After the honorable duel between Toki and the leader of the Tricerhameo clan, during the hours between noon and sunset, Shon, Toki, and Luna moved along a path that led them toward an apple village visible in the distance.
Luna supported Toki, whose blood was slowly drying due to the cold.
Breaking the silence, Shon said, picking at his ear with his small finger, "You're quite something, Toki!"
Toki lifted his head slowly but said nothing.
Shon continued, "While you were gripping the pebbles and training with Luna, your wounds were healing at an impressive rate!"
He looked at Toki with a mysterious gaze. "I wonder… who could you really be?"
Toki tried to speak despite his dry throat. "It's true… I discovered it myself not too long ago."
Shon waved his finger in the air thoughtfully. "A trait humans don't have… but some vampires with special or rare genes might."
"If I'm hurt once, my body recovers… but if I'm stabbed in the same spot multiple times—" Toki lowered his head, as if unwilling to recall something unpleasant.
Luna continued with a sad, understanding expression: "Then his immune system slows down to near weakness."
Shon walked ahead of them, reading their expressions. "Hmm… I see."
They reached the end of the hill and began ascending a green, grassy slope. Three more hills remained before reaching the village.
As the sun gradually began to set, Luna's shadow stretched alongside theirs.
Shon yawned. "Strange… that creature. I've never seen it enjoy fighting without using its full power. I suppose it was hungry, hence it wanted those crops."
Luna asked, "How long have you known the leader of the Tricerhameo?"
Toki chuckled faintly with a pale smile. "That spiked tail nearly blew my mind."
Shon placed his hands behind his head. "Yes, I have a long story with him… but perhaps it's best I don't tell it."
"Why?" Luna asked softly.
They discussed the duel, and Shon explained to Toki that currently, he doesn't possess any type of spiritual pulse—neither the original nor the ordinary. What he had done was merely release and extract the restrained energy within him.
Shon explained to Luna that someone using original pulses could almost return to normal, by condensing matter according to their element.
Luna asked, recalling the creature's words, "You herd sheep, right? Why insist on helping us when we're just strangers?"
Shon sighed, his expression relaxed. "True… but I don't want anyone to endure what I went through."
Then he turned to Toki. "And don't even think about eating my dear, elegant Roni."
Toki replied sarcastically, "Who even are you?"
Shon hugged himself. "She's the elegant sheep."
Luna let out a soft laugh, lips pressed together. "What kind of relationship is that?"
Toki and Shon ignored her question, indifferent.
Shon raised his eyebrows with a sudden idea and suggested they visit a hot spring to relax. Toki and Luna were puzzled by the term—they had never heard it before—so they decided to bring Sophie along.
They reached the village just before nightfall. Shon parted ways, handing them the key to his house, and headed to the stable by the village entrance.
Toki and Luna climbed the hill where Shon's house stood. Along the way, crops and sheaves of grain decorated the surroundings in orderly fashion.
They entered the house and opened the door to the upper-floor room.
"Put them here," Toki said, leaning on Luna.
Luna spread some ash around the room, then paused beside an empty corner, where old tools, some partially usable metal fragments, and books lay scattered.
The orange glow of the setting sun still illuminated the room in its final moments.
Luna helped Toki sit on the bed.
He gave a faint smile. "This reminds me of the first time I woke up… you erased everything in front of you."
Toki's wounds slowly began to heal.
Luna nodded to the right and closed her eyes for a moment. "I wasn't conscious back then."
After settling in, they wondered about Sophie and how her day had been.
Near the village entrance, Lizzy, Orfin's wife, returned from her journey tending to animals.
She was an elf, with dark blue hair, wearing explorer's clothes with slightly puffy white sleeves, carrying a large backpack full of medical supplies, appearing to be in her forties.
The guards welcomed her politely, and Lizzy asked one to inform Orfin of her arrival.
Shon approached her joyfully, waving his arm. "Yah! Welcome back, Aunt Lizzy!"
Lizzy placed her backpack on the stone ground. "Oh! Shon, how are you?"
"I'm fine, as always—" Shon started, but Lizzy punched him in the stomach with a barely visible aura, then tugged his ear.
Suppressing her anger, she said, "You were wandering outside the village, neglecting your duties, weren't you?"
Shon held his stomach, wincing slightly. "No, no… impossible."
She released his ear, sighed, and closed her eyes. "You know you can't lie to me."
Lizzy asked, "I heard from the gatekeeper that visitors arrived a few days ago. Is that true?"
Shon placed his hands on his hips. "Ah, speaking of which, would you like to join us at springs? It'll be nice after your work."
Lizzy paused, then said, "I don't mind, but I need to put my things away first. Could you help me?"
After Shon carried her bag and accompanied her home, he headed back.
As he walked down a wide street, a fox-shaped shadow leapt across a girl's palms—Sophie, emerging from an alley a short distance away.
A strange sensation ran through him as he gazed at Sophie's glowing crimson eyes, her white pupils resembling cracks, and her mid-length dress matching her hair.
