When Kai began climbing the slope of the hill, the moon peeked through a break in the clouds. He moved silently along the beast trail, where grass and stone mixed together. An hour and a half since leaving Halburn. Just a little further to the ruins of the Peregrina Cathedral. Laquv's words still circled in his mind. Eyes with no one inside them. A body that didn't react to pain. Eyes with nothing in them. Kai had never wanted to accept the answer that came from combining those two things. But not wanting to accept it meant he already understood, more or less. Don't let your guard down. At the crest of the slope, ruins came into view. The Peregrina Cathedral ruins—an old Eldreen national church that had been burned during the Trias civil war. The stone walls were half-collapsed, and the tower had crumbled from its base. The locals didn't approach it. There were rumors that the ghosts of the war dead appeared here. It didn't matter to Kai, but he understood the logic that people hide in places where people don't go. He entered through a gap in the collapsed stone wall. The chapel floor was made of stone tiles, cracked in places. Moonlight streamed through holes in the shattered ceiling, creating white rectangles on the floor. Two pillars had snapped at their bases and lay diagonally across the space. The remains of the altar were in the back—just the pedestal remained, where a divine statue had once stood. In front of it, there was a human figure. Wearing a hood. Height around 180 centimeters. The way they stood— Kai's feet stopped for a moment. Low center of gravity. Feet spaced slightly wider than shoulder width. Left shoulder jutting forward just a bit. "[serious]Who are you?" No response. "[serious]I'm Kai. I have something I want to talk about." The man didn't move. Then—he closed the distance. Silently, without a sound. But the speed was not normal. Kai immediately retreated and drew his short sword. The man's lunge came. His fist cut through the air. Kai jumped to the side to dodge and swept with his right arm. A sharp sound rang out against bone. Hard. The arm muscles were abnormally taut. Not the density of a human arm. The man didn't seem to care about being swept aside and immediately moved to his next attack. His expression hadn't changed. Was he not feeling pain, or— Kai kicked off a stone pillar to create distance. The man pursued. He closed the gap quickly. Kai couldn't see his face under the hood, but there was something in his movements. Kai's body caught on it as if it already knew. (This weight shift—) Kai watched the movements while defending. The habit of dropping his left shoulder slightly before loading a right kick. The habit of his right heel lifting just before stepping in. The habit of his head tilting five degrees to the right when closing distance. All of it—he knew it. When had he learned it? Where had he learned it? Ten years ago— "[serious]—!" The moment he thought about it, his guard weakened. The man's elbow grazed the left side of Kai's head. His back hit a stone pillar. A fist came. Kai crossed his arms to block. He was pushed back with his entire body. Slammed against the wall. (The strength is too much.) The power of a seasoned fighter. A force several times that of a normal person transmitted through his arms to his entire body. Kai kicked off the floor to counterattack. He drove a palm strike toward the man's hood. The fabric flew away with a rustling sound. Moonlight illuminated the man's face. Kai's movements stopped. Everything stopped. His body, his thoughts, his breathing. That face—he knew it. A face aged ten years from before. A crescent-shaped scar above the right eyebrow that had been there since long ago. A slightly high nose bridge. Thin lips. "...Sain." The name came out. He hadn't even realized it. Sain Dreive. The former partner who had walked through battlefields with him ten years ago. The man who had fought through the final stages of the civil war as a mercenary in the Eldreen Kingdom Army. The only man Kai had ever thought he could trust. He had disappeared in the battle on the east bank of the Narva River that day. No body was ever found. It wasn't uncommon on the battlefield. But Kai—hadn't searched for him. He had told himself Sain was dead and given up looking. That man was now standing before him. His eyes were looking at Kai. But—with eyes that saw nothing. Just as Laquv had said. No one inside. No anger, no surprise, not a single fragment of the memories from ten years ago reflected in them. Sain's eyes were empty. "[sad]...Sain. It's me. Kai." The man didn't even blink. He repositioned his fists. Kai's attacking hand had stopped. He couldn't move it. For ten years, he had sealed away what he had told himself was dead, and now it all came pouring out at once. The man didn't miss that 0.5-second gap. A right fist drove deep into Kai's left flank. A cracking sound echoed from inside his body. "—!!" His breath stopped. His body flew sideways. The taste of iron spread through his mouth. He crashed against a stone pillar with his back and fell to one knee on the floor. His ribs had shattered. Two or three—he couldn't count right now. "Ha—ha..." He couldn't breathe. The shattered bone was compressing his lungs. A clot of blood fell from his mouth. A dark stain formed on the stone floor. The man's footsteps approached. He was coming to finish him. Kai raised his arm. It was reflex. His body moved before he could think. He would take the next blow on his arm. Bone creaked. Impact ran through his entire body. But still— (Don't run.) (I was watching, but I didn't even search.) (While I was running away for ten years, what happened to him—) The man stepped in again. The finishing blow came. Kai wrung out his voice from the floor. "[crying]Sain—!!" He screamed from the depths of his belly. His ribs creaked and sharp pain shot through him, but he couldn't