The World of This Fantasy Novel is in Crisis – Chapter 39

Satin was pondering the question when Rita shrugged and added,

“Because there’s no war. There’s no opportunity for magicians to prove themselves.”

What war?

Satin was puzzled but nodded for the moment.

“So, magicians are stepping up everywhere, showing off. They must have quickly taken on the task of catching the Black Magician.”

“I see…….”

In simpler terms, magicians are taking over everything to secure their livelihoods. Satin had heard that magicians were admired by all, but it seemed strange that even they had to fight for their share.

‘Everyone is working hard,’ Satin thought.

He considered expanding his garden when he returned to the village.

As Satin made this small resolution, Rita continued her story.

“After that, it seems the temple completely stepped back from apprehending the Black Magician.”

Satin recalled the earlier argument between Rita and the priest. It made sense now.

“In the past, they would have jumped at the mere mention of the Black Magician, but now they seem indifferent. They just tell us to go to the Bureau of Order.”

“Can’t we just tell the Bureau of Order?”

Satin couldn’t see the difference between the temple or the Bureau of Order catching the Black Magician. However, Rita frowned as if she had heard something unpleasant. Satin quickly pretended to eat the pickled radish.

“Those Bureau of Order guys only care about their performance records. I’ve never seen them handle a case properly.”

The Bureau of Order here is similar to a police station. Just as some people in Korea trust the police while others do not, it seems to be the same here. Rita criticized the Bureau of Order for a while before turning her attention back to the temple.

“The temple is the same. They used to handle this themselves, but now they’ve handed it over so easily. Does that make sense?”

“I guess not.”

“The Bureau of Order and the temple should be checking each other and finding ways to protect the citizens. Instead, they’re just sitting around making money. The more I think about it, the temple is worse than the Bureau of Order.”

“Yeah, I guess so.”

Satin chewed on the pickled radish, nodding along. He didn’t want to get too involved in a topic he knew little about.

Just then, a man at the neighboring table suddenly stood up. Satin and Rita instinctively turned to look.

The man, dressed in a black robe despite the lack of heat, appeared to be around the same age as Satin and Rita.

‘He’s quite large,’ Satin thought, subtly shifting away from the man. Although he didn’t expect the man to attack, it was better to be safe.

The man looked at Rita with a serious expression and spoke.

“Excuse me.”

“What is it?” Rita responded curtly, showing no interest.

“The temple isn’t avoiding the issue because they don’t want to get involved.”

“Are you a spokesperson for the temple? And why should I care about their reasons?”

“I’m not a spokesperson, but you should consider the temple’s perspective.”

“What perspective?”

“You have no idea how many people complain that the temple has too much power whenever they try to do something. The Bureau of Order, the government, everyone interferes and makes it impossible for them to act. And then they get criticized for doing nothing. Isn’t that unfair?”

The man spoke passionately. Rita watched him with narrowed eyes.

‘I’m not sure, but is this about politics?’ Satin wondered, finishing his meal. He had been so focused on the turkey that he hadn’t touched the potatoes. They had cooled down but were still delicious, with a fluffy texture.

‘Carbs are best after protein,’ Satin thought.

Rita and the man exchanged a few more words, the atmosphere remaining tense. Suddenly, Rita stood up. Satin had just finished the last of the pickled radish.

“I see you’re a priest. Don’t like hearing criticism about the temple?”

Looking closely, Satin noticed a white garment peeking out from under the man’s robe. It was unlikely to be a dress. Even in a fantasy world, men in white dresses weren’t common.

All the priests Satin had seen at the temple wore long white robes. He admired Rita’s keen observation while chewing on the pickled radish.

“If you don’t want to be criticized, just do your job properly. Telling people to go to the Bureau of Order when there might be a Black Magician around isn’t the right response, is it?”

Rita mixed informal and formal language, but the man didn’t point that out. He was already heated from the other parts of the conversation.

“The temple’s position is difficult too. It’s not that they’re ignoring the issue because they’re lazy. Everyone wants to step up and do something. They want to catch the Black Magician right away.”

