Just moments ago, the gloomy and nondescript clearing had taken on a mysterious aura. Of course, only Satin perceived it that way. Edward, who couldn’t see magical energy, remained indifferent.
Several seconds passed in silence—probably more than ten. Then Edward let out a soft “Ah,” a small sound of realization.
At the same time, several red stains appeared around the traces of the pit. They looked like paint splattered from a great height. There seemed to be a pattern to them—some were dark, others light.
Rita rose to her feet. Standing in the fading magical residue, she looked almost like a mountain spirit.
‘Too powerful to be a fairy,’ Satin thought.
Tall and lean, with long hair tied high, Rita’s appearance leaned more toward a warrior class than a magician, at least by game standards. The red stains beneath her feet looked vaguely like traces left after defeating an enemy.
With one hand on her hip, Rita turned toward Satin and Edward, explaining the magic she had just cast.
“This was to check whether any magic had been used here before. Magic is like pressed writing—it leaves marks at the spot for a few days. You can estimate when it happened by how fast it fades.”
Satin pictured sticky notes with pen marks still visible.
‘If I could mass-produce this and sell it, I’d be rich…’
In stories where the protagonist travels to a fantasy world or possesses someone in one, there’s often a subplot involving the introduction of modern technology. Accumulating wealth using the advantage of a more advanced background is deeply satisfying to watch.
But Satin shook his head.
‘No way. That would totally change the genre.’
It was already absurd enough that the villain meant to summon the Demon King had taken the protagonist’s place. Helping develop civilization? Absolutely not.
Even before he knew what novel he’d ended up in, Satin had lived quietly, avoiding anything that might draw attention. Now wasn’t the time to start dreaming of overnight riches.
“I find it suspicious that someone would use magic in a place like this.”
“…Suspicious how?”
Lost in thought, Satin replied a beat too late. Thankfully, Rita didn’t scold him.
“Look. The fading rates are different, right? That means someone used magic here multiple times recently. But what kind of magic would you use in a place where a body was burned?”
Edward, still craning his neck to examine the magical stains, responded.
“Couldn’t they have used magic to burn the body?”
Satin nodded. That made sense. But Rita shook her head without hesitation.
“They’ve never used magic to burn the bodies. I checked at the Bureau of Order before coming to the temple. And no one’s been here recently for cremation either.”
Then it truly was odd. The cremation site was a good ten minutes by carriage from the western gate, followed by a long walk. Unless someone had a specific reason, there was no way they’d come here by chance. And again—this place was a crematory. Why would someone choose to use magic here?
As Satin and Edward’s expressions grew more serious, Rita shared her theory.
“From a magician’s perspective, repeated magic use in the same spot usually means experimentation. You need consistent conditions to ensure accurate results.”
Even someone like Satin, who didn’t know much about magic, found that reasonable. As she spoke, Rita moved toward the darkest of the red stains.
“There must be a reason they chose this place over other empty lots. Maybe something about this spot specifically allows the effects to be observed.”
Satin and Edward followed her without much thought. The three of them stood with the darkest stain at the center.
“I couldn’t think of any kind of experiment that would need to be conducted at a crematory. That’s why I suspect this might be a trace of Black Magic.”
“You’re planning to track down the magician who came here to confirm it, then.”
“Exactly. I hope it’s not Black Magic… but it could very well be.”
“But how do you plan to verify it? There’s no guarantee that magician will come back.”
“There’s no guarantee, but I think the odds are high.”
Rita flashed a confident grin at Edward. Her face radiated so much certainty, it was the kind of expression that would make you believe a cat had successfully harvested cabbages.
“There’s no way someone conducting magical experiments just happened to succeed right before we arrived. You think discovering a formula is that easy?”
Her reasoning stemmed from experience. Edward frowned slightly but didn’t refute her. The numerous stains in varying intensities hinted at the mysterious magician’s recent activities. They must have visited this place regularly, diligently conducting their experiments.
Since Edward remained silent, Rita turned to Satin.
“Don’t you have anything you’re curious about?”
“I do, actually.”
“Go ahead.”
“What exactly is Black Magic?”
Rita blinked, not immediately understanding the question. Feeling awkward, Satin glanced over at Edward, but he wore the same puzzled expression as Rita. A moment later, both of them gaped in shock, mouths falling open.
