Kiriti didn't sleep well that night.
He logged off late, brain buzzing with questions. About Revi. The wall. The fire. The way the caretaker had gone still when she said "guilds are coming."
When he logged back in the next morning, it was raining.
Not hard — just enough to make the stone roads slick, the air damp, the town quieter than usual. As if even the weather knew something was changing.
He made his way toward the west gate.
Not for any quest. Just instinct.
The same instinct that had told him to sit with Emeric. To help Marla. To listen to a boy named Patch feed a broken-winged bird.
And when he turned the last corner—
There she was.
Not Revi.
A girl, maybe sixteen, crouched beside the wall, clutching a wooden bucket.
Water pooled around her feet. Her braids were frayed. Her dress had a torn hem. She was scrubbing the stone like she'd done it a hundred times.
But the wall she scrubbed?
There was no building behind it.
Just a freestanding wall, half-rotted, covered in moss.
Kiriti paused.
She didn't look up.
"Need help?" he asked gently.
Her hands didn't stop moving.
"Can't stop," she said. "It comes back when I do."
Kiriti stepped closer. "What does?"
She didn't answer.
But when he got close enough to see the stone, he saw it — a black mark, like soot or blood, soaked into the wall's base. Scrubbing lightened it. Never removed it.
"Been here since the fire," she whispered.
Kiriti crouched beside her.
"You know about that too?"
"They burned the gate from the inside. That's what the old ones say."
"You mean the north gate?"
She looked at him.
"No. I mean this one."
Kiriti glanced at the freestanding wall again.
Not a ruin.
A remnant.
A gate that was sealed shut… not by boards or bolts.
But by forgetting it existed.
He helped her scrub for a while.
No system popup.
No affinity meter.
Just two people in the rain.
Eventually, she stopped. Hand trembling slightly.
Kiriti took the bucket.
"I'll finish. You go rest."
She looked at him — really looked. Wet hair sticking to her cheek, eyes rimmed with red.
"…You're not from here," she said.
"No."
"But you're staying."
Kiriti smiled, tired and real.
"If that's alright."
She nodded.
Then whispered:
"I hope you're ready."
"For what?"
"To remember."
And she was gone before he could ask what she meant.
He didn't move for a while.
Just stared at the stain on the wall.
Watched the rain pull it back to the surface again and again.
Then a familiar voice behind him said:
"You always find the broken places, huh?"
Kiriti turned.
Revi stood in the rain, arms crossed, no umbrella. She looked like she hadn't slept either.
He offered her a nod.
She didn't smile.
"Guild scouts are two zones out," she said. "They'll be here in a few days."
"Stonehollow's not a dungeon," Kiriti replied. "There's nothing to take."
"That's never stopped them before."
She glanced at the wall.
"What is that?"
"History."
"Hm."
A pause. Then she asked:
"Why are you helping them?"
"Because they're not 'them.' They're people."
"You're going to get yourself deleted."
Kiriti shrugged.
"I'd rather go out remembered than invisible."
Revi stared at him.
Then turned to leave again.
But just before she did, she said:
"If they post a bounty on you… and I'm in the party…"
Kiriti waited.
She looked back.
"I'll miss on purpose. Once."
He laughed.
She didn't.
Then she was gone.
That night, Emeric spoke to the mayor. The baker told his regulars. Marla left a sealed vial by the chapel gate.
And all over Stonehollow, a whisper spread.
"The soldier listens.""He calls us by name.""He's staying."
And someone — no one remembered who — carved a single word into the chapel step.
Promise.
📄 [SYSTEM WATCH: NPC Behavior Shift Detected]Affected Zone: Stonehollow• Affinity Map Updating…• Flagged Anchor: Kiriti
[New Tag Applied: "He Who Listens"]
📄 [Guild Activity: IRON PACT – Deployment Confirmed]ETA: 3 DaysArea Sweep Protocol: ACTIVE