Cain had once thought it didn’t matter even if Satin didn’t regain his memories. He had even thought it might be better if he didn’t.
‘He was insecure.’
Everyone exaggerates. What they have, what they don’t have, or what they once had but no longer do.
While Satin was gone, Cain had exaggerated his relationship with Satin. The time they spent together had sparkled, the separation had been dramatic, and the time after the separation had been filled with sorrow. Such sentiments were solely Cain’s, so no one could point out that he was wrong.
But Satin had appeared. Satin was the only person who could evaluate Cain’s feelings. Satin might say that the time they spent together wasn’t that brilliant.
‘If he regains his memories, that is.’
Satin, who knew nothing, did not deny Cain’s feelings. So Cain thought it was fine as it was.
Of course, it wasn’t fine.
Satin, without his memories, did not deny Cain’s feelings, but he didn’t accept them either.
He recalled the first time he encountered the wolf-headed monster. Rita and Edward were fighting fiercely, and Satin was itching to jump in. Cain didn’t want Satin to do anything unnecessarily dangerous.
“What will you give me if I take down that thing?”
“Give you?”
“There should be a reward, right? Just say anything.”
“Just give me my sword. You don’t have to step forward if you don’t want to.”
In that moment, he realized. Satin thought that everything Cain said and did was not directed at him. He wasn’t reluctantly accepting Cain’s kindness; he was truly unable to resist it.
To Satin, Rita and Edward were closer than Cain. At least they were connections Satin had made himself.
‘I’m like a piece of inherited baggage that was forcibly passed on.’
Something he couldn’t throw away so he kept it, handling it with some care, but in reality, it was meaningless. For now, it was worth less than the ashes of a crazy old man. Not that he knew if he even had such a thing.
Cain didn’t want to remain as Satin’s lost property. If he had to be something, he’d rather be a lost item. He hoped Satin would find what he had lost and take it back.
‘It doesn’t matter if he thinks those days weren’t anything special.’
In fact, they weren’t beautiful days. Back then, Cain was always curt, and Satin took better care of the other children than he did of Cain. How could those days, filled with anxiety about becoming the old man’s experiment, be beautiful in the first place?
Still, it was a time that existed. Back then, Cain and Satin always slept in the same room. They whispered quietly and made plans to run away together. There was a bond between them.
Cain wanted Satin to remember that time again.
“That’s strange.”
The madam, who had been silent until now, suddenly spoke. Hearing her voice, Cain woke from his thoughts.
“It shouldn’t take this long to get here; has this friend of yours gotten lost?”
Cain immediately grasped the situation. Satin wouldn’t come.
‘He noticed I was here.’
***
―Hero, if you’ll excuse my bluntness, may I say one thing?
“Why ask if you know it’s blunt, you swindler.”
―I don’t understand why the Hero is trying to distance himself from his friends. And I am not a swindler.
“I’m not particularly trying to distance myself. You swindler.”
―But aren’t you running away from your friend right now? And I am not a swindler.
Satin shut his mouth. As he muttered to himself, a nearby pedestrian cautiously moved away. With his robe pulled up, a limp in his step, and constant muttering, he looked suspicious to anyone.
It wasn’t until he reached a deserted place that Satin replied.
“There’s something I couldn’t tell him. You swindler.”
―Did you do something wrong? Though I am not a swindler.
“It’s not so much that I did something wrong, but rather, I didn’t have the chance to say it. No, it was a bit difficult to say. He’ll get hurt. You’re a swindler, so you probably wouldn’t understand.”
Cain wouldn’t believe Satin’s words. But if he did, he would surely be hurt.
He had been so happy that his friend, whom he thought was dead, was alive, only to find out that he was indeed supposed to be dead. Wouldn’t he think it was better when he believed he was dead?
He had spent a considerable amount of time traveling on adventures of sorts. They had even lived under the same roof. He thought they had grown close in their own way, but looking back, that was only from Satin’s perspective. From Cain’s perspective, Satin was nothing more than a deceiver.
“No matter what I say, it’s all just excuses. I was a swindler too.”
The progression of the story, his sister’s masterpiece, the force of this world. There were many grand excuses, but perhaps he simply wanted to feel like he had become an important person.
Saying he wanted to become the character his sister loved most was something he could only say because he thought his sister would naturally love the protagonist. Satin had wanted to be the protagonist.
If he had been born a protagonist from the start. If he could have a happy ending no matter what adversities and hardships he faced. How wonderful would that have been?
“I have no more excuses to make, so it’s time for the swindler to leave.”
―I didn’t know the Hero was a swindler.
