Wayne

Biodata

Background / History

Wayne comes from a middle-class family in Mondel Town. His father’s clock shop stands on the north side of the central crossroads, and Wayne occasionally helps with inventory. He is Li Mo’s best friend and has practiced swordsmanship since childhood 8 16 24.

After Li Mo returns from the capital, Wayne visits him out of concern over his repeated fainting. He subsequently agrees to pursue the Royal Academy of Sciences entrance examination alongside Li Mo and Anna, although he privately doubts their chances 8 9 10.

Appointment as Professor Bryce’s Assistant

Professor Bryce selects Wayne for his attentiveness and patience rather than mathematical talent. The decision follows Wayne’s attempt to care for the overwhelmed professor: he covers Bryce’s stomach with manuscripts to keep him warm and offers him tea. Before accepting his good fortune, Wayne asks what will happen to Li Mo, whom Bryce instead appoints as a research partner 15 21.

The assistantship brings exemption from basic courses, a recommendation letter for entrance examinations, and a pocket watch from Bryce. Wayne initially considers admission to Mondel Advanced Academy a satisfactory goal; later, after receiving direct admission to the Royal Academy of Sciences himself, Li Mo assures Wayne that they will enter together 21 64.

Appearance

• Formal clothing: Wears formal clothes even in hot weather, including a vest and top hat 8 15 30.
• Cane: Habitually carries a walking stick that conceals a sword 8 24.
• Meticulous presentation: Keeps his leather shoes spotless, adjusts his clothes, and greets others with carefully performed bows or hat gestures 8 19.

Personality

Wayne cultivates the image of a respectable gentleman, choosing his words carefully and placing great importance on public manners. Around close friends, that restraint disappears: he makes crude jokes, indulges in mischief, and admits that his more polished behavior is partly an act. He is particularly eager to impress attractive girls, sometimes with embarrassing results 8 9 28 30 38.

His loyalty is more substantial than his posturing. He becomes furious when Matthew mocks Li Mo’s loss of Mysticism Perception, and he refuses to abandon Li Mo during the dock operation despite trembling with fear. His response to Matthew’s death also contrasts sharply with their habitual antagonism: Wayne breaks down in tears and immediately attacks the advancing rebels with a flashbang 20 70 71.

Abilities & Skills

Deduction and Criminal Psychology

Wayne is especially good at storytelling and analyzing human behavior. His observations earn Sheriff Sanders’s respect during the investigation into Thomas’s murder 25 26.

• Assessing a killer’s training: Infers that Thomas’s killer was a trained professional because he overcame a strong victim in a struggle and killed him with one clean strike 25.
• Interpreting a victim’s reaction: Reasons that Thomas recognized his killer because he immediately fought for his life rather than questioning the intruder or calling for help 26.
• Reconstructing motive: Suggests that Thomas had taken something dangerous and was killed while trying to hide it 26.
• Predicting hiding places: Correctly proposes that Helen’s captor would use a concealed underground space outside town, rather than an obvious building already searched by police 29.

Swordsmanship

Wayne has trained with a sword since childhood and carries a concealed blade in his cane 24.

• Uses the cane sword to uncover the hatch hiding Helen’s prison and cut the ropes binding her wrists 29.
• Draws it during the crisis surrounding the empress, despite visibly shaking with fear 70.
• The supplied passages do not establish a formal swordsmanship rank or a victory in blade combat.

Flashbang Preparation and Use

Li Mo’s demonstration of flashbangs gives Wayne a practical reason to study science. Wayne recognizes that, unlike inborn Mysticism Perception, scientific knowledge is something he can learn 28.

• Learns from Li Mo’s preparation and testing of flashbangs, then secretly makes several in his spare time 28 69.
• Helps assemble a stockpile totaling eleven flashbangs during the town crisis, including those he previously made himself 69.
• Uses one while escaping Helen’s captor; its effect is reduced because the pursuer has learned to protect his eyes and ears 29.
• Throws another to temporarily repel rebels climbing over Matthew’s steam tractor 71.
• Limit: He has no inborn Mysticism Perception and is not shown successfully performing a Mystical Ritual 28.

