The first morning of the school holidays dawned over Tokyo with a deceptive sense of peace. For most students, it was a time for late-sleeper mornings and endless leisure, but for Rio, the air felt thick with an unspoken tension. Inside his house, the usual chaos reigned as Gyau and the rest of the gang had transformed his living room into a gaming hub, their shouts filling the hallways.
"Rio! Focus! My character is about to get wiped!" Gyau yelled, his thumbs blurring over the controller buttons in a frantic attempt to save his score.
Rio let out a long sigh, trying to force his mind back into the game, but his senses—heightened by the Neroli—kept drifting toward the silence outside. Suddenly, a sharp, rhythmic series of knocks echoed from the front door. Knock. Knock. Knock. Rio turned his head toward the door, a strange chill running down his spine. He stood up, leaving the game behind.
When he swung the door open, he was met by a man clad in a long, dark coat. The stranger radiated a calm, piercing intensity, his eyes as sharp as a blade hidden in velvet.
"Are you Rio?" the man asked, his voice steady and devoid of emotion.
"Yeah... that's me. What's this about?" Rio replied, his hand instinctively tightening on the doorknob.
"You know the man called Death, don't you?"
The mention of that name sent a jolt through Rio's chest. "I do. How do you know that?"
"My name is Marito," the stranger introduced himself. "I track spiritual anomalies and energy ripples. You're the one who can sense the power of a Lord Shizen, aren't you?"
Rio hesitated for a fraction of a second before giving a slow nod. "Yeah... I can."
Marito's expression sharpened into a grim focus. "Then you need to come with me. I'm heading to Lake Shizen. There's been a massive surge in reported deaths and a sudden density of spiritual energy in that area. We believe it's directly linked to the legacy of Lord Shizen, and we need to investigate."
Rio looked at him in disbelief. "Lake Shizen? That's incredibly far from Tokyo, isn't it?"
Marito allowed a small, cold smile to touch his lips. "It doesn't matter. Your school is closed for a month-long break, isn't it? You have the time. And I have the need for your gift."
"But what exactly am I supposed to do?" Rio asked.
"You are going to find the source," Marito replied firmly. "You are the radar that will lead us to the heart of the Shizen energy. Are we leaving now?"
"Yes... let's go," Rio decided, his curiosity outweighing his fear.
Suddenly, Gyau burst out of the living room, having overheard the entire exchange. "Rio! Can I come too? This sounds like a real-life quest!"
Rio looked at Marito, about to decline on his behalf. "I don't think he should—"
But Gyau cut him off instantly. "Please! It's the holidays! I'm not staying here while you go on a road trip to a mystery lake!"
Marito sighed, realizing he couldn't waste more time arguing. He signaled for them to follow. As they reached the front of the house, a woman was standing by the car, exuding a mysterious and powerful aura of her own.
"By the way, this is Anne," Marito said. Anne wasn't just an assistant; she stood with a quiet confidence that matched Marito's own presence.
Gyau's eyes lit up as he stepped forward. "Nice to meet you, Anna! Er... I mean, Anne! My name is Gyau!"
Anne looked at him with a calm, neutral gaze. "Nice to meet you. Same," she replied simply.
Within minutes, they were all packed into the car, leaving the neon boundaries of Tokyo behind for the open highway. In the front were Marito and Anne, while Rio, Gyau, and Kawsoki sat in the back. As the city buildings faded away, the landscape transformed into breathtaking vistas of looming green peaks.
"Wow! This is incredible! Look at those mountains!" Kawsoki shouted, pressing his face against the glass, mesmerized by the scale of the natural scenery.
However, the peaceful atmosphere didn't last long. Marito's face suddenly grew taut, and he began to slow the car down, his eyes scanning the horizon as if he were feeling a change in the wind.
"Hold on... something feels off," Marito muttered, his voice dropping an octave. "Anne... do you feel that?"
Anne narrowed her eyes, staring straight ahead at a distant mountain slope where thick, dark trees clustered together. Peeking out from the dense foliage was the weathered, decaying roof of an ancient shrine.
"Up ahead... there's a shrine," Anne warned, her finger pointing toward the structure. "It has to be connected to what we're looking for."
In that exact moment, the Neroli in Rio's pocket began to vibrate violently, and a bone-chilling cold started to seep into the car, as if an invisible shadow had just crossed their path.