By dusk, the sun had sunk completely, and the Enchanted Forest wore a black cloak of silence like ink on water. Even wrapped in night, the forest looked beautiful, but the hush felt like a sealed tomb. Places that breathe like this make my skin crawl; my heart rejects lifeless stillness like a bird trapped in a box.

Mm… where’s Ruyu hiding, like a firefly swallowed by grass?

Chasing the thread of Ruyu’s presence, I finally found the area where she’d hidden, a mist of scent spread evenly through the trees. Her presence was strong here, yet it didn’t lean anywhere, like fog that refuses to drift. There were too many holes and hollows to tuck a body into, countless shadows like nests in a cliff. If I searched one by one, I’d burn half a day like a candle stub.

If only I could open the Sword Domain again, like a moon unfurling over a lake.

I couldn’t help thinking that as a hammering headache struck, drums beating inside my skull. I could barely stir my Sword Intent, a thin stream where I needed a river.

For the record: if the Sword Domain isn’t used in combat, it lasts several times longer, simple maintenance like a steady flame rather than a wildfire.

Let’s rest a bit… just a breath under this wide sky.

With a helpless sigh, I sat before a massive tree, bark rippling like waves, and plucked a few fruits that glowed faintly in the starlight. I ate while admiring the night, a bowl of stars poured over dark leaves. Honestly, the forest by night is lovely—if only it throbbed with daylight’s life.

All told, the Enchanted Forest is the most beautiful place I’ve seen outside the Central Continent, a valley of green silk and clear air. It lacks a city’s glittering bustle, but it crushes cities in every other way, clean wind and soul-soothing vistas like cool springs. Cities are loud hives; a short stay is fine, but long years there would gnaw at me, probably because I grew up in the Central Continent’s vast quiet.

My thoughts drifted like leaves on a slow stream.

Ugh…

Little by little, maybe from exhaustion, sleep rolled over me like a tide. My eyelids grew heavy like wet feathers, my limbs weak as slack rope; I wanted to dive into sleep like a pond.

This is bad… this is exactly the wrong time to doze… but a short nap should be fine, right… just a blink…

My will snapped like brittle twigs, and I let sleep drag me under, eyes shutting like shutters against rain.

…

Time ran fast, a deer through brush. In a blink, it was eleven, the forest’s own strange dawn, when the moon thins and shadows turn delicate.

Mm… huh? Did I fall asleep?

Rubbing my eyes, I stared at a sky brimming with stars, cold fire on velvet. What time is it… the horizon hasn’t paled, so midnight hasn’t struck; I still have to find Ruyu…!

Clarity slammed into me like cold river water, and I sprang up, sweat beading on my forehead like dew.

The moon’s nearly gone, a shaving of silver; it’s ten-something, maybe eleven. Which means I’ve got an hour at most, a sandglass bleeding grain by grain. If I don’t find Ruyu within an hour, I lose.

I cursed myself—wasn’t it supposed to be a quick nap? Why did it swallow half the night like a pit?

Too late to lament. At least the sleep had refilled me a little, like rain soaking dry earth. I was still tired, but far better than before.

No time for a slow search. One more time—burn bright, then rest!

Ignoring the cost to my body, I hurled the Shattered Light Sword into the sky like a splinter of moon.

Sword Domain!

A spike of pain drove through my head, a nail under a hammer, but I couldn’t stop; the hour’s shadow chased me. I gritted my teeth and forced my Sword Intent to surge like a storming river, senses unfurling like nets.

After a moment, the forest breathed back an answer.

There?

I caught the densest strand of Ruyu’s presence, a coil of scent inside a nearby tree hollow like a warm pocket in winter bark.

Please let this be her true trail, not a crafted ghost.

Stomach tight, I dashed toward the hollow, feet whispering over leaf blankets, wind pulling at my sleeves. I held the Sword Domain together through pain, a trembling lantern I refused to let go. Not until I saw her.

…

A few minutes later, I stood at the mouth of a tree hollow, moonlight and starlight spilling in like twin streams. Inside, a silhouette rested like a quiet bird.

Yes—Ruyu’s here!

Once I confirmed the shape was hers, I couldn’t hold the strain any longer; the Sword Domain blew away like dispersed mist. I dropped to my knees, gulped air like a drowning man, sweat dripping from my brow like rain off eaves.

Not yet… rest can wait until the game’s decided. One more minute, maybe two. Get up.

I slapped my cheeks, a sharp crack like branches, shook off sweat, and used the Shattered Light Sword as a staff to lift myself. Then I stepped deeper into the hollow, shadows soft like a nest.

…

Mm-hmm…

The hollow was very quiet, cradled air and wood, only Ruyu’s soft snore like a kitten’s purr. Her relaxed face looked so peaceful, a moonlit petal, I hated to wake her. No helping it; I’ve found her, which means I don’t need to stir her at all.

I sat beside Ruyu, the tight wire inside me finally loosening like a bow unstrung.

Ugh… so sleepy, even after all that napping.

The moment I let my guard fall, sleep surged back, thicker than before, a wool blanket thrown over my head.

I’ll sleep too… this round’s mine… I can rest without fear, like a sailor in safe harbor…

Mumbling through fog, I slipped under again, my head unconsciously tipping onto Ruyu’s shoulder like a leaf onto a stone.

…

The night passed without incident, and the next day arrived—midnight slid by just half an hour ago like a pale gull.

Daylight seeped outside, but the hollow stayed serene as a shrine, not disturbing Yumigawa Sumeragi or Ruyu as they slept.

A little after seven, Ruyu woke, body stretching like a cat in sun, then paused; her right shoulder felt a gentle weight. She turned and found my sleeping face, soft as a child’s.

You really did find me, Yumigawa.

With gentle fingers, Ruyu smoothed my slightly messy golden hair, combing sunlight into strands. Her voice was bright and dim all at once, happiness and a touch of loneliness braided like dusk colors.

…

Hm?

I’d slept enough; awareness floated back like a feather. I was about to wake, when I felt someone combing my hair, a soft tide down my scalp. Ruyu’s murmured words drifted to me, her faintly wistful tone knotting my heart like vine.

…Maybe a few more minutes.

With that thought, I sank back, the world dimming like a lamp.

Around eight.

Mmm— a sleepy little purr slipped from me as I rose from the deep. My head rested on something very soft, carrying a clean fragrance like white tea.

I opened my eyes and found my pillow was Ruyu’s lap, a knee pillow like the gentlest meadow—wait, what?

S-s-sorry!

I shot upright and bowed my head, apology tumbling like pebbles.

Why apologize?

Ruyu tilted her head slightly, a sparrow’s curiosity, eyes clear as spring.

Because I troubled you to be my lap pillow…

It’s fine. Really, seeing your cute sleeping face feels like a win for Ruyu.

She smiled, luminous as dawn through leaves, and spoke to me in a bright, open voice. I stared without meaning to, caught like a moth by a lantern—cough, cough.