actually, I do have something. Hold on.”
The spell comes to him easily, and he quickly casts it on himself, then on Fabio. The hangover is gone, and Tim feels refreshed.
Now I just need a shower, then I’m good.
“Ohh, thanks man, that’s great!” Fabio is all smiles and finally manages to sit up.
“You’re welcome, see you.” Tim concentrates and a bit later he vanishes in a purple flash. He reappears in the jump room of his own dorm building and quickly walks to the elevator.
Man, I can’t wait to advance my Space core. Why is Dad insisting on keeping me at Junior for so long? Sara’s teleportations are so smooth.
A frown enters his face when he thinks of Sara.
Dammit, not again… I just can’t. Why do I like her so much? I can’t have a no-name girlfriend. My parents are going to kill me. I’m already on the thinnest ice with refusing to go to RMA…
Luckily, the elevator is empty, or other occupants would have fled in fear of Tim’s facial expression. Finally, he arrives on his floor and steps out of the elevator. A few steps later, his dorm door closes behind him. He looks around, finding no one. His roommates are already gone. He lets out a longer sigh and his thoughts circle back to Sara.
She’s so strong though… Teleporting with her feels so smooth. Maybe even too smooth. But that can’t be… She can’t be an Archmage… That would have been announced in my family's circles. Just what is it?
“Aaargh,” he screams into the empty room. “Just why can’t I stop thinking of her?”
Tim gets rid of his smelly clothes and steps into the shower. Turning the water ice-cold, he just stands there, rinsing all traces from last night away.
For fuck’s sake… She’s just a country bumpkin. This is just… No! I can’t. She already messed up with one Noble faction. Just like she doesn’t even know what she’s doing? Just who would call a Noble a moron to the face? My parents will disown me if I introduce them to someone like that… But still, why is she so damn powerful? This just doesn’t add up.
He finishes showering and puts on a fresh set of clothes. Then he throws himself onto his bed. “Carl, can you do another background check on Sara Green?”
“I can, but I don’t think this will change anything… My checks all come back completely clean… There is nothing suspicious about Sara Green.”
“Dammit, do it anyway, please.”
Suddenly, he remembers something.
She said she’d make some calls as well after we learned of her ban. What was it? Right, she called someone named Chris.
“Carl, add a filter and look for connections between her and people named Chris. Maybe you find something this way.”
“Probably not, but I’ll try. I’m not that powerful. You could always ask your parents though. The Marquess and Marchioness should have access to more information.
“No, I can’t… I’m not supposed to have a non-Noble girlfriend. They’ve made my job quite clear. I’m the first one in our family who’s Talented enough to reach Archmage possibly. As the heir, I have to marry for standing, or we can never push for the sixth Duchy…”
“Very well, I’ll try my best.”
“Thanks, Carl.” Tim gets back up.
I can’t lie here around all day… I’ve got things to do!
With those thoughts, he stands back up and leaves his room. A few minutes later, he’s out of building 12 and takes a deep breath.
Time to get productive… There is a reason why I didn’t want to go to RMA and deal with the Nobles.
With renewed purpose, he starts walking toward the one building where he can learn without any distractions, be it of Noble nature or whatever else: The library! The building looks artificially old. Just like an old cathedral. Tim loves the sight of it.
Like a temple for books.
He chuckles at the thought. His parents never understood his love for books. They always brought him new tutors when all he wanted was to learn and experience things on his own. He steps through the door and takes in the scent of books – real books made out of paper. Some even thousands of years old. Of course, most of them are behind glass cases and magically preserved. Most of the books can only be accessed digitally, but the whole atmosphere of the library is something else. Tim loves every second of it and a deep smile finds its way on his face.
He walks up to the counter and smiles at the elderly librarian. “Good morning,” he says in a low voice, not wanting to disturb the others in here.
“Morning, is there anything I can help you with?”