“It’s fine when I say it, but it’s annoying when you do.”
―If you’ll excuse my bluntness, may I offer my thoughts?
“Let’s hear how blunt they are.”
―Wouldn’t being abandoned without knowing anything also be hurtful?
“I don’t want to hear any more.”
He had already run away. So he didn’t want to regret it. He diligently moved his feet.
Originally, he had planned to leave the leather workshop district and immediately take a stagecoach, but he changed his mind. Perhaps because it was a large city, the stagecoach fare was more expensive than in Cloverland. He had to save whatever money he could.
‘How did Cain find out about this place and come here?’
The capital would be unfamiliar to Cain as well.
‘Am I being too naive in my thinking?’
Slightly regretting his simplicity, Satin stopped at a fork in the road.
Looking at the signpost, the left path led to the gate, and he didn’t know where the right path went. The name of the street was written, but he had no idea what was there.
―If you really intend to run away, shouldn’t you go left?
“There might be people looking for me at the gate. And I don’t have any money.”
The person he felt most sorry for was still Cain, but he also felt a little bad for Rita and Edward. He had disrupted their schedule for today. Of course, they weren’t the type to get angry over such things, but it must have been awkward for them.
Rita could send people to all the gates of the capital. Perhaps even the person walking past him right now was a messenger of Rita looking for Satin.
―My master had hoped that the Hero wouldn’t be concerned with mere money, so why has it come to this?
“That’s just how fate is. But master?”
―Our noble God, I mean.
The Devil, as if he had completely forgotten the time he had raved about how I was God’s adversary and the master of evil, shamelessly brought up God.
‘No, he doesn’t have a mouth.’
Perhaps his self-introduction as the Devil was also a lie. The fact that the battle the other day, which had put the group in danger, was truly a scam, felt real anew. And it was strange that the scam was all planned for Satin’s sake.
“Why are you doing this to me?”
―Huh? What are you talking about?
“Calling me Hero, planning such ridiculous things…”
―I don’t know. It’s just what my master wanted.
“Why are you sticking to me now?”
―I am not sticking to you, Hero. You haven’t returned me to the temple, have you?
“Ah, is it my fault?”
―Then whose fault would it be?
“This is truly absurd, ugh.”
Lost in a conversation that was of no help, Satin didn’t see the carriage coming from behind. Fortunately, he didn’t collide with the carriage itself, but he bumped into a pedestrian who was also trying to avoid it.
Before he could apologize, he fell to the ground. His uncomfortable ankle made him lose his balance. He almost had his hand run over by the wheel of the carriage that followed. He barely avoided it by a hair’s breadth. His startled heart pounded.
The misfortune didn’t end there. A fierce pedestrian grabbed Satin by the collar and pulled him up.
“You cripple, who do you think you’re bumping into!”
‘Who are you…?’
His body was yanked, his hood fell back, and his face was exposed. Satin hastily tried to fasten his robe, but it was already after he had made eye contact with several people nearby.
“I’m talking to you, where are you looking, you rude bastard!”
“I’m sorry. But I, there’s no need to go this far…”
“What a long tongue you have for someone who’s committed a crime?”
Satin had never particularly thought his tongue was long, but he kept his mouth shut anyway. Half a dozen people nearby were watching them.
‘They probably didn’t recognize me, right? It was only for a moment.’
When you meet an unexpected person in an unexpected place, there are times when you don’t recognize them instantly. You know you’ve seen them somewhere, but you can’t immediately place who they are. Like seeing a celebrity at a local restaurant.
‘But there’s no reason why those people couldn’t come to our neighborhood.’
The pedestrian grabbed Satin’s collar and shook him while Satin was lost in thought.
“How dare you space out in front of me?”
Every time the pedestrian opened his mouth, a pungent smell stung the tip of Satin’s nose. No wonder his expressions were all strange.
‘This guy’s drunk.’
It was still morning. But the reason he reeked of alcohol like this was obvious. Either the alcohol he drank last night hadn’t worn off yet, or he had been drinking since last night.
In any case, it was an awkward situation. Dealing with a drunkard was troublesome, but the gathering gazes of the surrounding people were even more problematic.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t recognize you.”
“Shut up! Is everything okay if you just say sorry?”
Before Satin could finish speaking, the drunkard burst out in anger. In proportion, the murmuring of the onlookers grew louder.
Just as he was wondering how to get out of this situation.
“I’m going to drag you away right now, to the Bureau of Order, urgh!”
In an instant, the drunkard’s hand fell away. While Satin was bewildered, unable to grasp the situation, the Devil shouted from inside his cloak.
―Hero, your friend has arrived!
