Lily Nono was awakened from her sleep by a slight but continuous cough that was deliberately suppressed.
She propped herself up and looked at the old man beside her, whose vitality was running low. Memories belonging to the two of them naturally emerged in her mind.
It was so long ago that she could hardly remember it. With the simple idea of "wanting to see more of the world", she bid farewell to her companions in her hometown and started traveling alone. She had traveled to countless places and met many people.
Many good and bad people, and then met Leo, the natural messenger of the Elna people.
She couldn't tell clearly what attracted her to Leo. Maybe it was his calm and quiet temperament, or the childlike innocence he occasionally revealed. As a result, the two became traveling companions and traveled all over the continent together.
He also reached several "different worlds" that are relatively close to each other through the star world, and experienced similar or different cultures, food and customs in different worlds. The journey lasted for nearly two hundred years, until Leo's body gradually became unable to bear the long journey.
After a lot of hard work, they built a hut in the breeze forest and lived in quiet seclusion.
Leo was much older than she was at the time. The two were more like a father and daughter than a couple. The man taught her to respect nature and life, how to use the power of nature, and how to use her own potential. And these are all
It was something that her real father never had time to teach her.
The Elna people have a long lifespan, but it is not endless. They have hundreds of years of youth, but when old age and death come, everything is equal. She took good care of him, but still watched him weaken day by day.
Go down. Every time she woke up from a dream like this, she always felt that her heart was heavy, as if something was blocked.
Even though she has lived for hundreds of years, she still cannot get used to separation.
…
It is the morning of the 31st day of the spring month, the 403rd year of the Saint Leon calendar. There is about fifty years between the 'now' in Lily's mind.
It was a nice day, and Leo's spirit was much better than the previous days. He took the girl for a slow walk in the woods, and then returned to the cabin that belonged to the two of them. From a small wooden cabinet that had not been opened for a long time, he
He took out a colorful cloth bag that was tightly woven and handed it to the girl's hand.
Lily gently opened the mouth of the bag and looked inside. There were leaves and fruits from her hometown, and the feathers and hair given to her by her companions when they parted. Under the light of a blue crystal, they remained intact after hundreds of years.
Decay - The crystal is the only memory of her father left to her. She entrusted it to Leo decades ago, and he has carefully preserved it until now.
"This has been going on forever," the man slowly turned his head and looked at the slightly old wooden house. "Thank you for your company and care, September."
Lily raised her head and looked at him, with an unknown smile on her face and said nothing.
"My past was happy enough. My future has also been decided." He whispered, "But your future is not yet, September."
"Ha." The girl laughed, "You are really a big fool." She looked at the cloth bag in her hand, "You said you would take on this 'responsibility' for me back then - now you plan to take it away
Throw it back to us?"
Leo coughed twice and sighed slowly.
"Everyone has the responsibility to take charge of his or her own life journey. This is a natural rule." He repeated what the girl had heard many times. "However, as a bit of selfishness, let me understand your plan, September."
"Plan..." The girl pretended to be relaxed and shrugged, then put on a serious expression, "If I must say it, I want to devour your poor body as soon as possible, and then look into the mist on your behalf.
The starry sky."
"Ha...that's really an honor." To her surprise, Leo answered her with a smile, "On the continent called Riel where we have been, this is a place where close people and people can interact with each other.
The way to survive together is right."
"You actually... still remember?" The girl touched her nose, "Then, do you agree?"
"Naturally, there are many ways to return to the earth, and this is just one of them." The man spread his hands and said proudly, but suddenly began to cough. A trace of panic flashed in the girl's eyes, but she immediately returned to her original expression and gently stroked her.
Holding Leo's back, he waited for him to calm down slowly.
"Huh... It seems that you are a little too carried away." Leo took a breath, the look in his eyes not diminishing, "But I still want to know what your plans are after that."
The girl lowered her head and was silent for a long time before finally speaking, "You... should be able to guess it?"
The man kept a soft smile and said nothing, as if waiting for the girl to continue speaking on her own.
"We... plan to go back to our hometown to have a look." She said in a low voice, "When we left our hometown, we thought about bringing more people with us to let them witness the richness and variety of this continent and the broader world outside.
.But they prefer to live in a corner, just like when their father was still alive, and spend every day peacefully."
"In the beginning, we often returned to our hometown and told them about the beautiful scenery and interesting things about the outside world, trying to change their minds. However, the long life span also restricted their minds. Some people even thought that by doing this, we were doing something good for our own bloodline.
It's embarrassing." She bit her lip, the look in her eyes was a little dark, "Then we got into a fight with them because of something, and since then... we have never gone back there."
"Soon after that, we met you." The girl turned her head to prevent Leo from seeing her expression, "We were very happy with you, and sometimes we even forgot about our companions in our hometown. But now, we really should achieve our goals.
Is it due...'responsibility'?"
The man slowly raised his hand, placed it on the top of her head, and stroked her gently, just like he had for many years in the past.
"According to what you just said, you should still take mine with you when you return to your hometown." The girl turned her head and met his eyes. Those eyes had experienced the precipitation of time and seemed to be able to see through all her thoughts, "Since
So, please continue to live well."
She felt her cheeks heat up, turned her face away with embarrassment and a hint of annoyance, and hummed softly to show that she heard it.
After a while, she turned around and saw Leo holding on to the simple wooden table and casting his gaze into the far-reaching forest.
That night, the man silently bid farewell to this beloved forest and the girl beside him. When Lily suddenly woke up, she only saw his peaceful sleeping face.
She raised her head. The rising rays of sunlight had already filtered through the window lattice and fell on the lush green forest. It seemed like it was a new day.