Chapter 3 — An Ivory Honeymoon

1

It amazed me how easily people could get used to terrifying experiences like a night in the mountains; by now, I could pass the whole night without even the slightest fear. I never wanted to continue traveling regardless. A precarious night’s sleep was far better than trying to follow a mountain pass at night.

For her part, Nito was still unused to this, and had been frightened of the unlit dark in the mountains, without a single streetlight and with only unreliable moonlight. I wondered what kind of expression she’d make if we had to camp in the mountains again tonight.

Fortunately, the road had already started its descent: past the clearing on the mountain where we’d set up camp, the landscape opened up into wide plateaus and gentle slopes, and I could make out a road cutting through the area beneath us. We were bound to be back on level ground by the evening.

I sat cross-legged on the sheeting and opened up the map I’d found in the truck. With the stops at the station on the water and Vandyke’s workshop, we’d been roughly following the road drawn on the map, albeit with detours. The final stop on the map was the bridge upstream of us. That wasn’t our destination though. Our business lay in the town before it. Checking the map was reassuring; as long as I kept an eye on my destination and stayed updated on the distance remaining, I wasn’t lost. That alone was a significant relief, mentally speaking.

As I folded the map and placed it to the side, a gust of wind came through a nearby grove of trees. The breeze nearly took the map with it and I frantically pinned it down with my cup of coffee.

This wide, flat clearing in the mountains must have once been a rest stop for those crossing them, or maybe some kind of campground. Little signs of people maintaining the space stood out here and there: black soot marks on a stove someone had made from rocks, a table and bench created from joined-together logs, and other such things. There was also a brook flowing nearby and so water was no concern. The environment was ideal for camping.

I refilled the Kettle’s water tank, along with the drums in the roof carrier, and brewed some more coffee with my Svea. Nito hadn’t returned even after I’d drunk three cups of it. She had probably found somewhere to paint and then lost track of time, as usual. At first, I’d been impatient when that happened and wanted to just get going again instead of waiting around. After a few days, though, I was used to it. I’d realized there was no reason to rush.

I got tired of sitting and let myself fall onto my back. The sheeting was thin so I was well aware of how hard the ground was beneath me. Oh, how I longed for the softness of a bed. I hadn’t even borrowed one the night we’d stayed with Vandyke, just pitched my tent in the workshop to sleep. Now I regretted having held back.

The sun rose steadily, bathing the clearing in white light. It was probably close to summer. I had a feeling that the scenery was getting more vivid each day. Stretching out where I lay, I felt the chill of the breeze on my skin as I listened to the leaves rustling and gazed at the green patterns formed by the swaying shadows under the trees. Naturally, my eyes grew heavier. In my half-daydreaming state, it took a while for me to realize that the sound I was hearing was real. Far off in the distance, I could hear a whistle. It was distorted by its echoes, but I made out five short blasts, followed by one long blast.

My sleepiness vanished in an instant and I leaped up. I strained my ears. Silence reigned for a long moment. Then, the whistle—five short blasts, one long blast.

I didn’t know what it was for, but someone was sounding a whistle. Now wasn’t the time to be lazing around. I tossed out the remnants of my coffee and crammed all the luggage that was laying out into my box before rolling up the sheeting. As I finished loading everything into the Kettle, Nito came back down the river path carrying her easel.

“Did you hear that?” I asked.

“I did.” She nodded. “I think it’s a distress whistle.”

“A distress whistle?”

That was a disturbing phrase. Nito put her easel onto her auto-trike’s luggage rack as she answered me.

“It’s a whistle signal that trains and boats once used. Five short blasts followed by one long blast means they have an emergency and need help.”

“Impressive detail. What are you, a sailor?”

I was genuinely impressed as I spoke, but her cheeks reddened for some reason and she looked away.

Eventually, she answered, “When I was young, there was a period when I was really into sailing novels.”

Can you even use that phrase at your age?

“Anyway,” I said instead of voicing that question, “someone is looking for help?”

“That’s right,” she replied, resting her chin in her hand and thinking. “I’m not entirely happy to just go look into it though. I’ve read about people who set off those signals and then attack the people that come to help. You can’t tell whether they’re good people or not from the whistle.”

“I get it. Scammers, huh?”

It seemed all too likely, which worried me a little.

“Okay. Let’s get in the car and take a closer look first,” I decided.

“Are you sure?” Nito asked after a pause.

“I wouldn’t want to ignore people if they really are in trouble. Vandyke helped us, after all.”

The phrase “paying it forward” felt a little excessive here, but in any case I was sure that it would bother me all week if we just moved on and ignored the signal. I’d end up thinking, “Maybe they really were in trouble,” or “I wonder what happened to them,” or even “Was there anyone other than us that could have helped?” I would lose a lot of sleep if I had those concerns running through my head each night.

I always kept the Kettle’s boiler hot until we decided where we’d camp for the night, so now we were able to get going as soon as we got in. As we descended the curving mountain pass, I noticed that Nito was looking at me out of the corner of her eye.

“What’s up?”

“Just... Should we get the gun ready?”

“For self-defense?”

“Yes.”

“We won’t need it. Probably. Plus, if we showed up holding a gun then it’d look like we were going to attack them even if we offered help.”

Nito nodded with an “I see” before turning her gaze back out front.

