Three days.
Three exhausting, wasted days. Kaera and Eira had scoured nearly every corner of Erynport. From the dust-choked temple archives to the darkest rat holes near the harbor, they went through it all.
Eira had pushed her Echo Vein to its limits. To trace the origin of the locket. The black market route. The seller. Any lingering trail that might lead them to whoever had planted that fake clue. Each time, the answer came back the same. Nothing. Cold. Dead.
She rubbed her temples, the familiar throb of a migraine building behind her eyes. Three days of this. Three days of scanning, searching, coming up empty.
By the third evening, even Kaera's patience had worn thin. They sat in a cheap eatery near the harbor. The smell of stale bread and cheap ale clung to the air.
"I've checked all the prisoner records at the guard post," Eira said, dropping into a wooden chair.
She looked completely drained. "No one's even heard of a 'High-Rank Demon' around here in the last ten years. Vale was just a scammer with a big mouth."
Kaera didn't answer.
She was busy polishing her katana. The blade already gleamed like a mirror. She kept wiping it down anyway. A habit she fell into whenever her thoughts were tangled.
"We're wasting time here," Kaera finally said, low and sharp.
"So? What do we do then?" Eira grabbed a piece of hardened bread. Took a small bite. "That 800-coin bounty... after medicine, room rental, food... we're down to half. We can't afford to stay much longer."
Kaera slid her katana back into its sheath. Click. She pulled out an old, worn map and spread it across the greasy table.
Her finger pointed far north.
"Oakhaven."
Eira choked on her bread.
"Oakhaven? You've got to be kidding. That's deep in the mountain range at the edge of the wildlands. And there's no guarantee we'll find anything there."
Kaera met Eira's gaze directly.
"There's never been any guarantee. This journey's been a gamble from the start, Eira. We just place our bet on the table and hope luck sits on our side."
"But if we make the wrong move... we won't just lose money. We'll lose our lives," Eira replied, her tone turning serious.
"I'm used to gambling with my life." Kaera stood, adjusting her black cloak.
"There's nothing left for us in Erynport. Oakhaven is our last gamble for now. You coming... or finding your own path?"
Eira fell silent for a moment. Her eyes drifted to Kaera's bandaged hand, still wrapped from the injuries she'd taken. Then she gave a faint smile-resigned, yet strangely bright.
"A great duo doesn't split up, right?" Eira stood and tidied the messy table. "Alright. We'll go gamble in Oakhaven. But if we get lost, don't blame me!"
Kaera didn't reply, but her steps toward the door felt lighter. She knew the odds of success were slim. Still, at least she wouldn't have to pull the lever of fate's slot machine alone.
---
At dawn, the two figures stepped out through the gates of Erynport while mist still clung to the earth. But before they could be swallowed by the dense Northern Forest, they had to cross the Althea Grasslands. An open stretch that separated human civilization from the untamed wilds.
It was here that their steps slowed.
The sun began to peer through the mountain ridges, casting golden rays that split the morning fog. A gentle wind swept across the vast sea of silver-tinted grass. It set the field into rolling waves that whispered as they moved.
Thousands of Lumina flowers, blooming only at daybreak, released glowing dust into the air. They drifted like living starlight, creating a scene that felt almost dreamlike.
Eira came to a stop.
She closed her eyes, spreading her arms slightly as she let the pulse of nature brush against her skin. Through her Echo Vein, she heard no screams, no rage this time. Only the calm resonance of the earth.
"You know, Kaera?" Eira broke the silence. She walked a little behind, letting her fingertips trail across the dew-soaked tips of the grass.
"This place used to be called the Pilgrims Passage. They say every gust of wind here carries the prayers of those searching for their way home."
Kaera didn't turn. Her black cloak billowed in the strong mountain wind.
"Prayers won't make this journey any shorter."
"Maybe not. But they make it feel less lonely." Eira smiled faintly, her eyes following a bird of prey gliding peacefully across the clear blue sky.
"It's beautiful..." she whispered. Tears nearly formed. Not from sorrow. From beauty pressing too deeply against her heart.
Kaera fell silent. Her hand, still resting on Shizuya's hilt, loosened. Just slightly.
She remembered sitting on her father's shoulders as a child, staring at a view not so different from this. The memory was bitter. But beneath this wide sky, that bitterness felt strangely lighter.
The morning wind pushed back her hood, letting her dark hair dance freely.
For a brief moment, the tension that usually hardened her face softened. Her sharp eyes gazed across the endless stretch of silver grass. And for just a second, the silver grass became a golden field.
The wind carried a different voice.
---
Kaera was small. Very small.
She sat on broad shoulders, her tiny hands gripping silver hair that shimmered in the afternoon sun.
" Dad, why the sky is soo.. big?"
A low laugh rumbled beneath her.
"So you have room to grow, Kaera."
She tilted her head. "Grow how?"
Astaroth turned slightly, his golden eye catching hers.
"Any way you want."
Kaera giggled, squeezing his hair tighter.
"In that case, I want to be as tall as dad!"
"Then you will grow even taller than me," he said softly, teasingly. "And Dad will be the one who has to look up at you."
She laughed. The sound echoed across the golden field.
---
The golden field faded. Silver grass returned. The wind still carried the scent of morning dew.
Kaera blinked.
She pulled her hood back over her head, hiding the expression that had briefly surfaced.
"My father once said..." Kaera spoke quietly, almost swallowed by the rustling field.
"The world is too vast for anyone to shoulder their hatred alone... I think I finally understand what he meant."
Eira turned, surprised to hear Kaera speak of her father without anger. "He sounds wise."
Kaera let out a faint snort. Almost a laugh. "He was just a man who liked to talk philosophy."
She pulled her hood back over her head, hiding the emotion that had briefly surfaced. The cold aura around her returned. But this time, it didn't feel suffocating. It felt like preparation.
"Done admiring the flowers?"
Eira grinned, wiping the corner of her eye with her sleeve. "Yeah. Let's go. I'm ready to face your haunted forest."
The two of them resumed walking. Their figures growing smaller within the vast sea of silver grass.
Ahead of them, the mountain range of Oakhaven stood tall. Its peaks crowned with fine snow. As if watching two souls wagering everything for an answer that was far from certain.
***