In Season

He took a minor post as a weather observer at the Bureau of Seasonal Affairs. On his very first day, he discovered that the twenty-four solar terms weren't markers of the seasons. They were a schedule for killing.

One person must disappear at the Start of Spring, another at Rain Water, and another at Grain Rain. It's been happening for three hundred years without fail.

The names of those people vanish from everyone's memories, including their parents'.

He found the slot for "Winter Solstice" on the list.

The name written there was his.

Worse still, when he looked up his own records, the Bureau of Seasonal Affairs had none, the Ministry of Revenue had none, and the Imperial Clan Court had none. Because he himself was the one erased on the Winter Solstice seventeen years ago.

The list can't be changed. Someone can only take another's place.

Then he'll tear up the entire list.