The whistle sounded several more times as we descended the mountain. It seemed to grow louder each time we heard it. They must be somewhere up the road. In that case, we had no choice; we would come across them along our route whether we liked it or not. The trees thinned as we went. We were almost out of the mountains, and the sunlight was starting to cast our surroundings in a red glow, when we saw it up ahead.

“It’s an elephant,” I let out.

“An elephant?”

“Huh, you don’t have them? They’re animals with big ears and a long nose.”

“I’ve never heard of one. An animal that looks like that thing exists in your world?”

“Well, the ears and nose are the same, and I guess the size...”

It was a large, boxy steam-powered vehicle. I don’t know exactly what determines if something’s an SUV or a minivan, but it was in that range. Instead of plain side mirrors, it had big protruding ones that looked just like an elephant’s ears, and its “nose” curved outward as it stretched up from under the windshield. Those were the only two decorations it had.

A tall, thin man was standing next to it waving a hunting cap at us. A woman wearing a light pink dress stepped out from the shadow of the vehicle and mimicked him, timidly waving a hand. I glanced toward the passenger seat and Nito nodded. She must have thought there wouldn’t be an issue with stopping, and I agreed. The man and woman both had completely white hair and looked for all the world like an elderly couple.

I pulled to a stop next to the elephant car and rolled my window down. The slender old man approached with a bright smile on his face.

“Oh, to think that we would find other travelers in a place like this!” he exclaimed. “This must be the Crimson Saint’s guidance. If you can spare it, we would greatly appreciate your aid.”

“What’s the problem?” I asked, not moving my hand from the throttle.

I was ready to flee at a moment’s notice. The man stooped forward toward me and noticed Nito in the passenger seat. His eyes widened and he gave a considerate nod.

“I wouldn’t blame you for passing us by with the world as it is. I have to thank you for even stopping. As you can see, we are old and weak and in no position to do you harm, rest assured.”

He must have sensed our wariness. His tone was gentle and I felt somewhat guilty for doubting him. Even so, I hesitated to pull my hand off the throttle. If I’d been alone then I might not have minded, but Nito was with me now. I wanted to prioritize safety over politeness.

I silently bid him speak, and the old man smiled. A strange understanding passed between us; I could tell that he’d comprehended my thought process and agreed as a matter of course.

“It seems that we have lost a case of mana stones during our journey. We’d run out of fuel by the time we noticed and now my wife and I are stranded here.”

“That definitely is a disaster,” I agreed.

“I suppose we should have stored the fuel inside. Cutting corners to save a bit of effort in the short term never pays off,” he mused, then continued, “If you have sufficient supplies then it would be stupendously helpful if you would be willing to exchange some of your fuel for our goods.”

The old man bowed deeply, practically folding himself in half. The woman followed suit behind him. With both of them going that far, I felt almost obliged. Then, something tugged at my sleeve to pull my hand away from the throttle. I looked toward Nito and she nodded—shallowly, but several times.

“Okay then. We have a bit of a glut ourselves,” I answered, letting go of the throttle.

2

I pulled a wooden crate of mana stones from the Kettle and transferred it to the elephant car. The old couple gave their names as Ned and Julie. We introduced ourselves as well, and while they were politely thanking us the sun sank completely behind the horizon. As we worried over whether to set out before night fell, Julie gave a gentle suggestion.

“If you aren’t in a hurry, would you like to eat dinner with us?”

Neither Nito nor I could refuse her offer or the soft smile that came with it. After all, we had nothing but time.

Since there wouldn’t be any cars traveling, we laid out the groundsheet right in the middle of the road. Then we quickly collected firewood before the sunlight vanished entirely. Ned had a fire stand with legs and he lit a fire in it with practiced movements. As twilight fell, we all sat around the campfire eating.

“To think the day would come when we could eat meat that wasn’t out of a can! I apologize for my rudeness but I just can’t resist!”

“Ned!” scolded Julie.

I shook my head with a grin.

“We appreciate it actually. I wasn’t sure we could eat all of this with just the two of us.”

I’d been overjoyed when Vandyke had given us the mass of meat—until I’d realized the simple fact that we had no fridge. Nito and I both had average appetites, so the meat would have gone off before we could eat it all. Sharing it with everyone like this was far better. Besides, they had contributed the cooking gear and seasoning, and even taken on the cooking itself. We just sat on folding chairs they’d provided as they took care of everything.

They put a grill over the fire and skewered some meat before laying it on the grill to cook. Then they put that meat and some vegetables into a heavy pot and boiled them to make a soup. Cooking over an open fire had a different knack to it than cooking in a kitchen, but Julie carried everything out without hesitation.

“You seem comfortable at this,” I remarked.

“I used to cook over a wood-burning stove, so I’m used to working around a bit of inconvenience.”

“Was each meal a lot of effort back then?” Ned asked.

That reaction seemed out of balance considering their relationship, and the whole moment just had a sense of strangeness to it. Julie poured the soup out into wooden bowls and passed them to Nito and me. The scent grabbed my attention, and the sense of strangeness vanished before I could grasp it fully. The bowl had large morsels of meat and cut-up leaves that looked something like spinach floating in it. I took a mouthful and then started in surprise.

“I hope the taste suits you younger kids,” she said. “Does it taste too thin?”

