The conversation flowed smoothly as Rufus juggled between listening to Satin’s concerns and working. After scrubbing all the pans, he dried the washed dishes and prepped the vegetables for dinner.
“What do you do with those?” Satin asked, pointing to the leftover vegetable scraps.
“I burn them.”
“Do you burn all the garbage?”
“Not all of it. The stuff that doesn’t rot is collected, and the guys who bring the supplies take it away.”
“They take the trash? Why?”
“Because they can still use it.”
Rufus shrugged and laughed, “I thought it was a joke at first. They offered to pay us for our trash.”
Satin had heard that things like paper and scrap metal could be valuable. He wondered how recycling worked in this world, assuming there were scavengers here too. Feigning ignorance, he asked, “That’s fascinating. How do they make money from trash?”
“They sort out anything useful and sell it. The rest is processed for reuse.”
“I never would have thought that we could make money from trash.”
“People are always finding ways to make money. Compared to that, the old man is quite peculiar, doing all this unprofitable work...”
Rufus muttered a few more words before suddenly realizing what he was saying and glared at Satin, “You still planning to stay here much longer, kiddo?”
“Ah, I was just about to leave.” Satin quickly got up and left the kitchen.
Eager to share the information with Cain, he headed towards the library. It wasn’t far from the kitchen. But then someone called out to him from behind.
“Satin.”
There weren't many adults in the school, so Satin quickly turned around, “Yes, teacher?”
"Are you going to the library?"
"Ah, yes. I feel like I need to study. You know, to catch up on common knowledge..."
Satin laughed awkwardly, glancing at the teacher for any sign of his intentions. Surely, the teacher hadn't come to the kitchen for a snack.
"Is there something you need me to do?"
"Is Cain in the library?"
“...I’m not sure should I check?”
Why is he asking about Cain’s whereabouts? Is he trying to provoke Satin because he knows he needs to be wary of Cain?
As Satin nervously darted his eyes around, the teacher gave a slight smile.
"Follow me."
Without waiting for an answer, the teacher turned away. Satin decided to postpone telling Cain the new information until dinner.
As they exited the hallway and climbed the stairs, Satin cautiously asked, "What's this about?"
"It's nothing for you to worry about, so there's no need to be anxious."
“Okay…”
Even though there was no one around, it seemed the teacher didn’t want to discuss it here. Satin kept silent and followed the teacher.
Instead of going to the research lab, the teacher led him to the study. Disappointed, but also curious since it was his first time there, Satin tried to appear as a naive person entering an unfamiliar place, while subtly observing his surroundings.
Surprisingly, there weren’t many books. After all, becoming a wizard was difficult in this world. It wasn't like a wizard’s library would be overflowing with books.
"Bring me the book on the second shelf. The red one."
Satin checked the nearby bookshelf. The second shelf from the bottom was empty, so it must be the second shelf from the top. He found and pulled out the book with the red cover.
Meanwhile, the teacher sat at a desk by the window. Unlike his office, the desk in his study was positioned perpendicular to the window.
Satin hesitated for a moment before sitting across from the teacher. With the light only illuminating one side of his face, the old man's face looked like a faded black-and-white portrait.
"Open to the third chapter and turn the pages slowly."
Satin checked the table of contents and turned to the third chapter. As he flipped through the pages, he found an underlined section.
"Do you see the marked part?"
"Yes."
The same formula will always yield the same result, but it may appear different depending on the condition.
"What do you think that means?"
Same formula, same result, different conditions. Magic is truly mysterious. It burns intensely, blows powerfully, washes away vigorously, and shakes things up greatly.
But with a bit of thought, it can be seen differently. Aside from the fact that the subject is a person, the outcome of magic is like technology. Satin came from a world where technologies exist that are more convenient than magic.
Technology shines where it is needed.
‘For example, a humidifier in the middle of winter makes the indoor air comfortable, but if you turn it on during the rainy season, it just makes everything more uncomfortable.’
Magic might follow the same logic. Depending on the environment, it can be useful or useless. Or it might just be less effective.
"If you try to light a fire on a clear day, it burns well, but if you try on a rainy day, it might go out. Is that what it means?"
"Exactly. If the fire doesn’t burn on a rainy day, it doesn't mean the formula is wrong."
But why would something so obvious be underlined?