Equipment / Weapons / Items

• Sword cane — His everyday walking stick doubles as a concealed weapon and a practical tool during investigations 24 29.
• Gold-plated pocket watch — A gift from Professor Bryce that Wayne proudly displays; he also uses it to time Li Mo’s spinning-machine demonstration 21 32 53 55.
• Flashbangs — Initially supplied by Li Mo in a shockproof leather pouch; Wayne later manufactures some himself 28 69.
• Mondel Morning News — Regularly reads the newspaper aloud to his friends on their way to school 19 32.

Relationships

• Li Mo — Best friend and childhood companion. Wayne worries about his health, defends him against Matthew, and refuses to let him undertake the dock operation without him 8 20 71.
• Anna — Longtime friend who readily sees through his gentlemanly performance. Their exchanges are teasing, but she also restrains him when Matthew provokes him and argues for keeping him safely within the group during the final approach to the docks 9 20 28 71.
• Professor Bryce — Mentor and employer. Bryce values Wayne’s consideration and patience despite describing his mathematical talent as ordinary 21.
• Matthew — Frequent target of Wayne’s mockery, particularly over his attempts to outshine Li Mo. Nevertheless, Matthew’s death devastates Wayne 12 36 52 71.
• Helen — Classmate whom Wayne helps rescue and carries to safety. His attempts at gallantry do not always reassure her; she rejects his offer to lean against him in the carriage 29 30.
• Wayne’s father — Clock-shop owner who celebrates his son’s assistantship with a late-night meal and drinks 16 24.

Story Role / Major Arcs

Helen’s Disappearance and Thomas’s Murder

• Initial suspicion: Suggests that Matthew may have abducted Helen after repeated public embarrassments, prompting discussion of his possible motive 24.
• Murder investigation: Helps establish that Thomas likely knew his killer and had taken something worth killing over 25 26.
• Rescue: Predicts the use of a hidden underground location, opens the concealed cellar, frees Helen, and carries her out. During the escape, he throws a flashbang at their pursuer 29.
• Aftermath: Continues to suspect a connection to Matthew’s family even after Doctor Morris is identified as the immediate culprit 30.

Academic Salons and Further Investigation

• Salon support: Helps arrange the blackboard and seating for Li Mo’s mathematics salon and later prepares the venue again 34 49.
• Morris’s death: Accompanies Li Mo and Anna to investigate Morris’s murder in police custody. Enthusiastically names their group the “Mondel Royal Chartered Mathematics and Mysticism Chief Truth Adjudication Detective Squad” 56.
• Crimson Corona disclosure: Learns that the artifact at the docks can devastate the surrounding area and prevent escape during its countdown. Later uses the official “dye leak” explanation when discussing it in Helen’s presence to preserve secrecy 58 67.

Crimson Corona Crisis

• Preparations: Retrieves supplies and his homemade flashbangs, helping Li Mo build up their emergency stockpile 69.
• Decision to accompany Li Mo: Rejects an offer to remain behind, insisting that abandoning his friend would betray his claim to be a gentleman. Anna suggests placing him in the middle of the group for safety 71.
• Matthew’s death: Watches Matthew’s steam tractor block the bridge and sees him collapse in blood. Wayne throws a flashbang to drive back the rebels, then tearfully tells Li Mo that Matthew is dead 71.

Notable Quotes

“I'm defining my role! Isn't my role on the team the scout? Scouting ahead and gathering information!” 28

“Submit! Under the gaze of standard time and calculus, your crimes have converged to their limit!” 56

“I'm a gentleman, at least. If I abandon my friend at a crucial moment and hide in a rat hole, how am I supposed to get by in the royal capital afterward?” 71

Trivia

• 1729 becomes his favorite taunt: Initially baffled by Li Mo’s explanation of the number, Wayne later repeatedly uses it to bait Matthew into exposing his lack of understanding 10 36 46 52 55.
• Unwittingly instructs the empress to bow: While Estelle is posing as a student, Wayne tells her to greet Envoy Caroline properly because Caroline represents the royal family. Estelle complies, privately delighting Caroline 51.