episode_0149

As Fosao had said, the pharmacy’s drawers contained “edible things.”

All the herbs I had dried overnight had been preserved for use throughout the winter.

Even so, they were just leaves, so they would only taste bitter and wouldn’t be enough to fill one’s stomach. I remembered there was probably enough left for about three days. That would have quickly resolved their hunger.

But Tia wished to leave the pharmacy as it was.

There was no other meaning to that wish.

Tia… still hadn’t forgotten me.

It was a problem that would end simply by going to the pharmacy. But she didn’t.

“Because I don’t want to break the memories we shared, and I want to cherish our memories intact.”

She said that.

It wasn’t an angry voice. Even though her expression was closer to forlornness, Tia’s words carried a strong will.

Fosao stared blankly at Tia, then eventually turned his head reluctantly.

“Alright. Th-then I’ll leave that place as it is.”

“…”

Thud. Thud.

Fosao gave up on climbing the hill and walked in another direction.

They began searching for food again.

Whoosh-!!

The two rummaged through places they hadn’t yet searched.

Watching Tia come up empty-handed every time, I realized anew that we had no idea how the villagers had lived up until now.

Marvin’s drinking habits, Merid’s picky personality, Joseph Uncle-nim’s cheerful laughter. We thought we “knew” people well just by knowing those things.

But could we truly say we knew them well, when we didn’t even know what their homes were like or where things were located?

No.

We were too young. We didn’t know anything at all.

In the end, they searched the village thoroughly until sunset, but they found nothing.

The two sat empty-handed on a shallow hill.

Tia, who had been gloomy, apologized in a small voice.

“I’m sorry.”

“Oh, no.”

She must know. Because she knew better than anyone what I had done.

She had watched me dry herbs and prepare them for winter, right beside me.

She would have realized that if they could just go there, it would be plenty.

Tia said.

“There’s a little stew broth left. It’ll probably last for a while.”

“Huh? Th-that’s not even enough for one person.”

“I don’t need to eat.”

“What? Wh-what are you talking about?”

Fosao, who had been resting, suddenly stood up.

“If you do that, Tia will st-starve to death!”

“It’s okay.”

“N-no.”

The sky was getting darker and darker, and the village was sinking into darkness.

Fosao didn’t return to the main house; he looked around at other houses below the hill.

Since both of them had already scanned through everything once, there was nothing more to find even if they tried.

The fellow, who had been thinking for a moment, stared blankly at the pharmacy, then suddenly started moving in that direction without a word.

Tia was startled and stood up.

“Mister? The sun is setting now! We should go back.”

“F-follow me.”

“Isn’t that… the pharmacy?”

The place Fosao was heading was the hill leading up to the pharmacy.

So, finally, unable to bear it any longer, he’s coming to my pharmacy?

That space where our memories resided, which Tia had been willing to face hunger to avoid touching.

Was Fosao heading there to mercilessly trample on it?

“Mister…”

It was when Tia grabbed Fosao’s arm as he strode towards the pharmacy.

Thump.

His steps stopped.

Where he stood was not in front of the pharmacy.

It was Madrina Grandmother-nim’s small hut, located a little further down.

I heard she and the Village Chief-nim had been ailing for a long time and eventually passed away, but for some reason, her house remained as it was.

It seemed people hadn’t gotten around to tidying it up due to the series of unfortunate events in the village.

Fosao looked up at the grandmother’s house and asked.

“H-here. This is Madrina Aunt-nim’s house, right?”

“That’s right.”

“Then… ah, it’s probably right.”

Fosao entered the hut without hesitation.

It was a really old and dilapidated hut that seemed to have nothing in it. It seemed to perfectly reflect Madrina Grandmother-nim’s frugal, quiet, and benevolent personality.

It was a small house located right below the pharmacy, in fact.

I had never once visited Madrina Grandmother-nim’s house.

She would always walk around the edge of the village, then quietly appear at mealtime, eat a few pieces of bread, and leave again.

“Madrina Aunt-nim used to h-hide snacks on top of the wardrobe and give them to R-Rina.”

Clatter.

Fosao picked up the old, worn-out chair and placed it in front of the wardrobe.

Tia said in an anxious voice.

“Mister. Why don’t we come back tomorrow when it’s bright? It’s so dark anyway, you won’t be able to see…”

“It-it’s fine! It’ll only take a moment.”

As if it were nothing at all, Fosao hopped onto the chair. And he stretched out his hand towards the blurry top of the wardrobe, where no light reached.

That was when it happened.

Creak-.

An uneasy sound came from the old, worn-out chair.

The legs of that chair, which looked as frail as Madrina Grandmother-nim herself, couldn’t bear Fosao’s weight and swayed precariously.

Tia asked in an anxious voice.

“Mister?”

“J-just a moment.”

But Fosao didn’t come down and kept flailing his arm around.

After digging deep inside and rummaging around. Finally, something bumped firmly against his fingertips.

“Found it!”

At the same time as that cry.

Crack! Thump!

The chair broke, and Fosao’s huge body plummeted downwards.

Tia quickly tried to catch him as he fell, but it was futile. Even before she could reach out, he was already sprawled on the floor.

“Mister!”

“Ughhh-.”

It must have been quite an impact. Regrettably, the fellow was alive.

And he was curled up on the floor, clutching something tightly to his chest.

“Are you okay?”

“Ugh- N-not exactly okay…”

Groaning in pain, Fosao pulled out what he was holding and showed it.

“Th-this.”

It was a straw-wrapped pouch.

Tia received the pouch with trembling hands.

Until now, they had only come up empty. All day today, they hadn’t seen anything even resembling straw, let alone a pouch.

