Ch.180IF Side Story: Galactic Love (5)

“Wow…”

As the scenery suddenly changed before us, Pang Pang muttered blankly.

All we could see ahead were dark mountains.

I slightly regretted leaving in such a hurry. Of course, we had prepared quite diligently over the past few days, and even Pang Pang had helped with the preparations, so we had more than I expected.

Naturally, since we had packed for two people, we essentially had enough food supplies for two people to survive. Working together would probably conserve our energy, so we might be able to last longer.

With two tents and two sets of bedding, one could serve as backup for the other in the worst-case scenario.

…But no matter how much I tried to comfort myself, leaving suddenly was still leaving suddenly.

The human mind is truly important. Suddenly facing this situation, I couldn’t think of what to do first, and my mind went a bit blank.

“…First, let’s find a place to sleep.”

That’s what I said. Pang Pang nodded.

Her face seemed strangely free of worry. Even in this situation, Pang Pang just looked cheerful.

Or maybe she was just pretending to be cheerful. Honestly, I wasn’t sure.

We turned on our flashlights and walked through the night.

Soon we found a relatively flat area. We decided to spend the night there.

After setting up two tents, we sat outside for a short break.

“If I’d known this would happen, I should have bought a two-person tent instead.”

When Pang Pang said that… well, strangely, I didn’t feel irritated. With my old personality, I definitely would have. I would have suddenly burst into anger or shown annoyance.

But oddly enough, after spending time with Pang Pang and having various conversations, my mind was now a bit calmer.

I was still depressed, though. Yes, there was still something I needed to say.

“…Sorry, it’s because of me.”

“Huh?”

At my words, Pang Pang blinked.

“Why is it your fault?”

“Those people probably came looking for me.”

The upstairs neighbor said they came looking for Pang Pang, but they just mentioned her name. In reality, they were much more likely after me. They must have known Pang Pang and I were friends, and thought if they caught Pang Pang, they could somehow find clues about me.

Jihye is at the orphanage so she’d be difficult to kidnap, and Hayun is a magical girl to begin with. If they wanted to harass someone “around me,” Pang Pang was the only option.

After all, isn’t Pang Pang someone who doesn’t harm others? The magical girls might think differently, but since they couldn’t win anyway, you couldn’t say she caused serious harm.

“Is that so?”

Pang Pang tilted her head.

“Since we didn’t actually hear their reason, we don’t know, right?”

“If we don’t know the reason, that’s still my responsibility. Something that might have been nothing became a problem because of me.”

Though the possibility was small.

Pang Pang pondered how to respond to my words, then just shrugged her shoulders in reply.

I was a bit dumbfounded by how she accepted it as if it were completely natural.

“Good thing we ate outside before coming here, right?”

“…”

And with such an incredibly positive statement, I was once again at a loss for words.

But, well.

Yeah, that might not have been so bad.

In the end, I burst into slightly hollow laughter.

*

“Tomorrow, let’s look for a better place to settle down.”

James said that from inside the tent. James is lucky. His bag can become his home. Well, I suppose for James, the inside of that bag isn’t much different from the one-person tent I’m staying in now.

“Yeah. I wonder if there’s an abandoned house somewhere.”

I answered with a deep sigh.

It’s not really a good idea. Abandoned houses often have more enthusiasts than you’d expect, so someone might secretly visit in the middle of the night.

They wouldn’t be coming because they knew I was there, but it’s still unsettling to think someone could enter my tent while I’m asleep.

But if I built a cabin somewhere, that would really stand out, so it’s problematic either way.

They don’t say “leaving home means hardship” for nothing.

Just as I was sighing deeply and trying to get some sleep—

Zip.

I heard the sound of the zipper opening at the foot of the tent, the entrance I had come through, and I sat up with a start.

“What, what are you doing?!”

Thinking I should grab something, I reached for my bag—

“Oh, hello?”

Through the open door, I could faintly see Pang Pang’s silhouette.

“Pang Pang?”

I muttered in disbelief as I put my bag back down, and Pang Pang crawled inside.

My tent doesn’t have much living space. It’s just enough to keep the wind from directly hitting the sleeping bag.

Two people could lie down, but if we lay side by side, our shoulder width alone would fill the tent. Even more so with another sleeping bag.

“What? Why? Is something wrong with your tent?”

“Um, no, that’s not it.”

Pang Pang answered nonchalantly while spreading her sleeping bag next to mine.

“It’s just, how should I put it. We came out here together, but using separate tents feels a bit strange.”

“…”

“We’ve been sleeping in the same room for quite a while now. To be honest, um, it was a bit scary being alone in such a cramped tent.”

“…Really?”

“Winter isn’t completely over yet. The wind sounds louder too.”

Looking at Pang Pang laughing awkwardly, I couldn’t say anything for a moment.

“…Alright.”

In the end, I couldn’t argue further and lay down.

Right, she came with me because of me. What’s the point of saying anything now?

Since I brought her along, I have no choice but to take responsibility until the end. This all happened because I fled to Pang Pang’s house.

Pang Pang finished spreading her sleeping bag and crawled inside. I turned my body slightly to the side to make room for her to enter easily.

We lay side by side like that.

“Hmm.”

Somehow I couldn’t fall asleep and remained wide awake. I stared at the low ceiling of the tent for a while before speaking.

“…We should have bought a two-person tent. Right?”

“Yeah.”

Pang Pang answered with a smile at my words.

Geez.

Did I focus too much on the weight when buying it?

I let out a light sigh.

*

When we woke up after sleeping like that, it was dawn.

It couldn’t be helped. Sleeping on the ground wasn’t exactly pleasant. Plus, it was too dark yesterday to find a better spot.

Only after crawling out of the tent did I realize there was a grave right nearby.

Pang Pang also saw the grave and was momentarily speechless. Was it a maintained grave, or not? Judging by the dead grass growing abundantly around it, it might have been an unmaintained grave, but nothing was certain.

We quickly packed up the tent and left the place.

We didn’t forget to bow twice before leaving. Pang Pang awkwardly bowed after me.

“Tell me if you get hungry or thirsty. We’ll probably be walking all day anyway.”

“Okay.”

Pang Pang nodded at my words.

I knew well that a perfect shelter wouldn’t just appear right in front of us. That’s why I was prepared to walk all day.

If it didn’t work out, we could randomly relocate and start searching again.

Following the road while trying to stay out of sight, we slowly walked through slightly overgrown trees.

Forward, forward.

We inevitably had to climb up to places where we might be visible from cars, but fortunately, no cars stopped after seeing us. It seems Pang Pang’s face hadn’t appeared on the news.

Did we look like people on some kind of expedition? With large backpacks on our backs, I hoped that’s how we appeared.

I wondered what had happened to Pang Pang’s house by now.

…It wasn’t just a room for sleeping. Although it was a monthly rental, it was also a room full of Earth items that Pang Pang had collected until then.

Well-maintained items, each filled with affection.

Was someone rummaging through them freely now? Were they tearing up the floor or wallpaper to find out where we had gone?

…My existence really is a nuisance to many people.

I heard the circuit on my wrist turning. I could feel a slight vibration too.

I wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing. Having the power to fight is good—I had wished for that power—but this was definitely not how I wanted it.

It took us a few more hours of walking to find a path connecting the road and the forest.

And it took about the same amount of time to discover an abandoned village at the foot of the mountain along that path.

Whether this was good or bad…

Looking up at the dilapidated houses where no one had lived for a long time, I blankly thought about that.

We had found a place to stay—but it was more squalid than anywhere I had ever lived.

…I had no idea how far the consequences of my choices would roll.