“Cain might be right. Cloverland only looks fine on the surface—underneath, it’s a total mess.”
Edward supported Cain’s opinion, but Cain only scoffed in response. Satin cautiously guessed that Cain probably saw the Bureau of Order, the city offices, and the Temple as nothing more than useless institutions.
With a suddenly serious expression, Rita murmured,
“There’s definitely something wrong. Maybe this all happened because the central authority can’t control everything directly?”
“What do you mean by ‘central’?” Satin asked.
Edward answered in her place.
“She’s referring to the central administration in the capital. It oversees the capital and the regional offices in each city.”
“Who runs the central administration? The royal family?”
“You really don’t know anything, do you, Satin? Amnesia is truly a terrifying illness.”
It was hard to tell whether Edward meant it sincerely or was teasing him. Satin could only laugh awkwardly. From beside Edward, Rita gave him a scolding look.
“It’s not that weird not to know. Anyway, the king technically holds supreme command. The knights serving under the city offices are, in a way, all royal knights.”
Rita gave a slight scrunch of her nose before continuing with her explanation.
“But most of the administrative work is handled by officials. The king basically just stamps approvals. Still, to avoid being labeled incompetent, even members of the royal family have to study administration rigorously. There’s a big difference between stamping something with full understanding versus doing it blindly.”
It was a surprisingly lengthy explanation.
“You seem to know quite a bit,” Edward said, looking at her with interest.
Rita looked slightly flustered as she offered a small excuse.
“I’m from the capital, so I know how things work. Not like I was particularly interested or anything.”
Before anyone could say anything else, Rita declared solemnly,
“If we achieve something noteworthy this time, I’m going to report this situation to the central administration. Cloverland’s leadership needs to be completely overhauled.”
Hearing her words, Satin started brainstorming a new title for Dark Age.
‘About the Heroine Who Turns Out to Be a Secret Royal Inspector?’
***
Finally, the carriage came to a halt. The group disembarked and took a moment to soak it all in.
During the ride, they’d been too distracted by the dense fog to pay attention, but now that they had arrived, the Demon King’s Castle looked far more imposing than they’d imagined. The jet-black exterior walls were intimidating enough, but its sheer scale was what truly stunned them. Standing right in front of it, it practically looked like a mountain.
‘With no skyscrapers in the way, the view’s probably incredible from up top.”
After their brief moment of awe, they moved on to the necessary tasks. While Rita paid the fare, Edward unloaded their luggage from the top of the carriage, and Satin began counting how many people were waiting in line. As expected, Cain wasn’t helping—just standing off to the side.
‘Roughly seventy people, huh.’
Most groups seemed to be made up of four to six people. That meant, just by estimation, Satin’s group was probably about 15th in line.
They’d gotten used to queuing by now, but it was still baffling. Even at the doorstep of the Demon King’s Castle, they had to stand in line?
“Wouldn’t it be better if we all just worked together or something…?”
As Satin mumbled, someone from the group ahead of them turned around and kindly explained the situation.
“There’s a wyvern blocking the entrance.”
“…What?”
“Only one team is allowed in at a time.”
“Oh. I see…”
Now that he understood the reason, it all felt even more absurd. So the Demon King’s gatekeeper had taken on the role of a theme park ride operator? What next—were they going to sing, too? “Wel-co-oome to the Deeeemon King’s Caaastle~♬” Yeah, cue the cheery jingle.
After the friendly person returned to their group, Cain came to stand beside Satin. He scanned the crowd with a glance before commenting,
“There’s fewer people here than I expected.”
“What are you talking about? There’s a ton of people.”
“I mean compared to how many people got their hands on the sacred relics before us from the Temple.”
Satin could only nod in agreement at Cain’s point. The number of people here definitely didn’t even come close to half of what they’d seen in front of the Temple. And that was even accounting for people who hadn’t arrived yet or who might already be inside the castle.
Cain curled one side of his mouth into a smirk. It was a sneer, but he looked genuinely amused.
“They just grabbed the relics and ran. Some people will take anything if it’s free.”
“Geez…”
From the Temple’s point of view, the losses might’ve been considerable—but for those who actually made it here, it was a stroke of luck. If all those people had shown up, they might’ve had to wait until tomorrow just to get their turn.
“Cain is right.”
Edward agreed with Cain, his expression unexpectedly relaxed. Curious, Satin asked,
“Isn’t that a loss for the Temple?”
“Of course it is. But it’s not all bad. There were probably quite a few people with sick family members.”
Satin tilted his head, not quite following, but soon understood. What Edward meant was that people had lied to get the sacred relics for their ailing loved ones.
“There’s no guarantee the relics would cure them, but desperate people will do anything.”
“Then why not just offer them for free? That way they wouldn’t have to lie to get one.”
Rita cut in with the question, but Edward shook his head.
“That would be difficult. If we hand things out for free, the city office sends an official notice.”
“An official notice?” The other three all looked puzzled. Seeing this, Edward sighed.
