The Secrets I Forgot

The Magician's Club

Monday — 07:12

In Rue 31 stood the Magician Club, a place where people helped those with mental disorders, life problems, and similar issues… They were mostly conventional magicians, meaning those who had no Neph but were born with minor supernatural abilities.

You don’t enter that place and come out unchanged.

That was where Rin was heading. He had heard about this club through Charly, whom he had begged to give him more information about Tania. Going to the Magician Club was not a mission from Charly, but something he needed for future plans.

He was wearing his university uniform, with his school bag.

He opened the door and saw a young woman sitting at the entrance on the right, in front of several computers. The room was spacious, with other facilities and people cleaning. They had just opened.

He approached the young woman, who lifted her head from her computer and looked at Rin in surprise before smiling warmly.

“Good morning?”

Rin looked around with a calm smile and said, “Good morning, miss.”

“Do you have problems? Nice, you came very early. Our specialists aren’t here yet, so if you want you can leave your name and come back later…” She glanced at his uniform and added, “Uh, after school.”

You talk too much. Rin thought.

He let out a dry laugh. “Haha! I actually came here to work, my dear.”

“…”

The woman fell silent. She asked again, just to be sure, still smiling, “Like… like a cleaner or a guard, right?”

Rin smiled mischievously.

The woman’s heart skipped a beat as she whispered, “Right?”

“I want to be a ‘guide’,” Rin said. That was the common name for so-called magicians.

Joining this club and listening to people could help him find traces of supernatural events, maybe even people who witnessed something during the Khalthu’ra night and gather information from them. In any case, it would expose him to all kinds of victims, and that was necessary to investigate and understand what was happening in Tania.

The woman was extremely surprised. She couldn’t believe a young boy wanted to work here as a guide. Guides were people specialized in reading facial expressions, able to infer thoughts or truths about you just from observation.

They also needed good reasoning skills and the ability to make calm decisions in various situations.

It required years of experience and practice.

“No! I can’t accept this,” the woman said firmly, not wanting to negotiate.

Rin didn’t look disappointed. He had expected it.

“You’re saying that because you care about what others will think, right?”

“…”

“W-what…?” The woman sighed. “Well, yes. No one would accept a young guy here anyway. Besides, clients always prefer older people because they have more experience.”

Except I’m a real magician and I have Script Writer… Rin thought, slightly annoyed.

He hadn’t used Script Writer because he wanted things to unfold naturally, letting people think and act on their own. He only used it to help or solve problems he couldn’t handle himself. That was his mentality. Yesterday he had to write all day because of Charly’s mission, and even then he hadn’t abused its power.

“Give me a chance. You won’t regret it, I promise,” Rin said, trying to convince her.

“How can I be sure I won’t be disappointed?”

Rin glanced at a flower pot next to one of the computers and smiled before closing his eyes.

“…”

The woman was surprised but said nothing.

Ten seconds later, Rin opened his eyes and still smiling said, “That flower pot was given to you by a young man who is pursuing you, right?”

“…”

The woman froze.

“But you didn’t like it, yet you had no choice but to accept it. And that young man is supposed to come back this afternoon.”

“Yesterday at 3 PM you were eating popcorn in one of the rooms during your break.”

“Two days ago, you received your monthly salary.”

“Should I continue?”

“…”

The woman went silent, her face turning pale as if she had seen a ghost.

“H-how do you know all this?”

Rin smiled. “So… will you give me a chance?”

I really like History Reader now. It’s so useful. Rin thought.

The woman paused for about twenty seconds, wondering if she had told anyone all of this. Then she sniffed lightly.

He probably has accomplices here feeding him information… some long-prepared plan. Whatever. If he gets ignored by clients, that’s not my problem.

“Very well. Come back this afternoon.”

“Okay,” Rin smiled lightly.

The woman lowered her head, sighing… then raised it again as if she wanted to speak, but froze.

Rin was gone.

Huh? She stood up in shock, walked to the door, opened it, and looked outside at the passing carriages, then left and right but there was nothing.

One or two seconds had passed since she sighed, and Rin had already disappeared.