The Mana Lamp glowed faintly blue, casting a soft halo around JP's encampment. The emberstone fragment radiated warmth in its clay pot, while a thin wisp of moonshade resin smoke drifted lazily through the night air, warding off the insects.
It was, by all measures, the most peaceful night JP had since awakening in this strange world.
He lay back on his bedroll, watching constellations wheel across the sky. "Could get used to this," he murmured. "Better than crowded inns and too many eyes on me."
But then—a sound.
A faint crunch of grass. The snap of a twig.
JP froze. His hand slid toward the short blade at his side, eyes narrowing into the darkness beyond the lamp's reach.
"Who's there?" His voice was steady, but his pulse raced.
A shadow moved at the edge of the clearing, silent yet deliberate. Too controlled for a wild beast. Too cautious for a drunk villager.
JP gripped the Mana Lamp, whispering [Appraisal] toward the silhouette.
Target: Unknown Entity.
Status: Concealed. Information Obscured.
The lines blurred, shifting unnaturally. Whoever it was—they were suppressing their identity.
His throat tightened. Not good.
"Show yourself," JP demanded, his lamp flaring brighter.
The figure stepped into the circle of light.
A hood. Pale eyes that caught the glow like silver glass.
"…Lyra?"
She lowered her hood just slightly, her expression unreadable. "So it's true. You've been camping out here. Alone."
JP's heart thudded. "You followed me?"
"I noticed you never returned to the inn," she replied coolly. "No meals. No bed. Just silence. I had to see for myself."
Her gaze flicked to the Mana Lamp, its steady glow illuminating the clearing. For a moment, her eyes widened, betraying her surprise—but then they narrowed again, sharp with suspicion.
"That light… that's not normal."
JP swallowed hard, shifting to shield the lamp. "It's just… something I put together. Nothing important."
Lyra's lips pressed thin. "You're hiding things from me, JP."
"And you're not?" he shot back before he could stop himself. "You wear a hood in broad daylight, never tell anyone what you really are, and somehow think I shouldn't notice?"
The silence that followed was thick, broken only by the crackle of firewood.
Lyra stepped closer, the firelight tracing the edge of her face. There was a tension in her, like a bowstring pulled taut.
"You're clever," she admitted. "Too clever for someone new to this world. And that makes you dangerous… to yourself, and to anyone near you."
JP met her gaze, the Mana Lamp humming faintly between them. "Then maybe we're both dangerous."
For a long moment, neither spoke.
Then Lyra exhaled softly, pulling her hood tighter. "You should rest. I'll take the watch tonight."
JP blinked, caught off guard. "Why?"
Her eyes flicked toward the forest shadows beyond the clearing. "Because out here, not everything that lurks is as familiar as me."
And with that, she turned her back to him, scanning the woods as if daring them to test her.
JP lay back slowly, the Mana Lamp glowing beside him. His mind spun with questions.
She knows I'm hiding something. And I know she's not who she pretends to be. But for now… we're both pretending otherwise.
Sleep eventually pulled at his eyes, but even as he drifted off, he felt the weight of Lyra's presence—like a blade hanging in the air between them.