“Yes. Among the children rescued back then, there was a boy named Dain, but now that I think about it, I’m pretty sure it was actually Cain. Was Mr. Cain the disciple of that Black Magician who died?”
Edward’s expression was serious, but Satin lowered his head.
‘Ah, Edward completely missed the mark.’
Relieved at first, Satin then felt all the tension drain from his body and sank to the ground. Worried that he might look suspicious, he quickly pretended to stretch his legs, bending and straightening them like he was doing squats. One, two. One, two.
When Cain didn’t respond right away, Edward’s face grew even more grim.
“Was summoning the Demon King also part of avenging your master?”
“Avenge my master?”
Cain scoffed and shook his head.
“Sorry, but your theory is way off.”
“Which part?”
“All of it.”
A flicker of embarrassment crossed Edward’s face. Maybe he thought at least one or two guesses would be right. Cain lifted one corner of his mouth and pointed out bluntly,
“I never had a master. The magic I use—I stole it.”
“What?”
“I stole that crazy old man’s research. When we called for a rescue, I included it as evidence.”
Edward blinked for a moment, not fully understanding, then his eyes widened.
“…You were the one who sent the rescue request?”
“To be precise, it wasn’t just me. It was Satin’s idea in the first place. We wrote that several children had been deceived by a mad magician and asked someone to come save us.”
Edward’s face went pale. And Satin, caught off guard, also looked flustered.
‘What the hell? Satin did something like that too?’
He’d considered that, just as Rita and Edward weren’t identical to their novel counterparts, the original Satin might also differ from the character described in the story.
But if what Cain just said was true, this wasn’t just a minor deviation. It upended a core premise.
A disciple who vows revenge and acts on it. Neither the Black Magician nor his disciple are the main characters, but they’re pivotal figures. The story begins with the Black Magician’s death, after all. Even if it’s not explicitly portrayed, the bond between those two forms the foundation of the narrative. But if Satin betrayed the Black Magician, then that bond never existed to begin with.
‘What the hell is going on?’
Lost in confusion, Satin sat there, forgetting his fake exercise routine. Then Cain reached out, grabbed his hand without thinking, and helped him up. In that instant, it hit him.
‘Cain took it.’
The bond that should’ve belonged to the master was transferred to Cain.
Satin hadn’t just saved Cain once from the fire. There had been a true bond between them. A story unknown to the current Satin lay between them.
“He’s not someone you can rely on,” “He always clams up at critical moments”—the things Cain had said about Satin hadn’t been sincere. Cain trusted Satin more than anyone else in this world. No—he only trusted Satin.
Even as Satin stood there in a daze, Cain didn’t ask what was wrong. He just continued talking to Edward.
“Back then, I thought the Temple Knights would come save us. I had no grasp of reality. Who would step in to rescue a bunch of vagrant kids?”
“Well…”
Edward tried to say something but trailed off.
“It doesn’t matter. So, Mr. Cain, that incident is why you don’t trust the Bureau of Order or the Temple, right?”
“Whatever you people are doing or thinking, I don’t care. Just don’t put Satin in danger.”
Edward hesitated a moment, then nodded.
“We’ll never intentionally put him at risk.”
“And don’t try to slyly fish for information with nostalgic old stories either.”
“Understood. I was out of line.”
“Then get lost.”
Cain waved Edward away like a farmer shooing a bug, though they’d be boarding the carriage soon anyway. Edward’s seat was directly across from Cain’s, and like it or not, the two would be stuck facing each other for a while.
Satin, having finally regained some composure, quietly slipped his hand out of Cain’s grasp. At that, Cain frowned slightly. Before he could say anything weird, Satin spoke first.
“Don’t be so hard on Edward.”
“Why?”
“Um… he’s a rare friend, you know?”
Satin was just making excuses, unable to say what he really meant. Cain let out a scoff.
“You’re the only friend I have.”
“Being so certain all the time… it might not be a good thing. What if everything you believed in turns out to be a lie…”
It wasn’t something he should’ve said to Cain. Satin couldn’t finish and stood there silently, staring down at his feet.
“You’re being awfully chatty with nonsense today.”
Cain dismissed Satin’s sincere advice without a second thought and headed off toward the carriage. Left behind, Satin admitted quietly to himself:
‘I’m a fake.’
***
As the sun dipped below the horizon, their journey for the day came to an end. The village they planned to stay in—just as the coachman had mentioned before they departed—was quite small. Still, it was bigger than the one Satin had grown up in, boasting at least a proper restaurant with a sign hanging over the door.
