Wind whispered through the town of Renga like a messenger that had forgotten its message halfway through. It rustled the banners, tugged on Aurelis's hair, and played an off-key tune on the wind chimes outside the Guild's window.
But it was the silence beneath the wind that set everyone on edge.
In the courtyard, Kazuki held a cup of tea, eyes half-lidded in satisfaction. "Ahhhh. Nothing like a quiet day to remind you that I'm clearly missing something important."
Aurelis dropped down beside him, armored boots crunching over oddly shimmering grass. "It's not just you. The air's wrong. It's like… it's too quiet. Even the chickens stopped fighting."
Indeed, across the yard, two notorious guild chickens—Scramble and Omelette—stood frozen, eyes locked in an eternal, unblinking standoff, unmoving for hours.
"They fear something greater," Kazuki whispered solemnly.
Smile jiggled onto the scene, eyes sparkling with more chaos than usual. "They remember."
"Remember what?" Kazuki asked.
Smile stared at him, the humor in his bouncing slowing slightly. "Before Renga. Before us. Before the fall."
Everyone paused.
Aurelis tensed. "You're not just being random this time, are you?"
"Nope!" Smile said cheerily. "I'm being ominous!"
Far Beyond the Known Lands…
Kyokō sprinted across the open tundra of the North, paws leaving trails of frostfire where they touched earth. The winds bent around him, carrying whispers he alone could hear. Threads of ancient mana danced through his fur, lighting his eyes with primal memory.
The Fracture had stirred.
He howled—not in pain, not in anger, but in warning.
And far away, something howled back.
Back at the Guild…
The meeting room was chaos incarnate.
The eagle flapped madly trying to pin a massive map to the wall, while the cobra hissed and spelled out "DOOM" using scattered mana crystals. Aurelis muttered ancient incantations as she reviewed tapestries depicting a familiar slime atop an unfamiliar mountain.
Kazuki was trying to make pancakes in the middle of it.
"Breakfast is the most important meal when the world is ending," he explained.
"It's not ending yet!" Aurelis shouted. "Just… unfolding. Rapidly."
Smile casually floated past, stacking pancakes on his head. "Delicious symmetry."
"Okay," Kazuki said, flipping a perfectly golden circle onto a plate. "Real talk. What's happening?"
Smile blinked—an eerie, rare moment where his expression turned serious.
"The Threadsea stirs. Old paths unwind. I'm remembering things I didn't know I forgot."
"…That's a lot of words to say nothing," Aurelis muttered, but there was tension behind her voice.
The slime bobbed closer to Kazuki. "I was sealed once. Or maybe I sealed myself. I think I smiled too hard and cracked reality."
Kazuki slowly set down his spatula.
"I think," Smile continued, "I might be a piece of something much, much older. And now that I'm with you—now that you're… you—the lock's clicking open."
"Wait," Kazuki said, eye twitching. "You mean I'm a key?! I thought I was a protagonist!"
"You can be both," the eagle said wisely, landing on the pancake pile.
"Why are you talking today!?" Kazuki shouted.
"Because the wind asks me to," the eagle replied.
Kazuki turned to Aurelis, desperate. "Was the world always like this or is it just me?"
"Mostly you," she said. "But also, possibly destiny."
That Night
The town of Renga slept uneasily.
Clouds swirled overhead, casting starlight into odd spirals. Doors creaked without wind. Dreams came in voices not their own.
And in the forest just beyond the guild, something rose.
It was shaped like a mask. A giant, floating, ancient mask with closed eyes and a faint smile carved across its surface.
It didn't move.
It didn't speak.
It simply was—watching.
Smile slithered out to the treeline and looked up at it.
"I remember you," he said softly. "You were… me. Or what I tried to become."
The mask opened a single eye. A brilliant, vertical slit of light.
"And you… brought the Key," the mask said, voice like the end of time.
Smile nodded. "He's very good at falling into plot points."
"And the others?" asked the mask.
"They'll come. The Beast. The Blade. The Godblood. The Tamer. The Tactician."
The mask tilted. "And the Broken One?"
Smile's glow dimmed for a moment. "Still sealed. But the cracks are growing."
Inside the Guild, Kazuki Dreamed
He stood in a room of mirrors. Each mirror showed a version of himself.
One held a sword wreathed in flame.
Another had silver circuitry running down his face.
One was covered in fur, standing proud beneath a moon.
One had wings.
One… was a child.
And one, in the furthest corner, had no reflection at all—only a smile.
Kazuki reached for it.
The mirror rippled—and shattered.
He woke up with a jolt.
Aurelis was already up, sword drawn. "We've got movement. Something in the woods."
Kazuki rubbed his eyes. "Is it weird and prophetic or just deadly?"
"Both," she said grimly.
Smile bounced in. "Field trip time!"
Kazuki sighed, grabbing his coat. "And here I thought we'd have a quiet breakfast."
"You made destiny pancakes," the eagle said.
"That's not a thing—"
"It is now."