Warmth.
That was the first thing he felt.
Soft grass pressed gently against his back as a cool breeze brushed across his face. Somewhere nearby, birds chirped peacefully, their songs echoing through the quiet forest.
For several seconds, he simply lay there, breathing slowly, staring up at the endless blue sky. White clouds drifted lazily above the treetops.
It was calm. Too calm, and for a moment, that felt wrong.
His brow slowly furrowed.
"…Where…am I?.."
He sat up. The moment he moved, his eyes widened in confusion. Beside him on the grass lay a flat black leather bag, worn but sturdy, the same bag he used to carry during his old corporate job as a salesman. The familiar weight of it grounded him strangely, like an object from another life.
Next to it rested his torch, the crude stick wrapped with cloth. Everything looked untouched and normal as it was.
As if nothing had happened.
As if the cave, and the battle he had fough inside…
As if those things never existed in the first place.
Then he whipped his head towards the cave. He immediately turned around. Behind him stood the dark cave entrance.
It's the same one.
His instinct was right, it was the same place he had just escaped from.
Memories rushed back violently.
The chains. The lich. The black sigil.
Firioz. The crystal chamber. And her.
"Eiscia!"
The name burst from his mouth.
His heart pounded violently.
"She's still inside!"
Panic surged through him. Without thinking, he grabbed his bag and stumbled to his feet, turning towards the cave. But before he could take more than a step, a voice suddenly called out from behind him.
"Hey! Stop right there!"
A hand grabbed his shoulder. Kael flinched and spun around. Four people stood behind him.
An adventurer party.
Recognition struck him like a jolt of lightning.
The one who grabbed him was a tall man wearing chainmail armor. A massive sword rested across his back, and a metal shield hung from his arm. His expression was serious but not hostile.
Behind him stood the rest of the group.
A woman carrying a longbow watched cautiously. A short man in blue mage robes adjusted his glasses. And a broad warrior rested a massive axe on his shoulder. The armored man frowned slightly.
"We've been surveying this area."
He glanced toward the cave entrance.
"This dungeon is supposed to be off-limits. No one is allowed near it."
Kael didn't care. He grabbed the armored man's shoulders desperately.
"Help me!"
The adventurers froze. His voice trembled with urgency.
"She needs help! Please, she's still inside that cave!"
He pointed frantically toward the dark entrance.
"We have to save her!"
The party exchanged confused glances. Their expressions slowly twisted into disbelief.
"Huh…?" the axe warrior muttered.
The bowwoman tilted her head.
The armored man frowned deeper.
"…What are you talking about? Like I said, no one is allowed near the cave, let alone go inside it. So… that's impossible."
Kael felt the words hit him like a physical blow.
"…What?"
His voice came out weak.
"I was just inside. I fought something in there. There was a crystal chamber and a girl."
The bowwoman raised an eyebrow.
"Who?"
Kael opened his mouth immediately.
"It's… Eis."
His voice stopped. The word caught in his throat. He furrowed his brow.
"…Wait."
Something inside his mind suddenly shifted.
Like pages being torn from a book.
His thoughts became blurry.
"It's…"
His fingers trembled.
"Who… was it…?"
The adventurers watched him carefully now. Concern replaced confusion.
The mage stepped forward slightly.
"Hey, are you okay?"
Kael's breathing became uneven. Images flashed in his mind. Blue lights floating through a forest. A girl with short curly blue hair. Soft humming in the night air. Her water-like eyes looking at him. And her final words.
"Farewell for now… I hope someday we will meet again."
The memory flickered like a candle.
"…Eis…"
He whispered weakly.
The image shattered. The blue lights vanished. The girl's face blurred. And then nothing.
His eyes widened.
"…Who…?"
The name was gone. Completely gone.
His chest suddenly tightened violently.
A suffocating pressure crushed against his heart. He grabbed at his tattered clothes, his long-sleeve shirt streaked with dirt, worn trousers, and a frayed necktie, clutching his chest desperately.
Tears suddenly filled his eyes. He didn't know why.
This painful, heavy feeling. Like losing something irreplaceable. But he didn't know what.
"Why… does it hurt so much…"
His voice broke. The adventurers stepped closer cautiously. Kael turned slowly toward the cave entrance again. Tears rolled down his face, though he didn't understand why.
Kael felt his legs suddenly lost their strength. He collapsed to his knees in the grass. The adventurers stared at him in silence with weary faces.
His vision blurred. The world tilted.
