After everyone went to their rooms, and in the middle of the night when everything was quiet—only the lights of the teachers' apartments and the guard towers were visible—
Rin went to try to sleep. He tossed and turned, left and right. No use. He counted sheep—one, two… one hundred and one, one hundred and two. Still no use. He waited minutes… ten minutes… also useless.
He stood up from his bed, saying with slight irritation:
"Why can't I sleep?"
He left his apartment—an organized, tidy place filled with books and clothes that clearly reflected Rin's personality.
The place was scary at night… at least there were guards and teachers still awake.
He began wandering until he reached the garden. He sat on a wooden bench in the middle of it.
After a while of staring at the sky—
"Hello, boy. What are you doing at this hour?"
A calm voice came, carrying a bit of warmth.
Rin looked behind him—there stood a tall man wearing a brown coat, a black robe, holding a book in his right hand, and wearing a monocle.
"Oh—uh, hello… who are you?" Rin asked, staring at him. He felt a strange mix of discomfort and happiness, for reasons he didn't understand.
The stranger sat next to Rin and replied:
"My name is Professor James. I specialize in Protection Sciences."
"Protection Sciences?" Rin was confused. Even though he had read a lot, he had never heard of such a field.
But the man quickly explained:
"It's a science focused on studying and developing protection mechanisms—like towers, traps, barriers, arrays, weapons, and so on."
"Ahaaa… that sounds like a hard and dangerous job."
"Haha, yes it is. Now tell me, what are you doing here?"
Rin returned his gaze to the sky.
"I don't know… I just can't sleep."
The man raised an eyebrow with a small smile.
"Why? What's keeping you awake?"
"I don't know."
"Well, what has been on your mind lately?"
Rin began searching through his thoughts.
The last thing that weighed on him was:
"My life."
The professor was surprised by his answer, then after a few seconds said:
"Your life? Did something that bad really happen to you?"
Rin's face held a mix of sadness and exhaustion.
"Yeah… I've been through a lot."
"Why don't you tell me what you've been through? Sometimes expressing what you feel makes your mood better."
"No… I don't want to bother you with my story," Rin said while playing with a lock of his hair.
The reply came immediately:
"No, I really want to know."
Rin began speaking with sadness and pain:
"Everything was normal—clear skies, sunny day, my mother's birthday. Everything was perfect. And then—
BOOOOOOM.
Fire. Blood. Bodies. Pain… I lost everything in less than five minutes."
"And how did you survive the explosion?"
"What I remember is… Eugene was in shock, frozen from the force of the blast. A giant rock was heading toward him, so I pushed him away—and then I got hit by the rock."
"And then what happened?"
"I found myself in a large white room. Beds around me, IV tubes, bright lights, curtains. I couldn't understand what happened until an investigator walked in and sat beside me."
He said: 'Tell me what happened in Eliso.'
That question was a slap to my face.
'What happened to Eliso?' meant… Eliso really was destroyed."
His heart pounded like drums, sweat pouring like waterfalls—and then:
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"
A loud, hysterical laugh.
Then suddenly—
"AAAAAAAH!"
A scream that turned into tears.
Every tear carried a memory of the village he once lived in.
Then a girl entered—with blonde hair and red eyes. He didn't focus on her clothes. She was a healer and she took out a strange flower that made him feel sleepy and comforted in a strange way.
"A Kalios flower."
"What?" Rin was confused by the professor's words.
The professor adjusted his monocle:
"I said a Kalios flower. It grows in the southern borders of Neptune. A red flower with golden streaks."
"Yes—that's… that's exactly what it looked like."
"It's considered one of the rare resources used by healers or in toxin-related paths. A mature flower can be sold for 250 silver coins. It's used to put a patient—or a criminal—into deep sleep and accelerate healing."
The professor looked at Rin, only to see Rin giving him a strange look… yes—a strange, slightly annoyed look because of the professor's constant interruptions.
The professor noticed and said:
"Oh—sorry. I got a little carried away. Please, continue."
"Alright… after that, I woke up feeling relieved, and the sadness attack stopped."
"The investigator came back and asked me:
'Let's keep it simple. Answer my questions first.'
I was tired, confused, and too relaxed—as if I were a king in his palace.
'Fine, what are your questions?'"
"He asked where I was during the incident, what I saw, what caused the injury, and so on."
"Then that same woman walked in—the one who used the flower. They called her Sherlock."
'How are you feeling now?'
Her gentle tone, bright eyes, and comforting smile… just like my mother.
'Uh… I'm fine.'
I was nervous—it was the first time I talked to a woman other than my mother or the flower seller in our village.
'Are you in pain?'
'Uhm… no, no I'm not.'
I was extremely shy."
He looked at the food tray beside him.
'Why didn't you eat?'
He looked at the plate.
'I don't have an appetite… and I just woke up.'
'Alright, you need to eat so you can recover quickly. Want me to bring you something else?'
'No, thank you. No need.'
Then Rin remembered Eugene, and before he could speak, it was as if she had read his mind.
'Don't worry, he's coming here. And he's fine. You just eat your food.'
She left, and a few minutes later Eugene arrived.
"I hugged him and we talked. Then Fire came and told us we were being transferred to Sun Academy, and that Eliso wasn't registered in the records. I didn't feel sad anymore—seemed like my tears had already run out on the day the village was destroyed."
"We went to the academy—huge, beautiful, magical. I felt happy because it was an advanced, safe place."
"I quickly found myself immersed in its atmosphere—Musa, Alex, the lectures. Then we met Reem—my first friend besides Eugene."
"Then Fred—another friend. It was nice… I felt like my life…"
"Like a train passing through a dark tunnel then emerging into the light. But—"
The professor's curiosity rose:
"But what?"
Rin continued:
"The Awakening Tests… since the morning I had a bad feeling. And I was extremely nervous about getting something lame in front of everyone.
But when I got a high talent score—I was happy.
Then Reem—she got the highest talent. I was really happy for her.
Then Eugene. My brother—of course he would get something high, right? But… no."
"An explosion, losing his talent, burning injuries—all in seconds. I felt terrible for him. He lost his talent and got hurt."
"I thought he would be depressed, but he wasn't. He returned to class like nothing happened. Honestly, I envy his willpower and determination. At that moment I understood why my mother called him the Sun—because he's bright, radiant, lively… and warm.
And me? She called me the Moon—the one who doesn't appear unless under the Sun's light."
"Did you feel jealous of him?" the professor asked.
Rin looked at him and said:
"No, what? Mom was right… I just wish I had my own light."
"Then we went to the market, met Alex, explored the black market. I just walked around with no goal, embarrassed, thinking a thousand useless thoughts. Then I told myself:
'I need to get rid of this shyness and this awful anxiety.'"
Rin's eyes slowly began to close.
"Aaah… if only I could be like Eugene… maybe my life would be… better…"
Then he fell into a deep sleep.
The professor smiled, removed his coat, laid Rin down across the bench, covered him with the coat, and walked away.
But he dropped a paper—a paper with a red three-pointed star drawn on it.
End of Chapter Thirteen.