Her expression was icy, as if her delicate features were suppressed.
Shon realized she was headed to visit Toki and Luna, but he couldn't move, his mind wandering.
She approached him, and all Shon saw was his dangling from a hill's edge in a barren, scorching place, electricity lancing through her body.
He felt cold at his extremities and tightness in his throat.
Before he could regain his senses, Sophie tugged at his clothes with her small hands and nodded.
Her clear voice rang out: "Has my brother Toki returned, and my sister Luna…"
Shon, trying to believe his eyes, replied, "Ah… hmm, yes, let's go."
Sophie glanced at the ground. "...Yes."
Shon carried her on his shoulders and continued toward his home.
From what he saw, Shon concluded that Sophie was on a whole different level of power. She didn't yet know her true nature, and he had only witnessed a small fraction of her aura leaking.
"This is natural… she's still growing", Shon thought.
---
As they walked, he asked her opinion of Toki and Luna. She hesitated for a moment, spoke in broken words about her feelings toward them, then gave a small smile while looking at the rising moon.
After entering the house, a fox jumped off Sophie and ran up the stairs.
Luna was sitting on a chair next to the dining table, her red-covered notebook left on the table.
At the moment Luna was about to turn toward them after opening the wooden door, Shon helped Sophie down.
Sophie went to hug Luna with longing, and Luna returned the hug with the same warmth. Then Sophie quietly asked about Toki and what had happened on their journey.
Upstairs, the fox sneaked into a room, standing cautiously while staring at Toki, who was wearing a new shirt after his previous clothes were completely torn. The fox sensed something unusual inside Toki.
A dark aura filled his body, moving like fire, then vanished, leaving a stable black-and-white sphere.
The fox jumped onto Toki's face, which annoyed him. Toki grabbed it by the belly, trying to push it away from his face, almost choking.
He looked into the fox's eyes with a cold expression:
"Where have you been all this time? If I had taken you, it would have made the journey much easier for us."
The fox tilted its head to the side as if pretending not to care.
Toki rubbed the small fox with a sarcastic smile, then tickled it on the belly.
After a few minutes, they packed some necessities into a rectangular, well-balanced straw basket. Shon accompanied Lizzy through a wide path leading to the village gate.
They gathered in a circle so Shon could transport them quickly to a mountain path, overlooking a beautiful view of stars and the blue moon.
While moving along the mountain, Lizzy noticed Toki, Luna, and Sophie, and whispered teasingly into Shon's ear:
"Tell me, is it true you still enjoy playing with others?"
Shon sighed, his face showing regret, murmuring: "Unfortunately, it's the opposite here."
Lizzy covered her face with her hand, glancing at Shon mockingly while holding back her laughter.
Shon was slightly annoyed but still respected her.
They split into two groups: Lizzy with Sophie and Luna went one way, and Shon with Toki and the fox went another.
The sound of the clear spring was peaceful, reflecting the starlight. Toki and Shon entered the hot water.
Shon explained that Raizel had discovered this place, and he would return the next day because of the distance between the villages.
Shon sat at the edge of the spring with a towel on his head to stay dry, while Toki floated on his stomach, letting the water carry him.
Toki suddenly stopped floating, lifted his head toward Shon, and looked at his left side:
"What caused that terrible wound on your belly?"
Shon hesitated briefly, then said in a serious tone:
"It's just a mark of my weakness."
Deep inside, he glimpsed a person with dark eyes—a shadow that never left him from the past.
He pointed at Toki and added:
"And you? Who did this to you? I was more curious."
Toki didn't answer, staring at his reflection in the water as he approached the rocky wall.
Then he changed the subject to the side effects of using spiritual pulses, feeling his mind and brain nearly melt from the need to concentrate.
Shon told him that with time and training, he would gain more experience, and his way of protecting himself would become unconscious when using spiritual pulses.
After a minute of silence, Toki suddenly remembered that Sophie shouldn't enter the water, because she might turn into blood and merge with it. He imagined her making a "thumbs up" gesture.
Minutes passed slowly. Toki stared at the reflection of the moon in the water until he suddenly saw an owl fluttering away.
The loud chirping of night crickets came from the mountain. Toki felt an unusual nervousness, and sweat ran down his face from the strange tension.
As the night curtain fell upon them, they returned home immediately after finishing.
Luna sat on the roof of Marsi's house, her face deep in thought, while Sophie decided to stay the night with Toki.
---
At dawn, four knights rode their horses along a yellow dirt path. They wore silver armor indicating their ranks, suitable for both movement and protection.
The first knight carried a scroll, the second held the banner of the Kingdom of Dawn, and the third and fourth were scouts.
The knight holding the scroll, with a strong expression, said:
"We have the honor of delivering this message from the king. We must take pride in it and complete this mission at all costs."
They replied in unison: "Understood!"
The soun d of horse hooves struck the ground rhythmically: clop-clop-clop…
---
A stranger may be kinder than someone close, but that doesn't change the truth…