Chương 70: Chapter 71 — The Eastern Stranger

The young man remained on the opposite bank of the stream, watching Leo with the patience of someone who had already decided that running would accomplish nothing, while the distant bell faded into the forest and left behind a silence that felt different from the ordinary quiet of the wilderness. Leo had heard that sound before, but the circumstances had changed.

The first time it had been buried beneath stone and mystery; now it had been answered by a trail of people who knew about Internal Energy, fragments marked with silver lines, and an eastern destination that seemed to be drawing more attention with every mile he traveled. He did not like coincidences. He liked even less when too many of them pointed in the same direction.

"Your name," Leo said. The young man hesitated.

"Rin."

"Family name?"

"I don't use one."

"Convenient."

"Not really." Leo studied him from across the water.

"You said they know where I am."

"They do."

"How?" Rin looked toward the forest.

"The bell." Leo's expression remained unchanged.

"You triggered it?"

"No."

"Then who did?"

"I don't know." Leo stepped into the stream. The water reached his ankles before he crossed to the other side, his boots sinking slightly into the gravel. Rin watched him approach but made no attempt to retreat.

"You've been following me since Blackridge," Leo said.

"You watched me enter the village."

"Yes."

"You watched the fight."

"Yes."

"You watched me speak to the injured man."

"Yes."

"And you still decided to approach me." Rin nodded.

"Why?"

"Because you are going to the same place I am." Leo stopped.

"And where is that?"

"The eastern mountains."

"That is a large area."

"Not for me." Rin reached behind his shoulder and pulled the short blade from its sheath. Leo's hand moved toward his sword. Rin did not raise the weapon. Instead, he turned it around and held the hilt toward Leo.

"There." Leo looked at the blade. It was unlike the swords he had seen in the empire. The weapon was shorter, narrower, and slightly curved, designed more for controlled movement than powerful cutting. Its surface was dull rather than polished, and there was no ornamentation except for a small circular mark near the base of the blade. Three thin lines crossed the circle. Leo's gaze remained on it for several seconds.

"Where did you get that?"

"My family."

"You're from the east."

"Yes."

"Shinkai?" Rin's expression changed. It was small, but unmistakable.

"You heard that name."

"An archivist in Blackridge told me."

"You spoke to Elias Varn."

"Yes." Rin lowered the blade.

"Then you know enough to understand why you should turn around."

"I don't."

"You should." Leo looked past him toward the mountains.

"Everyone keeps telling me where I shouldn't go." Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

"Because people who go there don't always return."

"That's true of many places."

"Not like this." Leo looked back at him. Rin's voice had changed. There was no mystery in it now. Only concern.

"My older brother went east three years ago." Leo said nothing.

"He was a scout. He knew the mountains, knew the old trails, and knew how to survive without imperial roads. He disappeared near the border."

"Dead?"

"We don't know."

"Why haven't you searched for him?"

"I did."

"And?"

"I found his sword." Rin looked down at the short blade in his hand.

"This is his." Leo understood.

"You took it after finding him."

"No." Rin's fingers tightened around the hilt.

"He gave it to me before he left." That distinction mattered. Leo looked at the weapon again.

"You're following the people searching for the stones because you think they have something to do with your brother."

"I know they do."

"How?"

"Because the last letter he sent mentioned the same symbol." Leo's attention sharpened.

"Three lines through a circle?" Rin nodded.

"He said he'd found people excavating an old structure beneath the mountains. He said they weren't soldiers, merchants, or scholars, and that they seemed afraid of something they had uncovered."

"What did he call it?" Rin looked toward the eastern horizon.

"The Hollow Gate." Leo remained silent.

"Have you heard of it?"

"No."

"Good."

"Why?"

"Because everyone who has heard of it eventually starts looking for it."

"And you don't want me to."

"No." Leo considered him.

"You're contradicting yourself."

"I know." Rin sighed.

"My brother disappeared because he went looking for answers. I followed him because I wanted to know whether he was alive. Now I've spent three years learning that some answers are worse than not knowing." He sheathed the blade.

"I don't want another person walking into the same mistake." Leo looked at the road.

"Then you should stop following me."

"I tried."

"When?"

"Twice." Leo almost smiled.

"And yet here you are."

"Because you keep walking toward the same danger."

"That isn't your decision."

"No." Rin looked directly at him.

"But it is my problem if you reach Shinkai before I do." Leo's expression hardened slightly.

"You've never been there."

"No."

"Then how do you know the name?"

"My brother told me."

"Before he disappeared?"

"Yes." Leo looked toward the mountains again. The distant peaks were barely visible beneath the morning haze. He had expected the eastern territories to become progressively more remote, perhaps more dangerous, but he had not expected the first people he encountered there to already be tied to the same mystery he had tried to leave behind. Yet the connection was not impossible.