“You came all the way here without even knowing that?!”
Seriously? After she’d asked him for help?
Satin felt incredibly wronged but couldn’t bring himself to argue. Not that he even got the chance—Rita immediately launched into a rapid-fire explanation.
“Black Magic means magic that breaks the rules! And you probably don’t know those either, so I’ll tell you. First: do not violate someone’s personality. Second: do not use life as a resource. Third: do not desecrate the dead!”
Her voice grew especially loud as she declared the third rule. She stared at Satin like she was asking, Got it now? But Satin, scratching his cheek awkwardly, asked again.
“They all kinda sound similar… Is it just a fancy way of saying you’re not supposed to kill people?”
Rita groaned and smacked her forehead. Edward answered instead.
“Of course not. Remember when we caught that Black Magician last time? There were casualties. Most of the mages who went down in history were mass murderers.”
“Dude, the way you’re saying that makes it sound like all mages are killers.”
Rita huffed in protest, but Edward ignored her and continued explaining about Black Magic—far more kindly than Rita had.
“‘Do not violate personality’ means don’t mess with someone’s mind. ‘Do not use life’ means no human experimentation. And ‘do not desecrate the dead’ means don’t reanimate corpses.”
“Oh, that’s what it means…”
Now that he had a rough understanding of Black Magic, Satin nodded. Rita and Edward kept bickering about something between themselves, but Satin didn’t pay attention. It wasn’t his business.
Eventually, Rita, tired of the squabbling, explained what they’d be doing next.
“We’re going to wait here until nightfall.”
That was all she said. When Satin stared at her blankly, she added a bit more.
“Hopefully the suspicious magician shows up tonight, but if not, we’ll have to keep watching. If you help for a few more days, I’ll make sure you’re well paid.”
‘Would’ve been nice if she said all that beforehand.’ Had she planned this from the beginning?
Satin had his doubts but nodded anyway. He wanted to know what had happened here, too.
According to the events of Dark Age, the Black Magician who’s supposed to show up here… was Satin himself. Of course, the protagonist’s party wasn’t meant to run into him immediately. They’d miss him the first time, find traces, chase a few leads, and only come face-to-face when he was in the middle of summoning the Demon King.
And yet, Satin had only learned what Black Magic was today. He hadn’t even spoken the word “Demon King” in the past four years.
So who, exactly, was the one experimenting with what appeared to be Black Magic in this spot? And just where was this story going?
***
The three of them hid in the forest, keeping watch on the clearing. As time passed, the sky dimmed. It seemed they had planned to camp out from the start, as Rita had come well-prepared. From the backpack slung over her shoulder, she pulled out blankets, jerky, dry bread, and a whole assortment of supplies.
As Edward accepted a handful of provisions, he asked curiously:
“No matches?”
“Nope. I know a fire spell.”
Satin already knew that—he’d seen Rita contemplating arson at the temple. But Edward looked at her with surprise.
“I thought you wouldn’t know any other spells since you’re researching tracking magic. Mages don’t usually share formulas, after all.”
“That’s true, but… I’m a bit of a special case.”
Turns out Edward wasn’t as clueless about magic as Satin had assumed. Satin, not wanting to say anything unnecessary, just nodded along like he understood everything Rita was saying.
As she tightened her backpack, Rita added,
“Still, we can’t start a fire right now. If the Black Magician sees it, they won’t show up.”
Earlier, she had cautiously called it a suspicious magician, but now she was openly labeling them a Black Magician. Not that Satin disagreed—it was highly likely.
‘So the flow of events can’t be changed, huh…’
He couldn’t be sure, but maybe the story had already shifted—either because of something Satin had done or failed to do. And yet things were still moving forward regardless. All it meant was that Satin, as a variable, was no more effective than a hand trying to block a river.
In stories involving time travel or regression, there are often protagonists who desperately try to change the future only to fail. Satin felt like he’d become one of them—though, to be fair, he’d never tried to change anything. But looking at the results… it kind of felt that way.
“We don’t know when the bastard will show up, so we should keep quiet.”
Rita, who had been speaking in her usual assertive tone, now brought a finger to her lips with a “Shh.” Satin and Edward both nodded and quietly chewed on their jerky.
they’re all kinda cute… 😭 but if that confirms my question abt the demon king route