"You were the only one here today, kid. No one else came to help me," said the old graveyard keeper.
Axel frowned, confusion flickering across his face.
"Where did you see this blond guy you mentioned?" he asked, narrowing his eyes.
Axel hesitated. "No, no— forget it. I must've been tired. Maybe I was seeing things."
But the graveyard keeper didn't look convinced.
To reassure him, Axel forced a small smile, thanked him for the money, and took his leave. He walked straight back to the grave where he had spoken with Aiden earlier, only to freeze.
The grave that Aiden was digging in was filled back up again.
But that was not why Axel froze. As he stepped closer, brows knitted. Not only that grave… but every grave around it had been dug up and filled back in. The soil was fresh, unsettled. A chill crawled up his spine.
Why was Aiden digging into people's graves?
Then he remembered Aiden telling him he lives in the orphanage. Axel made a mental note to ask Sol and Noor later if they had seen a blond kid with glasses and blue eyes.
Then another thought struck him. Aiden mentioned that he needed money for the finals. But he should've earned plenty already by selling food during the first day of the festival with Axel's promoting him.
Axel clicked his tongue and pushed the thought aside.
He left the graveyard and walked through the empty streets of the city. Silence hung in the air like a fog. Once more he drifted into thought, unable to grasp how so many lives had been lost. Most of them had died beyond the walls. The graveyard he visited today stretched with endless graves, yet it's only one among the many in the city. But how did they even recover all those bodies from beyond the walls, when everyone said the outside world was too dangerous?
Maybe it's not dangerous as everybody says…
If so, he needed to see it for himself.
He wasn't allowed to leave the Verdane city because of the group task, so he headed toward the city walls instead. If he couldn't go outside, he would climb up and take a look from above.
But halfway there, when noise and cries tore through the silence of the night.
Curious, he looked ahead and saw a heavy black cloud rising into the sky—far too much to come from a mere chimney.
Then Axel arrived at the source. A house was engulfed in flames, people crowding around, and soldiers attempting to put the fire out.
"Those poor children inside," one woman said tearfully.
Another woman next to her shook her head. "No one is able to save them now… how tragic."
"Terrible isn't it," someone muttered to Axel.
Axel nodded but asked, "Do you know what caused the fire?"
"No idea," the man answered. "I just arrived as well. But apparently a boy managed to escape the building. They're helping him over there."
Axel looked toward the direction the man pointed at. There sat a child wrapped in a blanket, trembling violently. His eyes were round with terror.
"M-monster…" the boy whispered. "I saw a monster…"
Two soldiers and a woman tried to calm him, but Axel didn't linger. He still wants to climb the city walls before the group's agreed time to gather again.
Eventually Axel reached the top of the high city walls. Soldiers patrolled everywhere, but something felt… off. All of them were staring outward, yet the cannons and weapons were aimed toward the city, not outside.
And the inner side of the walls held openings that served as cannon and archer slots, while the outer side had none of them. Everything was designed as if the walls were meant to keep something in, not defend against something from outside.
Axel then looked out over the world outside the city. But the night was pitch-black, so he couldn't see much.
So he turned around and looked toward the city.
Chimneys releasing soft trails of smoke. Lit up houses with a peaceful glow of warm lights behind windows.
A calm, living city.
Then—
"Axel!"
A voice called his name.
He turned around as his eyes widened in surprise.
"Professor Stoker," Axel said, with a grin spreading across his face.
Meanwhile, Achie and the young boy finally arrived at the orphanage. Achie straightened his back, staring at the massive building looming in front of them looking like an abandoned building.
As they stepped inside, the air was cold and stale.
"This place is creepy," the boy whispered. "Can't we go back? Because I don't want to live here."
"We will," Achie responds gently. "But I need to find my friends first. They were helping the caretakers here today."
They walked through long, empty hallways. The wooden floorboards groaned under every step. They reached the stairwell and climbed up. Each floor from the stairwell they checked
The First.
Second.
Third.
Fourth.
Fifth.
Nothing. Everything was silent… eerily silent.
On the sixth and highest floor they decided to enter the floor searching for signs of life. Moonlight spilled through the windows, faintly lighting the corridor.
The boy clung closer to Achie.
"Relax," Achie said, grinning. "I'm super strong, you know. They call me Rockfist Achie back home."
He raised his fist, a hard stone-like layer rippling across it. This was Achie's power… being able to turn himself into living stone.
They checked the rooms. One was full of dust and spiderwebs. Another was a classroom with chairs placed on desks, clearly unused for ages.
Then they reached a door with a glass window that was strangely clean. No dust. No webs.
Achie stopped. "Hold on. Let's check in here"
Inside were children's books and toys. As Achie examined a bookshelf, he felt a tug on his sleeve.
He turned and saw the boy stood frozen, staring toward the doorway with trembling feet.
"What is it?" Achie asked.
"I… I just saw a… a ghost walk by," the boy stammered.
Achie raised a brow. "A ghost? Come on—", he said while walking towards the doorway.
"Wait!" the boy whispered harshly. "If we go outside, it might notice us! Look carefully!"
Achie sighed and together they stood at the doorway, heads poking out as they peeked into the corridor.
Something was moving.
Both of them widened their eyes, trying to make out the shape as moonlight revealed a… small, white figure drifting down the hallway.
"A ghost…" the boy whispered.
"Shh," Achie hissed.
They watched the figure reach the end of the hall… only to walk straight into the wall instead of turning.
"Ow…" a tiny voice groaned.
Achie burst into laughter. "It's just a kid wearing white clothes!"
The child turned around, rubbing their forehead. "Who's there?"
Achie stepped out of the room and the boy followed.
After quick introductions, Achie asked where everyone was.
"Dining hall on the first and third floors," the child explained. "That's why it's so quiet."
Achie noticed the kid wouldn't meet their eyes. "And what are you doing up here alone?"
"I was told by the best caretaker here to come to the top floor," the boy said. "To the room without a glass window."
Then he added, "Can you help me? I… I'm blind."
Achie and the other boy exchanged looks, like detectives realizing they had just cracked a case and said in unison:
"Oh, so that's why you walked into the wall."
The blind child laughed softly.
They each held one of his hands and walked until they reached a door, the only one on this floor without a glass window.
Achie tried the handle, but it was locked.
He knocked. No answer.
"You sure this is the place?" Achie asked.
The boy nodded.
Achie knocked again.
Click.
The sound of a metal lock unlocking.
The door creaked open very slowly.
A man in nurse's clothing stepped out and shut the door behind him. In a gentle voice, he asked:
"Who are these people, Little Eliot?"
The blind boy, now known as Eloit. Lit up at the familiar voice and ran toward him, wrapping his arms around the man's legs.
"They helped me get here, mister!"
But only Little Eliot was smiling.
Because Achie and the other boy saw what Eliot couldn't… a man with a missing eye, deep claw like scars on his face, and an expression twisted in barely contained fury.
The man leaned forward.
"I'll ask you two then," he growled, voice low and dangerous.
"Who are you?"