Dudley Bale

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* Manga

**Dudley Bale** (ダドリー・ベイル *Dadorii Beiru*) is a British nobleman, and the administrative assistant for the University of Durham. Dudley is in secret a crime lord who uses his position to manipulate the students of the University of Durham.

## Appearance

Dudley is a lean man with black curled hair and brown eyes. As a nobleman, Dudley keeps an appearance of sophistication and usually keeps a smile on his face.

## Personality

Dudley usually keeps up his appearance of a joyful and charismatic man, but this is merely a facade to hide his true nature. That of a manipulative, greedy, entitled and malicious reprobate.

Dudley is vindictive towards other nobles for having more influence and titles that he does not have, and to satisfy his ego, exploits his student’s families through blackmail and extortion. Dudley has a deep hatred for the lower class and is a firm believer in the noble elitism.

After Dudley learns that one of his students, Lucien Atwood intends to marry a commoner girl, Dudley sees this as an offense to the nobles as well as a threat to his criminal activities; heavily implied to be that he would lose any leverage over the Atwood family, as Lucien would abandon his life as a noble. He manipulates the two lovers with opium, letting the young woman die after she consumes a great amount of opium. Dudley has no shred of guilt over her death and is even proud of his actions; ultimately getting the death he deserves by being forced to relive her dying moment of dancing via gunshots at his feet.

## Biography

Dudley Bale is the administrative assistant for the University of Durham and a land owner with no title. Dudley became the owner of several brothels that he posed as hospitals so that he could gain sizeable quantities of opiates, transforming his brothels into opium dens.

Resentful over not having the same privileges and respect that other nobles are given, Dudley uses his position in the University to manipulate his students into partaking in hedonistic pleasures at his brothels while blackmailing the families of his students into purchasing his silence or making donations to the University. Dudley has also bought the protection and silence of the police to ensure he is never prosecuted.

One of the students he manipulates, Lucien Atwood, fell in love with a commoner bar girl named Frida and plans to marry her despite their social statuses, and discovering she is pregnant with his child. Fearing his criminal activities will be exposed and disgusted by the idea of a common girl marrying into nobility, Dudley abducts Lucien and keeps him high on opium for days to separate the two lovers.

While Lucien is missing, Dudley approaches Frida and convinces her that Dudley has abandoned her. Frida refuses to believe Dudley but after Lucien doesn't shown himself over the following days she begins to believe him, but decides to raise their unborn child on her own.

Believing Lucien will continue to pursue Frida if she is pregnant, Dudley feeds her a large amount opium to terminate the baby and to keep her from looking for him. While high on the opium fed to her, Dudley lets her wander on the town bridge while it is raining. As Frida dances in the rain singing to herself, she falls into the river below where she is washed away by the strong current, drowning to death.

### The Dancer on the Bridge

A few days following Frida’s death, a professor from the University, William James Moriarty, begins searching for Lucien as he has been missing from his classes for some time. Overhearing Moriarty asking about information regarding Lucien, Dudley approaches Moriarty regarding his interest in Lucien.

William expresses concern for Lucien as he has not been in school for a few days. Dudley says he assumes Lucien is just drinking somewhere, but William insists on informing the police. Dudley advises against this, as Lucien is nobility and it may reflect poorly on his family name. Dudley explains that he has a bit of influence with the local police and offers to take the matter off William's hands and discreetly look into it.

Sometime later, Dudley visits Lucien in one of his opium dens and informs him of the tragedy that befell Frida. Dudley feigns sympathy and advises Dudley to remain at the den while he heals, continuing to give Lucien opium.

After William learns of the tragic events Dudley was responsible for, as well as his true identity, William requests his brother Louis to send telegrams to Fred Porlock and Sebastian Moran. He calls Fred first, who finds Lucien and explains that he is still under the opium's effect and can't think straight. As Sebastian arrives too, William tells them there is no client this time, but they will deliver some punishment on behalf of the whole town.

William sends a letter to Dudley, posing as Lucien, informing Dudley of his intentions to confess to the local police about his involvement with Frida and asks Dudley to meet him on the bridge where Frida died.

Frantic over what Lucien might reveal to the public, Dudley meets Lucien at the bridge and demands to know Lucien's intentions. Despite Lucien's confusion over the matter, Dudley reveals his involvement in Frida's death and accuses Lucien of being ungrateful for all his help in keeping Lucien's name clear. While Dudley continues to argue with Lucien, Frida appears from the river, surprising Dudley, who confesses to his crime of killing her.

William then reveals himself, and reveals that "Frida" is Fred in disguise. William then exposes all of Dudley's criminal activities to Lucien. Dudley is not fazed by William's discovery and even eggs William on into handing him over to the police. William explains that he won't be turning him in to the police as Dudley has most of them in his pocket, but plans to make Dudley dance himself into a frenzy before making him kill himself.

Dudley finds that absurd, but then Sebastian, using his silent rifle, starts shooting next to him causing him to start running and rotating to avoid the bullets, resembling a dance, eventually falling into the river to his death.

After staging Dudley's death as a suicide, William reveals to the public all of Dudley's criminal activities and the associates he was involved with. While it is unclear as to what happened to the University, Dudley's criminal establishments were most likely shut down, and his land was confiscated, leaving nothing but a list of sins as his legacy.