episode_0179

Rainwater streamed down my cheeks.

I had to escape this increasingly heavy downpour. I had to.

I… felt an increasing dislike and fear for this humble shack.

Its interior was obscured by dark shadows, completely unseen. I had never visited this place in my life, and it held no connection to me, yet.

Still, the ‘familiarity’ I felt weighed heavily on my shoulders.

As I hesitated, unable to move my feet, Marie opened the shack door first.

Clunk.

From her retreating figure, heading into the darkness unaware, a fleeting memory surfaced.

[Pant… Pant….]

Tia’s back as she shivered and entered. Her figure overlapped with Marie’s.

I couldn’t stop her. At that time, I… was lying on a sickbed. Even as Fosao’s gloom gnawed at Tia’s heart, I was merely sleeping like a heavy sleeper.

I should have held her.

If only I had grabbed Tia’s arm as she entered the shack.

We wouldn’t have ended up like this.

“No!”

Squeeze!

“Yelp?!”

The unfamiliar yelp brought me back to my senses.

My hand was tightly clutching Marie’s slender arm, as if to crush it. The marks of my grip were clear on her delicate skin.

“Ri-Ritsu Oppa…?”

Marie looked up at me with a frightened voice.

“Ah, sorry.”

I quickly let go and stepped back.

Something…

Something’s wrong.

Had I lost my composure? Tia’s back was a phantom of memory. And the person before me now was Marie, not Tia.

Yet I… tried to grab her arm.

Confused memory with reality? Me?

No. I’m not crazy. I can tell the difference.

Marie said.

“Let’s rest here. You look very tired too, Oppa.”

I had to admit it.

This was the only safe place to take shelter from the rain.

“……Alright.”

I dragged my wet boots inside.

As my eyes adjusted to the darkness, the interior gradually became visible.

Neatly arranged but long-neglected items. A thin layer of dust on the floor. A subtle accumulation of time’s passage permeated this place.

It seemed as if no one had lived here for a long time, yet there were traces everywhere as if someone had only briefly visited.

Marie, looking at the dry firewood stacked in the corner of the kitchen, said.

“It looks like someone was here.”

“Yeah.”

It was what Tia and Fosao had left behind. Exactly as it was when the two of them last left the shack.

When I’d seen this place in my memories, I felt nothing. But now, after a long time, arriving here in person made it feel real.

That very spot, where Tia had huddled.

I took out a cloak from my bag and gave it to Marie.

“Take off your clothes and wrap yourself in this.”

“Okay.”

I went into the kitchen.

Though it was warmer than ‘that time’ and the wind wasn’t as strong, I still needed to start a fire to dry our wet clothes overnight and ward off animals.

I took out the flint, carefully wrapped in cloth.

Click!

I struck the flint against Rose Shabel’s scabbard, creating sparks. Then I lit the tinder and transferred the flame to the pile of firewood.

The fire roared to life.

“Marie, come here and warm yourself.”

Marie, covered in the cloak, awkwardly approached and sat down. Her wet clothes were hung nearby to dry thoroughly.

“It looked like you sprained your foot earlier. How is it?”

“It’s fine.”

“Lift your leg.”

It was obvious she’d always say ‘it’s fine’ even if there was a problem, so I needed to check it myself.

I gently grasped her slender leg and took off her boot.

“Are you really okay?”

“……”

Her ankle was red and swollen. Blisters were visible in several places from walking for so long.

A sigh escaped me without me realizing it. Leaving such injuries untreated could lead to serious trouble. If it went wrong, her foot could rot, and then her entire leg might have to be amputated.

It was worse than that. We had a long way to go, and if Marie was already in this condition, crossing the Charrac Mountains would become incredibly difficult.

When I gently touched her swollen ankle, Marie let out a cry like a baby bird.

“Yelp!”

“See? You’re hurting, so what’s ‘fine’ about it?”

I immediately took out my medicine pouch from my bag. I found a herb that reduces swelling and chewed it in my mouth. Then I spat the sticky wad of herbs onto a bandage, moistening it.

As I wrapped the bandage around her ankle, I emphasized repeatedly.

“Don’t use this foot until tomorrow. Our travel… I’ll decide based on your condition. So make sure you get plenty of rest lying down today.”

“Okay.”

Silence fell again.

Feeling the need to rest, I also sat in front of the warm hearth. And I stared blankly at the crackling flames.

Flames.

Crimson flames, like Tia’s hair.

A warm heat flowed out, slowly washing away the unpleasant stickiness from my rain-soaked body.

She must have also fallen asleep, enveloped in this warmth, back then.

In the end, when Tia was struggling so much, I couldn’t even light such a kind fire for her.

Truly idiotic…….

“Ritsu Oppa.”

“Hmm?”

Marie’s voice suddenly cut in.

I came to my senses and turned my head, seeing her holding onto my collar with one hand.

“Can I have some water? I’m sorry to bother you.”

“No. Here it is.”

After drinking the water, Marie leaned her head against my thigh. She was so light that I barely felt her head resting there.

