There is an extra person in Ryan's room. He has blonde curly hair with a big forehead, and crystal-rimmed glasses resting on his nose. At one glance, combined with his white shirt and dark brown trousers and white coat, he looks like a professional doctor, standing out in the room.
He examined Finz's corpse with seriousness, especially the cut at the throat. Glimpse of the two figures that appeared out of thin air, the blonde-haired man wasn't shocked at all, as he had already anticipated the two figures.
"Captain, this is your first time. You can't kill someone within your void space," the blonde-haired man said with utmost interest.
The mysterious figure chuckled inwardly at the blonde-haired man's words. "Who told you killing is the only solution?"
The mysterious figure gently took off his half-top hat, revealing black curly hair, and said, "Besides, this man is not an ordinary person."
The mysterious figure gave Ryan a deep glance.
The blonde-haired man looked at Ryan from foot all the way to Ryan's head, but no matter what, he didn't see anything extraordinary in Ryan.
But since the captain had said so, this man must not be normal.
To manage to make it out alive within the captain's void space signaled that this man had some skill, perhaps even on the level of the captain, given that he left unscathed... With this thought in mind, the blonde-haired man asked Ryan in a deep voice:
"Did you kill this man?"
"Yes," Ryan answered with honesty, as he didn't have anything to lie about.
The blonde-haired man continued asking.
"Do you know him?"
Ryan looked at the familiar yet unfamiliar face, thinking back to when he met this man at the Love Bar, exchanged information, and paid for a meal for him. But now what remains is just a fragment of the past, merely just a moment of the past.
Ryan sighed softly and said with an emotionless face, "I have met him before. I never expected him to be the serial murderer. I met him at the Love Bar and exchanged information with him about the serial murderer, then just a moment ago he came to my room and tried to kill me. Don't you find this odd?"
Ryan didn't conceal the information; everything he said was true. Finz was just an ordinary youth who met him at the Love Bar by coincidence, was later saved by Ryan, and now he is lying motionless on the spot, and it was Ryan who killed him.
Ryan believed this wasn't Finz's true nature, and based on the appearance, Finz before and Finz now are like entirely different people.
The blonde-haired man didn't interrupt Ryan; he listened carefully, avoiding any mistake.
The mysterious figure stood on the side, his shoulder against the wall, his body turned toward the blonde-haired man and Ryan. Anchored between his thumb and index finger was a cigar made from solid wood. He raised the cigar toward his lips and drew inward. A crackling, burning tobacco ember flared into a bright glowing cherry.
With a puff, a thick plume of blue-grey haze drifted lazily into the air, carrying the heavy scent of toasted wood and leather.
He stood there and calmly observed the unfolding scene, while his attention was on high alert, ready to strike at any moment.
The blonde-haired man didn't answer Ryan's suspicions, nor did he question him back. With one hand stuffed into his pocket, he switched the topic.
"Which weapon did you use to kill him?"
Ryan was caught off guard by the man's question. He had thought that the blonde-haired man would ask him what method he used to kill the murderer, but instead, he asked which weapon.
This left no room for mishaps. If Ryan were to tell him that he used some special weapon to kill, then the blonde-haired man would ask for the weapon. No matter what Ryan answered, it would always point back to the weapon; thus, if Ryan killed the murderer via special means, the blonde-haired man would ask another question meant to reveal Ryan's secret.
With how he could survive the mysterious figure's void space and come out without any injury pointed out that he is not a normal person.
This man is so smart. He didn't inquire about how I could kill the murderer, but he asked which weapon I used to dig out more secrets from me. Ryan sighed with a helpless expression; finally, he chose to tell the truth.
"Since the matter has developed to this point, I might as well tell you the truth. I am a magician..."
The moment he said this sentence, a bolt of lightning appeared out of nowhere and struck Ryan back. Ryan screamed at the top of his lungs, the pain making him collapse onto one knee.
A figure had appeared at the entrance of the door at some point in time. He slowly approached Ryan with measured steps. Ryan couldn't see the figure's appearance clearly as his vision turned blurry before darkness enveloped his entire vision.
Before completely losing himself, he heard the footsteps of people approaching him, and it wasn't just one footstep, but a group of footsteps. Finally, Ryan lost himself entirely and sank into unconsciousness.
In a small room without any exterior, the walls were made of hard metal reflecting an image when looked at. The metal covered the entire room. There was a door made from solid dark metal, with a chair and table situated at the center of the room. A wooden chair sat on the opposite side, with a metal table standing in between.
On the chair at the door's side, Ryan was sitting with his eyes closed, and there was no one else besides him. The room was empty yet quiet enough to hear one's breath.
A small round lamp embedded in the ceiling illuminated the room with a faint light. The light reflected on the metal, making the metal surface appear hazy and ethereal.
A soft sound of footsteps echoed outside the room. The footsteps gradually stopped in front of the doorstep. With a creaking sound, the door of the room opened, carrying a heavy sound.
