Beyond Reality : the beginning of the end : Ethan path

Trevor placed the photographs in front of Ethan and left him to study them.

He said nothing.

Ethan picked up the first photograph.

The dwarf.

Then he looked at the second.

The human form he was supposed to use as his disguise.

He compared the two again.

The difference wasn't just in the face.

The dwarf was naturally short, and that alone wasn't enough to attract attention. There were plenty of short humans. No one would think twice about it.

But the man in the second photograph was tall.

Very tall.

Why?

If the purpose was simply to hide among humans, this form made little sense.

Ethan placed the photograph back on the table.

He began looking for the reason rather than the result.

A dwarf wanted to live among humans.

He didn't actually need to hide his height.

Yet he had chosen to become tall.

So this wasn't about hiding.

There was someone he wanted to be seen by in this form.

Ethan looked at the clothes again.

A red checkered shirt.

Loose jeans.

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Clothes suitable for someone living in a cold region or working in the woods.

A lumberjack.

He didn't necessarily have to be one.

But whoever had chosen this appearance knew exactly how he wanted to look.

Then there was the next piece of information.

Snow Village.

A small town in the north, far from the major cities, known for its snow-covered forests and tourist trips.

The pieces began to fit together.

A dwarf.

A tall human form.

Lumberjack clothes.

A tourist town.

A vacation.

There was no need for dozens of possibilities.

There was a simpler explanation.

A girl.

Perhaps the dwarf hadn't come there to hide at all.

Perhaps he had come to see someone.

And in a town like this, where would a stranger easily meet a girl?

A bar.

A place visited by both tourists and locals, where a stranger could walk in without attracting attention.

Ethan continued staring at the photograph.

A faint smile appeared on his face.

He knew this kind of story.

A man comes to a small town for a vacation, meets a girl who works at a tourist spot, and eventually starts coming back to see her again.

It wasn't proof.

But he didn't need absolute proof.

His intuition told him the possibility was correct.

And this time, he hadn't needed the book.

***

Alex had been watching him from the other side of the table.

He hadn't spoken.

Ever since he received the photographs, he hadn't asked her a single question.

He simply kept looking at the pictures, then at the map, and then back at the photographs.

Enough time had passed for her to start wondering what he was doing.

Finally, she asked:

“Did you find something?”

Ethan didn't answer immediately.

He looked up.

“Snow Village.”

He said it as though the matter had already been settled.

Alex turned toward Trevor.

He was standing near the door.

“Are you stupid or something? Didn't you just tell me we're going there?”

Trevor answered calmly:

“He's been figuring it out since he started investigating.”

Alex looked back at Ethan.

He had already returned his attention to the photographs.

He wasn't interested in explaining how he had reached the conclusion.

He had the answer.

That was enough.

***

Not long afterward, the trip began to take shape.

Winter clothes.

Travel bags.

False identities.

The cover was simple:

A married couple on a vacation.

Ethan hadn't even realized when he'd been put into the situation.

***

At the airport, everything looked more real than he had expected.

Their names were already registered.

The seats had been booked.

And the private first-class cabin contained only two seats.

Ethan stood at the entrance.

He looked at Alex.

Then inside.

“Should I bring Lian?”

Trevor answered through the communicator.

“She isn't with you yet?”

“What am I supposed to do?”

“Call her. What else are you going to do?”

Ethan was silent for a moment.

Then he looked at Alex.

The idea of being alone with her didn't sit well with him.

It wasn't because he didn't trust her.

He simply didn't want to spend several hours alone with a woman in a private cabin while their cover story was that they were married.

Trevor spoke again:

“If you don't want to be alone with Alex, summon Lian.”

Ethan looked at him in disbelief.

“I was going to do that now.”

“Then why were you hesitating?”

Trevor ended the call.

Ethan sighed.

Inside the first-class cabin, he drew the summoning symbol in the air.

The lines began to glow.

A few moments later, Lian appeared before him.

She looked around.

Then at Ethan.

“Why did you summon me?”

He pointed toward the seats.

“Sit down.”

Lian sat reluctantly, then looked at Ethan with suspicion.

“Is there something I'm not being told?”

“No.”

Ethan said it a little too quickly.

Lian became even more suspicious.

Something was clearly wrong.

Outside, the plane was preparing for takeoff.

They had several hours before reaching Snow Village.

Ethan had already found the first lead in his investigation.

Now they only had to find the girl the dwarf had come for.

Then they would use her to lure him out.

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