The abandoned workshop before dawn was filled with an indescribable air—a mixture of cold stone and the salty smell of pickled tusk boar. Daichi rolled up his sleeves and checked the tusk boar meat he'd been pickling since last night. The surface of the meat, rubbed with coarse salt and medicinal herbs, glistened with moisture. It looked good. All that was left was to smoke it. The problem was the tools. Smoking required a box or lid to trap the smoke. But the abandoned workshop had no such convenient items. Daichi looked around the room. Stone tablets carved with magic circles, Lily's ritual implements, communication boards... "Ah." The communication board—the receiving plate paired with Kelvin's transmitter—was leaning against the side of the stove. It was just the right size. "Lily, can we use that as a lid?" Lily turned around. Her silver hair swayed, and her mismatched eyes—one blue, one gold—looked at the communication board. In the next moment, her expression changed rapidly. "[scared]Absolutely not. That's a communication transfer circle. It activates in response to magical power." "But it's just the right size—" "[angry]It's not just the right size!!" "We can try it and see." "[scared]That's the worst thing you could do!!" Lily reached out her hand. But Daichi was faster. With a bang, he placed the communication board on top of the stove— A burst of white smoke erupted forcefully. At the same time, orange letters floated across the board's surface. The transfer circle activated. An emergency message began swirling through the abandoned workshop along with the smoke. Smoking in progress. Those words drifted through the air. Lily clutched her head. "[crying]It's... it's sending 'Smoking in progress' to Kelvin's receiving board..." "Huh?" "[sad]Think about what the person receiving a message they don't understand would do..." Daichi thought about it. He understood in three seconds. "...He'll come." "[sarcastic]He will." In the abandoned workshop filled with white smoke, the two stared at each other for a moment. From outside, steady footsteps approached. Heavy footsteps. No hesitation. The door opened. It was Kelvin. His deep green hair was tied back, and dust from the warehouse clung to the leather gloves on his left hand. He looked like he'd been dragged out before dawn... or so one might think, but Kelvin had no expression to begin with, so it was impossible to tell. His vertical-slit eyes swept once through the smoke and took in the situation. In his right hand, he carried an iron plate. A thick iron plate, held in one hand. Without a word, he came to the front of the stove. He grabbed the communication board and moved it aside. He set the iron plate on top of the stove. The smoke now began flowing appropriately through the gaps in the plate. "[serious]So that's how it is." Just one word. That was all he said before he began checking the iron plate's condition with his hand. "[surprised]...You had something like that in the warehouse?" "[serious]It's for repairing the cargo bed. It'll work." Daichi looked at the iron plate, checked the flow of smoke, and looked at Kelvin's back. "Thanks. I appreciate it." "[serious]Call next time." He didn't even turn around, just spoke curtly. That was all. But those few words reached Daichi deeply. Lily gently poked Daichi's sleeve. She was smiling with just the corner of her mouth. In the white smoke, the three of them finished smoking the meat. ―――――― The examination room in the Panbantai Administrative Building—a three-story stone structure standing on the north side of the central plaza—was smaller than expected. A long table with five chairs. The examiners were seated. Two from the Stone-Body tribe, two from the Beast-folk tribe, one from the Flower-folk tribe. All of them held documents in their hands, but the moment Daichi entered, their gazes shifted from the documents to him. Daichi held a wooden board in both hands. Smoked tusk boar skewers were arranged neatly on it. The scent was unique and pleasant—a mixture of medicinal herbs and the aroma of smoke. Even Daichi thought so. He placed it on the table. One of the examiners—a middle-aged Stone-Body man—pulled his chair back, just slightly. The other Stone-Body examiner lowered his gaze to the documents. The two Beast-folk exchanged glances. The elderly Flower-folk woman... simply turned the pages of her documents without looking at the skewers. No one reached out. Silence continued. "[cold]...Food prepared by the Cursed Extinct race..." One of the Stone-Body examiners spoke, his face visibly contorted. He didn't finish the sentence, but the meaning was clear to everyone. Eat it?—that's what he meant. Lily stepped forward. "[serious]There are no procedural issues whatsoever. The presentation of food complies with Article 3 of the examination regulations." The examiner returned his gaze to the documents. He understood that Lily's words were correct. But no one reached for the skewers. Daichi stood silently. He looked at each examiner's face in order from right to left. Disgust, indifference, confusion, disgust, and then... His hands were trembling slightly. He was aware of it. He could feel it himself. But Daichi remembered the moment he saw Gacho's fangs before his eyes in the forest. The trembling then was different in kind. That was the fear of death. This was—different. Something smaller. Not a reason to run away. So he stood there. Without saying anything, facing the silence across the table head-on. ―――――― It was the elderly woman at the end who moved. Daichi didn't notice. Among the examiners, there was an elderly woman in the seat at the very end. A Flower-folk—a race with flower-like organs in their hair and skin—with white-streaked hair hanging to her shoulders. A deeply wrinkled face. Aged hands. Those hands slowly extended. She quietly picked up one of the smoked skewers from the wooden