At first, Bido thought he was human.
A man sitting on the railing.
With only one leg hooked over it,
in a strangely awkward posture.
Red hair.
It was cut short and neat, but the color was unusually vivid.
Green eyes.
Like the hue of a deep forest,
or like shards of old glass.
His face clearly bore the lines of middle age,
yet when a smile brushed across it, the impression of a boy overlapped for an instant.
The clothes he wore were ordinary.
A simple outfit like any traveler’s.
And yet—
The air was different.
Bido realized, for no reason, that her breathing had grown shallow.
Rangnan’s steps came to a halt.
The man smiled first.
Lightly,
as though he had found an old friend.
“Rangnan.”
His voice was low, but clear.
“It’s been a while.”
A small intake of breath passed among the members.
Rangnan did not answer,
only stared at the man on the railing.
In that moment,
Bido saw the man’s gaze move.
Slowly.
Very slowly.
And then—
It stopped on her.
Green eyes turned toward Bido.
It was not a gaze that merely “looked.”
It felt as though it touched her.
No—
As though it burrowed into her.
Bido nearly stepped back on instinct.
It did not feel as if that gaze was skimming her skin,
but cutting through what lay beneath it.
Her chest tightened,
and her heart beat one moment late.
Those eyes—
Bido could tell at once that they were not looking at her face,
but at what was inside her.
Memories seemed to brush past.
Darkness.
Moonlight.
A cold sword.
And—
something she could not explain.
The man’s eyes narrowed ever so slightly.
“Ah.”
It was a short sound.
His smile deepened a little.
“You…”
He tilted his head.
The angle was subtly excessive.
“What are you?”
Those words fell.
The air grew still, as though it had stopped.
“Maho, this child is—”
Rangnan’s words could not continue to the end.
At that moment,
Bido’s vision shook.
The man who had been sitting on the railing—
looked as though he were engulfed in flames.
No actual fire had risen.
It was just
that the air distorted.
It grew hot,
and his form wavered.
And then—
Bido’s field of vision abruptly rose.
Her feet had left the floor, and her throat constricted.
Her breath was cut off in an instant.
Only belatedly did Bido realize.
The man’s hand was gripping her neck.
One hand.
Though he was only holding her lightly, her body had been completely lifted.
The man’s green eyes were right before her.
Within them there was no anger,
no excitement.
Rather—
there was interest.
“Let her go.”
A cold voice brushed past.
It was Aslo.
Before anyone knew it, his sword was touching the man’s neck.
The blade grazed the man’s skin, but no blood welled up.
Miryeong’s growl sounded from behind.
“Hey, Maho. Put her down right now.”
Muryeong also took a step forward.
Tension spread among the Silver Moon Corps members.
However—
the man’s gaze did not waver in the slightest.
He did not take his eyes off Bido.
“Seonhwa?”
The corner of his mouth lifted very slightly.
“No.”
He shook his head briefly.
“Seonhwa is dead.”
His hand tightened by the smallest degree.
For an instant, Bido’s breath grew shallow.
The green eyes deepened.
“What are you?”
The question was not an attack.
It was merely filled with doubt.
Air did not easily enter Bido’s lungs.
“Maho.”
Rangnan’s voice settled low.
“She is the child I told you about.”
The instant those words fell,
the green eyes trembled, if only for a moment.
Then the gaze that had pierced through Bido turned to Rangnan.
Maho did not answer immediately.
Only then did his hand loosen,
and Bido’s body fell straight down.
Thud—
Her knees hit the floor first.
Her breath burst out all at once.
“Cough—”
Bido’s throat tightened with a stinging pain.
Air rushed into her lungs one beat late.
Miryeong took a step closer,
and Aslo’s sword was still touching Maho’s neck.
However—
Maho did not care at all.
He slowly tilted his head.
His gaze fell on Bido again.
“This little brat?”
His tone was infinitely light.
There was no sign of disbelief or surprise.
Just, as though he were confirming it.
A brief silence flowed.
Maho’s eyes narrowed ever so slightly.
“Are you playing games with me?”
The moment those words fell,
the air changed.
Though no one had lit a fire,
breathing grew heavy.
Heat.
A very faint but unmistakable pressure.
Several of the members unconsciously took a step back.
The tip of Aslo’s sword wavered.
The veins stood out on the back of Miryeong’s hand.
Maho clearly had not moved.
Yet the space around him was hardening with him at its center.
His gaze turned back to Rangnan.
“Explain.”
The word could not have been shorter.
It clearly sounded like an order,
but his voice was not loud.
The air was still rigid.
Just as Maho’s gaze was fixed on Rangnan—
a low voice flowed out.
“You’re as ignorant as ever.”
Short and dry.
And—
Bido looked back at herself.
Words had… come out.
But she had not opened her mouth.
Her heart thudded once, hard.
The surroundings fell quiet.
Miryeong’s eyes widened.
“Bido. Just now… what did you say?”
Bido shook her head.
“No, I—”
Her voice cracked a little.
“I didn’t say anything—”
It was then.
Deep inside her throat,
she felt an unfamiliar resonance lingering.
An unaccustomed tone.
Not her own,
and yet words that had clearly come from her mouth.
Maho did not move.
He was staring intently at Bido.
His green eyes deepened without a tremor.
The trace of laughter on his face disappeared.
“…”
A very brief silence.
And then the corner of his mouth slowly rose again.
“I see.”
His voice lowered.
“That’s right.”
Now his eyes held certainty.
“Seonhwa.”
That name fell upon the air.
No one breathed.
Maho’s gaze swept over Bido’s insides once more.
“Why are you here?”
Maho’s gaze slowly left Bido.
With his head tilted just slightly,
he now looked at Rangnan.