A figure entered the room. He was none other than the mysterious man, but this time he had changed his clothing. He wore a white shirt with long sleeves covered by a grey vest, and dark brown trousers. He appeared gentler and softer than the one met earlier.
He walked toward the opposite side of Ryan's side and sat on the chair facing Ryan.
Ryan's eyes were shut tight. Even with someone walking in, he didn't awake. Upon seeing Ryan still unconscious, the mysterious figure snapped his fingers lightly.
The sound of the finger snap vibrated throughout the room. Ryan jolted awake at the finger snap sound, as if he had just woken from a nightmare. Panic took hold of him as he tried to move his body.
But no matter what, he couldn't move his body at all, as if he had been locked on the spot.
"Your movement is restricted; there is no point in wasting your energy," the mysterious man calmly said.
Ryan looked at the mysterious figure with a cold glance. "Why did you capture me?"
The mysterious man gave Ryan a meaningful look, and instead of answering his question, he asked, "How did you become a magician?"
Hearing this question, Ryan sneered coldly; he didn't answer the mysterious man's question.
The mysterious man seemed to expect this, but instead of pressing for an answer, he chose to switch the topic. "As far as I know, there is only one method to become a magician."
The mysterious man observed Ryan's face, and noticing there was no reaction from him, he continued, "It is called Self-Invoked."
"I don't know if you know all of this information, but there is a hypothesis that we magicians are born from the oldest will. It could be said every magician's uniqueness and power originate from the oldest will."
Ryan's interest was piqued. "Why tell me all of this? This should be secret information."
"With the ability you displayed just now, it is highly likely you know some information about the origin of your ability," the mysterious man smiled lightly.
What is his motive in telling me all of this? Ryan thought in puzzlement.
Ryan didn't give any information related to his identity; he firmly restrained himself. "Cut the crap and tell me about your motive."
The mysterious man was very patient as he maintained his smile and gently asked, "Now let me ask, how do ordinary people see us magicians?"
Ryan once again was caught off guard by this question, remaining silent as he didn't know what to answer.
"Normal people view us as monsters regarding these supernatural things. Now take a look at the rumors circulating around the town lately; every rumor points toward a monster, even the serial murderer is regarded as a monster.
But they have a point. The serial murderer is indeed an inhuman being, but in one of the rumors, there is a person walking out of the forest with his body covered in fire. You just moved to this town; you should have caught a whiff of it, right?"
"How did you know I just moved in?" Ryan's eyes widened, bewilderment filling his eyes.
The mysterious man smiled faintly and said, "Do you think this is just a small town, and thus there is no security at all?"
The mysterious man paused to think for a moment before saying, "You set foot in this town for the first time on June 12th, and now it is June 19th. The first citizen you interacted with was the bartender at the Love Bar.
You rented a room at a hotel called One Night At, a kiosk on Street 32BT, on the 13th. Your most visited places are the Love Bar and the town library.
And you spent most of your time gathering intel and reading culture books, folklore, traditions, and the history of this town. In the first place, I should ask what your motive is rather than you asking me."
For a moment, the room unknowingly sank into an eerie silence; even the sound of breathing could be heard. Ryan was stunned on the spot, unable to move his body; he sat still on the spot, appearing like a stone statue.
How did he know my every move? While committing all of this, I was extremely careful. I always checked my surroundings before going to the library and gathering intel, yet he knows everything about me...
Ryan was terrified. For the first time, the mysterious man in front of him was like a big mountain exerting pressure on him.
The mysterious man didn't linger on it, as he drove the topic back to the main point. "That man covered in fire walking out of the forest is our member. He was dispatched to capture the serial murderer, and engaging in fierce combat ended up in his state.
When he got back, the citizens spotted him, and immediately they picked up stones or any solid objects and threw them at him. But they don't know he is the hero who saved them."
People in this town are always bold and reckless. Every time they see something bizarre beyond common sense, they regard it as a monster that needs to be executed.
This is what people believe: between white and black, they believe black is always bad and evil, while white is good and virtuous.
If they see a tramp or a beggar, what comes to their minds is that this guy committed sins and did bad deeds leading to these current circumstances. This is human belief, strong and hard to resist.
"I captured you because you are a magician, the sole reason," the mysterious man said with an emotionless face.
"Magician? I am indeed a magician, but I didn't commit any crime. As you already know, I killed him because he was trying to kill me!" Ryan angrily shouted.
Is trying to save oneself by killing another also a crime?
This isn't a crime if we think from a human perspective, but if we think from another angle, if you kill a murderer, the number of murderers still remains the same.
The mysterious man didn't get angry when Ryan shouted at him. He calmly replied, his face devoid of any emotion, "This isn't a crime, but you displayed magician abilities in public, which violates the Law Court's rules.
Aside from the magicians recognized by the Law Court, others are wild magicians. We need to capture them to prevent any accidents. Consider yourself fortunate that we didn't kill you."
Every magician is a superhuman being beyond common sense. It could be said that compared to ordinary people, a magician is like a monster in their eyes.
"So you have two choices now: one is to join us, and the other choice is death."