As Rowan's eyes slowly fluttered open, Reiji's relieved voice came first.
"Rowan! You're finally awake!"
Something warm and furry leaned into Rowan's side. A tiny tongue dragged across his cheek with soft, eager licks.
"It's been licking you this whole time, Rowan."
Rowan blinked hard. His vision wobbled. His nose wrinkled in disgust.
"What– what is that?" He tried to push the creature away.
Reiji immediately stepped in, hands raised as if calming a startled horse.
"Relax. It's fine. Calm down."
Then he gently scooped up the creature and set it down a short distance away.
"Carrot, give him space. You clingy little… hairy cat."
Rowan stiffened. "Cat?" His voice was thin with uncertainty.
Reiji's brows lifted. "Does he… not know what a cat is?"
"This creature is a cat, isn't it?" Reiji asked, genuinely confused.
Rowan's eyes narrowed, his expression twisting between fear and calculation.
Reiji's eyes shifted, and he leaned in, voice low. "Cat. You know, short for Catis."
A thought scraped across his mind.
"Why does he know horses but not cats?"
The mismatch bit at him.
Reiji met Rowan's gaze again.
But even though Reiji was calm, Rowan was still caught in that flicker of fear as he remembered the memory before he passed out.
Then anger rolled over his face in quick succession.
"Why are you acting so casually beside that emergent monster?" Rowan burst out. "We need to get away from it! I felt everything when it drained me dry!"
Reiji kept his tone low, steady. "It's okay. It's harmless now."
He patted Carrot's head. The creature simply curled into a tiny orange ball on the floor, tail wrapped around itself.
It didn't move.
Didn't hiss.
Didn't gather magic.
Just… existed.
Rowan stared in disbelief, eyes darting between Reiji and the creature.
Reiji offered a small, knowing smile. "Looks harmless now, right? Are you ready to hear what happened?"
Rowan's breathing slowed. He didn't reply, but the panic had faded from his eyes.
Reiji hesitated for a beat. "Okay, but before I explain… let's say you lost something, but gained something better in return. How would you feel about that?"
Rowan's expression flattened instantly. "Reiji. Stop dragging it out. Tell me what happened."
Reiji took in a deep breath. "There's a good part and a bad part. Which one do you want—"
"Reiji." Rowan cut him sharply. "I still don't trust this creature. Just tell me."
A breeze slid between them as if the tension itself stirred the air.
Reiji stiffened involuntarily. His skin prickled, and Rowan caught it instantly.
Rowan's voice dropped. "You're tense. What do you know about this creature that you're hiding?"
"Hiding? I'm not hiding anything," Reiji said, though his smile turned sheepish.
A beat passed.
Then he forced a grin. "Good news first, you basically got yourself a horse equivalent… kinda."
Rowan's expression went blank. "…Horse?"
Reiji brightened. "Hit the spot."
"Yes, like a horse," he continued. "Carrot got attached to you. Maybe because you healed her? Much like how horses get acquired, right?"
Rowan listened, still dazed.
"You fell into Drainea after casting Golden Fire, I thought Carrot would go feral. But it didn't." Reiji lowered his voice. "It walked toward you. Quietly. Stayed beside you. Didn't leave. Not even once."
Rowan's eyes widened. "Drainea? How long was I out?"
"Over a day."
"That wasn't Drainea," Rowan muttered, frowning. "If it were, I wouldn't have woken that quickly."
Reiji paused. "Right, he mentioned that before. Me waking up days after Drainea sounded like it's a miracle."
His eyes drifted away.
"Maybe the crystal?"
Reiji went silent after the thought.
Dead, awkward silence.
"Reiji!" Rowan barked. "What's with the sudden silence?"
Carrot's ears twitched at the noise.
Rowan was alerted.
Reiji sighed. "You're still tense? Trust me– Carrot won't hurt you."
"The last time I trusted you, I thought I was going to die, Reiji." Rowan shot back.
"That's fair," Reiji admitted. "But you didn't."
Before Rowan could answer, Reiji scooped up Carrot and held her toward him like an offering.
"Face your fear."
Rowan instantly reached for his staff on reflex.
Reiji noticed the automatic motion and pulled Carrot away, turning his back.
"Fine, fine. If you don't want her, no need to grab a weapon." He walked out of the tent with Carrot.
The moon cast a pale glow over the clearing, and the smell of smoke from their camp fire filled the air.
"Besides– your crystal is broken." The words slipped out casually.
Rowan froze as if his soul had left his body.
"You probably got scammed on that one. It broke so easily."
"…Broken?" Rowan's voice trembled.
"It shattered immediately right after you healed Carrot," Reiji called casually from outside.
The forest echoed with Rowan's scream. "BROOOOOKEEEEEN?!"
Reiji didn't even look back he– bolted into the trees, as Rowan's voice trailed behind him.
Carrot on the other hand, jumped out of his arms and bolted back toward Rowan without hesitation.
"Hey, cat!"
Reiji tried to stop it.
But just like him, it disappeared from sight without a trace.
"Oh, that poor creature, if she only understands Rowan's actions against her..."
Leaves crunched softly beneath his feet as he moved silently through the dense forest.
"Rowan sounded extremely upset about the crystal."
Reiji talked to himself as he walked.
"Should I just let him discover that the ruins of Caledon had vanished too?"
He let out a heavy sigh.
Then the ground suddenly rumbled beneath his feet.
It started soft, a gentle tremor. "Where is this coming from?"
He followed the source until he felt a violent shudder that grew rougher and more intense as he got closer.
Before he could see the source...
*BOOM!
A violent explosion ripped through the air.
He looked in Rowan's direction, wondering if he should go back and warn him.
But the explosion was too close to ignore.
He sprinted toward the direction of the commotion.
When he arrived, he saw a group of knights overwhelmed by a menacing red-eyed, goblin-like stone monster.
Behind them was a red-haired female knight with shattered armor, and beside her, a robed figure with mauve-colored hair clinging to a long staff to stay upright.
There was shouting and panic.
"Lyra, take Lyrien and run!" the man leading the knights shouted.
Reiji's eyes locked onto the scene, his mind racing as he calculated his next action.