A cricket, having forgotten the seasons, chirped noisily. The sound of it playing the twilight while hidden in the bushes settled at my feet like a shadow. The thought that it might be the last cricket in this world weighed unusually heavily on my heart.

Piercing through the insect songs, we arrived at a ghost town devoid of any sign of life. It was a fairly large city that must have once bustled with people, but it seemed abandoned simply because of its proximity to the Capital. Of course, there might have been survivors hiding in some corner building, but at the very least, no one was there to welcome us now.

“Is there no one here?”

“I’m not sure. At least I don’t hear their cries. Haru, Saya. Do you agree?”

“I don’t sense anything either.”

“Me neither.”

Only after receiving their agreement did Ms. Rebecca approach an empty house. She glanced at me once, then carefully knocked on the door.

“Excuse me. I am Rebecca, a former Captain of the Capital Army. I am looking for a place for the children and myself to stay for the night. Is anyone there?”

“…”

“Is anyone inside?”

When no answer came no matter how much she called, Ms. Rebecca stepped back slightly. Then, lifting the crossbow she had brought from the Island, she roughly kicked the door open.

Fortunately, no crazed murderer jumped out at us. Even so, she only lowered her crossbow after thoroughly confirming the house was empty.

“Looks like no one’s here.”

“Haa…”

“Huu…”

At her declaration, sighs escaped one after another. I dragged a chair from the dining table and slumped into it. Stale dust billowed up like a cloud before my eyes.

Saya silently pulled a chair next to mine, while Haru flailed her arms around before plopping down onto Ms. Rebecca’s lap. Naturally, the metallic prosthetic hand came to rest on her head.

“Good girl.”

“Ugh, stop touching my head. It’s not like I wanted to sit here. I only came over because I was afraid of being rejected by you too, Senior, after Saya already turned me away.”

“Haru… rejected you?”

“…Hah.”

A hollow laugh escaped me at the trivial joke. I used to find that flippant tone annoying, but at this moment, even that small vitality was desperately needed. I sighed once more and stood up.

“Where are you going, Lope?”

“I’m going to look for something to eat. Will you help me?”

“Yeah. Sure.”

Saya immediately followed me and began feeling around the corner cupboard. Of course, there was no reason for an abandoned house to have much left, so the search wasn’t easy. No matter how deep I reached, all I caught was dust and cobwebs.

Just then, the sound of sobbing began to come from behind. The owner of that voice was, naturally, Erika.

“What is this…”

“…”

“I’m asking what this is…”

Meaningless mutterings drifted through the empty air. Ms. Rebecca watched her quietly before opening her mouth with a calm demeanor.

“Wasn’t that what you prepared for when you left the Island, Student Council President?”

“That’s… that’s true, but…”

“Lope, myself, and the head butler of the Anbert family all told you multiple times. Life on the mainland would definitely be difficult.”

“I know that too. But…”

“…”

“I don’t know. I just… I miss my mom. You must miss your family too, Ms. Rebecca. Right?”

Ms. Rebecca fell silent at her question. After a brief moment of hesitation, the answer that flowed out was surprisingly a denial.

“I do not miss them. Just as my family does not miss me.”

“Don’t say that.”

“I mean it. I…”

“…”

“…Who would want to see a mother like me?”

She suddenly looked down at her hand. At first glance, it seemed like she was lamenting her body that had become a machine, but Ms. Rebecca’s gaze was directed at something deeper. As if arguing that the important thing wasn’t her hand, but the deeds she had committed with it.

What on earth she was regretting, I couldn’t know. To be more precise, I had no need to know.

In the meantime, I pulled a few items out from the back of the cupboard. Although their condition didn’t look great, they at least didn’t smell strange.

“…Still, there is something here.”

“Did you find anything decent?”

“No. But at least they don’t seem spoiled.”

“That’s good enough. I’m starving to death, so just throw me whatever, Senior.”

“Between a dead rat and spoiled milk, which would you prefer?”

“If I had to choose between the two, I’d take the former. My dad used to give them to me as snacks a lot.”

At the somewhat bitter response, I dropped the rat I was holding and tossed her a hard piece of bread. I thought it was a relatively high-quality item among what we had, but Haru frowned the moment she caught it.

“This is edible, right?”

“If you soak it in water, you’ll manage somehow. Saya. Did you find anything over there?”

