A few hours after that meeting, night had fallen. Borin had extinguished the furnace, and the place had become almost dark; there was only a dim lamp above him. He was sitting facing the wall, polishing weapons.
Behind him, in one of the dark corners of the room, the darkness condensed, forming a human shape. But… Borin could not sense anything and continued polishing the weapons. Then, suddenly...
: Who allowed you to speak of these matters?
Borin was crushed to the floor. The chair he was sitting on was completely shattered, with Borin on top of it.
The ground cracked beneath him. Borin bled from his mouth and eyes, and his veins became prominent.
: Because we allowed you to keep the records of the Sovereign of Blacksmiths and the information within them, did you think you could speak as you please?
Borin lay on the cracked ground beneath him, his face bleeding from everywhere. He was breathing with extreme difficulty. It was a feeling Borin had never felt before. This wasn't just pressure—was this happening because of the voice alone?
Borin looked behind him; his eyes widened, his chest tightened with terror, and his body trembled violently.
In the darkness, the person present was not visible, hidden within the shadows. Nothing appeared of him except for a single eye…
And his eye...
It was a deep golden color, not bright or glowing, but strange, deep, heavy, and extremely sharp.
Looking at that eye alone made Borin even more afraid.
But he composed himself after that person stopped speaking.
Borin spoke while panting heavily.
"How… how did you know I spoke of these matters?"
That person replied, but with a slightly different voice. There was no pressure in this voice, yet the person did not emerge from the shadows, and nothing but his eye was visible.
: Do you dare to ask as well? If someone else had found out about this instead of me, you and that child would be dead by now.
Borin spoke in shock; he thought about the situation for a moment, and it seemed he realized something.
Borin: "I..."
: You don't have to apologize. I know this hurts your pride, and I don't want something like that either. Now… tell me, why did you do this?
Borin: "That child, he is always doing reckless things. He needed to have enough information to calm down."
: And is this… a justification for telling him all of this?
Borin did not respond for a few moments; he was hesitant, but the person in the darkness calmed him slightly.
: Don't worry, I won't hurt you. But you don't even know why there are so many strange things surrounding that child. You know nothing about the previous Time Cycles, so why weren't you cautious in your speech? Tell me honestly.
Borin: "At first, I didn't notice what I said, so I had to talk about more matters. But I told the boy to forget about it for now. He will do so; he trusts me. He did it when I asked him before."
The person narrowed his eye slightly.
: If he does not listen to your request, very dangerous things will happen. But I will overlook it for now. Do not give him any more information about this matter for the time being. Let him discover it on his own.
The door to the room opened, and a man who looked old entered. He wore an eye patch and walked with a cane. His clothes were dark, and he wore a long hooded cloak that covered his head and face.
The man entered quietly and looked at them calmly as well.
"So... are you finished talking? Don't worry, nothing will happen."
The eye of the man in the darkness moved toward him quietly. The shock on Borin's face increased, but he was not worried.
The man in the darkness asked:
: So… did you see that?
The man with the eye patch replied calmly:
"Yes. Leave now. Do not disturb Borin any further."
The man closed his eye and sighed deeply.
: Fine, I will listen to you now and leave. But be careful, Borin, not to utter something that should not be said.
And that person vanished into the darkness without saying anything else.
The man with the eye patch sat on the nearest chair. Borin finally stood up from the floor.
"Get up, Borin, bring a chair and sit down. I must tell you some things."
Borin brought the chair, prepared two cups of coffee, and sat near the man.
Borin: "I am sorry. I didn't know it was related to you, and I also thought you had some bad intentions."
The man spoke calmly, his voice carrying honesty and comfort for Borin.
"It's alright, you don't have to apologize. It's natural to doubt this. Hans told me what happened previously."
Borin: "So... is there anything I can know?"
"Yes, I came for this reason. But what I will tell you will be a secret for the time being. Also, you must ensure that you show no signs indicating you know what I am about to tell you."
Borin: "If it is something that serious, you can erase my memory or seal it if I cannot accept the matter after hearing it."
The man gave a faint laugh. His face, voice, laughter, and appearance—everything made one feel that this man carried a heavy burden.
"Alright."
A few days later… in the city of [Celastir]
Celastir City: A city with an area of fifty-nine thousand square kilometers, located between a Great Duchy, Valkrine [The Holy Kingdom], and the Ashford Duchy.
Celastir is independent and enjoys self-governance; because of that, it is considered an important location within the Akran Empire.
In a small restaurant inside the city, Jin was sitting at a table in a corner.
He was thinking about many things.
'Investigating the involvement of some figures from the Temple of Light in the Demon Cult case will be truly difficult. Accusing a priest or a Holy Knight of heresy can sometimes lead to execution. The most serious is the accusation of following the Demon Cult. What can I do alone in an investigation of this difficulty?'
'But there is something strange… placing a penalty of that severity on this specific matter? This makes me feel that the higher authorities want to cover up the matter. They announced this law officially to the general public and did not keep it secret.'
'Could it be that the Holy King himself is involved? Could it be that one of the members of the Closed Council is involved and not just the Holy King? Who could it be?'
'The Paladin Commander? The Archbishop? The Chief Inquisitor? The Head Healer?'
'Could the reason be the Shura Council? But if this is the reason, it means the involvement of a large number of people. Damn, what could be the real reason!?!?'
Jin sighed due to the distress of thinking, but he began to think of another matter.
'From Borin's talk about the Constellations, and the possibility of a human becoming a Constellation, this means their number could be in the hundreds, maybe thousands? Damn, maybe even more.'
'But… I might meet one of them. How will I be able to know that they are a Constellation?'
Jin thought for a moment and realized something.
'When I use the Analysis skill inside the Tower, the person's race appears to me, whether they are human or something else.'
'But... when I looked at Borin and Chunma's status windows, there was no field for "Race." Is that how it is for Constellations?'
'But why do people know nothing about them despite their large numbers? And why haven't they appeared in the Tower before? And how do they become Constellations in the first place?'
"Arghhhhh, this is exhausting! Everything needs dozens of questions!"
"Damn it, I'll just finish my food now."
And so… the boy's curiosity made him think until his mind was on the verge of exploding.