Chapter 10 – Shadows Beyond the Wall
The morning after the emergency alert, Shinokuni-01 felt different.
The city was awake, but quieter.
Shopkeepers still opened their stores, bakers still filled the streets with the smell of fresh bread, and children still chased each other through the market. Yet every few minutes someone would glance toward the Wall, as if expecting another horn to sound.
Brook noticed it too.
He adjusted the strap on his sword as he walked toward Watchtower Seven.
"You look like you didn't sleep."
Crowley's voice came from the tower entrance.
Brook looked up to find his mentor already leaning against the stone archway with a mug of coffee in one hand.
"I slept."
Crowley raised an eyebrow.
"For three hours."
Brook sighed.
"…Maybe."
"I've known you long enough to tell."
Brook accepted the second mug Crowley offered him.
"You always bring two?"
"I've learned to expect you."
Brook smiled faintly.
"Thanks."
For a few minutes, neither of them spoke.
They simply watched the city wake beneath them.
Captain Mercer arrived carrying a rolled parchment beneath his arm.
"Listen up."
The Watchmen gathered immediately.
"Our scouts searched the northern perimeter before sunrise."
He unrolled the map across a wooden table.
"Every Abomination that gathered yesterday disappeared."
A murmur spread through the squad.
"Not one body."
"Not one trail leading back toward the Wall."
Crowley crossed his arms.
"So where did they go?"
Mercer pointed west.
"The Blackwood."
Brook noticed the expression on several veteran Watchmen.
None of them looked surprised.
They looked worried.
One older soldier quietly muttered,
"I hate that forest."
Brook heard him.
"You've been there?"
The man shook his head almost immediately.
"No."
"And I intend to keep it that way."
The morning patrol began shortly afterward.
Brook and Crowley walked the outer battlements, inspecting the stonework for damage.
Most days it was a boring assignment.
Today, neither complained.
Brook stopped near one of the oldest sections of the Wall.
"Something's wrong."
Crowley walked over.
"What do you see?"
Brook pointed toward several deep scratches carved into the stone.
They weren't fresh.
Rain had worn away their edges.
"They've been here for years."
Crowley examined them without speaking.
Three long marks.
Perfectly parallel.
Too deep to have been made by ordinary tools.
Brook rested a hand against the stone.
"What kind of Abomination could leave marks like these?"
Crowley answered almost too quickly.
"I don't know."
Brook looked at him.
"You usually have an idea."
Crowley met his eyes for a second before looking back at the Wall.
"Not this time."
It was a lie.
Brook couldn't explain why…
He simply knew.
Their conversation was interrupted by shouting from below.
"Stop him!"
Brook leaned over the edge.
A young boy sprinted through the market carrying a loaf of bread under one arm while three merchants chased after him.
"He stole from us!"
Brook sighed.
"I'll be back."
He climbed down the tower stairs two at a time.
The chase ended when the boy turned a corner and ran straight into Brook's chest.
The loaf rolled across the street.
The boy stumbled backward, expecting to be arrested.
Instead, Brook simply picked up the bread.
"You hungry?"
The boy lowered his head.
"…Yes."
"Where are your parents?"
No answer.
Brook didn't ask again.
One of the merchants finally caught up, breathing heavily.
"He stole again!"
Brook nodded.
"I know."
The merchant reached for the boy.
Brook stepped between them.
"I'll pay for it."
"You don't have to."
"I know."
He handed over a few coins.
The merchant reluctantly accepted them before returning to his shop.
Brook looked back at the boy.
"What's your name?"
"…Eli."
"When did you last eat?"
The silence answered for him.
Brook handed him the loaf.
"Keep it."
Eli stared at him in disbelief.
"Really?"
Brook smiled.
"Next time…"
He crouched until they were eye level.
"…Ask someone for help before you steal."
The boy nodded rapidly.
"I will."
Brook watched him disappear into the crowd.
When he turned around, Crowley was standing a few feet away.
"You've always had a soft heart."
Brook shrugged.
"He was hungry."
Crowley smiled.
"Don't lose that."
Brook laughed.
"I don't plan to."
For just a second…
Crowley's smile faded.
"I hope not."
That afternoon, dark clouds gathered over Shinokuni-01.
Rain began falling just as Brook's shift ended.
He pulled his hood over his head and started walking home.
Halfway across the eastern bridge, he noticed someone standing alone in the rain.
An old traveler.
Long gray cloak.
Wooden walking staff.
His face hidden beneath a wide hat.
Everyone else hurried past.
The old man didn't move.
As Brook walked by, the traveler spoke.
"Young Watchman."
Brook stopped.
"Yes?"
The old man never looked up.
"Tell me…"
His voice was calm.
"…if the Wall disappeared tomorrow…"
"Who would you become?"
Brook frowned.
"I don't understand."
"Most people don't."
The traveler finally lifted his head.
His eyes were unlike anything Brook had ever seen.
One was a deep emerald green.
The other shimmered like liquid gold.
For a heartbeat, Brook felt as if the world around him had gone silent.
Then someone called his name from farther down the street.
"Brook!"
He turned.
It was Sera, waving from beneath the awning of a nearby bakery.
When Brook looked back…
The traveler was gone.
There was no sound of footsteps.
No splash from the rain.
Only an empty bridge stretching into the evening.
Brook stood there for several seconds.
"…Who was that?"
Far above the city, hidden among the storm clouds, Crowley watched the empty bridge from the top of the Wall.
His expression was unreadable.
"So…"
he murmured quietly.
"…they've finally started moving."
Lightning flashed across the sky.
For the briefest moment, Crowley's shadow seemed to stretch unnaturally across the stone beneath his feet.
Then the light faded.
And everything looked normal again.