“Peek and I will kill you,” were the last words Shiyo had said to Benedict before she walked into their new room’s private spring, and he was pretty sure she meant it. The small pool was outside, surrounded by stones and a high wall, with only a link to their room. The sliding door had no lock, and Shiyo had shut it tight. If she paid even the slightest attention, she’d notice even the smallest attempt to look.

  Benedict forced the temptation out of his head by leaning against the wall and bringing out his old sketchbook. The initial pages included his drawings of Japan: a back alley, an attractive young woman who helped him find Himeiji, the entrance to a shrine, a cosplayer, and Mt. Fuji from the shinkansen. Following that, he had drawn Rin and one of the adventurers’ guild attendants. He started the blank page by drawing Amelie, then moved to the next page for Shiyo.

  By the time Shiyo came back, Benedict was sketching an image of the inn’s entrance. For the first time, he saw her hair unbraided as she ran a brush through its full length.

  “I haven’t had a good hot spring bath in ages!” she said.

  “Good time in there?” Benedict asked, eyes staying on the page as he finished his drawing.

  “You can see it for yourself now. Don’t worry, I won’t be trying to look at you.”

  “I might later.”

  “What are you doing that’s more important than a bath?”

  Benedict looked to the side, and his eyes met a cleavage line under a robe. He quickly looked in the opposite direction. “I’m just drawing.”

  “As that was accidental, I will not punish you for it.” She pulled her robe together with one hand, cheeks burning red. “Why are you drawing me?”

  “It helps me when I want to remember someone.” Benedict felt his own face warming. “I have some drawings from Japan, if you want to see.”

  “I would like to see them.”

  Benedict handed her the book and watched her flip through the pages. With each successive page, her eyes widened a little more.

  “It’s changed so much…” she whispered.

  “What do you mean?” Benedict asked.

  Shiyo’s face reddened as she closed the book. “You are very talented. These illustrations are beautiful.”

  “Thank you.”

  “Excuse me!” Harald called from the other side of the door. “May I come in?”

  “Go ahead,” Shiyo said.

  Harald walked into the room and sat at the table next to Benedict. “I feel an explanation is in order. My inn is a day’s travel away from either of the nearest towns and in an area naturally clear of monsters, so it has been highly profitable. Unfortunately, a monster has appeared lately that terrorizes the travelers on this road. I hired a group of adventurers to find and kill it, but it’s been a month and they’ve had no success. They were the ones I was speaking to when you met me.”

  “One would think they’d have taken out a single monster,” Benedict said.

  Shiyo took a piece of fruit and crunched it between her teeth. “This place is well kept. You must be making some profit to keep paying them, yes?”

  “Just a little from my most loyal customers, who come during the day when the monster doesn’t attack,” Harald groaned.

  “And they don’t pay enough to keep it going and pay your adventurer friends,” Benedict said.

  “Correct.”

  “Why don’t you hire another adventuring party to find that monster?” Shiyo asked.

  “I can’t get into town to find more without leaving Morgin alone,” Harald replied. “Besides, that would put me into even more debt.”

  “Morgin?” Benedict asked.

  “My sister. She helps run this place, including doing all the cooking. She should be by soon.”

  Benedict tried working it out in his head. They had an opportunity to help. A little of Morighana’s power would destroy that monster, surely, if they could get it away from witnesses. Pain shot through his leg as Shiyo kicked it.

  A young woman walked into the room carrying a basket piled high with fresh pastries and fruit. She placed it on the table, then glared at Harald. Benedict retreated a little from her, as did Shiyo.

  “You came home late,” the young woman growled.

  “I was here before dark,” Harald said.

  “You know that thing has killed during twilight before.”

  “Can we not do this in front of guests?”

  “Was that your plan?” Benedict asked. “Have us here so you wouldn’t get chewed out?”

  “It sounds so sinister when you put it that way,” Harald said.

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  “Are you the couple who brought my brother home?” Morgin asked.

  “We’re not a couple, but otherwise, yes,” Shiyo replied.

  “Then I thank you from the bottom of my heart. Problems happen when you stay out late around here.”

  Harald grabbed Morgin’s shoulders and ushered her out of the room. “We should let these two rest for the night. They have a long road ahead of them, I’m sure.”

  All was quiet shortly after the siblings left the room. Only the insects outside chipped in the dark.

  “I want to help,” Benedict said.

  “I could tell,” Shiyo said.

  “How?”

  “You think the look on your face is unique? I’ve seen it before. All young adventurers have it when they want to help someone. Get some sleep and we’ll start a search during the day.”

  “It normally attacks at night.”

  “Which means it sleeps during the day. We can track it with a bit of Morighana’s power.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “You’ll find out in the morning. Get to sleep.”

  Shiyo flopped onto the only bed and said nothing else. Benedict lay on a bedroll—the only piece of camping equipment he had left—and drifted off to sleep.

  The following morning, Benedict and Shiyo rose before the sun and set out into the forest. On the way out, Shiyo bought a map of the area and studied it while they went deeper into the forest. Further and further they walked; so far that Benedict thought Shiyo knew where she was going.

  “How many other powers have manifested while you’ve been here?” she asked.

  “Nothing else aside from what I used on the big goblin,” Benedict replied.

  “I see.” She ran a hand through her hair and groaned her frustration. “When she sends us to this world, Morighana gives us specific knowledge. In thaumaturgical parlance, she is a Source, and we’re linked to her by our very existence. Part of this manifests as knowledge, like our ability to understand the local language. Another part is power. You’ve experienced this already, but there is more to Morighana’s power than the destruction of our enemies.”

