Gesture Village appeared quiet as Kael and Elian approached—but it was not the peace of safety.
It was the stillness of fear.
The wooden gates stood half-open, their hinges worn from neglect. Villagers lingered at a distance, watching with guarded eyes as the outsiders entered. Conversations died mid-sentence. Doors closed softly but firmly. Every face carried the same expression: suspicion sharpened by loss.
Elian felt it immediately.
"They don't trust us," he murmured.
Kael nodded. "Not after this."
Before either of them could speak further, a cry pierced the air.
A woman stumbled forward from the crowd, her hair disheveled, her eyes red and swollen. She fell to her knees before the village chief, clutching the hem of his robe.
"Please!" she sobbed. "My daughter hasn't come home. She was just fetching water—just water! She wouldn't run away. She wouldn't!"
The murmurs around them grew heavier, thick with grief and restrained anger.
Kael stepped forward.
He knelt beside the woman, his voice calm, steady—carrying a warmth that cut through her panic.
"Ma'am," he said gently, "please breathe. I can't help if I don't understand. Talk to us."
She looked up at him, startled, as if she had forgotten outsiders could show kindness.
"She's gone," the woman whispered. "Like the others."
Before the village chief could intervene, Kael had already acted.
Deploy, he commanded silently.
From the shadows cast by buildings, trees, and even the villagers themselves, ten Phantom Scouts dissolved into existence—formless, unseen, bound to Kael's will. They slipped through walls, soil, rooftops, and pathways, spreading outward across the village and its surroundings.
Search everything, Kael ordered.
No disturbance. No exposure.
At that moment, another presence joined them.
Brown—wearing his human guise—stood beside Kael, appearing every bit the refined traveler. His features were handsome, his aura suppressed to near invisibility. To ordinary eyes, he was merely another adventurer.
Elian watched the villagers closely, his elven senses brushing against the forest beyond the settlement. Something was wrong here. Not just fear.
A hollowness.
The village chief cleared his throat, forcing a strained smile.
"You must be tired from your journey," he said, gesturing toward his house. "Please. Come inside. I can offer food, warmth, and a place to speak properly."
Kael was about to respond—
When a voice echoed directly within his mind.
Do not accept.
The words were calm, regal, absolute.
Queen Seraphel.
Within Kael's inner subspace, the ancient Queen Spirit stirred, her presence like moonlight over still water.
That man is hiding something, she continued telepathically.
His soul is… folded. Twisted inward. Decline politely. Observe.
Kael met the chief's gaze and smiled faintly.
"Your offer is appreciated," he said, stepping back, "but we'll remain outside for now. The air helps us think."
For just a fraction of a second—
The village chief's expression hardened.
Then it vanished, replaced by practiced concern.
"As you wish," he replied smoothly.
---
Later That Night
Gesture Village slept uneasily.
Torches flickered low. Guards walked their routes with forced routine. Yet beneath the village, something moved.
Kael stood atop a nearby rooftop, the moonlight outlining his silhouette.
Report, he commanded.
The Phantom Scouts returned one by one, their information flooding his consciousness.
No monster tracks.
No forced abductions above ground.
Mana disturbances carefully concealed.
And then—
A hidden structure.
A secret passage, concealed beneath the village chief's house, descending deep underground.
Kael's jaw tightened.
"That's not coincidence," Elian said quietly beside him, having sensed Kael's shift in mood.
"No," Kael replied. "It's a system."
He closed his eyes briefly.
Deploy second unit.
From the darkness behind abandoned sheds and beneath silent alleyways, eight Undead Shadow Ninjas emerged—elite assassins wrapped in deathly silence, their forms half-merged with shadow itself. Their eyes glowed faintly as they awaited orders.
"Observe only," Kael whispered. "No kills unless discovered."
The ninjas vanished without a sound.
Below them, in the village chief's house, a lantern was extinguished.
And far beneath the soil of Gesture Village, ancient doors began to open once more.
Whatever horror had claimed the missing—
Kael was now close enough to hear it breathe.