In the next morning, Jay adjusted the strap of his bag and looked ahead, where a small carriage awaited by the roadside. Shiro stood a few steps away from them, his usual calm expression shadowed with hesitation.
"So that's it then," Jay said, breaking the silence. "You're really going your own way?"
Shiro nodded. "Yeah. I still have a lot to figure out. About my ability. About… her." His eyes briefly flicked to Yumina, who stood silently beside Jay, her arms crossed, her expression unreadable. "If I go with you now, I'll just slow you down. I need to understand what I can actually do first."
Yumina tilted her head slightly. "You could learn along the way. You don't need to isolate yourself."
Shiro gave a faint smile. "You don't get it. I'm not isolating myself. I'm optimizing."
That last word earned a small exhale from Jay, a mix of amusement and worry. Shiro talked as if life itself was a system to be debugged.
The three exchanged one final glance before Shiro turned west. Jay and Yumina watched him until he disappeared into the mist.
"Guess it's just us now," Jay said quietly.
Yumina nodded. "For now."
They boarded the small carriage, an old, creaking contraption drawn by two gray horses. The driver, an old and bearded man with a straw hat, gave them a friendly nod before urging the horses forward. The wheels began to roll, and soon, the village was no more than a dot in the distance.
Inside, Jay pulled out a folded map he had bought the previous day. It was crude but serviceable, showing several towns connected by winding roads. At the far end of the parchment, marked with a golden crown, was the capital: Eldara.
He ran his finger along the road. "If this map is right, it'll take us a week, maybe more, going town by town. Depends on the weather, too."
"A week?" Yumina asked, leaning closer. "That's… slow."
Jay sighed. "Yeah. Turns out the country, called Azelor, is as big as Australia. If only we had something like that teleportation spell those knights used."
Yumina's eyes narrowed slightly, her gaze distant.
Eventually, she closed her eyes and rested her head against the wooden frame of the carriage. Outside, the sun slowly broke through the mist, and the dirt road stretched endlessly ahead of them.
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The forest to the west was quiet. Too quiet.
Shiro stepped carefully through the underbrush, his eyes scanning the endless rows of trees. He had been traveling for hours now, and despite the exhaustion, his mind buzzed with curiosity.
He stopped before a massive oak tree. Taking a deep breath, he extended his hand.
"Let's try something," he muttered.
He focused on the familiar grid-like sensation in his mind, the same structure he had felt when using Control CV. But now, without distractions, he could sense more. Lines of energy, faint but organized, running through everything around him. Trees, rocks, even the soil beneath his feet, all had patterns. All had information that he could visibly see.
He pointed at the tree. In his mind's eye, its structure appeared as a network of symbols and pulses, like code made of light. Carefully, he reached out to it with his will.
The tree shimmered. Its bark rippled like water. For a moment, it almost seemed to breathe.
"Okay," Shiro whispered. "Let's reprogram this."
He imagined the lines shifting, rearranging, converting the organic texture into something solid, dense, stone.
The symbols twisted, distorted, and...
A loud *CRACK* echoed through the air. The tree's surface turned gray, rough, and then completely solidified.
When the transformation ended, what stood before him was no longer a tree, but a massive rock shaped like one.
Shiro stepped back, blinking in disbelief. "It...worked?"
He touched the cold surface, feeling the fine grains of stone beneath his fingers. The tree had become a rock down to its core. The pattern had rewritten itself completely.
Encouraged, he turned to a nearby squirrel sitting on a branch. "I have to see if it works on living things..."
He pointed his finger and reached for the squirrel's structure.
Immediately, his vision blurred. His chest constricted. The squirrel screamed, not a sound, but a resonance, and the structure shattered in his perception. The animal bolted away, unharmed but terrified.
Shiro gasped and dropped to one knee. "Damn it...it seems it's not possible, at least for now."
He clenched his fists. "So there are rules, after all."
After a few minutes, he stood again, a small grin forming on his face. "Still, if I can change inanimate matter itself, that's more than enough. I just need time."
And with that thought, he continued west, deeper into the forest, eager to test the boundaries of his power.
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Far away, inside the marbled halls of Eldara Castle, the air was heavy with the scent of incense and polished stone.
Allot stood in front of the grand throne, his silver robes reflecting the soft glow of the torches. Across from him, King Charles sat with one leg crossed, sipping from a crystal goblet filled with dark wine.
"So," the King said, his tone calm but sharp. "You're saying Reinhardt was defeated?"
"Yes, Your Majesty," Allot replied. "By one of the transmigrators. A young man with remarkable physical aptitude. He single-handedly overpowered Reinhardt and left him unconscious."
Charles's eyes narrowed slightly, but his smile didn't fade. "And the rest of the group?"
"They split. The one with immense strength travels north with a girl who may possess anomalous abilities. The other boy heads west."
The King's gaze drifted to the grand window beside him, where the setting sun bathed the room in orange light. "Interesting."
Allot hesitated before asking, "What should be done, Your Majesty?"
"Send word to every province close to their location," Charles said, standing from his throne. "A bounty on the man known as Jay. Alive, if possible. The girl and the other boy…" He paused, his tone hardening. "…dispose of them if they resist."
Allot bowed deeply. "Understood."
As he turned to leave, Charles's expression softened. When the doors closed and silence filled the room, he walked toward a small table by the window. Upon it rested an ornate glass container, and inside, the severed, embalmed hand of a woman.
The King knelt beside it, his eyes gentle, almost tender.
"Did you hear that, my love?" he whispered, running his fingers along the preserved hand. "It seems we've found a potential candidate for our long-awaited ritual."
The candlelight flickered across his face, revealing a serene smile, one that carried both devotion and madness.
"Soon," he murmured. "Soon, we'll be whole again."
And in the stillness of that grand, silent hall, the hand twitched, almost imperceptibly.