I thought the day was over. So I relaxed my shoulders, slowly closed my eyes, and was getting ready to fall asleep.

“…It was when I was six years old.”

But very suddenly. She broke the silence.

“When I was very sick, and alone at home. A white butterfly landed on my knee. It must have thought my knee was a hill. The butterfly rested its wings for a moment, then started flying again. I became curious. How far could a butterfly fly? So I followed the butterfly out of the house.”

“……”

“But the butterfly was fast. It was hard to keep up, so I fell down onto the ground, and my knee scraped against a stone and bled. I didn’t cry. I was more scared that Oppa would scold me if he found out.”

“Certainly. Ruyef would have scolded you.”

“When I was wondering what to do, Ritsu Oppa appeared. He saw the injury on my knee, carried me on his back to the apothecary. He applied medicine and wrapped a bandage. And he told me that he’d ask Tia Unnie to lend me some pants, saying if I wore them, Oppa wouldn’t find out.”

Was that so? I don’t remember. If Marie was six, I must have been quite young too.

But hearing the story, a smile crept onto my face. To hide Marie’s injury, my younger self came up with ‘Tia’s pants’.

“Being with Ritsu Oppa like this… it reminds me of that time.”

“I see.”

Marie had always been frail since childhood, suffering from many minor illnesses. Before I started working at the apothecary, she used to come to our house, the Village Chief’s house, every day for examinations.

It’s common for children to get sick. Many would suddenly fall ill and die. Honestly, the villagers also thought Marie would be one of those ‘common children’.

But defying everyone’s expectations, Marie grew up healthy. Everyone said in unison that Ruyef’s devoted care had saved her.

It’s an amazing thing.

“……”

That’s why I’m still curious now.

‘Why’ did Marie follow me?

She couldn’t have endured a grueling four-day journey, enough to swell her feet, just to share such nostalgic stories.

“Don’t you regret it?”

“Huh?”

“You’ve walked non-stop. Your feet are swollen too. Don’t you think, ‘I should have just stayed in Breezedon’?”

Marie blinked her blue eyes. And she asked back.

“Ritsu Oppa, do you regret letting me follow you?”

“……!”

I felt exposed.

It was Marie who was stripped bare, wrapped in only a cloak.

Yet, I, wearing wet clothes, felt as though I was stripped bare.

I quickly shook my head.

“…I don’t regret it. It’s just that it’s going to get harder and harder, and I’m worried whether you’ll be able to keep up properly.”

“I won’t be a hindrance like today. If you still think I’m in the way… you can leave me behind.”

“Then Ruyef would come after me with an axe to chop off my head.”

She giggled.

Now, enough with the jokes, shall I listen honestly? What Marie’s thoughts are.

“So… why did you follow me?”

I asked seriously, in a low voice.

Perhaps the change in atmosphere had made her thoughtful? A long time passed without an answer.

I waited calmly for quite a while. Still, Marie remained silent, not opening her mouth.

“Marie?”

I turned to my side and saw Marie had closed her eyes.

Whether she’d fallen asleep before I asked, she was curled up in her cloak, peacefully sleeping, breathing softly.

“……”

Well, if I can’t know, I’ll just find out.

I could just reach out, gently touch any part of Marie’s body, and read her memories. The secrets she hadn’t told Ruyef. The thoughts she wasn’t telling me.

……But.

I couldn’t do that with the sight of a girl sleeping so purely before my eyes.

Because I had keenly realized that this ability wasn’t omnipotent.

I simply leaned my head against the wall and closed my eyes.

***

The next day.

We left the shack and walked through the mountains again. The weather was clear, our clothes were dry, and Marie’s foot had visibly improved, so I decided we could move.

We crossed a few mountain peaks. The silence was as persistent as ever. The only slight change was that I occasionally looked back to ensure Marie could keep up, and we decided to take ample rest breaks.

As we walked through the long and tedious Charrac.

“Stop!”

Finally, we reached our destination.

Marie and I raised our hands in front of a menacingly gleaming spearhead. Our opponent was a boy. A runt about Marie’s age.

But his voice was booming, and his spirit was formidable.

“Who are you?!”

“Just passing travelers.”

Somehow, I had a feeling this would happen, so I spoke the words I’d prepared in my mind.

Exactly as that fellow had done. I unfastened my belt, placed Rose Shabel on the ground, and calmly asked.

“This is Charrac, right?”

“Uh-huh. That’s right.”

“I’d like to meet the Village Chief. Can you help me, Pashu?”

“Hmm-.”

Pashu, the boy from Charrac, looked down at me thoughtfully.

Then, belatedly realizing his name had been called, his eyes widened.

Swish!

The spearhead, which had been lowered slightly, rose back up to my face.

“Wh-What?! You! How do you know my name?!”

Instead of answering, I gestured with my eyes towards Rose Shabel, which was on the ground.

Pashu would surely remember.

The unique blade of this sword.

“Oh……?”

I immediately understood from the boy’s widely shaking eyes.

You came.

…to Charrac.