For a moment after Con embraced her—
No one moved.
Then suddenly—
His body went limp.
His grip loosened.
And before Isabelle could react, the silver-haired boy collapsed forward, his head resting against her shoulder.
"…what?"
Isabelle blinked.
"Did he just—"
Jorin caught Con before he could fall completely.
"…faint?"
The word sounded wrong even as he said it.
Con?
Fainting?
Jorin stared at the unconscious boy in disbelief.
In all the time they had traveled together, trained together, fought monsters together—
Con had never once shown weakness.
Not once.
Not a fever.
Not an injury.
Not even exhaustion.
Jorin had seen soldiers tougher than iron eventually collapse from fatigue.
But Con?
He had always been… untouchable.
Which, now that Jorin thought about it—
Was actually very strange.
Humans got hurt.
Humans got sick.
At least once.
Everyone did.
But Con never had.
Not even a scratch during training.
Not even a cough during winter.
Jorin pushed the thought aside quickly.
"…help me."
Isabelle stepped back slightly, startled but obedient.
Together they lifted Con carefully and brought him back inside the room.
They laid him gently on the bed.
Only then did Isabelle finally look around.
And froze.
"…what happened here?"
The room looked like it had been attacked by a hurricane.
Drawers were pulled open.
Chairs overturned.
Blankets thrown aside.
Clothes scattered everywhere.
Even the small table had been flipped over.
Jorin frowned deeply.
"This wasn't like this earlier."
He crouched beside the bed, checking Con's breathing.
It was steady.
Just… deeply unconscious.
Isabelle walked slowly through the room.
Her fingers brushed over a drawer that had clearly been searched violently.
"…he was looking for something."
Jorin stood.
That seemed obvious.
But what could make Con panic enough to destroy his own room.
Earlier that afternoon.
After losing Isabelle's footsteps in the crowd—
Con had returned to the inn.
His chest had felt tight.
Too tight.
Something inside him was restless.
Frustrated.
Afraid.
He entered the room and closed the door.
"…system."
He knelt beside his bed.
His hand reached under the mattress.
Where he had carefully hidden the small hand mirror he had purchased.
His connection to the system.
But his hand touched only empty wood.
Con frowned.
He searched again.
Nothing.
His breathing slowed.
"…no."
He checked the bag beside the bed.
Nothing.
The drawer.
Nothing.
The table.
Nothing.
The mirror was gone.
A cold feeling crept up his spine.
Mirrors were banned in Eldoria Kingdom.
If someone found it—
If someone reported it—
His one way to speak with the system…
Gone.
"Where is it?"
He began searching faster.
The bed.
The chair.
His bag.
His clothes.
Still nothing.
Panic slowly crept into his voice.
"…where did it go?"
He overturned the table.
Opened every drawer.
Pulled blankets apart.
The room descended into chaos.
But he couldn't stop.
Without the mirror—
He had no answers.
No way to understand what had happened earlier.
No way to find the girl.
His breathing became uneven.
"Where is it?"
His hands trembled as he searched again.
And again.
And again.
Soon—
He was no longer searching logically.
He was tearing the room apart.
Blankets thrown.
Chairs knocked over.
His voice broke.
"…why…"
A sharp ache pressed against his chest.
Fear.
Confusion.
And something deeper he didn't understand.
His head spun.
Tears slipped down his cheeks.
He didn't even realize he was crying.
"…I need it…"
Without it—
He felt lost.
Alone.
His thoughts tangled until even he could no longer understand them.
Then—
Through the chaos—
He heard something.
Footsteps.
Light.
Soft.
Familiar.
Con froze instantly.
His heart slammed against his ribs.
Her.
Without thinking—
He ran.
Straight for the door.
And then—
Everything that happened afterward.
Back in the present—
Isabelle stood quietly in the destroyed room.
Looking at the scattered mess.
Something inside her chest tightened slightly.
"He… did this?"
Jorin nodded slowly.
"…looks like it."
Isabelle glanced at the unconscious boy on the bed.
His breathing was calm now.
Peaceful even.
But something about the situation unsettled her.
"…why would he panic like this?"
Jorin didn't answer.
Because he didn't know.