Night fell slowly.
The village was quiet again after the panic of the afternoon.
The wolf had been driven away.
The cracked house was being fixed.
Some villagers still looked at Momo with a mix of wonder and fear.
Rey sat on a wooden bench outside a small inn.
Momo sat beside him, holding a meat skewer.
Rey had finally paid for it with his last coin.
"Finish it. That was my lunch money for tomorrow," Rey said.
Momo took a bite without feeling guilty at all.
"Fine."
Rey looked at the sky.
The stars were clear.
"So," he said softly, "you really didn't know it's been five hundred years?"
Momo swallowed. "I remember the war."
"Which one?"
"All of them."
Rey turned his head slightly. Momo didn't look like she was joking.
"I remember dragons falling. Fortresses collapsing. Magic circles breaking."
A night breeze blew by.
"And then?"
"...And then I fell asleep."
Rey went silent.
The peach seal on her back pulsed slowly—warm and steady.
"Who sealed you?" Rey finally asked.
Momo didn't answer right away. She stared at the small fire in front of them.
"...Master."
Rey raised an eyebrow. "Your parent?"
Momo thought for a few seconds.
"...My creator."
Silence. Rey didn't look shocked; he was just processing it.
"Are you angry?"
Momo stared at the fire. The tiny flame danced in the wind.
"The war is over."
"Yes."
"If the war is over... I am not needed."
She said it flatly. No drama. No tears.
That was what made it feel so heavy.
Rey looked at her for a long time.
"And that's your conclusion?"
Momo didn't answer.
Rey leaned back. "The world doesn't seal something it doesn't need."
Momo frowned. "Explain."
"If you were just a tool for war... they would have kept using you."
Silence. The fire crackled.
Rey continued softly. "But if someone sealed you after the war ended... maybe it's not because you weren't needed."
Momo looked at him. Her gaze was sharp. "...Then why?"
"Maybe because you were too needed."
The wind stopped for a moment.
The seal on her back felt warmer. It didn't glow; it just felt... alive.
Momo looked down slightly. "I am a system."
Rey shook his head. "You just ate bread given to you by a child."
"That's different."
"You said thank you."
Momo went quiet. It was true. She looked at her hands.
"...I wasn't ordered to do that."
Rey smiled slightly. "Exactly."
A long silence followed. From a distance, they could hear the soft laughter of the villagers.
They were alive. They were weak. But they were alive.
Momo stared at the fire again. It was small and fragile, but it kept burning.
"...If this world is weak," she said softly, "why hasn't it collapsed?"
Rey answered without hesitation. "Because not all power is used for destruction."
Those words hung in the air. Momo didn't know how to reply.
For the first time—she wasn't thinking about enemies.
She wasn't thinking about the system.
She wasn't thinking about war.
She was just... thinking.
Rey stood up slowly. "Tomorrow, we go to the city."
"Why?"
"If you want to know why you were sealed... the world is much bigger than this forest."
Momo looked at him. "...Are you coming?"
Rey shrugged. "You almost melted a meat cart."
"That was a reflex."
"That's the reason I'm coming."
There was a short silence. Then Momo said softly:
"Rey."
"Hm?"
"If I am too strong..." She stopped.
Rey turned around.
"...Are you afraid?"
Rey looked at her straight in the eye. He wasn't joking or acting lazy.
"No."
Momo blinked slowly. "Why?"
"Because you are asking that question."
The fire crackled. The stars stayed quiet in the sky.
And for the first time since she woke up...
Momo didn't feel like a system.
She felt... accompanied.
____
In the distance, something vibrated softly.
An old artifact responded.
Someone read the pattern and smiled.
"Interesting..."