[WP] Chapter 11: St. Byron's Comprehensive College

[WP] Chapter 11: St. Byron's Comprehensive College

Because he was sleeping in a strange place, Shade woke up very early the next morning. He touched the pocket watch on the bedside and saw that the time was half past six, so he thought of going downstairs to see if there would be any newspapers delivered. He knew that people in Tobesk generally had the habit of subscribing to newspapers.

The former detective could be considered middle class no matter how you looked at it, and the nature of his job also required him to read newspapers to understand the news, so it was indeed possible for the current Shade to inherit the newspapers in the future.

Wearing slippers, he walked down the stairs to the first-floor lobby and looked at the sealed first floor with some curiosity, thinking that he could take apart a piece of wood to see inside when he had time.

Turn on the gas lamp in the lobby. Unfortunately, there was no newspaper stuffed in from the delivery port on the doormat in front of the door.

He shook his head with some regret, thinking about changing clothes and going out for breakfast. But just as his slippers touched the first step, he heard the sound of a bell.

There is a door rope outside the door of this apartment building. When pulled, the rope will pull the gear mechanism inside the door and ring the bell on the inside, which is a simple doorbell.

"Is the newspaper delivered here? No, why does the newspaper delivery person knock on the door? Is it time to pay for next month's newspaper subscription?"

Shade, who had little savings, thought with some fear in his heart, calculating the remaining money, and turned to look at the door anxiously. No matter who was outside the door, he couldn't recognize it. It was unlikely that he would collect the money. It was most likely that he was looking for the owner of the past.

"Maybe it's a new client?"

In a worse case, maybe the landlord has arrived to collect the rent.

There was no peephole on the door, so Shade could only come to the door and translate with the language knowledge he had learned yesterday:

"Excuse me, who is this?"

Immediately, he got a familiar answer from outside the door:

"Is this the Hamilton Detective Agency? I'm Bill Schneider; do you remember me? Yesterday, we exchanged business cards at the door of the newspaper office opposite the Lark Club, the psychiatrist."

On this morning, which was also shrouded in fog, Shade, one of the few people in the world whose names he knew, came to visit him.

Unexpectedly, the visitor was Dr. Schneider. Shade stood behind the door, not knowing whether he should open the door. He hesitated for only a moment, and the psychiatrist outside the door knew the detective's defense:

"Mr. Hamilton, you don't have to think too much. Although it's strange to come to visit at this time, I have no ill intentions. After all, there is not much time. Please take a look at this first."

The man outside the door spoke and sent a piece of paper in from the newspaper delivery port.

"Remember what I said yesterday? Adult education, correspondence education. Detective, you have a very special talent."

Shade bent down to take the paper, and then raised his hand to slightly brighten the light of the gas lamp in the hallway. With this light, he saw that it was an enrollment brochure.

"Huh?"

He suspected that he was dazzled or had not woken up yet.

The paper in his hand was about the size of A4, and the shape of the parchment roll was outlined with silver edges. This was the enrollment promotion document of the higher education institution called "St. Byron's Comprehensive College." Except for the "chained book"-shaped school emblem at the top, there were not many patterns, and the printed text occupied most of the paper.

St. Byron's Comprehensive College is not recruiting ordinary students; they are recruiting "correspondence" adult students.

In addition to this, the paper also lists the ten departments of the college, the tuition fees, enrollment time, academic year, enrollment conditions and restrictions, and the recommendation registration process. At least from these aspects, this is just an ordinary college.

"But why is there no college address?"

Shade asked after a long time, and then he was surprised that he did not ask the other party if he had a mental illness and came to deliver admission documents to a stranger early in the morning.

"Your observation is very sharp."

The psychologist outside the door praised and then asked:

"Then, at least let me go inside to talk, okay? Maybe I can answer your questions about the other 'you' in your head."

The voice in the head did not appear because it was mentioned. Shade inside the door opened his mouth and opened the door.

The middle-aged doctor carrying a briefcase, wearing a brown coat and a silk hat, stood on the steps and wore a pair of thick black boots on his feet. Still, with a well-made mustache, his blue eyes made people feel very good.

"Don't forget your milk."

He pointed to the milk box on the left side of the door with a standard accent, probably a local of Tobesk:

"When I came just now, the milkman had just left."

"Okay, please come in."

Shade nodded hesitantly, looked at the doctor, and tried to make a friendly expression. He took the key from the shoe cabinet to unlock the milk box, and the psychologist followed Shade into the door of the apartment after Shade got the milk bottle.