If the old researchers had once studied different power systems together, then knowledge of Internal Energy could have survived in isolated regions. A settlement that rejected mana as the foundation of all supernatural power could have preserved an entirely different tradition for generations. That did not mean Shinkai was connected to the doors. It did not mean the people there were involved in the fragments. And it certainly did not mean that anyone there knew who Leo had once been.

Those conclusions required evidence. Leo had no intention of replacing evidence with assumptions.

"How far to the mountains?" he asked. Rin blinked.

"Three days."

"Walking?"

"Yes."

"Good." Rin frowned.

"Good?"

"I don't ride."

"I noticed." Leo started walking. Rin remained where he was for a moment. Then he followed. They traveled together for the rest of the morning without becoming companions. At least, that was how Leo thought of it. Rin was useful because he knew the terrain. Leo was useful because he was stronger. Neither had promised anything to the other, and neither asked questions that the other clearly did not want to answer. It was comfortable. By noon, the forest thinned into rocky ground. Rin pointed toward a ridge.

"There is a settlement beyond that."

"Large?"

"About two hundred people."

"Imperial?"

"No."

"Hostile?"

"Usually not."

"Usually?"

"They don't like outsiders."

"That makes sense." Rin looked at him.

"You say that as though you approve."

"I don't care whether they like me."

"You should."

"Why?"

"Because you carry a sword."

"So do you."

"Mine is hidden." Leo glanced at him.

"Poorly." Rin smiled for the first time. It was brief, but genuine.

"You noticed."

"I notice weapons."

"That's probably why you're still alive." They reached the settlement before sunset. It was built between two large hills, surrounded by wooden walls that had clearly been repaired many times. Smoke rose from several chimneys, and narrow paths connected clusters of simple houses. People stopped working as Leo and Rin entered, but nobody reached for a weapon. They watched. That was all. An elderly woman approached them carrying a basket. Her eyes moved from Rin to Leo.

"You're back." Rin nodded.

"I need to stay the night."

"You can." Her gaze shifted toward Leo.

"And him?"

"He's with me." The woman studied Leo for several seconds.

"He doesn't look like he's from here."

"He isn't."

"That wasn't what I meant." Leo looked at her. She smiled faintly.

"You carry yourself like someone who has never needed permission." Rin's expression tightened.

"Grandmother."

"What?"

"Don't." She ignored him.

"What is your name?"

"Leo." The woman's eyes narrowed. Then she looked at the sword.

"Have you been to Blackridge?" Leo did not answer immediately.

"Yes." The woman's face changed. Not fear. Recognition.

"Then you should leave before nightfall." Rin stared at her.

"You know?"

"I know enough." Leo asked, "About the fragments?" The woman went completely still. Several people nearby turned toward them. Rin's hand moved toward his blade. Leo did not move. The woman slowly placed the basket on the ground.

"Who told you that word?"

"No one."

"Then how do you know?"

"I've seen one." The woman looked at Rin. Then back at Leo.

"You need to come inside." Leo studied the settlement. Every person who had been watching them had now stopped pretending not to. There was no immediate hostility. But there was fear. And fear had a habit of becoming violence when given enough time. Leo nodded.

"All right." They followed the woman into a small wooden house near the center of the settlement. The room was simple, containing a table, several chairs, a cooking stove, and an old wooden cabinet filled with books. The woman closed the door behind them.

"My name is Hana." She sat down.

"You should never have heard about the fragments." Leo took the chair opposite her.

"Why?"

"Because the people searching for them aren't the only ones who know about them." Rin sat beside the wall.

"What does that mean?" Hana looked at him.

"It means your brother wasn't the first person from this region to disappear." Rin went completely still.

"How many?" Hana lowered her gaze.

"Twenty-three." Leo's attention sharpened.

"Over how long?"

"Seven years."

"Were they all looking for the same thing?"

"No."

"Then why disappear?" Hana's fingers tightened around the edge of the table.

"Because they all went near the same mountain." Rin stood.

"Which mountain?" Hana looked at him.

"The mountain your brother was searching for." She paused. Then she added quietly:"Mount Shinkai." Outside, something struck the wooden wall. Once. Then again. Hana's face went pale. Rin immediately drew his blade. Leo stood. A third impact shook the house. Not a knock. A fist. Then a voice came from outside.

"Open the door." Leo listened. There were at least eight people outside. Perhaps more. Hana whispered:"They found us." Leo rested his hand on his sword.

"Who?" The woman looked toward the door.

"The people who have been searching for the fragments." The voice outside spoke again.

"We know the outsider is inside." Leo's eyes narrowed. Then another voice joined the first. Calm. Cold. Familiar. It belonged to the leader from the forest.

"You should have kept walking, Leo." For the first time since leaving Blackridge, Leo felt certain that his journey east had stopped being a matter of choice. Someone had decided to make it personal. End of Chapter 71.