I kept walking after that, but sothing had clearly shifted, and pretending otherwise would have been pointless. The coins had not changed in weight, yet my awareness of them had sharpened to an uncomfortable degree.
It felt like carrying sothing fragile without knowing where the cracks were, and every small movent made more conscious of what might happen if I handled it wrong.
The narrow street stretched ahead and curved slightly to the right, pulling deeper into a space that felt tighter with every step. The guidance from Juli’s insects was still there, but it no longer felt smooth.
Earlier, it had been steady and reliable, like a quiet thread I could follow without thinking. Now it flickered, subtle but noticeable, as if sothing was interfering with it or reacting to what I was carrying.
"That is not concerning at all," I muttered under my breath, keeping my voice low as I walked. "In fact, I feel very reassured right now."
I slowed down slightly, letting my steps beco more deliberate as I paid closer attention to everything around . The buildings on either side did not move, but their presence felt heavier, like they were closing in without actually doing it.
The silence remained, but it no longer felt passive. It felt aware, and that alone was enough to keep from relaxing even a little.
My thoughts circled back to the sa conclusion again and again.
The coins were not just coins.
That part was obvious now.
The problem was that I still did not know what they actually were, and that lack of understanding made everything worse.
"Alright," I said quietly, more to keep my thoughts structured than anything else, "we need to figure this out before it figures itself out in a way that kills ."
That sounded reasonable.
Not comforting, but reasonable.
I adjusted my grip on the pouches again, careful not to touch the coins directly, and tried to break the problem down into sothing manageable instead of letting it sit there as one large unknown.
"These things carry sothing," I continued slowly. "Not energy like a skill or a weapon. Sothing else. Sothing... leftover."
That word felt right.
Leftover.
Like whatever had happened around these coins had not completely faded, and now I was holding the remains of it.
"That ans it is not active," I added after a mont. "At least not fully active."
I paused briefly.
"...Which probably ans it can beco active."
That was not a comforting extension of the thought.
I exhaled slowly and kept walking, trying to stay grounded instead of letting that idea spiral into sothing worse.
"These coins passed through people," I continued, thinking it through step by step. "Not just once either. Fights, trades, losses, desperation... all of that builds up."
The more I thought about it, the more it made sense.
And the more it made sense, the less I liked it.
"So instead of just taking their money," I muttered, "I took everything attached to it."
That was a very efficient way to create problems for myself.
I shook my head slightly as I walked.
"I really need to stop improving my mistakes," I added. "Most people make a mistake once. I take it, scale it up, and carry it with like it is an achievent."
That sounded about right.
The pull from Juli’s insects shifted again, and this ti I noticed it imdiately. It was not just flickering anymore. It felt divided. One part continued ahead, steady enough to follow, while another tugged faintly to the side, weaker but persistent.
I stopped without thinking.
"...That is new," I said quietly.
I focused on the sensation, trying to understand it instead of reacting to it blindly. The main pull was still there, guiding forward, but the second one felt like interference rather than a separate destination.
"Either there are two things ahead," I said slowly, "or sothing is ssing with the signal."
Neither option sounded good.
I stood there for a mont, weighing both possibilities, then glanced down at the pouches again, my expression tightening slightly.
"...Or I am the problem," I added.
That felt annoyingly likely.
If these coins carried intent, and Juli’s insects were sensitive enough to pick up on things like that, then it made sense that holding so many of them would interfere with whatever tracking thod I was relying on.
"Great," I muttered. "So I successfully turned myself into a walking disturbance."
That was not a title I wanted.
I let out a quiet breath and focused on the stronger pull ahead.
"That one is still more stable," I said. "So we follow that and pretend everything else is not happening."
That was not a good plan.
But it was a plan.
And right now, that was enough.
I started walking again, choosing the stronger direction, but this ti my awareness stayed sharp, constantly checking for any shift in the pull or the environnt. The path curved further, leading into a tighter space where the light dimd even more, and the air felt heavier in a way that was hard to explain.
It was not physical.
It was presence.
Like sothing existed here even if I could not see it yet.
I kept my pace steady, resisting the urge to rush forward. Rushing would only make miss sothing important, and missing sothing in a place like this usually had consequences.
As I moved, the coins shifted slightly in my grip, and for a brief mont, that sa sensation brushed against my thoughts again.
I did not open the pouch this ti.
I did not touch the coins.
I just felt it.
A flicker of sothing sharp and possessive, followed by sothing colder and quieter that lingered longer than it should have.
Fear.
I exhaled slowly, keeping my reaction controlled as I continued walking.
"Yeah," I muttered, "we are definitely not interacting with that again unless I have no other choice."
That was not a suggestion anymore.
That was a rule.
I adjusted the pouches slightly, making sure they were secure, and focused forward again as the path finally opened into a small clearing between the buildings. The mont I stepped into it, the pull from Juli’s insects stabilized slightly, though not completely.
I slowed down and looked around carefully.
The space was empty.
No movent.
No sound.
Nothing that imdiately stood out as a threat.
Which, at this point, was the most suspicious outco possible.
"This feels like a trap," I said quietly.
I waited for a few seconds, expecting sothing to happen.
Nothing did.
I stepped further in, my movents controlled, my attention split between the surroundings and the coins in my hand. The silence here felt thicker, more concentrated, like it had gathered in this space and decided to stay.
And then I felt it again.
Stronger this ti.
Not just a passing impression, but a steady pressure at the edge of my thoughts.
I did not need to look at the coins to know where it was coming from.
"...That is really not good," I muttered.
The pressure built slowly, not enough to overwhelm , but enough to make it impossible to ignore. It felt like sothing trying to take shape, like the vague impressions from earlier were beginning to organize into sothing more defined.
I stood still, my grip tightening slightly as I focused on it, trying to understand what it ant instead of reacting blindly.
"Alright," I said quietly, forcing my thoughts into sothing structured again, "either the coins are reacting to this place, or this place is reacting to the coins."
I paused briefly.
"...Or both," I added.
That option felt the most likely.
I let out a slow breath, steadying myself as I considered what to do next. Running did not make sense. Standing still did not feel much better. And throwing the coins away, while tempting, still felt like the kind of decision I would regret later.
"So the plan is..." I started, then stopped.
I did not actually have a plan.
I stood there for a second, staring at nothing, then sighed.
"...The plan is we act like we have a plan," I finished.
That felt accurate.
I adjusted my grip again, grounding myself in the simple reality of holding sothing solid, even if that solidity was now questionable.
"You have handled worse," I told myself. "Probably. Maybe."
I paused.
"...Okay, you have not handled worse," I admitted. "But this is not that bad yet."
That helped a little.
Not much.
But enough.
I lifted my head slightly and looked ahead, focusing on the empty space in front of as the pressure from the coins continued to build slowly, like sothing waiting for the right mont.
"Alright," I muttered under my breath, my tone steadier now, "whatever this is, we deal with it."
I paused for a second, then added quietly, almost as an afterthought.
"And if this turns into a disaster..."
I let out a small breath.
"...I am still blaming those five idiots."
Reviews
All reviews (0)