Also surprised by the sealed part of the first floor, the doctor did not say much but went to Room 1 on the second floor with the silent shade along the stairs.

Letting the doctor wait for a while, Shade returned to the bedroom to change clothes and then boiled water to entertain the guests. Although there was no food in the kitchen, at least there was black tea to entertain the client of the detective case; otherwise, Shade could only use boiled water to entertain the guests.

After everything was packed, the two sat down to talk.

The fabric sofa set in the living room is quite old, and he wonders if it is an antique. Two long and two short sofas surround the wooden coffee table from all sides, which is very suitable for discussing business with clients.

The doctor and Shade sat on the long sofas facing each other.

"No need to introduce yourself. First of all, I want you to trust me."

The mustached psychiatrist Schneider spoke first. He smiled and thanked Shade for the black tea.

"This time, I came for the college promotional paper I just gave you. First, let me describe your current symptoms: "

"Wait a minute, are the symptoms related to school?"

Shade asked, but he already guessed in his mind. He is not a "local,"  has seen those crazy fantasies, and is more adapted to this situation. The "St. Byron's Comprehensive College" mentioned by the other party is probably the same school as Hogwarts.

"Of course it is. Please listen to me. Mr. Shade Hamilton, can you hear another voice in your head?"

Although Shade tried to control his expression, he saw his failure in the smile of Mr. Schneider opposite him.

The doctor added:

"Is that voice saying something inexplicable? And, are some of the words helpful to you? He will whisper in your ear and speak suddenly when you least expect it, but he has no ill intention towards you."

Shade knew he couldn't hide it, so he nodded.

"And, detective, your symptoms must appear within 72 hours."

"To be precise, 24 hours."

Shade said.

"That's even better. We still have a lot of time. It seems we are lucky. After all, the awakening time of talent is 72 hours. This way, I have more time to explain the situation to you."

Dr. Schneider smiled:

"The above symptoms are similar to the manifestations of schizophrenia, but in fact, they are not in my eyes."

He pointed at himself, looked at Shade with blue eyes, and spoke very slowly:

"For certain people, the existence of 'another me' is a wonderful and dangerous talent. No, it should be said that this is an early manifestation of a talent. If it can be guided, then you can see a more real world, mysterious, dangerous world if not guided."

"Return to ordinary?"

"No, it's worse."

The doctor shook his head.

"I don't want to deceive you; at least there is no need for that now. Speaking, this is a sign of the manifestation of the talent of the 'Ring Wizard', a very rare talent. You can regard it as a gift from fate or a curse from fate. As for the 'Ring Wizard', it can be regarded as a special profession, a profession that can use mysterious power. I hope you understand what I mean."

The doctor was deliberately observing Shade's expression. This era was still an era of ignorance, and people who believed in the righteous gods generally did not accept concepts such as "witchcraft." Fortunately, just like the doctor's investigation, the detective on the opposite side was still a person with a brain problem a few days ago, and only because of the awakening of the talent did he return to normal, so his concept was different from that of normal citizens.

On the other side, the guess was confirmed, and Shade nodded hesitantly. He wanted to pretend to be surprised because normal people would be surprised, but at this moment he was extremely calm, even a little too calm. He thought this might be because of the excessive pressure yesterday.

"In other words, hearing strange sounds in my ears is a manifestation of a certain system, a power system? Many people feel this way. Just like some people see farther and some people hear more?"

Shade asked.

"Yes, 'I am you, you are me', every ring wizard is like this. If you succeed in becoming a ring wizard, then this voice will accompany you and help you throughout your life. That voice is another you, but your vision is different. It will help you contact this crazy and noisy world in a more real way—contact secrets and weirdness. Knowledge, information, and even words have dangerous power, and outside the safe world of ordinary people, we cannot use our souls to directly approach those powers that are enough to distort ourselves."

The doctor waited for a while, giving Shade time to think:

"But the awakening time of the Ring Wizard's talent is very short. It usually takes 72 hours from the first whisper in the ear to the sound disappearing completely. Moreover, not every gifted person can hear the sound frequently and realize that the sound is not their thoughts. They will only think it is an illusion or a problem with their ears.

So, Detective Shade Hamilton, whether it is the three major colleges or the church, it is very difficult to recruit and train new personnel. Therefore, I say we are all lucky."

(End of this chapter)