Bobre Village’s south gate opened slowly.

  As the rough iron doors creaked and gave way, the chill of the morning slipped in without a sound.

  The three of them walked out side by side, as if taking the opening as their cue.

  “Hmhmm~ Hmhmm~?”

  The girl in front hummed a tune under her breath.

  Light, springy steps. A short jacket with a dagger strapped at her arm.

  But what stood out most was her messy, golden hair—and the green eyes that flickered between the strands.

  Those eyes were strange.

  Clear and bright, yet somehow unfamiliar, almost out of place.

  There was something about them that made people hesitate.

  “I really feel like a proper adventurer~ Today just feels good.”

  Aira laced her fingers behind her head and smiled.

  Walking behind her, Rynel spoke quietly.

  “You don’t look tense at all.”

  “How could I not be? This is our first mission as adventurers.”

  Aira spun around once and grinned wide.

  Rynel gave a small shake of his head.

  “Then don’t make a mistake.”

  “Hmph, you’re no fun~ Rynel, seriously, you take everything way too seriously.”

  After puffing her cheeks out, Aira closed the gap and stepped up beside him.

  “More importantly… you. Why’d you decide to be an adventurer?”

  Rynel drew in a short breath.

  Then, in a very low voice, he let a single name fall.

  “···Orta.”

  Aira blinked and tilted her head.

  “Orta? That’s… the name of the Demon King who fell ages ago, right? Like, three hundred years back? They said he vanished during the war with humans.”

  Rynel nodded slowly.

  “When I first… woke up.

  The people there said that name.

  As if… it had something to do with me.”

  Aira stared at him without speaking.

  Rynel’s gaze was calm, but something deep beneath it was wavering.

  “It could’ve been a coincidence. But it doesn’t sit right to just ignore it.

  If I become an adventurer, I can travel the world.

  Maybe I’ll find out something—anything.”

  “···That’s kind of creepy.”

  Aira muttered under her breath.

  “Then you?” Rynel asked.

  Aira lowered her eyes for a moment, then looked up again.

  “I… have somewhere I need to find.”

  Her voice was unusually quiet.

  In it, there was a vague longing mixed with an old promise.

  “When I got separated from my parents…

  we said we’d meet again in Elpensia.”

  “Elpensia…?” Rynel echoed.

  Aira nodded.

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  “I don’t know exactly where it is. Just… that it’s a village where elves live.

  If I keep wandering around with nothing but a name to hold onto…

  someday··· I might reach it, right?”

  A short silence.

  Rynel nodded quietly.

  “You’ll find it.”

  Aira grinned.

  Playful, and just a little sad in the eyes.

  “I have to. It’s a promise.”

  ◇

  The forest path ran along a gentle slope, and shadows from the trees began to spill over their feet.

  It was still spring, but the early-morning woods were colder than expected.

  Before long, the road split into three.

  No signpost, no marker—just a single heavy boulder planted at the fork.

  “Hm···”

  Aira stopped and looked around. Then she pointed left.

  “Left looks better. The smell of grass is stronger, see? In times like this, trusting your gut is best.”

  She sniffed loudly as if sealing the decision.

  Rynel said nothing, pulled a map from his bag, and unfolded it.

  Studying the paper under the tree shadows, he pointed right.

  “On the map, it’s the right.

  It’s a shortcut, and it connects near the designated route.”

  “Ehh~ There you go again, being all calculated.

  How about trusting instinct sometimes?”

  Aira pouted and complained.

  Just then, Ivela moved without a word—straight onto the right-hand path.

  One quiet choice.

  The other two followed in silence.

  “···Knew it.”

  Aira muttered with a shrug.

  More used to it than upset.

  Rynel glanced sideways at her and gave a small smile.

  “Majority vote.”

  At the short joke, Aira shot him a look and rested her chin on her hand.

  “But seriously, is Ivela always like that?

  Just… going off without saying anything?”

  She called it from behind as if asking, but Ivela, walking ahead, didn’t answer.

  Rynel shrugged.

  “From what I can tell, that’s her version of being polite.”

  “Ha, honestly~ There’s a limit to how blunt someone can be.”

  Aira kicked a branch aside with her foot and followed.

  After a bit, she spoke again—this time a beat slower, cautious.

  “By the way··· Ivela. Why did you become an adventurer?

  Are you… like us, searching for something?”

  Ivela paused, just for a moment.

  In that instant, something cold seemed to brush along their spines.

  Slowly, she turned her head.

  Her reply was short and sharp.

  “Don’t say pointless things.”

  Aira blinked once.

  Words stuck in her throat.

  Ivela continued, low and crisp.

  “We’re not here to play at being adventurers.

  Don’t forget our objective.

  Even if we act like adventurers on the surface, our real job is to gather information inside the village.”

  Leaving only that, Ivela turned forward again and resumed walking.

  The two behind her followed without speaking, exchanging only a look.

  Aira lowered the corners of her mouth and muttered.

  “···I only asked one question. Why’s she so intense···”

  Rynel kept his eyes ahead.

  His gaze, too, had hardened slightly.

  ◇

  Some time passed.

  The three of them walked the forest path in silence.

  The mood that had been light only moments ago had changed at some point.