But the pouch Fosao was triumphantly holding was clearly bulging, filled with something.

Rustle-.

As she untied the string that bound the pouch’s opening, a fine, pure white powder appeared inside.

It was flour.

Fosao grinned while still lying on the floor.

“Th-this should be enough, right?”

The first edible thing they had found.

Great relief shone in Tia’s eyes as she saw it.

“Yes! It’s enough!”

“That’s a relief-.”

Fosao, who had fallen, tried to get up.

But whether due to his size or some other problem, he couldn’t get up and just whimpered on the floor.

Realizing that his movements were unusual, Tia looked towards Fosao’s leg.

And she shrieked in horror.

“Mister-!!”

Fosao’s pants were stained with blood.

When the chair broke and he fell, a sharp piece of wood must have pierced his skin.

“Ughhh-.”

“Don’t move!”

Tia carefully began to pull out the piece of wood embedded in his shin. When she pulled out a piece almost as thick as a finger, Fosao let out an undignified shriek.

Rip-!

Tia took off the cloak draped over her shoulders, tore it into thin strips with her teeth. Then she wrapped it around his profusely bleeding leg and said.

“I’ll help you up.”

She wrapped her arms around Fosao and awkwardly helped him stand up.

As if she herself had become a crutch, she prevented him from walking on his injured leg as they exited the grandmother’s hut.

By the time they returned home, it was already night.

Tia laid Fosao on the bed. Then she took off his pants and carefully washed the wound with cold water.

“Ughhh-!!”

“Does it hurt?”

“Yeah.”

The blood still hadn’t stopped flowing.

“Then why did you overexert yourself! I told you we could come back tomorrow when it was light!”

The wound was quite deep.

Wounds sustained in winter needed to be managed very carefully. Because the injured area always had to be exposed, there was a risk of frostbite, and winter medicinal herbs were not abundant, so treatment required a lot of time.

Moreover, with a stab wound of this depth, if it became infected, he might never be able to use his leg again.

It was that dangerous, but the foolish Fosao wouldn’t know.

He just scratched his head and smiled.

“Tia was l-looking for food… so I wanted to help you find it. Th-that’s why I did it.”

“…But I said it was okay.”

“Even so, Tia was h-having a hard time. It h-helped, right?”

“…”

Tia stared up at Fosao. Her eyes quickly reddened, and she wiped away a small tear with her sleeve.

“It’s all because of me…”

Tia looked down at Fosao’s swollen leg.

If they had gone to the pharmacy, he wouldn’t have been injured this badly. If she hadn’t been stubborn, they could have found food safely.

Such thoughts were visible in her eyes.

“No. Tia. W-we got food anyway, didn’t we? For me, that’s en-enough.”

The flour Fosao found was enough to last for more than a week.

They could knead it into dough and bake it, or if it was too difficult, they could just eat the flour as it was.

As he said, it had worked out somehow.

“Tia… gave up the meat stew for me, you know. So I w-wanted to repay you too.”

“…”

Tia’s eyelids trembled slightly.

Soon after, she lowered her head deeply and remained silent.

“Tia?”

A moment later.

In a voice as tiny as an ant’s, Tia spoke.

“Mister.”

“Hmm?”

“If you get hurt again, I won’t forgive you.”

“O-okay. Hehe.”

She wrapped a clean bandage around Fosao’s leg and said.

“…Thank you.”

***

After the commotion, Fosao didn’t go out of the house.

There was no reason to go out.

Tia alone went around the village, tearing down fences, abandoned furniture, and door frames, breaking them into small pieces to make firewood for the winter.

As for food, she kneaded flour and baked it into cookies.

Fosao’s only job was to lie in bed all day with a bandage wrapped around his leg.

When pus seeped from the wound, she would change it with a clean bandage brought from the pharmacy, and check the wound ten times a day. Tia nursed him with extreme devotion.

“They’re freshly baked. They won’t taste like anything since there’s no honey or spices, but try some.”

Crunch!

Fosao ate a hard cookie and then evaluated its taste.

“It’s a little burnt.”

“It’s my first time making them here, so I’m unskilled. If they don’t taste good, I’ll make new ones.”

“Oh, no! It’s fine. It’s t-tasty. If you m-melt it like this, it’s g-good.”

Chewing slowly, Fosao grinned.

Tia, who smiled along, glanced at the wound.

“I wonder why… it’s not healing well. By now, the skin should have grown back.”

“Hmm?”

“I’m starting to wonder if I’m treating it incorrectly.”

Tia, who had experience with frequent injuries, was anxious because Fosao’s wound simply wasn’t healing.

For a normal person, a wound would start to heal within two days at the longest. But Fosao had only barely stopped the bleeding; his leg still felt hollow and pierced inside.

“It’s b-because I’m old.”

Fosao looked down at his leg weakly.

“When you get old, you d-don’t heal fast. Hehe. But it’ll h-heal eventually, so don’t worry too much.”

“Is that so…”

Tia fell into deep thought.

Her expression seemed to reflect a renewed realization of the barrier of age.

If someone as healthy and young as herself would have recovered by now, seeing Fosao, who seemed quite robust, appear so frail because of a single wound, seemed to trouble her greatly.

Slide.

Fosao reached out his hand and gently caressed Tia’s chin.

“Tia.”

“…”

“It’s h-hard, isn’t it?”

Tia quickly shook her head.

“No. I’m fine…”

“When we move. Let’s live h-happily.”

Suddenly, Fosao said in a serious voice.

“I-I’ll make Tia happy.”

“Mister…”

The two looked at each other.