The grass beneath his knees swayed unnaturally. Then everything suddenly went black.
He collapsed forward.
But one of the adventurers reacted immediately. The armored man with the sword and shield caught him before his head hit the ground, lowering him carefully onto the grass.
For a brief moment, the group simply stared at the unconscious stranger.
Then the mage quietly lowered his staff.
A faint glow of pale blue mana faded from the tip.
"Good call, Runo."
The armored man let out a breath of relief as he adjusted Kael's position on the ground.
The mage pushed his glasses up slightly and sighed.
"Well… I didn't really have a choice."
He looked down at Kael's pale face.
"Looks like he suffered severe mental trauma. His mind was already unstable… if I hadn't forced him into sleep, he might've completely broken."
The bowwoman crossed her arms, glancing uneasily toward the cave entrance.
"Yes… good thing you made him sleep," she said quietly.
The axe warrior scratched his beard.
"Well… what do we do with him now?"
The armored man stood up slowly.
His gaze drifted toward the dark cave.
The entrance remained silent and ominous.
"…We're not staying here."
He turned back to the group.
"Let's bring him to the village. It's not safe out here."
The others nodded in agreement.
Runo crouched beside Kael and gently lifted his head, checking his breathing.
"He should wake up in a few hours."
The axe warrior hoisted Kael over his shoulder with surprising care.
"He's lighter than he looks."
They began walking away from the cave.
Step by step, the forest slowly swallowed the view of the dark entrance behind them.
But even as darkness consumed Kael's consciousness…
He could still hear them. Distant voices.
Muffled. Like echoes underwater.
"…bring him to the village…"
"…not safe here…"
"…poor guy…"
"…looks like trauma…"
The voices drifted farther and farther away.
And then…
Silence. Warmth returned again. Soft.
And gentle. Not the cool breeze of the forest this time, but the still warmth of an enclosed room.
Kael stirred slightly. His body felt heavy, like he had slept for days.
The faint scent of wood and herbs filled the air. Slowly, his eyelids began to open.
A wooden ceiling greeted him.
Sunlight streamed softly through a nearby window, casting warm golden light across the room.
Kael blinked slowly.
"…Where…"
His voice came out hoarse. He turned his head slightly. The room was small but comfortable. Wooden walls, a simple table near the window, and a clay pitcher resting beside a cup.
He was lying on a simple village bed covered in rough linen blankets.
The quiet murmur of distant voices drifted from outside.
People talking. Footsteps on dirt roads.
The faint sound of a blacksmith hammering metal.
A village.
He thought, then slowly pushed himself upright.
His head throbbed faintly. "…What happened…"
Fragments of memory flickered at the edge of his mind.
He was saved by the adventurers.
But somehow, deep inside his mind, there's lingering uncertainty that he couldn't explain.
It felt like he had lost something really important. But no matter how hard he tried… There was nothing there..
Only a strange emptiness.
Outside the window, the peaceful village carried on with its daily life.
Kael sat on the edge of the bed for a moment, letting the dizziness pass.
The room was simple, plain wooden walls, a narrow window letting in the afternoon sun, and a small table with a clay pitcher and cup.
The quiet creaking of the house and distant village noises made everything feel strangely normal.
Kael slowly stood up from the bed.
His legs wobbled slightly, but he steadied himself against the wall and walked toward the door. The wooden floor creaked under his feet.
When he opened it, warm sunlight flooded the hallway.
Voices drifted from downstairs.
"…told you he'd wake up soon."
"…you worry too much."
"…I'm just saying, we found him near that cave."
Kael paused.
He didn't know why, but hearing the word cave made something inside his chest tighten painfully. He pushed the feeling aside and walked down the wooden stairs.
The small common room below came into view.
Four adventurers sat around a wooden table.
The moment Kael appeared, their conversation stopped. The armored man with the shield and large sword leaned back in his chair, crossing his arms. He was broad-shouldered with short dark hair and calm but watchful eyes.
Beside him sat a slender man wearing glasses, a staff leaning against the table—likely the mage. Across from them, a woman with a bow strapped to her back casually sharpened an arrow with a knife.
And next to her, a large bearded man with a heavy axe was halfway through eating what looked like a bowl of stew.
All four of them turned toward Kael.
For a moment, nobody spoke.
Then the axe wielder broke the silence.
"Well look at that," he said with a grin.
"Sleeping beauty finally woke up."
Kael blinked awkwardly.