  At first, it felt like nothing.

  But after a certain point, that “quiet” became too distinct.

  “···It’s quiet.”

  Aira spoke first.

  Her voice dropped with it.

  “Yeah.”

  Rynel answered simply and scanned the surroundings.

  Leaf tips, shadows, gaps of sky—he swept them carefully.

  “There aren’t even any birds.”

  Aira stopped as if listening harder.

  “A minute ago, you could hear bugs too··· Now it’s completely silent.”

  Ivela didn’t stop, but she slowed—just slightly.

  Rynel’s eyes caught on a tree by the roadside.

  Its bark was roughly stripped away, marked with scratches as if raked by something sharp.

  “Look.”

  When he pointed, Aira stepped closer to check.

  “Claw marks··· an animal?”

  She murmured.

  In the grass, small footprints were scattered here and there, and one set was so tiny and light it didn’t look human at all.

  And on the ground lay a single small, gray feather.

  “Something’s off.”

  Rynel stared at it, then spoke quietly.

  “The tracks… they’re mixed up.

  It doesn’t look like something passed through. It looks like it stopped here.”

  “Like it was waiting?”

  Aira lowered her voice further.

  “I’m not sure.”

  Then—a thin breath of wind brushed by.

  So light it didn’t even stir a blade of grass.

  Ivela raised a hand.

  No words, but the meaning was clear.

  Be careful.

  All three slowed at once.

  The brush was still, there was no presence, yet their senses kept pressing at their backs.

  This wasn’t just a quiet forest.

  Something was hiding.

  ◇

  At the end of the path, a small hill rose up.

  Above it, a low, dark wall surrounded the place like a sealed sanctuary.

  “Looks like that’s it.”

  Aira lifted her head and stared at the pale outer wall.

  Worn by the wind, faded—like an old monument.

  The Lakna outer shrine.

  On the map it was marked as nothing more than a relay point, but the building before them was sturdier than expected—and strangely oppressive.

  “Doesn’t the vibe feel weird?”

  Aira muttered, looking around.

  “A mana barrier.”

  Rynel said, eyes on the air beyond the wall.

  “It’s faint, but there’s a watchline set up. A defensive layer.”

  “So there really was a reason they made us come all the way out here.”

  Aira frowned.

  At the entrance stood a single follower in a gray robe, arms crossed.

  He didn’t look that old, but his expression was needlessly stiff, and there was nothing in his eyes that said welcome.

  He looked the three of them up and down, then scowled.

  “You lot… the ones here to haul the cargo?”

  Even the tone was picking a fight.

  No respect. No interest. No curiosity.

  Just one thing layered over everything—dismissal.

  Rynel stepped forward, polite.

  “Yes. We took the guild request and—”

  “Yeah, yeah. Enough.”

  The follower waved him off and cut him short. Then he muttered like he was talking to himself.

  “Figures. Kids like you are perfect. Probably won’t notice anything.”

  Aira’s brow twitched.

  She started to step forward—

  “Aira.”

  Rynel called her low.

  Short, but firm.

  Aira bit down hard, stepped back.

  Her eyes were still irritated, but she swallowed the words.

  Watching, Ivela stepped up instead.

  Same expression. Same dry voice.

  “Where is it.”

  At the blunt question, the follower shrugged, then banged hard on a metal door behind him.

  A moment of movement came from inside, and with a heavy sound, the door opened halfway.

  “It’s in there. Be careful.”

  He said it without even turning around.

  “If it breaks, it’s on you.”

  He flicked his eyes over and added,

  “You read all the precautions before coming, right?

  You should know without me telling you… this isn’t just some ordinary item.”

  His tone was sharp, and there was caution buried in it.

  Less “rude” than “drawing a line on purpose.”

  Rynel carefully placed the requested cargo into his bag.

  A square metal box, a little bigger than his palm.

  It was small, but the weight traveling through his fingertips was unnaturally heavy.

  When Ivela moved first, Rynel and Aira naturally followed.

  The forest path was still quiet.

  Not a single voice, yet a strange tension clung to the cargo.

  As if someone’s gaze was stuck somewhere behind them.

  “What’s inside that they’re so worked up about···”

  Aira muttered, eyeing the box from the side.

  “They said it’s just magic materials, but there’s even a confidentiality clause.”

  “Don’t open it.”

  Ivela said, short.

  “I know, I won’t.”

  Aira raised both hands and grumbled.

  “I’m just saying.”

  The woods were even quieter than before.

  The sun was higher now, yet the forest carried a damp, heavy feel.

  The sense that something was being hidden wouldn’t go away.

  Rynel walked in silence, then slowed, scanning the area.

  Under the shadows—within the brush—there was a “trace” of something that had passed.

  “···Stop.”

  At his low voice, Ivela halted at once, and Aira stiffened.

  Rynel stared at the ground.

  Scattered dead leaves.

  And beneath them, a lightly pressed small footprint.

  It wasn’t from a beast.

  It wasn’t from a person.

  “This mark—it’s fresh.”

  Aira drew in a breath.

  “Don’t tell me… a monster?”

  Rynel’s gaze turned toward the deeper shadows of the forest.

  He couldn’t see anything, but—

  Something moved in that direction.