"Junior Brother, don't overthink it. The mentor is just like that—he isn't good at expressing his feelings."
On the way back, Shatuo tried to comfort Reilo.
Young scholars often stopped to bow respectfully to Mentor Shatuo. The academy had a strong culture of honoring its teachers. Whenever Shatuo ran into a student he knew, he returned their greeting with his trademark smile. His dark face and bright white teeth made a striking contrast as he regarded these scholars as the academy's future.
Pain showed on Reilo's face.
"Does Mentor only have eyes for Senior Brother Wushuang?"
Thinking of Wushuang's warm concern for him, Reilo's resentment suddenly gave way to a sense of loss. He even felt inferior, helpless and powerless, like Anna, jealous of God of Light.
Compared with all the stories about Senior Brother Wushuang, Reilo's so-called achievements were truly insignificant.
Shatuo patted Reilo on the shoulder.
"Junior Brother, Mentor once said that this world itself is unfair. Some people are born exceptional, and they work far harder than ordinary people. They're genuine geniuses! Living under the same sky as them is the sorrow of the mediocre. No matter how hard we try, we'll never surpass them!"
Shatuo's words let Reilo feel the utter despair in his heart, and stirred up a sense of indignation and defiance.
The sorrow of the mediocre?
No matter how hard they tried, they'd never surpass them?
In Reilo's mind, a scene from a month ago came to life: Senior Sister Bailing bringing him home, where he'd met Wushuang for the first time. Reilo had admired him from the bottom of his heart. The stories about him were legendary: he'd outshone the six academies in the graduation assessment, and all the scholars of his generation who called themselves geniuses had paled beside him. No one could rival him, and he was left alone in his loneliness.
By comparison, what was Reilo...?
If he were Mentor Gubo, he'd surely be proud to have a student like Wushuang!
Reilo clenched his fists. But when he thought of Senior Brother Wushuang, he seemed to lack even the courage to shout. He longed for Mentor Gubo's approval. If he could have just a sliver of the attention Wushuang received, that would be enough!
Suddenly, Reilo stopped.
"Junior Brother, what's wrong?"
Reilo looked at Shatuo, gritting his teeth. For a moment, he seemed utterly resolute.
"If I can make it to first place on the academy's Elite Rank, like Senior Brother, and outshine the six academies in the graduation assessment, Mentor will surely look at me the way he looks at Senior Brother!"
Shatuo looked at Reilo, and their eyes met.
In that instant, Shatuo saw a great deal in Reilo's eyes. Reilo saw just as much in his.
"Junior Brother, remember: from the moment we entered the academy, we took on the historic mission of passing the torch. By the same token, no matter how Mentor treats us, he must fulfill his duty to pass the torch and teach us everything he knows without reservation. If we don't earn his attention, we can only blame ourselves for not being good enough—not anyone else."
Shatuo spoke earnestly and gently patted Reilo's shoulder again.
Reilo lay in bed, tossing and turning, unable to sleep.
He was tormented inside. He'd made Senior Brother Wushuang his example and set out to catch up with him. Though he'd worked hard these past few days, it was nowhere near enough to reach his goal.
The gap between them was beyond what hard work could make up for.
What should he do?
The experiences he'd had making natural specimens these past few days swirled through Reilo's mind like a whirlpool, each one appearing before him in turn, but he couldn't find any threads to follow.
"Argh..."
Frustrated, Reilo sat up in bed.
Moonlight spilled through the glass window and across the wooden floor. Reilo padded barefoot to the window and gazed out at the vast night sky. For a moment, his mind found peace.
Hoot, hoot.
In the stillness of the night, an owl's call rang out clearly.
Reilo paused and turned to look. A figure concealed in the darkness drifted toward his window like a ghost, an owl and a crow perched on his shoulders.
"Ah!"
Reilo jumped in fright and stumbled backward with a series of thuds, only for someone behind him to clamp a hand over his mouth.
