The footsteps of two people entered the cave.
The darkness near the entrance wavered once,
and Muryeong’s silhouette stepped aside.
The faint light from outside briefly reached deep into the cave,
then vanished again as if the door had closed.
It was Miryeong.
And behind her—
Sienna.
Sienna brushed the dust from the hem of her cloak as she came inside, then immediately lowered her head.
“I heard what happened from Miryeong.”
“All of you… have been through a great deal.”
Bido instinctively straightened his posture.
Jincheong closed his eyes once, opened them, and steadied his breath.
Miryeong gestured for Sienna to sit closer to the fire.
“Talk.”
Sienna took several sheets of paper from her breast.
The papers were creased in many places, and the edges were slightly damp.
They bore the marks of having been carried in haste.
Unfolding them, Sienna said,
“First… Taejin sent word that the detached unit has returned to the main force.”
Bido blinked.
The words did not feel real.
Because the term “main force”
sounded as though that side was still perfectly intact.
“He says the holy knight was carried in on a stretcher.”
Jincheong’s fingers twitched once on his knee.
Miryeong said nothing, but her lips hardened ever so slightly.
An expression that said, So he is alive after all.
Sienna immediately continued, as if turning to the next page.
“What matters comes after that.”
The fire crackled softly.
The cave was quiet, and Sienna’s words struck the stone walls, ringing all the more clearly.
“The Empire has requested renewed supply support from the city.”
“And the city… has demanded an audience with the holy knight.”
Bido’s gaze turned to Miryeong.
Miryeong tilted her head slightly.
As if she had expected it, or as if to say, What was bound to come has come.
Looking down at the paper, Sienna added,
“It seems they no longer intend to accept requests for supplies without any notable results.”
Jincheong let out a small breath.
“…Naturally.”
Sienna nodded and continued.
“The Empire is moving to conceal the holy knight’s injuries.”
“They say the military commander will attend the audience in his place.”
Only then did Miryeong speak in a low voice.
“The moment the holy knight doesn’t appear… the council will take it as a ‘lie.’”
Her words were brief, but decisive.
Bido found those words frightening.
He felt he vaguely understood—
that such a verdict could kill a person more easily than a blade coming at them on the battlefield.
Sienna went on.
“Right now, both in the imperial camp and in the streets of the city… distrust is piling up.”
Bido suddenly recalled the faces of the soldiers he had seen in the forest.
Eyes stained with both hunger and fear.
Questions like, Why on earth are we doing this here?
Sienna turned another sheet of paper and spoke as though reading the final line.
“This is what Rangnan meant when he said to endure for ‘just a little longer.’”
At those words, Jincheong raised his head.
More than any ominous roar, that single line seemed to strike him clearly.
Miryeong slowly let out a breath.
“The time it takes for them to stop trusting one another.”
Sienna nodded.
“We have already spread rumors inside the city that ‘the Empire may soon carry out forced requisitions.’”
“It is not excessive agitation. Given the current supply situation… the possibility itself is real.”
Bido felt his throat go dry.
The word “requisition” was blunter than a blade.
But it was a word that felt as though, once dropped, it would keep rolling without end.
Sienna folded the papers again and tucked them into her breast.
“Until the next message comes, you may remain in this cave.”
“Any information or supplies you need… we will bring them to you.”
Jincheong unconsciously looked around.
The darkness of the cave, the firelight.
And the crack farther inside—
Deraul.
“This place… as a base.”
When Jincheong murmured, Miryeong answered at once.
“Here, we can cut off pursuit.”
“And whether we move, or whether the city begins to shake… we can time our actions from here.”
Bido looked at Sienna and asked cautiously,
“…Then, are we… not going to do anything for the time being?”
The moment the question left his mouth,
Bido realized that he already knew the answer himself.
The meaning of “just a little longer.”
Sienna quietly shook her head.
“It’s not that you’re doing nothing.”
“You’re holding out.”
Miryeong looked at Bido.
She was not as sharp as she had been yesterday, but her eyes were still those of a commander.
“And preparing.”
“So that when the time comes to move next, you won’t hesitate.”
Bido bit his lip.
He remembered the alien sensation from the moment he had sealed Kyle’s flow.
The word “prepare” was heavier than he had expected.
Sienna added one last thing.
“Everyone, rest today.”
“Tomorrow… I have more to organize and tell you.”
Miryeong nodded.
“Understood.”
The air inside the cave settled once.
The flame flickered softly.
Muryeong was still guarding the entrance.
And for the first time, Bido felt that this cave was not a “hiding place”—
but might become a place to wait.
