There were no plot twists or special descriptions.
Yet, Annan discerned, from Isaac’s flat narration, the desperation of the then young Isaac.
At the height of his thirst for knowledge, the door to learning was brutally shut on him.
"And what happened after that?"
Annan couldn’t help but ask.
"Well..."
Isaac paused in his steps.
He lifted his head to look at the sky.
The sky of Dennisiowa was as blue as it ever was.
Just as it had been when he was locked in the dark room, looking out through the window.
"At that ti, my heart... was even full of hatred."
Isaac said softly, "I thought about dying at one point—crashing my head against the corner of a table so that they couldn’t make money off anymore. Maybe my uncle would avenge ... but I was afraid of pain, so I didn’t do it.
"Then I had another thought... Even if I were to die, I should not let them off. Because, after all, I owed them nothing; it was they who owed .
"—My mother who coaxed the money out of ; my stepfather who took all the money; my brothers and sisters who mocked as a ’bookworm’; my grandmother who locked up for fear of not getting their money if sothing happened to ... I even thought of setting fire to my room, burning myself and all of them to death.
"Perhaps in so alternate future, I had already done it. After all, that hatred was too intense and real, like the nauseating stench of overflowing viscera from a slit belly.
"At that ti, I even began to doubt... doubt whether I had killed them and was imprisoned. And in my madness, I hallucinated, thinking I hadn’t done it yet...
"But in the end, I cald down. Because I saw those books in my room.
"—I thought, if I burned down this room, they would be destroyed too. I still had the opportunity to read books, and perhaps sowhere, there was a child who, like , thirsted for knowledge but couldn’t even afford books.
"So I thought, if I really couldn’t go to school... I’d teach myself."
Isaac’s voice was resolute: "Among the books I bought, there was much knowledge we hadn’t learned or encountered yet. I bought those books partly because I could not wait, and partly to show off my abilities to my classmates—look, I can even understand such profound books.
"Of course, I didn’t actually understand those books. Even if I could understand so of it, it was only superficial.
"But since I couldn’t leave the house, I concentrated on mathematics, and a month passed like that... My uncle still didn’t send any money."
At this point, Isaac’s voice gradually beca ethereal: "So, my books were sold off by them, not a single one was left.
"The money from the sales went partly to pay off the orchard’s debt. The rest was used for my sister’s birthday celebration—I got a chicken leg and a bowl of ham soup as a reward for my ’contribution.’ But I couldn’t stomach it, I even felt sick.
"So I dumped it on my sister’s head. And that was the first ti I ever got beaten—but watching her cry, I just wanted to laugh. So, I laughed out loud as I took the beating.
"Perhaps my laugh sounded too hideous. My stepfather grew fearful of and dared not beat again. I was just locked in the dark room—this ti with only half the food, no whale oil lamp, not to ntion paper for drafting that could be used only if there was light.
"But I had foreseen this."
Isaac said, a smile actually appearing on his face: "I guessed they would sell my books sooner or later. In that one month, I had nearly morized them.
"Even without books, without a pen, without light, they couldn’t stop from continuing to learn—at least until I had fully digested that knowledge."
"So, in the dark room, with no light, I closed my eyes and constructed formulas with my imagination. I imagined that light ford letters that floated before ... My imagination was good; the numbers changed swiftly and never collapsed.
"Until one day, when I instinctively reached out my hand and wrote the ’numbers’ in the void as usual, as if there was a pen.
"—The green light reflected from those ’numbers’ illuminated my fingers in the dark night."
That was a talent belonging to a "Wizard."
Annan imdiately discerned it.
It was because of his extre longing and clear yearning that the young Isaac had beco a "wizard apprentice" without a teacher.
According to Isaac’s account, his stepfather clearly was the kind to not take action until he saw the benefits. If he couldn’t suppress Isaac, he simply wouldn’t care about a "child from his wife’s forr husband" who didn’t even share his surna.
Isaac’s mother and Isaac’s stepfather were childhood sweethearts, and she was supposed to marry him. But she ended up marrying "Flall," a man with better talent, a more handso appearance, and a more noble bloodline.
Annan could even imagine Isaac’s stepfather hurling insults at him like "elf bastard" or sothing.
After all, Isaac’s re existence proved his failure—he wasn’t the victor who had won Isaac’s mother’s heart but rely a spare tire.