“Not at all. It’s great,” I answered, and Nito nodded along from next to me.

The meat wasn’t the only flavor in the dish. Despite the soup itself being almost transparent, it was thick and slightly sweet. Like clear-broth soups, it also had a mild aftertaste. I could probably have kept drinking it forever.

“What is this flavor?”

“It’s made from a wild plant called cresso. The leaves are good as a solid ingredient while the roots make a great soup stock if you boil them.”

While we were gorging on the soup, Ned had set about cooking some more chunks of meat. He pulled out a dried red fruit from his can case and put it on a chopping board. Then he took the knife hanging from his waist and used the end of the handle to crush it. He took the powdered fruit and rubbed it into the meat. Then Julie took over, taking the meat and wrapping it in a thin skin-like covering before putting it into the fire.

“Will it be okay right in the flames?” I asked.

I couldn’t shake the thought of the meat scorching. Nito even leaned forward, looking worriedly at it. Ned just laughed as he picked up his blow poke from where it stood off to the side. It was a thin metal pipe with an ivory-colored handle, and must have been something he was proud of. A tiny claw curled up from its tip, so it would work as a plain fire poker as well.

“There’s a type of deer that lives in volcanic belts that’s called deadera,” he told us. “This skin is from one of them. It stands up well to flames and heat, so this little campfire is nothing. Roasting meat in deadera skin is a wonderful cooking technique.”

He angled the blow poke at the fire stand and used the claw to cover the meat with firewood. Then he put his lips to the ivory handle and puffed up his cheeks. Immediately, the fire flared up, the flames rippling. He took his mouth away and heaved a few breaths before he got himself under control. Julie reached out and patted him on the back.

“Are you all right? You always get too excited.”

“I’d love to say I could still keep up with the youngsters, but that’s not going to happen,” he said, a rueful smile on his face as he pressed a hand to his chest.

“Do you want to switch?” I asked him.

“If you don’t mind,” he said, then wiped the opening carefully with a cloth. “The temperature is important for this, so the fire needs to be stronger.”

I took the pipe as he offered it to me, and was surprised at the handle’s smoothness. It fit well in my hand, almost like it was conforming to my grip.

“Brilliant, right?” Ned asked with a grin.

“It is,” I answered, grinning back.

“This is made from the first tusk of a huge herbivore called a fout. If you treat it to enhance its smoothness, it’s said to be almost as smooth as a woman’s—”

“Ned! You’re in front of a lady,” Julie scolded him.

Ned cleared his throat exaggeratedly before saying, “Pardon me.”

I glanced at Nito to see her looking blankly back at me. I realized it might be better to take extra care with our words in front of a pure and innocent girl like her.

Following Ned’s example, I readied the blow poke and put my lips to the opening. Despite how hard the material surely was, it felt soft against my lips, probably due to the heat from the fire. It was almost warm even. A woman’s... Right then...

Carefully hidden so Julie wouldn’t see it, Ned gave me a thumbs up. His eyes sparkled with laughter and seemed to ask, “Good, right?” I held in my own laughter and blew down the pipe.

All the air compressed inside it before bursting out of the end. Flames flared out and the red and yellow glow at the center of the piled logs burned more vividly in the night’s darkness. As I stopped blowing, the fire practically bounced back up to full strength. Nito let out a murmur of wonder from beside me.

“It’s good to be young,” Ned said wistfully.

“It sure is,” Julie agreed.

I was a little embarrassed by their praise; all I’d done was blow down a pipe after all. Glancing to the side, I saw Nito was gazing at the blow poke.

“Want to try?” I asked her.

She worried over it for a bit, and then just as I thought she was about to nod, she hurriedly shook her head. Make up your mind.

“Oh my! Well, you are a girl,” Julie said, chuckling elegantly.

What was that supposed to mean? Maybe she just didn’t want me to see her with her cheeks all puffed up.

“Forget about it, Keisuke,” Ned told me. “A woman’s heart is forged iron: no matter how much a man may try, he’ll never fathom it. All we can do is offer our praise to their beauty.”

He threw another log on the fire as he finished his life lesson and returned to the fire-blowing lessons.

“Right, right,” he directed me. “Get the wood with the end. That’s it, gather it on top of the meat... You’re doing great. You’ve got a knack for this.”

“You can have a knack for it?”

“Of course, and yours is real indeed.”

“You’ll make me blush.”

Huh, so that’s how it works? I’ll do my best then, I thought as I put more force behind the blowing.

“Ever heard of the word ‘modesty’?” Nito interjected from the sidelines.

“It’s just the truth. I’ve got a knack, apparently.”

“He’s just being polite.”

“You just don’t get it. Look, look at these flames. Aren’t they burning beautifully? That’s my knack.”

“They’d be just as pretty without you.”

“Don’t you think there’s a better gloss to them now?”

“What gloss?”

“Here. Right here, this area.”

“I have no clue what you’re talking about.”

Laughter came from in front of us. We both looked toward it at the same time and saw Ned and Julie laughing happily. It was a cheerful sound. I looked back at Nito and she looked away in embarrassment. The red tint on her pale cheeks wasn’t just a reflection from the flames.

“You two seem close,” Julie said.

