Shiro stood alone in the quiet training yard, forcing his stiff, uncooperative left arm through a series of drills. His body ached from days of inactivity. As he moved, memories of the immediate aftermath flooded his mind.
The manor had been thrown into chaos after the attack. The guards urgently informed the Patriarch of the attacker who had breached the grounds.
The Patriarch, visibly shaken, feared the killer had targeted him directly. He had tried to conceal the town's dwindling resources from outsiders, but his efforts had failed to hide the weakness of his territory from his enemies. The resources and provisions were already below what a lord was expected to possess, a flaw his enemies had recognized and exploited. Given its position on the eastern outskirts of Vaelrhion, the town was vulnerable, isolated, and easier for its enemies to take advantage of.
Although the guard had only been knocked unconscious and no lives were lost, there was no telling whether it would happen again. The Patriarch had no choice but to increase security around himself and the town. He immediately ordered the head maid to write and deliver a request for additional resources and provisions. He had also provided Shiro with medicine as thanks for his intervention.
Snapping back to reality, Shiro felt a wave of exhaustion heavier than usual. Warm blood was already seeping through the bandage wrapped tightly around his right arm.
He stopped and dragged his tired feet over to a wooden bench where the head maid's medical pouch sat.
For a moment, he just stared down at the strange vials and salves, completely unfamiliar with this type of medicine or how to properly apply it to the jagged injuries left by the attacker.
Footsteps approached. Casia handed a cup of water to Shiro.
"Here."
"Thanks." Shiro took the cup, but just as the rim grazed his lower lip, the faint scent caught in his throat. A metallic, bitter tang hidden beneath the chill.
"What's wrong?" Casia asked, her eyes searching his face at his hesitation.
"Nothing." Shiro tilted his head back and gulped the water down until not a single drop remained, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand.
Even the water in this rift tastes weird, he thought, shoving the lingering unease to the back of his mind.
Casia appeared beside him, taking in the state of his bleeding arm with a practiced eye.
"Here, let me."
Without waiting for an answer, she took the supplies, expertly mixing a soothing herbal paste and pressing it firmly into the raw wound.
"This is going to hurt," she warned softly.
Shiro clenched his jaw so hard his teeth clicked, a low hiss escaping his lips as the medicine burned white-hot into his flesh before rapidly cooling.
Casia pulled back, tying off a clean wrap. "There. It's done. Now you need to rest."
Ignoring her, Shiro immediately reached back out for his weapon, gripping the winged polearm with his left hand and strolling to the training yard.
Casia stared at him, her voice cracking in disbelief as she called out from a few paces away, "Did you even hear me?"
"Yes," Shiro grunted, refusing to break his focus. "You said I must rest."
"Then do it! If you don't, those wounds won't heal properly."
"There's no time," Shiro muttered, his eyes fixed on the darkness beyond the courtyard. "I'll rest when we're out of this rift."
Casia stared at him in disbelief.
For anyone who held a weapon, a torn upper arm was agony, but he endured the pain without uttering a word.
She couldn't help but marvel at his resilience.
After a while, a shadow fell over her.
Daren stopped in front of her. He didn't meet her eyes.
"What do you want?"
"...I was wrong."
Casia blinked.
"What I did, what I said. It wasn't right." His voice was rough. "I took my frustration out on you because I was too weak to face my own failure. That's not who I am. Or at least... it's not who I want to be."
He finally looked up. Behind his back, the ring on his hand pulsed with an eerie red glow.
"I apologize for what i did, Casia."
Casia stared at him. Her expression was unreadable.
Shiro watched in silence from a few feet away.
He had seen apologies like this before. Some were genuine. Some were just another way to satisfy guilt.
"You know you don't have to accept it, if you don't want to," Shiro said quietly.
Casia's lips curved upward.
"I forgive you."
Shiro's eyes narrowed.
That was fast?
Something about the smile didn't reach her eyes. It was too perfect. Too forced.
Daren turned and shot Shiro a sinister smile over his shoulder before masking it under a calm face.
Why is he smiling?
Elara glanced at Daren as he walked toward them.
