The cleverly hidden handle resembled a manhole cover. It seemed like it needed to be lifted with force, but it was incredibly heavy. Ordinary children would never have been able to lift it.
Satin barely managed to open the cover and peered inside. Although it wasn’t clearly visible, he could tell it wasn’t a very large space. Kneeling and reaching down, his hand quickly touched the bottom.
It seems like this place was made to hide something. Something like treasures or important documents…
‘...What’s this?’
Satin’s fingers touched something while feeling around the floor. It was hard but crumbled under the pressure. It wasn’t dirt or stones. What could it be?
A strange intuition struck him. Satin’s neck stiffened, and his heart pounded rapidly.
Satin thought of the house he used to live in with his father. His father often brought people over. Each time, Satin pretended to sleep. The people who went down to the basement with his father never came back up.
A ringing sound filled Satin’s head. He felt nauseous. With his dirty hands, he covered his mouth, forcing himself to swallow the bitter taste. Satin closed the floor hatch and hurriedly left the basement.
3
Satin has been acting strange. He has always been strange, but now he seemed even more strange.
Cain silently clicked his tongue as he watched Satin, who looked dumbfounded and kept opening and closing his mouth like a fish. Yesterday, during history class, he had paid decent attention, but today he was entirely different.
The old man, too, seemed to notice something was off with Satin. He frowned and asked, “Were you dozing off?”
“I’m sorry…”
Satin lowered his head. A few kids snickered. The old man never raised his voice at the children. Even if they didn’t pay attention, they knew they wouldn’t get severely scolded, so they just laughed without worry.
“Go and wash your face.”
As expected, the old man didn’t get angry. He just patted Satin’s shoulder. Satin mumbled, “Yes..” and yawned as he left the classroom, looking genuinely sleepy.
‘Of course he’s sleepy. He didn’t even sleep last night.’
Last night, Cain had stayed up late, keeping an eye on things outside. He couldn’t bring himself to sleep, not knowing when Tim might go to the old man’s study.
Satin had also been awake. Cain, with his sharp night vision, could make out things even in dim light. Occasionally, the faint moonlight through the window would reflect off Satin’s eyes.
What could he be thinking, staying awake like that? Cain had thought, but eventually he fell asleep, unable to fight off the sleep he built up for the past few days.
When morning came and Cain woke up, Satin was still awake, sitting on the floor by his bed. Cain almost asked why he was sitting there but stopped short. Soot was smeared on Satin’s cheeks and hands.
“WHere did you go to get yourself in that state this morning?”
“Huh?” Satin looked like he didn’t understand what Cain was saying.
“Look at your hands, if your eyes even work that is.” Only after hearing that Satin checked his hands, his eyes widened in surprise. He let out a sound somewhere between a groan and a sigh, his expression warmer than a snake’s but still unusual.
Leaving Satin alone, Cain went to wash his face. When Cain returned, Satin was still sitting there, staring at his hands. Ignoring him, Cain started changing his clothes but Satin suddenly asked, “Do you know what kind of magic the teacher uses?”
“More or less.”
Discovering a completely new magic formula is as difficult as plucking a star from the sky. However, if one already knew an existing formula, deducing a similar one was relatively easier.
As a result, most wizards focused on researching one particular branch of magic. Furthermore, since they didn’t share their knowledge, they all became specialists in their own niche fields.
Many wizards could burn down a mountain but couldn’t quench their thirst for magic. Of course, since wizards are generally rare to begin with, “many” meant just a few.
“Is it fire magic by any chance? I mean, not just a small spark, but something bigger.”
“ If you knew, what’s the point of asking?”
As far as Cain knew, the old man specialized in fire magic. The kids thought all wizards were amazing, but Cain didn’t think much of it. In Cain’s mind, the old man is just a mediocre wizard among those of the same branch. That’s why he didn’t go around boasting as a wizard but pretended to be a benevolent philanthropist instead.
While Cain was internally mocking him, Satin looked up. His eyes darkened as if he rubbed them with his sooty hands. The sight was more strange than funny. His expression had changed, becoming solemn and gloomy.
“Can it burn a person?”
“What are you talking about?”
“A crematorium operates at temperatures between 900 and 1,000 degrees. Even at that heat, not everything burns. Bones remain, and they need to be crushed...”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about, but I suppose it could burn a person. There’s a reason the military values wizards.”