“We are indeed. The best of friends, in fact,” I said, nodding, at the exact same time that Nito answered with a wave of her hand: “Not particularly. We’ve only just met.”

What she’d said was completely true, of course.

“Oh my, only just met and you’re traveling together?” Ned asked, only to get a smack to his knee from Julie.

“Don’t be rude. Everyone has their reasons.”

I chatted about my circumstances, and what had happened since we’d met. The two of them responded appropriately, nodding along and giving impressed murmurs. It almost felt like I was a professional storyteller. There are fewer people passionate about listening than people passionate about talking, so it was a rare experience for me.

“Well, isn’t that just a quirk of fate,” Ned marveled. “And that little quirk saved us too.”

“It must have been quite difficult coming here from another world. There aren’t even countries anymore,” Julie sympathized earnestly, and I was honestly grateful for it.

“I wish we had better sights to show you,” she continued wistfully. “If Coven were still around, they would have probably been helpful for you.”

“Coven?” I asked her.

“It was a research institute formed when the country still had several large labyrinths. I’ve heard they used to offer patronage for those from other worlds who were lost here.”

“Well, I’d have loved to take them up on the offer. It’s no use now though,” I said with a laugh, blowing into the pipe and setting our shadows swaying as the flames rippled.

“True, it’s not...” she mused. “It’s probably been around three years since the mana collapse.”

“The mana collapse?”

The question didn’t come from me but from Ned. He asked it with curious eyes, like a child that had just heard a new word. Nito looked at him with confusion. It must have been common knowledge; while I was from another world and obviously didn’t know, Ned definitely should have.

“It was when the world suddenly started overflowing with mana and lots of people turned into crystals,” Julie explained kindly.

Ned’s eyes went wide.

“That happened? That’s terrifying. So are you here to escape that mana collapse?”

“You’re traveling with me too, Ned.”

“Ah, I am?” he asked, pausing briefly before continuing, “Right, traveling. Where’s dad?”

“Bartley passed away forty years ago.”

“He what? Dad died? That’s awful,” Ned exclaimed, putting his hand to his forehead. “That’s why I told him to ease off the drink. I’ll need to disembark and take over for him. Wait a minute, I’ll go talk to the captain.”

He suddenly stood and walked briskly off toward their vehicle. There’d been a clear mismatch in the conversation, and Ned was acting strangely. All Nito and I could do was watch blankly.

“Sorry, that must have been a shock,” Julie said to us. “Things like that have been happening more often these past five years. The doctor said that it’s an illness affecting his memory. He forgets lots of things, and then suddenly remembers them, and sometimes he even has fits where it’s like he’s gone back to the past. He was a sailor on a big steamship when he was young. He gave it up to take on the family business when his father died though. It looks like he’s gone back to that part of his life.”

I’d heard of similar illnesses and disorders, like amnesia, before. While this obviously wasn’t quite the same thing, I could understand the idea of memories disappearing from someone’s mind, so I was able to accept her explanation easily enough.

“Um, does he forget you too?” Nito asked.

Julie’s eyebrows lowered slightly, showing her conflicted emotions, before she answered.

“It seems that he often forgets the part of his life after we married. He normally sees me as a friend he’s traveling with, I suppose. There are times like just now where he completely forgets me as well.”

I didn’t know what to say to that. I wasn’t sure that I could sum it up with “that’s awful.” While I wanted to say something to comfort her, everything I could think of felt like trite sympathy and so I kept silent. Julie seemed to pick up on my inner conflict, and she just shook her head and told me not to worry.

“I’m used to it,” she went on. “Besides, it can be surprisingly fun. It’s like I’ve become young again along with him.”

I could feel the deep affection that only comes after years as a couple. It would have been rude for outsiders like us to offer our tawdry sympathies in the face of feelings built up over a lifetime spent with him.

“You’re not...lonely?” Nito asked.

“Sometimes. It’s a bit of a shame we can’t talk about our memories together. We can’t commiserate about the times when things got difficult,” Julie said, then smiled and carried on. “Sitting around reminiscing about the old days isn’t all that fun though. It’s much more fun for us to act far less than our age and go on a journey to make new memories. So I’m fine, Nito, but thank you for worrying.”

Nito looked away in embarrassment at being treated with such care when she’d been trying to do the caring. Footsteps came from the direction of their vehicle, and when we looked, it was Ned returning.

“Ah, sorry about that. What’d I go to the car for?” he asked, a somewhat uneasy expression on his face.

“Oh, weren’t you fetching tableware? So we can dish up the meat,” Julie spoke kindly, prompting Ned’s face to brighten.

“Right, that was it. Yup, tableware,” he said, immediately turning back around.

Julie excused herself and followed after him. Before long, we could hear clear laughter in their voices as they chatted. Nito and I looked at each other and we couldn’t help but share a smile.

3

My watch had four buttons. I felt around for the top-right one and pressed it, lighting up the dial and revealing the hands’ positions. It was around eleven at night. I turned over and gazed at the dim glow of moonlight showing through the tent’s fabric.

Our meal with Ned and Julie had lasted until around nine, ending when Nito’s eyelids grew heavy and she started nodding off. The two of them had returned to their vehicle, Nito to the Kettle, and I’d gotten inside my tent as ever. I’d thought I would drop off as soon as I lay down, but I’d been lying awake for over an hour now and sleep was still nowhere to be found. There was nothing to do and so I just lay there at a loss.

