Honeyfeed
qdopp
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A contaminated Mist swallowed the kingdom of Okiri a year ago, and no one agrees on why.
Satoshi, a border-village innkeeper's boy better with a blade than he should be, longs to get back into the Mist that scarred him. The empire's expedition might provide a chance
Every Okiri survivor in the column was somebody before the fall, each lying about at least one thing, and their secrets don't all belong to the same person
Dr. Keiko Natsume, one of them, has spent a year grieving someone who died the night the valley fell, and has never once let herself regret her part in it
Reinhard, the Wodensreich investigator, never raises his voice; he lets liars watch each other, hunting for more than a name
The empire fights with crystal, burned to nothing in a bare hand. The Mist can only be asked, never commanded; trying to force it has a cost
Every clue Reinhard finds, a careful reader will find too.
There is more than one secret buried in these ruins, and not all of them belong to the same person.
Despair made Satoshi what he is, but despite everything, he is always a Hero at Heart.
A hard-magic adventure meets a mystery with more than one layer of secrets, and a tragic hero's despair rewritten as heroism.
I wrote this story out of my love for traditional detective novels as well as fantasy novels with hard magic systems.
Blending the two was a challenge but a worthwhile one.
Another influence are fantasy light novels, especially those with a lot of world building elements.
Prose and writing tend to differ between light novels as well as more traditional "adult fantasy" so I tried my best at striking the balance between the two.
I hope you enjoy my story, any feedback and criticism (even harsh criticism) is welcome.
Submitted for the MyAnimeList × Honeyfeed Writing Contest 2026 – The Heroic Fantasy (KADOKAWA), under the “Tragic Hero” prompt.
There is more than one secret buried in these ruins, and not all of them belong to the same person.
Despair made Satoshi what he is, but despite everything, he is always a Hero at Heart.
A hard-magic adventure meets a mystery with more than one layer of secrets, ...
