"Is this going to be much longer? I have somewhere to be."
I sighed as the artist's brush moved carefully across my face.
"Haha. Just a little more. But I did tell you it'd take some time, didn't I?"
He chuckled and continued working.
I resisted the urge to shift in my seat.
"Sigh. I should have gotten something to eat while I waited."
I closed my eyes.
The sounds of the festival filtered in from outside. Carriages rolled past with the occasional creak of their wheels. Footsteps came and went along the street, mixed with overlapping conversations and the general chatter of people moving through the festival.
It was comfortable enough that, before I realized it, my thoughts began to drift.
"Alright. It's finished."
The artist's voice pulled me back.
He handed me a mirror.
"Oh?"
I opened my eyes, realizing I had nearly dozed off.
"Let's have a look."
I took the mirror from him and turned it toward my face.
"Wow."
The koi fish painted across my face looked surprisingly lifelike.
"And you did more than… seven."
I paused as I counted them again.
There was another one tucked underneath my eye.
"Neat."
I reached for my purse.
"Three thousand yen, right?"
"Yes, ma'am."
I counted out the money and handed it to him.
"There you go."
He accepted it and began arranging his equipment while I stood.
I stepped outside and back onto the street.
"Alright. We might have spent a little too much time."
I sighed and looked along the crowded street.
I was hungry.
A food stall caught my attention, and I made my way toward it. By the time it was my turn, I was already looking over the selection.
"Can I have samosa, some grilled duck, yakitori, and whatever tea you have?"
"Of course."
The vendor got to work.
I waited, watching him prepare everything while the crowd continued to move around me. Eventually, he handed over the order.
"Here you go, miss. And I really like your face paint."
He smiled.
"Thank you. Me too."
"Enjoy the festival."
"You too."
I moved away from the stall, carrying the food carefully.
The street was still busy.
I spotted a man with a pocket watch.
"Sorry, what's the time?"
He glanced down at it.
"Hmm. 4:58."
"Thank you."
I turned around and started making my way back.
I really had spent too long there.
---
"I'm back."
I opened the door.
The sounds of the festival immediately became more distant behind me.
Lorgan was still seated in the same position, cultivating.
"Where have you been?"
His eyes remained closed.
"The festival."
I lifted the food in my hands slightly, as if that explained everything, then sat down.
There was a pause.
"You took your time."
"I got you something to eat."
I placed the food on the table and began taking everything out.
Lorgan sighed.
Then he simply continued cultivating.
I looked around the room.
Then paused.
Something about it felt…
Off.
Not dangerous.
There was no obvious distortion. Nothing visibly wrong with the walls, the floor, or the furniture.
It was just subtly incorrect.
I looked toward the doorway.
Then the table.
Then Lorgan.
Nothing.
I dismissed the feeling and picked up a piece of duck.
I put it into my mouth while I boiled water for the tea.
A few moments later, I reached for a piece of yakitori.
My hand stopped.
I looked at the food.
The distance felt wrong.
Not by much.
Just enough.
I looked at the table and slowly moved my hand again.
This time, I reached it without a problem.
I stared at it.
Then I stood and walked toward the doorway to get some fresh air.
The distance changed again.
I stopped.
Turned around.
The distance between me and Lorgan didn't feel the same as it should have.
I looked at him.
He was still cultivating, a cup of tea resting in his palm.
"Was I imagining it?"
I decided to test it.
I took a few deliberate steps.
One.
Two.
Three.
I counted the distance.
We had been here long enough for me to know the room. I knew where things were. I knew roughly how far the table was from the doorway, where Lorgan sat, how much space there was between each object.
But the measurements weren't quite matching.
Then I noticed something else.
The room didn't seem distorted all the time.
It changed depending on where I stood.
"Interesting."
Now I had something I could test.
I walked toward the wall and stopped.
I turned around and walked back.
Then I looked at the wall again.
I picked up a stick and tossed it toward it, watching its trajectory.
I moved around Lorgan, taking note of the distance from different positions.
I stepped outside the room.
Then came back.
The effect remained.
I watched Lorgan some more.
His breathing.
His cultivation.
His attention.
Nothing changed.
"Lorgan."
I deliberately interrupted him.
His eyes opened.
The room settled.
I stood there, watching him.
Nothing happened.
He looked around the room.
Then at me.
Then he closed his eyes again.
The distortion returned.
I stared at him.
"That shouldn't happen, right?"
If my observation was correct, then the phenomenon wasn't simply tied to his conscious activation.
That was… interesting.
---
"Wouldn't it be better if we moved?"