Considering all the driving I’d have to do in the morning, I wanted to get plenty of sleep. Even with that in mind, whenever I tried closing my eyes, thoughts would just run all around my head until I’d eventually give up and open them again. I’d had many sleepless nights like this, only able to drift off as the day dawned.

Not that thinking things over all night was something I particularly enjoyed. Even with the delicious food and pleasant chat—or possibly even because of the excitement of the evening—lying alone and worrying lowered my spirits. I had a goal, and I was headed toward it. I didn’t need to think about anything else.

My words rang hollow even to me.

A witch...

The word had an unreliable feel to it, like soft cotton candy spun from a fairytale. This witch would answer any question correctly. Did such a person really exist? Maybe she did. After all, this was another world. I couldn’t assume that it would follow my idea of common sense.

We’d go to see the witch. And then what? Where would we go after that? And then after that? And then...

Was there an end goal for us? Or would we just wander the world until our time limit was up—perhaps when the overflowing mana of this world swallowed up one of our bodies and converted us into crystals?

The memory of the mound of crystals in the driver’s seat of that truck passed through my mind. There had been a mass of food and daily essentials in the cargo area, along with a folded-up, hand-drawn map. He’d prepared meticulously and had been headed for an objective. Just having a goal and a route to get there didn’t necessarily mean you’d arrive. So was there even any point in trying?

I lifted myself up and pulled over the wooden box I’d brought inside the tent. It held the Svea—unused tonight—and the other cooking utensils. I sifted through all of that and pulled out a certain case. Sitting cross-legged, I put it on my lap and opened the metal clasp. The black gun gleamed in the faint moonlight filtering through the tent. I stretched out a finger and ran it along the barrel. The sensation of chilled metal felt like the one unshakable foundation of reality, the one thing I could rely on.

The crunch of a footstep on the sand came from in front of the tent. I quickly shut the case and strained my ears for any sound. Someone was approaching slowly, careful to not make any loud noises. The footsteps stopped at the tent’s entrance, and a shadow fell across the fabric. There was a long pause.

“I wonder if he’s awake?”

It was Ned’s voice.

Getting a visitor so late at night was awful for my heart. I let out the breath I’d been holding and put the case back in the wooden box.

“What is it?” I asked, sliding the zipper open.

Ned stood there in front of me, a surprised expression on his face.

“Sorry, you were probably asleep,” he apologized.

“Nah, I was just lying down. Couldn’t get to sleep.”

“I see. That’s good then.”

Judging from his somewhat hesitant speech, he must have wanted to talk to me about something. It must have been fairly important for him to come over in the middle of the night.

“Want to come inside?” I asked eventually. “There’s not very much room though.”

“I’d... Actually, would you mind?”

I wordlessly withdrew, switching on the lantern I’d left sitting to the side. Ned stooped over, folding his tall frame into the tent and squinting at the bright white light from the battery-powered lamp.

“That’s astounding. From your world?”

“It is. It’s not the prettiest, but it’s convenient.”

Ned hesitantly sat himself down. Our shadows stretched across the sloping ceiling of the tent.

“I...have a request,” Ned began eventually, looking at me. “I’d like you to let me ride with you two.”

I couldn’t even formulate a response; I just looked back at him, agape.

“It wouldn’t be permanent, just until you get to a village or town,” he continued.

I thought for a moment that it might be a joke, but he looked serious. He was truly trying to part with Julie. I didn’t understand why he’d say such a thing when they’d seemed to have such a good relationship.

“Why?” I managed to ask, unable to verbalize anything more than that simple question.

He gave an awkward smile before knocking his fist against his temple twice.

“Julie’s told you, right? About my issues, I mean.”

I hesitated for a moment. He might not have appreciated us being told without his knowing. Lying wouldn’t do me any good though.

“She did, yes.”

“It started with just forgetting where I’d put things and leaving things half-done... I figured that that happens to everyone as they get older. Dad had been the same as he aged, so I didn’t worry about it. As time went on, though, I noticed I was forgetting more and more things. Things like what happened in a book I’d read yesterday, or even the names of friends I’d worked with for years. Eventually, I got to the point where I didn’t know what I was doing at work, and so I retired.”

Ned spoke matter-of-factly, as if discussing someone else.

“I started keeping a diary around then. If I read it back then I can remember a lot of it. That’s how I’m able to discuss it with you like this. If I didn’t have that then I’d forget what I’d forgotten and end up an empty shell.”

He paused for a moment, then spoke again in a rueful tone.

“I’m a bad person, Keisuke,” he told me. “I was happy when the world fell apart.”

The smile on his face wasn’t happy in the slightest.

“The diary said I’d succeeded,” he explained. “I’d pulled the wine-making business I inherited from dad out of debt. I had lots of employees and sold wine all over the world. I’d even been given the honor of presenting some to the royal family. I didn’t remember any of that though. I just knew it intellectually, from reading this diary that looked like it was in my handwriting. I knew I’d probably forget how to read eventually, be left behind by the passing of time and pitied for becoming someone I’m not by everyone around me until I eventually died—I just couldn’t bear that. Do you understand? Everyone kept looking at me and saying it was such a shame, but I didn’t even understand why they were saying that.”

