"Holy shit-!!!"
A startled cry rang out like a thunderclap inside the smiths' quarters in the Swordsmith Village.
The Sapphire Star shot upright on the wooden bed as though she had springs strapped to her.
The bed boards groaned under the strain, startling the distracted smiths nearby into violent shudders. Everything in their hands clattered to the floor, and they nearly jumped in unison.
"L-Lady Sapphire Star?! Y-you're awake?!"
The smith tending her, who stood closest, was so frightened that his voice cracked. His hammer clanged onto his foot, but he could only bare his teeth in pain, too scared to cry out.
Cold sweat still clung to the Sapphire Star's forehead, and her heart pounded like a drum beneath her breastplate.
Her pupils contracted sharply as she scanned her surroundings, wary and bewildered-
A charcoal furnace, piles of ore, hanging smithing tools, the lingering smell of rust... and several villagers' masks.
There was no sun-devouring darkness, no figure in white, and certainly no icy palm strike that tore at her soul.
"This is... the Swordsmith Village?" She instinctively reached back to feel the solid wooden bed beneath her.
"Did you... bring me back?" The Sapphire Star swept a questioning gaze over the still-shaken smiths.
Tetsu hurriedly waved his hands.
"No! Lady Sapphire Star! When we found you, you... you were already lying beneath the gateway at the village entrance! You were ice-cold, but there wasn't a single wound on you... We have no idea who brought you here. We just scrambled to carry you into the workshop and wiped the dust off your face. We didn't do anything else!"
"Lying... at the entrance?" The Sapphire Star knitted her brows. That description...
Oh, crap!
Something suddenly struck her. Her expression changed dramatically, and her hand shot toward her hunter's pouch.