The caravan left the capital behind at dawn.
Wagons creaked, armor clinked, and the crisp morning air carried the faint scent of pine and distant stone. The Divine Mountain loomed at their backs like a watching deity, but the road ahead stretched toward harsher lands—lands ruled not by kings, but by Labyrinths.
The class rode in the back of covered wagons while knights marched alongside. It was a quiet journey. Not solemn, but weighted.
Even Kouki's usual enthusiasm dimmed in the face of the boundary they were approaching.
"Horaud should be just beyond those hills," Meld called from the front, pointing with his gauntleted hand. "It's the last safe settlement before Orcus. Don't wander too far after sundown."
"Safe settlement," Ryutarou snorted. "That sounds reassuring."
Hajime remained silent, leaning slightly out of the wagon to observe the landscape.
The cultivated fields of the capital had long since vanished. What remained was rough grassland, patches of uneven stone, and wind-carved hills. Wooden watchtowers dotted the road at intervals, each giving off soft pulses of mana.
His Resonance picked up every shift, every faint tremor.
The closer they drew to Orcus, the denser the ambient magic felt. It wasn't the clean, refined mana of the capital's sanctified structures. It was raw. Untamed.
Alive.
Too alive.
Like the ground itself is awake, he thought. Listening.
His Soul Core pulsed once, quietly agreeing.
The wagons continued until the sun began dipping toward the horizon, painting the sky in streaks of gold and violet. That was when the palisade walls of Horaud came into view—rough wooden spikes reinforced with monster hide and metal plates.
A frontier town.
A place half surviving, half glaring defiantly at the Labyrinth across the plains.
---
Horaud – The Edge of Civilization
Entering Horaud felt like stepping into a different world entirely.
Buildings hugged the ground as though afraid of being knocked down. Chimneys belched smoke from late-night forges. Tavern signs swayed in the wind, their painted monsters and swords illuminated by flickering lanterns.
The people here didn't stare like the citizens of the capital. They evaluated.
Adventurers wearing mismatched armor eyed the students with interest. Merchants whispered numbers. Even the innkeepers measured them as potential customers—or trouble.
"This town…" Shizuku murmured, eyes sharpening. "It feels harsh."
"It's a border town," Hajime replied. "It has to be."
Kaori shivered. "It's so different from the capital."
"Good." Meld thumped a fist to his chest as he turned toward them. "You'll learn more from a day in Horaud than a week in that pampered palace. This is where real adventurers live and die."
Aiko-sensei nearly collapsed with relief when she saw the sturdy-looking inn they'd be staying in.
Inside, it was packed—adventurers laughing roughly, plates clattering, the scent of grilled meat heavy in the air. The presence of knights parted the crowd enough for the class to move deeper.
Rooms were assigned—two or three per room, except for a few outliers like Hajime, who ended up with a small single on the second floor due to how the support jobs were divided.
The room was plain: simple bed, desk, chair, shuttered window. The view framed the distant silhouette of the Labyrinth like a dark wound in the land.
Hajime sat down on the bed, letting his body rest for the first time all day.
Tomorrow… we face Orcus.
It didn't frighten him. The Labyrinth was a place of rules, danger, monsters. Those were predictable variables.
People weren't.
Especially certain people.
His fingers drifted to the inside pocket of his coat where his status plate rested. He didn't pull it out.
There was a soft knock.
"Hajime-kun? It's me."
Kaori.
---
A Night Visit
He opened the door.
Kaori stood in the hallway, wrapped in a thin robe over her nightgown, hands clasped like she was holding herself together.
Her voice trembled. "Um… could I come in? Just for a little while?"
"Yeah. Of course."
She stepped inside, and the door closed behind her with a quiet click.
The room felt smaller with her in it—not because of the space, but because of the tension wrapped around her shoulders. She didn't sit. She just stood there, fidgeting with the hem of her sleeve, lips pressed together.
"Kaori?" Hajime asked gently. "You okay?"
Her breath caught. Then she nodded, then shook her head, then finally managed:
"I… had a dream."
He straightened.
Not a normal dream—not with the way she said it.
"Back at the palace," she continued softly, "right before we left. I didn't tell anyone, but… but I think it was a vision."
He swallowed. He listened in silence, Resonance vibrating in a way that felt far too much like confirmation. Of course she saw it, he thought. Priestess job. High magic. Sensitivity to fate-lines.
"What did you see?"
"A dark place. Deep underground. Everyone screaming. Something… huge." Her voice cracked. "And you—falling. Far. I called out, and you didn't hear. You just kept falling until the darkness swallowed you."
Her hands clenched into tight fists, trembling.
"I woke up crying. And I've felt sick ever since we left the capital. Like something terrible is going to happen to you."
Hajime let silence stretch between them—not cold, just steady.
"So," he said quietly, "you came here because you didn't want to keep it inside."
She nodded, tears brimming. "I don't want to lose you."
The words hit harder than he expected.
Before he could answer, he moved to the desk and pulled his transmutation gloves from his pack.
"H-Hajime-kun?" Kaori asked, startled. "What are you doing?"
He set two clear crystals on the desk.
"You said you wanted something to hold onto," he said calmly. "So I'll make one."
He slipped the gloves on.
