🏘️ ARC25: Rumors Walk Ahead

The moment she entered the village, the air changed.

The roads were intact. The buildings stood unbroken.

And yet, the murmur had already risen first.

Eyes pierced her.

Not openly.

But unmistakably, they were turned toward her.

Whispers blended with the wind.

“…Did you see that light?”

“Out past the edge of town…”

“They say there’s more of it now.”

The words broke off midway.

Not because they didn’t know the rest.

But because they didn’t want to say it.

Lumia did not stop walking.

If she stopped, the rumors would catch her.

If she kept moving, the rumors would follow.

—It wasn’t the world that had changed.

She tried to think that.

But the temperature of those gazes would not allow it.

“The monsters are acting strange.”

A passing man’s voice lingered in her ear.

“It’s not that there are more of them.”

“…They come closer.”

They come closer.

For no reason.

No bait.

As if they were trying to confirm something.

She stepped into the square.

A crowd had formed in front of the notice board.

Requests layered one over another.

Extermination.

Escort.

Night patrol.

The pay was higher than before.

Proof that danger was becoming routine.

Lumia tore down a single sheet.

Her fingertips trembled slightly.

—It can be used.

The light was still there.

As if nothing had been taken from her.

That thought left a roughness deep in her chest.

A presence stopped behind her.

She knew before turning.

—A gaze.

A figure stood there, wrapped in layers of cloth.

The outline of the face was vague; age and gender unreadable.

Only the eyes were clear, fixed firmly on her.

No retreat.

No blink.

As if they had been there from the very beginning.

“…You’re early.”

A low, flat voice.

Neither surprise nor confirmation.

A tone that merely set down a fact.

Before Lumia could speak, it continued.

“Those who carry that light usually take longer

to reach this place.”

Her name was not spoken.

And yet, she knew—she was seen.

A seer—

That kind of being, she understood instinctively.

“Go west.”

A short command.

No reason given.

No persuasion. No alternatives.

“What you seek

is not here.”

The gaze shifted, just for a moment.

Toward the edge of the village—beyond what could be seen.

“That which is too close

is hardest to see.”

With that, the seer fell silent.

The silence shaved away the surrounding sounds.

Lumia swallowed her question.

She didn’t believe.

But she no longer had a reason to refuse.

“…If I go west, what will I find?”

The seer tilted their head slightly.

“What was too close to be seen.”

The words resonated deep within her.

Too close to be seen.

The light.

The cost.

The monsters.

—Leon.

The answer had not yet taken shape.

But one thing was certain.

This village was a waypoint.

A place where rumors were born, spread, and warped.

And—

Beyond this point, the monsters would grow more violent.

To stop them.

Or to confirm something.

Lumia tightened her grip on the request slip.

She would need money.

Weapons. Information.

Preparation was necessary.

Before using the light.

Before being used by it.

The village’s murmur clung to her back.

The rumors had already begun to walk