There was no night in Reaper Village. Blue lanterns floated along every road, leaving no room for darkness to settle. Ryu walked beneath their light. He had only just returned from the forest. The smell of grass still clung to the edge of his sleeve.
An Elder Reaper was waiting at the village entrance. The face revealed beneath the lantern was cracked like the bark of an ancient tree. Ryu stopped and bowed his head.
“I heard you met that goblin girl again.” “It was a coincidence.” “When coincidences repeat, they become fate.”
The Elder Reaper took a step closer. The blue lantern swayed.
“A reaper must not fall in love.” Ryu said nothing. “Moreover, love between a reaper and a goblin will bring disaster upon both races.”
The Elder Reaper’s eyes swept over Ryu’s face. He was trying to read his expression. Ryu revealed nothing.
“If you meet that girl again…” A brief silence passed. “Kill her with your own hands.”
In a village where the lanterns never went out, darkness descended only inside Ryu. His fingertips trembled faintly. Ryu concealed the trembling inside his clenched fist.
“…I will follow the order.”
The Elder Reaper nodded and turned away. His shadow stretched long between the blue lanterns, then disappeared.
Ryu remained standing there for a long time.
That night, Ryu sat on the cliff at the edge of the village. Black mist flowed beneath his feet. The ravine below Reaper Village had no visible end.
He had said he would follow the order. The words that had left his mouth had been clear. But whenever he recalled them, something inside his chest tightened.
Ryu looked down at his hands. With these hands, he had gathered countless souls. They had never trembled before.
But now, they were trembling.
Ayoung’s face rose in his mind. The face that had smiled while holding a golden flame in her hand. The voice that had said, “I’ll come again tomorrow.” The footsteps that had never gone ahead, even when Ryu turned his back.
He imagined all of it disappearing. By his own hand.
Ryu closed his eyes. He tried to erase his emotions. But they would not disappear. The fact that he could not erase them was what frightened Ryu most.
The next day. Ryu did not go to the forest. He spent the day sitting atop the cliff. The sun sank, the mist thickened, and the blue lanterns were lit again.
The thought occurred to him that Ayoung might be waiting for him in the forest. Ryu pushed the thought away. The harder he tried to push it away, the clearer it became.
The second day. Ryu still did not go to the forest. Nor did he go on the third.
On the morning of the fourth day, Ryu stood at the edge of the cliff and looked toward the forest. The foot he had vowed would not go was already facing that way.
Ryu looked down at his toes. After standing there for a long while, he turned around.
Away from the forest.
But he could not take even one step.