God's Blessing is a Curse

The next village was wrong.

Not empty, not abandoned—just... off.

The roads twisted in ways they shouldn't. Houses leaned at uneven angles, like they'd been built by memory rather than hand. The trees outside the shrine had no leaves, even though the ones just beyond the hill were still full.

People were there.

But none of them looked at us.

Not directly.

Rin walked beside me, silent, her hand never far from the small charm she kept hidden in her sleeve. I didn't ask what she felt—I already knew.

Something had passed through this place.

Something still lingering.