After a few days, the child's trauma symptoms subsided. And today, Together with Nurse Oya walked outs of the health center holding hands. Under the cool air and bright sun, Demir was examining his surroundings carefully.
- Let's walk around a bit. First of all, I will introduce you to the surroundings and give you more detailed information about this place. Listen patiently, okay?
- Ok,
- (When they got a little further from the health center, Nurse Oya started to introduce the academy) Do you know? Our academy was founded two thousand years ago. At that time, we were an educational institution operating within the state. But later, our academy separated from the state and became a private educational institution. Although there are many martial academies like ours in the world, our academy is one of the most elite. Both the education system and the teachers are of very high quality. It has always been in the top three in the annual tournaments and the grand graduation tournament held every twelve years… …
Nurse Oya became more enthusiastic as she gave information about the academy. He did not forget to include a few stories from the academy in his speech. Demir was listening to Nurse Oya and looking around.
The two of them wandered around for a while and eventually came to an ancient theater-like structure. This place could easily accommodate three thousand people. Although not dense, the surrounding area was full of oak trees.
- This is the gathering point of human students, this is a large...
- Are there students other than humans, sister?
- !!
Surprised by the child's question, Nurse Oya was distracted for a moment.
- This place was created by the Supreme Master only for humans...
- Who is the Supreme Master, sister?
- !!
Nurse Oya, who encountered a question in every sentence, decided to be more careful.
- Supreme Master is the director of this academy. People cannot enter the academy unless they have his approval.
Nurse Oya paused for a while and continued,
- Aren't you going to ask what is an academy?
- I know what the academy is.
- Good... If you want to enter this academy, you must get approval from the Supreme Master.
- Here is nice. It's full of my favorite oak trees. My mother had loves it, my father had loves it too...
After saying "My father had loves it too", Demir's head bowed down. Seeing that Demir was upset, Nurse Oya rubbed Demir's head with her hand. He leaned down slightly and looked into her eyes and said, "Don't worry, you will improve yourself a lot here. You will be very strong. And no one will be able to harm you or your loved ones again," she said and hugged her tightly. Demir could not raise his arms and hug Nurse Oya, but the sharpness in her eyes and the sadness that followed could be clearly seen.
They wandered around for a while longer, but Demir had lost all interest. When Nurse Oya noticed this, they finished the trip and returned to the health center. Looking tired, Demir changed his clothes and lay down on his bed. Nurse Oya has also returned back to her routine work...
Demir left the health center alone the next morning. He thought carefully last night and made a decision. He would get up early in the morning and he will go to the administration building. He would go in and somehow meet with Dean Noyan. After that, there was the matter of entering the academy, but he hadn't thought about that part yet. The most important thing was to reach Dean Noyan.
He strengthened his determination and headed towards the administration building. He knew where the administration building was because he and Nurse Oya toured the academy campus yesterday. Finding the building and getting in was no problem. The problem was that Dean Noyan was not there. It was a complete waste of time that he went through many difficulties and could not meet Dean Noyan. That's why, when he increased his walking speed, he started praying that Dean Noyan would be in the building too.
After walking for about twenty minutes, he came to the administration building, which looked like an ancient castle. The building was about forty meters high and had very large windows. With its dark gray walls and black roof, it gave off a gloomy and dangerous atmosphere. Although Demir was a little scared, he gathered all his courage and pushed the huge metal door of the administration building.
While he was thinking "Why isn't it opening? I wonder if it is locked?", he lifted his head up and after, started pushing the other wing of the door. "The door is very heavy, I can't even reach the handle, I don't have the strength to open it," he said and walked away from the door.
"This is a huge building, there must be another entrance," he said and started walking around the building. After turning around the jagged corners of the building, he came across another door. He pushed the door, which was smaller than the other one, but this door did not open either. Another door and after another door too, he came back to where he started.
He tried to open five doors so far, but all the doors were locked. He pushed the entrance door again, but there was no movement at the door. "Tomorrow is a new day," he said and turned back the way he came. While Demir was walking away from the building, Dean Noyan was watching Demir's leave from his room on the top floor of the building.
The next day Demir came again. After trying all the doors, today, unlike yesterday, he also checked the windows, but could not find any openings and turned and left. This situation continued for a week.
On the eighth day, seeing Demir coming from afar, Dean Noyan said, "Release the lock of the personnel entrance door." After thinking for a moment, he added, "Direct him to the main lobby." He calmly walked out of his room with his hands behind his back.
