MBOMEN 39

Chapter 39. Secret Game (8)
While Chief Marnak of the Adiak Branch listened to the man’s scream, Laila and Eustar were still walking, following the direction the Seeker pointed to.

Eustar said,
“I still don’t quite understand what Marnak means by ‘influence.’”

Laila, who had been fixated on the Seeker’s needle, glanced up at him.
“Isn’t he talking about that man from earlier?”

“Most likely. But saying ‘influence’ based on just one case feels a bit off. I’m not sure if the agents haven’t fully assessed the situation yet, or if there’s something they haven’t told me.”

“Would anyone hide something from you?”

When Laila asked, Eustar smiled with his usual unreadable expression.
“Everyone does. Don’t you hide things from me too, Laila?”

Laila furrowed her brow. She kept her pace but briefly looked down before sneaking another glance at his face.
“I don’t think I do.”

“That’s an honor, then.”

It was a strange thing to say. What reason would she have to hide anything from him? She doubted that would ever happen. She lived a life with nothing to hide — and with no way to hide anything even if she wanted to.

“Now that you mention it…”

Laila lowered her voice suddenly, as if realizing something.
“People aren’t staring at me.”

“It’s probably because of what you’re wearing.”

Laila looked down at her uniform. Eustar continued,
“The Sentinel uniform explains a lot. Especially in a town like this with a local branch. It carries authority. Laila, as long as you wear that uniform, no one will mess with you. They wouldn’t dare.”

“Because it proves I’m part of the order?”

Eustar nodded and added,
“Not just any order. As I said, the Sentinella is a special organization. In places like Ligis where there’s little interaction with the outside world, it might not mean much. But elsewhere, it certainly does.”

Ligis.
Laila repeated the name to herself. It felt like it had been decades since she left that place, though it had only been days. What a strange sensation.

“Eustar, can I ask you something?”

“Of course.”

Laila narrowed her eyes, thinking carefully. It was a question she had meant to ask before, but something always got in the way.
“I’ve always thought there was something off about Ligis.”

A flicker of curiosity crossed Eustar’s face — he looked like a merchant about to enter an interesting negotiation.
“In what way?”

Laila bit her lower lip, lost in thought.
“I’ve mentioned it briefly before. I couldn’t really explain it at the time… But Ligis felt like… how should I put it… like the whole town was hiding from the world. Like I was living in a giant pit. That’s how it always felt.”

Her words came slowly and hesitantly. She glanced at Eustar with a slightly embarrassed expression.
“Sorry. I’m not explaining it well.”

“No, I understand.”

His response was immediate and even cheerful.
“Really?”

Laila sounded surprised. Could he really understand that odd sense of isolation that had haunted her the whole time she lived in Ligis? And after spending less than a single day there?

Eustar lightly stroked his chin with his long fingers.
“I told you before, didn’t I? That I was surprised there had never been a sync event in Ligis.”

Laila nodded. He had said that when they were discussing the isolation of the town.

Eustar continued,
“Now that you understand more about how syncs occur, I’m sure you can see why I said that. Laila, that strange feeling of isolation you had in Ligis — like you were living in a deep pit — that wasn’t your imagination. It’s a problem with the town itself. It’s been stagnant for too long. Like a swamp no one looks at anymore — just sinking deeper on its own. Places like that are perfect for syncs.”

“Are you saying it’s because of the people?”

“Most problems are caused by people. The insularity of those living in a small village like that gradually changed the very energy in the air. Think of it this way: you put clean air in a small box and slowly leak in a poisonous gas. Then eventually…”

“The box fills entirely with gas.”

When Laila finished the thought, Eustar blinked as if to say Exactly.
“Ligis had already reached that point. Hardly any clean air remained. I was honestly shocked when I first stepped into that village.”

That was the truth. Frankly, if it hadn’t been for Laila, he wouldn’t have bothered visiting. If he had known a sync had formed, he wouldn’t have been able to ignore it, but still…

“Then…”

Just as Laila was about to say something, the two stopped in their tracks — footsteps sounded behind them. One person? No… two? No — five, maybe six people were running toward them.

“Laila.”

Eustar gently took her wrist and led her to the side of the path. One hand reached up toward his sword, just in case.

The people kept running — closer and closer. When they were close enough for facial features to become clear, Laila saw that they were all different: men, women, old, young. They seemed to be villagers.

And all of them were smiling broadly at Laila and Eustar.

As they passed by, Laila involuntarily held her breath. Their grotesquely twisted faces looked like they were both laughing and screaming. As if someone had forcibly stretched their mouths into a grin.

“The Seeker is coming.”

A man whispered as he passed by Laila.

“The Seeker is coming,”
muttered an old woman behind him. Laila noticed she had a wooden prosthetic leg. But she kept running — unsteady, but smiling all the same.

Only after they disappeared down the path did Laila finally exhale. Eustar, with a grim face, silently stared after them, then gathered his long hair and tied it back.

“We should follow them.”

They quickened their pace. No more people came running from behind, but both of them felt an eerie tension crawling up their spines.

Laila spoke.
“They said, ‘The Seeker is coming.’”

“I heard it too. The exact same words as that man.”

“Could that Seeker be something that came out of the sync?”

Highly likely… Eustar recalled what Marnak had said — that if agents got too close, the sync would hide itself. That thought was so consuming, he forgot to answer Laila’s question.

A sync that hides its presence — he had never seen anything like it. Even Eustar, who had seen all sorts of bizarre things since the founding of Sentinella, had never encountered a sync that could disappear and reappear.

Syncs have will, he thought.

But the will they exhibited was more like an insatiable hunger — always drawing in prey with traps, consuming endlessly. That was the extent of their intent.

But what if it wasn’t?

What if something even more cunning lay underneath?

“This is a headache…”

They had walked quite a distance, but there was no sign of the people who had run ahead. As Laila began to pant, Eustar slowed his pace a little.

“Check the Seeker, Laila. Are we still on the right track?”

Laila took the Seeker out of her pocket and nodded between breaths.
“What color is the needle?”

She looked again. The color had changed slightly.
“Light green… I think.”

“Good. That means we’re getting closer to the sync. The closer we get, the more it turns green. But…”

Eustar exhaled deeply and looked around. The sound of waves and the salty smell of the fishing village had vanished. They now stood in the middle of a forest, half of which was filled with dead trees. And…

“Ruins,”
Laila whispered.
“The houses…”

Amidst the dead trees stood remnants of homes — or what used to be homes. As if something massive had swept through and flattened them all in a single blow.

Eustar stepped toward the nearest ruin. Thick nettles grew everywhere, but he didn’t care.

Half the house was gone. Its foundation had nearly rotted away. Scattered objects might once have been furniture, but now were blackened and unrecognizable.

“What happened here?”

To Laila’s question, Eustar shook his head.
“I don’t know. But this… we’ll need to report back to the branch. The sync is definitely nearby, so let’s confirm that and head back for now.”

“But… what about those people from before?”

Eustar’s lips pressed into a tight line. No matter how hard he strained his senses, he couldn’t detect a single presence — not even the scurry of a rat.

Despite there being no forks in the path, there was no trace of those eerie people. As if they had simply evaporated.

“If we find the sync, we might be able to follow their trail. Let’s focus on that first.”

Laila nodded and cleared her throat. Maybe it was the dust — or the unfamiliar sea air — but her throat tickled and felt tight.

Just as she coughed, a rustling sound came from behind the decaying house.

Both Laila and Eustar turned their gazes toward the source of the sound at once.