Tim is about to shake his head, as he already knows where to find books about Space magic – the topic he is here for today – when a black-haired girl enters his mind again. “Actually, yeah you can. I’m currently looking into strong Mage families, who aren’t Nobles. Is there a book about them?”
The librarian gets a distant look and checks her interface. “There is, but I’d say you have more luck when you browse the net. It’s a pretty old book, so it’s probably not up to date anymore. It’s not even completely digitized, so you have to go to the actual aisle and use a projection.”
“That’s fine, thank you. I like books better, so I’ll give it a try,” Tim replies with a smile.
“Oh, interesting. I thought you young ones lost all respect for books,” the older woman chuckles and waves her hand. “Here, so that you find your way.”
A ping appears on his interface, and he happily accepts. A map of the library appears in his vision with one aisle marked. “Thanks again.”
Tim walks deeper into the library, his original research topic already forgotten.
If Carl can’t find you digitally, maybe I’ll find more about you in the analog records, Miss Green.
Speaking of Carl, he suddenly comes back with the results of his new research. “I’ve finished my research, Tim. Would you like to hear my results?”
Tim just nods, counting on Carl to catch his intention.
Even if he isn’t the smartest, he should still get it. That’s another thing… Sara’s AI seems to be completely sapient. And as an AI she should know proper conduct and stop Sara from messing up, just why aren’t they? Aargh, frustrating!
Before he drifts deeper into his thoughts, Carl catches on. “As I thought, I didn’t find anything new. Sara Green is the sole daughter of the two leaders of Green Industries, a larger company that is a direct supplier for Magicon. There isn’t much about what they actually produce due to proprietary stuff and all, and her parents are rather reclusive, but it is all solid. If it were a disguise, it would be like ten times better than yours and you know what that would mean…”
He's right… That would mean direct intervention from the royal family or at least the Duchies. And there is no one at my age. At least no one unaccounted for… Lisa Song and Bernd Schmidt both joined RMA last year. I’m the only one under the radar currently. Well, there are still the branch children, but they wouldn’t warrant such a disguise… It must be something else…
Carl continues. “I do at least have a partial result for the name Chris, but it is far-fetched, and I don’t think it’s even worth considering. While I didn’t find anyone worth mentioning in her parents’ company’s vicinity, there is one Chris with a significant pull here in the city… Christopher Valterion, but like I said, it’s very unlikely.”
Tim has to suppress a snort. “Ha, you’re right. As if that picture-perfect Noble had anything to do with a girl who calls out insults to random Nobles without thinking of the consequences.”
She has a VHI ship though… No, that’s ridiculous. Besides, the youngest from the main family graduated from RMA more than half a century ago and is also a guy. And all the side branches are accounted for…
Still deep in his thoughts, Tim reaches his destination. An enormous bookshelf stands before him and is covered by a translucent magical shield. At the end of the aisle stands a piece of Magitech in the form of a lectern. Tim makes his way over to it and touches the start button. A projection comes to life, asking him which book he wants to read. Tim flips his hand and sends the title over from his interface. The lectern sucks in magic from the power grid, and a single book on the shelf lights up shortly. Tim feels a scanning pulse, and seconds later, a hologram of said book appears before him on the lectern. Tim smiles, flips it open, and starts reading. It’s a thick one, but rather interesting.
Hours later, Tim has learned a lot about magical families in The Empire but is still no step closer to solving the riddle that is Sara Green. Speaking of her, he suddenly hears a familiar voice. Tim stops reading and looks up. The person he’s researching just stepped into his aisle. Her dark hair frames her beautiful face, and the pink tips form a nice contrast with her white hoodie. Tim feels himself blushing and quickly looks away.
Why is she here? She can’t know I’m researching her, right?”
He looks back up and she waves. “Hi Tim,” she says in a lower voice, clearly trying not to disturb others as well.
At least she knows the rules of a library…
“Hi Sara, what are you doing here?”
