The rain had stopped.

  Gray clouds still hung low across the sky, and thin trails of smoke drifted upward from the burned remains of the settlement into the cold morning air.

  The refugee camp had become nothing but ruins.

  Charred wood, Mud soaked with rain. And bodies that would never move again.

  Among the wreckage stood a white-haired boy.

  His red eyes stared at the ground, empty of emotion.

  Soft footsteps approached from behind.

  A girl with short blonde pixie-cut hair stopped a few steps away from him.

  Her voice trembled.

  “White…”

  The boy did not answer right away.

  The girl nervously clenched the hem of her clothes.

  “What… are we supposed to do now?”

  A few seconds passed before White finally spoke.

  “I… don’t know.”

  He turned his head slightly.

  “Alyssa.”

  The blonde girl lowered her head when he said her name.

  Meanwhile, other surviving children slowly emerged from the ruins. One by one, they gathered around White without even realizing it.

  A boy with short black hair clenched his fists tightly.

  His face burned with anger.

  "Those imperial bastards…”

  He ground his teeth.

  “They killed everyone!”

  A brown-haired boy standing beside him nodded firmly.

  “Ionis is right.”

  White looked at the two of them.

  " Ego…"

  The brown-haired boy turned slightly.

  At that moment, a girl with garnet hair stepped forward.

  Her eyes were sharp despite the dirt on her face and the dried tear marks on her cheeks.

  The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

  “White.”

  She stared straight at the white-haired boy.

  “What should we do?”

  Her voice shook.

  “You’re the only one who can decide.”

  She lowered her gaze briefly.

  “Our lives… depend on it now.”

  White studied her face for several seconds.

  “Dahlia.”

  Suddenly Alyssa grabbed the edge of White’s clothes tightly.

  Her hands were trembling.

  White looked around at all the children standing near him.

  Their faces were dirty.

  Some were crying.

  Some stood silently, unable to say anything.

  He counted them quietly in his head.

  “…Twenty.”

  His voice was low.

  “Out of all the refugees… only about twenty children survived.”

  In another corner, a small girl was sobbing.

  “M… mom…”

  A silver-haired girl beside her gently wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

  “It’s okay, Sandra… it’s okay…”

  Claudia slowly rubbed her back.

  But Sandra kept crying.

  White bit his lip hard.

  His eyes widened slightly.

  Fragments of memory began surfacing in his mind.

  —

  “Kill the white-haired child first!”

  “Mother…?”

  “Why are you just standing there?!”

  “Father…?”

  “Mother… she’s not breathing!”

  —

  White clenched his teeth.

  —

  “The supply route was cut off by the Count…”

  “Damn it… how are we supposed to survive another week?”

  —

  “What?! The elder was killed?!”

  “Yes… his body was already cold when they found him in the war camp…”

  “We only wanted to ask for protection…”

  —

  “The Emperor’s battalions destroyed every refugee settlement.”

  “Is that true?”

  “It is… only this settlement and Maya City are still left.”

  “As long as the war continues, they wouldn’t dare touch neutral territory…”

  —

  “White.”

  Dean voice echoed through his memories.

  “Look at this.”

  A small pendant.

  “Inside it is information that could bring down the Aurelthia Empire.”

  “Why do I have something like that?”

  Dean chuckled softly.

  “You forgot?”

  “I’m the leader of the rebel faction.”

  —

  “White!”

  Someone’s voice pulled him back to reality.

  White flinched.

  An eastern girl stood beside him.

  “Your lip is bleeding.”

  White touched his mouth.

  A thin line of blood had begun to drip where he had bitten too hard.

  The other children looked shocked.

  “White!”

  He shook his head slowly.

  “…I’m fine.”

  He looked at the girlm

  “Thank you… Hua Yan.”

  Then he lifted his head and looked at everyone.

  Silence fell over them.

  White took a slow breath.

  “We’re going back to our homelands.”

  Several children reacted immediately.

  “What?!”

  “That’s insane!”

  “The journey is way too far!”

  Fear spread across their faces.

  But Dahlia slowly nodded.

  “White is right.”

  She looked at the others.

  “There’s no safe place left out here.”

  “We have to return to our own territories.”

  Ionis raised his hand.

  “Ego and I… we’re from the Kingdom of Mycoria.”

  He scratched his head.

  “That’s really far from here.”

  A small girl with a strange symbol on her lip spoke softly.

  “The Osmund's Empire is far too…”

  She looked down uncertainly.

  “I don’t know if we can make it back safely…”

  Claudia patted her shoulder.

  “We’ll try, Karen.”

  She gave a small smile.

  “Aqua and I are going home too.”

  Claudia glanced toward the bright blue-haired girl standing across from them.

  Aqua simply nodded.

  On the other side, a boy whispered to the girl beside him.

  “Do you really think this is the best choice, Piona?”

  The girl thought for a moment.

  “White and Dahlia agree on it.”

  She looked at White.

  “They’re the only ones thinking clearly right now.”

  She turned back to the boy.

  “Don’t forget that, Damian.”

  Quiet conversations began spreading among the children.

  Doubt.

  Fear.

  Fragile hope.

  Alyssa looked at White again.

  “…Then…”

  Her voice was barely audible.

  “If everyone goes back home…”

  She tightened her grip on his clothes.

  “…where will the two of us go?”

  White fell silent.

  His eyes drifted toward the ground.

  For a long moment, he didn’t answer.

  Then he spoke softly.

  “…Right.”

  He raised his head.

  “Alyssa and I…”

  His voice was almost a whisper.

  “…don’t have a home to return to.”

  A cold wind passed through the ruined settlement.

  And for the first time since the massacre that night…

  the surviving children truly understood something.

  They had lived.

  But the world waiting for themm

  was far larger, and far more cruel.