Chapter 79 – Apocalyptic Winter (2)
The day awoke after a full night had passed. While he was changing his bandage, he suddenly opened his lips and looked for something to eat as soon as he woke up.
“…Ah, I’m hungry. I don’t have anything to eat.”
“There is, but wait a little bit. It’s not over yet.”
“It still hurts a lot. It’s cold, it hurts, it’s hungry. It’s been a while since I was young.”
“Okay, stay still. I’ll finish it soon.”
“Ugh… From now on, I’d like to leave it to a professional medical professional. He’s good at everything, but I don’t think he’s as bad at this.”
He continued to whine, but judging from the fact that he was still joking, he seemed to be in good shape. I tied a final bandage and put a piece of jerky in his mouth.
“Now I’m going to move slowly, is it okay? You can rest a little more.”
“Well…I don’t care. There’s nothing to do anyway. Rather, where should we go now? Heading straight to the port?”
“Yeah. It’s really not long now.”
“That’s right. It’s not long. I can see it right away.”
“It gives me strength when you say that.”
It was said as a joke, but half of it was sincere. Anyway, the fact that the joke comes out means that Haru still has energy left. When I thoughtlessly stroked his hair, Haru lifted his chin and stuck his head out there.
“I don’t think it’s bad to be sick. Seniors treat me like this. Sometimes I think I’ll pretend to be sick.”
“Please don’t do that. It hurts.”
“Oh my God, you even give me lip service.
“There’s no such thing, so please get well soon. By the way, you seem to have a fever. Where are you sick?”
“Well… I must have caught a cold because of the snow. But it’s not a big deal. It’s not particularly uncomfortable.”
Haru twitched his eyebrows as if he was okay. Of course, there was no way she could be relieved just because she said that. I stroked the forehead of Haru, who was starting to get a little fever, then turned my head toward the window.
Then, the deep blue morning stars poured down into the gloomy vision. Looking at the sky after the destruction, there were so many twinkling stars that I even thought that the souls of the dead embroidered the sky.
If that’s true, then there must be a place for me to go somewhere. Perhaps someone in the sky was beating the paperwork, wondering why the position was not being filled. Thinking about it made me smile bitterly.
It seems like I keep thinking about things because I’m in a comfortable place. I shook my head and said as I held the two of them’s hands.
“Let’s go. I think we have to leave now.”
“The morning air will be cold, Lope. Are you okay?”
“Yeah. I think we’d better leave soon. For us, and for these people.”
It was a lie, of course. It was for me that I was leaving now. Maybe later, Aiden will find something in common with Rebecca. And to confirm the fact that that child is much better than I thought.
I was afraid of that, so I felt like I had to leave now.
So we quickly packed up and headed out. As I carefully opened the door, the snoring of the sleeping elderly permeated my ears. Step by step. The sound cut off a little with each step, but they never woke up. At this rate, I thought I could really leave before people noticed.
However, it was only after I got out of the house that I was able to confirm once again that things in the world do not always work out the way I want. On the barren land bathed in blue starlight, there was Aiden looking after the horse we rode on.
“Huh. What are you doing at this time?”
“…”
“Now… Are you leaving?”
He sensed our intentions and expressed his displeasure. But he soon looked at us with a bright smile.
“It would have been nice if he stayed longer, but it’s a pity. I wonder if I’m in too much of a hurry. There’s nothing urgent in this world anymore.”
“I’m sorry, but we have to go.”
“Looks like you have a problem. But I won’t bother asking.”
“…”
“Well, bye everyone. It was really nice to meet you.”
Aiden’s face as he said goodbye to the unidentified guest was spotless and pure. The boy still retained the innocence we had lost while breaking through the filthy world. Saya and Haru said goodbye to him in their own way.
“Thank you very much Aiden. Really. I will never forget this favor.”
“Grace. I haven’t done much.”
“No. Thank you very much. It felt good to see a handsome man after a long time.”
“Yes? It’s the first time I’ve heard of such a story… Oh, what is it? Is that a joke? Oh my God.”
At the end of Haru, Aiden smiled as if he was genuinely happy. It was a joke I heard every day, but Aiden seemed to miss the jollyness so much.
However, the more Aiden laughed, the darker Haru’s expression grew. The boy hesitated with his slender fists tightly clenched, then suddenly hugged the boy tightly.
“Oh. That’s a little too much for saying goodbye. Of course, I’m happy.”
“…”
“Hmm…I don’t know if I should say this, but you’re really pretty too. I’m sure you said Miss Haru, right? I’m not saying that, really…”
“…Sorry.”
“Yes?”
One day, after silently apologizing, he turned away. He flinched and shook his shoulders, so it was clear what feelings he was harboring. I immediately put him on a horse so that the day would not fall apart any longer.
Then he looked at Aiden again. He made up his mind to leave immediately, but he couldn’t stop. In the end, I opened my mouth again, even though I knew I shouldn’t.
“Hey Aiden. Actually…”
“Oh, don’t do that.”
“Huh?”
“You’re talking about something secret. I know. In this day and age, going somewhere in a hurry with an elf and a cute girl who can’t see her eyes means there’s definitely something going on.”
Aiden put his hands behind his back and stepped back. And then he gave me an awkward smile.
“And I know that it wouldn’t be good if I bothered to dig it out. Even if it’s a great secret to get out of this situation, I don’t think there’s any reason for me to know. I can’t leave here anymore anyway.”
“Why is that…?”
“Grandma and grandpa here, they are the people who can’t even eat properly without me. They’re the ones who let me in, who I don’t know anything about since the world came to be like that. I’ll have to repay this favor with the rest of my life. Isn’t it?”