"…Ah… sorry."
His voice still sounded hoarse.
"I… don't really know what happened."
The mage adjusted his glasses slightly and studied Kael's face.
"You collapsed outside the forest this morning," he explained calmly.
"We were surveying the area when we found you unconscious."
Kael frowned slightly.
"…Collapsed? For how long?"
He tried to recall it, but nothing came to mind.
The archer tilted her head curiously.
"You don't remember anything? You've been out since this morning. It's almost sundown now."
Kael hesitated.
"…Not really. Is that so…"
He rubbed the back of his neck.
"I remember… being in the forest. Then nothing."
The armored man with the shield finally stood up from his chair.
His heavy armor clinked softly as he walked closer.
"You're lucky we passed by," he said. "That area isn't exactly safe."
Kael nodded slowly.
"…Thank you. I mean that."
The big man with the axe waved his spoon dismissively.
"Don't worry about it. Happens all the time."
The mage sighed quietly.
"No, it doesn't." Kael looked between them, unsure how to respond.
The armored man studied him for another moment, then finally spoke.
"Well," he said, resting the shield against the wall, "since you're awake now…"
He gestured toward the door.
"…do you think you can come with us?"
Kael blinked. "…Come with you?"
The man nodded. "There's someone who wants to talk to you."
"Who?"
"The Guild Master."
Kael frowned slightly.
"…Guild Master?"
The archer leaned back in her chair.
"Yeah. When we reported what happened, he got interested."
The axe wielder shrugged.
"Apparently people collapsing near that cave tends to raise questions."
The mage added quietly,
"Especially since that cave is supposed to be sealed."
Kael's chest tightened again.
That strange, painful feeling returned.
"…Sealed?"
The armored man nodded.
"Forbidden area. No one's supposed to go near it."
He looked Kael directly in the eyes.
"And yet we found you lying right outside its entrance."
A brief silence filled the room.
Kael didn't know why, but hearing that made his stomach twist.
He lowered his gaze slightly.
"…I see."
The armored man gave a small nod.
"So…"
He pointed toward the door leading outside.
"Think you can walk?"
Kael looked at them for a moment.
Then he exhaled slowly.
"…Yeah."
He wasn't sure why. But something told him… Whatever answers existed for the emptiness inside his chest… They might begin with that cave.
They walked toward the guildhall through the village streets, the sunlight warm but distant in his mind. Kael hardly noticed Kinon's elbow bumping him until the axe-wielder spoke.
"So… what's with the clothes? That bag? You look like you came from a foreign country."
Rowan's shield clanked as he stepped in, giving Kinon a sharp look.
"Hey, Kinon, don't be rude."
Kael forced a smile, shrugging.
"No… it's okay."
His thoughts swirled.
How do I even begin to explain any of this?
Then, as they reached the plaza, his steps faltered. He stopped.
His heart skipped a beat. Ahead, bathed in sunlight, a massive statue dominated the square. A woman, carved from pale stone, flowing hair, eyes cast downward, but it radiated presence.
His heart raced as if time itself had stopped. And then the truth slammed into him.
Pain and regrets all flooded in, memories surged back in a torrent, Eiscia, the blue wisps, the cave, the black lion, Firioz's sacrifice, the red orb.
Every second, every feeling he couldn't name before, all returned at once. Pain exploded in his head, and he dropped to his knees, clutching his temples.
"Eiscia…" he gasped, his voice hoarse. As tears slid down his cheeks, he struggled to catch his breath.
Rowan and the others exchanged concerned glances.
"He's remembering… all of it," one muttered.
Kael's vision filled with Eiscia's image as he forced himself to look up. The statue. The woman named... Eiscia.
Every detail came back, her humming, the blue lights, her sorrowful eyes, the words she had spoken as he was pulled away.
And now, seeing her likeness immortalized in stone, the weight of his helplessness crashed down on him.
His chest burned, a suffocating ache, yet a spark of determination flared.
He remembered why he had fought, why he had survived, and who he was meant to save.
"…Eiscia," he whispered again, voice breaking.
Rowan looked at him, eyebrows raised.
"Did you know her?"
He immediately closed his eyes and crossed his arms.
"But… that's impossible. No human lives that long… a hundred years… it can't be…"
He opened his eyes, correcting himself.
"Wait… but… she's Eiscia?" Kael responded.
Runo stepped closer.
"She's Lady Azre."
Kael staggered back unbelieving.
"No… you're lying."