"What happened to you?"
Daren glanced down at his injured ankle.
"I tripped on the stairs. Nothing serious."
"Oh... okay. Be careful next time."
She then turned toward Shiro.
"Are you joining us to search the western side? It's larger, so we could use another person."
Shiro shook his head.
"It's better if I rest. I don't want to slow the others down."
Elara nodded.
"Okay. Stay well. We'll take care of it."
Casia sat in the bath basin, blood dripping from her wrist and staining the water around her.
"Cough..."
She started coughing again.
She smiled bitterly. For a fleeting moment, she almost thought she was at peace.
"I'm still alive. Was my desire to leave this world this fragile?"
She lowered her gaze.
"Not that it matters. It's almost time anyway."
Shiro's words returned to her mind.
You don't have to accept the apology, you know.
What Shiro had said was true. She didn't want the apology, and she certainly didn't want to carry the weight of forgiving people who had broken her.
She was just so tired.
Her limbs felt heavy, her chest hollowed out by a fatigue that sleep could never fix. Every breath felt like an exhausting chore, a pointless repetition in a life defined by quiet suffering. The thought of letting go, of closing her eyes and letting the dark wash over her permanently, was a warm, heavy blanket whispering that she didn't have to fight anymore. She wanted to end it. She wanted the pain, the humiliation, and the endless cycle of hurt to simply stop.
And yet, despite the crushing exhaustion, a pathetic, stubborn sliver of hope had bloomed in her chest because of Shiro's words.
It terrified her.
That tiny spark immediately dragged up the ghosts of the past, reminding her of the others who had looked at her with kindness before twisting the knife. They had been just like Shiro once. She had trusted them, and they had turned on her in bitter disgust. She refused to experience that agony again. If she let herself hope, only for it to be crushed, she would have to feel everything all over again.
She couldn't survive the pain of her failing body.
She couldn't take another betrayal.
Perhaps it was better to let it all go, even if that hope had been genuine, and finally slip away into the dark.
"I want to be free." She murmured the words.
Casia slowly stood.
Her back was covered in old and fresh wounds, partially concealed by the bathwater.
She dried herself, dressed, and walked toward the mirror.
Then another cough escaped her, but she suppressed the itch in her throat, not wanting to wake the others.
Dark dried blood stained the knife beside her.
No one knew how desperate she was.
Her illness could not be completely cured. It kept returning, and it drained what little money she had. She had planned to advance to Projector or to find a prodigal healer by taking an injury at work.
Unfortunately, her anemia grew worse and worse after she entered this rift. The lack of sleep fed the anxiety, and the anxiety brought thoughts she did not want to name.
She had thought about ending it many times.
If she was not so strong-willed, she might have killed herself a long time ago.
She stared at the knife for a moment.
Before she could think further, a soft knock came from the door.
Casia froze.
Shiro's warning about the anomaly immediately returned to her mind.
She reached for the knife beside her and held it behind her back.
Then she opened the door.
A woman stood on the other side.
"Cousin?"
"Don't call me that so casually. I don't have any family members."
Elara shoved Casia inside. Daren followed.
"Cousins, huh?"
Casia's eyes fell on the weapon in Daren's possession.
An axe.
Its appearance matched the weapon Shiro had described, though this one was damaged.
"How do you have that?"
Realization dawned on her.
She slowly raised her head.
Both of them were smiling.
Before Casia could scream, Daren's hand clamped over her mouth.
"The staff won't be wandering the corridors for a while, so you'd close that mouth."
"You're going to suffocate her before she can do the work."
Daren removed his hand.
Casia coughed violently then lifted her head toward Daren.
"You're the one who attacked him." Her voice came out raspy.
"Yes."
Daren's expression hardened.
"And I intend to finish what I started. He needs to pay for what he did to me."
Casia's gaze shifted toward Elara. Her expression showed no surprise or shock.
"You knew."
"Of course I did. I'm the one who helped him in the first place."
"Why are you doing this?"
"Easy. Money."
Elara's voice remained calm.
"This gentleman made me an offer I couldn't refuse."
