When it gets too quiet, it’s usually never a good sign. That was exactly what this was.

  It wasn’t the kind of silence that said, “There’s nothing to say.” It was more like, “I don’t want to say it—and I don’t want to hear it either.”

  The road leading into the village looked like no one had walked it in a long time. Every house leaned at a wrong angle, roofs on the verge of collapsing. But I didn’t care about that.

  The problem was the people. No—“shadows” was more accurate.

  Someone was watching from behind curtains, through gaps in walls. But even if you met their gaze, there was no reaction. Like they’d already decided nothing mattered anymore, no matter what they saw.

  “So Thiseia has villages like this too…” Sera muttered.

  It wasn’t shock. It was something heavier—like disappointment. Like she was looking at a country that wasn’t the one she’d believed in, and it stung.

  I didn’t feel like answering. And honestly, by then, the air had already changed.

  It’s hard to explain, but… when mana rots, even the air changes with it.

  Your throat catches. Your back goes heavy. It’s like wearing a soaked cloak that never dries.

  “This place is completely contaminated,” Sera said, pressing a hand to her chest. “The mana is stagnating.”

  I crouched down without a word and looked at the ground.

  …There it was.

  A small crystal, a color that looked like it was swallowing light.

  Spelarita. And fresh.

  “Selem said Spelarita forms when stagnant mana crystallizes, but… can it really happen this fast?” I muttered. “If it’s already bubbling up out of the ground, how rotten is this place…?”

  That was when a woman suddenly burst out and clung to Sera.

  “Could it be… Queen Naeris!? You’re alive—!”

  I jumped back on instinct. Ren raised his guard automatically, but Sera didn’t take a single step away. She just said, calmly, “No. But people do tell me I resemble her. If you don’t mind… could you tell us what happened?”

  The woman started speaking in a trembling voice. “A few days ago, the Regent’s soldiers came. They said they needed cooperation. And among them was a big man wearing strange gauntlets… He spoke to the young men, said he’d reward them if they helped capture ‘those who ran away.’ Ra?k… the mayor’s son… he volunteered. That boy’s always wanted to make the village better… He was a good kid.”

  “…Was,” Ren murmured.

  “The man gave Ra?k a strange weapon, and after that… everything changed. The village’s air. The people. Now… you shouldn’t stay here. If you have no reason, please…”

  With that, she left.

  I swallowed hard. The Spelarita at my feet felt like it was sending a warning.

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  “We should get away from here,” I said. “That gauntlet guy—he’s the same one you saw at the farm, right?”

  But Ren and Sera didn’t even look at me.

  They were only looking at each other now.

  Like they were confirming something with their eyes, and once they had, the decision was already made.

  “We have to help these people,” Sera said.

  …There it is.

  “Sera, this isn’t like dealing with a normal magical beast.”

  “I know. But I can’t abandon them.”

  “…Is that because it’s your duty as a princess?”

  Sera didn’t answer.

  But her face answered for her.

  “…Then the staff can only follow the princess,” Ren said quietly.

  Wait—what? That’s it? We’re decided? On the spot?

  “Hey, hold up! I’m against this! We’re fighting again? And if you get hurt, I’m the one who has to heal you, okay!? Are you both thinking straight!?”

  But the two of them were already looking toward the edge of the village.

  …Yeah. Great.

  I knew it.

  I knew this was how it would go.

  No one spoke. For a few seconds, it was weirdly silent. Then Ren said, almost to himself, “If that weapon is the reason he’s lost control… we have to stop him. Take it, or break it.”

  Sera nodded and continued, “If he’s been put in charge of the border… he should be there.”

  There wasn’t another path we could choose.

  So we started walking toward the edge of the boundary. With each step, the air felt heavier.

  When it gets too quiet, it’s usually never a good sign. That was exactly what this was.

  The end of the village smelled like iron.

  Even though there was no metal in sight. Even though it hadn’t rained.

  But… I could smell it. The kind of smell that makes your gut tighten.

  Ra?k was sitting on the ground.

  Legs spread, holding a staff-like rod, eyes dead—no, not dead. More like he was just… waiting.

  We approached slowly. The ground was flat, but the air shimmered, like it had heat trapped inside it.

  Then Ra?k opened his mouth.

  “You’re late. I thought you ran.”

  Ren stepped forward a little. “Ra?k, right? I heard you tried to help the village, but—”

  “I’m not ‘Ra?k’ anymore. I’m one of the Kingdom’s Chains—Eslabon Diez. Lord Gaheris chose me. He gave me this power. I’ll use it for this village. At last… this can be a place people respect.”

  Ra?k stood, rested the rod on his shoulder, and glared at us. But that rod—was it a weapon? A magical tool?

  His tone had no hesitation. Word by word, like he was drilling it into himself. And yet his voice was unmistakably filled with pride.

  “Lord Gaheris chose me. He gave me power. I’ll use it for this village. I’ll change this place into somewhere no one can ignore. This is my first mission. I will… not fail.”

  Ten Chains…?

  First I’d heard of it, but I understood one thing immediately: this was bad.

  That weapon—parts of it were floating, rattling. It should’ve been controlled by mana, but it was too unstable. The rotating rings weren’t aligned, like a machine that was half a second from breaking apart.

  “You really think you can stop this? You don’t even know what this weapon does.”

  “What does it do?” I asked. Maybe he’d talk.

  Ra?k gave a bitter, broken kind of smirk. “It’s different every time. Wind. Fire. Sound. Pressure. Too unstable. Uncontrollable. But I’m the same. So it fits.”

  Yeah. This wasn’t someone you could reason with.

  “If I capture the princess, I get a reward. They said it’s fine if I kill her too. But me… I want to enjoy it. Just once, at least.”

  Ra?k leaped.

  No warning. No run-up. He launched forward using only the recoil of the rod.

  “Wh—!”

  Ren and Sera flared with light at the same time.

  Kyōmei—activated.

  No words were needed. That pressure ran through my chest, their marks shining. They moved together, leaping in sync and barely dodging the strike.

  Ra?k slammed down like he was driving his whole body into the earth— and something happened.

  But it wasn’t just the sound of him landing.

  No. It was different.

  the Dramabook (Audio Drama) adaptation of Ouja no Tsue! ??

  Japanese audio, with English + Spanish subtitles for every episode.

  https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLNIjyeK5qZt2GIxHLz_PrAvHqjDQll_Iw

  Enjoy!