The aide introduced himself as Brandon. He was also the one tasked with escorting the five foreigners to their accommodations. Despite Subaru and Rory offering to help, the villagers continued to treat them with a surprising amount of respect.
They were taken to an inn large enough to house all five in separate rooms, each located on the same floor. Their quarters were arranged in a row upstairs, accessible by a narrow wooden staircase. Rory's room was closest to the stairs, with Subaru's next to his. Then came Marvelous's room, followed by Nathan's, and finally Anna's whose room was the farthest, overlooking a wide windowed section of the building.
Nathan entered his room alone. The moment the door closed behind him, he collapsed onto the bed. His limbs ached not from exertion, but from the mental exhaustion weighing him down. His stomach grumbled its own protest, a dull reminder that the day's stress had left him famished.
Brandon had mentioned someone would come by soon with food. That was something, at least.
"Origin Expanse," Nathan muttered aloud, his eyes locked onto the wooden ceiling above him. He stretched out his right arm as if reaching for something just beyond sight.
It all still felt surreal. Not quite a dream but definitely detached from the kind of reality he was used to.
Frankly, Nathan didn't consider himself worthy of being chosen by something like the Origin Expanse. Especially not with the kind of ambition it seemed to demand. Ambition? If he were honest with himself, he lacked even the basic motivation to survive in a place like this.
Sure, he could stay composed and rational in most situations, but that wasn't enough. He lacked the one thing he'd seen in the eyes of true survivors, desperation. The raw, urgent drive to push forward no matter what.
Right now, he was just going along with it. Doing what was necessary, not because he had to, but because he could. It was the same approach he'd taken to life back on Gaia: give just enough to get by.
If he made it past this so-called tutorial stage and entered the true world of the Origin Expanse, chances were, he wouldn't rise above the average. He'd contribute the bare minimum to survive, just as he always had.
But something told him that wouldn't last. Not here. Origin Expanse wasn't Gaia, where the biggest excitement came from celebrity gossip or people complaining about politics. Here, every Awakened had a chance to carve their own path not just theoretically, but in real, tangible ways.
And Nathan? Even if he lacked the desperation now, he was certain that once his perspective expanded, that once he saw the layers beneath the surface, something in him would change.
"I guess for now," he muttered, "I should start by asking more about the Whispering Wake. Like where it first appeared, for example."
Still, things weren't looking promising. The Whispering Wake remained an enigma.
It wasn't a disease. Nor had it been officially identified as a living being.
The only concrete facts the villagers had were chilling: it killed them one by one, and it prevented anyone from leaving Oakheart's boundaries.
Weird. That last part didn't sit right with Nathan.
The restriction on movement implied rules, some form of logic or command. To enforce rules, there had to be intent. And intent required thought.
Which meant…
The Whispering Wake was alive.
Nathan jolted upright on the bed, eyes wide. The idea came crashing into his mind, shattering the uncertainty like glass.
Four years. The Whispering Wake had haunted Oakheart for four years.
And yet, not once had anyone seen it. Not even a glimpse. That alone was staggering.
How could something stalk a village for so long, taking lives, and still remain unseen?
"No… that doesn't make sense," Nathan whispered. "If it's alive and capable of thought, it should've left behind more than rumours and fear."
According to the village chief, all the Wake ever left behind was its method of killing, and its unique approach to its victim's heart. That was it.
Odd. Too odd to ignore.
KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK!
Nathan froze. His breath caught in his throat as a chill ran down his spine.
He took a cautious step back from the door, heart pounding.
"Wh-who's there?" he called out, doing his best to sound braver than he felt.
"Uhm… I-it's me. I brought your food!" came the shaky voice of a girl from behind the door.
Food.
That word alone was enough to break the tension. With a relieved sigh, Nathan swung the door open, completely forgetting his earlier paranoia.
If she'd been an assassin, he'd have been an easy target. But thankfully, she was exactly who she claimed to be, a maid with his dinner.
"Come on in. Place it over there," he said casually, waving toward the table like he'd lived there for years.
She obeyed and set the meal down. It was generous, surprisingly so considering the village's dire state. Nathan figured the villagers must have gone all out to show appreciation or perhaps bribery.
He didn't wait long. Hunger beat curiosity. He dug into the food, forgetting all about the Whispering Wake and the theories forming in his mind.
Then—
"KYAAAAAAAH!!!"
A scream.
The voice was unmistakably the same maid who'd just delivered his meal.
Nathan shot up, spilling the chair as he ran to the door. Others spilt out from their rooms too, summoned by the shriek.
They found the maid collapsed in the corridor outside Anna's room.
Her expression was twisted in sheer terror, wide eyes, pale skin, lips trembling. A reaction too intense for simple fright.
Nathan was the first to approach, mostly because he was the closest. As he neared, he noticed something that made his skin prickle, the door to Anna's room was wide open.
The maid was still staring into the room, completely unable to tear her gaze away.
Why?
Nathan leaned in slowly, inching forward until his head poked past the threshold of the door.
What he saw…