“Huh? Oh… no. It doesn’t look like there’s anything, Lope.”

“Then that bread and this moldy jerky are all we have.”

I lifted the faded, whitish jerky, leaving Saya who was still lingering by the cupboard. Although she couldn’t see it, the musty smell must have reached her, because Haru shook her head.

“If I’d known it would be like this, I would have eaten more soup yesterday.”

“No one could have predicted this… Ah, damn it. I can’t eat this.”

“Don’t tell me what I’m holding is our only food?”

“For now, yes. We might find more if we go out and look, though.”

“No. Don’t go out anymore today. You never know what might happen.”

Ms. Rebecca rejected my proposal as sharply as a blade. And no one argued against her words. Because everyone now knew what was out there waiting for us.

It was the very topic everyone wanted to avoid, but we had no choice but to bring it up now.

“Just how many of them are there?”

“Who knows. No one can tell.”

“Could they be eggs laid by that Dragon from before?”

“Or maybe they were spread by the one that came two weeks ago. There’s no way for anyone to know. It would be easier to just assume they’re spread all over the continent.”

“It’s going to be a difficult journey.”

“…”

It was a realistic yet bitter conclusion. Of course, since we had prepared for it, it wasn’t as big a shock as one might expect, but Erika couldn’t endure it and buried her face in her knees. And then she muttered to herself once again.

“I want to go home…”

“Erika.”

“Sorry. That was a pointless thing to say.”

“It’s fine. More importantly, I noticed there are three rooms earlier. Go into any of them and get some rest. It’s been a hard day.”

“…Yeah. I will.”

At my words, she barely nodded and staggered toward the closest room. Seeing that, Ms. Rebecca offered me a similar suggestion.

“You should go in too, Lope. I’ll keep watch outside.”

“No, there’s no need to…”

“It’s better to rest when you can. You won’t even try to rest unless I tell you to.”

“She’s right. Go get some rest, Senior. I need to figure out how to chew this… damn bread.”

“…Alright. What about you, Saya?”

“Me too… I’ll go in soon. You go in first, Lope.”

Saya shook her head, which was unlike her. That’s strange. Normally, she would have tried to follow me right away. Feeling a bit puzzled, I stepped into the room deep inside the house.

“Huu…”

A long sigh slipped out the moment I closed the door. An unpleasant premonition crossed my mind that today would be another sleepless night. I sighed once more and, with a familiar touch, unfastened the sword hanging at my waist.

And then, I stared at the unfastened sword for no reason.

“…”

Looking at the scabbard ruined by all sorts of scratches, various thoughts jumbled in my mind. It was once so polished that it reflected my face. During my Academy days, I polished it several times a day and cherished it more than my own body. Perhaps it was because I had been an outcast for so long, but sometimes it felt like my only friend.

I suppose I had relied on this sword for a long time. That’s why it was the first thing I grabbed the day our doom became certain. Perhaps, somewhere in my heart, I harbored the thought that if I just had this, everything would somehow be alright.

But how much longer can this sword help me?

Many things had changed from when we were on the Island. My opponents now were beings beyond common sense. I had been prepared for it to some extent, but after facing a Dragon directly today, a question kept rising in my mind.

As a mere human swordsman, just how many moments were left where I could overcome crises with martial prowess?

…

For a very brief moment, a sense of helplessness threatened to spread through my entire body. But this world did not tolerate me being consumed by such fragile emotions. Therefore, I shook my head and stood up. And I slowly began to take off my clothes.

It was right at that moment that Saya stepped into the room. Seeing me taking off my outerwear, she flinched and lowered her head.

“Lope. Can I come in… ah, sorry. I didn’t know.”

“Huh? No, it’s fine. I was just going to take this off.”

“Then can I come in?”

“I don’t mind. But are you going to… today too… never mind. Come in.”

Was she going to sleep together today too? I was about to ask that question, but it felt too obvious, so I kept my mouth shut. Instead, I slumped down onto the floor and leaned my back against the desolate bed.

“It was a tough day today too, Saya.”

“…It really was.”

“Are you going to sleep first? I’m not tired yet. I’m just going to sit here for a bit.”

“No. I want to stay awake a bit longer too.”

Saya shook her head and naturally came to sit beside me. Then, she modestly hugged her knees and carefully removed the gas mask she was wearing.