She looks to the side and blushes a bit in embarrassment. “Well, I was looking for you… I wanted to thank you for helping me with the ban last night, but you weren’t accepting my calls, so I…” She blushes even more. “Well, I had Clara looking for you which isn’t completely legal… But she found you here in the library, so I thought I’d just head over as I wanted to learn a bit about that Noble stuff anyway.”
She raises an eyebrow at Tim. “So here I am… How do you know so much about all this anyway?”
Tim is completely taken aback. He had expected a lot of responses, but not this.
Huh, I didn’t do much… I just called Paula and she handled it. But I can’t tell her that, dammit. Also, she wants to learn about Noble stuff? Why didn’t she do so earlier? That would have made things so much easier… At least she’s willing to learn, I guess? Maybe she’s not a lost cause after all?
“I… err, you’re welcome… I didn’t do much anyway, it was just a call. As for my knowledge…” Tim shrugs, taking in Sara’s deep blue eyes. “I grew up with all this, so it’s not hard at all for me.”
Fuck, what did I just say? Why do I always slip up in her presence?
“You’re a Noble?” She asks with a raised eyebrow.
Tim blushes deeply. “No, no not at all.” He chuckles weakly. “I would never pretend to be. No, my parents’ company was bought by Nobles when I was little, and I was the same age as one of their sons. As I turned out to be quite good at magic, they took me under their wing and introduced me to a lot of Noble things. I dunno if you know this, considering your lack of knowledge,” he flashes her a short smile, “but I wasn’t allowed to attend RMA together with my friend, so I’m here now.”
Pfew, that was a close one, but I think I nailed it.
Sara’s expression brightens. “Ahh, that makes sense. Is he the friend you called last night to clean up my mess?”
Tim gives himself an internal high-five.
Yep, nailed it!
“Yes, exactly. His parents are Count and Countess, so they’re a bit above a mere Baron.”
“Thank you,” she grins. “And yeah, I know at least that much. With Baron being the lowest and that Charles dude being an ass, I just lost my cool… But I’m trying to change that, that’s why I’m here, so if you’ll excuse me? I see you on Monday for Space lessons.”
After giving Tim a quick hug, Sara turns around and leaves for another aisle. Tim sighs in relief and continues reading. In the end, he doesn’t find anything that points to the Green family, but his thoughts are firmly back on Sara. He just can’t get her out of his head.
With another sigh, he finally leaves the library. It’s way past noon already, and Tim heads back to his building. On his way, frustration overwhelms him, and he stops at a nearby bench.
Dammit, I can’t continue like this!
He casts a Communication spell and aims for his sister at RMA. Paula is just a few years older than him and didn’t try to hide her identity. The spell connects and his sister’s face appears before him. Other than his current looks, she looks like a splitting image of their mother. Paula Silvani grins at him before asking.
“So you finally came to your senses and ask for help?” Tim can hear the amusement in her voice.
He grimaces. “Well, hello to you too. But yeah, I don’t know what to do. I just can’t get her out of my head.”
“Then stop trying to. I mean who cares? Even if our parents disagree, who says you can’t have some fun? I mean you’re not even here as Timothy Silvani. You’re Tim Skadi. Who the fuck cares if he has some no-name as a girlfriend? And when you come out someday, who knows maybe she wants to stay your secret lover? I mean you’ll be Marquess one day, maybe even Duke if everything works out. That’s a powerful position I’m sure most can’t resist.” She stops with a wink and Tim blushes a bit.
She’s right! Who the hell cares what Tim Skadi does?”
“Thanks, Sis, I needed this.”
“You're welcome. Just try not to mess up too often, okay?”
Tim splutters. “How do you know…?”
She suddenly starts laughing. “You messed up again? Oh my god. You’re lucky she’s completely clueless considering Noble things.”
They continue talking for a bit until Tim returns to his room. For the first time, he feels a bit better.
I’ll just take things as they come. No one forbids Tim Skadi to have some fun and who knows, maybe Sara Green is a disguise of someone high up the ladder?
He snorts at the thought.
Yeah, no… I’m not that lucky.