Kiriti didn't mean to visit the chapel.
He'd only meant to pass by it again — maybe glance at the old stone wall, see if Patch was there feeding that little bird. Maybe not.
But when the wind shifted and carried the scent of candle wax and old wood through the square, something pulled him toward the door.
It stood slightly ajar. No icon. No system prompt. Just a sliver of warm light and the low murmur of an old hymn echoing inside.
He pushed it open slowly.
Inside, the chapel was smaller than expected. Stone benches. Faded blue banners hung unevenly along the sides. A single stained-glass window above the altar cast fractured light over the pews.
And near the front, sweeping slowly with a straw broom, stood a man in faded robes.
The caretaker.
He looked up when Kiriti entered — not surprised. Not suspicious. Just... curious.
"Lost?" he asked.
Kiriti shook his head. "Not exactly."
The man smiled. "Then you're already further along than most."
Kiriti stepped inside. The air was warmer here — not from fire, but from something older. Worn-in. Kept alive.
He nodded toward the altar.
"I haven't seen many people come here."
"They don't," the caretaker said, sweeping carefully between the benches. "Not unless someone dies. Or they're trying to escape guilt."
Kiriti sat quietly on the last bench. Let his eyes wander across the old carvings on the walls — sunbursts, vines, and a symbol that looked suspiciously like the tally marks on the wall outside.
"Can I ask you something?" he said.
"You already are."
Kiriti smiled.
"That wall. On the north side. What's it from?"
The caretaker stopped sweeping.
For a moment, only dust moved.
Then he turned slowly, leaned on the broom like it was a cane, and studied Kiriti with eyes far older than his face.
"You saw the marks."
"Patch showed me."
"Of course he did."
The man sat across from him, sighing as he lowered himself onto the wooden pew.
"Stonehollow wasn't always called that," he said. "Long ago, it had another name. But names, like people, fade."
Kiriti leaned forward, listening.
"There was a fire," the caretaker continued. "An accident. Or maybe not. No one agrees. All we know is that the town fell. And those who stayed rebuilt it. Brick by broken brick."
He paused.
"And they made one rule: never dig near the old chapel wall."
"Why?" Kiriti asked, voice barely a whisper.
"Because the past doesn't sleep," the caretaker said. "It waits."
The door creaked behind them.
Kiriti turned — a little too fast.
A figure stepped inside. Leather armor. White gloves. A polished blade. No dust on her boots.
Revi.
She glanced around the chapel with mild curiosity, then looked straight at Kiriti.
"You always find the weird places," she said.
Kiriti stood up slowly. "You followed me."
"I logged off here yesterday. Logged back in. You walked right past me."
He didn't quite believe that. But he let it go.
"What do you want?"
Revi looked at the caretaker. Then at the altar.
Then back at Kiriti.
"I'm trying to figure you out," she said.
Kiriti tilted his head.
"You're the only recruit I've seen walk this much without checking his map. You talk to guards. You fix broken gates. You sit in churches." Her voice wasn't mocking — not exactly. Just… incredulous.
Kiriti rubbed the back of his neck. "So?"
"So what's the angle?"
"There isn't one."
Revi narrowed her eyes. "Everyone's got an angle."
"I just… like the people here."
That made the caretaker smile behind them — soft and secret.
Revi didn't smile.
But she didn't argue.
Instead, she turned to leave.
Right before she stepped out, she looked back over her shoulder.
"There's a bounty quest posted in Crownhold. Top guilds are coming. They're clearing every settlement from west to east."
"And?"
"And if Stonehollow's on their path," she said, "you might want to stop talking to ghosts and start preparing for a real fight."
The door closed behind her.
Kiriti stood still.
The chapel seemed quieter than before. The light dimmer. The caretaker no longer swept — just sat, hands folded, staring at the altar like he was waiting for it to speak.
Kiriti finally asked:
"…Are there ghosts here?"
The caretaker didn't answer directly.
But his voice was quieter when he said:
"There are some things this world remembers better than the people in it."
📄 [LOG TRACE: NPC-Caretaker_LoreTag_0x24-Found][Unlocking Side Thread: "The Fire Beneath"]— Memory Node Count: 4/12— Player Revi: Observation Level — Raised to 2— External Player Movement Detected: [Guild - Iron Pact] has entered the western marshes.