The morning sky wrapped the world in pale gray,
Light rain fell on the northern plains, dripping between worn stones and wild grass bowing under the wind, The road was empty, only the footsteps of a masked man walking aimlessly, his cloak fluttering softly like a shadow that refused to fade.
Dex had been walking for days since leaving Millhaven,
No goal, no plan, He simply followed wherever the wind led him, gazing at a world that felt both foreign and familiar, full of life that kept moving even when everything seemed meaningless.
Sometimes, he stopped by a small river and looked at his reflection in the water,
That cracked mask reflected calm black eyes without emotion, as if the world around him wasn't important enough to disturb the surface,
Yet deep inside, something faintly pulsed, like a curiosity that refused to die, like the wind that wouldn't stop swirling.
---
By afternoon, he arrived at a lowland where trees grew slanted and fog hung low among the trunks, There he saw an old man sitting by the roadside, leaning against a broken cart with a shattered wheel, The man held a nearly empty bottle of water, his eyes staring blankly at the sky.
Dex stopped, watching him for a few seconds. "Broken cart?"
The old man smiled faintly without turning. "Yeah, maybe I'm the one who broke first."
Dex stayed silent,
Normally, he would have just walked past, But there was something in the man's tone, a kind of strange calmness, like someone who had long stopped hoping.
"If you sit there any longer," Dex finally said, "you'll rot before the wood does."
The old man chuckled softly, his cough sounded heavy. "Maybe that's what I want."
Dex didn't reply, He walked toward the wheel, studying the broken axle.
With a single touch, he exhaled a small breeze, The splintered wood rejoined, as if repaired by an unseen hand.
The old man stared at him in silence.
"You, a sorcerer?"
Dex only shrugged. "Just call me a passerby who can't stand seeing ugly things on the road."
"haha funny," murmured the old man. "This world has many ugly things, but only a few people bother to fix them."
Dex stood again. "I didn't fix it, I just hate things that block my path."
They were silent for a while,
The wind moved softly, carrying the sound of insects and light rain in the distance.
"Young man," the old man's voice was faint. "You walk alone, but your face looks like someone who has lost something."
Dex glanced at him briefly, but didn't answer.
He hadn't lost anything, because nothing can be lost by someone who owns nothing.
The old man continued, "I used to be the same, Thought I could live in peace by staying away from everything, But this world always pulls you back, no matter how far you go."
Dex looked at him, his black eyes glimmering faintly behind the mask.
"Sorry old man, I'm not running away from anything, I've just been walking from the start," he said flatly, "besides, if that's the case, then I'll just keep walking away."
The wind blew, soft but cold.
The old man only smiled, then looked up at the reddening sky. "You'll understand someday, Son, There are things even the wind can't blow away."
Dex stared at him for a long time, then turned, leaving the cart behind,
Yet among the fading sound of his steps, faintly, the old man's cough grew heavier, until it stopped completely.
Dex didn't look back, He only whispered softly,
"At least you left with the sky above your head."
---
A few days later, Dex arrived at a small village called Elrow, which stood by a vast lake, Its waters calm, reflecting the moonlight like liquid glass, By the village road, children ran carrying paper lanterns, laughing under the orange glow.
But in the quietest corner of that night market, a little girl sat beneath a bamboo roof, selling strange trinkets on a worn mat, In front of her was a wooden board that read.
[Charm Against Sadness,
2 Copper Coins]
Dex stopped, gazing at the row of items,
Necklaces of string, small painted stones, a dry leaf coated in wax, They all looked… useless.
"Charm against sadness?" he asked.
The girl nodded, her smile pure. "Yes! If you wear it, your heart won't be sad anymore."
Dex crouched, examining the stone closely. "And you believe it works?"
The girl looked at him seriously. "I believe it, because my mother said so, Everyone needs something that can make them stop crying."
The wind blew gently, brushing Dex's hair.
From her swollen red eyes Dex knew she often cried, He looked at the little girl for a long time, then said, "And you? Have you stopped crying?"
The girl was silent for a moment. "Not yet, But I'll stop once enough people wear my charms."
Dex sighed softly,
He picked up a small stone and tossed two coins. "Alright, one for me."
The girl smiled brightly, her eyes shining. "You'll be happy, Big Brother!"
Dex spun the stone in his fingers.
"Happy, huh?" he whispered. "That word… it's been a long time since I truly heard it."
As he walked away, the girl's voice still echoed behind him.
"If your sadness comes back, talk to the sea! My mother said, the sea loves bringing smiles to people who forgot how to smile!"
Dex stopped for a moment in the middle of the road, staring at the moon reflected on the lake,
He clenched the small stone, staring at it in silence.
'A sea that brings smiles, huh?'
a faint smile appeared on his lips.
---
The night grew deeper, The village began to sleep, and only the sound of crickets and the murmur of the lake remained.
Dex sat on a wooden pier, letting the wind brush gently against his face.
'Humans,' he thought, 'always have a reason to keep walking, even when they know the end is empty, They create meaning, just so they won't fall apart along the way.'
He looked at his arm.
"And I," he murmured softly, "don't even have a reason to move, yet I still don't stop."
Moonlight reflected in his eyes, cold yet beautiful.
Rain began to pour hard, forming ripples on the lake, and among the splashes, Dex's voice was barely a whisper.
"This world indeed hasn't changed, but maybe, the people in it are still interesting enough to watch."
He stood, letting his black cloak flutter, then walked away from the lake.
The wind followed his steps, as if calling back a legend that refused to die.
And the next morning, the villagers of Elrow found a worn mat and a pile of remaining charms.
A girl lay lifeless there, curled up from the cold among small stones faintly glowing beneath the sunlight, as if the wind last night had carried her away with her story.
Dex closed his hand, and in an instant, the stone turned to dust.
"again, again"
---
Dex's steps continued northward, through forests and fog, while his thoughts slowly sank back into silence.
He didn't know where he was going, and perhaps he didn't need to know, This world is too vast to explain, yet small enough to make anyone lost within it.
But amid the fog, faintly, a soft singing voice could be heard from afar, a human song about time, regret, and prayers that never reached.
Dex paused for a moment, looking toward the direction of the sound.
He walked toward that voice, and the wind followed him, carrying new whispers into a world that still turned.