Chapter 36 – A World Without The Sun

【Reina PoV】

The blue light was gone.

The clearing was silent again, except for the wind rustling through the leaves. It was just an empty patch of dirt now. The air where he had stood was just empty air. My Ryuuji was gone.

“What… what just happened?”

Kenji’s voice sounded far away, like it was coming from the end of a long tunnel. He took a hesitant step toward the spot where the glowing rune had been. Daisuke stood frozen, his massive form a statue of disbelief.

They did not understand.

They couldn’t feel the world tilting on its axis. They couldn’t feel the color draining from the leaves, the warmth seeping out of the air. The sun was still in the sky, but my world had been plunged into a cold, dark eclipse.

He was gone.

I walked forward, my feet moving on their own. My boots felt heavy, like they were filled with lead. I knelt, my knees hitting the damp earth. My fingers brushed against the dirt where the trap had been. It was just cold soil. There was no magic left. No trace of him.

Just emptiness.

“Reina?”

A memory surfaced. His voice. That gentle, stupid, perfect voice. Even if you sin, even if you fall, I’ll be there with you. It wasn’t a platitude. It was a promise. It was a command. He knew this would happen. He knew he would be taken. And he was telling me to follow.

I had to follow.

“He took him.”

My voice was a low whisper. It didn’t sound like my own. It was cold. It was sharp. It was the sound of a blade being drawn from its sheath.

“Siegfried took him.”

“They both got caught in the trap.”

Kenji was trying to be logical. His simple, heroic brain was trying to process the facts. It was cute. It was infuriating.

He didn’t see the truth.

This wasn’t an accident. That fake hero, that insect, had put his filthy hands on my Ryuuji and dragged him into the dark. He had stolen him. He had stolen the only thing in this world that mattered.

A slow, cold calm settled over me.

The panic evaporated, replaced by something much cleaner. Something pure. A single, perfect objective formed in my mind. Find Ryuuji. Save him. And then, find Siegfried and peel the skin from his body, salt it, and fly it from the town’s flagpole. It was a simple, logical to-do list.

I stood up.

My body felt light now. My purpose was clear. I took a step toward the spot where they had vanished.

“What are you doing?”

Kenji’s voice was laced with alarm.

“I’m going after him.”

I took another step. If I just ran at the spot, maybe the trap would trigger again. Maybe it was still there, just waiting. I had to try. I had to get back to him.

“Reina, wait! We don’t know what that was!”

Kenji moved to block my path. He put a hand on my shoulder. It was a gentle, restraining touch. A concerned friend trying to help. His hand felt like a cage.

I looked at it. Then I looked at him.

“Get out of my way, Kenji.”

My voice was still quiet. Still calm. The most dangerous things always are.

“We can’t just run in blindly. That’s what Ryuuji would tell us. We have to think. We have to make a plan.”

He was using Ryuuji’s name against me. He was trying to use my god’s own words to stop me from reaching him. It was a clever move. It was also a fatal mistake.

“You don’t get to tell me what he would want.”

I shoved his hand off my shoulder. The strength in the movement surprised him. He stumbled back a step. Daisuke moved to his side, his face a mask of worry. They were both standing in my way. They were obstacles.

“Reina, please. Just stop for a second.”

I stopped. But I didn’t listen. I just looked at them. Two loyal friends. Two brave heroes. Two roadblocks on the path back to my reason for breathing. My mind started working. I couldn’t push past both of them. Daisuke was a mountain.

But there were other ways.

I let my shoulders slump. I let the cold fury in my eyes melt away, replaced by a carefully crafted mask of despair. I let a single, perfect tear roll down my cheek.

It was a masterful performance.

“You’re right.”

My voice was a broken whisper.

“I’m sorry. I just… I can’t….”

Kenji’s face softened instantly. He was a sucker for a damsel in distress. What an idiot. He took a step toward me, his hand outstretched.

“It’s okay, Reina. We’ll get him back. I promise.”

I let him put his arm around my shoulders. I leaned into him, my body trembling with fake sobs. He fell for it completely. He was just a boy, trying to comfort a grieving girl.

He had no idea he was hugging a predator who was actively calculating the fastest way to neutralize him.

I needed to get back to the inn. I needed to think.

Brute force had failed.

I let them guide me back toward the stolen vegetable cart. The setting sun cast long shadows across the clearing, striping the ground like prison bars. Kenji and Daisuke walked on either side of me, their presence a suffocating shield. They thought they were protecting me from my own grief.

They were really just delaying me.

“We need a new plan.”

Kenji’s voice was firm, trying to project a leadership he didn’t feel.

“We have to figure out where that portal took them. There has to be a way to track it.”

He looked at me, his eyes full of a desperate hope. He wanted me to agree. He wanted the party to be a team again.

I just nodded, my face buried in my hands. I couldn’t let them see my eyes. They wouldn’t see grief there. They would see the cold, hard glint of a hunter.

My mind raced.

A dungeon. The trap had to lead to a dungeon. Ryuuji was alone down there. He was alone with that snake. That monster. My Ryuuji, who always pretended to be weak. Who always put himself in danger to protect us. He was probably doing it right now. He was probably protecting that worthless scumbag from whatever horrors were down there.

The thought made my blood boil.

I had to get to him.

I touched the silver bracelet on my wrist. The little sun charm was cool against my skin. His was the moon. A piece of each other, even when we’re apart. It wasn’t just a piece of jewelry. It was a lifeline. A connection.

I focused on it, pouring all of my desperation, all of my rage, all of my devotion into that single point of contact.

Nothing happened.

It was just a bracelet.

“Maybe the mayor will know something.”

Kenji was still talking. Still trying to solve the problem with logic.

“He knows the area. Maybe there are legends about places like this.”

I lifted my head, wiping away my fake tears. My expression was one of sad, weary acceptance. I was playing my part perfectly.

“You’re right. We should go back. We should talk to Mayor Pedro.”

Kenji’s face flooded with relief. He thought he had gotten through to me. He thought I was ready to be a team player again.

I am not on his team.

My team has one member. His name is Ryuuji Sato. And I am his only soldier.

I had to get them to trust me.

We walked back to Olvido in silence.

The journey felt endless. Every rustle of leaves, every chirping bird was a painful reminder of his absence. The world was too loud without his quiet presence beside me. The colors were too bright. Everything felt wrong.

It was a world with a Ryuuji-shaped hole in it, and I was falling into it.

We abandoned the cart at the edge of the woods and walked through the town gates. The guards gave us worried looks. The townsfolk whispered as we passed. They could probably feel it too. The oppressive emptiness.

The hero of their town was gone.

We went straight to the Grateful Goblin. The inn was warm and filled with the smell of roasting chicken, but it offered no comfort. Kenji got us a private room upstairs. It was small and stuffy, with a single grimy window that looked out over the darkening street.

He ordered stew and bread. It sat on the table, untouched.

“Okay. We need a plan.”

Kenji stood in the middle of the room, his hands on his hips. He was trying so hard to be the leader. To be the rock.

Daisuke sat on one of the beds, his massive shoulders slumped. He just stared at the floor.

I looked at them both. The brave hero and the loyal shield. They were good men. They were my friends. And they were completely, utterly useless to me right now.

Their caution was a chain. Their logic was a cage. I had to break free.

My world had a hole in it, and his name was Ryuuji Sato.