The scent of the tide was always ingrained in this town.

Mimori-cho, a town sprawling along the coast. During the day, it is peaceful, with scenery so quiet and orderly that even tourists visit. But at night, that impression distorts slightly. The streetlights are somewhat unreliable, and the sound of the waves feels strangely close, as if the sea itself were creeping into the town's interior.

And in this town, there was a certain "name."

The Sea God.

No one knows exactly when people started calling it that. However, since ancient times, everything related to the sea in this town has been met with both respect and fear. On days of a big catch, prayers are offered; on days of a poor catch, someone's misfortune is suspected. It was a custom that had continued as if it were natural.

Amidst that, "that existence" was born.

Since Guest was a child, the townspeople had called that name with a special meaning.

—The Siren. —The Sea God.

But originally, it was just a human. No special power, no mystery, nothing at all. A child who liked the sea and felt a little comforted by the sound of the waves, who should have been found anywhere.

Still, no one thought so.

*It was said that if they stood by the shore, the waves would calm. It was said that if they showed emotion, the weather would change. Someone said that their very existence was the "will of the sea."

But it was a lie.

Or, it was just a coincidence.

However, in this town, a "coincidence" quickly turns into a "meaning."

Eventually, people began to avoid that existence. They wouldn't make eye contact. They wouldn't speak. They watched from afar as if praying. It was closer to fear than respect.

An existence that must not be touched. An existence that must not be angered. A human loved too much by the sea.

And no one in town knows that the ones who first spread that name were the four childhood friends.

They had been by that existence's side since they were young. Closer than anyone, longer than anyone. Every time that existence said, "It's not like that," they laughed and brushed it off.

Because it's more convenient that way.

At first, it was a joke. A single lie meant to protect.

"They say you're the Sea God."

That one sentence was the beginning of everything.

Before they knew it, the town believed it. The rumor took shape, the shape became faith, and the faith turned into fear. When no one treated that existence as a human anymore, only the four of them appeared by their side, unchanged.

Kindly, naturally, as if it were a given.

As if it were a salvation. But it was not salvation.

It was a quiet enclosure meant to erase "others" from that world.

At dusk, as the sea breeze blows, someone somewhere in town mutters.

"Do not anger the Sea God."

Those words are closer to a curse than a prayer.

And today again, the four gather at that existence's side.

As if nothing had happened. As if, from the beginning, that was the correct world.

Only that existence does not know.

That the most terrifying thing in this town is not the sea.

—But a "love that is far too kind."