“Hua…”

“It must have been really stuffy, Saya.”

“No. Wearing it is actually more comfortable now. The mainland smells far worse than the Island did.”

“It smells?”

“Yeah. It’s so bad that it’s hard to breathe without the mask. Ah, but it’s fine right now. Maybe because you’re next to me?”

After finishing her words, Saya looked at me with a sudden, soft smile. It seemed unlike her somehow, so I tilted my head slightly.

“Saya. Are you tired? If you are, it’s fine to go to sleep first.”

“No. Not at all. Really. I guess I just have a lot on my mind.”

“A lot on your mind?”

“Yeah. Today… there really were a lot of things that happened.”

Her deep blue eyes sank into memories of the past. Was Saya also deeply shocked by the sight of the Dragon she met for the first time? Her habit of fiddling with her collar somehow felt incredibly lonely.

“Lope.”

Saya, who had been lost in thought for a while, suddenly called my name. And then she asked in a slightly trembling voice.

“Were you scared today?”

“What do you mean?”

“Was there even a single moment today when you were scared? Did you ever feel fear, enough to make your body truly tremble?”

“That’s…”

I couldn’t answer. I absolutely couldn’t judge what the right answer was. Whether I answered honestly or lied, I felt like it would negatively affect Saya’s feelings.

“What about you, Saya?”

“…”

“Were you scared today?”

So, cowardly, I threw the question back at her. If it were someone else, they might have snapped at me to answer my own question first. But Saya smiled a lonely smile and poured out her honest feelings.

“Yeah. I was scared, Lope.”

“…I see.”

“How could I not be scared. It was my first time seeing a Dragon. My dad used to tell me stories when I was young, but seeing it with my own eyes was different. It was really so scary, Lope.”

“I understand.”

“But that wasn’t the only thing I was scared of.”

Suddenly, Saya’s head gently rested on my shoulder. Her disheveled hair slipped under my clothes and softly tickled my skin.

“Do you remember when the arrow flew right in front of your eyes? I pretended to be calm on the outside, but I was really trembling and scared. If I had been just a little later, you could have really died. You can’t even imagine how scared I was then.”

“That was me letting my guard down. You don’t need to think about that.”

“That’s not what I mean. I just… was shocked by the fact that you almost died. I never felt this way on the Island. No matter how dangerous the situation was there, at most it was men with clubs chasing us. And those weren’t even a threat to you.”

“There were definitely dangerous moments, though.”

“Right. But I had faith that if it were you, you could somehow overcome it. But it’s different now. No matter if it’s you, you can’t dodge a flying arrow. No matter if it’s you, you can’t stop a charging carriage with strength. No matter if it’s you… you can’t face a Dragon with just a single sword.”

“Saya…”

“I suddenly had that thought. Maybe you could really die like this. No one in this world can guarantee your survival. No matter how hard I try, this world… might take you away from me.”

“Don’t think like that.”

“I know it’s a foolish thought.”

Saya lifted her head and looked at me. I felt like her cheeks were redder than usual. Not because her face was flushed or anything like that, but because of something else.

“Right. You’ll leave my side someday anyway. Even though I’m a half-elf, I’ll still live decades longer than you. Even now, thinking about that makes my heart ache so much. But thinking that you might leave even earlier than that makes me feel like I’ll go crazy.”

“It won’t come to that.”

“I want to believe that too. I absolutely don’t want to face such a future. But Lope. What if it really turns out like that? If the time given to us isn’t actually that long, what should I do?”

“Saya. You’re too close…”

“If I said I wanted to spend my time with you more preciously before that happens, would that be my selfish greed?”

A strange scent wafted from her breath, which was so close our noses were almost touching. It was slightly different from the forget-me-not scent she usually had, a smell that made my mind feel hazy. Since I had smelled it before, I furrowed my brows slightly.

“Lope…”

“…”

Just then, Saya suddenly hiccuped and nuzzled her head against my chest. Through the thin fabric, I felt a faintly intoxicating warmth rising. It was a sight I had seen countless times in my life—the appearance of some shameful adults.

Only then did I realize the truth and let out a hollow laugh. Earlier, when we were searching the cupboard, Saya said she hadn’t found anything, but that wasn’t true. I lifted her flushed cheeks and looked into her slightly unfocused eyes and asked.

“Saya, don’t tell me you…”