Haruto put the cloak down.
Not carefully.
Not dramatically.
Just enough to separate himself from it.
The fabric landed quietly against the stone.
Nothing happened.
No sound.
No reaction.
No hidden mechanism.
It stayed exactly what it looked like.
A worn cloak.
Haruto stared at it anyway.
Belial remained near the entrance.
Watching.
Waiting.
Not interfering.
Haruto looked at Arthur's name on the wall.
Then at the cloak.
Then outside.
The shape remained.
Still.
Far away.
Patient.
He looked back at the wall.
"…that's annoying."
Belial tilted its head.
Haruto sat down.
"…I don't like this."
Belial blinked.
"…the cloak?"
Haruto shook his head.
"…the idea."
Silence.
Haruto looked at Arthur's name again.
"…if I'm right…"
A pause.
"…he didn't want someone to remember him."
Belial didn't speak.
Haruto continued.
"…he wanted someone to continue him."
The air inside the ruin felt quieter.
Like even the silence became careful.
Haruto looked at the cloak.
"…that's worse."
Belial looked away.
"…yeah."
Haruto leaned back against the stone.
Closed his eyes briefly.
Then opened them again.
"…I don't think he was selfish."
Belial looked over.
Haruto kept staring upward.
"…I think he got scared."
No answer.
Haruto looked at the carvings.
Repeated.
Repeated.
Repeated.
Until they stopped.
Until all that remained was:
Arthur.
I noticed.
His eyes lingered.
Then—
he stood.
Belial looked at him.
"…what are you doing?"
Haruto walked to the wall.
Stopped.
Looked at the empty space beside Arthur's markings.
Then crouched.
Belial's ears lifted.
"…Haruto."
Haruto ignored it.
He picked up a small stone.
Held it.
Thought.
Then pressed it lightly against the wall.
Belial stepped forward.
"…what are you doing?"
Haruto answered immediately.
"…not what Arthur did."
The stone touched the wall.
But Haruto didn't carve.
He stayed still.
Thinking.
Then quietly—
he wrote.
Not his name.
Not a message.
Just one line.
Small.
Simple.
Under Arthur's sentence.
—
You noticed.
—
He stopped.
Looked at it.
Then put the stone down.
Belial stared.
Long enough.
Then:
"…that's all?"
Haruto stood.
"…yeah."
Belial looked confused.
Haruto looked at Arthur's carvings.
"…I'm not continuing him."
A pause.
"…I'm answering him."
Silence.
The ruin didn't react.
Nothing changed.
The wall remained stone.
Haruto looked at the cloak.
Walked over.
Picked it up.
Held it.
Then folded it.
Once.
Twice.
And placed it beside Arthur's wall.
Not wearing it.
Not abandoning it.
Leaving it.
Belial stared.
"…you're not taking it?"
Haruto looked outside.
The shape remained.
Waiting.
He looked back at the cloak.
"…if I wear it because I'm scared…"
A pause.
"…then eventually I stop knowing which parts are mine."
Belial didn't answer.
Haruto turned toward the exit.
Immediately—
the cold reached him.
The wind touched him directly.
His clothes felt thinner.
His body felt smaller.
His presence felt weaker.
His footprints behind him faded faster.
He noticed.
And kept walking.
Belial stared.
"…you know it'll get harder."
Haruto nodded.
"…yeah."
A pause.
Then quietly—
"…but I'd rather disappear as myself."
Belial didn't move.
Haruto stepped outside.
The shape at the horizon remained still.
Watching.
Then—
it moved.
One step.
And stopped.
Haruto looked at it.
Waited.
Nothing.
Then—
slowly—
the shape turned.
And walked away.
Not quickly.
Not dramatically.
Like it had realized something.
Like it had mistaken him for someone else.
Haruto watched until it disappeared.
The desert returned to being empty.
He stood there for a while.
Then quietly said—
"…good luck, Arthur."
The wind passed through him.
This time—
it didn't bend.
And behind him—
inside the ruin—
one old tally mark returned.