Kaori approached slowly, watching the crystals as though they might leap into the air.
---
Hajime placed his hands over the first crystal.
Mana flowed.
Transmute.
The crystal softened under his will—its impurities breaking down, its internal structure rearranging like threads being combed. He shaped it into a teardrop pendant, smooth and clear.
Then came the delicate part.
He let his Resonance extend—soft, subtle pulses that mapped the inside of the crystal like sonar. Using that, he carved an intricate micro-array into its core.
Not a normal magic circle.
Not an offensive spell.
A listener.
A perfect echo chamber tuned specifically to the unique waveform of his Soul Core.
His heart. His magic. His identity.
Kaori watched in awe as rainbow wave-lines shimmered faintly inside the pendant, like a tiny aurora trapped in glass.
"It's… beautiful," she whispered.
He crafted the second pendant—a transmitter—tuned to send his Resonance signature outward when worn.
He set each pendant on simple gold chains.
Then he held one out.
"This one is yours."
Kaori took it with both hands. The moment her skin touched the crystal—
The pendant glowed.
A soft, warm rainbow sheen pulsed under her fingers, syncing with Hajime's Soul Core from across the room.
"Oh…" Her breath hitched. "I can… feel you. It's warm. Steady."
"Good," Hajime said softly. "That's me. So if that dream tries to scare you again, remember this. As long as it's humming like that, I haven't gone anywhere."
Her eyes shimmered, but this time with relief instead of fear.
"Thank you," she said, voice thick. "Really. You always act like you're just 'average' or 'support,' but… you think of things no one else does."
He scratched his cheek, a little embarrassed. "Occupational hazard of being a paranoid Alchemist."
Kaori laughed quietly, the tension finally loosening from her frame. She stepped forward impulsively, hugging him for a brief, tight second before pulling back with a blush.
Hajime nodded. "As long as that feeling from the pendent stays steady, you'll know I'm alive and conscious. If it distorts or goes silent…"
Her expression hardened. "…I'll know something is wrong."
"Exactly."
He slipped the twin pendant over his neck. It settled over his chest, pulsing faintly.
They shared a quiet moment—warm, fragile, reassuring.
Then Kaori stepped forward and hugged him again.
It was brief. Tight. Trembling.
"S-Sorry!" she squeaked, pulling back with a blush.
"It's fine," Hajime said, softer than usual. "Get some rest. Tomorrow's going to be rough."
She nodded, wiping her eyes but smiling—finally smiling.
Clutching the glowing pendant, she left.
The door closed.
---
The Corridor — A Shadow Watches
A figure stepped deeper into the shadows near the hallway corner.
Hiyama.
He hadn't come upstairs looking for trouble.
He had just wanted to "check on Kaori."
But what he saw—Kaori stepping out of Hajime's room, holding a softly glowing pendant to her chest—froze him.
His mind went blank.
Then twisted.
She's blushing.
Holding something he gave her.
He—Nagumo—gave her a necklace.
He took a shaky breath.
'Pretty stone,' he thought bitterly. 'Shiny little charm. And she looks happy.'
Something ugly tightened in his chest.
Why him?
What does she see in him?
He glared at Hajime's door with a look that promised trouble.
Silently, he retreated down the stairs.
---
The Knights' Reaction (Earlier)
When Kaori had passed through the inn's common room moments after receiving the pendant, the knights escorting the class had noticed the faint glow.
One whispered, "Young noble lad gave her a glanz-like trinket, huh?"
Another chuckled. "Cute age. Looks like a courtship charm."
No suspicion. No alarm.
Only mild amusement.
Hajime never heard a word of it.
---
Kaori's Room
Kaori closed her door softly behind her.
Her roommate—Shizuku—looked up from brushing her hair.
"You were gone a while," she said, tone neutral.
Kaori hesitated, then smiled faintly. "Just talking to Hajime-kun."
Shizuku raised a brow. "Talking?"
Kaori nodded, untied her robe, and sat on her bed. She opened her hands to show the glowing pendant.
Shizuku's brush paused mid-stroke.
"That's… beautiful."
"Isn't it?" Kaori whispered. "He made it. Right there. For me."
Shizuku watched the gentle pulse of rainbow light, thoughtful but unreadable.
"Keep it hidden," she said finally. "This town has greedy hands."
Kaori nodded, slipping it under her nightgown, close to her heart.
Warmth spread through her chest the moment it touched her skin.
Hajime's heartbeat.
She fell asleep holding it.
---
Hajime — Awake in the Dark
Hajime lay on his back, eyes open, staring at the wooden beams above.
The room was silent except for faint tavern noise from below.
He lifted the pendant from where it rested against his chest. It glowed softly in the dark—subtle rainbow pulses that matched the rhythm of his Soul Core.
"It's crude," he murmured to himself. "Unrefined. Not labyrinth-grade. But it'll help her sleep."
He tightened his fingers around it.
Kaori's dream still lingered in his mind.
A dark place. Screaming. Falling.
But not meaningless either.
He had enough overlap with the original timeline to know how fragile fate could be.
He exhaled slowly.
"I won't die," he whispered.
His Soul Core pulsed once—strong, steady, defiant.
A quiet promise in the dark.