stop. All he could do was scream the name. The man's feet—stopped. It was less than a second, just the briefest pause. Kai was watching. In the depths of those eyes, something—like the faint ripples when you throw a pebble into still water—seemed to waver. It only seemed that way. But it definitely stopped. The next moment, the killing intent returned. The man lunged with full force. Kai rolled out of the way on instinct. He avoided the direct hit. But the follow-up kick caught his back. A heavy impact. Kai's body flew toward the old stone wall of the chapel. The wall crumbled. With the sound of stones collapsing, Kai was hurled out into the night. His body struck the slope. He tumbled. He tried to grab grass but his fingers slipped. Each time a stone hit his flank, sharp pain shot through him. Halfway down the slope, he finally stopped. He lay on his back and looked up at the sky. The moon was there. Stars were there. Slowly, he looked up at the hole in the wall. The man stood inside the chapel. He wasn't pursuing. Just standing in the darkness, looking down at Kai. His eyes—still reflected nothing. Kai closed his eyes. --- "You alive?" A familiar voice mixed into his ragged breathing. The sound of a carriage stopping. Footsteps descending the slope. Gil knelt on one knee beside Kai. Green eyes quickly scanned Kai's entire body. There was no smile. Not a calculating look either. Just a focused face trying to assess the situation. "[serious]Ribs. Three or more." "Don't talk. I'll ask later." He wrapped an arm around Kai's shoulder. Kai tried to stand, but his flank screamed in protest. He gritted his teeth. Gil supported his body and carried him to the carriage. He kept consciousness on the way back to Halburn, swaying in the carriage. The ribs ached with each jolt. But he couldn't sleep. Because Sain's face, standing in the darkness of the chapel, was stuck to the inside of his eyelids. --- Gil's hideout was on the second floor of an old stone building in the north district of Halburn. It was apparently a secondary base for the Crossroads Trading Company, normally unused. Kai was laid down on the wooden floor. Gil lit a lantern. He took out herbal salve and bandages from a shelf. "Take a deep breath. Nothing's pierced the lungs." "Yeah." Gil wrapped bandages around Kai's chest with practiced hands. Emergency treatment for the fracture. He applied salve to the cut on Kai's cheek. Kai stared at the ceiling. After the work was done, Gil didn't speak immediately. He pulled up a chair and sat beside Kai, watching the lantern flame. That was Gil's way. Don't rush. Wait. Kai opened his mouth. "[sad]...That was my partner." Gil didn't move. "I thought he was dead ten years ago. Sain Dreive. He disappeared in the battle on the east bank of the Narva River during the final stages of the civil war. No body was found, but—I didn't search for him." Those words caught in his throat. Gil was silent for a while. Then he slowly stood up, retrieved paper and charcoal from the shelf, and spread them on the table. He began to write something. Kai, still lying down, listened to the sound. The charcoal moving across the paper. Gil turned the paper toward Kai. "Can you see?" Kai raised his body slightly. His ribs protested, but he ignored them. Four items were listed vertically on the paper. First—Neugestalt (the word Renka had feared to speak). Second—Three missing former fighters (all with unknown status). Third—Laquv's testimony (doesn't react to pain, no one in the eyes). Fourth—Sain Dreive (missing ten years ago, confirmed tonight). "[serious]Well, I can't say for certain. This is the first time I've laid it all out." "...I understand what you're getting at." "I'll say it anyway." Gil drew a line connecting all four items with charcoal. "[serious]Veilhand has a device called Neugestalt. They're using it to rewrite the personalities of former fighters—that's how this adds up." The air in the room grew heavier. "Sain didn't die ten years ago. He was abducted. And over six months, a year, or maybe longer—he was transformed into something else." Kai looked at the ceiling. Transformed into something else. Those words fell into his body, and he couldn't stop them. They sank slowly into a place deeper than the pain in his ribs. Gil sat back in his chair. "Rest tonight." "...Yeah." Gil moved the lantern to the shelf and then left the room. The door closed quietly. Alone. Kai stared at the wooden floor. The grain of the old boards floated in the lantern's dim light. For five years, he had dug soil in Forena. Wake in the morning, till the fields, sleep at night. That was all. He had told himself the fighting was over. He had kept the memories of the civil war era—how people around him died every time he returned to the battlefield—locked away in his chest. During that time, Sain— Kai closed his eyes. He remembered ten years ago. Before dawn on the east bank of the Narva River. Fog hung thick, and the opposite shore was invisible. Sain's figure disappeared in the fierce fighting. Kai called out but got no answer. He looked around, but couldn't find him in the fog. At that moment, Kai—gave up. He decided Sain was dead and stopped searching. It wasn't quite the same as running away. But if he had searched more persistently back then—thinking that way led nowhere. So for five years, he had sealed it all away and hidden in Forena. And tonight, it came back in the worst possible way. Sain was alive. But there was no one inside. Kai looked at the ceiling. The lantern flame swayed, and the shadows moved slightly. Could he be saved? Was there a way to restore the personality rewritten by Neugestalt to what it had been? Where was it? How? With his body broken like this, he couldn't endure the next fight. He still didn't know where Veilhand's base was, where the stone cavern was. He knew nothing. But—tonight, he learned one thing. When he screa