Side- Cecil Moore (1)
Humans are animals.
And animals are good at discerning alien beings mixed among them.
Cecil Moore was an alien child.
From a young age, he had difficulty understanding emotions.
Cecil Moore’s parents were influential figures in the city.
Born into a wealthy family, he had everything from the moment he entered the world, but he lacked a crucial part of being human.
His parents found their beautiful but empty-inside son strange.
Believing there was something wrong with his head, they called doctors, priests, and mages to cure him.
The doctor examined Cecil and said, “There is nothing wrong with the young master’s intellectual ability. However, he seems to have problems such as a lack of ability to feel emotions and low empathy.”
“Then what should we do?”
Mrs. Moore asked with a trembling voice.
“We need to research a bit more, but according to the latest paper, it seems to be because the ’emotion-handling part’ of the brain is inactive.”
“What does that mean…?”
“To put it simply… there’s a growth inside the young master’s skull. The solution is simple. We just need to drill through the skull and excise a part of the brain… that is, the growth.”
The doctor was immediately thrown out.
The priest conversed with Cecil and offered prayers, then told his parents, “This child is possessed by a demon.”
“A, a demon?”
“A demon has entered and taken away the child’s ability to love from his heart. You can tell by looking at the child’s face. See? Isn’t he very beautiful? Demons are said to deceive humans with beautiful faces. However, they cannot imitate the warm heart of a human, and thus their true nature is revealed.”
“Oh my goodness! Priest, please cast out the demon from my child!”
Mrs. Moore cried out, gripping her handkerchief.
“Of course, madam. I will prepare holy water and an altar. But driving out a demon is a very difficult task.”
“Anything, I’ll do anything! Just cast it out.”
“Then I’ll accept a small token of your sincerity…”
The priest received a box full of gold coins as a gift.
He took Cecil to the temple and poured holy water on him for a week.
Cecil had to stand there, soaked, enduring the cold holy water in the middle of winter.
Cecil’s parents, who came to see the ‘demon exorcism,’ saw him in that state.
Cecil was almost dying.
Mrs. Moore, shocked to the point of fainting, pulled her child out of the temple.
The priest said, “He was possessed by a strong demon! I tried every possible method, but it’s a regrettable matter. Your son cannot be saved.”
“I won’t forget this!”
Mrs. Moore snapped.
After that, the pre-meal prayer disappeared from the Moore family’s mealtimes.
The last person to visit was a mage.
He meticulously examined Cecil and then told Mrs. Moore, “There is nothing wrong with your son.”
“What? But this child neither laughs nor cries.”
“That’s because your son is a clever child. It’s because he has a rational and logical mental system that is not swayed by emotions. Humans are irrational animals, so it takes a long time to study to acquire such a robust mind. Your son was born with the most important virtue of a mage inherently.”
“Does that mean… my child has no problem?”
“That’s right. If you allow it, I would like to take your son as my disciple. Your son will become an excellent mage.”
“Teacher. Please take good care of my child.”
Thus, Cecil Moore became the mage’s disciple.
Life in the workshop suited Cecil well.
He could escape from his constantly crying parents and be placed in a peaceful environment.
Once free from the expectation and pressure to feel and express emotions, his intellectual abilities shone.
It was a peaceful and good time.
Until the mage tried to kill him.
He absorbed all of the mage’s research within three years of studying under him.
After three years, the mage could not keep up with Cecil’s research.
One night, Cecil woke up with a strange feeling.
He then found the mage standing by his bedside.
“Master?”
The mage was holding a flask, and what was inside was a deadly poison.
Before he could sprinkle the poison, Cecil stopped the mage’s heart.
That was the first magic Cecil used on a human.
The mage’s body stiffened like a log and tilted backward.
Thud!
The flask fell on him and shattered.
The spilled deadly poison immediately dissolved the mage.
The master, who had praised Cecil by saying that emotions only hindered research and that reason was a mage’s only friend, could not overcome his jealousy after six years and tried to kill his disciple.
‘Indeed, that’s a correct statement.’
***
For a mage, emotions held no value.
Cecil further developed his master’s research.
His master’s goal must have been to reach the end of the research, yet instead of utilizing Cecil, a useful tool, he tried to hinder him.
It was nothing short of a foolish choice.
Cecil informed the lord who sponsored the mage that his master had died due to a ‘research error.’
And he stated that he would take over the research.
“I don’t know much about magic, but aren’t you too young to take over the research?”
“My deceased master was foolish, and continuing his research would have only depleted your baronial treasury. You’ll be glad I took over.”
“You’re quite confident!”
The lord seemed flustered but soon burst into hearty laughter and decided to sponsor Cecil.
Cecil couldn’t understand why he was laughing.
What a mage should pursue is truth.
Therefore, a mage himself should become a being close to truth.
There wasn’t a single lie mixed in Cecil’s words.
However, human emotions were not Cecil’s concern, so he returned to the workshop.
He then began ‘workshop efficiency improvements,’ which he had long considered inefficient and suggested many times, but which had been thwarted by his master’s opposition.
A long time passed after that…
Enough time for the Moore family to disappear, and for the family of the lord who sponsored Cecil to change twice.
At some point, Cecil felt his research was stuck.
Even walking or attending the ‘Mage Academy’ to look at new papers didn’t refresh his thoughts.
Something new was needed.
Just then, Cecil’s patron, the baron, invited him to the castle.
“I wish for you to teach my children magic.”
Cecil was about to refuse as he always did, but he changed his mind.
Remaining in the workshop wouldn’t advance his research.
If so, changing the environment might be good.
He headed to the baron’s castle and there met a girl.
“Hello, Master Mage. May I call you Master? I’m Ayla.”
The baron’s youngest daughter, Ayla, was a pure and innocent girl like a lily.
The rumor that she would make many alphas weep if she grew up just a few more years was no exaggeration.
Cecil was born into a wealthy family.
Everything in his environment was of the highest quality.
Even Cecil’s appearance was inherited from his beautiful parents, so his aesthetic sense was exceptionally refined.
The feeling Cecil felt upon seeing Ayla was not a flutter or excitement.
She was simply very cute and lovely, and at the same time, foolish.
“You may call me Master. You are becoming my disciple.”
“Master! Please take good care of me from now on.”
The baron’s eldest son greeted him.
Then the second and third sons tried to greet him.
Cecil didn’t see them.
Realizing their presence belatedly, Cecil calmly explained.
“Ah, there’s a misunderstanding. I haven’t granted you an appellation.”
“I don’t have time to waste on those who can’t even understand the basics of magic. And looking at you wouldn’t uplift my mood.”
“What…!”
Cecil swept away the baron’s children, who were squawking about being insulted. And he greeted Ayla.
“Ayla. You are truly cute.”
“…?”
Ayla made a strange expression, as if she didn’t know whether to be embarrassed or displeased.
Indeed, she didn’t seem to be very smart.
But that part wasn’t important to Cecil.
After all, genuinely unintelligent people are extremely rare in the world.
Even someone like Cecil’s master, who claimed to be the intellect of this era as a mage, wasn’t unintelligent, was he?
Ayla was cute like a young puppy.
Her hair swayed, and her black eyes were innocent.
Her personality was such that everything she thought was transparently revealed in her expressions.
Cecil liked her appearance because she was as cute as a furry quadruped.
Moreover, she was less troublesome than a pet dog.
She knew how to relieve herself and didn’t need to be taken for walks.