I hurriedly ran to the old man’s house. When I arrived in front of the mansion, the signal smoke was already starting to fade. I took a deep breath, trying to calm myself down, and headed to the room. Though I was a bit anxious, I peered into the bedroom, and saw Grandpa sleeping soundly.
“Good job…,” I whispered to him, though I didn’t expect a response. Then I went to the kitchen, quickly made something easy-to-digest and poured water, and left it on the side chest next to Grandpa’s pillow.
With Grandpa’s condition confirmed, I decided to check the rest of the houses before night fell. There were only a few homes left around the square area that were not yet confirmed. It seemed like it would be quick, but the ones in the orchard direction were scattered far apart. I had to hurry.
“Last one here, I guess,” I said as I resumed my search after a few hours, finally arriving at the last house. It was the first house I visited since coming to this world, where I borrowed vines to make sandals. I honestly didn’t expect to find any survivors.
Only two people were found since this morning, including myself, and one was a nearly dying person and the other, a child. It was tough.
When I knocked on the door and called out, there was no response. I sighed after finishing my search in the house, then walked outside. When I looked up at the sky, I saw a familiar moon gently shining. It felt like it was comforting me.
I decided to call it a day for investigating the village and headed towards the center of the village while walking slowly through the orchards. When I arrived at Grandpa’s residence, I went to the kitchen and boiled water. It was not for a meal, but because I couldn’t take a bath. I just wanted to clean myself up.
I had found a public bathhouse while exploring the village, but they had not filled the bath with hot water. If I examined it further, I might have been able to make it work, but that could wait until tomorrow.
I was already tired today, so I decided I had done everything I could. I cleared up the food and exchanged the water, then wrapped myself in a sheet I brought in from another room and lay down on the sofa.
“Goodnight,” I said to Grandpa before falling asleep.
CRASH! THUMP! BANG!!! I woke up in the early hours of the morning, just before sunrise, because of the noise. When I saw Grandpa, it seemed like he had regained consciousness. He might have been trying to drink water or stand up because the water pitcher was on the floor and his chest had fallen over. It seemed like he couldn’t put any weight on his legs.
The old man was lying face down on the floor, using his arms to lift himself up with a fierce look in his eyes as he stared at me, seemingly intent on attacking me and going for my neck.
At the very least, it appeared that he was extremely wary of me.
Our eyes locked in a tense gaze.
“#####!” he exclaimed.
I tried to calm him down. “My name is Fujimiya An. Please calm down for a moment.”
I held my hands up to show that I meant him no harm.
I wanted to explain the situation to the old man, so I picked up the knife that had been lodged in his stomach and wiggled it lightly between my fingers, trying to demonstrate that I wasn’t there to hurt him.
If I had held it normally, it would have made him even more suspicious.
When I finished, I quickly put the knife down on the table and moved to the center of the room, gesturing towards the dried bloodstains and medical supplies as I tried to explain the situation.
He seemed to listen intently, despite the fact that he wouldn’t be able to understand me.
Once I was done explaining, I felt a little less tense.
For now, things seemed to be okay.
I slowly picked the old man up and brought him back to his bed.
“Please stay here for a bit,” I told him.
I put the bedside table back in its place and cleaned up the broken glass and pitcher that had fallen.
Then, I brought some bread porridge and water from the kitchen and held the old man’s head while he drank.
“#####,” he said, nodding at me.
He seemed to feel a bit relieved.
And so, I explained to him that I was going out with Ignis and would be back soon. I told him to wait here until then.
“##### Ignis ######,” he said.
Even though he probably didn’t fully understand what I was saying, he nodded along, so at least that was something.
Oh, that’s right.
“My name is An. What’s yours?”
“Temuan.”
Oh, Temuan.
“Well then, Temuan, I’m going to go out for a bit.”
As soon as I stepped outside, I saw the morning sun rising.
It had been approximately 25 hours since yesterday’s sunrise, measured using the 24 divisions of a day in this world.
(Provide me with a clock that displays time in this world’s 24 divisions. I’ll leave the design to you.)
The screen that made my chuunibyou heart flutter responded, “Understood.”
