Chapter 48 - I'll Give You A Hand

Even when knowing this, the captain kept his loud mouth shut. He just felt like….. It was not the right time to bring it up. And he must not bring it up in front of the shady doctor at all cost.

He may not be as observant as Stein, but he has the intuition that had kept him surviving all these years. And he trusts that intuition.

There is truly more to this master-servant duo, and he cannot stop himself from digging further.

They explored more parts of the house. There was a dusty cellar filled with papers and papers, all scribbles and writings of the four-eyed doctor's father. The Snow Queen was really invested in them, and the captain could not make a head or tails of why he or anyone would be invested in such a thing. Unless it was discoveries about distant lands, he would barely give them a glance.

After the tour of the house, they head of to Franklin Storitz' academy, in Charlottenburg, called the Die Akademie der wissenschaftlichen Bestrebungen. Or in English, The Academy of Scientific Pursuits.

It was a tall, marble building with cobblestone window frames and many arches. The shape of the window at the highest peak of what seems to be like a tower, or some sort of spire, that may be serving the Headmaster, is reminiscent of a human eye. This motif is repeated too in many different sections of the building, both from the outside and the inside.

It is impressive, but at the same time, unsettling. Captain Clerval scowled. He doesn't like the feeling of being watched.

The Academy of Scientific Pursuits greeted their visitors warmly, immediately inviting them in. They talked in fast German, too fast and too verbose for the Captain to follow. This resulted with him and Stein being left out to sides while Franklin is conversing with a few Herrs and Fraus.

"What in the Hades are they saying? Haha!" He muttered to himself while they climb up the staircase to be given another tour to a large and overly educational building.

"They are asking Franklin how he has been in London and the latest discoveries he had with his studies and invention." Stein answered succinctly, letting himself hold back from staying by his master's side as it would appear unprofessional. He doesn't want to look like a clingy child holding on to his father's hand in front of strangers.

But deep inside, he wanted to do so, to hold on to Franklin. This school gives him an uncomfortable feeling of itchiness at the back of his skull.

"I thought you travel all the time, all across Europe. How come you do not know German?" He subconsciously vented his frustrations on the sea captain.

"I do know German, but just enough to speak with the locals, not the intellectuals." The captain shrugged, observing the rooms and facilities with a laidback swagger. "Cold halls like this always make me sleepy. How about you?"

"It does not induce sleepiness for me. In fact, I feel just the same as I had in Franklin's home." Stein answered honestly.

Because even if he was uncomfortable, there is also a sense of familiarity in these places compacted with such fine knowledge and the symbols of the progressing and enlightened times.

"Ha, figured you would feel at home in such a dreary place. You are a Snow Queen after all." Captain Clerval jested.

"Please do not call me anything besides Stein, Mr. Clerval." Stein quickened his pace, hating himself for even divulging into conversation with such a loathsome individual.

Just in time though, Franklin called out to him in English. "Come, Stein! You say you would like to meet the professor who changed my life forever. Well, here he is!"

Stein's eyes widened in interest, and he went by Franklin and the academy faculty's side. They were looking up to a gallery of pictures and portraits of former members and associates, ranging from the founder himself with a Renaissance Era painting, to a black and white picture for a Technik professor.

The one Franklin was gesturing at was a picture of an astute man, with eyes full of wit and sharpness, strangely out of place from the dry and old professors that surround him.

"This is my professor, Johann Schiller." 'Franklin' said with a hint of fondness in his voice. "He was my Korperbau professor, the study of the human body and physicalities."

Stein looked at the man wearing a loosely wrapped maroon ascot on his neck, and a bright smile.

"He sure looks too young to be a professor." Captain Clerval also came by their side, observing the picture.

"Yes. He is a genius ahead of his peers. Actually, he was my private tutor when I was thirteen years old, and he was twenty-one at the time. When he became a legitimate professor at the academy, he invited me here, and he taught our more advanced science classes and symposiums."

"How old was he when he died?" Stein asked, feeling a sense of sadness now knowing how young that professor have lost his life.

"I was 26 when he passed away, so little more over 33." 'Franklin' explained.

"Ein wahrer Schatz." A woman said.

"Oh, I know that one! She said 'a real treasure', right?" Captain Clerval said enthusiastically.

Stein did not praise him, turning to the other side to look at more paintings and displays in the glass cases. Zhe Chouhen could not help but found it funny in a troubling way. It seems the MC has no intention of softening up to the second male lead at the moment, or he could just be a very stubborn tsundere.

Still, he complimented the captain out of pity. "That is correct, captain! Well done!"

"Schnothing, no need for patronizing....." The captain scoffed and turned away from Franklin the same way Stein did to him, muttering grudgingly to himself as to try to get away from the annoying four eyes.

