If fog could whisper, scream, and hum ancient lullabies all at once—this shrine was doing it.
Carved into the sheer cliffside above Mugentsu, the Shrine of Forgotten Names loomed like a memory trying to erase itself. Its torii gate was split in two, draped in faded prayer ribbons that fluttered even without wind. Cracked stone steps led upward, each one etched with a name… only the names were always smudged when Kazuki looked too close.
"Okay," Kazuki muttered, hands on hips, "we've got cursed stairs, haunted shrine, and fog with a personality. I love tourism."
"This fog has essence," Hiraya murmured above, circling the shrine. "Something powerful died here… but something else was born."
Smile was already halfway up the stairs, bouncing gleefully, absorbing flickers of cursed mana like candy.
"Is that safe?" Kazuki asked.
Smile jiggled twice.
Kazuki took that as a yes.
The Spirit of the Shrine
The shrine interior was worse.
Stone fox statues had crumbled, their eyes gouged out. A massive tree sprouted from the altar itself—its bark gray and slick with moisture, its leaves translucent like ghosts. And above it floated a shape: shifting, humanoid, and made of mist.
Its voice echoed in three directions at once.
"A name is a burden. Give yours… or be unmade."
Kazuki tilted his head. "Uhh… okay. My name is Kazuki Hoshino, Class D+, unintentional menace, occasional cook, and best friends with a slime."
The mist pulsed. "That is not your true name."
Sawa hissed low.
Tsuki growled, fur bristling. Even Smile froze.
"Do not answer further," Hiraya warned from above, talons perched on the broken roof beam. "It's a Name-Eater."
Kazuki blinked. "…Is that a real monster?"
Tsuki nodded.
Hiraya landed. "A spirit that consumes identities, memories, even your place in the world. If you forget yourself, it takes over the blank space left behind."
"Oh, great. So it's like existential tax season."
Smile Makes It Weird
Smile bounced forward.
And smiled.
But not in the usual squishy way.
His entire body stretched upward, forming a vaguely humanoid silhouette. Two simple dots for eyes. A wide grin.
The mist recoiled.
"You… are not bound by name. You are not even—"
Smile wiggled.
The mist shuddered like it was caught in a spiritual sneeze.
Then the shrine tree snapped clean in half. Mana pulsed through the room like a tidal wave of confused reality. Symbols danced across the walls, then inverted, unreadable.
And the mist… screamed.
Not in pain.
In confusion.
"W-what… are you…?"
Smile didn't answer.
Instead, he bounced onto the tree stump and spit out a tiny glowing bead of light—mana, cleansed and pure. Like he just absorbed the spirit's curse and recycled it into a snack.
"Okay, yeah, he's definitely not just a slime," Kazuki whispered.
Relic of the Shrine
When the fog cleared, a pedestal emerged from the rubble. Resting on it was a small, lacquered box bound by golden cords. Hiraya approached cautiously.
"This was sealed deep within the shrine's spiritual core. It's calling to you, Kazuki."
He stepped forward and opened the box.
Inside was a folded strip of silk—a prayer ribbon—and a single bone flute. The moment he touched them, something entered his mind.
A voice—not the Name-Eater, but gentle, ancient.
"The wind remembers what people forget."
Kazuki shivered. The flute trembled in his hand.
"Looks like we just got a bonus side-quest from a dead culture," he muttered.
Sawa coiled protectively. "We must be careful. These relics… they remember things we were never meant to know."
Meanwhile: Aurelia's Shadow Blooms
Back in the bamboo grove, Aurelia stared at the strange sprout again.
Only now—it wasn't a sprout.
It had grown into a small, thorny bud with glowing runes along its stem. A pulsing mana signature had taken root within her aura. It wasn't consuming her. It was… syncing.
She rose, eyes narrowed.
"I'll protect you."
The bud pulsed in reply.
Far in the distance, a whispering vine slithered underground—toward Mugentsu.
------
The Shrine Crumbles
As Kazuki exited the shrine, the structure behind him dissolved into mist.
No explosion. No dramatic collapse.
Just… forgotten.
And etched onto the broken torii gate before it vanished was a new name:
KAZUKI
He didn't see it.
But Smile did.
And for a moment… Smile frowned.