The coachman retired early, leaving just Satin and the group to enter the restaurant.
After placing their orders, Rita gave a sly, knowing look and said,
“There’s been some strange rumors going around this village lately.”
“Is it about the oracle?” Satin asked.
Rita shook her head. The glint in her eye resembled a predator eager for a fresh hunt.
“I heard it from those folks earlier.”
By those folks, she meant the two passengers who had ridden in the carriage with them up to this village. Unlike Satin’s group, who were headed to the final stop in Midland, those two had disembarked here. They explained that they lived in the village and had just returned from a trip to Daisyland.
“There’s a low mountain behind this village, and apparently some kids went in to break off branches—and they saw a monster.”
“Maybe the kids were just playing a prank?” Edward suggested skeptically.
Rita narrowed her eyes and grinned.
“At first, that’s exactly what the villagers thought. They figured the kids had cooked up a story together for fun.”
That phrasing—thought—implied that wasn’t the case.
“But then someone who lives right at the foot of the mountain said they saw it too. And for the record, that person’s in their forties. Definitely an adult.”
Sure, even adults can have overactive imaginations. But saying that out loud would only make someone sound antisocial, so Satin just stayed quiet and listened. He glanced sideways and saw that Cain, while pretending to look elsewhere, was clearly paying close attention too.
Rita lowered her voice, adding a chilling tone to her words.
“It was on a rainy night. The person went to the window to draw the curtains and saw something standing at the base of the mountain. At first, they thought it was a tree—but on closer look, it wasn’t. The figure had sharp, pointed ears and glowing yellow eyes like a cat. It looked human, but…”
“There’s no such person,” Edward cut in.
Rita slapped Edward’s arm with a loud thwack.
“Which is why I said it was a monster, duh. Anyway, the description that person gave matched exactly what the kids said. They all saw the same thing.”
“Are you folks interested in the monster?”
A nearby server suddenly joined the conversation.
“Ah! You scared me!”
Rita, who had been trying hard to set the mood, jumped at the interruption. The server gave an awkward smile.
“Sorry for butting in like that.”
“No, no, not at all!” Rita waved her hands frantically. “Do you know more about it?”
“Well… it’s not just a rumor anymore.”
The server scratched the back of his neck, his expression darkening slightly.
“There’s more than just one or two witnesses now. Pretty much everyone agrees something’s out there. People are so scared they don’t go out at night anymore.”
“Has anyone been attacked by the monster?” Satin asked.
“Not yet, but… who knows what might happen next.”
The server let out a sigh. Rita offered a logical suggestion.
“Why not ask the Bureau of Order for help? This village is under Daisyland’s jurisdiction, right?”
“We’ve mentioned it to the constable stationed here, but since no actual harm’s been done, it’s hard to get official help,” the server replied.
Listening to Rita and the server talk, Satin felt a strange unease settle in his chest.
The villagers didn’t know what the monster was. Yet they feared it. Maybe it was simply caution—just in case things didn’t go as they hoped, they didn’t want to be caught unprepared. But what if that monster was truly powerful and vicious… What if it massacred everyone in the village? Would the Bureau of Order still sit back and do nothing, since there’d be no survivors left to report it?
The kitchen called the server over—seemed the food was ready. The server gave a tired smile and turned away.
“In any case, I’d advise you folks not to go out too late at night. Nothing’s happened yet, but better safe than sorry.”
Satin glanced absentmindedly out the window. It was already dark.
***
After leaving the restaurant and heading toward the inn, Rita kept glancing around, scanning the shadows.
“Do you think the monster might come into the village?”
“If that had happened, that guy would’ve mentioned it earlier. Ms. Rita, that’s the wrong way.”
Edward kept correcting Rita every time she tried to veer off in the wrong direction. He’d had to do it several times already. Normally, Rita never got lost, so this was definitely odd.
‘Is she hoping to catch a glimpse of the monster or something?’
Satin had absolutely no desire to run into a monster. He’d seen more than enough of them at the Demon King’s castle. That was already more than enough fodder for stories to last a lifetime. He didn’t need to add “And then I ran into another one in some random village” to the list.
“Two steps.”
Cain muttered just loud enough for Satin to hear when his pace slowed down from watching Rita. Satin instinctively moved closer to Cain, then clicked his tongue.
‘What’s with him now?’
He wasn’t acting as weird as Rita, but Cain had also been on edge since they left the restaurant.
Satin asked casually.
“Do you think the monster’s real?”
“Not sure if it’s a monster, but there’s definitely something strange going on.”
“Do you think it’s dangerous?”
“How the hell would I know?”
