Chapter 2: "Missing!!!"
Between four mountains stood a vast and indifferent town named Leo'Roshy. It was named after its village god, whose temple rested atop the largest of the four mountains, forever bathed in the cool morning breeze.
On the outskirts of the town stood a two-story house. From the outside, it blended perfectly with the still and quiet surroundings—but inside, the atmosphere was completely different.
The house was filled with gloom.
A suffocating, sorrowful wailing echoed through the walls.
Silvia stood there, holding her grieving mother tightly. Her mother had just received the devastating news—her husband had died in war. Worse still, his body could not be brought back for cremation, lost in a foreign land.
Silvia could feel every tear her mother shed soaking into her shoulder.
Yet, she remained silent.
Her face showed no extreme reaction, no visible breakdown. She simply stood there, comforting her mother with steady hands, even though her own heart was breaking inside.
The reason for her unusual composure—so different from what one would expect from a daughter who had just lost her beloved father—was simple.
She was mature.
She understood something deeper.
Their house had just lost its pillar. And her younger brother... he was still a teenager. His withdrawn nature, his loneliness, his lack of strength in facing the world—it worried her deeply.
"That kind of personality... can't hold a family together," she thought, her grip tightening slightly around her mother.
So she made a decision.
She would be strong.
As her mother's wailing continued without pause, Silvia slowly lifted her head, her eyes hardening with resolve. She decided to step away for a moment—to inform her brother, who was not at home.
The house was crowded with people—relatives, or at least people who claimed to be. Most of them were strangers to her. Distant connections. Faces she barely recognized.
Still, Silvia had always tried to get along with everyone.
In a town so isolated—trapped between mountains and cut off from the mainland—relationships were survival.
She turned and called out to her cousin.
"Aira," she said, her voice calm but firm.
Aira, her mother's distant sister's daughter like many of other distinct in the mourn room , quickly approached. younger than Silvia, she nodded obediently.
"Hold mother... I want to tell Laryoal about this."
Aira hesitated for a second, glancing at the grieving woman, then nodded again and stepped forward.
Silvia didn't waste another moment.
There were only two places her brother could be.
Home... or his training ground.
She moved quickly, her steps sharp and urgent. Passing through the back gate of the compound, she entered a small patch of greenery near Mount Kara.
But the moment she reached the place—
She froze.
Her brother wasn't there.
A slight frown formed on her face as she scanned the area. She searched every corner, every rock, every shadow—but there was no sign of him.
Her breathing grew heavier.
Without stopping, she turned and ran.
Through the streets.
Toward the city center.
Then further—
Up the mountain.
All the way to the temple of God Leo'Roshy foot.
Her steps slowed as she reached the front of mountain base below the temple, her chest rising and falling with exhaustion.
But—
Nothing.
Not a single clue.
No trace.
Her fingers curled slightly as a cold realization settled in.
Her younger brother, Laryoal...
...was missing.
---
...
Far away, on an island deep in the sea—still under the control of Kingdom Marion—the air was thick with humidity. Sweat clung to every surface as the scorching sun burned overhead.
In the city square of Loira which was the capital of the kingdom, a large crowd had gathered.
At the center, in front of an ancient temple that carried the weight of thousands of years, and above the temple was big flag with burning tree symbol .which was bathing in sea current wavering in humid heat and in front of the temple stood a heavily built man in full war armor statue which was rusty in colour he was holding a big war axe with fierce size wavering it high on sky as he making the blood rush for rage all around him ,but still he was a rule sty statue.
And in front of with same armour and axe stood the living man whose long red hair was falling from his knight helmet as
He stood tall on a raised platform, his voice booming across the square.
"Dear citizens of city Loira!"
People who had been walking past stopped mid-step. Conversations died down instantly.
War.
That word alone was enough.
Every household had someone fighting.
"In the name of our city god, Lyrall Marion," he continued, his voice echoing with authority, "I inform that we lost the war in the foreign land of Agnova part of kingdom agaony!"
A wave of silence fell.
Faces stiffened.
Eyes widened.
"And for that loss," he went on, his tone hardening, "we cannot bring back the dead ones' corpses for their peace."
Murmurs spread through the crowd.
"His Excellency, our city council head Sitreo Marion, has declared that the king has promised proper remuneration for all families who have lost their beloved in the war!"
The words sounded hollow to many.