He went on to the MCs side, who also edged farther away as they stand by the wall like two aggrieved children.

(Sigh, I was trying to be friendly, I didn't expect the second male lead to also be flustered.) Zhe Chouhen joked in his head. (I guess I'm just that charming.)

Captain Clerval suddenly broke a Grecian vase, causing the people to be alarmed.

Stein reprimanded him. "Mr. Clerval, that's a priceless artifact! Take more care when handling it!"

"Oh, really? I thought it was just another flowerpot." He tossed the broken part in his hand without care. "Why would they put such a 'priceless artifact' here in a school's display where visitors can easily get into accidents? It's like it was begging to be broken."

"You uneducated, intolerable brute....." Stein fumed with his fist clenched.

'Franklin' put a hand in his creation's shoulder. "It is alright, Stein. I will pay for it. Meanwhile, the captain is right, this is not really a place for visitors, I simply requested to allow you both here. Therefore, I must take full responsibility."

Stein frowned. "But Franklin..... Why should you pay for that man's stupidity? He should be the one to pay."

"I doubt he can afford to do so, Stein. Anyway, let us go outside, it really is not safe for both the people and the artifacts if we stay any longer. I only wanted to show you my professor's picture." 'Franklin' gently ushered him out the door, speaking in German to the faculty members and reassuring them to pay back for the vase.

The display room was closed, and so 'Franklin' suggested they go to the library next. Captain Clerval showed no sign of guilt or urgency from what he has done, attempting a conversation in poor German with the people he comes across on the way.

"You shouldn't have brought him here, Frank." Stein whispered as they went behind rows of books of all kinds of texts. There are even copies of scrolls from Aristotle and Pythagoras.

"Stein, you should be more considerate for the underprivileged. They do not know the value of these objects unless they are made of gold or laden with gems." 'Franklin' flipped through a translated version of the Illiad by Homer, grinning at a certain passage.

"Still..... It's... Why do you keep defending him, Frank? His behavior is truly inexcusable, I have encountered more people from the lower class that act with more tact than him." Stein scoffed, and decided to just peer on the part Franklin was reading.

He saw that his creator was reading at the very end, something about 'two men's ashes being mixed together'.

He likes leaning in like this with his chin resting on Franklin's shoulder, and his master subconsciously reached out to gently pat his head. This calmed Stein down, closing his eyes and just inhaling the unexplainable scent of old books, and the forever recognizable scent of his beloved Franklin.....

"Hey, look what I found!" That loud, irritating voice burst their moment like a bubble.

"What is it, captain?" 'Franklin' closed his book naturally, like he wasn't snuggling with his servant seconds ago at all.

"It turned out that we do not need to go to the display room to find pictures of people from this academy!" He grinned toothily. "I found this collection of yearbooks with all the students and the professors, and scoured for the one that must be your graduation year. And here it is~"

He presented the thick handbound book, waving it in front of Stein who he knows must be dying of curiosity like him too. Dying to know more about this shady four eyes and his past.

Stein tried to reach for it with his gloved hand, but the captain mischievously brought it away from his grasp. Stein was annoyed again, but not so much. He just said as politely as he could. "Well, could I brow it, Mr. Clerval?"

"Not if you won't say please, Snow Queen." Captain Clerval winked.

Stein gritted his teeth, but curiosity overpowers all when it comes to him. so he swallowed his pride and said, "Please."

"Hm. Cold as ever, but that shall do it." Captain Clerval said. "Come then, let us look for your master's class together."

Stein looked over to Franklin for permission, and his master just reopened the Illiad to read the passage all over again. "Go on then. I look far better than I do back in my university days, but if you really want to see it, who am I to dissuade you? I'll be here to continue my book."

Stein nodded. "Alright, Frank."

As he joined the captain flipping over the books while licking his thumb, he heard an 'Aha!' as he pointed triumphantly, like he was giving Stein a present. "This one has all of his 18 classmates and that young professor we saw earlier!"

Stein looked at it and accidentally had to bump shoulders with the captain, who was just grinning like a bobcat. He rolled his eyes, and looked at the class of scientists arranged perfectly symmetrical with Professor Schiller in the middle.

But his focus on Franklin soon disappeared when he noticed the person beside him.

A noticeably darker-skinned individual compared to the rest, possibly from someone in the Caribbean or somewhere else nearby. He has very curly brown hair, tall and prominent nose, and a mole over his simple smile.

"Andres."

A voice spoke in his head.

He looked at his gloved right hand again, remembering the symbol on the wrist.

"Andres... You have robbed me.. And robbers must have their hands cut off."