Chapter:1༊ ﴾Dawn’s Shadows﴿

Still hung between darkness and the first pale hints of dawn.

Yurin’s eyes snapped open—without reason, without warning.

It wasn’t the first time.

Her body had long grown used to waking moments before sunrise.

She remained lying there, staring at the ceiling—or trying to convince herself to get up at all.

In a whisper barely audible:

“Waking up with energy… hmm, right.”

She let out a long, heavy sigh and shut her eyes again for a moment.

“He wasn’t lying when he said I was on the edge of collapse… that battle-obsessed idiot.”

…

…

…

…

She blinked a few times, frowning.

“Wait—why am I even thinking about him? Annoying.”

She pushed herself into a sitting position, slowly.

The last thing she wanted was to start her day with his name in her mind.

After finally forcing herself out of bed, she splashed cold water on her face—

just enough to revive a spark of alertness.

She stepped toward the small table beside the window and ate her usual silent breakfast.

A piece of bread and a cup of mint-flavored herbal brew. Nothing more.

Every movement carried the same quiet precision as her daily routine.

She stood before the wooden mirror hanging on the wall, gathering her hair and tying it to the side like she always did.

A brief glance at her reflection—

Her blue-grey robe draped lightly over her shoulders,

threaded with faint gold patterns.

The small linked chains around her neck swayed with each motion,

catching the thin light slipping in from the rooftop window.

She slipped on her short gloves, tightened the leather belt around her waist,

and turned toward the door.

But before she could leave—

A faint noise from outside caught her attention.

“Looks like the villagers are finally awake…”

She descended the stone steps with steady footsteps.

Under her breath:

“Desert… or forest? Neither shows mercy.”

She had taken only a few steps past her home when a soft voice called behind her:

“Yurin? Off somewhere again?”

She turned to find a woman she recognized—an acquaintance, nothing more.

Yurin answered simply, meeting her eyes:

“Ah… well, to Fontaine.”

Surprise flickered clearly across the woman’s face.

After a brief moment of hesitation, she spoke:

“From Aaru Village to Fontaine? That’s quite the journey…

If you’re going through Vanarana, would you… take something for someone there?

He works at the port. I’d be truly grateful.”

Yurin raised her gaze toward her in a short, silent pause.

“Vanarana, hmm…?”

As if weighing both paths inside her mind.

The woman extended a small pouch, tied with a red string.

“It won’t take any of your time, I promise.”

Yurin hesitated—then took it at last, with a calmness that resembled a temporary surrender.

“…Fine. It’s along my road anyway.”

The woman smiled gratefully as Yurin turned away.

With each step she took beyond the village borders, the first light of dawn swept across the sand, tinting it a pale gold.

While walking, Yurin pulled out the small pouch the woman had given her, rolling it between her fingers.

She balanced its weight in her palm.

No smell... no warmth… no texture that suggests food.

“So it’s not biscuits or anything edible,”

she mused with mild boredom before tucking it away.

A part of her wanted to open it immediately—

another part insisted:

Not the right time.

“…I should’ve refused.”

She slid the pouch back into her bag and gave a faint, sarcastic smile—

the kind one gives when laughing at their own absurdity.

“Of course. I turn down high-profit contracts… yet lose to a tiny pouch. When will I learn how to decline politely?”

The path toward Vanarana was anything but gentle—

sand becoming stone,

stone bleeding into forest,

and the forest whispering with sounds that didn’t belong to human tongues.

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