After some contemplation, Satin cautiously asked, "Is this an important point? It seems pretty straightforward..."
"I also think it's obvious," the teacher replied.
"Then why the attention?"
“Let’s think of something other than fire. Actually, let’s think of something not related to magic at all.”
The teacher smiled and rested his arms on the desk. Satin unconsciously pressed his back against the chair.
The teacher asked, "What do you think is the cause of your memory loss?"
“An accident?”
"There are many types of accidents. Which one do you think it was?"
What answer would seem natural?
As soon as Rufus heard about the memory loss, he suggested it might be due to magical research. He didn't mean that Satin was directly hit by magic but that it was an incidental accident during research. For instance, bumping his head.
The second rule of wizards is that they absolutely must not experiment on people. If one didn't know that the teacher was a dark wizard, they would naturally have similar thoughts as Rufus.
But Satin shouldn't think like Rufus. The teacher doesn't need a kind and naive disciple. He needs the opposite, a disciple who can commit immoral acts despite knowing the norms, or someone who doesn’t bother distinguishing between the two.
"I've been thinking it might have been an accident during your magical research, teacher. I mean, during an experiment."
Satin made a show of cautiously watching the teacher's reaction.
"Maybe I did something wrong while helping you? If there's something I need to correct, please let me know."
Satin hinted that he knew the teacher had broken the moral standards but didn't see it as a bad thing. He wanted to participate in those acts again as before. That was the general implication.
The teacher smiled. From that expression alone, it was impossible to tell if Satin had given the right answer. Satin couldn't completely hide his nervousness and waited for the teacher to speak.
The teacher finally said, "If I were to give you a difficult order now, would you follow it?"
"A difficult order..." Satin hesitated, hoping for some hint or example of what the teacher meant, but the teacher didn't respond.
“You’ve lost your memory while helping me with my research, so I wonder if you would still trust and follow me without question.”
There was no way the earlier conversation was for nothing. Understanding the teacher's intention wasn't hard.
The teacher would give the original Satin the same order, and the original Satin would quietly follow such orders, but now the situation was different. How would the memory-lost Satin perceive the teacher's order? Especially if it required a moral judgment.
‘This is a test.’
Satin looked steadily at the teacher, who was staring intently at him. The answer was obvious, “Just tell me anything.”
After meeting the old man, Satin spoke, "I probably used to bring children to the teacher."
"Knowing they would die?"
“I'm not entirely sure but, I definitely knew it was dangerous.”
Cain had always wondered why Satin acted so friendly with the children, and the reason was obvious: It was a ploy to get in the old man’s graces.
But he didn’t understand why being good with children would be beneficial. What did it have to do with magical research? But listening to Satin now, it all made sense.
“The old man is using you as a shield.”
There was no perfect way to control children. No matter how many times they were warned not to say anything, they always ended up telling someone. If they could be completely controlled, they wouldn’t be called children anymore.
If the old man personally lured the children, someone might become suspicious. And if a child harbored doubts, there would be no way to know who spoke up.
However, if Satin brought the children, even if someone became suspicious, the suspicion would first fall on Satin. The children liked Satin but also saw him as different from themselves.
Here, everyone lives a leisurely life and pretends to be good friends, but Cain knows the true nature of the children. He understands because, in many ways, he is just like them.
When they have a bad feeling, the children will suspect Satin over the teacher. They might think Satin did something to keep the old man's trust.
'I'd do the same.'
It's also easier that way. Suspecting the teacher would mean losing the chance for a better life, but suspecting Satin costs nothing. Cain is sure that, unconsciously, the children also desire to take Satin's place if he disappears.
If Satin were the old man's son or an old disciple, perhaps they wouldn't harbor
fell to Cain’s feet. Cain instinctively drew his feet back. His slipper-clad feet were not particularly pleasant to look at.
'Then again, who here has nice feet?'
It shouldn’t be something to be embarrassed about. As Cain readjusted his posture, Satin lifted his head.
"But he doesn't seem to have immediate plans to harm the children."
"Of course. If kids keep disappearing, it would be obvious something is wrong."
"But he is planning something."
"What?"
Satin looked at Cain intently.
"Why are you looking at me like that?"
"You."
"What about me?"
"The teacher is targeting you."
Credits
TL: Sajin
TL Comments:
TL: Cain is so shy hehehehhe
