After the long ride and chaotic lunch truce on the bus, we finally arrived at the edge of Kurama Village. As we stepped off the bus, the late evening air wrapped around us—cool, crisp, and quiet. Mist trailed between the trees like soft white serpents, curling over the gravel path that led up to a traditional wooden inn nestled in the mountainside.
Dirga glanced around, trying to shake a strange feeling in his gut. The fog. The silence. The way the forest seemed to lean in just a little too close. Maybe it was fatigue—or maybe it was the atmosphere—but something definitely felt… off.
Still, he threw that thought under the bed of his mind and followed the others inside.
Unexpectedly, the interior of the inn was nothing like the ominous exterior. A wave of warmth and cleanliness hit the team as soon as they stepped through the sliding doors.
