🌱 ARC13: A Quiet Unease at the Start

The journey was quieter than expected.

Since leaving the battlefield and starting to walk in search of the source, there had been no enemies worth calling enemies. The current of magic was calm, and the air wasn’t drawn tight. The world kept going as if nothing had happened—almost too easily.

And that, somehow, made it harder to settle.

Along the silent road, her attention kept turning inward.

The sensation of being shaved away each time she used magic.

The parts that never came back, no matter how many times she healed.

The fact that those losses were real.

She had come to find an answer, and still had nothing in her hands.

—If I keep walking like this… will I reach it?

The thought began to rise—

and then, the air ahead warped, just slightly.

A presence.

No hostility.

But not quite human, either.

She stopped and searched the space around her.

In that instant, a shadow cut across the edge of her vision.

“...Show yourself!”

After a few beats, it stepped out.

No weapon raised.

But not defenseless.

It kept its distance—neither fleeing nor approaching—only standing there.

The stance was strange.

Not a fighter.

Not a traveler.

It took her a moment to decide that.

“...You shouldn’t pass through here.”

The voice was low.

It sounded like a warning, and also like advice.

“Why?”

At the question, the other’s gaze wavered—just once.

“...Not now. I can’t answer.”

Something inside her shifted, faintly.

It wasn’t the feeling of a reason being hidden.

It was more like the reason itself couldn’t be put into words.

“I’m going anyway.”

She said it simply.

The other didn’t move right away.

Instead, it watched her closely.

A measuring look.

But there was no hostility in it.

“...Then don’t regret it.”

With that, it stepped back—only one step.

The path wasn’t blocked.

It wasn’t trying to stop her.

And yet, it didn’t see her off, either.

It stayed where it was.

As she passed, she noticed something.

This one had noticed her “loss.”

Not through magic.

Not through a stare.

Something more instinctive—an unpleasant kind of knowing.

“...Who are you—”

She tried to ask, but the words didn’t make it out.

The other gave the smallest shake of the head.

“Not worth naming.”

“I’m only... someone who keeps watch.”

Keeps watch.

The phrase caught in her chest.

What are you guarding.

Who are you guarding.

The questions rose—

but something told her she shouldn’t ask.

Silence held for a while.

Only the sound of wind passing through felt strangely loud.

“Coming with me?”

Half a joke.

But the reply came at once.

“...For a while, we’re heading the same way.”

It could have been agreement.

It could have been surveillance.

She had no reason to refuse.

If anything, she felt as if this journey needed another person’s eyes.

They began to walk together.

Their footsteps overlapped.

And that sensation—

was faintly familiar.

She still didn’t know a name.

She didn’t trust this person.

And yet, the distance between them didn’t feel far.

What this meeting would bring—

she wasn’t thinking about it yet.

Only one thing felt certain—

that this person would someday carry something she couldn’t return from.

— Lumi🪄💕