Dulmi tilted his head, looking at the casual excerpt with some confusion.
"Amy?" he asked casually, "Do you know Duke Joiet?"
"Of course." Amy looked at Dulmi with a "how could you not know this?" expression, "The Joiet family was one of the founders of the Fanes Dynasty, and the most loyal follower of the Emperor Andre Fanes!"
Clearly, this was common knowledge that would appear in Amy's classroom.
"...Of course I know that too!" Dulmisaid, trying to sound serious. "I was just testing you."
Amy looked at him suspiciously.
It wasn't that little Amy didn't respect her brother, but her Brother Dulmi—well, let's just say only "completely unschooled" could explain his ignorance.
Once, when Amy brought her history homework to the antique shop, Dulmi happened to be there. He enthusiastically offered to help Amy with her homework, but the answers he wrote were so obviously wrong that even Amy could spot the errors!
Those were common knowledge questions that even elementary school students could get full marks on!
At that time, Amy patted the silent Dulmi's shoulder and very kindly said: "I won't tell Benjamin, don't worry!"
Dulmi: "..."
He was powerless to defend himself against Amy's misunderstanding.
It wasn't that he didn't know these common facts, but rather that the chaotic Outer zone had thoroughly confused his understanding of certain historical facts and events.
Like this Duke Absalom Joiet.
He did know the duke's identity, but in the Outer zone, he had encountered various descriptions and records of his life that didn't match up with reality.
More crucially, those descriptions and corresponding documents and classics appeared not only in his home and study but also in Nightingale's public library, generously open to all citizens.
...The chaos of the Outer zone wasn't just manifested in living beings, but also in non-living things. Those books, those words, all seemed both similar to and different from reality.
Dulmi quietly reminded himself to be more careful. He could use "being unschooled" to cover up his oversights in front of Amy, but he couldn't do the same in front of perceptive adults.
He should be thankful that at least Benjamin didn't pay much attention to his academic performance.
He casually folded the excerpt about Duke Joiet and put it in his pocket.
Dulmi's father had researched this Duke Joiet.
Adolphus Knight was an archaeologist. A few years ago, he and his team discovered Duke Joiet's tomb. Even when their family moved to Nightingale, Adolphus was still conducting related research.
As for Dulmi's mother, she was a philologist.
During her lifetime, Adeline Knight had proofread academic publications for many publishers, and these proofreading records remained at home, stacked into an ocean of paper that took Dulmi and Amy a long time to organize.
"Dulmi, are you really leaving?"
"Yes, I'm departing tomorrow."
"When will you come back?"
"After a very, very long time. Perhaps when Amy grows as tall as brother, I'll come back."
"Can Amy grow that tall?"
"If Amy eats more meat, she'll grow taller."
Amy didn't answer him.
Because the evening bell had rung. A greenish light enveloped Dulmi and Amy as they sat on the floor, watching the sunset over the distant horizon.
Dulmi turned his head to see a small skeleton girl wearing a dress made of ashes, with a cold purple flame appearing in the center of her hollow eye sockets. Her bony fingers threateningly pressed against Dulmi's throat.
Dulmi sat there, too lazy to move, and said drowsily, "Alright, alright, no problem, little Amy. Since you've been helping here all afternoon, today you can 'kill' me however you like... but you always use the same method. It's getting kind of boring."
Skeleton Amy's finger bones poked at Dulmi's neck.
Dulmi caught the scent of blood, but suddenly remembered something, so before Amy could actually act, he quickly asked: "By the way Amy, do you know Duke Joiet?"
Would the daytime Amy and nighttime Amy give different answers?
The skeleton seemed to pause for just a moment.
"Of course," she gave an answer similar to the daytime one, "I know him!"
Then, her finger bones pierced through Dulmi's throat, as usual.