This golden pebble was the "Fragment of the Heart of the Earth" that Guardians had given Shade in the stables during the reconciliation banquet between the royal family and the Stone Masons Association, meant to help Siris awaken her Earth Power.
Later, however, Siris had already awakened her Earth Power through her father's Memory Crystal at Forgotten Church, so the fragment had remained in Shade's possession.
Now, the little golden stone kept striking the side of the glass bottle. What was wriggling in Shade's pocket was precisely that bottle.
"What is this? It seems to want to move in that direction."
Emilia pointed toward the area ahead and to the right that had been swallowed by the night. Even though a torch on the corridor wall stood less than a step from that area, it could not illuminate the scene within the darkness.
"It's a fragment, and fragments like this have a tendency to gather together on their own."
After frowning slightly, Shade bent down and laid the bottle on its side on the ground. Sure enough, as the golden pebble continued to strike against it, the bottle rolled toward the front-right.
Shade told Emilia not to follow him, then hugged Mia and hurried forward two steps, entering the darkness once more. As the light of the Sun and Moon dispelled the night, what emerged was not the wall of an old brick corridor, but a fork leading to the right.
That passage was completely filled with deep night. Even when Shade carried Mia another step forward, he only illuminated the area around him rather than completely driving away the darkness as before.
"There's a fork here too? I thought this was just a straight path."
Emilia spoke in surprise, but she also knew the place was dangerous and did