His voice dropped slightly.

“And so I was relieved when normal life crumbled away with the mana collapse. Now the people that had pitied me would be gone, and ‘poor old Ned’ with them. I could die with my memories still in my head. That was what I thought, but look at me now.”

He spread his arms, grinning like a clown on stage.

“The whole world and his grandma has vanished into beautiful white crystals and yet I’m still here, even with nothing to lose from dying. I barely even know Julie anymore. I used to love her so much; she was the most precious person in the world to me. All that love that I must have had, though? It’s all just words written on a page.”

He ran out of steam there, and silence fell between us. Ned took deep, slow breaths, his shoulders rising and falling with each one. I just sat there in silence. I couldn’t even imagine his pain and the burdens he carried. It was all too much for me.

“Sorry about unloading like that. It’s a bad habit I’ve gotten in my old age,” he apologized.

“It’s fine,” I managed after a while.

“Anyway, I can’t be with her anymore. There’s no point in me being there with my memories of her just slipping away. That’s why I want you to take me with you.”

He finished with a deep bow of his head. I’d never been given a request this serious by someone so much older than me before. He had so much more experience than I did. He’d worked for decades, and I had no idea how many tough decisions he’d had to make.

Maybe I shouldn’t have answered him with such self-importance. This was a conclusion he’d agonized over all on his own for so long, and maybe the only thing I should have done was to respect that decision. However, honestly speaking, I didn’t think I could shoulder that responsibility. Whatever his reasoning, following his request would mean their lives parting.

The sight of Julie during our meal passed through my mind. I could see the look on her face as she’d been talking about Ned. It was far from the face of someone who was suffering in their current situation.

“Have you said any of that to Julie?”

Ned shook his head, a dull half smile making its way to his lips. It was the smile of a man who had given up on everything.

“She wouldn’t let me go. She’s kind. Kind enough to stay with me, a half-witted forgetful old man.”

I wasn’t sure if I should be saying any of this. It was probably rude. And yet I decided to say it, not only to protect myself but also because of the expression Julie had worn sticking firmly in my mind.

“Ned, you should talk to Julie about this. You’re playing a fool’s game here.”

Perhaps I shouldn’t have called him a fool. The moment the words passed my lips it felt like I’d done something that couldn’t be undone. Even so, the words reached him, and he looked back at me with wide eyes.

“You might have lost those memories, and maybe your emotions have gone back to those of your youth, but that’s no excuse. You’re acting like some self-righteous scholar convinced he has all the answers. Think about how Julie feels rather than your own sentimentality. What will happen to her if you’re not there?”

The expression on his face made him look awfully young. He looked more like a clumsy student, ignorant of society, than the adult with a wealth of experience that he was—almost like a friend the same age as me.

“I can’t take you with us. I think you and Julie are both good people. I can’t do something that would hurt one of you...or even both of you.”

My blood was rushing in my ears as I finished. A strange sense of elevation settled over me, like standing on a precipice, and I almost felt like I was going to throw up from the nerves.

Ned gave a single word of understanding and then fell silent for quite a while.

“I don’t know whether thinking so selfishly is how I’ve always been, or a trait I picked up because of losing my memories,” he said eventually.

“A self-righteous scholar, huh?” he continued, letting out a clipped laugh. “You might be right there.”

I didn’t know what to say for a moment, but eventually I muddled my way through an apology.

“Um, sorry, I went too far there.”

He waved me off, then turned to me looking invigorated for some odd reason.

“I’ll always be grateful for someone telling me how it is like that,” he said. “You’re right, Keisuke. I’ve been thinking too much about myself. I’d been worried she’d eventually abandon me. Still, I should have spoken to her first before I asked you something like this.”

“I really am a fool,” he added with a laugh. “It’s been a while since someone called me one.”

I hunched over in apology as his joyous laughter continued, but he just told me not to worry about it.

“It’s bizarre,” he said, getting up. “I’d worried about it so much, but now I feel free. I’ll go talk to Julie before I forget how I feel.”

His attitude had changed like the sky clearing of clouds after a sudden rain shower. He put his arm back out of the tent, standing half-stooped at the entrance.

“Sorry for bothering you so late. Thanks for the talk. Have a good night,” he gabbled out and then left, the faint sound of his running footsteps trailing in his wake.

I could only watch the change in him and then his departure, left behind and at a loss. Then all at once a heavy fatigue settled on my shoulders. I didn’t know if his sudden brightening was due to his personality, or maybe something he’d gained in exchange for those memories. Either way, I was jealous.

Yet I regretted what I’d said to him. It hadn’t been real advice, and there were probably other things I could have said. Even so, I could only pray that things went well for him.

I turned off the lantern and lay back down. Strangely, I felt sleep approach within moments.

4

Breakfast was ready by the time I woke up. I’d completely overslept.

Ned and Julie were acting the same as before, but Nito was looking at me with disappointment. We enjoyed the breakfast they’d made for us before we set about getting ready to leave.

“Follow this road, and when you cross the mountains there’s a crossroads. There’s a steam workshop around here,” I told them as we stood gathered around the map. “There’s a man named Vandyke that lives there, so you should be able to get your car checked and resupplied.”

“Is he mist or fog?” Ned asked.

“What do you mean?”

