“I’m not in pain. Just a bit tired.”
“Then you should rest in your room. It’s Sunday, there are no classes today.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, we have classes from Monday to Saturday, every day from nine in the morning to twelve, and from one to three in the afternoon.”
Gosh, a six-day school week. Satin tried hard not to show his shock. Tim didn’t seem to mind studying six days a week.
“But you can rest in the morning.”
“Why?”
“Because you’ve already learned all the material…”
Tim trailed off and tilted his head, “Do you think you also forgot everything?”
“Well, I don’t know. I’ll have to attend the classes to find out.”
After finishing the school tour, Tim said he was going to play outside with the other kids and left. Satin went back upstairs. He had briefly been in his room earlier but hadn’t taken a good look around.
The second floor was quiet. He didn’t encounter anyone while walking down the hallway. Maybe it’s because all the kids were outside. He sensed someone’s presence in the library where he had opened the door earlier; maybe a few kids are in there. Satin entered his room, which was just like a dormitory. There were two beds, two wardrobes, two desks, and two chairs. Which side was his?
After a brief moment of contemplation, Satin sat on the bed on the left. It was well organized. OO was also good at keeping things tidy. But as soon as Satin had chosen his spot, Cain walked in with a scowl on his face, “Why are you sitting on my bed?”
His tone was more irritated than curious. Satin quickly got up and moved to the opposite bed. Seeing the crumpled sheets, it seemed that the original Satin had quite a different personality from OO, “The hairball told me to give this to you.”
Cain placed the plate he was holding on Satin’s desk. It held a sandwich.
“Oh, thanks.”
Cain didn’t respond to the thanks. It seemed like they didn’t get along very well. As Satin ate the sandwich, he subtly observed Cain.
‘I wonder why my sister favors the villain over the protagonist.'
There wasn’t much Satin could do about it anyways now that he’s Satin, but he was curious. Usually, people cherish the protagonist the most. Readers might develop other preferences, but authors typically create stories around characters they like.
Right now, the future plot was more of a concern to Satin than his sister’s preferences. He already knew the general gist of Act 2 through spoilers and he already read Act 1.
‘If the story follows its course, that kid is going to kill me.’
Act 1 begins when Cain is twenty years old. It mentions that Cain was captured by an evil dark mage when he was sixteen.
‘It didn’t say he was held for more than a year, so he should be sixteen now.’
This means that Satin doesn’t have much time left. Four more years, or maybe even less.
‘It’s probably best to stick to the plot, right?’
If he doesn’t know the plot, things might be different, but he does. It was his sister’s masterpiece. Although he didn’t finish it due to a hasty misjudgement.
‘Four years is a decent amount of time.’
It’s the same amount of time it takes to go from a highschool graduate to a college graduate. Satin never planned to live a long life anyway. Without his sister, there’s really no point inliving a long life. Just being part of his sister’s masterpiece is more than enough for him.
In the novel, Cain despised dark mages, while Satin pursued revenge for his dark mage master. They were natural enemies.
‘So there’s really no need to get along with Cain.’
In fact, maintaining a strained relationship might just be the play here. It’s better that way for Cain.
Cain seemed annoyed, even though he couldn’t have read Satin’s thoughts, “Why are you staring at the back of my head like that? Stop it, it’s creepy.” It seems Cain has no desire to get along with Satin either. Without replying, Satin quickly grabbed his plate and left the room.
“Hey Satin! I heard you lost your memories, is that true?” A girl who came from the stairs, saw Satin and immediately bounded over, asking excitedly. Satin wasn’t really surprised and assumed she had heard about the memory loss from Tim and nodded.
“Yeah, that's right. So, what’s your name?”
“I’m heather. Does that mean you’ll be joining us for morning classes tomorrow?”
Heather seemed about the same age as Tim. However, she spoke in a more informal and casual tone. Seems like western-style friendships were the norm here. Without even realizing it, Satin responded, “Maybe, we’ll see.”
“Have you talked to Cain yet?”
“Sort of?”
Perhaps because of how few kids there are here, it’s no surprise everyone knew who shared rooms with whom. Heather made a curious face and said, “You two don’t really get along very well.”
“Really?”
“Did you tell him about your memory loss?”
“No, it didn’t seem like the right time.”
“Figured, Cain doesn’t really like the teacher, so I’m not surprised there.”
“I see.”
Nodding, Satin began to think. It seems like Heather is trying to imply that Cain’s dislike for the teacher has something to do with his dislike for Satin. Perhaps, unlike Cain, Satin liked the teacher or was even close with him. But why was Satin in the underground reflection room?
