Chapter 26 – Chapter 2: Phantom of Memory – 1
Tia shook her head in her sleep.
“Uhm…”
My voice grew louder without me realizing it.
“Come to your senses!”
“… Ah?!”
When I grabbed her shoulder and shook her roughly, Tia suddenly lifted her head.
“Everyone saw it. “I heard you stayed in this warehouse all day and just slept.”
“Oh, no! I dozed off, but only for a moment, and I got things organized…”
“So you’re saying everyone lied?”
“That’s not it-.”
“Stop making excuses and listen to me.”
The deep anger that had been building up until now, that I had suppressed so much that I didn’t even know it was wrong, boiled up.
He grabbed the delicate Tia by the shoulder and shouted.
“Tia. This is your last chance. Do you know that people say bad things about you? I entrusted you with this task, assuring you that you would never do so. But it hasn’t even been a day yet, so what are you going to do if you’re just sleeping here?”
“Ritz…”
“I am doing this for you. What are you doing!”
“… I-?!”
Tia shook off my arm.
And I cry out.
“Me too… For you… To save you… I did everything I could… !”
“… “What?”
“Because it’s me! Because I was wrong! Ritz, you just have to live… ! I don’t care what happens to me… !”
“What do you mean now?”
“Are you okay…”
The sharp voice gradually turned into sobbing.
“It’s okay if people curse at me. I am… Are you okay? So for me… Ritz, all I need is you…”
“…”
“Strange. Nothing’s wrong… I didn’t mind when people pointed fingers, cursed at me behind my back, and ignored me… Ritz… Because Ritsu yelled at me… I think it will break her heart… So painful… It hurts so much that I can’t speak…”
Tia’s tears flow down her pure white cheeks.
I clenched my teeth.
I felt like I was going crazy too.
I’m here. It’s alive.
The problem is solved.
It’s not like I’m just going to go somewhere.
Shouldn’t we just make an effort from now on and become friendly with the villagers again?
… But why are you talking as if everything is at stake on me?
“Tia. This is Brisden. Since I live here, I have to meet people face to face. “If your reputation gets worse, it will be more difficult to live with you.”
“That’s why I wanted to leave… Right now.”
Tia’s eyes were bright.
“Me… Smiling at everyone… Although I was a little shaky, I lived bravely. But it all became meaningless. The looks in the eyes of the uncles and aunts who used to be so happy and grateful are now… It feels so scary. That feeling of not being able to raise your head, this feeling of wanting to hide forever… Does Ritz know?”
“…”
“You do not have to know. It’s all my fault. Because I made Ritz like that… If you had listened to Ritsu’s words and returned to the village… The village chief, grandmother, Ritz, Ruev and Marie. We’ve all been laughing together so far… ?”
“No. Out of it. That…”
“I regretted it over and over again. If I could go back to the past, I would even sacrifice my arm to go back. I want to go back to that time and kill myself for bragging about protecting Ritz even though I couldn’t, and encouraging me to go deeper… !!”
Tia screamed with the feeling that she was vomiting blood
“Tia…”
I didn’t know it would be like this.
Deep in the heart of Tia, who was always smiling, relaxed, and cheerful.
She never imagined that there would be such a black and scary darkness lurking around.
Bichuk.
Suddenly, Tia started walking outside helplessly.
“Tia! Don’t think so much. Let’s think positively. Huh? Let’s think about what to do from now on. “You can’t help what happened in the past.”
“… “I’m more miserable because I can’t help it.”
Hwiooooo-.
The winter wind blows.
Tia’s red hair flutters in the wind.
“Ritz, me too… I think I’m too self-indulgent and selfish, but… “Can you do me a favor?”
“Of course. Anything you ask. “Tell me.”
Tia turned around and looked back at me.
“Come with me. Alone, far away… Very far. To the land of flowers. Let’s go on a trip together.”
“…”
The answer came up to her throat.
But her words melted away at the tip of her tongue.
Can do. Travel with Tia. The sea I hoped for.
We can go everywhere together, see new things, and laugh at amazing scenery.
Leaving this small town called Brisden and wandering around the vast world.
We will be together forever to pursue our greatest dreams.
But.
I can’t.
I am carrying this village alone.
We are responsible for people’s lives.
That’s how I grew up, that’s how I learned, and that’s how I was meant to be.
My heart clearly says I want to be with you.
My reason was cruelly cold.
“I’m sorry, Tia. That… “I can’t do that now.”
“… Huh. “I know.”
Tia smiled miserably.
“I thought Ritz would answer that way…”
Sabak. Sabak.
I’m leaving.
Without saying a word, Tia slowly disappeared down the hill.
I couldn’t even say where I was going.
Because she seemed so difficult to hold on to her pitiful shoulder.
Because she looked like she was going to break at any moment.
She turned her head and looked at her warehouse.
“…”
Even more than Ruyev, it was perfectly organized.
* * *
Tia said she went down to the village below.
Her reason was clear.
After organizing the warehouse, there were a lot of items that needed to be replenished, so I would get the items that were missing.
