It somehow felt like the more fun he had, the more tired he got.

After stretching out his stiff, heavy body, Ren glanced over at Jepeto, who was curled up asleep and snoring. Temar and Luman were nowhere to be seen again. But Ren didn’t think much of it. They had probably gone out on patrol, or maybe the two of them had gone off somewhere to talk on their own. Ren wasn’t anxious about Temar’s whereabouts anymore. Little by little, he had started to accept that when Temar left, he came back soon enough.

“Did somebody touch this?”

Ren was about to pull out the herbs he had tucked into his pocket the night before when he spotted the bundle instead. The ribbon looked kind of different somehow. Ren narrowed his eyes at it for a second, then shrugged.

“I’ll tie it again later.”

Without noticing the new bundle that had been set beside the bed, Ren passed right by it.

Oh, right. Ren lifted the hot water, then remembered Luman nagging at him and waited until it cooled a little before pouring it. There was still a bandage wrapped around the back of his hand. He had bandages plastered all over his face too, and for a moment Ren had to suffer the feeling that he looked like some pathetic little village thug.

As he drank his tea, Ren looked over at the window. The flowerpot, soaked in sunlight, looked like it was about to bloom.

“Did my brother open it?”

Ren swallowed the rest of his medicine, then shut the window. Airing the room out was nice, sure, but if the flowerpot stayed in the cold wind too long, it might wilt.

I’m sleepy. Should I go back to sleep or not? I stayed up way too late yesterday!

Jepeto and Temar had no idea. When everybody else had fallen asleep, Luman had stubbornly woken Ren back up from his half-doze and gone on and on and on forever. Starting with how life was precious, then digging into village matters all over again. Then he had started dumping out knowledge left and right, saying he was teaching him self-defense and random common sense, and then the lecturing, the lecturing...

“Ughhh.”

Just remembering it again made him shudder. Honestly, he had been so sleepy he hadn’t understood half of what Luman was saying, and half of the rest he didn’t even remember because he’d been half asleep. Mostly, Luman’s voice had just sounded like a nice lullaby.

And in the end, exactly the way Luman wanted, they’d even gone and given Ren’s flowerpot a name together!

Childish and embarrassing as hell!

Ren swore that when Luman came back, he was going to rattle off a nonstop stream of complaints and make his life miserable. Sleep came crashing down over him.

Still perched on the edge of the bed, Ren didn’t fight the wave of drowsiness and simply fell asleep again.

***

When Ren woke up again, it was already late afternoon.

Still rubbing at his eyes and splashing at his face like a cat washing up, Ren startled and blurted out,

“What time is it?!”

“Not that late.”

“You’re up?”

Jepeto, who had been sewing, smiled and waved a hand. Temar was reading a newspaper.

Ren just blinked blankly.

For a second, it felt like he was peeking in on a happy family.

No, wait! Peeking in? I’m part of it too!

God, this felt too good. His chest was all ticklish and fluttery, like the things he had dreamed of were coming true one by one. He had never imagined he’d get to leave the village like this, watch a festival together, browse shops together, and be with people who took his side in a peaceful scene like this.

Was he really allowed to be this happy?

It felt like he had been handed happiness itself as a gift. A flicker of unease passed through him, but Ren decided not to think negatively anymore. He wasn’t going to keep thinking that if he let himself be happy, somebody would come steal that happiness away. He didn’t even need to force that promise on himself anymore. The trust and kindness Luman and Jepeto had shown him, and Temar’s gentleness, had soothed his heart all on their own.

“Oh, Ren. You got letters.”

“Letters?”

“Here.”

“Oh. Uh.”

Ren took the envelopes without thinking. One was from Lady Coco, and the other was from the old apothecary!

His eyes flew wide, and Ren jumped straight up in place. Temar’s gaze lingered for a long moment on all the bandages plastered over Ren’s face.

“Whoa! Wait, how did he know to send it here?! Holy shit, wow... Brother! That’s amazing!”

Before Ren could notice, Temar pulled his eyes away. Instead of saying that he had given them the address, he kept quiet, wanting to preserve Ren’s delight.

After bouncing around excitedly for a while, Ren looked around.

“What is it?” 𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖

“Brother, where’s Luman?”

“......”

“Huh?”

Ren still didn’t seem to realize anything was strange. He started chattering away about the events happening today, the last day of the festival. He was trying not to make it obvious, but it was painfully clear he was looking forward to the fireworks. “You’re watching the fireworks with me too, right?” he asked over and over.

Usually Jepeto or Temar would have answered him with something, anything. But neither of them said a word.

Only then did Ren start to pick up on the strange mood in the room. His hands froze in the middle of opening the envelope, and then he shot to his feet and looked around the room.

None of Luman’s things were there.

Maybe that meant nothing. They weren’t in the same room to begin with...

After badgering Jepeto into giving him the key, Ren ran to the room next door.

But unlike what he had hoped, that room was empty too.

Luman was gone. His coat was gone. All the things he carried around with him were gone.

“No way.”

Ren blinked slowly.

“He left without saying anything...?”

He muttered it blankly, then stepped out of Luman and Jepeto’s room. Maybe he just went out for a bit? The thought scattered the second he saw the two of them standing there in the hallway with awkward looks on their faces.

“Ren, well, you see—”

Jepeto started trying to explain, waving the hand that was still holding his sewing, but Temar cut him off.

