Night falls after a full day of travel without a carriage. The help from the market seller makes a real difference—we reach the harbor, but no ships wait along the shore.
"Ugh, we'll have to wait until dawn. It's always like this," Rose mutters, stretching out beneath a leafy tree.
I sit down quietly beside her, rubbing my shoulder. Of course—another challenge is coming.
Earlier, we agree on a watch plan while we rest: Rose sleeps first, I keep watch, then we switch.
"It's fine if I go first, right?" Rose murmurs, her eyelids already too heavy to keep open.
I nod without looking. I watch her with my eyes half-closed.
Three or four hours pass. My eyelids grow heavy. I reach out to wake her, but she moves first and sits up.
"Hoaaam," she yawns, stretching. "My turn, right?" she asks, her face bright and awake.
Before she finishes, I'm already lying flat and asleep.
"E—Eh?!" Rose blurts, caught off guard.
Hiro sleeps. Rose keeps watch.
She does what Hiro did before—circling the area, gazing up at the star-filled sky washed in moonlight, finding small ways to stay awake.
Rose wanders a little farther from the shelter. Then—
"Huh?!"
She spots someone in a cloak near a tree, standing in front of where Hiro sleeps.
"Who… is that—?!"
From beneath the cloak, a massive sword rests on the figure's back. As expected, the figure draws the long, heavy blade, preparing to cut Hiro down.
"No—no, no, no way—!!" Rose sprints as fast as she can toward Hiro, but the distance is too great.
The cloaked figure moves, slow and deliberate, raising the blade.
"HIIROOO—!!" Rose screams, but the attack doesn't stop.
BAAAM—A brutal impact slams into the tree with Hiro lying against it. The trunk splits clean in two and collapses.
DUAAR—As the tree crashes to the ground, Rose's legs give out too. She falls, convinced Hiro has died because of her.
Unbeknownst to Rose, Hiro vanishes from the cloaked figure's sight. Confusion sharpens the figure's caution.
Then—a strike from above.
Hiro has shifted into the trees. He launches downward, flying toward the cloaked figure.
Rose lifts her head without hope—then sees Hiro descending from above, attacking the black-cloaked figure in midair.
"HIRO?!" she shouts, scrambling to her feet and running toward them.
I clench my fist, brace myself in the air, and—
SWASH—The cloaked figure reacts instantly, slashing toward my attack.
"DON'T—!" Rose screams as she closes in.
She reaches toward her back, only to realize her bow and all her gear are still on the tree.
I react at the same time, stopping the strike with both feet.
The long sword is wrapped in bandages, its edge not fully sharp—luck saves me from losing my life to that critical blow.
I can't hold it long. I kick off, forcing myself away from the black-cloaked figure.
But the wind from Hiro's force tears at the hood covering the figure's face, exposing it clearly beneath the moonlight that floods the night.
Rose, already running and now very close, slows to a stop the moment she sees the face beneath the cloak. Her expression freezes in disbelief.
"Is that… you?!" Rose cries out. Both our gazes snap toward her.
"Olivia?!"