“Heather, do you by any chance know why I was in the reflection room?”
“Reflection room?”
“The room in the basement.”
“Oh, you mean the penance room?”
Reflection or penance, it’s the same thing. Heather continued as if it were a trivial matter, “I heard that you didn’t listen to the teacher. You used to help the teacher with his research a lot.”
Did that mean that he disobeyed his teacher during the research? Maybe even refused an order. As Satin titled his head in confusion, Heather shrugged, “I don’t know much either, you’re the only person here who knew about the teacher’s research.”
As Satin returned the plate to the kitchen, he couldn’t help but murmur, “I see.”
Rufus, the chef, not only had a thick beard but also had hairy hands and arms. The nickname “Hairball” really does suit him perfectly.
“Did you reflect on your actions?” Rufus asked with a grin as soon as their eyes met, indicating that these are quite close.
Satin smiled awkwardly and sat on a char at the kitchen entrance. It seemed to be Rufus’s resting chair, but it was empty since Rufus was bust polishing a pot.
“How do you know I was sent to the penance room?”
“I heard the kids talking.”
“What did they say?”
“They said you got punished for not listening to the old man.”
Satin rubbed his chin, just what could he disobey to warrant such a punishment.
“He must’ve been really mad to even lock you up in the penance room like that.”
Rufus, like Heather, assumed that Satin has a good relationship with the teacher.
“Just what in the world happened?”
“That’s what I’d like to know too.”
“It’s your business, if you don’t know then who else?”
“I can’t remember.”
“What?”
Rufus blinked in surprise, still holding the pot. Though he’s not very tall, his arms were huge and intimidating. One hit from that could easily break a bone, Satin thought, trying not to show any fear, he crossed his arms and looked away, “I guess you haven't heard about that from the kids.”
“Is this some kind of joke? Is this what you kiddos joke about these days?”
“It’s not a joke, it’s true. I woke up on the penance room bed and didn’t know where I was. I didn;t even know my own name…”
Satin trailed off, observing Rufus’s reaction. He looked so shocked that he couldn’t even close his mouth, a stark contrast to the teacher’s reaction.
‘Why’s that?’
When Satin mentioned he couldn’t remember, the teacher narrowed his eyes and scrutinized Satin’s face as if trying to catch him in a lie. While Rufus didn’t bother to determine if Satin was telling the truth. He just seemed bewildered and surprised.
Satin chuckled awkwardly, “It’s ridiculous, isn’t it? I have no idea what’s going on either.” Satin felt a bit embarrassed. Claiming to have memory loss felt like a made up illness.
Rufus’s expression gradually turned to normal. Calming down, he asked with concern, “Could it be that you lost your memory because of some strange experiment with the old man?”
“Who knows.”
“I heard hitting your head can mess with your memory. Are you hurt anywhere?”
“I don’t know. I don’t remember anything from yesterday.”
“Typical wizards.”
“Was I a wizard too?”
“No, you were…”
Rufus trailed off, tilting his head in thought, “I’ve never seen you use magic before, But I’ve heard you have the potential. That’s probably why the old man kept you around.”
“I see.”
“Anyways, since you’ve lost your memories, you probably also forgot about the school rules.”
“School rules? I just got a tour of the school from Tim, so…”
As Satin recalled the laundry and bathhouse rules, Rufus clicked his tongue softly, “I’m talking about not going into the forest.”
“The forest?”
“Once you step off that path, consider yourself dead, kiddo. The deep woods have a way of swallowing kiddos like you whole.”
Not knowing whether that was the truth or just some made-up story, Satin didn’t know how to react. Seeing his uncertainty, Rufus burst out laughing, “Did I scare you?”
“Was that a joke?”
“ It was, but the forest is generally a dangerous place. So, stay out of it kiddo.”
“Got it.”
“I don’t know why the old man decided to build a place like this here. It’s not a prison after all.”
After chatting with Rufus a bit more, Satin left the kitchen. He pondered where to go next and decided on the library, which is conveniently close to the kitchen.
‘They said that the library was a new expansion.’
Maybe that’s why the location seemed a bit odd. It was at the far end of the eastern corridor where the dining hall and kitchen was located. There were stairs leading down to the basement at the other end of the corridor, so Satin figured they had no choice but to build the library there.
Satin cautiously opened the door and stepped into the library, there, he could feel a presence.
Credits:
TL: Sajin
TL comments:
TL: Rufus is my spirit fr~
Extra:
Sorry this took a while got a little busy, working on a double update hopefully today!
Thank you for reading!
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