board. The air in the examination room changed. The other examiners looked toward the old woman. She brought the skewer to her mouth. One bite. She chewed slowly. No one said anything. A few seconds of silence. Daichi looked at the old woman's face and— Ah, he thought. He knew her. This face. In Havassa's great market, she had eaten an onigiri made from discarded grain and, without saying anything, shed tears. He hadn't even asked her name. She had simply left, that Flower-folk elder. "[serious]...In the historical records of the human race, there exists the concept of processing food ingredients to change their preservation and flavor." The old woman—Zefa—spoke quietly. "[serious]Draining blood with salt, removing odors with herbs, increasing preservation with smoke. This skewer matches those records perfectly." The other examiners looked up. "[serious]A technique that has not existed on this continent for 420 years—now stands before us." Someone drew a small breath. One of the Stone-Body examiners cautiously reached for a skewer. He put one in his mouth. His eyebrows moved. He looked toward the examiner next to him. Without saying anything. But something was conveyed. The adjacent examiner also reached for a skewer. Daichi looked at Zefa. Zefa's eyes narrowed quietly. They were the same eyes as that day. The eyes of the old woman who had eaten the onigiri and wept in a corner of the great market. It was then that Daichi truly understood. That those tears were not coincidence. Who this old woman was and why she had been in that place. Something in his breast pocket grew warm. A silver crystalline object. It was generating heat. Slowly, it seemed to be tilting—though it might have been his imagination—toward Zefa. ―――――― The examiners began their deliberations while eating the skewers. Daichi and Lily stepped back to the wall and stood side by side. Lily spoke in a low voice. "[whispers]That old woman is the one who ate your onigiri, isn't she?" "[serious]Yeah. I never thought I'd meet her here." Lily looked at Daichi's profile. There was a pause. "[gentle]Your hands were trembling the whole time during the examination, Daichi." Daichi didn't turn toward Lily. "[sarcastic]...You were watching?" "[gentle]I was." That was all she said, and she didn't continue. Daichi said nothing either. The stone wall was cold. The low voices of the examiners continued in the distance. After a moment, Daichi spoke. "[serious]Lily, you're still bothered by what happened when you collapsed in the forest, aren't you?" Lily was quiet for a moment. "[serious]...Yes, a little." "I see." Daichi said nothing more. Lily didn't say anything either. The two of them leaned against the wall together, listening to the voices of the examination. They didn't say unnecessary things. That was the distance between them now. ―――――― After a while, one of the examiners closed his documents. They were about to move to a vote. That's when it happened. A heavy sound. The door—slowly, but certainly—opened. What entered was a shadow too large to be called human. His height exceeded two meters. An elderly man of the Stone-Body tribe—a large race with hard, gray stone-like skin. But the word "elderly" didn't suit him. Deep wrinkles were carved into his stone skin, but they were not signs of age but growth rings. His eyes were cold. Emotionless. Simply quiet and heavy. The emblem of Torvaarn Trading Company—which controlled sixty percent of Havassa's distribution—was on his chest. "[cold]Geev Torvaarn. Pardon my intrusion." He spoke only one sentence, then swept his gaze across the room. The remains of skewers, Daichi's face, the documents. He took in everything in a second. The examiners stirred. One of the Stone-Body examiners straightened his back. Geev's presence transformed the very air of the room. "[cold]Cursed Extinct Race Exclusion Ordinance, Article 4. Commercial activity by extinct races is prohibited as a disturbance to the order of the continent—" He cited the statute number precisely. "[cold]I demand the issuance of the merchant certificate be suspended." The examiners exchanged glances. Geev's gaze turned toward Daichi. His eyes were emotionless. Neither hatred nor affection. Simply observing. "[cold]No matter how delicious the food is, it doesn't matter. Your very existence is an invasion of this world." His voice was quiet. He didn't shout. He wasn't emotional. Simply as a matter of procedure. As a matter of law. That was how he spoke. Daichi had no words to counter. He couldn't say anything. Words wouldn't come. He had mountains of emotion. But they wouldn't form into words. The examiners looked toward Geev. One of them picked up his documents again. The atmosphere of the vote came to a halt. Kelvin was watching Geev. His deep green eyes narrowed quietly. His expression suggested he was thinking something, but he didn't move. He still said nothing. Only Zefa's expression remained unchanged. The deliberation continued. ―――――― When they stepped outside the administrative building, the stone steps were cold. The three of them sat down side by side on the steps. The sky was blue. The sounds of Havassa's streets continued in the distance. Market voices, the sound of cargo carts, someone's laughter. The usual sounds. Lily spoke. "[serious]It's not over yet." "[serious]I know." Kelvin stood up without a word. "[serious]Returning to the warehouse. There's preparation for tomorrow." That was all he said before descending the stone steps and walking away. His gait was without hesitation. Daichi and Lily exchanged glances. They both stood up and followed Kelvin. The footsteps of the three echoed together on the stone pavement. Geev's words still pierced Daichi's chest. Your very existence is an invasion—how was he supposed to respond to those words? Daichi still had no answer. But his feet kept moving. Following Kelvin's back ahead of him, Daichi p