“Satin always used to show the new kids around the school.”
Tim seemed regretful, but Satin just smiled silently.
According to Tim, all the rooms on the west corridor of the second floor were used by their teacher, the old man. The room they had just been in was used for administrative work or for counseling the children. The room opposite of it was the teacher’s bedroom, and the two rooms near the stairs were used as a study and a laboratory, respectively.
“The teacher is a wizard. And since every wizard’s dream is to discover new magic, they will need a laboratory.”
“Dicover? Not invent?”
“You can’t invent magic.”
“Are you a wizard too?”
“No, I’m not, but I know at least that much.” Tim laughed shyly. He joked that if he had a knack for magic, he might’ve been the teacher's apprentice. It may be a joke, but it came with a hint of genuine desire.
Different fantasy novels have slightly different takes on magic, and it seems that here, the rules of magic are already set. Wizards are those who discover these rules, which is their lifelong dream. Becoming a wizard requires innate talent, but the ability to see magic power isn't part of that talent.
‘Then what am I…’
Given the teacher's surprise, it seemed like an ability Satin wasn't supposed to have. If the original Satin had been hiding this ability, then this doesn’t add up. The original Satin had been at this school the longest and was responsible for showing the new kids around, which suggested that he had a close relationship with the teacher.
'Even if they weren't close, he must have been like a class leader or something.'
A mature kid is the best fit to lead a group of kids since they are relatable yet trustworthy.
‘So how did I end up with this ability?’
The angel never mentioned about giving such abilities. Could this be something that develops around this age?
“This is the dormitory.”
Satin’s brief contemplation was interrupted by Tim’s voice. Tim proudly led the way into the east corridor.
“There are six rooms, and two people share each room.” So, there’s only a total of twelve people. That was indeed a very small number for a school.
“Aren’t there any other teachers?”
“There’s only one teacher.”
“No other adults?”
“Well, there’s a cook in the kitchen. His name is Rufus, but everyone calls him Hairball. And we also have to do our own laundry.”
Judging by that nickname, the cook must be hairy. Children often come up with intuitive nicknames. Satin just nodded.
One teacher to guide them and one staff member to assist with daily life. If these two had to take care of twelve kids all day, then that is indeed quite a lot.
“Hairball is a nickname given by Cain.” Tim pointed to a boy coming out of the room at the end of the hallway.
"He never calls anyone by their names. He even calls me Mouse." Tim grumbled, his front teeth slightly sticking out. Satin, who’s only half-listening to Tim, observed the boy from a distance.
The boy looked around sixteen. Unlike the plain Tim, this boy looked like he could be the protagonist of this world, this novel. Even while standing in the shadows, his light blonde hair stood out. His eyes were not a dull sky blue but a vivid sapphire blue. Despite his youthful appearance, his features were striking. In another ten years, or even just five, he would undoubtedly grow into a stunningly handsome man.
“What’s his name?”
“Cain. He hasn’t been here longer than three months yet. He’s also the youngest here.” Tim’s cheerful laugh didn’t fully register with Satin. Only the name Tim mentioned still rang in his ears.
“...Cain?”
When Satin heard his own name, it didn’t really resonate much with him. But hearing the name Cain suddenly reminded him of a particular novel.
A novel called <Dark Age>. It was a fantasy novel that gained popularity around 2010, and a revised edition has been serialized recently. Given that the original serialization began more than ten years ago, it has an old-fashioned feel for today’s readers. However, there has been a retro boom in genre novels, and quite a few people were reading it. Satin’s sister was one of them.
‘It wasn’t really my taste though.’
Satin recalled the contents of Dark Age, which he had read on his sister’s recommendation.
The protagonist is Cain, a twenty-year-old man with blond hair and blue eyes. He is an apprentice knight, and at the beginning, the story briefly describes his past.
At sixteen, Cain was captured by an evil dark mage and was on the verge of becoming a test subject. At that moment, the temple knight order invaded, and a fire broke out amidst the chaos.
Miraculously, Cain survived. The experience made him yearn to become a knight, and he joined the temple knight order, however he lacked the talent in the holy magic department and was forced to join another knight order.
The main story after that is quite typical. Progressing like any other classical adventure fantasy. And to summarize it all:
One day, a wandering mage arrives in the city where Cain lives, saying, "I've found traces of a dark mage." Her name is Rita, a female mage.
The temple knight order dismisses Rita's claim, thinking it must be traces left from their previous encounter with the dark mage.
Out of desperation, Rita meets Cain and is introduced to his friend, Edward, a priest. The three of them team up to track down the dark mage’s traces.