Even though Isaac’s biological father had died many years ago, he had still never received all of Isaac’s mother’s love.
And now, he even needed the money given by Isaac’s uncle just to make a living.
His self-esteem was completely out of balance, and it seed likely that he might do sothing even more outrageous...
"A month passed after that. My stepfather finally learned of my uncle’s death... I believe he must have been in despair at that ti."
Because the money he had borrowed was now certain to be unpayable.
Once it beca known, even if he tried to sell the orchard again, people would deliberately underbid him. In the end, no matter what, he would end up buried in debt.
"So, he sent to the gambling den. Using the ’Flall’ bloodline as bait, he hoped to use to settle his debts. The reason was ’soone sends a sum of money every month for his sake.’ But I believe, he simply thought I was useless and wanted to get rid of while he had the chance."
A slight smile appeared on Isaac’s lips, a sneer on his face: "But gambling dens don’t offer such good fortune. Gambling dens are places that devour people without spitting out bones, and a real pawnshop wouldn’t accept a living person like .
"So the gambling den turned into chips for him to gamble with. Needless to say, the result—he not only lost everything but even staked his own life. The Tower of Black Radiance always needs that kind of ’teaching tool’—one that won’t be missed when it’s dead.
"He had always been a debtor and naturally wouldn’t accept his losses willingly. So he found a chance and slipped away... just like that person did.
"Clearly, the owner of the gambling den didn’t lack such a living person. So the enforcers who gave chase didn’t show any rcy—they beat him to death right there in the street, ran a fish hook through his belly and hung him on a post. It served as a warning to other slaves not to think about escaping.
"But I was worth much more than he was. The proprietor put his hand on my shoulder and made watch him be beaten to death, blow by blow. The proprietor told children are worth more than adults. He wouldn’t sell to the Tower of Black Radiance.
"Then he asked , ’Do you have anything to say? Are you good at anything? Do you have any special value? Speak now, or it may be too late.’
"So I told him calmly, ’That man sold cheap.’ Then I demonstrated the spell I had mastered in front of him.
"He was very pleased at that ti. He told he could sponsor to study at the Wizard’s Tower, on condition that I sign a contract to serve him for sixty years after my graduation. He asked which one I preferred."
"...Did you say at the ti that you wanted to go to the Jade Tower?"
Annan inquired.
Isaac chuckled lightly: "Of course not.
"I told him I wanted to sell myself again. The price would be the difference in value between a ’Flall’ and a ’Flall’ who can cast spells.
"—And with that gamble, I won myself back at his gambling den and even won a tuition fee. Of course, I wouldn’t want to return to Dennisiowa Theological Seminary... If I couldn’t beco Yawen’s bishop, then I wouldn’t have any power. I would continue to be hurt, just as before. And a mathematician can’t change anything at all.
"I wanted to obtain real power—I wanted to beco a wizard.
"The proprietor lost money, but didn’t make things difficult for . Instead, he seriously explained to the recently concluded ’Wizard War,’ detailed the different schools, and helped select the right one. He even gave so travel expenses and sent an escort to accompany out of the city... all the way to the front of the Jade Tower.
"He told , ’You must make this damn world better. This promise is what you’re selling to .’"
In Isaac’s erald green pupils, there seed to be flas burning: "I’ve always rembered that promise, as well as his na.
"His na was Damastes Roaring Fang. A ’Roaring Fang’ who was a loser. Once full of zeal to strive to change the world, but in the end, chose to wallow with the muck... a criminal.
"He committed many illegal acts, but Dennisiowa’s laws never punished him—because not many years after he sent away, he was killed by a vendetta. His entire house was extinguished."
"...And what happened after that?"
"After that..."
Isaac’s deep lake-green pupils gazed outside: "I might have succeeded, I might have failed. I indeed made the world a better place... but maybe it’s not much better, maybe it was once worse than what I have seen.
"But I have already done everything that I could—I tried. I failed. I am not a deity. I gave my all, but could only go so far..."
As Isaac spoke, he looked at Annan with a mixture of expectation and bewildernt: "But I think, you might be different... Your Majesty. Probably different."
Annan remained silent, his grip slightly tightening on his cane.
As he reflected, a faint light kindled in the depths of Annan’s eyes. Then, almost imdiately, it was absorbed by his ring.
He remained quiet for a long ti, then suddenly spoke.
"Do you still rember where that gambling den is?
"If you do... take there to see."
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