Morning was quiet.
It wasn’t cold, but it wasn’t warm yet, either. A faint thread of steam rose from the bowl I held in both hands.
That alone was enough.
Ren ate his bread in silence. His arm was still wrapped in bandages. But it wasn’t hanging limp like it had been last night. The bite marks on his side were covered, too.
Nael had treated him. Not perfectly, but well enough that he no longer looked like “someone who almost died.”
He just looked like someone who’d won.
With only a little pain left behind.
Nael, still wearing his just-woke-up face, sipped hot water. No one spoke.
But everyone knew.
Today was the day we left.
Not because Selem told us to.
Not because anyone drove us out.
It was simply that kind of morning.
Ren’s hand drifted to the bell at his waist, almost unconsciously. He’d done that sometimes before.
But now— it was different.
That bell wasn’t only his anymore.
It was ours.
Selem appeared without a sound, as if he’d been there from the start.
“Leaving?”
Ren nodded.
I nodded too.
Nael blinked, still holding his half-finished hot water. “Huh— we’re heading out? Really?”
Ren didn’t answer.
I nodded again.
Nael fell silent for a moment, then twisted his mouth a little.
“Then I guess I’ll have to keep watching you so you don’t eat any more weird roots.”
Selem looked over each of us in turn.
“Come.”
We stood up without saying anything.
And when we crossed the courtyard, the bell— trembled.
It didn’t ring.
But the vibration traveled clearly into my hand.
We followed behind Selem.
He stopped at the edge of the courtyard, in front of the first grove beyond the pillars, and turned back without touching anything.
“Do you feel it?”
I nodded.
It wasn’t a sound.
But it wasn’t just a sensation, either.
It felt like something had clicked neatly into place.
“That bell…” Selem said, his eyes shifting to Ren’s waist. “It isn’t merely a keepsake. Or a relic.
It was something we gave to those who formed a bond—kizuna—here, outside the system.”
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“What for?” I asked.
“So they can return.
After we hid the temple, we could no longer go out to greet anyone directly. So we used this bell.
A key of resonance, tuned to the bond. It only responds to those the temple recognizes.”
“Was it my old man’s?” Ren asked.
Selem shook his head.
“No.
Before the temple was hidden, this bell belonged to the last pair who formed a bond.”
“Then why was it at my house?” Ren pressed.
“It was recovered after the original bond collapsed.
It was believed lost for a long time, but… at some point, it ended up with your family.
It may have been coincidence. Or it may not.”
Ren stayed silent, hand going to his waist.
Like he wanted the bell itself to explain.
“Now… it’s responding to us?” I asked.
“Yes.” Selem nodded. “The bell changed its melody to match your bond.
From Elthariel’s perspective… that means you are now officially a bonded pair.”
“That easily…?” I murmured.
“You don’t need a ritual,” Selem replied quietly. “All you need is the truth.
As long as you move forward guided by the bell’s sound… you will never be alone.”
That was all.
My chest turned into a mess of things I couldn’t sort out.
Warmth, and anxiety, and a small, sharp edge of fear.
I didn’t know what Ren was thinking.
A part of me had been hoping for something—anything. Even one word. Even a smile.
But he only looked at me for an instant, then looked back down at the bell.
He didn’t seem troubled.
He didn’t seem relieved.
And I couldn’t tell whether that steadiness was supposed to calm me down… or make me more uneasy.
Either way, I couldn’t stop thinking about it.
“Your bond…” Selem said, watching us again, “resembles the bond this bell once belonged to.”
“The bond tied to this bell?” I asked.
He nodded.
“Yes. And that is very interesting.”
He didn’t explain why.
“Once you leave, no one will smooth the flow for you.
You will have to support it yourselves.
So…
Carry it through, all the way to the end.”
“All the way to the end… of what?” I asked.
But he’d already turned away.
He was still turned away, not quite ready to start walking.
“Selem-sama.”
A voice came from deep in the corridor. One of the temple’s monks.
He didn’t look rushed, but his face carried weight.
Selem stopped, but didn’t fully turn around.
“A report from the pilgrim monks. From the east.”
“Where exactly?”
“Near the border with Kaelysar. The old trade valley.
The road has been sealed. Armed patrol soldiers have been deployed, carrying shields with a crest—Kaelysar troops.”
Ren tilted his head.
“Reason?”
“They won’t say.
They simply block the way and refuse entry.
According to the pilgrims, some of the soldiers wore dark, clouded crystals on their chests.
And a crest was carved into them.”
Without meaning to, I swallowed.
“That’s… Spelarita.
The substance Adelman claimed to have discovered.
I heard that even when my parents were still alive, it was already being used in experimental equipment.
That it lets someone wield power even if they aren’t a natural catalyst.”
Selem shook his head.
“It isn’t refined.
It’s nothing but stagnation.
Spelarita is magic that has forgotten how to flow.
It hardens, and it becomes poisonous.
And when it takes shape…
it becomes proof that mankind refused to understand the flow— and mistook it.”
I stood there in silence.
Something kept tightening in the back of my chest.
It wasn’t pain. But it was close.
That man… Adelman.
He called it hope. He spoke of it as the light of the future.
That was the slogan.
That was supposed to be the slogan.
But in truth, it was poison.
Then if this is a lie too—
if even that was a twisted fact—
then my parents’ story,
this country’s history,
everything…
If all of it was the same—?
My breathing grew shallow.
Not because of the air.
Because of my thoughts.
“Are you okay?” Ren asked in a small voice.
“Yeah. I’m fine. I was just thinking.”
He didn’t look convinced, but I didn’t feel like convincing him.
More than that, I found myself wanting to say it out loud.
“Then… we can’t go east.”
