Chapter 67: Darkness That Smiles
The forest fell silent.
Not even the wind stirred the branches.
The missing guard stood in the middle of the road.
His body remained perfectly still.
Only his head had turned.
And he was smiling.
Far wider than any human should.
Eric instinctively tightened his grip on his spear.
"...That’s not normal."
"No."
Noah replied quietly.
"It isn’t."
The guard slowly raised one hand.
He didn’t wave.
He simply pointed.
Toward the forest.
The same direction...
The child-like silhouettes had pointed the night before.
Noah remembered the strip of cloth tucked safely inside his pocket.
Don’t follow it.
He raised his hand.
"No one moves."
Squad Seven immediately stopped.
Not a single member questioned him.
The smiling guard remained frozen.
Waiting.
Watching.
Behind them...
Rowan approached with several caravan guards.
"What happened?"
Noah didn’t take his eyes off the figure.
"One of your missing men."
Rowan looked ahead.
His face turned pale.
"...Harlan."
One of the merchants whispered,
"He’s alive!"
He started running forward.
"STOP!"
Rowan’s roar echoed through the forest.
The merchant froze.
Rowan slowly shook his head.
"...That’s not Harlan."
The smiling guard suddenly laughed.
A soft...
Almost childlike laugh.
Yet...
His lips never moved.
The sound came from somewhere else.
Sophia shivered.
"...The voice..."
"It’s coming from beneath us."
A cold breeze swept across the road.
The smiling guard finally moved.
One step.
Then another.
Not toward them.
Away.
Into the forest.
Always keeping the same distance.
Always looking back.
Always smiling.
Eric whispered,
"...He’s trying to lure us."
Noah nodded.
"Exactly."
The guard disappeared between the trees.
His laughter faded.
The forest became quiet again.
Several long seconds passed.
Nothing happened.
Rowan walked toward the place where the guard had stood.
He knelt.
Examining the ground.
"...No footprints."
Eric frowned.
"What?"
Everyone gathered around.
The dirt remained untouched.
No boot prints.
No disturbed leaves.
Nothing.
As though...
No one had ever been standing there.
Damien looked toward Noah.
"...An illusion?"
Noah shook his head.
"I don’t know."
"But everyone saw him."
Sophia suddenly knelt.
She brushed aside a few fallen leaves.
"There."
A small object rested beneath them.
It was a wooden whistle.
Old.
Weathered.
One side had been carved into the shape of a sparrow.
Rowan stared at it.
"...That’s Harlan’s."
He picked it up carefully.
"He always carried this."
His voice grew quieter.
"He carved it himself."
Silence.
If the whistle was here...
Then Harlan had been here.
At some point.
Luna looked deeper into the forest.
"...We’re being watched."
No one argued.
Rowan stood.
"We’re leaving."
A merchant blinked.
"What about Harlan?"
Rowan closed his fist around the whistle.
"...If he’s alive..."
"...we’ll find another way."
"But I’m not sacrificing everyone else."
Noah glanced at Rowan.
It wasn’t an easy decision.
It was the responsibility of someone leading others.
Professor Ingrid’s lesson echoed in his mind.
A leader’s first duty... is to return.
The caravan resumed moving.
No one spoke.
The cheerful atmosphere from yesterday had completely vanished.
An hour later...
The forest began thinning.
Sunlight finally reached the road again.
Everyone unconsciously relaxed.
Then...
The caravan reached Whisper Creek.
A narrow stream crossed beneath an old stone bridge.
Crystal-clear water flowed gently over smooth rocks.
The place looked peaceful.
Beautiful.
Almost untouched.
Eric smiled weakly.
"...At least this place isn’t creepy."
The moment he finished speaking...
A little girl stepped onto the bridge.
She couldn’t have been older than eight.
She wore a faded blue dress.
Bare feet.
Long black hair.
She simply stood there.
Looking at the caravan.
Noah’s eyes narrowed.
"...Where did she come from?"
No one had seen her approach.
The little girl smiled.
A normal smile.
Nothing unsettling.
She bowed politely.
Then asked...
In a soft, innocent voice,
"...Have you seen my brother?"
The little girl stood alone in the middle of the bridge.
The creek flowed peacefully beneath her bare feet.
She couldn’t have been older than eight.
Her faded blue dress fluttered gently in the breeze.
She smiled.
A perfectly ordinary smile.
"...Have you seen my brother?"
No one answered immediately.
Rowan slowly stepped beside Noah.
