The Academy’s Undercover Professor – 250



◈ Episode 250: Each person’s choice (3)

When her younger sister Celie went missing Arte looked as if the sky was falling.

Having lost both of her parents the only family left for Arte was her obedient and kind younger sister Celie.

Then Sally didn’t come home.

Even when I asked the owner the only answer I got was that he had never seen Sally.

“teacher. Maybe maybe it’s good? “If even Sally disappears I will…!”

“Calm down Arte.”

Ludger grabbed his collar and calmed Arte who was in tears.

Arte was passionate about learning and had an adult attitude but was she still a child?

Arte was completely panicked when she heard the news that her only family member had disappeared.

The intelligence he usually showed did not shine in the sudden situation.

“You still don’t know exactly what happened.”

“That…”

“Think calmly. “Sheli is a strong child so I’m sure she’ll be okay.”

“But these days children are disappearing around here….”

“It’s because of the disappearance incident. Don’t worry. “I will check it myself.”

“Are you a teacher?”

“okay. “You will find out soon.”

After calming Arte down Ludger immediately returned to his room wrote a letter and posted it via the fastest mail.

‘It’s a serial disappearance case that’s been happening these days.’

Even the Yards (police) of the Delica Kingdom were strangely showing lukewarm action toward this incident.

Since the victims were only members of the lower class the seriousness of the situation was not recognized.

‘Or is there something else?’

Ludger thought of Shelly.

Unlike the brave and outgoing Arte the child is timid and quiet.

The way he was scared when he first saw him but later smiled and greeted him.

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Unlike her older brother who stayed up late to study until late at night she was a cute child who woke up early helped clean the store and smiled as she served hot soup for breakfast to Ludger.

I don’t have any grand dreams of becoming a great scholar.

It possessed a simplicity and warmth that was second to none and a purity rarely seen in recent times.

What if someone kidnapped that child for some reason?

“I guess I’ll have to make you pay for it.”

Whatever it takes.

* * *

The next day after sending the letter.

Ludger sat on a bench at the train station in the Kingdom of Delike and waited for someone.

“older brother.”

At that time Hans wearing a business suit and a fedora came and sat down next to Ludger.

‘Who is that person?’

Casey realized that Hans looked somewhat familiar.

It was a face I saw in passing when I first spoke to Ludger on the festival day and once on Royal Street.

“Hans.”

“You suddenly called me and I rushed over but what happened?”

“Something interesting has been happening inside the Delica Kingdom recently.”

“Fun thing?”

“Did you hear something too?”

Hans’ expression hardened at those words.

Hans looked at the people walking around and spoke quietly to Ludger.

“We can’t talk here so let’s go somewhere quiet.”

“Sure.”

Ludger took Hans to his private office at Ordo University.

Hans whistled as he looked inside the office given only to professors.

“Hwiyu. You’re amazing. Are you working in a place like this?”

“There’s no need to refuse if they offer it to you. By the way he is called Professor James Moriarty here so don’t mistake the title.”

“Let’s do that. Rather I will continue what I just said.”

Hans chuckled cleared his throat and spoke quietly about what he knew.

“There are rumors going around that the Delica Kingdom’s recent movements are unusual.”

“If it’s not that serious what exactly is it?”

“They say they are purchasing a larger amount of iron than usual and that the factory operation rate has increased noticeably. “The military’s movements are also unusual.”

“…Are you trying to start a war?”

“I don’t know about that. However there is no doubt that they are trying to do something at least at the national level.”

“Is there anything else to talk about?”

“Recently the number of people going missing throughout the Delica Kingdom has been increasing. “At first most of them were outsiders but these days they say that’s not the case.”

Missing.

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Ludger’s eyes lit up at those words.

“Explain that part in detail.”

“This is just an explanation. Sleep well. I don’t know yet. “Because this was all the information I got.”

“Then I guess I should check the information properly here.”

“…Looking at my brother’s reaction I guess I wasn’t just hearing some nonsense.”

The two people stood up from their seats at the same time.

I instinctively sensed that this incident was not ordinary at all.

“Hans. “How long will it take?”

“hmm.”

Hans thought for a moment and then stretched out three fingers.

“It will take three days.”

* * *

As Hans went about gathering information Ludger did not neglect his work as James Moriarty.

He wrote his paper as usual.

But at the same time I had other thoughts in my mind.

‘Hans said that this incident was not just one or two suspicious incidents.’

The same goes for the fact that a person disappeared and the police did not properly investigate.

At first I thought they just didn’t care because the slum people and orphaned workers were gone.

After looking around I found out that it wasn’t like that.

‘Rather I have a strong feeling of knowing and avoiding it.’

The same goes for suspicious movements on a national level.

At the very least there was no doubt that someone of high social status was involved in this matter.

‘Then who is it?’

High-ranking nobles military generals senators etc.

The personal information of the main people in the Delica Kingdom quickly flashed through Ludger’s mind.

“What are you thinking like that? “They didn’t even know I was coming.”

At that moment at the sudden sound of a voice Ludger took his eyes off his paper and raised his head toward the wide open office door.

“As I said before it would be a good idea for you to get into the habit of knocking when you enter somewhere.”

“I’m so sorry. “When I knocked the door was too big.”

“That’s not something someone who loudly opened that door would say.”

“That’s not something someone who was concentrating on their thesis without even hearing that loud noise would say right? “Are you thinking about something other than your paper?”

Casey Selmore dragged a chair across from Ludger and sat down casually.

Her playful expression was full of anticipation about what we would talk about and spend time with today.

“What did you come to chat about today?”

“What a chat. To others it sounds like I am interfering with the work of a famous professor.”

“You saw it right. “He has a very good eye.”