‘And what they tracked down was Satin.’
Satin was the apprentice of the dark mage who tried to harm Cain, seeking revenge for his fallen master. He had been attacking small villages on the outskirts of the city and eventually aimed to summon a demon king. It is at this point that the protagonist and his companions discover him.
‘In short, Satin is the main villain of the first act.’
The first act ends with the protagonist and his companions defeating Satin. The second act reveals that the demon king's summoning, which was thought to have been stopped with Satin's death, is still in progress, leading to further developments.
‘Of course, they also defeat the Demon King.’
Although I read it on my sister's recommendation, it wasn't to my taste, so I only read up to the end of the first act. I only have a rough idea of the later events from reading the spoilers.
It’s revealed that Rita was a runaway princess, and after defeating the Demon King, the king proposes that Cain marries her, but he declines. Up to that point, they are still just friends.
In the third act, a Demon Lord descends upon realizing the Demon King's death. And through various hardships, Cain and Rita's relationship evolves into more than friendship, and they finally get married at the end of the third act.
‘It’s a classic adventure story…’
If it were a modern novel, it might have been titled something like <I Defeated the Villain Hahaha, That Guy Was the Weakest Among Us'>.
As Satin remained silent, Tim shook his arm, “What’s wrong?”
Cain, who had come out of the room, had already passed by them and gone down the stairs. He acknowledged neither Satin or Tim, indicating he wasn't particularly close to any of them.
"It's nothing. Which one is my room?"
"The one at the very end." Tim pointed to the southern room of the two that faced each other. It was the room Cain had come out of earlier.
"...The same room as Cain?"
“Mhm.”
Satin came to a conclusion.
This is indeed the world of Dark Age. He was convinced after following Tim’s tour to the bathroom and seeing his reflection in the mirror. His curly black hair and black eyes, coupled with a somewhat dull facial expression, perfectly matched the description of Satin from Dark Age.
‘A gentle impression but with a face that looks like it's hiding something,’ was how the novel described him.'
His black hair and black eyes made him vaguely resembles OO, but the expression was different. It was probably due to differences in facial muscles.
There was no need to think too hard about why he ended up in Dark Age after wishing to enter a novel his sister had written.
'My sister wrote Dark Age.'
There was a twelve-year age gap between OO and his sister. The cultures they grew up with were just as different.
When Dark Age was first serialized, OO was just an elementary school student, but his sister was already an adult. It wasn't too far-fetched for her to be writing and publishing fantasy novels at that time. He had heard that many fantasy novel authors from that period were university students, and there were even quite a few high school authors.
Most of those authors have other professions now. His sister is no different. The reason she never mentioned publishing a fantasy novel might be because she didn't write anything else after Dark Age. Then, as she released the revised edition, she must’ve reminisced about the old days.
‘So that’s why she told me to read it.’
When the revised edition was serialized, his sister insisted that it was really good and recommended it. When he told her it wasn't to his taste after reading the first part, she was quite disappointed.
'I should have said I enjoyed it.'
Had he known it was his sister's novel, he would have read it to the end. He judged too hastily a novel, what must have been a masterpiece, by only reading the first act.
Now Satin understands why his sister always refused to show him her writing. She probably didn't want him to feel awkward knowing that the author of the novel he found boring was his own sister.
'But why did she describe Dark Age like that?'
She described it as a story about defying fate and finding happiness. Satin may have not read past the first act and know the details but it didn't seem to be that kind of novel.
'Now's not the time to complain.'
Thinking about it here won’t reach his sister anyway.
'I should have read it when she told me to. I should have told her it was really, really interesting.'
Satin was so deep in regret that he couldn’t focus on Tim's tour of the school. Tim, who was showing him where the laundry room was, asked worriedly, “Are you still in pain?
Earlier, when the teacher explained the situation, they made up a story about Satin hitting his head pretty hard, so Tim was worried about seeing Satin so out of it.
'Come to think of it, I’ve never spent time with kids like these.'
The twenty-year-old OO rarely had conversations with twelve-year-olds. Even though he always thought of children and the elderly as people to protect, he never had the chance to put that thought into practice since he rarely hangs out with them.
Not wanting to worry the child, Satin smiled again.
Credits:
TL: Sajin
TL Comments:
TL: ML SPOTTED DIS BOUTA BE GOOOOD
My PR vanished, save me. TvT
Thank you for reading!
Looking for PRs T^T I also do Manhwa so if you can TS and Clrd please join~
But other than that feel free to join and chat with me~!
https://discord.gg/CVu8HBZA9A
