[Short Story Collection - Flower Crown] Episode 21: 'The Wind Carrier (Part 3)'
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The Wind Carrier (Part 3) - Grage -
The wind blew.
The air wavered softly for a moment, and then the scene before my eyes began to change slowly.
The embers of the campfire died out, and the shadows deepened.
The scent of damp earth faded, and in its place, the smell of dry grass and soot brushed past my nose.
"This is... another night, isn't it?"
Salim's voice echoed softly from behind me.
I nodded. But it was no longer my body.
Just an observer. A shadow walking through a landscape of memories.
In my line of sight—there were I, and Fail.
The two of us were in front of a campfire. On the edge of the campsite, in the shelter of a rock that blocked the wind. The night air was cold, and Fail was rubbing his hands together while arranging the firewood.
"Hey, Grage."
Salim stood beside me.
"Is this something you really remember, Grage?"
Or is it... someone else's memory?"
"...I don't know. But it was certainly a night that happened."
Sparks flew from the flint, and Fail laughed softly.
"I like this sound. It feels like the sound of something being born."
The 'me' in the memory silently fanned the embers, and eventually, the flames spread quietly.
"...Fail, you're good at starting fires."
"Did you just praise me? Did you really just praise me?"
I just said it.
The two of them sat down around the campfire. Fail took some dried meat out of a bag and silently held it out to me; I stared at it for a moment without moving, then eventually took it.
Grage... in my family, they used to say that fire is the 'human heart.' If you treat it roughly, it will come to dislike you.
...Is that so.
Grage, you...
As the fire gradually began to glow, he spoke up quietly.
Are you angry?
...At what?
Everything. At the country, at the war, at being called a slave—and at me.
I didn't answer. But the sound of the fire crackling filled that silence perfectly.
In the scenery, the two soldiers are staring at the fire.
In that silence, Salim asked me.
Why were you with me?
I couldn't answer. But instead, the voice of my past self filled that silence.
...I'm not angry. I've just given up.
Grage, giving up is proof that you had expectations. Of people. Of the country. ...And of yourself, too.
The wind shook the flames of the campfire. Shadows flickered and danced, and for a moment, it looked as if Fail's face had turned toward me.
But that was an illusion. It was nothing more than a fragment of memory.
'...So this is the wind that man left behind.'
'Hey, Grage.'
Salim said.
'...Did you like Fail?'
Salim's voice lit up in my chest, quiet as warming myself by the fire once more.
The flames of the campfire flickered suddenly.
<<To be continued>>