Bonus Stories

Maika and the Cat

Today was another day of studying with Ash. Thinking about the fun ahead made work so much easier. I had become quicker at getting my tasks done and as a result my mom no longer scolded me as much. Every day was fun.

As I entered the church, I saw Ash’s head peeking out from the benches. But something seemed off. His head was not tilted as if he was reading. Could it be? I quietly sneaked up next to him and, as expected, it was not the same Ash as always. His eyes were closed, and his head was hanging down as if all strength had been sapped from his neck. He was asleep! What a super rare sight! Usually he was energetic from morning until evening. But this was my big chance to get a look at his sleeping face, which was otherwise reserved for his family members.

Taking care not to wake him up, I got even closer. His face, which always showed a gentle smile or raging hellfire in his eyes, now looked serene as if he had forgotten all his worries. It was the opposite of his usual mature expression. I couldn’t help but be charmed by his naturally innocent features.

“How cute!”

I wonder if he’ll notice if I keep staring like this. But I can’t help myself. Just a bit longer. And maybe a bit closer. Seeing how fast asleep he was, I thought it was safe to approach even further. But as I started moving, I felt as if I was being observed. Oh no, I can’t let anyone see me. This is too embarrassing. I reflexively turned towards the gaze. It didn’t come from either left or right, but rather from below.

“...”

Then our eyes met.

“...”

Mine and those of the cat on Ash’s lap. How I envied this cat! How I wished I could have been on his lap too! I would have been so happy to look up at his sleeping face from there. While I ground my teeth, I couldn’t bring myself to drive away the cat who was sitting imposingly. If by any chance I woke up Ash, this dreamlike situation would end.

Besides, it was rare to see this cat who would usually not let anyone touch him be so comfortable around a human. As the only cat in our village, he was very popular with both children and adults, but he seemed to prefer being left alone. Whenever someone approached to pet him, he ran away on the spot. It felt unreal to seem him relaxed in Ash’s lap. Could it be that this little guy was also charmed by Ash?

As I stared the cat squinted and quietly meowed. I knew what he was trying to tell me. He was saying, ‘Ash is special.’ I agree. Ash is so wonderful. If I was a cat, I would also jump onto his lap any chance I got. That desire only grew stronger when I looked once again at Ash’s sleeping face. I really liked him. I liked him so much that my chest tightened just from getting a glimpse at a new side of his.

I could hear his calm breathing. Not being aware of how he was making other people feel, Ash was sleeping peacefully. My eyes were drawn to his lips. He was sound asleep. It didn’t look like he was going to wake up anytime soon. Maybe I could get just a little bit closer? Just a little bit, a tiny little bit...

Yuika’s Light

My daughter Maika was down with a fever. No doubt she had caught a cold. Outside had become much colder and there were several other sick people in the village. In a hurry, I had my husband Klein report to my family in the city in my place, so that I could take care of Maika.

“You’ve got a really high fever. Make sure to rest well.”

No matter what I said, she didn’t respond. She kept breathing heavily. For the time being, I put a wet towel on her forehead to lower her temperature. Oh wait. According to Ash, it was more effective to place the towel on the neck or under the armpits. It seemed that when it came to my own daughter, I had forgotten the same advice which I had given to all the other villagers who reported having a fever. This was no good. I needed to get a hold of myself.

“You’ll get through this Maika.”

She was sweating profusely. Ash said that in this case it was best to have her take in as much liquid as possible. I needed to prepare some salt honey water. It was already past breakfast time and soon the other sick villagers would come to pick up their portion too. But I also couldn’t just leave Maika alone...

As I was in this state of confusion and my body had frozen, I heard a knock on the door accompanied by a soothing voice.

“Mrs. Yuika? It is me, Ash. Your husband told me everything and I have come to help.”

“Ash! Please come in. Maika is asleep.”

I felt relieved. My husband Klein, my pride and joy, had made sure to let a capable and reliable person know of our situation before leaving the village. That person was Ash.

“I am coming in. I heard that Maika has caught a cold.” Ash took a fleeting glimpse at me and Maika with a calm expression on his face. “Please stay beside Maika. May I borrow your kitchen in the meantime?”

“Of course. You can use anything you want.”

I expected nothing less of Ash. He had immediately understood that I needed his help. It was also very gentleman-like of him to not pry around the room more than necessary.

“I am not just going to do anything. First, I will boil the water and make the salt honey water. I have also brought some cold medicine that I made. Leave it to me to deal with the other sick villagers.”

“Thank you. I’ll leave it to you.”

Ash replied with a comforting smile. I could see why Maika always went on about how his smile looked like a sun. It radiated like a bright and warm light. Nothing had changed but I felt like everything was going to be okay.

