The scent of damp wood and boiled grains clung to the air. Lyra had already set the table. Though "table" was generous. It was nothing more than a small wooden plank balanced on uneven legs, one corner chipped away. Two mismatched bowls sat on it, steaming faintly.
"Sit" Lyra said softly, motioning to the worn stool across from her.
Hao Kai lowered himself carefully, his movements casual, though his mind was anything but. Her expression was gentle but tired, shadows under her eyes betraying several nights without rest.
"You didn't have to cook" he said, stirring the thin porridge in his bowl. "You should've rested." And he meant it. He was used to taking care of himself. Having someone look out for his so genuinely was new for him.
Her lips curved faintly. "And leave you starving on your first day up? Not a chance."
He hummed softly, neither agreeing nor denying.
They ate in silence for a while, broken only by the faint clatter of spoons against wood and the muffled sounds of the village outside. Hao Kai chewed methodically, cataloging everything he'd seen that morning. The training field, the fortress on the ridge, Mr. Humphrey's panicked retreat.
There were pieces moving on this board already. He just didn't know who was pulling the strings yet.
Lyra's voice drew him back. "Is… anything still wrong with you?"
Hao Kai blinked and looked up, meeting her worried eyes.
For a split second, he considered telling her the truth about the lingering headache. But instinct took over, and he smiled faintly instead.
"Nothing" he said offhandedly, in a dismissive tone.
The moment the word left his lips, he felt it.
It started as a faint sting at the back of his neck, like a static shock beneath the skin. Then, without warning, a sharp, searing pain tore down his veins, racing from his temples through his chest and into his abdomen.
"FUCK!" Hao Kai sucked in a harsh breath, his spoon clattering into the bowl.
"Leon?!" Lyra was already on her feet, her chair scraping violently against the floor.
Hao Kai doubled over, clutching his stomach, his breath ragged as the heat under his skin flared hotter and hotter. His vision blurred at the edges, and sweat broke out instantly across his forehead. It felt like fire had been poured into his bloodstream.
Lyra froze for a heartbeat, terror widening her pale gray eyes then comprehension slammed into her like a hammer.
Her hand shot to her mouth. "…You lied?"
Hao Kai barely heard her over the roaring in his ears.
"I—" He gasped, half-delirious, his voice hoarse. "I lied?"
It wasn't even really a question. It was confusion, a scattered thought barely holding shape through the haze of pain.
Lyra crouched quickly at his side, gripping his shoulders. "Don't speak! don't move! Gods, you..why would you?"
But Hao Kai wasn't listening anymore. He was rifling through Leon's memories desperately, dragging every fragment of information into focus despite the agony clawing through him.
And then he found it.
In this world, mana was not just energy. It was law.
When a person with mana spoke, their essence resonated with their words. Minor falsehoods could be overlooked, but any direct, conscious lie would trigger backlash. A violent rejection from the mana within, as though punishing the vessel for betraying its truth.
The pain he felt now was mana burn.
And it could be fatal… if the conditions were right.
The only reason he wasn't writhing on the floor dying was because this wasn't an oath-bound situation. If he'd sworn before the gods or sealed the statement with intent, his core would have collapsed instantly, mana imploding until there was nothing left but an empty shell.
Hao Kai grit his teeth against a groan, cold sweat soaking his back. So that's why Mr. Humphrey bolted. He could have just rubbed it in Hao Kai's face as they both knew very well he didn't have the means to do anything but he ran away instead. Even though this wouldn't kill, it wasn't a very comfortable feeling either.
And it was such a core lesson that he missed while going through the memories. He could only suffer.
"Idiot" Lyra whispered shakily, pulling a damp cloth from the side table and pressing it to his forehead. "Don't lie. Never lie. I told you that when we were little. Why didn't you remember?"
Hao Kai barely managed a strained laugh between clenched teeth. "Guess… I wasn't thinking too straight." That wasn't a lie. He was occupied while answering her.
She glared at him, but her voice cracked. "This isn't funny. What if it had been an oath? You'd be dead!"
He stayed silent, riding out the waves of burning heat that slowly began to ebb into a dull throb.
It took several minutes before he could sit upright again, leaning heavily against the table leg. Lyra hovered beside him the whole time, pale and tight-lipped.
"Say it" she demanded softly. "Say it, Leon."
"…Say what?" His voice was rough.
"That you won't lie again."
Hao Kai hesitated, his instinctive retort dying on his tongue. In his old world, a white lie was a survival tool. A shield. A weapon. He'd built half his life around them. But here…
If even a casual lie could nearly burn him alive, then his usual tricks weren't just useless, they were dangerous.
"…Fine," he muttered. "I won't lie." He wouldn't need to.
She watched him carefully for several seconds, as though expecting his veins to ignite again. When nothing happened, she exhaled slowly, relief softening her tense shoulders.
"You're impossible," she said finally, returning to her seat.
Hao Kai stayed where he was, silently gripping his knees.
In his past life, lying had been second nature. It came naturally to him and he never felt guilty about it.
But this body, this world, wouldn't let him use any of it.
And worse, someone had already tried to kill Leon once. Without evidence, without leverage, without even the ability to lie, he couldn't retaliate. Not yet.
His eyes flicked toward the small, faintly glowing group still training at the edge of the village, visible through the crooked window. Wooden blades cutting the air, arcs of pale energy shimmering at each swing.
Mana.
If he couldn't lie his way out of danger anymore, he'd just have to come up with something else.
The headache throbbed faintly behind his eyes, but he ignored it.
Starting from scratch, he reminded himself.
Wasn't that what he was good at?
The rest of the meal passed quietly, though Lyra kept glancing at him every few seconds as though expecting him to collapse again.
When they finally finished, she rose to clear the bowls, and Hao Kai leaned back, scanning the room.
Everything here screamed limitation. The patched roof, the threadbare curtains, the warped floorboards. He couldn't stay like this.
He needed knowledge. He needed strength. And he needed to know why Leon had been targeted.
But above all, one thought kept circling in his head, sharp and cold as a blade.
He couldn't trust anyone.
Not yet.
When Lyra stepped outside to hang the washed bowls, Hao Kai pressed his fingers to his temple and breathed slowly.
White lies weren't safe here. Outright lies weren't safe here.
And yet, he was Hao Kai. He didn't know how to be anything else. But lying wasn't the only thing he was good at.
The first step was to find out exactly how far this mana-binding rule went.