Demir came as usual and checked the big metal door first. Then another, and another, and when he tried the fifth door, the door suddenly opened. Since he had been coming to the building for a week, the dangerous atmosphere of the building no longer frightened him, but when the door opened, the fear inside him had revived. He couldn't move for a while due to the sudden change in emotion. It took him a moment to brace himself, and then he walked through the door with uneasy steps.
He realized that this place, which he first thought was a room, was a wide corridor. He walked down the corridor for a while. From time to time, he also checked the doors connected to the corridor. "There's not a single door open, and for some reason they're all on the left," he said.
He noticed another door just ahead when he suddenly stopped. "Finally, a door on the right," he said and quickly came to the door. While he thought, "This door is locked," he did not expect the door to open on his first try.
He entered a very large room and with high ceilings. The double-winged metal door standing between the wide and high windows on the left side wall was quite familiar. The right side of the room had two floors. The staircase leading to the second floor was connected to a large balcony...
Demir, who was looking at the huge chandelier on the ceiling with his mouth open, was suddenly startled by the sounds coming from his right. He turned his head quickly and listened carefully to the incoming sounds. It didn't take long for him to realize that the sound was coming from upstairs. He slowly walked up the stairs and came to where the sound was.
An old man, dressed in gray clothes and looking slightly stooped, was cleaning the floor with a mop in his hand,
- Hello, mister, he said kindly
The old man seemed surprised to see the boy. He stopped what he was doing and turned to the boy,
- Hello little man... Lost your way?
- Y.. Yes... I think... I was looking for the Supreme Master...
- The Supreme Master does not meet with just anyone who wants to. Do you have an appointment?
- !!. I don't have an appointment...
The child's timid demeanor and sad posture made the old man feel like he had a grandchild,
- What's your name, little man?
- De.. Demir.
- Nice name. Well tell me how old you are,
- I'm eight and a half years old... No, I'm nine, I'm nine years old, sir,
- Do you know, it's cleaning day. The Supreme Master must be around here somewhere for an inspection. He's usually in the tea garden. Check it out if you want.
- Ok. But how can I get there?
When Demir walked away towards the garden as the old man described, the old man straightened his back. He put down the mop in his hand, and left the room.
Demir found the tea garden easily, thanks to the old man's guidance. After some research, he saw someone walking around the ornamental pool with his hands behind his back. He was suddenly surprised when he came running to him. The person in front of him looked very similar to the old cleaner. He immediately regained his composure and asked calmly,
- Hello, sir, are you the Supreme Master?
- ?
Dean Noyan looked steeply at the boy in front of him and then frowned,
- Yes, but who are you?
- I'm sorry, sir, I was rude. My name is Demir, Demir Han. I was born on June 27th, 2029...
Demir thoroughly introduced himself to Dean Noyan for about five minutes and then went silent.
- Why are you calling me?
- Sir, I want to be a student of your academy.
- No one under fifteen can enter the academy. Come back after six years.
- !! But... But... I have nowhere to go. My mom and dad are dead...
For ten minutes, Demir talked about how his parents died and how he was alone in life, crying every now and then. He was about to go on longer when Dean Noyan, whose eye twitched slightly, intervened,
- That's enough... Okay... I'll let you stay here for a while.
- Thank you, thank you, sir,
While Dean Noyan was thinking (where am I going wrong), Demir asked a surprising question to Dean Noyan,
- Do you have a hobby like cleaning up, sir?
Dean Noyan's blue eyes brightened as he was about to turn away. He regained his attention and answered expectantly,
- No,
- Then do you have a twin brother, sir?
- No, I don't. Why are you asking me this?
- The cleaning uncle inside looks so much like you, at first I thought it was you, then I thought you were twins. I apologize, sir.
Dean Noyan asked when Demir bowed his head sadly,
- Tell me, what are my similarities with the cleaner?
- You have the same face shape. Both of you have light blue eyes. The little finger of your left hand was bent inwards, and so was his. Even the small black earring in your right ear is the same. His back was slightly bent, but I'm sure if he could stand straight he would be the same height as you… - Well, can you tell the differences between us?
- His dress was gray, yours was white. He wore slippers, you wore shoes. His back was slightly bent, yours is straight. His hair and beard were gray with white, yours were all white. Although it wasn't very bright inside the building, so I might have seen wrong...
Finally, he looked left and right at Dean Noyan and then said "I think that's all". Dean Noyan looked into Demir's full of intelligence eyes and said, "Little man, come back in three days and pre-register for the academy" and turned and left.
As Demir looked after Dean Noyan, the overflowing joy was reflected on his face. "If I hadn't cried enough and been careful enough, I wouldn't have gotten such a result," he said, then turned and walked away, skipping happily...