Isaac walked through the hallway of the Foundation with his preoccupied thoughts. Just like before, he was being eyed on my normal humans, but he had already learned to ignore them.
Just then, while he was walking, someone suddenly noticed his figure.
"Ah, it's you! Hey! Isaac!"
Hearing his name get called out, he paused and turned to look at who it was. Fortunately, it was someone he already knew.
Conjuring a faint smile, he greeted that person who called him. "Ah, Ms. Matilda. Good afternoon, is there something you want from me?"
Briskly walking up to Isaac, she then pointed at him and complained. "You rascal, you know very well what I'm here for! You've been evading me all this time, haven't you?"
Of course, due to their previous interaction, she still spoke French.
Isaac paused briefly before scoffing lightly. Then, playing along with her once more, he replied casually while staring at her finger pointing at him, using French. "Ms. Matilda, I believe I don't quite follow. Why would I want to avoid you? I don't have any good reason to do such a thing."
"Don't lie! I've been repeatedly trying to contact you all this time but you've always brushed me off." She folded her arms. "Don't forget that you still have yet to finish your registration in the Foundation. If you don't comply now, it is within my authority to call on legal punishments for you within this very day!"
"Alright, alright, let's just calm down, okay? No need to get so worked up over this." He shrugged at her threats. "Fine, I'll finish my registration. There, will that suffice for you, oh honorable Ms. Monitor Assistant of SPDM?"
He stressed on the latter part of his sentence for a specific purpose.
"Ho... honorable..." Upon being suddenly attacked by his compliments, Matilda faltered a bit and stuttered on her sentences, caught off guard by it. Soon, however, she collected her demeanor albeit still a bit flustered. "Well, er, yes! Haha, that's right. It seems that even a rascal like you know how honorable it is to be in a position like mine. Good, good!"
"Haha, if that's what makes you happy." Isaac gave a short comment and didn't add anything more to compliment her. He believes that this much would suffice for her to get off his back.
"Well then, shall we start? Let's head to the library in the building so it could be a little more quiet."
Matilda nodded. "Very well. Let's go so that I could finally be freed from your case."
"Aha, sorry for the inconvenience then." He apologized. Then, whispering under his breath, he murmured something to himself.
"...not like my info would stay long."
Unaware of his whisper, Matilda led the way to the library with Isaac following just behind her.
---
Placing down the fork on the table, Matilda nodded. "Alright, let's start."
"Most of your information has already been filled out, so this shouldn't take a while."
Isaac listened pensively, behaving appropriately and taking his time to respond. He only nodded while listening.
Seeing him attentively listen to her, Matilda felt optimistic about the situation and soon began with his form.
"Okay... Regarding your status as an arcanist, you are rescued by Vertin from her suitcase, yes?"
"That's right. I was summoned from the Lake in it. I believe that Ms. Sonetto can testify the authenticity of this for me since she, too, has experienced it beforehand."
"A Lake in a suitcase that can summon people... How envious, Vertin..." She mumbled to herself.
Matilda then wrote down his answers briefly on the form. Afterwards, she looked up and posed another question.
"Now for your country of origin... You've never properly stated which it was, so can you at least tell a definitive answer? The closest one can do."
"..." Isaac remained silent for a good while, as if this question had deeply affected him. A moment later, however, he couldn't help but pose a question himself. "...is this really necessary?"
"Indeed it is." Matilda looked up at him and nodded. Then, as if educating him, she continued. "It would help the Foundation better categorize you and confirm your identity."
"Hah..." Isaac sighed, pondering his choice of words for a moment as he looked at the young Monitor Assistant in front of him. Then, after lingering briefly, he answered Matilda.
"...Let's just say I'm from somewhere that no longer feels like it exists."
Matilda blinked. "That's... That's not a real answer! Be serious, you rascal."
"It's real to me." Isaac said with a faint smirk, but his tone held an unusual weight. "If you need something to write, then put down 'Raised abroad, no fixed nation of allegiance.' — that should satisfy your records without anyone breaking a sweat."