"Though there are no names to tell," he added, raising his voice further, "we can only confirm the lost by knowing whose family member did not return in the past two days. It means they are no longer walking on this land—they are with Lord Marion."
He paused, scanning the crowd.
"Please inform us who have not returned..."
His voice dropped slightly, but carried even heavier weight.
"SO WE CAN COUNT THE 'NUMBERS'."
---
Among the crowd, a man in his early fifty stood still whose hair was bit grey and had stone like cut face ,and tanned skin .
His expression twisted slightly—frustration... and something darker.
Without a word, he turned and walked away.
His steps were steady, but heavy.
When he reached his house and pushed open the door—
He stopped.
His wife stood there.
Waiting.
The moment she saw him—standing, alive—her face shattered.
She rushed forward and clung to him, her hands gripping his clothes tightly as her body trembled.
She broke down completely.
Her sobs came out in uneven, desperate breaths.
It was as if—
She had lost something that could never be found again.
But the man...
Did not react.
His face remained unchanged.
Without even looking at her properly, he pushed her aside gently—but coldly—and walked straight past her.
Toward the underground.
Down into an old storeroom.
There, hidden behind years of dust and neglect, he opened a secret door—one that no one in the house had discovered for years.
Inside, he moved past a rack of old books and stopped at a study table.
He opened the second drawer.
Inside lay a red-covered book.
Its title was written in a strange language—one unknown to the world.
He opened it slowly.
Flipping through pages... until he reached the middle.
After that—
There were no pages.
Instead, four perfectly carved compartments appeared.
Heart-shaped.
One of them already held a crystal—dimly glowing red.
It had not faded.
The man stared at it.
Then, without hesitation, he pulled out a knife.
With a calm expression, he cut into his own chest.
A sharp breath escaped him—but he didn't flinch.
From within, he pulled out another crystal.
Heart-shaped.
Blue.
Dim... but not fading.
His fingers tightened slightly as he placed it into one of the empty compartments.
Now, two spaces were filled.
Two remained empty.
He looked at them.
His face showed nothing.
Those two...
Were "missing."
He closed the book carefully and placed it inside a strange suitcase, engraved with the same unknown language.
Locking it, he stood up and returned upstairs.
As he approached the door—
His wife rushed toward him again, her face soaked with tears, her voice breaking apart as she spoke:
"U bastard... where is my Sariyo... I... told u not to send him to the war... he was... he was so young... and was shy..."
Her hands struck his chest repeatedly, her strength fueled by grief.
"Why did u listen to 'them' every time...!"
Her voice cracked completely.
A mother's pain.
Raw.
Unbearable.
Born from the very moment she gave life to her child.
The man, however—
Did not change.
Not even slightly.
He pushed her aside again.
This time more firmly.
Then walked out of the house.
Suitcase in hand.
Without looking back.
---
...
On the western borderlands of Kingdom Collinga—
A dense forest stretched endlessly.
So thick that even a proper path for a single man did not exist.
Slippery black stones lined the streams, and above, a green canopy blocked the sky entirely.
Through this wild terrain rode a man.
He wore a black robe with a red cloak flowing behind him.
A side bag hung from one wrist, while his other hand rested near a long, curved katana.
His face was hidden behind a black scarf with red outlines.
Long hair fell over his eyes, swaying with the wind.
Beneath him—
A black horse.
Its mane shimmered with a strange red silk-like texture.
Its expression... unnatural.
Almost aware.
The man leaned forward slightly, bringing his lips close to the horse's ear.
His voice dropped to a whisper.
"Badal... is it there?"
The horse didn't make a sound.
But it nodded.
Slowly.
Almost... disappointingly.
The man's gaze hardened.
He looked toward a distant point in the forest.
Something was not there.
Something...
"Missing."
His jaw tightened.
"So those linen sheep... who act as priests took that..."
His voice turned colder.
"...still it's strange that they found Alimer and his goons that fast..."
He narrowed his eyes.
"If we had arrived a bit earlier... we had took that..."
A hint of frustration crept into his tone.
"...and 'DEVIL' would have given me some points for exchange..."
His teeth clenched.
A low growl escaped him.
The horse suddenly moved forward—
But it didn't feel like it was running on the ground.
It glided.
As if it wasn't touching the stones at all.
A strange beast.
For a strange world.
---
MISSING...
MISSING...
MISSING...
END of chapter 2