His voice was barely audible.
"...There aren’t any villages nearby."
The girl patiently waited.
She didn’t move.
Didn’t blink.
Only watched the caravan.
Eric leaned toward Noah.
"...She’s just a kid."
Noah nodded.
"I know."
"But how did she get here?"
No one had seen her arrive.
The bridge had been empty moments earlier.
Sophia quietly closed her eyes.
Mana spread outward.
After several seconds...
She frowned.
"...I..."
She opened her eyes again.
"...I can’t sense her."
Luna looked sharply at the girl.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean..."
Sophia swallowed.
"...It’s like she’s not there."
Damien slowly rested a hand on the hilt of his sword.
"...Everyone else can see her."
"Yes."
"But I can’t feel any mana."
The little girl tilted her head.
"...Did I do something wrong?"
Her voice carried across the bridge.
Soft.
Confused.
One of the younger merchants stepped forward.
"Little miss..."
Before he could finish...
Rowan grabbed his shoulder.
"Stay back."
The merchant frowned.
"She’s alone."
Rowan didn’t look away from the girl.
"...That’s exactly what bothers me."
The little girl lowered her head.
"...Nobody answers me."
Her small hands tightened around the edge of her dress.
"...Brother told me..."
"...kind people always answer."
Eric looked conflicted.
His grip on his spear loosened.
Noah noticed.
He took one careful step forward.
Not onto the bridge.
Just closer.
"My name is Noah."
The little girl looked up.
Her smile returned.
"I’m Lily."
Noah nodded politely.
"Lily."
"You asked about your brother."
She nodded enthusiastically.
"He went into the forest."
"He said he’d come back before sunset."
Her smile slowly faded.
"...That was..."
She looked toward the sky as if trying to remember.
"...A long time ago."
Noah remained silent.
He didn’t interrupt.
Lily looked back at him.
"...Will you help me find him?"
The caravan grew quiet.
Every merchant waited for Noah’s answer.
He remembered the cloth in his pocket.
Don’t follow it.
He remembered the smiling guard.
He remembered Old Bram’s warning.
Noah chose his words carefully.
"We’re on an important journey."
Lily’s shoulders drooped.
"...I understand."
Then...
She smiled again.
"If you see him..."
"...tell him I’m still waiting."
She stepped backward.
One step.
Another.
Until she stood at the center of the bridge again.
A gentle breeze passed through Whisper Creek.
For a brief moment...
The surface of the water reflected not one child...
But two.
One was Lily.
The other...
A young boy standing beside her.
Holding her hand.
Noah blinked.
The reflection vanished.
Only Lily remained.
She bowed politely.
"Thank you..."
"...for answering."
Then she turned.
Walked to the opposite side of the bridge.
And disappeared behind the morning mist.
Eric immediately ran across.
"There!"
He reached the other side within seconds.
Nobody.
No footprints.
No blue dress.
Nothing.
"...She vanished."
He whispered.
Sophia slowly walked to the edge of the creek.
She looked into the water.
Then quietly said,
"...Noah."
He joined her.
She pointed downward.
At the bottom of the clear stream...
Half buried beneath smooth stones...
Was an old wooden toy.
A tiny carved sparrow.
The same style as Harlan’s whistle.
Rowan’s face became solemn.
"...Another one."
"You’ve seen these before?"
Noah asked.
Rowan nodded slowly.
"When I was young..."
"My grandfather warned me."
He looked toward the forest.
"Whenever someone disappears near Whisper Creek..."
"...people eventually find a carved bird."
Damien crouched beside the stream.
"The wood isn’t old."
He carefully lifted the sparrow from the water.
"It’s been here..."
"...less than a week."
A heavy silence settled over the caravan.
The disappearances...
Were still happening.
Noah took out the leather journal Professor Astrid had given him.
He wrote carefully.
Day Two
Arrived at Whisper Creek.
Encountered a young girl calling herself Lily.
She asked us to find her brother.
She disappeared without leaving tracks.
Found another carved sparrow in the creek.
Rowan confirmed similar objects have been found after previous disappearances.
He paused.
Then added one final sentence.
Nothing here feels hostile... but everything feels wrong.
He closed the journal.
The caravan crossed the bridge.
None of them noticed...
From beneath the old stone arch...
Two small eyes quietly watched the water ripple overhead.
A child’s voice whispered...
So softly that only the creek itself seemed to hear.
"...He answered."
Then...
Silence returned.