  Shiyo held a hand in front of her. Her eyes glowed, and energy warped in front of her, expanding into a circular shield—the same as she had used to protect him from Rin. “Powers from her manifest in ways different from a normal Source, however. Not one of us has ever truly figured it out. We only know that some powers come about with specific actions with some predictability.”

  Benedict thought back to the big goblin. He wanted to protect Amelie, and he touched Morighana’s power to do it. That’s all he did?

  “What powers have you manifested?” he asked.

  “Specifically, aside from the shield, I can also sense a wide area around me, move myself and anyone I’m in contact with over a vast distance, and go completely unseen by mortal eyes.”

  “Hundreds of years, and that’s all?”

  “Yes, that is all! No more questions. Just do as I say. Sensing your surroundings is one of those we know how to manifest. An old acquaintance taught me, after all. Now I will teach you. Focus inward onto Morighana’s power.”

  Benedict followed Shiyo’s orders. Morighana’s power warmed his body whenever he touched it. “I’ve got it.”

  “I want you to extend yourself outward, like you’re searching for something.”

  The world around him came into stark relief in every direction. Even directly behind him, Benedict knew exactly what was there. This sense extended to a couple hundred yards, by his reckoning, and was so detailed he could have counted the hairs on a squirrel’s back.

  “This is amazing!” Benedict shouted.

  Shiyo rubbed her forehead. “Just try focusing on something specific. Picturing it in your mind should be enough.”

  One of the aforementioned squirrels would do. As Benedict focused, the world seemed to warp around him. There, on a tree limb! When he glanced in that direction, the tiny creature came into sharp relief, even through branches and leaves. He let his senses settle into normalcy. It felt like every synapse in his brain had overloaded and only that moment received some relief. That feeling subsided over a minute as the power coursing through his veins faded back into his body.

  “Remember how easy that was,” Shiyo warned.

  “If I slip up around anyone, they’ll know and fear me, just like Rin and Amelie. Right?”

  “Yes.”

  “I was fortunate you were with me at that moment. Unbelievably so.”

  “Putting that aside, let me see if I can catch any trace of the monster. I can sense farther than you. Just follow me. If someone comes near, I’ll have to stop until they pass.”

  Shiyo’s eyes glowed, and she searched around them. “No tracks, breaks, blood… nothing at all. Strange. The map has a few caves and ruins marked out. Any of those would be an appropriate lair.”

  Finding the closest cave was easier said than done. It lay in a mass of tree roots and fallen foliage, hidden from the eyes, but not from their senses. They hacked through all of it, revealing an opening wide enough for both of them to pass through uninhibited.

  Benedict extended his senses deep into the cave. “Nothing in there larger than a rat.”

  “I can sense other things, though.”

  With Morighana’s power coursing through his veins, Benedict saw everything within the cave as if he were still outside in the daylight. Nothing stood out to him. There were footprints in the cave, but none anything like a monster’s. Worse, outside of those left by the rats, all the tracks were old.

  After exploring two more caves full of nothing, Shiyo found a ruined watchtower near them. A closer examination revealed eight men inside. They were the same adventurers harassing Harald.

  “They have another there, too,” Shiyo growled.

  “Shall we greet them?” Benedict asked.

  “I somehow doubt they’d be amenable to conversation, but we can listen in. Don’t pull away from me.”

  Before Benedict could ask why, Shiyo grabbed his forearm. The world around him rippled like it existed behind a barely visible veil. He reached out for the edge, which pulled away. Or maybe it was never within reach to begin with.

  “If you leave my grip, you’ll be visible,” Shiyo warned. “And they’ll be able to hear you if you say a word. Understand?”

  That in mind, Benedict stayed close as they walked together into the watchtower. Most of their adventurer friends huddled around a fire on the ground floor. A pig sat above the flames, sizzling as its skin roasted. Given the animal’s size, the adventurers had purchased it, not hunted. They must have more money than Benedict expected to afford such a meal.

  One of the men—who hadn’t been harassing Harald—wrote a spell in front of himself. It flashed when he was done, warping into a small bird that flew around him. The tiny creature looked so realistic Benedict was sure he’d mistake it for real if he saw it flying in the wild.

  “Impressive as always, Garulf!” a thoroughly drunk adventurer exclaimed.

  “And that innkeeper still hasn’t left yet!” another complained.

  “Gentlemen, relax,” the caster said. “’Tis only a matter of time before he gives it up. You’ve bled him completely dry.”

  Their leader stood. “You need to hurry, then! I’m not the one who will lose money on this deal.”

  “What’s wrong? I already told you I take my pay only after the job is finished.”

  Shiyo squeezed Benedict’s arm harder. He held in a yelp despite the increasing pain as her grip tightened. She finally noticed his squirming and let up without releasing him completely. He couldn’t blame her. These weren’t adventurers. They were bandits.

  “We must convince him to pay up now!” the leader growled.

  Garulf let the bird fly around his hand before it dissolved into nothingness. “I’ve already sent the little man a message, as requested. He should be making his way to the meeting point right now.”

  “Then we will go, as well.”

  Shiyo motioned toward the door. Benedict sidled toward it, only for a drunk to block him. His free hand hovered over his coffer, but he didn’t draw. He needed an opening. Before he could find one, every bandit filed out the door, including Garulf.