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A novice cartographer inherits a compass that points not north, but toward “the nearest lie.” Sent to map disputed borders, she learns the compass spins wildly around courts, temples, and even family dinners—until it steadies near a quiet village that supposedly doesn’t exist. There she finds a library of maps that redraw themselves overnight, as if the land is negotiating its own shape. The quest becomes a choice: publish the true map and trigger war, or hide it and let a fragile peace survive on a beautiful falsehood.
