There was no wind.

  Just silence.

  A silence too clean for a forest.

  And at the far end of the clearing… the void.

  It wasn’t a wound in the earth.

  It was an absence.

  A perfect crater, carved without fire or explosion—

  as if someone had dug their hand into the world and torn a piece out.

  Nothing remained.

  No roots.

  No insects.

  No stones.

  Only floating specks—

  scraps of mana that hadn’t realized they were supposed to fall.

  And in the center… her.

  She floated.

  Not high, but enough that her body looked detached from any normal law.

  Her hair hung half-down, soaked with sweat or blood—I couldn’t tell.

  Her clothes were little more than shreds.

  Her skin was covered in a faint glow, almost invisible.

  Like a mist made of light clinging to her.

  Around her, bits of gravel rose.

  Dust.

  Fragments of broken twigs.

  They lifted, spun—

  and the moment they touched her, they vanished.

  No sound.

  No crack.

  Just gone.

  Erased.

  I stopped a meter away.

  Every part of my body told me not to touch her.

  That the soft glow around her wasn’t harmless.

  I watched a pebble float up, spin, and brush her arm.

  It disappeared.

  I swallowed.

  Took a slow breath.

  If I touched her…

  maybe I’d vanish too.

  But I still raised my hand.

  I don’t know why.

  I only knew I couldn’t leave her there.

  That if I stepped back now, something more than she would break.

  My fingers brushed her skin.

  —

  No pain.

  No shock.

  No magical kickback.

  I had braced for a spark, a jolt—anything.

  But there was nothing.

  Just warmth.

  Soft, faint warmth.

  And a strange feeling… like the air between us had stopped weighing anything.

  The light around her faded the instant it touched me.

  Like my presence shut it down without trying.

  That scared me more than if it had burned me.

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  I exhaled.

  I didn’t know what I had just done.

  I only knew she was still floating.

  Still unconscious.

  And… alive.

  Or I hoped so.

  I pressed my fingers a little more firmly against her arm.

  There. A pulse.

  Weak, but real.

  I moved in front of her, adjusted her posture, and slowly guided her down.

  The glow vanished completely as soon as my hands held her.

  Like I had unplugged whatever storm she’d been inside.

  I drew her into my arms.

  She wasn’t heavy—

  but she felt… strange.

  As if her body didn’t quite settle into mine.

  As if the air had to agree to let me carry her.

  I slid one arm under her legs, the other behind her back.

  And then—

  Her body settled against my chest.

  Warm.

  Light.

  Fragile.

  Her uniform was torn everywhere—

  one leg completely exposed,

  part of her side uncovered,

  a shoulder barely hanging onto a strip of fabric.

  All in plain view.

  Too much.

  My gaze snapped away immediately.

  A pulse hit the base of my throat.

  Heat climbed up my ears.

  「It’s not my fault,」 I muttered.

  「This is… logistics. Emergency protocol. Special exception.」

  No one was listening, thankfully.

  I took the first step out of the crater.

  I had no idea how I’d explain any of this.

  Or even if I’d make it home without collapsing.

  But for the first time in my life—

  I was glad magic acted weird around me.

  The forest was calm.

  Not like before.

  Not like when I walked here alone, guided by a noise I wasn’t sure came from outside or inside.

  This silence felt different.

  Like everything was watching us pass.

  She didn’t move in my arms.

  Her breathing was faint, almost too small to notice—

  but it was there.

  She weighed less than I expected.

  Or maybe weight feels different when the path suddenly makes sense.

  Her hair brushed my chin with each step.

  Sometimes a low branch forced me to duck.

  Sometimes a root made me shift my balance.

  But I never stumbled.

  Not once.

  At some point, I stopped thinking about the effort.

  I started looking at her instead.

  Her expression was peaceful—

  far too peaceful for someone who had just unleashed… whatever that had been.

  Long eyelashes.

  A tiny old scar on her cheek.

  A faded burn on her forearm.

  A fresh scratch on her collarbone.

  Details.

  Things you don’t normally notice.

  But there they were.

  In my arms.

  And for some reason, none of them looked like weaknesses.

  They looked like proof that she had survived something.

  I didn’t know who she was.

  Where she came from.

  Why the forest had spat her out in my path.

  But I knew one thing:

  I wouldn’t forget tonight.

  Not her face.

  Not her weight.

  Not her warmth.

  Not that silence around her.

  …And even so—

  For the first time in my life,

  I was grateful for this body where magic doesn’t work right.

  And then, ahead of us—

  home came into view.