There was never a bad job done by Mai-san.
As I walked in high spirits, I arrived at Ignis’s house.
*Knock, knock, knock.*
“Ignis, are you there?”
When I got no answer, I opened the door.
Luckily, he was there.
Seeing him immediately put me at ease.
I could tell he had cried a lot since then, as his eyelids were swollen and red.
It was probably too early to wake him up, so I decided to cook breakfast for us.
*Shoo, shoo, shoo.*
“An, ######?”
He must have heard the sound or smelled something because Ignis woke up.
“Let’s eat together,” I said, smiling kindly as I pointed at the food.
He nodded and brought the dishes to the table.
What a good kid.
After breakfast, it was time to get moving.
“Ignis, it might be tough, but let’s go,” I gestured.
“####,” he replied, grabbing a bag that was in the corner of the room and nodding.
It looked like he had already prepared everything last night.
Several tens of minutes passed.
I held the woman in my arms as Ignis led the way with his bag.
Finally, we arrived at the place where we dug the hole yesterday.
As I lowered the woman down into the hole, Ignis suddenly walked away from the hole.
Although he left the bag he was carrying nearby, I still couldn’t help but wonder when he would return…
The journey had been quite tiring, so I sat down and waited. To my surprise, Ignis returned with a handful of wildflowers.
I see.
He spread the flowers around the woman lying in the hole.
Then, Ignis took something out of his bag.
One by one, he took out what looked like garbage to an adult and placed them in the hole.
But I’m sure that to Ignis, they were his treasures.
As I watched, I felt tears welling up in my eyes.
“An.”
When Ignis finished putting his treasures away, he took my hand and led me away.
As I followed him, he pointed to a large stone.
I understood.
Okay, I’ll help you all the way.
It was too heavy to lift, so we carried it together, stumbling and falling as we went.
Honestly, whether Ignis was there or not, nothing would have changed, as both of us were exhausted.
But he was serious.
I couldn’t help but feel how precious he was.
Ignis prayed before the dirt covered the hole.
I watched silently.
After he raised his head, he stood up, picked up a shovel, and fixed his strong gaze on me.
“…Is it good enough?”
“…”
Okay.
We silently covered the hole with dirt.
By the time we placed the stone on top, both of us were sweating all over.
Ignis had a pained expression on his face throughout the work.
The kind of expression that looks like it’s on the verge of tears.
But I couldn’t find the right words to say.
After the burial, we prayed once again.
I watched as he trembled slightly from behind.
He seemed to be holding back tears.
I couldn’t stand it anymore, so I patted his head gently.
That seemed to be the last straw.
Ignis clung to me and began to sob loudly.
“You did great…”
Damn.
What was that group of militants thinking…?
I don’t know which side had the right to justice.
I just felt overwhelming despair.
I let Ignis cry until he was satisfied.
After that, we brought Ignis back to the village, and arrived there around noon.
I wanted to have lunch to cheer him up, but there was something I needed to do first.
“Ignis, do you know an old man named Temoan?”
“Temuan? Yeah, I know him.” **(just wrote the sentence he still can’t understand them)
He nodded, suggesting he knew who Temuan was.
“Temuan was badly hurt. I’m going to help him, and I want you to assist me.”
I explained everything with my gestures as we headed for the clinic.
When we arrived, we grabbed all the types of medicine from the shelves and packed them into a wooden box, and then headed for Temuan’s side.
“Temuan, we’re back. Are you alive?”
“Temuan!”
Ignis ran to Temuan’s side, apparently knowing him.
“…Ignis…An …”
Temuan seemed to have a complicated expression on his face.
It’s hard to read emotions on adults’ faces.
By the way,
“Temuan, take a look at this.”
Then I showed Temuan the old wooden box I got from clinic
“…Potions…and…”
Temuan slowly took out what looked like a test tube from the box.
And as he opened the cork-like lid, he drank it all at once.
…Ngghhhh…
Temuan groaned in pain.
What is it?
He seemed to be in pain, but was he okay?
I watched nervously.
“What’s wrong? You look like you’re in pain… Are you okay?” I gestured him
Anxiously, I watched him and waited for a response.