“The schedule changed, so he left at dawn.”

“You both knew?”

Ren asked it slowly.

“I only found out today myself.”

Jepeto answered fast.

“What about you, brother?”

“Ren.”

“So you did know.”

“Well... there’s a saying, Ren. Meetings lead to partings, and partings lead back to meetings.”

Jepeto’s words didn’t really register.

Ren was used to partings. Before, he hadn’t understood, but now, after traveling like this, he could understand why Temar used to slip away without saying goodbye every time he left on a mission. He had grown enough to grasp that feeling. Luman leaving without a word was probably for a similar reason. Ren knew it wasn’t because Luman disliked him or anything like that.

But it still felt cruel. Cruel and hurtful. Empty.

For Luman, maybe it was just one more goodbye with someone he might see again someday.

But for Ren, who couldn’t promise how much time he had left, this might become a long, long goodbye. Maybe even a forever goodbye.

“Ren...”

Jepeto fidgeted and searched Ren’s face. Something about the emptiness in his eyes kept bothering him. But as if to prove that expression had only been his imagination, Ren suddenly smiled brightly. Seeing his eyes curve like that, Jepeto almost clutched at his chest.

“It’s okay! He did say he was leaving.”

“Ooh... Ren! You’ve grown up so, so much...”

Jepeto looked so moved he seemed ready to hug him, and Ren recoiled in disgust and bolted. Temar thought it was a relief Jepeto was here at all.

“Hahk. Hahk, hahk... whew. Ren, you’re seriously quick as a squirrel, y-you are. Haaahhh...”

By the time Jepeto and Ren came racing back from outside, both of them were gasping for breath.

“Hahk. Hah. Haaahk. Hahk. What kind of doctor... hah... runs that well...? Y-you don’t even... hahk... have a hangover? Haaahk...”

After running that much, Ren felt better. Or maybe it was just that Luman leaving still hadn’t fully sunk in yet. Ren decided he wasn’t going to think about Luman for a while. He had plenty of things to do besides that!

“We’re definitely watching the fireworks. We’re gonna have a great time. Enough to make Luman jealous.”

But the thought was pointless, because Luman’s name came right out of his mouth anyway, and Ren grumbled inwardly.

“Just leave it to me, Ren. I already scoped out the spot with the best view.”

With a grimly serious face, Jepeto pulled out a crudely drawn map he had tucked into his clothes.

They snacked and passed the time, and before long it was dark.

Ren had been conserving his energy, lingering by the window and peeking outside, when a puzzled look crossed his face. It was the last day of the festival, so sure, there were tons of people, but... he spotted someone in armor. Security, maybe? They hadn’t been there yesterday.

This is a big town, so maybe they came because of some kind of incident?

But it looked like they were heading toward the inn.

Ren’s heart started pounding faster.

“Ren!”

Jepeto and Temar were standing by the door, waiting for him.

“...I’m coming!”

Ren gave the curtain by the window a sharp sweep, then slipped his arm around Temar’s.

“Brother. Let’s really enjoy the fireworks, okay?”

“Let’s.”

This was definitely going to become a special memory. Special enough to hold up against any pain.

Once he sees fireworks exploding everywhere, he’ll be sick with regret that he missed it. Serves him right.

Why the hell had he woken him up while he was sleeping? So that was why he had been making such a fuss at dawn, talking and talking and waking him up and carrying on. Only then did Ren finally understand why Luman had been so chatty.

Was that Luman’s version of saying goodbye?

Ren forced himself to think that way, pressing down the ache in his chest. Though he had only half listened, Jepeto’s words kept circling in his head.

Meetings lead to partings, and partings lead back to meetings.

If that was true, would he get to see Luman again?

Once he started thinking about it, there was no end to it.

“What kind of snacks should we focus on today? We’ve got to pick something that can count as dinner too, so what sounds good? Hmm.”

“I want to look too.”

Jepeto spoke up at just the right moment, and Ren managed to drag himself out of his thoughts. They had nearly reached the bottom ★ 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ★ of the stairs and were passing the noisy tables when the inn door opened.

“Huh?”

Jepeto stopped in his tracks with a sound.

A body filled the doorway completely.

What the hell kind of body is that...?

He couldn’t even see above the man’s neck at first. No, seriously, how is he that tall?

Then their eyes caught on the armor covering him.

Ren, who had first just been impressed, went cold with fear the instant he recognized it. It was the same man he had seen from the window earlier.

A sick sense of deja vu came over him. It felt just like the day Luman had come to take Temar away. Ren was afraid. It wasn’t the armored man himself that scared him.

It was the thought that he might take Temar away.

That was what terrified him.

Ren looked up at Temar with an anxious face.

If he’s not here to take him away, then my brother’s face will be calm.

Ren squeezed his eyes shut, then opened them again and looked at Temar.

Temar’s face had gone rigid. His dark eyes were fixed on the door in hard concentration.

“Brother...”

Ren’s voice was swallowed by the sound of the man’s footsteps.

The giant man had ducked his head low to enter. He wore a red cloak. The moment Ren recognized the crest embroidered inside it, he clutched Temar’s arm even tighter, enduring a heart that was pounding like he had just sprinted a hundred meters.

Temar’s thick lips parted, and one name came out.

“Geloman.”