It won’t take long, she said, and she plans to stay at the empty teacher’s house for about two days.
I was convinced.
It’s only two days at most. Teacher Bean said she was a trustworthy person, so there was no need to worry.
If I want to meet Tia, I just have to go down to the village below.
And more than anything, because of what happened today, she decided to cool off by keeping her distance for a while.
If we become a little calmer, we might be able to have better conversations.
“Call-cough-.”
She thought so comfortably, but in fact, what Tia said still hasn’t left her head.
Things are out of her hands.
As she was making medicine, she kept forgetting the process, which only increased the waste.
“Wow. “I need to come to my senses.”
I barely made medicine and gave it to the elderly.
When she finished work and looked up at the sky, it was already dark.
In winter, the sun sets quickly, which somehow makes people rush more.
As I was returning to Aunt Sherry’s, Aunt Mary de accosted her.
“Ritz. Your expression is dark? What’s going on?”
“No. Nothing much happened.”
“I heard Tia went down to the village below her with that look on her face. Did you two fight?”
It seems to be written all over her face.
There is no reason to deny it. She nodded obediently.
“… Yes.”
“Why? “Because of warehouse organizing work?”
“It’s all my fault. “Don’t worry too much, aunt.”
“How can you not care? “You are the village chief now.”
“Haha, yes. Yes…”
“Go in and get some rest. “You look so lethargic, so do I.”
“I understand.”
Village chief.
As I thought about that word, I suddenly wanted to go to the village chief’s house.
She turned slightly and headed toward the old cabin.
I feel nostalgic when I return here.
If the village chief were alive, what would he have told me?
Did he tell you to leave with Tia? Or did she tell me to stay?
I’m curious.
In front of the cabin, I call out the name that will never come back.
“Father.”
Kkeikik-.
I opened the door and entered the dark interior.
Although the seat has been empty for a long time, you can still feel the traces of the village chief.
The chairs and table that were used during his life still remained.
Really… If I call the village chief here now, I think he will walk out of the bedroom as if nothing happened.
I slowly approached the bedroom.
Even the slightest expectations I had were in vain. The bedroom was empty.
There was no village chief. Anywhere.
I heard about the death two weeks ago. I finally found the cabin.
When I think about why I did that, I think it was probably because I didn’t want to accept my father’s death.
I thought you must have gone out for a while. I tried not to pay attention.
But when I saw the empty cabin, I knew I could no longer look away.
My father passed away. Forever.
I will never return to Brisden again.
Now we have to accept that fact.
I missed it so much that I fell on the bed.
I want to feel the feeling of holding that thin hand again.
If only I had said something kinder back then, if I had thanked my father for raising me…
My heart wouldn’t have hurt this much.
“I miss you…”
He continued speaking, thinking his father would be listening.
“What should I do? I want to know. “I also want to gain wisdom like my father.”
But no matter how much I grow, no matter how many things I go through.
I know that I can never become a great person like my father.
Because I couldn’t say anything in front of Tia right now.
Out of sadness, I clenched my fists and buried my face deeper.
That moment.
Tduduk-.
I heard the sound of something breaking.
I lifted my head up.
I don’t know what it was, but it was definitely a sound coming from inside the bed.
I put my hand on the bed and pressed it deeply once.
Tdu-duk-duk-.
As the bed sinks, I feel the thin boards breaking one by one through my fingertips.
There is something.
“… Ha!”
I immediately cleaned up the bed with all my might.
Then, I saw a square door in the floor that had been hidden by the bed until now.
This is my first time seeing it.
There was a round ring on the door.
I grabbed it and pulled with all my might.
Boom!
The old dust rose up and a staircase leading down appeared.
I looked at that absurd scene with my butt down.
“What is this…”
A shiver runs down my spine.
It seems like the village chief answered my question.
Come in here, and you will know everything.
As if possessed, I put my foot into the basement stairs.
Descending into pitch darkness.
As he exited the narrow passage that could barely fit one person, something caught on his shoulder.
It was a lamp.
I opened the cover with just the feel of my fingers and then vigorously scratched the edge with a flint.
Chiik-.
As the lamp turned on, the interior became bright.
The hidden basement… Surprisingly, there was nothing special.
I thought there would be treasures of gold and silver like in the legend, or books containing ancient secrets piled up.
There is just a sealed bottle sitting on a rotten table.
Challang.
When I picked up the bottle, the sticky liquid was shaking.
It is an opaque dark red color.
I opened the lid and smelled it.
It smells fishy like blood.
There was stationery next to the table. It was the village chief’s handwriting.
[Spray on the wound.]
It is a concise instruction.
I immediately took off my top.
An ugly wound was revealed, like a trace where an earthworm had crawled.
Without hesitation, I sprinkled the liquid from the bottle on it.
“… Huh?!”
The exhilarating pain spreads out.
Starting from the chest to the toes.
I was startled by the heat spreading throughout my body and fell backwards.
What? Wasn’t it just like ointment to apply to a wound?
That moment.
Haaaaah don’t I not?
The colors around changed.
“… !”
The village chief was standing in front of me.
