“...What did you say?”

“Mm....”

Jepeto scratched his cheek awkwardly.

At some point, the carriage had started moving. I could feel the frozen ground rattling up through the seat beneath me.

“...It’s not like I meant not to listen.”

Jepeto tilted his head.

“Of course not.”

“...You think that’s obvious? You don’t think I ignored you on purpose?”

Jepeto’s eyes went round, like the idea itself was ridiculous.

“You did ignore me on purpose?”

“No!!”

I shouted it like I was screaming.

“I didn’t think so!”

“Then why....”

He just looked troubled.

I couldn’t exactly demand to know why he’d made that face, so I shut my mouth.

Then Jepeto gave the seat a couple of pats.

“Ren. There’s something I want to say, and I need you to listen seriously.”

“...All of a sudden?”

At a time like this, something serious?

The second he said that, I thought of my brother whipping his head around and storming out of the carriage.

“Brother! Is something wrong with him? Is he hurt?”

“No, Ren. Calm down. Lord Temar is fine!”

Jepeto looked a little flustered, but he stared straight into my eyes like a man insisting on his innocence. I was ready to call him a liar if his eyelashes so much as trembled, but Jepeto didn’t budge.

“...Then what is it??”

“It’s about you, Ren.”

“.......”

About me?

What would a physician even have to say about me?

“Haha... Ren. Don’t look at me like that. Um, honestly, you can take it lightly if you want.”

“.......”

I narrowed my eyes and looked at Jepeto suspiciously.

Something I could take lightly? Then why the hell was he dragging it out like this? He was making my heart pound for no reason. To hide how uneasy I felt, I glared at him even harder.

“Ren... um.”

“...Why do you keep dragging it out?”

“Well....”

Jepeto scratched the back of his head and sighed.

“I’ll just say it in the simplest way I can.”

What the hell was he trying to say?

Before I knew it, my lips were already jutting out in a sulk.

“Ren. Do you think you’re healthy?”

“...What kind of question is that?”

“I mean your mind.”

“...Why do you keep poking around in other people’s minds?”

“Mm.”

Jepeto bit his lip and muttered, “No, that’s not it,” under his breath. It looked like he had a lot he wanted to say, but couldn’t put it in order. Or maybe my attitude was making him uncomfortable, so he couldn’t speak freely.

But too bad!!

I didn’t want to hear what Jepeto had to say!

My mind? Why did we have to talk about something so uncomfortable? Minds are uncomfortable by default! Look, this is uncomfortable right now.

Do adults all become idiots when they grow up? Or just naïve?

‘Huh.... Come to think of it, I feel like I talked to Jepeto about minds once before....’

“Ugh....”

“Ren. What’s wrong?”

“My head... hurts for a second.”

For an instant, Jepeto’s expression turned serious, then snapped right back to normal. The change was so fast I almost wondered if I’d imagined it.

“I see. It might be motion sickness.”

Jepeto looked like he was about to start questioning exactly where my head hurt and how badly, but instead he backed off without a fuss. He soothed me, saying headaches were common enough and that I should just shut my eyes and get some rest.

So what happened to wanting to talk about my mind? Why was he suddenly doing this?

But avoiding an uncomfortable subject was a win!

Before Jepeto could change his mind, I squeezed my eyes shut.

Sleep came easily.

***

“Is Ren asleep?”

“Yes. Sound asleep.”

Jepeto, sore all over from riding in the carriage so long, twisted his waist this way and that. His joints cracked loudly. Embarrassed, he rubbed the back of his neck and laughed.

Wearing ❀ Nоvеlігht ❀ (Don’t copy, read here) the same easy smile as always, Luman glanced inside the carriage.

Just like Jepeto said, Ren was sleeping peacefully.

Tonight would be their last camp for a while.

“Should I wake him?”

“No. Let him sleep. He’ll wake up if he gets hungry.”

The night still hadn’t fully deepened.

While Temar went out to scout the area, Luman cast a small barrier spell. A thread of gold shot from his fingertips, wrapped in a wide circle around the carriage in an instant, and disappeared.

“That’s incredible!”

Jepeto blurted out his admiration without even trying to hide it.

“Is it?”

“Of course it is! Is that what magic is?”

“Magic... well. We just call it a Hero’s power.”

“Ooh.”

Jepeto’s eyes sparkled with interest, but unfortunately for him, Luman was not the kind of man who gave up his time to explain things kindly for no benefit to himself.

It seemed Jepeto had forgotten that for a moment.

Realizing that Luman—the handsome man with the pleasant smile—wasn’t going to explain anything, Jepeto quietly withdrew and sat back down.