She lifted Casia's chin, forcing their eyes to meet.
"I think about it this way. It's time someone unwanted like you helped us."
Elara moved to the window, her tone turning sharp and quiet.
"This place is an exact copy of the one we were in before we crossed into the rift. Only minor shifts. Details out of place."
She shot a quick glance toward the doorway before turning back, her expression tight with lingering anxiety.
"We already tried leaving. Every path we took led straight into a wall of dense black fog surrounding the entire town. I didn't dare cross it, and I'm not about to find out what's beyond it blindly."
"You want me to cross black fog."
"No."
"You want him to cross and die."
"Kill him? No, no, no. That's not what I mean. For now..."
Elara's eyes narrowed.
"We still need him alive."
She leaned closer.
"We won't kill him. We still need to get out of this rift, and for that, we need his knowledge about it."
"I want you to put that in his room."
Elara paused.
"And don't worry about the guard he was with. I already took care of him."
"If this does work, he'll have no choice but to get out of here or die in this place."
She leaned closer to Casia's ear.
"So, are you in or not?"
Her voice dropped to a whisper.
"If you are, I'll bring you the ring. That's our promise."
Casia's head lowered.
"Fine."
Her fingers tightened around the knife hidden behind her back.
She had already made her choice.
The ring meant nothing to her now.
"I'll give the signal when everything is ready."
Elara pulled on her gloves, covering the faintly mottled red skin creeping up her wrists. "I have to get out of this place before it messes up my skin."
Without another word, Elara turned and disappeared into the hallway.
With each step toward her room, the hallway grew darker, as though the light itself were being swallowed by the shadows.
"Why is the light in this place so dark?"
Then she heard footsteps approaching from the opposite end.
She stopped.
"Oh... Shiro."
The footsteps abruptly stopped.
"You're awake. I didn't think you'd be a light sleeper."
Her voice dropped to a whisper.
"I suppose that makes things easier."
The spellbook in her left hand opened on its own.
A faint violet aura gathered around her right hand as mana flowed toward her fingertips.
Just as she was about to cast the spell,
S-PLOOSH!
Red-hot pain exploded through her left wrist.
The spellbook slipped from her grasp and struck the floor with a dull thud.
A scream escaped her lips, only to be violently cut short.
She lurched forward, coughing up a mouthful of blood as her voice disappeared entirely.
This burning in my chest... Elara clutched her throat, her breath coming in ragged, shallow gasps as green veins spread across her skin.
Her eyes widened in horror.
She instinctively tried to call out to Daren. Nothing came. It was as if a stone was lodged in her throat.
Before she could turn around, another sharp pain ripped through her body.
S-PLOOSH!
Her thigh erupted with blood.
Elara immediately pressed her glowing right hand against the wound, slowing the bleeding before it became fatal.
An anomaly...?
"Keo-hoek..." Blood pooled in her throat, threatening to choke her.
Then Shiro's warning flashed through her mind.
"If you cause too much of a disturbance, you'll alert the anomaly. Once it realizes we've discovered its territory, it'll stop hiding."
She had dismissed his warning. She had been too preoccupied with dealing with him. Too focused on carrying out Daren's orders. She had forgotten the most important thing.
They were still inside a rift.
"Krg... krg..." Her vision blurred, and through the haze, a memory returned to her. The cup, the cold liquid, her quiet submission. The cup... it had poison in it.
Her legs finally gave out.
As she collapsed onto the cold floor, she forced her trembling head upward.
That bitch poisoned me... how dare she...
A figure stood at the far end of the shadowed corridor.
"UWAAAH!"
The scream died in her throat.
In a single horrifying second, a deep crimson patch bloomed across the center of her back, soaking through her burgundy clothing.
Her body went limp.
"Oi, what's going on over there?" Daren shouted after hearing her scream cut off. "Tsk. If you want something done, you have to do it yourself."
Daren shoved Casia aside as he stepped into the corridor, completely unaware of the dark, hollow expression she wore.
"Stay here."
In the next second, the knife struck Daren's neck.
Stab!