“…”
“You might think it’s hypocrisy. Maybe it is. But I’ve already decided. My last place is here.”
“Aiden…”
“Okay then, go. Don’t say anything more.”
I couldn’t argue anymore in front of the good but firm tone. I eventually got on my horse and slowly started to leave the place. Just before the sound of the horses’ hooves pounding on the ground filled my ears, Aiden’s last words quietly resonated.
“May you all be blessed on your path ahead.”
There was no reason to stop anymore, so we ran without stopping. Vast wilderness. Grassland. Destroyed village. No matter where they were, the horse continued to run, only occasionally slowing down and resting when it came to a meadow or lakeside. However, on days when there was no such thing, he sometimes fell asleep on top of a horse.
Of course, I couldn’t repeat such a thing for a long time. Sleeping on a horse had a bad effect on Haru and, above all, on me. I didn’t show it, but the chest pain was getting worse.
Besides, the heat of the ground continued to rise. And what that meant was clear. It must be that Hetzling’s activities are getting more active as time goes on. Maybe the day when I can ride a horse won’t be long.
The first time I had such an idea, I dismounted and looked at the distant horizon. Then he sat down and spoke in a quiet voice.
“Day.”
“Your senior.”
“I guess it’s not this way.”
“Don’t do that because it’s really boring. You’re lying, right?”
“Yeah. It’s not fun even if I think about it.”
Perhaps it was too stained by Haru, and even at that moment, useless jokes came out. Once again, I took out a map and grasped the geography.
“Still, it’s obvious that it’s slightly out of sync. I’ll have to go over that hill to properly understand it. That way, I can say that my field of vision is open.”
“That’s a concept I don’t know. But it feels good for some reason. Should I say it’s a blind man’s intuition? It’s a different feeling than usual.”
“You can’t just ignore it. What do you think, Saya?”
“I am of the same opinion as Haru. More than that, don’t move Lope.
Saying that, Saya grabbed my hair with trembling hands. Then he carefully cut it with his knife and let out a thin sigh.
“For now…It’s okay. I don’t know if it went well or not.”
“Thank you, Saya. I can’t see it, but it must have gone well.”
“…Yeah. Maybe.”
“Um…I’ll believe it. One day anyway. Is the fever okay?”
“It’s just a cold. Don’t worry too much. I’m healthy.”
Haru patted her chest as if it were okay, but she couldn’t help but worry. For the past few days, the heat on his forehead hasn’t gone away at all. Of course, there was nothing we could do now.
So I was more anxious. Even in the midst of that, Haru raised her voice for no reason and pretended to be fine.
“It’s okay, and I’m going to go up that hill or something. Of course, the one who suffers will be our cute Scarlett.”
“Where did you get that name from? And he’s a male.”
“Then, seniors try it on. Or Saya-unnie’s old name. What was that?”
“…Hina.”
“Yes…Scarlett would be better. Let’s keep moving, Scarlett.”
At my words, Saya showed a slightly disappointed expression. I tried to ignore it and moved on.
The guy has been very tired for the past few days, so we rode it for a day and then moved to the hill. The fatigue of the past few days weighed on my shoulders, but strangely, the more I took each step, the more tense I felt. It’s not a bad feeling of tension, so to speak. A feeling like your heart is overflowing.
And it seems that Saya was the same, and she headed for the hill with faster steps than usual. The higher she climbed, the faster she got, and eventually she pulled us all along. Even so, Saya did not stop and continued walking toward the hill as if running.
When I finally passed the final slope, the wind that blew just at the right time shook my messy hair. With a slight throb in my chest, I brushed my hair up and looked ahead.
Then, in an instant, my vision opened wide, and the wide world filled my eyes. I was mesmerized by the scenery for a while and stared into the sky endlessly. Even the most indifferent country could not help but stop at the sight of countless landscapes that had passed so far mixing under their feet.
Of course, that doesn’t mean anything like a revelation came to mind. One day, he tugged at my collar, as if I was frustrated at the sight of the scenery without a word.
“Can you see anything, senpai? Or even good news?”
“I do not know.”
“Yes? Ah… I see.”
“Saya. Do you see anything?”
Eventually, our eyes turned to Saya. Even though she, like me, was immersed in the scenery in front of her eyes, she was looking across the horizon without saying a word. After maintaining her silence for a long time, Saya suddenly turned her head to me.
And there was a smile in it.
“Rope…”
“Huh?”
“It smells like the sea.”
It was a smell I hadn’t smelled yet. But just hearing those words made me feel like I could see a dazzling horizon in front of my eyes. In an instant, my heart swelled and the power in my fingertips became dull and relaxed.
“Ha…”
“Oh my god.”
At that moment, I couldn’t speak for a day. We exhaled excitedly and instinctively grabbed each other’s hands.
Of course, it couldn’t be all good news. I didn’t believe that in the first place, so when I heard the words of the next Saya, I wasn’t disappointed at all.
“But Lope. I can see traces of Hetzlings here and there. Maybe, like the guy I saw in Belentel, he’s grown quite a bit.”
“Yeah, that’s right. Most of them would have taken refuge on the shore since they saw no animals, let alone people. It’s no wonder that hatchlings head there in search of food.”
“I’m tired though. Having to face them anyway.”
“It was expected to some extent. This level of obstacle is unavoidable.”
Rather than speaking to them, it was directed to himself. It could never be the last time, but I took a full breath as if it were the last moment. Then, with a strong will, he spat out a word.
“Then let’s go. Now let’s get ready to say goodbye to those guys.”
