TNZKMA 124

１２４

 

I might be talking with Mom like this for the first time. When we were on the other side, Mom and I didn’t talk much. She worked at night and slept during the day. Our schedules were completely out of sync. Dad’s was the same.

[Can you talk to Dad too?]

[I wonder… He’s so shy in strange ways. And he’ll probably avoid talking about the bad things he did to you. He really doesn’t have the guts. He’s such a coward.]

[I see… I felt like I could talk to Dad now too.]

I thought that if I could laugh and talk with Mom, maybe I could do the same with Dad. It was a bit disappointing, and I sighed a little.

[I don’t know when it’ll be, but I’ll tell him. When he comes, I’ll talk about you.]

[Great! Then, say thank you for me.]

[What for?]

[I got help from Dad. When I came to the forest before, I was about to be killed by a monster, and he helped me. Oh, come to think of it, maybe Mom helped me too? The moving tree helped me out.]

Dad is shy, but I think Mom is the same. She’s used to being called foolish and takes it in stride, laughing it off, but when it comes to praise or gratitude, she tends to run away.

When I said thank you, Mom seemed embarrassed and just shook her leaves without saying anything.

I was really glad to have met Mom’s tree. I truly feel that way.

While talking with Mom, I heard a rustling sound behind me. Turning around, I saw Saine standing there with a surprised expression.

[Saine!?]

I dashed over and leaped into Saine’s arms.

[Saine! Saine! Saine! Saine!]

Clinging to Saine, I kept calling his name through my tears.

[Saine, I… I…]

[I’ll listen to the story later. For now, just keep crying.]

Saine effortlessly lifted me up and patted my back. Seeing Saine’s reassuring smile up close, I cried even harder. I cried so much that Saine’s shoulder became completely soaked.

After I finally calmed down, my head felt fuzzy from all the crying. It felt like I always cry when I reunite with Saine in the forest, even though it’s only happened twice.

With my blurred vision, I looked around. While still being held by Saine, I noticed that Mom’s tree was gently rustling its leaves.

[Saine… Mom.]

I reached out and pointed to Mom’s tree. Saine looked puzzled, furrowing his brow in confusion.

[That’s my mom.]

[It’s a tree.]

[Yeah. Mom’s reincarnation didn’t go well. She turned into a tree.]

While still holding me, Saine walked towards Mom’s tree.

[I’ve never heard of anyone reincarnating as a tree.]

[But it’s Mom. And remember that black armored bug? That’s Dad.]

I found it amusing and laughed heartily. Mom as a tree, Dad as a bug, and me as a male Reincarnator—it’s quite a family Ceremony failure.

[…Is she really your mother?]

[Yeah.]

Mom’s sudden voice surprised Saine, and he took three steps back.

[Is he your husband?]

[Isn’t he cool?]

I gave a sheepish smile, and Mom’s tree shook its leaves in response.

[Saine is not just cool, he’s strong and kind. He’s such a great husband that I don’t even deserve him. I really, really love Saine.]

Maybe it’s because Mom’s now a tree, but I felt comfortable bragging about Saine to her. I hugged Saine tightly, and he hugged me back, gently patting my back.

[…Is that so? If you’re happy, then that’s fine.]

Mom’s voice had a gentle, smiling tone.

[Mom?]

[Be happy.]

[Yeah!]

Mom scattered her leaves as if to bless my firm nod. I said goodbye to her and started walking through the forest with Saine. When I looked back, Mom’s spot had already disappeared.

[Do you know where Mom was?]

[No…]

Saine shook his head.

[I’ve never seen a place like that before. It must be a bewilderment path. You can’t enter unless you’re invited.]

[Bewilderment path?]

[It’s a path where trees move to hide the way. If you try to force your way in without being invited, you’ll face misfortune.]

[Mom’s place felt special.]

[Indeed. It’s a place with significance.]

Saine walked on the mossy ground, making sure to match my pace. As we moved further from Mom’s location, Saine’s tension increased. We were getting closer to the realm of monsters.

[I was in the East Section plaza. I was waiting for the ritual to end when a strong wind blew, and before I knew it, I fell underground.]

[Andergrawnd?]

That’s a weird pronunciation. I wonder if he doesn’t know what “underground” means.

[It means below the ground. There was a passage under the town. Remember when Dol and Orephin went into a hole to get materials? It was something like that. There was another street below the ground.]

I demonstrated with my hand, showing the town above and the passage below to Saine.

[There were stairs in the passage. When I climbed them and went outside, I ended up in this forest. This is the same forest we visited, right?]

[Yes.]

Even though I thought we had walked for a long time, it turned out to be the distance from the town to the forest.

[But this is quite deep into the forest. If we go a bit further, we’ll enter the mountains.]

[I’m glad you came to get me. If it had been just me, I wouldn’t have been able to get out of the forest. Plus, in the underground passage, Kyui helped me. The ceiling was about to collapse, and Kyu held it up.]

[I see. But you walked through the passage yourself, right?]

[…Yeah. Kyui fell asleep and was tired, so I wanted to let it rest. The path was pitch dark and scary, but I knew that sitting down there wouldn’t help. I walked because I wanted to see you again. Even though it was dark, I wasn’t scared.]

[Are you no longer afraid of the dark?]

[Uh, well, not really… It’s not that I’m completely not scared, but I could deceive myself. I thought of the dark as your eyes, so it was like I was in the dark with you.]

When I looked up, Saine, with eyes like pitch darkness, was looking down at me.

[I absolutely wanted to see you again.]

Saine ruffled my hair, his touch strong enough to make my head wobble.

[Good. Well done.]

Saine bent down slightly and gave me a kiss.