“Afterwards, I will also prepare lunch and dinner. I am thinking of cooking an easily digestible stew. I want to use your oldest ingredients first, so I will consult you again later regarding that matter.”

Seeing him act so swiftly lifted a weight off my shoulders. I was sure things were going to be alright. I had met with Ash before and we had planned for exactly this situation. We were resolved to get every single villager through this winter. My confused thoughts started to clear up. It was as if I had found a light guiding me in the right direction.

“Maika, your crush is really reliable.”

You can’t let him slip through your fingers. You need to rest and get well soon, so you can be by Ash’s side again.

Tanya’s Light

Before I knew it, I had given up on a lot of things. When both my parents had died, I threw a lot of my dreams out of my nest. I sacrificed my free time to raise my younger brother Jigil. I had no time to foster my secret feelings for my big bro even though I yearned to be with him. My dreams of becoming a beekeeper and stepping into my dad’s footsteps had already been rotting away for a long time at that point. I missed dipping my fingers into the honey that my dad harvested and indulging in my mom’s dishes made with that same honey. Recently even those cherished memories had started to fade away. However, now things were different.

“Tanya.”

As I sat on a fallen tree, big bro Ban called out to me. I had come with him and Ash to the forest to train for my upcoming tasks as beekeeper. Seeing as how I was the only one out of breath, I realized that I still needed a lot of practice.

“Thanks, big bro. I’m just a little tired, but I’m fine.”

I smiled but he looked worried. He took the towel from around my neck and started wiping the sweat off my forehead and neck.

“Wipe it off.”

While I had known him for a long time and I liked my big bro, I still didn’t completely understand all of his short remarks. As I tilted my head in bewilderment, Ash, who had wandered off by himself, came back.

“Ban is saying that you should not ignore your sweat because you will end up using even more stamina.”

Big bro nodded along in satisfaction to Ash’s explanation. Is that what you meant? Ignoring the look of surprise on my face, Ash was taking clues from big bro’s gestures and kept the conversation going. Big bro didn’t say a single word the entire time. Most people would have only seen a blank stare on his face, but Ash seemed to know exactly what he was trying to say.

I got a little anxious. Would I also eventually be able to understand him as well after spending more time together? I knew that Ash was amazing, but in this regard, I didn’t want to lose out to him. I wanted to be Ban’s bride after all. Eventually. At the moment I couldn’t even bring myself to say it out loud...

I felt determined when both of them looked up at the same time.

“Ban, was that a turtle dove?”

A turtle dove! I remembered how big bro would always bring those to our house and my mom prepared them together with honey. Covering the wings in honey sauce before grilling them gave it a uniquely delicious flavor which I could feel explode in my mouth at this moment. This was one of the memories that had started to fade away, but now I could recollect it so clearly that my stomach started to grumble. And I knew exactly what had triggered it.

On the day I had handed over to Ash the book which had been passed down in my family for generations, he asked me if I wanted to try beekeeping. When I was ready to refuse and give up because I couldn’t read, he just encouraged me by saying that was irrelevant. He said that I didn’t have to give up anything yet. With those words he picked up all the dreams which I had thrown out and handed them back to me. I swore that I would hold on to them as long as possible.

“If we had honey, we could prepare a delicious meal with that turtle dove...”

Hearing my words, Ash and big bro Band exchanged glances and nodded. A little later I was able to once again enjoy that nostalgic meal, together with my big bro praising my cooking.

Folke’s Light

“Father Folke, it is time to wake up and get out of your coffin!”

An intruder had entered my private dwelling room at the back of the church without even knocking. There was only one person in this village who would’ve done something like this. I forced my sleep deprived body out of bed.

“Ahhh...Is it morning already? I’m still tired.”

“You should go to bed earlier. That way you can get more sleep and live a healthier life.”

It was Ash who had walked past the three guarding holy statues as if it was no big deal and come in without permission. Even the gods seemed to be powerless in the face of this guy. On the outside he looked like a regular ten-year-old boy, but on the inside, he was a stupid brat who could have made even a demon prostrate themselves in front of him. This frightening child who might have even appeared like the demon king himself to some, mocked me, a priest, with every breath he took.

“Well that is if you are alive. Father Folke, how many years ago did you die again?”

“Hey, I’ve not died even once since I was born!”

He was probably referring to the fact that apparently all the other villagers had been calling me the “zombie priest”. I would have been lying if I said that I hadn’t been aware of that nickname at all. Yes, I did resemble a rotting corpse when I first arrived at this village, but now I had changed. I was fully living as a priest.