The green eyes were no longer smiling.
“Does Roan know too?”
Those words were by no means light.
Rangnan answered one beat late.
“…No.”
It was a short word.
The corner of Maho’s mouth rose very slowly.
“Then.”
He walked toward Rangnan.
Lightly.
There was almost no sound of his feet touching the floor.
“This is what you mean by being able to stop Roan?”
His gaze brushed past Bido once more.
But this time, it did not linger long.
Rangnan’s expression hardened.
“No.”
His words were low, but firm.
“That is not what I mean.”
Silence rose for a moment.
To everyone, that silence felt long.
And then—
Maho’s eyes slowly cooled.
“Whose life are you trying to ruin this time?”
The words were quiet,
but in that instant, the air changed.
Breath turned hot.
It felt as though heat seeped along the walls.
Cold sweat formed on Miryeong’s forehead.
Maho did not raise his voice.
But his gaze was clearly directed at Rangnan.
“You’re the one who started it.”
Short.
Like an established fact.
The flame atop the railing flickered low.
Rangnan said quietly,
“So… the responsibility will also be mine—”
Before he could finish, the space shook.
It was not a visible vibration.
However—
something had gone out of alignment.
Bido felt it first.
She could not breathe.
As though the air rejected her lungs.
Her chest was pressed down.
The sensation of an invisible hand squeezing her ribs.
The edges of her vision were stained dark.
Not beneath her feet,
but as though she were standing upon the air, a strange feeling of floating.
It was alien.
An overwhelming force of a kind she had never experienced before.
For an instant, Bido thought of when Adel had detonated Ideurin,
of the power she had felt then.
That moment when her heart had constricted.
She realized.
Compared to this, that had been nothing more than a child’s tantrum.
This pressure was different.
Not will,
but a difference in rank.
As though—
even breathing required permission.
Bido’s knees buckled on their own.
The floor felt far away.
Blood roared in her ears.
Someone’s shout sounded distant.
But Maho did not move.
He was merely standing there.
Looking at Rangnan.
His green eyes did not waver.
“Responsibility?”
His voice was low, but it scraped across the space.
“You can still say that?”
Heat brushed her skin.
Breathing grew even more impossible.
Just as the suffocating pressure was crushing the space—
a bright voice cut in.
“Maho.”
The air loosened ever so slightly.
“Are you getting angry all by yourself again?”
Someone walked out from behind the railing.
Blue skin.
A thick tail swayed slowly.
The traits of the Dulam tribe, the same as Rangnan, were clear,
but her appearance was unmistakably that of a young girl.
Around Bido’s age.
No, she looked even younger than that.
Her eyes were clear,
and her expression was strangely calm.
Maho’s gaze shifted to the side.
“Raen.”
He called her name briefly.
Raen approached Maho.
As though she did not care about the hot air around them.
“It’s hot.”
She waved her hand through the air as if fanning herself.
“Calm down a little.”
Maho’s brows furrowed faintly.
“You stay still.”
His words were low,
but they were not as sharp as before.
Raen tilted her head.
“No.”
Short and clear.
A moment of silence flowed.
Maho let out a very small sigh.
At that instant—
the air released.
The heavy pressure that had been bearing down slowly disappeared.
The heat faded.
Breath returned.
Only then did several of the members inhale deeply.
Aslo finally lowered his sword.
The strength also left Miryeong’s hands.
Maho closed his eyes for a moment, then opened them.
Then he muttered lowly,
“Always butting in where you’re not needed.”
But there was no longer any pressure.
As though nothing had happened at all,
Raen looked around.
Her gaze stopped on Rangnan.
Her eyes briefly widened into circles.
“Ah.”
One step, then two.
She approached without hesitation.
As though she were seeing someone she had known for a very long time.
“You’re… Rangnan, right?”
Her pronunciation was slightly clumsy.
But she was smiling.
“Nice to meet you.”
Her tail swayed slowly.
“It’s been a long time since I met someone of the same race.”
Rangnan’s eyes trembled ever so slightly.
“…You are.”
His voice cracked low.
He paused for a moment, as though choosing his words.
Raen suddenly stopped.
Her gaze moved to the side.
It was Bido.
Their eyes met.
Raen’s expression changed for an instant.
Her bright eyes deepened ever so slightly.
A brief silence.
Raen’s eyes widened just a little more.
“……”
And then, she smiled again as if nothing had happened.
“Hello?”
The word fell lightly,
but her gaze remained on Bido a little longer.
Maho was watching that sight in silence.
His green eyes narrowed.
Raen looked at Bido for one more beat,
then tilted her head very slightly.
Her eyes narrowed by the smallest degree.
A strange sensation brushed past.
She could not explain it, but—
somewhere,
there was a familiar resonance.
But Bido had no reaction.
She was merely staring at the unfamiliar girl.
Raen wanted to keep looking at Bido, but—
“Hey, Raen.”
Maho’s voice cut in.
“We’re in the middle of an important conversation.”
Raen whipped her head around.
“What’s important about that?”
She narrowed her eyes and glanced at Rangnan,
then said lightly,
“It’s a threat.”
The air stopped for a moment.
Several of the Silver Moon Corps members looked at one another.
Miryeong let out a small breath mixed with laughter.
Maho’s brows furrowed deeply.
“You little—”
He seemed about to take a step forward, then stopped.
A short silence flowed.
And soon, he let out a long breath.
“…Hoo.”
“Enough.”
With that one word,
the remaining heat from moments ago vanished completely.
The air returned to its place.
Maho looked at Rangnan again.
But he was no longer as sharp as before.
“Let’s talk.”
Low and calm.
Raen stood with her arms crossed.
“Without getting angry.”
Maho did not answer.
But he was clearly different from just moments ago.