Vaelor returned home, hoping Perun would be there. The house was silent. On the table lay a note.
"I'm going somewhere for urgent work. It may take a few days. I've arranged with the nearby food canteen—they'll deliver dinner every night. Take care of yourself. I'll call when I'm free."
Vaelor lowered the paper slowly. "Not this time…"
From far away, he heard sirens.
Without wasting a second, he slipped out the back and headed toward the forest field behind the settlement. Minutes later, police vehicles stopped outside his house. They had traced the address from his biodata. Finding the door locked, they broke it open and searched thoroughly.
"He's not here," one officer reported into his microphone.
By then, Vaelor was already deep inside the forest.
As night fell, he built a rough shelter using fallen branches and leaves. He collected some wild fruit, sitting alone under the dim sky. It felt strangely like the survival adventure shows he used to watch.
While eating, he muttered, "I can't hide here forever. I have to prove I'm innocent."
The card was still in his pocket. He took it out again.
"From now on, a person who hates crime… will become it."
"Is this about me?" he whispered. "Was I the real target?"
He bit into the fruit and made a face. "Too sour… I need water."
Not far away, there was a small waterfall feeding into a quiet lake. Vaelor knelt near the edge, cupping water in his hands to drink.
A faint noise echoed.
He stood instantly, alert. Nothing.
He crouched again to drink—but the sound came once more. This time, he realized it wasn't from the forest.
It was from the lake.
Something large moved beneath the surface.
Vaelor slowly stepped backward.
Suddenly—an arrow shot toward him.
With pure instinct, he caught it mid-air.
He turned sharply. "Who's there?"
Behind a tree, a silhouette emerged—a young man holding a bow. He wore strange clothing woven from leaves and forest fibers. His eyes were sharp but cautious.
"Who are you?" the man asked in the same language. "Why are you here?"
"Does this place belong to you?" Vaelor replied calmly.
The man shook his head. "No. But I've lived here for a long time. No one comes here under normal circumstances."
"I'm not here under normal circumstances," Vaelor said. "Do you live alone?"
The man hesitated. "It's… complicated. But yes. Someone else lives with me."
Before he could finish, the lake surface burst open.
A massive silhouette rose from the water. Blue scales shimmered under the moonlight with faint yellow shades along its body. It had four limbs but stood upright on two, revealing enormous teeth and glowing eyes.
Vaelor stared. "Prolly…"
The young man corrected him, "Not 'Prolly.' His name is Hawkin."
The creature let out a deep but calm rumble.
"It's something like a dragon," the man continued. "But don't worry. He won't attack unless threatened."
Vaelor nodded slowly. "Where I come from, similar creatures exist. We call them Prolly."
The young man lowered his bow slightly. "I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Carinus."
The name felt familiar to Vaelor—he had heard it before—but he couldn't remember where.
Carinus gestured toward the forest interior. "My shelter is nearby. We can talk there."
Hawkin slowly sank back into the lake, watching them.
Far away, inside the eerie laboratory of Clarence Dorothy in Cavorite City, Perun walked between rows of glass chambers. Human figures floated inside translucent cylinders, connected by tubes—part of some unknown experiment.
Perun thought silently, This city is different from the rest of the world. Even entering it required deception. And this lab… it feels haunted.
He observed the mechanisms carefully, piecing together how everything functioned.
"If Arcane truly exists here before," Perun murmured to himself, "then this is only the surface."