As Reilo struggled in terror, the stranger behind him suddenly let out a puzzled sound.
Reilo's mind raced. Who had slipped into his room without a sound, and what would happen to him?
Creak.
The glass window seemed to swing open in a gentle breeze. The ghostly figure outside floated in. Reilo couldn't make out the person's face, only the familiar, deep-green eyes of the owl on their shoulder, and... a crow with a blood-red eye?
"Hm?"
The figure noticed Reilo and made the same puzzled sound.
As if recognizing him, the person then asked the owl on their shoulder in an old voice, "Are you sure this is the place?"
The owl nodded earnestly. "Hoo, hoo. That's right. He's one of the witnesses to that murder."
After hearing the confirmation, the figure who'd floated in through the window turned angrily toward Reilo's back.
"You old fool, isn't this your new disciple? Are you worried he'll let the secret slip?"
"Huh?"
A small light appeared. Reilo was still held fast by the strong hand over his mouth, unable to move. Then someone familiar stepped out from behind him: Mentor Gubo, looking utterly taken aback!
The figure who'd floated in through the window was Mentor Gubo's friend, Mentor Liuyan, the first-year deputy director of instruction!
What were these two old men doing in his room in the middle of the night?
"Reilo?"
Gubo slowly removed his hand from Reilo's mouth. His eye twitched, and his face was filled with a hundred shades of awkwardness.
Shocked, Reilo couldn't help asking, "M-Mentor, what are you doing?"
Reilo could hardly believe that the mentor who'd ignored him just two sandglasses ago had broken into his room in the middle of the night. He'd nearly been scared to death!
"Uh..."
Gubo glanced at Liuyan, then said awkwardly, "How was I supposed to know we'd end up at his place?"
Then Gubo looked at Reilo, who seemed as pitiful as if he'd suffered a great injustice. Thinking of how he'd neglected this disciple earlier and then argued with Lianyi, he felt his head throb. He snapped, "Of all the places you could've stayed, why did you come here? Don't you know how chaotic it is? You could die here without even knowing how it happened! Do you want me to come collect your body?"
Reilo couldn't help feeling aggrieved. "Because... the rent is cheap here."
Gubo waved a hand impatiently. "All right, all right. Mentor Liuyan and I have an important mission and need to use your room. Just stay quiet."
Liuyan, with an owl and a crow perched on his shoulders, shot Gubo an annoyed look and grumbled, "Are you sure this plan will work? If we botch this, The Church will have an excuse to interfere in the academy's affairs. Five albino patients have been attacked in a row. It must be the surviving Witchers from the Dark World secretly gathering spirit mediums for their sacrifices. The Church's arbiters aren't people we can easily handle!"
Gubo looked grave.
"With Jiahei's talent for disguises and my special Magic Props, those surviving Witchers won't notice a thing!"
Reilo listened silently as the two old men spoke.
Albinism was a relatively rare human condition, a kind of mutation.
The hair and skin of those with this mutation turned white due to a lack of pigment. They couldn't withstand direct sunlight, but adapted well to the night. They often had stronger bodies than ordinary people and gained special talents. They were among the few humans who could be said to have adapted to the world around them.
Over the past month, Reilo had quietly learned some basic facts about Witchers in the library.
First, Witchers conducted extensive human experiments, and almost every Witcher had a powerful body.
Second, Witchers believed that countless "spirits" existed in the world. By making "equal" sacrificial trades with these spirits, they could perform all kinds of terrifying witchcraft. Of these methods, the most common and powerful was blood sacrifice.
The organs and limbs of albino humans were among the Witchers' most prized offerings!
That was why albino patients, seeking to escape the threat of evil Witchers, generally fled to the holy city of the Aurora Pope, while a few settled in the natural academies of the various grand duchies and lived under the protection of their royal scholars.
"Wait, does that mean the person I saw dead that night was an albino?"