“It’s the basic skill of a detective. So what were you thinking?”

Ludger was unwavering in his gaze that seemed to be looking right through him and simply answered.

“It seems like a lot of scary things are happening around me lately. “I did it because I was worried that the students might get caught up in it.”

“It’s an ugly thing. Like… something like a missing person?”

“….”

In an instant Ludger’s gaze towards Casey became sharper.

“I guess I hit the nail on the head.”

“…okay. They say a lot of people are disappearing these days. “It’s a scary story.”

“that’s right. But the yards aren’t doing a good job searching for the missing people. “I don’t even know if I want to do it in the first place.”

“You seem to know quite a bit.”

“I’m chasing you.”

“Are you chasing me?”

Casey grabbed a pen that was lying on Ludger’s desk and twirled it around.

“Because I’m a detective. “When a suspicious incident occurs isn’t it natural to try to solve it?”

“But aren’t there cases where things become a big deal for no reason?”

“It was like that at first but it’s not necessarily like that these days. “Maybe it’s because I’ve solved so many cases but I’m so busy praising everyone when I do something.”

Ludger recalled that the cases Casey solved were always on the front page of national newspapers.

The mystery story about a genius detective alone was enough to attract people’s keen interest.

Even so there were a few people who followed her these days even within Ordo University.

“Has there been any progress in the investigation?”

“That’s confidential. Oh are you curious? Hmm~. “There’s nothing I can’t tell you if you ask me to.”

“I’m not particularly curious. “You can figure it out.”

When Ludger took a step back Casey pouted his lips as if he was not amused.

Current Casey who was watching the scene opened his mouth agape.

‘Wasn’t my past self really that cheesy?’

If her assistant Betty had heard this she would still say it was cheesy but at least Casey was sincere.

There was something about the person I looked like three years ago that made me look younger than I do now.

Maybe it was because he was immature but seeing his boastful expression made me want to punch him on the forehead.

“Is Detective Casey Selmore here?”

At that time a new customer appeared through the open door.

He was a police officer from the Kingdom of Delica wearing a dark blue uniform and she immediately recognized him as she was familiar with Casey.

“this. I guess I have to go to work. “I’ll go first.”

“I see.”

Even as Ludger sent Casey away he did not forget to look at the police officer who came to see her.

* * *

Three days have passed since Ludger wrote the letter and Hans arrived in the Kingdom of Delica.

Ludger arrived near the hotel in a car driven by a driver.

“I’ll get off here. “Why don’t you just go in and get some rest?”

“yes. “Please rest well Professor.”

Ludger sent the driver off and headed to the lodgings where Arte was waiting.

For the past three days Arte seemed to be trying to control herself as much as possible but it was clearly evident that she was anxious about her missing sister.

Since it got worse as time went by I planned to give Arte as much good news as possible today.

‘Hans will be here soon.’

With that in mind Ludger arrived at the lodging where he usually stayed and heard unexpected news from the owner.

“Arte is leaving and not coming back?”

“That… I’m sure it was there until we served dinner tonight.”

Ludger took out his pocket watch from his breast pocket and checked the time.

In the evening between 6 and 7 p.m.

It’s 9pm now.

To put it at least two hours had passed since Arte disappeared.

“Did you tell the police?”

“That is still the case. But just in case let’s go find those kids now…”

“That’s it. “It won’t be a big deal so please wait here.”

“Where is the professor going?”

Ludger held a cane in one hand and put on his Inverness coat over his clothes.

And when I returned home I grabbed the hat I had taken off again and put it on my head.

“Because it’s a nice day. “I’d like to go for a walk at night.”

The owner couldn’t say anything because Ludger’s voice was somewhat heavy.

As I left the lodgings and went out onto the main street Hans who had been waiting for Ludger appeared from the darkness.

“older brother.”

Ludger did not look at Hans.

Also he didn’t stop walking slowly and Hans naturally walked next to Ludger.

The quiet street was filled with the light of gas lamps.

Even that was obscured by the slowly rising night fog.

“The promised three days have passed. “Have you found out anything?”

“The recent disappearance incident. “When I looked through this I found something much bigger than I thought.”

“What did you find out?”

“First of all what happened this time. “It’s not just an ordinary crime.”

It’s not a common crime.

Ludger recalled the conversation he had with Hans on the first day.

“Did you say there was some kind of movement within the kingdom?”

“exactly.”

“And this missing person incident is probably related to the kingdom’s movements.”

“So is he.”

At that moment a steam car passed by the two people.

The interior of the car disappears emitting white vapor thicker than the fog of a hazy night.

The clothes had obviously changed but there was a face that Ludger knew.

“Hans.”

“Yes brother.”

“Are the police involved in this disappearance incident?”

“…How did you know that?”

Ludger stopped walking.

Then he answered looking in the direction of the steam train that had disappeared beyond his field of vision.

“I saw it. just now.”

The person who was in the car a little while ago was the police officer who visited Ludger’s office during the day to look for Casey.

He was clearly a man who was not particularly suspicious.

However the man’s face caught my eye ever since I saw him in the office during the day.

It is not the stage of theory and reasoning but the realm of pure intuition.

Ironically that sixth sense was right at this moment.

“Where did they take the kidnapped people?”

“It’s a coal mine area a little bit away from here.”

“okay? It’ll take a while to get there. “I’m going to need a ride.”

“You mean a vehicle?”

Hans looked around.

No matter how much I looked I couldn’t see anything worth riding.

However Hans soon realized that Ludger was still staring at him and relaxed his shoulders.

“…Ugh. “My arms are like this.”

Hans took out the animal tooth he had prepared in advance and stabbed it into his wrist.