Jhed put one foot outside. Fear was still there — but no one was around to see him. He looked left, right. Empty.
The fear loosened slightly.
"One whole day inside. I should probably go to the guild." He walked toward it. The town felt unusually quiet today. He didn't see a single person for half the journey — as if everyone had simply disappeared. He reached the guild.
He went inside. Silence. Nobody.
"Empty here too."
"Anyone here? Daichi sir—" he called out. Nothing. "Is anyone here?" He went up the stairs to the room where Daichi always was. Opened the door.
Empty.
"Where did everyone go?" He closed the door quietly, hand resting on his sword, thinking.
"Maybe Daichi and the adventurers went to search for the card outside the walls. But the whole town can't have gone."
"Is anyone here?" he called again. The silence made him uneasy.
"Maybe there's a festival somewhere. Everyone went there." He stepped out of the guild and took a road leading uphill through the town.
He looked around as he walked. His sheathed sword made a sound with every step. Every wooden house — empty. As if in one single night, everyone had vanished. But that couldn't be right. Just this morning Daichi had sent adventurers outside to find Silia. And the counter girl, and Daichi himself — they'd both been in the guild.
So where did they go?
He reached the end of the road. Not a single person. Not even a bird.
Something was wrong.
"Let me try this road." He turned onto a different path. The moment he stepped forward — the ground turned red. Red like blood.
"What is this?" He crouched, touched it with his finger, brought it to his tongue.
"Metallic taste. Slightly salty. What could it be? And how did it get here?"
He stood up. A shadow fell over him from above. He looked up at the sky.
Something was coming toward him — fast.
"Shine—" Jhed jumped back. Shine crashed down in front of him.
"Shine — what happened to you—" Jhed's body went cold. His hands and legs were shaking. Sweat broke out everywhere. Breathing became difficult. The red he had tasted — it was blood.
Shine lay before him, fallen hard from above. His arms, legs, even his neck — bent wrong. Blood was flowing from his body.
"Shine — how — how is this possible?" Jhed looked down the road.
Daichi. Maruls. Metye. Asfer. Uni. Their bodies lay there too.
Sweat poured down Jhed's face. His legs wouldn't move. He grabbed his own knees, trying to force himself to stand — but his hands were shaking too hard.
He looked up —
And suddenly he was somewhere else. He was in the guild. At the counter.
"How are you, sir?"
Jhed looked up. Silia stood at the counter, a strange smile on her face.