The dawn after their forest camp rose quiet but tense. No fog. No shimmer. Just golden light slipping through trees and morning dew clinging to cloaks and boots.
But the feeling remained.
Yuuv yawned while brushing grass off his robes. "Weird dreams again. I saw a forest that looked... stitched together."
"Stitched?" Iuro blinked.
"Like seams in the sky," Yuuv mumbled, rubbing his eyes. "Maybe just stew hallucinations."
Lui rolled up his bedroll with practiced hands. "Stay sharp. Today we reach Pinevault."
"Finally!" Rick threw his arms up. "A town with walls, beds, snacks, and absolutely no mysterious mist monsters. Hopefully."
The trail ahead became cleaner, paved in some places with mossy stone. The first signs of life came in the form of trading carts going the other way—mostly filled with bark paper, ink crates, and oddly shaped wooden contraptions.
Iuro stopped one old merchant. "Excuse me, sir—why so many... pens?"
"Pinevault's having its Copycat Festival," the merchant said, adjusting his hat. "Lots of scroll copying. Kids enchant papers to rewrite themselves. Fun chaos."
"Festival?" Izumi raised an eyebrow. "Sounds... not dangerous. Suspicious."
Rick bounced. "Can we go?"
Lui gave a resigned nod. "If it's on the way."
By noon, they reached Pinevault's southern gate. The wooden archway was carved with intricate vines and tiny animated birds that chirped when you walked beneath them.
And inside?
Chaos.
Friendly, noisy, ink-stained chaos.
Children chased enchanted quills through the air. Stall owners sold glowing journals that repeated anything you whispered. A food cart advertised "memory dumplings"—each bite unlocked an old memory.
Yuuv stood frozen near that cart, staring blankly. "Do we... eat memories?"
"You remember the taste of a memory," the seller explained.
Rick was already chewing one. "Mmm! I'm four years old again! It's raining, and I dropped a pie!"
Everyone stared.
"...Tastes like regret," he added.
They split up briefly. Izumi and Ishi checked the main square. Lui and Iuro gathered supplies. Rick and Yuuv, somehow, got pulled into a "friendly copy duel" between two local kids who enchanted their backpacks to sing insults at each other.
Yuuv accidentally made the backpack start composing poetry.
"I carry the weight of lunch and fate..." the pack sang.
"That's... not an insult," the kid whined.
"Give it time," Yuuv smiled faintly.
As evening approached, the town's crowd gathered near a stage for the final contest: the Illusion Scroll Showdown.
Participants used illusion magic and special ink scrolls to tell stories or trick the eye.
The Celestars watched from the crowd. Most were simple: dancing animals, changing outfits, moving shadows.
Then—one scroll activated.
And projected…
Them.
The Celestars.
Their duel scenes. Their fight in the fog. Yuuv's final moment during his rank-up duel. The ink shimmered with impossible precision.
The crowd gasped.
Izumi leaned forward. "That's—who's showing this?"
No one stepped forward.
Then the image ended. The scroll burned up in silver light.
A hush fell.
Then a whisper rippled through the crowd.
"The Starwatchers… are watching them."
Lui's brow furrowed.
"The what?" Rick whispered.
Yuuv stared at the stage, eyes narrowed. "They were here again…"
Ishi finally spoke. "This isn't over."
The crowd clapped—confused, amazed—but the Celestars stood still.
All of them now knew:
They weren't just being followed.
They were being studied.
And whoever the Starwatchers were… they knew magic the world had forgotten.