Julie gave a slight smile as she wrote things down in a notebook.

“It’s an old idiom,” she told me. “There used to be a big difference in engineers’ skills. If they were skilled then the steam would come out as a mist, while if they were bad you’d get a blast of fog and the engine’d never be right again.”

If that was what they wanted to know then I could answer with confidence.

“You’ll get the best mist ever.”

“I see, I see.” Ned nodded. “I’ll rest easy having heard that from you.”

As I folded the map, I surveyed Ned surreptitiously. Last night almost felt like a dream, but it couldn’t have been. I wanted to ask what had happened afterward, but I was also a little scared to do so.

Ned noticed my look while I was warring with myself and gave me a wink. Then he did something a little strange—he got down on one knee, taking Julie’s hand. She looked back at him in confusion.

“Julie, I’ve never met such a wonderful person as you, either before I lost my memories or now. I’ll love you forever, even if I forget everything. Would you marry me...again?”

I heard a sharp gasp from my side. Nito was standing there covering her mouth with both hands, her ears reddening. I felt just how she looked. His proposal was full of emotion and I was embarrassed just hearing it. Julie’s face wrinkled into a smile, but it was the smile of a lovely young girl.

“I will, I will. Of course I will. I’d love to. It’s funny though, Ned. I never imagined I’d be getting a proposal at this age back when I was younger.”

Ned stood back up and moved closer to her. The gray-haired couple each wore identical smiles on their faces.

“That’s what makes life enjoyable, right? We’re not done yet either. We’ve still got traveling to do. Let’s see the world!”

Julie joyfully took Ned’s hand.

“That sounds wonderful,” she said.

Nito’s hands came together in energetic applause. I soon joined in.

“Oh, I’m so embarrassed,” Julie said. “We’re really not acting our age.”

Nito shook her head wildly, whipping her hair into my arm several times.

“That’s not true. It’s wonderful!” she insisted.

“My, my. It warms my heart to hear that from you, Nito,” Julie replied, leaning down to grab Nito’s hand. “You enjoy your journey too. The world has grown much quieter, but it’s still beautiful.”

“Right,” Nito answered after a short pause.

While the two of them were talking, Ned moved stealthily over to his vehicle and beckoned me to follow.

Huh, what does he want?

I walked over to him. When I arrived, he passed me a long and thin cloth bag. I accepted it, bemused, and looked up at him. Ned smiled as he spoke.

“It’s the blow poke. I want you to have it.”

The moment I processed what he’d said, I tried to hand it back.

“I-I can’t take this. It’s amazing.”

“Right, right, it’s definitely amazing.” He nodded in satisfaction.

No, that’s not what I meant.

I’d understood all too well when I held it last night. The handle fit in Ned’s hands perfectly. It was a tool he’d had for years upon years, which added to its value. No matter how much money you had, you couldn’t buy time and care in the same way as some precious gem. Regardless, Ned curled my hands around the blow poke.

“You know,” he said, “I’ve met another otherworlder before.”

Suddenly, I was lost for words.

“It’s strange. I’ve forgotten so many things and yet I still remember that vividly. When my dad was still around, he brought a man home with him once. The man called himself Albert; he lived with us for a summer and helped with the wine, painted pictures, and rode horses. He was a cheerful man, with all sorts of weird stories. One day, he told me—no one else—that he came from another world. Then, not long after, he vanished.”

“I... Why?”

Ned shook his head.

“I don’t know. Back then, though, every country in the world wanted otherworlders. I think he’d escaped some country or other, and he left so he wouldn’t cause us any problems.”

He’d escaped? Why? Why had he run? Wouldn’t the country have been protecting him?

“He was the one that gave me that handle. I shaped it and have had it with me ever since. The horn was originally from a fout, a creature that lives deep in the forest and can apparently only be hunted by the elves. I still don’t know how he got hold of it...”

Ned trailed off, looking toward the bag in my hands—and the tool inside it.

“When you told me you were an otherworlder,” he continued, “I knew that I’d made it this far so I could give it to you. That which was received from an otherworlder should be left to an otherworlder. Passing it on to you feels meaningful to me.”

With my hands curled around it where he’d left them, I couldn’t push it back.

“Are you sure? It’s precious to you, right?”

“That’s exactly why I want you to have it. I’ll be gone before too long, and then what’ll become of it? It’d be a plain old blow poke. Well, it wouldn’t get any blowing so it’d just be a poke. If you use it, though, you can carry my thoughts and memories with it and so it’ll remain what it is now. Isn’t that wonderful? Would you do that for me?”

I nodded in answer to his question.

“Great. Now then, let’s talk about the payment for those mana stones you shared with us.”

Ned opened the vehicle’s side door to reveal where the back seats would usually be. They’d been removed, and the area housed things like wooden crates and cases instead. A mattress lay off to the side as well, probably serving as their bed when night fell. Clothes and various other bits and bobs hung from the interior walls, making a calm space that was almost like a bedroom. Ned lifted up the lid of a small case that sat right at the front.

“I’d recommend this,” he said.

Lined up inside were wine bottles. The black and dark-green bottles all had faded labels attached to them.

“I made all of these,” he told me.

“You know I can’t drink, right?”