“Then they should.”

“…What do you mean?”

“I mean, looking at you, it seems like you’re on a pilgrimage. Why don’t you help out for a bit before you go? It won’t take long.”

***

Rita was beaming. She seemed pleased that she had unexpectedly secured the help of a priest. Despite the process, she was satisfied with the outcome.

Satin, on the other hand, felt conflicted.

‘Edward, it was Edward.’

The name of the character he couldn’t remember finally came to him when he heard the name of the priest Rita had recruited.

“My name is Edward. I recently became an official priest and have started my pilgrimage duties.”

The answer was clear. His sister’s novel wasn’t a healing story about the peaceful daily life of a grandparent and grandchild, nor was it inspired by names and places from Dark Age. It was Dark Age itself.

‘Did she not tell me because I said it was boring?’

Satin had watched Dark Age up to the first part at his sister’s recommendation but found it wasn’t to his taste. He preferred easier, more entertaining web novels where the protagonist was the strongest in the world, or hid their strength, or was a reincarnated hero… something like that.

Now he understood why his sister never showed him her writing. She must have been embarrassed that he found her novel boring.

‘She’s so stubborn.’

If he had known, he would have read more. After only watching the first part, he had dismissed it as boring. If he had read up to the third part, he might have praised it as a masterpiece.

Satin briefly indulged in his regret before snapping back to reality.

‘This is a problem.’

If this world was based on Dark Age, there was a significant issue with the current situation. Rita setting out to find traces of the Black Magician was the beginning of the first part, where the protagonist Cain, the magician Rita, and the priest Edward become friends and start their adventure.

But right now, only Rita and Edward were present; Cain was missing. The story was unfolding without one of the main trio, and that missing person was the protagonist.

‘Is this okay?’

Moreover, instead of Cain, Satin was there, and he was supposed to be the one they were looking for. He shouldn’t be here.

Satin no longer thought he was just coincidentally named Satin. The likelihood of him coincidentally having the same name, meeting the main characters, and getting involved in the story was slim. Something must have gone wrong with the narrative.

‘What was I supposed to do?’

Until now, Satin hadn’t considered how his sister’s novel was supposed to unfold. He didn’t even know what kind of story it was.

But even if he had known, he wouldn’t have cared.

‘I thought I was the protagonist.’

As the protagonist, the story would come to him naturally. Even Cain was just training to become a knight when Rita appeared.

‘Why did my sister favor the villain over the protagonist?’

Readers might love side characters, but authors usually focus on their favorite character when writing the story. Why his sister favored a non-protagonist was a mystery.

With no way to ask his sister directly, dwelling on it was pointless. Satin sighed and started walking.

Currently, Satin, Rita, and Edward were on foot. They had taken a carriage from the west gate of Cloverland and walked for about ten minutes. Rita said she had found traces of the Black Magician nearby.

Edward, who had lived in Cloverland all his life, seemed familiar with the area and led the way.

“Not many people come this way, but you managed to check it out.”

“I was on my way to see the forest where the Black Magician used to live.”

Edward was twenty-two, a year younger than Rita. Although Rita told him to speak casually, Edward insisted on using formal language, which Satin attributed to his profession.

‘Or is it a character setting?’

Satin quickly regretted the thought, feeling it was disrespectful to think of a real person that way.

“The forest where the Black Magician lived is near the south gate, not here. It’s a large forest that extends to the border, and he did terrible things to children there.”

“Ah, the south gate. No wonder the forest didn’t look as impressive as I expected.”

“Are you interested in what happened back then?”

“Not interested, just curious. Isn’t everyone?”

“Would you like to hear the story?”

“Do you know something?”

“I was there when the Bureau of Order went to deal with the Black Magician four years ago.”

Rita quickly caught up to Edward, eager to hear the story. Satin also picked up his pace, curious about the tale.

Under normal circumstances, Satin would have listened to stories about the Black Magician as if they were ancient history. But now, he couldn’t help but wonder where the protagonist, who was supposed to have been rescued by the Temple Knights four years ago, had gone. It was a burning question.

Author: Levia