After the first hint of attack, the security around Dawn Village was tightened. Patrols doubled, guard shifts lengthened, and even the wolves prowled the borders with restless energy.
But despite the sudden reinforcement, no further assault came, not even a whisper of it, and a full day passed in uneasy calm.
The villagers, blissfully unaware of what had happened to the patrol, continued their daily lives in peace. To them, nothing was amiss.
But Lucian knew better.
He could feel something stirring just beyond their reach. Shadows didn't strike once and vanish without reason—they lingered, waited, and planned.
For now, he couldn't afford to pour all his attention into unseen enemies. An urgent matter had already landed in his hands.
A mission.
"So the time has finally come. I cannot afford for things to go wrong at such a time."
Not just any mission, but the first one that fate itself had marked as belonging to the so-called "hero."