Satin, who had been sitting idly, suddenly stood up. He carefully wiped his face with his sleeve, changed his shirt, and said he was going to wash his face. It made no sense to dirty his clothes only to wash up afterwards, but Cain didn’t dwell on it.
During breakfast, Satinacted more or less the same as usual. He responded with a seemingly friendly smile when the other kids spoke to him (though his eyes remained cold) and even exchanged a few words with the hairball, Rufus.
During the morning class, Cain was in the library, so he didn’t know where Satin went.
After lunch, it wasn’t until the afternoon class that Cain saw Satin again. Satin entered the classroom nonchalantly but seemed unable to concentrate on the lesson. When the old man called him out, he froze.
‘Something’s up.’ Cain thought. After washing up, Satin seemed more awake and paid close attention to the lesson. He looked just like the Satin from any other day. However, Cain’s suspicion didn’t wane.
‘There’s definitely something going on.’
Karen, the short-haired girl who shared a room with Heather, was somewhat shy. She wasn’t good at making small talk and often made verbal blunders. Satin had heard this from someone who was no longer around: Tim.
“There was another incident like this…”
While Karen was lost in thought, Satin waited patiently, pretending to eat the cookie he got from Rufus. It wasn’t particularly sweet and was actually quite hard, but all the kids loved it.
‘They say that sugar used to be very expensive, and butter is still as expensive as ever.’ Even if sugar and butter weren’t very costly, getting cookies would be difficult given the school’s location, so this must be the best they could do.
While Satin silently evaluated the cookie, Karen finished reminiscing and spoke up, “There was a girl named Maggie. She was a year older than me and one morning she just disappeared.”
Maggie, the name sounded familiar. Karen shook her head vigorously and corrected herself, “No, it must’ve been that night that she had disappeared. We only found out in the morning.”
Did she also go to the teacher’s study, just like Tim?
“The teacher searched everywhere for Maggie but couldn’t find her.”
“Do you have any idea where she might’ve gone?”
“ I don’t know. Rufus said she ran away. He said kids at orphanages do that sometimes, no matter how well you treat them.”
“Why would they run away if they’re treated well?”
“I’m not sure…”
Karen rolled her eyes and sucked on the edge of the cookie. It was so hard that it was hard to tell if it was a cookie or a candy, but it seemed like a wise approach. After softening the edge with her saliva, Karen continued, “They’re mistrustful.”
“Mistrustful?”
“Kids who grew up on the streets don’t trust anyone so easily, even if they’re treated well. They get scared and run away for no reason at all…that’s what Rufus said.”
“They’re scared they might be harmed?”
“Mhm.”
Karen nodded, glancing at Satin nervously. Satin offered her the cookie he was holding, “You can have this.”
“Can I really?”
“I’m not a big fan of cookies.”
“Is it because you lost your memory?”
Karen quickly took the cookie, still looking puzzled. As she put it in her pocket, Satin briefly worried that it might break, but it was as hard as a brick, so it probably wouldn’t. Watching Karen’s now more relaxed expression, Satin asked, “What about you? Have you ever worried that you might be harmed here?”
“I don’t really know.”
“Do you trust the teacher?”
"The teacher is a good person. He teaches us to read, gives us clothes, and even cookies..."
Karen trailed off, listing the teacher’s good qualities, then glanced at Satin. Maybe she was starting to worry about Satin’s intentions or was feeling suspicious.
“Do you not trust the teacher, Satin?”
“I don’t have my memories anymore. I’m just a bit startled by everything.”
That was an odd response. Karen gave an awkward smile as Satin looked at her, “When Maggie disappeared, you were upset, saying how could anyone doubt the teacher…”
“Did I really?”
"Yes, you told the teacher he didn't even need to look for her, saying there's no point in searching for a runaway."
“I must’ve trusted the teacher a lot.”
“Yes, Satin, you’re the teacher’s true apprentice afterall.”
A true apprentice. Even Rogers said the same thing. Satin wondered what Tim had thought about all this.
Credits:
TL: Sajin
TL Comments:
TL: NOOOO HOW COULD YOU DO THIS TO TIM NOOOOO I’M BREAKING DOWN