“They say not to lure citizens with freebies. It’s the city’s job to handle public welfare, not ours. I’d bet this is the Bureau of Order’s doing.”
Since Satin wasn’t originally from Cloverland, he couldn’t fully grasp what the issue was. Still, he could piece it together.
‘The Bureau of Order really is the root of all evil.’
They try to block the Temple’s influence, fearing it’ll grow too powerful if left unchecked. But that doesn’t mean the Bureau is actually doing a better job in their place either.
Edward looked out the window, his expression dark for a moment, before speaking more hopefully.
“Maybe once this whole mess is resolved, something might actually change.”
Cain, standing nearby, immediately poured cold water on that thought.
“Even if the mess continues, something will change. Everyone will be dead, after all.”
Satin gave Cain a light jab, but Cain only shrugged and turned his gaze toward the Demon King’s Castle.
‘Does he still want everyone in Cloverland to die?’
Satin found himself growing more curious with each passing day about what kind of relationship Cain had with the previous Satin. Was this extreme attitude really just driven by revenge for Satin’s sake—or had the former Satin instilled these twisted ideals in him?
***
By the time Satin’s party entered the Demon King’s Castle, the sun was already sinking low in the sky.
But something was off. People had entered one by one, but they didn’t come out in the same order. When Satin asked about it, the gatekeeper wyvern explained politely.
“Weak humans—those who could not complete the trials.”
“I see…”
Satin thanked it and followed his party inside. Or rather, he was dragged in by Cain. When Satin glanced at him in confusion, Cain snapped quietly.
“Do you even know what that thing is before you go running your mouth?”
“The gatekeeper?”
“It might eat you, dumbass. And you just start chatting with it?”
“Come on, it hasn’t eaten anyone yet.”
“You don’t know. Maybe it’s been waiting for a human that suits its taste.”
Cain scolded him like a parent frightening a child, his brows furrowed in irritation. Still, it seemed like he was genuinely worried, so Satin held his tongue.
“Don’t walk in front of me. And don’t fall more than two steps behind.”
He said two steps, but the actual gap between them was barely one. When Satin didn’t respond—likely too busy estimating the distance—Cain snapped again.
“Why aren’t you answering?”
“Okay, I got it.”
“Dad, your sermon over yet? Let’s get moving already.”
Rita, waiting a few paces ahead, sounded thoroughly annoyed.
Cain clicked his tongue softly and started walking. Satin moved in sync beside him, half a step behind.
It was dark around them, though not so dark they couldn’t see. The real issue was the corridor: it stretched on endlessly, its end nowhere in sight. Torches lined the walls at regular intervals, almost like runway lights.
‘No idea where they’re leading, though.’
It was an ominous corridor—fitting for a place called the Demon King’s Castle.
They walked in silence for quite some time. With nothing changing and the hall dragging on, a strange sense of unreality began to creep in.
“It’s too quiet… Feels eerie for no reason.”
Rita murmured as she gripped her sword’s hilt tightly. It was a cheap sword, but it looked convincing enough, and on her, it gave off a real hero’s vibe. Among them, she looked the most courageous.
‘Even though she’s a magician…’
It was just how things were. Edward and Cain wore robes that hid their swords, and Satin, finding the sword cumbersome, had slung his on his back. The result: he didn’t exactly look like a hero.
‘Not that I’ll be doing anything anyway.’
In Dark Age, it was these three who defeated the Demon King. Spoilers for Parts 2 and 3 didn’t mention any additions to the party. Satin believed that as long as he didn’t get in the way, the story would somehow move along like it always did.
“Two steps.”
Cain scowled in warning as the distance between them widened while Satin had been lost in thought. Startled, Satin flinched, and though Cain clicked his tongue in irritation, he didn’t take his eyes off him. Flustered, Satin hurried to close the gap and walked back to Cain’s side.
They continued walking for quite some time.
“Something’s off.”
Rita, who had been leading the group, suddenly came to a stop. She pulled a pocket watch from her coat and checked the time. Her head tilted in confusion.
“Barely any time has passed. Not even an hour? That can’t be right.”
At her words, both Satin and Edward couldn’t hide their shocked expressions. It felt like they’d been walking for two or three hours at least, yet not even sixty minutes had passed? Maybe being cut off from the outside had distorted their sense of time.
As Rita tucked the watch back into her coat, she muttered,
“It’s also weird that we haven’t run into anyone ahead of us.”
“That’s true,” Edward agreed, stroking his chin. “You’d think we’d hear something at least.”
Eyes narrowing, Rita voiced a grim suspicion.
“What if they’re all dead?”
“Don’t jinx it,” Edward said sharply.
“Should we keep going a bit more?” Rita asked.
No one knew what “a bit” meant exactly, but Satin nodded. Unless there was a separate exit, those who had entered before them were probably still walking, too. With a castle this massive—practically mountain-sized—the corridors could be just as long, like a path wrapping around the base.
But the “bit more” Rita had suggested was abruptly cut short—regardless of their intentions.
“Aaaagh!”