I took a sip of tea.
Lorgan looked at me.
"Why?"
He picked up some food and ate.
"There have been a lot of phony killers around here lately."
I gestured vaguely toward the outside.
"Ever since that group showed up, now apparently everyone is an assassin."
I sighed.
"It's become annoying."
Lorgan looked around the room.
"No."
"No?"
I repeated it even though I already knew what his reasoning would be.
"I think we should stay. We can't just abandon this. It took some time to put together."
He looked toward the circular outline on the floor.
I followed his gaze.
The green glow remained steady beneath us.
I picked up another piece of samosa and put it into my mouth.
He was right.
"How is Yasui?" I asked, changing the topic.
"He's fine, I presume. I don't know what he has been up to lately."
Lorgan took a bite of the samosa.
"And Fir. I wonder how she's doing."
I took a sip of water.
"Why does Yasui want no knowledge of what we are doing even though he's helping?"
"I don't know. Haven't asked him. But I am sure he has his own agenda."
Lorgan took a sip of tea.
"Hmm…"
I went quiet.
Someone had arrived.
Not a civilian.
I glanced toward the doorway.
"We didn't even speak of the devil. Why is a fool here?"
I sighed and looked at Lorgan.
A man walked into the room.
"Good evening. I see you are having dinner."
He had a sword in his hand.
"Well, it just so happens I have to eat as well. Hence, the bounty on your head, Xiǎoyou, Lorgan, or whatever you call yourself."
Lorgan opened his eyes.
The man stepped forward, his weapon already in hand.
I simply watched.
Normally, I expected Lorgan to respond immediately.
He didn't.
The hunter charged.
And that was when I noticed something truly strange.
His movement didn't quite behave normally.
He took three steps.
It felt like four.
He lunged.
The distance collapsed faster than it should have.
My eyes narrowed.
"The space is helping create the confrontation."
I looked toward the circle.
"This thing wants a fight."
The hunter struck.
Lorgan blocked the attack with his sword.
The impact rang through the room.
I watched the fight, but I wasn't primarily watching the fighters.
I was watching the space.
The hunter retreated, creating some distance between himself and Lorgan.
The room seemed to pull the confrontation back toward the center.
Not literally.
There was no visible force dragging him.
Yet his position kept becoming more favorable for another exchange.
He tried to circle Lorgan.
The geometry subtly changed.
I moved to another position.
The same thing happened.
"The room isn't simply distorted."
I watched the hunter's movements.
"It's organizing movement toward confrontation."
Toward Lorgan.
The realization settled into place.
It was making the fight easier to happen.
Then the hunter tried to escape.
The space resisted him.
Not like a wall.
Something subtler.
His body kept moving.
His feet still carried him forward.
But every route seemed to lead him back toward the center.
I narrowed my eyes.
There was something else here.
---
"Is he also testing something?"
Lorgan was drawing out the encounter.
The hunter attacked again.
Lorgan didn't move.
The domain responded.
An attack that should have struck him landed several distances away from where it should have.
The hunter adjusted and attacked again.
His movements were becoming slightly wrong.
The direction was off.
The distance was off.
Not enough to make his attacks meaningless.
Enough to matter.
"But whatever is happening…"
I watched Lorgan carefully.
He hadn't initiated it.
His hands hadn't moved.
His attention wasn't on the phenomenon.
He was simply cultivating.
Or perhaps he was watching the hunter.
But he wasn't controlling what was happening.
"It seems my previous assumption was incorrect."
I kept watching.
"He was not doing that."
---
The man's behavior subtly changed.
His attention became increasingly focused on Lorgan.
His instincts sharpened.
He seemed to find himself wanting to approach.
And when he had the opportunity to retreat, he didn't.
He kept advancing.
As though retreat itself felt wrong.
I watched him take another step.
The space seemed to accommodate him.
Or perhaps it was directing him.
The place had decided what he was.
That was the first real indication that the domain possessed interpretation.
It wasn't merely producing environmental effects.
It was interpreting the confrontation.
I was still thinking about that when Lorgan moved.
His sword flashed.
The hunter's head came away from his body.
The fight ended almost as quickly as it had begun.
Blood spilled onto the floor.
Then something even more interesting happened.
The blood began to pool and channel toward the domain as though the floor were slightly tilted.
I watched it spread across the glowing circle.
The body lay within the domain.
"The domain does respond to defeat."
I followed the movement of the blood with my eyes.
The phenomenon hadn't simply altered the fight.
It had reacted to its conclusion.
"Interesting."