“The drinking age is fifteen here. Wine’s the best medicine you can ask for, too, so you’d get away with drinking it from about ten, even. Besides, what purpose do they have if no one drinks them?”

Ned fished out a bottle and rubbed his thumb over the label.

“This one’s a forty-three-year-old vintage. We had an awful harvest that year and got very little wine out of it. The flavor of what we did get was exceptional though. This one’s from when I first got Le Touant.”

“Huh?”

Bottle by bottle, he discussed each of them in turn. I wasn’t really familiar with wines, but they all sounded amazing from his descriptions. Eventually Ned calmed down and scratched his head slightly in embarrassment.

“Ah, sorry about that. It’s been a while since I’ve had a chance to talk about my wines, so I got a little carried away. Anyway, I made them all and I’m sure anyone you met that had a thing for wines would be able to tell.”

“It sounds more and more like I shouldn’t take them, then. I don’t even know what makes a good wine.”

“You might not, but someone you meet may well. What’d you do if they had something you wanted to trade for?”

I gasped in understanding.

“You can scavenge towns for money and jewels. So the only things that really have value anymore are ones that you can trade for items of the same value. Someone that knows their wines would consider these a treasure, so they might prove useful eventually,” Ned added with a teasing wink.

I hesitated for a moment before giving my answer.

“I’ll take your recommendation then.”

“All right. Go with this one.”

I accepted the black bottle of wine that he’d chosen. He then plucked out and offered me another bottle.

“And this is for your wonderful advice. Thanks to you, I got through this without losing something even more precious than my memories.”

5

Once the boiler heated up, they boarded their vehicle and we prepared to see them off.

“You really helped us,” Ned told us. “Who knows what would have happened if you hadn’t been there? We enjoyed meeting you too.”

“Likewise. Thank you for everything too,” I answered.

“If you follow this road for around two days, you’ll find the town of Barcia. If there’s anything you need, gather it there.”

“We will. I miss having a bed,” I admitted.

“Me too,” Nito chimed in.

We all laughed together. I could feel the farewells approaching. Before that, there was something I wanted to ask.

“Um, it’s just a little thing, but why did you decorate your car like an elephant?”

Ned’s face brightened like a child’s.

“You know elephants too! So I got it right. That’s great! He told me about them too. He said that steam houses needed to be elephants. Then he painted a picture and showed me.”

I felt kind of awkward about it considering his repeated cheerful exclamations, but I had no idea what any of that was supposed to mean. I had enough good sense not to ask though.

“It’s time for us to head off. You both take care,” he said eventually.

“Right. You two be well.”

Ned stuck his hand out from the window and I grabbed hold of it, giving it a shake. Julie leaned forward from the passenger seat and waved with a smile. Nito returned the wave. The dull roar of steam echoed around us as the pistons started moving, giving off even more of a racket than the Kettle. Their vehicle lumbered off and began climbing the mountain we’d descended the day before. Its figure was soon completely hidden by the trees.

Once they’d left, the only sound was the rustling of leaves. The silence made the isolation even more pronounced. I climbed aboard the Kettle, but Nito remained rooted to the spot, looking after the couple. Suddenly she gasped as a whistle sounded through the mountains. We didn’t even need to think about who it was.

Two short blasts. One long blast.

One short blast. Two long blasts.

“What does that mean?” I asked after a pause.

Nito turned back to me with a bright smile.

“It’s another ship’s signal, one praying for a safe voyage. Um, can I reply?”

I nodded, of course, and surrendered the driver’s seat to her. She bounded over and settled her small frame into the seat.

“This is the whistle,” I told her, indicating a small knob at the far right of the gauges. “Turn it to the right to sound it.”

Nito nodded and hesitantly twisted it, her face slightly reddened with nerves. It let out a blast of sound.

“Wah!”

The volume made her jump and pull her hands in tight, clasped in front of her chest. Slowly, she stretched her hand out again and sounded the horn once more, this time with surer movements. The blasts echoed several times through the mountains before fading. Nito took her hand from the knob, and the whistle once more fell silent.

“And what about that one?” I asked.

She paused for a moment before answering.

“It means ‘thank you, and you have a safe trip too.’” Then her voice dropped to a mumble. “I hope they heard us.”

“They did, don’t worry,” I told her; I was sure they’d have understood her feelings.

Wind blew through the area, setting the trees swaying. The sunlight streaming over the mountains scattered through the leaves, dancing around us like a thousand beads of light.

We were sending our prayers for a safe journey via whistle as we parted, a consideration for people we might never meet again as we watched them leave and prepared to continue our own journey. The idea tickled at my mind. There was a saying I’d seen in a book somewhere. The words had stuck with me, and I’d read them over and over. The memories had faded, but I eventually found the phrase I was looking for.

“Parting is such sweet sorrow.”

Nito looked back at me.

“It’s a saying from my world.”

Nito repeated the words as if tasting them before she turned her gaze back to the mountain pass. She seemed to be searching for the form of the couple’s vehicle, which was no longer visible.

“It’s a lonely saying,” she said.

“But we’ll see them off with a smile, right? After all, they’re going on their honeymoon.”

[Keisuke’s Notes] Mana Collapse

It’s something I still don’t understand. One day, mana overflowed in this world and started turning people and things into crystals. It was the beginning of the end. I wonder what caused it. The whole thing must have been chaos.