Matilda hesitated, pen hovering over the form. "Would that actually be allowed? No way... I don't think it will!"
"It's not wrong." Isaac replied smoothly, folding his arms. "I've lived in too many places to claim one. And the place I was born? Doesn't really matter now. Even I don't feel like I belong there."
His voice dropped slightly, barely above a whisper. "Sometimes the roots don't matter as much as where the wind carries you, you know?"
Matilda studied him, clearly skeptical, but also aware that pushing further might only lead to more riddles. Finally, she sighed and began writing down what he said.
"I didn't know you were also a charlatan on top of being a rascal..."
"Sweet. Another new type of compliment." He chuckled.
"Raised abroad. No fixed nation of allegiance... Fine. But if I get scolded for this, I'm writing your name twice in the footnote section." She added before she looked up back at him.
Isaac chuckled. "That's fair."
She glanced at him for a bit before moving on to the next question. "Next is... your time period. The Foundation doesn't know which time you're from since you appeared from the suitcase — independent from the Storm."
This time, Isaac didn't falter and answered it easily. "I'm from the 19th century."
"The 19th century?!" She exclaimed upon hearing his answer. She then sized him up. "Is that true? You... you don't seem to act like it..."
"Why would I lie?" He shrugged his shoulders. "It's the truth. You can trust me in that regard."
"...can it be anymore precise, though?" She eyed him as her smile twitched. "Are you from the Napoleonic era, Second industrial revolution, or the Victorian era? Just tell me!"
"Wanna take a guess?" Instead of answering her, he merely chuckled, evidently enjoying her reaction.
"You..." She looked at him as her expression grew more and more flustered, clearly stirred by his actions. "You chenapan...! Why are you so cryptic?!"
"What can I say? I'm a rather mischievous scamp." He replied slyly, watching her plight. After getting a good laugh, he soon sat straight. "Aha, well, I'm sorry, Ms. Matilda. It's just my nature, you see? Please forgive me."
Looking at his apologetic look, Matilda didn't know whether he was joking or not. In the end, she could only sit back down while fuming. "Hmph, fine. Let's move on to the next questions and just finish this quickly!"
"Very well, Mademoiselle."
She grumbled under her breath for a few moments before continuing with her questions.
She asked for a couple more basic information, with some of them answered with snarky, enigmatic, or even glossed over answers from Isaac. Needless to say, it was a stressful ordeal for Matilda who was unfortunate enough to interview someone like him.
In the end, they had successfully filled all the missing parts in his form — if that can even be classified as properly filled up.
"This was more fun than I thought." Isaac leaned back to his chair and smiled at her. "Thank you for sharing your time with me, Ms. Matilda."
Matilda, meanwhile, looked at home with more moisture in her eyes. "I... I don't want to fill up forms for you ever again!"
'...seems like I teased her too hard.' His smile turned awry. He then slowly stood up. "Aha, I'm sorry... Well since this is done, shall we part ways?"
"Hold on." However, he was stopped by Matilda who abruptly stood up. "There's still one thing you need to answer!"
He raised a brow. "And that is?"
Matilda looked at the form for a moment, gazed back at him, and questioned slowly.
"What's your full name?"
"..." Once more, Isaac was caught frozen by a question. However, this time, it didn't take long for him to recover.
He paused briefly before answering with a faint smile. "...Just Isaac is fine."
"Eh? Don't you have a surname?" She inquired.
He shook his head. "...no. I don't deserve that surname anymore."
There was a bit of weight on his words, as if this very topic deeply touched a sensitive topic more sensitive than the others — one that he wasn't willing to answer no matter what, it seems.
Then, nodding lightly at her, he smiled faintly. "Well then, goodbye, Ms. Matilda."
With that said, he walked away, leaving her stunned at his words.
Seeing him walk off, Matilda thought for a moment before looking at the form she had. Then, under her breath, she murmured a few words in French.
"...what was that about? The way he said it felt like... He was..."
His departing figure then reflected in her eyes — his gait calm yet a sense of loneliness was emanating from his figure.
"...He was hurt..."