The afternoon passed quietly.
Almost unnaturally so. The fortress resumed its routine. Soldiers trained in the courtyards.
Blacksmiths hammered glowing steel. Messengers hurried through stone corridors carrying reports. To anyone arriving from outside...
Nothing seemed wrong.
Rin knew better. Something had changed. He could feel it.
Like a program running incorrectly in the background.
Everything still functioned. Just... Not quite right.
He returned to his room before sunset. The first thing he checked—
The note. Still there. Exactly where he had hidden it beneath the pillow.
The black feather rested beside it. Neither had changed. Rin carefully locked the door.
Closed the curtains. Then placed both objects on the desk.
"...Okay."
He took a deep breath.
"Let's assume I'm not losing my mind."
Silence.
"...Not reassuring."
The feather looked ordinary. Completely black. No magical glow. No strange markings.
When he touched it... Nothing happened. The paper, however... Felt oddly warm.
Not physically. Somewhere deeper. Like touching a memory.
"...Who wrote you? Was really me? "
No answer. Of course. He unfolded it again. Only one sentence.
Do not trust the System.
"...Fine. I'll ask differently."
He leaned closer.
"Who are you trying to protect?"
The ink shimmered. Rin froze.
"...No way . I imagined that."
Except... He hadn't. Very slowly... The letters dissolved.
Not disappearing. Moving. Rearranging. His eyes widened. The sentence changed.
Can it see me?
Rin's breath caught. The note...Had answered.
"...What?"
His voice came out as little more than a whisper. The words remained for only a heartbeat. Then...
They shifted again. Back into their original form.
Do not trust the System.
A knock sounded at the door. Rin nearly threw the paper across the room. He stuffed both the feather and the note beneath a stack of books just as another knock followed.
"Rin?"
Was Lucien.
"...One second!"
He opened the door. Lucien stood outside carrying... tea. Again.
"I thought you might appreciate something warm."
Rin looked at the cup. Then at Lucien.
"...Does everyone in this fortress communicate through food?"
Lucien seemed genuinely thoughtful.
"...Mostly."
"...That's actually kind of adorable."
"I am unfamiliar with that military term."
"It isn't one."
"...Good."
Rin stepped aside. Lucien entered. His gaze wandered around the room.
Books.
Desk.
Window.
Fireplace.
Nothing unusual.
"...You appear distracted."
"I've had a weird day."
Lucien nodded.
"...Understandable."
For several minutes they simply drank tea. Eventually... Lucien spoke again.
"When I first met you..."
Rin looked up.
"...Yes?"
"I believed you would bring disaster."
"...Direct."
"I prefer honesty."
"...You're spending too much time with Kaelith."
"...Perhaps."
Lucien smiled faintly.
"I was wrong."
Rin blinked.
"...About me?"
"About many things."
The priest looked out the window.
"I judged you because you were human."
"And now?"
"You are simply Rin."
The answer was so simple... That Rin didn't know how to respond.
"...Thanks."
Lucien inclined his head.
"However..."
"...Here it comes."
"You are hiding something."
Rin groaned.
"...Does everyone know?"
"You have been looking over your shoulder all day."
"...Fair."
Lucien stood.
"I will not ask."
He walked toward the door.
"But whatever burden you carry..."
He looked back.
"...do not carry it alone."
The door closed softly behind him. Rin released a long sigh.
"...Why is everyone here emotionally healthy?"
Night fell. The fortress slept once more.
Outside...Snow continued to fall.
Inside...The silence returned.
Then—
A blue screen appeared.
Without warning. Without sound. The System.
Its frame was even more damaged now. Entire sections were missing. Text rendered incorrectly.
Emergency Diagnostic
...
Foreign interference detected.
Rin immediately straightened.
"...Interference?"
Searching...
...
Searching...
...
Search failed.
"...What's interfering with you?"
The System froze. Its loading circle spun for nearly ten seconds.
Access denied.
"...Denied by who?"
No answer. Instead...New text appeared.
Recommendation: Destroy unauthorized objects.
Rin's eyes slowly shifted toward the books.
Toward the hidden note.
"...You mean the paper."
Unknown query.
It couldn't see it. But... It wanted it destroyed. Cold spread through his chest.
"...You're lying again."
Probability of user trust decreasing...
...
Unfortunate.
"...Stop trying to be funny."
Attempt acknowledged.
The System flickered violently. Its blue glow dimmed. For the briefest moment... Something appeared behind the interface.
Not code.
Not text.
A silhouette.
Tall.
Motionless.
Watching.
White eyes.
Exactly like the ones from the dream.
The screen immediately glitched.
ERROR
ERROR
ERROR
Then... Everything disappeared. The room fell silent. Rin remained perfectly still.
"...It saw me."
No. Not him.
It had looked...Through the System. As if the blue window had become a mirror.
A knock shattered the silence.
Three calm knocks. Was Kaelith this time.
Again.
"...Rin?"
"...Yes?"
"There is someone requesting an audience."
"...At this hour?"
"Yes."
"Who?"
A pause.
"...He says he already knows you."
Rin frowned.
"I don't know anyone here."
"...That is why I came personally."
His pulse quickened. Slowly... He opened the door. Kaelith stood there. One hand resting on the hilt of his sword. His expression had become unreadable.
"There is something else."
"What?"
"The guards insist..."
He paused.
"...the visitor appeared inside the fortress."
Rin felt the blood drain from his face.
"...Appeared?"
"There were no open gates. No teleportation circles. No breach in the walls. He was simply..."
Kaelith's eyes narrowed.
"...already waiting."
"...Who is he?"
Kaelith answered quietly.
"He refuses to give a name. He only asked me to tell you one sentence."
Rin swallowed.
"What sentence?"
Kaelith looked directly into his eyes. Then repeated the message exactly as he had heard it.
"Tell the programmer... that the third loop has begun."
Silence.
Rin's heart stopped.
Loop.
Not timeline.
Loop.
Only one person had ever called him...
The programmer.
And he had never met them.