"It's been two months since we last visited this place…" Volks said quietly.
He slowed his steps as he spoke, eyes fixed on the path ahead. Beside him, Fred nodded in agreement, his usually unreadable expression showing faint caution. Behind them walked Kei and Wei, followed by two more villagers. All of them carried baskets and sacks filled with goods— herbs, dried foods, tools, and small trade items gathered from the Wandering Village.
The forest ahead felt… different.
Kei was the first to voice it.
"Is it just me," she asked softly, "or does this place look slightly larger than before?"
She looked around with open awe. The familiar trees were still there, but the spacing felt wider, the paths clearer, as if the land itself had been gently pushed outward.
"He extended his territory," Fred muttered, breaking his usual silence.
No one disagreed.
Soon, the fence came into view.
But it wasn't the same fence they remembered.
