The rumor didn't start loudly.
It drifted.
At first, it was just a comment passed between market stalls, a half-whisper shared over baskets of fruit and coin. By noon, it had spread to the outer streets. By nightfall, nearly everyone had heard some version of it.
"They weren't trying to hurt the academy."
"I heard they were after something else."
"Someone said the attackers helped people escape."
Kaito heard it while passing through the village square.
He slowed, spear resting against his shoulder, Dex trotting beside him. Aria and the Circle were a few steps behind, distracted by a vendor arguing prices.
Two villagers stood near a water trough, speaking quietly—until they noticed him.
Their voices dropped.
"…they say the ones in black pulled kids out of the rubble," one muttered.
"Yeah," the other replied. "My cousin swears they stopped a fire from spreading. Didn't even take anything."
Kaito stopped walking.
Aria noticed immediately. "Kaito?"
He turned slightly, just enough to listen without being obvious.
"Maybe they're not villains," the first villager said. "Maybe they were trying to help the students. Maybe the fight just got out of hand."
The words felt wrong the moment they were spoken.
Kaito's grip tightened on the spear.
"They hurt us," Mira said sharply from behind him.
The villagers flinched. One raised his hands defensively. "We're just saying what we heard. That's all."
"Heard from who?" Kaito asked calmly.
The man hesitated. "People. Travelers. Folks who say they were there."
Kaito exchanged a glance with Aria.
There had been no travelers.
No witnesses who hadn't fled.
Only survivors.
And attackers who had stayed.
Ryo stepped forward. "Funny how stories change when fear settles in."
The villagers said nothing, suddenly unsure.
As the Circle moved on, the whispers followed them like a shadow.
"They say the attackers warned people."
"They say the academy overreacted."
"They say Kaito's power is what caused the damage."
Kaito didn't respond.
But each word sank in.
That night, from a rooftop overlooking the village, a figure watched lanterns sway in the wind.
"It's working," a voice murmured.
"Not fast," another replied. "But fast enough."
The figure leaned back, satisfied. "Hope makes people careless. Confusion makes them pliable I heard."
A pause.
"And heroes," the voice continued, "don't notice the knife until it's already in their reputation."
Below, Kaito walked the streets unaware that the first strike of the new volume hadn't drawn blood.
It had drawn out... doubt?