For a moment, only the sound of fire remained in the cave.
As the embers died with tiny crackles,
Bido sat there clutching something tightly in his hand.
Deraul’s stone.
The pebble that had glowed that morning was now quiet, like an ordinary stone,
but in his palm, it was faintly cold.
Miryeong looked at Sienna and asked,
“Other than Taejin, what about the other side? Was there any word that a separate pursuit unit was sent out?”
Sienna shook her head.
“Not for now. Since they have no results, the mood seems to be that they’re sorting things out internally rather than moving more recklessly.”
“The soldiers’ dissatisfaction is severe… so until they can produce even a small result,”
“I don’t think they have the capacity to rashly push deep into the forest.”
Jincheong murmured in a low voice,
“…It can’t be helped.”
“Still.”
Miryeong cut in.
“You never know.”
She immediately swept her gaze over the inside of the cave.
Beyond the reach of the firelight, at the crack where darkness pooled.
Bido saw her gaze stop there for a moment.
Folding the papers as though organizing them, Sienna added,
“For supply deliveries… if this cave is to remain your base, we’ll need a schedule.”
Miryeong spoke shortly.
“Only while the sun is up.”
“That’s the only time I’ll guard the entrance.”
“If you come, I’ll know right away.”
Miryeong turned toward Bido and said,
“Jincheong and Bido, focus as much as possible on recovery.”
“Until Sienna comes, no unnecessary movement.”
Bido was about to answer reflexively, but felt his throat dry first.
Sealing, resonance,
the sensation of forcibly holding alignment in place.
Bido quietly hid the hand holding the stone behind him.
There was no way Miryeong would miss that.
Miryeong’s gaze dropped to Bido’s fingertips, then rose again.
“What is that?”
Bido swallowed.
“…Just…”
Jincheong answered for him.
“When Bido woke up this morning, he had it in his hand.”
“It seemed like a Deraul stone. When we struck it, it gave off light.”
Sienna’s eyebrows rose ever so slightly.
“Deraul…”
Only after she finished folding the papers did she look at Bido again.
“You mean that race said to be in the crack farther inside?”
Miryeong spoke briefly.
“That’s right. That’s why the inner area is forbidden.”
Bido cautiously opened his mouth.
“But… that child…”
The word “mixed one” caught in his mouth.
In the end, Bido swallowed the rest.
Miryeong looked straight into Bido’s eyes.
“What about that child?”
Bido answered honestly.
“…Spoke to me. Last night.”
The inside of the cave became one beat quieter.
Sienna’s expression hardened.
Jincheong let out a breath,
and Miryeong looked intrigued.
“What did it say?”
“…Why are you mixed, it said.”
Bido spoke.
And without realizing it, his grip tightened around the stone.
Miryeong let out a short breath.
“A Deraul speaking to someone. Now I’ve seen everything.”
Bido’s shoulders flinched.
“But.”
Miryeong added,
“It’s not something to worry about right this moment.”
She turned her gaze to Sienna.
“Deraul are, what was it, spiritual? They’re sensitive to that sort of thing, right?”
Sienna quickly nodded.
Miryeong spoke to Bido again.
“Bido.”
“Yes.”
“Don’t lose that stone.”
Bido’s eyes widened.
“Isn’t it dangerous—”
“No.”
Miryeong cut him off.
“It’s not something you can get just because you want one.”
“There will definitely come a day when it proves useful.”
Bido nodded, his throat still dry.
“Then…”
Sienna began,
“The next message will most likely come the moment the results of the audience are known.”
“Until then, do not move. And avoid unnecessary contact as well.”
Bido was about to answer yes, but swallowed it inwardly.
Do not move.
Easy words to say,
but the voice that had come from within the cave still lingered in his ears.
Miryeong rose from her seat.
“Good. We’ll settle things here for today.”
“Sienna, head back. If possible, tell Rangnan as well.”
Sienna stood and lowered her head.
“Mm. Everyone, be careful.”
Miryeong answered shortly.
“You too.”
As Sienna headed toward the entrance,
Muryeong turned his body and opened the way for her.
The light from outside briefly spilled into the cave, then closed again.
The sound of footsteps receded.
What remained were the embers, the sound of breathing, and the silence of the stone walls.
Miryeong looked between Bido and Jincheong and said,
“Rest.”
“And just in case, I’m telling you now—don’t go near the crack inside.”
Instead of answering, Bido tightened his grip around the stone in his hand once more.
Then, within his palm, ever so faintly—
the stone seemed to warm on its own.