When Luman lit the campfire, Temar returned.

The two men exchanged a silent look.

Jepeto stared at them with open curiosity.

Temar was about to toss the cleaned tol straight into the fire, but Luman took it from him.

“Why?”

“To cut off the tough parts.”

“What for?”

Luman let out a short laugh.

He found it a little ridiculous himself, doing something this fussy.

“So Ren can eat it more easily.”

“.......”

Only Temar’s lips twitched.

“Is meat really all right for him to eat?”

As Luman ran his blade smoothly through the meat, the tough sections came away neatly. Watching those deft movements, Jepeto nodded.

“Yes. It’s more of a mental issue, so—”

Luman gave a small shake of his head. Watch your mouth.

The truth was, Luman still hadn’t recovered from the shock.

Ren remembered absolutely nothing about having that fit.

Surely Luman wasn’t the only one shaken by that fact. Temar had been wearing an expression beyond words. Jepeto too. And if even they felt that way, then Temar’s state of mind was... impossible to describe.

Even Luman himself felt this bitter.

Trauma.

Was it such terrible trauma that Ren wanted to forget even the fact that it had triggered a fit?

Turning the skewered meat over the fire, Luman felt a brief stab of regret.

That first meeting. Should he have treated Ren more gently?

Before they left, instead of merely breaking the baker’s son’s wrists, should he have beaten every last villager bloody? Or failing that, should he have dragged along that old apothecary Ren seemed close to?

When Ren had still been in decent shape, should he have asked more about what life in the village had been like?

What Ren had told him was... absurd, and enough to make his insides boil.

Ren was just a young boy. Those people were selfish adults.

From taking the things inside the house to piling every kind of labor imaginable onto a child, it seemed there was nothing they hadn’t made him do. Worse than that was the way Ren had spoken, curt and resigned, like he’d long since given up.

“They take every good thing away from me.”

Ren, who seemed to expect nothing at all from human relationships.

“You don’t have to go that far just because I’m your companion’s little brother. We’re going to part ways anyway.”

A boy who thought first of separation, with not the slightest lingering attachment to any bond.

Why did Ren... resemble a Hero who had survived a battlefield?

And yet he liked cute things. He was happy petting Lante’s fur. He expected nothing from people, yet would throw himself off a cliff for someone else and shove his chest into the path of a sword.

Luman couldn’t understand what on earth Ren was made of.

I should’ve asked more.

The taste in his mouth turned bitter.

How had this happened... why did Ren keep lingering in his mind?

He was someone who would be leaving soon.

For a moment, Luman thought maybe Ren had been right.

If we’re going to part soon anyway, wouldn’t it be better to know less about each other?

Maybe getting attached and growing close when you were only going to separate was a foolish thing to do.

Wasn’t that true, when there were still a few days left and his chest already ached?

But Luman pushed the thought aside.

Because the fact that even a few days remained... felt good enough to make his chest hurt.

“It’s burning.”

“You eat it.”

“.......”

When Luman held out the charred skewer, Temar took it without complaint and started eating.

“Temar.”

Chewing through the meat, Temar looked at Luman.

Luman wanted to lecture this idiot who couldn’t communicate to save his life. But would any of it actually get through?

Maybe, instead of persistently digging into Ren’s past, it would have been better to spend the journey teaching Temar.

“Eat more.”

Luman shook his head.

Maybe stirring everything up now would only make things worse.

He had no idea whether leaving things like this was all right, but even if it wasn’t, there was nothing to be done. That resigned feeling was all that remained.

Maybe, in a way, Ren was better off as he was now.

Angry. Bristling all over.

Wouldn’t that make him harder to wound?

Looking at Temar, who knew nothing, Luman felt wretched for some reason. But for these brothers... maybe this was better.

He’s my little brother.

The weight of Temar’s words dropped into Luman’s chest like an anchor.

In a form that made it impossible to interfere any further.

“Oh....”

Jepeto, who had been quietly warming himself by the fire, lifted his head.

At that small sound of wonder, both Luman and Temar naturally looked up too.

From the dim sky, where darkness was slowly settling in, snow began to fall.

Small white flakes, glittering like grains of salt, drifted down.

Snow that looked almost like starlight.

Luman watched it silently for a moment, then turned to look at Temar.

That solid face revealed nothing of what he was thinking.

Temar didn’t seem to have any intention of getting up. He had stopped eating and was simply staring at the falling snow. As night settled in, his deep chestnut eyes looked darker still, almost black.

Jepeto shifted where he sat, then watched as Luman rose to his feet and reached for the meat.

Luman stepped into the carriage to wake Ren.

He’s a kid. Maybe he likes snow.