Chapter 13 - The Letters in the Margin

He snapped back to his senses. The room was quiet and empty. Leo walked slowly to the table in the corner and sat down. He placed all the documents Captain had given him on the table.

He turned his gaze to the window. The light had shifted. It was already past dawn — the afternoon sun heavy and golden through the glass.

After some unknown time, he picked up the first document. Its cover is water-stained, and its corners are eaten by mold or insects.He slowly turns page by page. The pages are different thicknesses — some almost translucent, others stiff like dried skin. The ink changes color halfway through — from black to a brownish rust, as if the writer ran out of ink and used something else.

He turned to the first page. Charwood Chapel. The name sat at the top of the file like a warning. Located on the eastern edge of the continent, it had been abandoned for forty years — or so the record claimed.

Incident Record: Charwood Chapel

Location: Eastern Continental Boundary

Status: Abandoned (Approx. 200 Years)

Danger level: unknown (seal the area)

"Charwood Chapel, on the eastern edge of the continent, has been abandoned for 200 years. Local reports described nocturnal disturbances and bizarre incidents around it. Some lost their memories, some suffered sudden deaths, some disappeared into darkness, and some turned into monsters.

Inside the chapel, investigators found the altar cracked down the middle. Behind it, a tunnel — but it led nowhere. Just a curve of earth that stopped after twenty paces.

After they returned, they only spoke of a crescent moon crossed by a horizontal line. One said he saw it carved into the tunnel's end, glowing faintly. After that, they all died — losing control of their powers..."

Leo noticed something. Every time the tunnel was mentioned, the crescent-cross appeared. It showed up five times across four pages, always near descriptions of the tunnel. Each one was drawn at a different angle. He took the pages and placed them one by one under the lamp. When exposed to light, they revealed a strange symbol — and three letters in the near corner: "A..L..A" (Symbol: ☉)

He noted down the word.

After a brief pause, he reached for the next document.

Before he continued, Leo glanced outside. It was already night. Pale purple moonlight came through the window.

Then he realized — tonight's moon was an Amethyst Moon.

After transmigrating to this world, he had learned that it had two moons. One was the Sapphire Moon — a darker blue moon. The other was the Amethyst Moon — a slightly bluish-violet glowing moon.

He turned back to the files and started on the second one.

The pages smell of smoke and metallic

Incident Record: MAWRECH PERIMETER BREACH

Location: Mawrech Farmland near the mountain

"Year 1270, near the mountain border of Mawrech. Deep in the forest, some villagers found a structure while hunting. It looked like a temple, but only ruins remained.

During the exploration, five villagers were killed by an unknown creature. Only two survived. After that, the Empire issued an order to seal the area and assigned two special military teams to investigate the incident.

They found a breach in the dimension near the altar in those ruins..."

"The ruins were said to be named after some deity."

Leo's eyes caught something again — a symbol near the corner of the document. Faint, but unmistakable.

"Kha" (ϟ)

Another letter. Another hidden mark.

Leo pushed the stack of incident reports aside and pulled the heavy, leather-bound book the captain had given him closer. The Vorak language was complex, but the symbols in the reports were different. He began the tedious work of cross-referencing each symbol with the dictionary.

One by one, he decoded the fragments of the keyword.

1. Ala (Symbol: ☉)

He traced the circle with a dot in the center. The Vorak dictionary defined it simply as "Dawn" or "Sun." It represented the beginning, or the East.

2. Kha (Symbol: ϟ)

The jagged, lightning-like symbol was next. It didn't mean "lightning" in the literal sense, but "Strike" or "Opens." It was a verb of action, usually implying force.

3. Mer (Symbol: ≈)

The wavy lines were easier to translate. "River" or "Flow." It referred to water in motion.

4. Shi (Symbol: ☾)

The crescent shape. "Shadow" or "Night." It carried connotations of secrecy and concealment.

5. Ar (Symbol: ▲)

The triangle pointing upward. "Mountain" or "Peak." A symbol of immovable strength.

Leo leaned back, staring at the five words he had written down in order:

"Dawn... Opens... River... Shadow... Mountain."

He rearranged them in his mind, trying to make sense of the syntax.

From the far corner of the room, a pair of eyes watched Leo intently. The figure stood perfectly still, blending into the shadows, completely unnoticed. With a silent snap of fingers, the figure vanished into thin air, leaving no trace.

In a blink, the figure materialized in an unknown place. It looked unreal.It was their base suspended between dimensions. A dark sky stretched endlessly above, filled with countless stars. Yet the surroundings were bathed in a strange, silver light. No clouds. No sun. No visible source of illumination — and still, everything glowed.

In the center of this unreal landscape stood a long stone table. The figure walked slowly and sank into a high-backed chair positioned at the corner. As soon as he sat, the illusion of the open sky vanished. replaced by the stone walls of a dimly lit, ancient room. The atmosphere shifted.

Seated around the table were five others. They had been waiting.

One of them broke the silence. It was Carly. She leaned forward, her expression curious.

"Captain, do you think we have to help Leo find the words?" she asked, looking toward the head of the table.

Ashton, the figure who had just returned from watching Leo, threw his head back and laughed. "Hahaha. What do you think? From what I saw, he has already found the words. But," his laughter subsided into a smirk, "I don't think he knows how to chant them properly. If you want, you can help him, but before you intervene, give him a chance to find it himself."

"I thought he would at least take a week or two to find those words," Gavin said with a chuckle, shaking his head in mild disbelief.

Ashton's expression turned serious. He leaned forward, resting his elbows on the stone table.

"Watch him closely," he commanded, his voice low and heavy with concern. "We can't rule out the possibility that he might make a mistake. If he chants Vorak incorrectly—if the inflection is wrong—he will be in great danger. The spirituality could backlash on him. So watch him, and be ready to step in if he hesitates."