“I need you on an investigation,” said the man in heavy, dark robes.

Kato fought to keep his eyes open. He was grateful that there were no hangovers in HereAfter, but wished they’d made it so you didn’t feel tired after a late night. He’d only snatched a couple hours before he had to report for duty. His knees ached against the floor as he sat seiza before the daimyo.

“Something strange is going on in some of the distant villages,” said the daimyo, waving his folded fan lazily in an indistinct direction. “We’ve stopped receiving the post from out that way. We haven’t had a visitor in a long while, not even a merchant. In fact, one of our own went out that way, due back in a few days, but it’s been over a week.”

Kato’s brain was moving slowly. Too slowly for him to say the right thing, but he knew outright silence would be worse. “What would you have me do about it, Ise-dono? This is a bit outside my work.”

“You have no work but what I ask,” snapped Ise. “Your work right now is to head up there and find out what’s going on. If they’re planning a revolt, if they’ve switched sides, I want to know.”

“Should I take—”

“You’ll go alone. Take a round of mon for cash and take as long as you need.”

Kato thought a moment. Damn his brain. Maybe he was still drunk. “Which village should I go to first?”

Ise glared. “That’s not my job to figure out. Get going.”

Kato pushed off his feet somewhat inelegantly, legs stiff with poor circulation this early in the morning.

He stopped by the bursar and grabbed a length of coins tied together. Enough for a long trip and several bribes along the way. With the right given to take as long as he liked, he debated grabbing a nap. The day was too nice for that, though. He was glad to be out from behind the desk for a little longer and eager to hit the road. Besides, if he did a good job, perhaps Ise would give him more field work in the future.

Kato filled a small sack with the few belongings he figured he’d need and set off down the wooded road. He studied the list of villages he’d been given and decided to visit the one that was closest. If he went fast, he could be there tomorrow afternoon.

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Kato was in no rush. He got there two days later.

Actually, he’d arrived sooner than he thought. He passed straight through the town without even realizing it. Nothing seemed off until he saw a post-marker along the road pointing toward the village he was heading towards, but behind him. The second village on his list was ahead of him.

It seemed a bit funny. He hadn’t passed a village in hours. It’d actually seemed a bit strange how long it was taking, but it had all been trees, meadows, and some empty lots.

He paid more attention as he reached the place where the next town should be. He realized that the thick trees gave way to another open space right where he should have been entering a town. He looked to the side and noticed the village’s announcement board.

What was left of it anyway. The announcement board—usually about two meters side-to-side and one meter top-to-bottom—was sheared in half as if by an incredibly sharp sword.

Kato stepped up onto a few rocks that were at the base posts to get a closer look. It was the work of no sword. He wasn’t sure what had done it, but whatever had removed part of the board hadn’t done it with anything so crude as a sword. It was too precise, too perfect. Maybe a laser, or something of the sort? He couldn’t say. It was strange.

Anything with much technology in it would never have been able to make it to their world. It was strictly forbidden, except in the rarest circumstances. And if something had been imported he was sure Ise would have mentioned it to him.

It was like half the board had simply ceased to exist. But that was, of course, absurd.

Then it hit him. There was an announcement board—half of one, but one nonetheless—for a village that wasn’t in sight. These things were never placed far away—they were always right there, at the very entrance of the town. He should be smelling fresh soba noodles, hearing woodworking, seeing men and women in the streets. But…

…nothing. No streets. No woodworkers. No noodles. Not a voice or a footstep fell anywhere.

It must have been the same for the last village as well. What would the next hold?

There was no temple nearby, but he said a short prayer anyway. What prayers meant when man was as immortal as the gods, he could not say, but he went about it anyway.

The next set of villages was beyond a mountain pass and he spent the next two hours hiking to the top. There he had a view over the broad valley that spread out. He should be able to see the villages from there, but…

Nothing. As the sun began to settle against the edge of the world, he should have been able to see smoke rising from countless fireplaces… but the air was clear as polished crystal. Great spots in the forests were wide open and empty.

In the distance, against the horizon, he thought he saw one of the old dragons of legend and myth curl in the sky and dive beneath the mountains.