“Have you been up all night studying again?”

“Once I start, I just forget the time.”

“You should start calling it a night when your candle burns out. Working sleep deprived is not efficient.”

While lecturing me, this impudent brat was serving me soup from the pot which he had brought. He finished it off by plopping in a slice of bread. Hey, watch out.

“Here is your breakfast. Make sure to say thank you to the three gods and my mother before eating.”

“I am thankful to everything in heaven and on earth, besides Ash.”

I tried to fight back by saying a crude little grace, but Ash was not the kind of innocent child who got offended easily.

“Of course, you do not need to thank me. I will charge you afterwards.”

“Should’ve expected that from a brat like you.”

As we teased each other, I couldn’t help but smile. We never really engaged in small talk, most of the time we just ended up exchanging insults. With anyone else this would have ended up in a fight. But I didn’t have to worry about that when it came to me and Ash. There was a strange bond of trust between us.

It was clear why he felt so comfortable talking to someone older than him without any constraints. We were fellow dreamers. That alone made us closer than any siblings. And to be honest, sometimes I even enjoyed our conversations. However, since I didn’t want Ash to sense any of this, I stuffed myself with the soaked bread to hide my expression.

“Lately this soup of yours has been really good.”

“Right? I have been able to collect all the best ingredients.”

Ash replied happily while he was changing the sheets and making my bed.

“I will take those home to wash.” He said.

“Don’t worry, I can do that myself later.”

“No, no matter what you say, I know you are the type of person who will not change the sheets until there is mold.”

“Are you my mother?”

“No, I am just a volunteer who is trying to avoid having to deal with a corpse in the village.”

“You little brat.”

You really don’t have to worry about that. Yes, I was the zombie priest until a while ago, but I’ve come fully back to life, and it’s all thanks to you. I was surprised myself. I had never thought it possible to revive with so much passion from my lethargic state. You really are a legend in the making, Ash.

The Undying Light (Maika’s perspective)

I was trembling with fear. I felt as if I was going to faint at any moment. Ash’s upper body was painted in bright red blood and his face was pale as snow. On the brink of death, his heavy breathing remained the only sign showing he was still alive. Anyone could have guessed what had happened seeing as there was a huge bear lying next to him. Ash had fought and defeated the bear, but gotten seriously injured in the process. That is why I had said I wanted to go with him! Stupid Ash!

I started to feel anger rise in me, only to be immediately frozen again by my fear. There was a chance Ash was going to die. At this rate it was almost certain. I was so scared, I just wanted to burst into tears and run away. I wanted to cry out for my mom but there was no point in calling the name of someone who wasn’t even in the village. I couldn’t rely on anyone. No one was here to help. My love was about to die, and I didn’t know what to do.

My eyes welled up with tears. Did I really not know what to do? I was wiping away my tears faster than they could fall. Ash had happily told me what to do before he passed out, so I should know what to do. I remembered his last words. Stop the bleeding and use the ointment. After that I was supposed to take off the bandage to restore the blood flow. And he used poison on the bear, so I needed to cook it well before eating. That last one doesn’t really matter now. I had to remember the rest. Everything he had said were things that I had previously learned from him.

It was bad for you if the evil little things, the germs, entered through the wound. That was why it was necessary to disinfect. The claws of a bear were covered in bacteria, I needed to thoroughly cleanse the wound. Besides, the village itself was not that clean on the whole, so I needed to cover up the wound with a freshly washed cloth. And I also had to boil the well water before using it, since that was full of bacteria too. I remembered everything Ash had taught me.

“Everyone, listen! This is what we need to do to save Ash!”

First, we had to bring him to a place where it was possible to properly treat him.

“Men, please carry Ash to my house! I also need the people living close by to boil some water and bring it there!”

Mr. David was the first to respond. While comforting Mrs. Sheba he effortlessly lifted up Ash.

“That’s a job fer me! Don’t ya worry, this one won’t drop dead so easily!”

What else did I have to do? If only someone who had experience treating wounds like my dad or Ban were here...

“Maika, please let me help too!”

Tanya had pushed her way through the crowd of people.

“I have learnt a bit from going into the forest with big bro Ban and Ash has also taught me how to treat wounds, so I think I can help!”

Right, I could rely on Tanya who had also sat in on my lessons with Ash.

“Maika, I have brought a book that Ash used as a reference for medical stuff. If there’s anything you don’t know, you can look it up in here.”

Folke had arrived holding up a book in his hands. Thank you, priest. With the medical guide that Ash had read as a reference, even someone who was as bad at remembering things like me could get the job done.

“Okay, let’s hurry up! We can’t let Ash die!”