As I weaved my way through the debris of the old, worn down buildings, Nami came running and greeted me, panting.
“Nagi!”
While restraining myself from the hemp vendor that caught my eye, my face contorted as I felt anxious on the way to my destination.
A small, red jewel embedded in Nami’s ear matched the one I had pierced my ear with.
“Welcome back. How are you feeling?”
“I’m fine. Why’re you acting all nosy?”
“It’s because you have been doing rash things ever since you was young, making me constantly worry…”
After hearing that, I immediately began to think.
“It was no good. But once I rest I’ll go again. Water might come out next time.”
As my bandana began to slip, I placed my hand on it to keep it from falling. Nami, who had grabbed my hand looked me in the eye, and began to chastise me.
“Your hand, it’s covered in blood! Both of them at that!”
“Quit nagging, it’s just that my blisters popped. They’ll heal if you leave them alone.”
“That’s no good, I must clean it properly. What if you get an infection?”
Nami grabbed my right arm, and I now had both of my arms captive.
Two men behind us watching our spectacle laughed and began to speak.
“Nagi-sama is so close with Nami-sama, they get along so well.”
“Must be. Didn’t Nami-sama herself say she was the little sister or whatever?”
“My bad. Wasn’t it ‘brother’?”
In confusion, the two men turned around and returned to their business.
I heard the chimes of a bell in the distance, named Sharon, Shun.
As the bell rang, the doors of all the houses in the area suddenly opened, and what was visible were the faces of multiple families, some of them putting their fingers to their lips.
“It’s a caravan!”
“Kou-san has arrived!”
A figure that could barely been seen behind the rubble was approaching, yet the townspeople knew the identity of the hidden figure as he was unveiled.
The figure in front of the people was clad in a worn, beat up scarf, so long that it covered his entire body, and was carrying baggage filled to the brim with mystery.
Long hair tied in a turban protruded like the spines on a porcupine drooped down to his shoulder.
The man’s eyes covered by thick goggles that protected him from the dust were now visible as he placed the them on his forehead.
As the man walked, multiple bells on his bag jingled softly, soft enough to barely be heard.
Ring… Ring…
The sound of the bells matching the beat of my heart, I brushed my brow as lightly as a mother would touch her child.
As the man glanced at Nami and I, he twitched his hand slightly to greet us, giving Nami the opportunity to snatch his hand.
“Kou-san! Welcome back!”
“Mm. Thanks.”
The man, recognized by the name Kou, made a loose smile with his sunburnt cheeks. The whiteness of his hair peeking out of his turban was comparable to that of a fresh blanket of snow. Smiling, one could see the pure white teeth peeping from his thin, pale lips.
One of the women from the crowd, aware of Kou’s arrival, went to the table and rejoiced.
Two men from the crowd also rejoiced as they called his name.
“Kou-san, perfect timing. I was worried because the reservoir’s water supply has been exhausted, and couldn’t think of what to do.”
“Speaking of the reservoir, did you happen to catch wind of the accident?”
“Well, since there are many rumors out there, there will be a lot of stories as to how the accident unfolded, so I’ll try to explain them all. We’ve also prepared materials to repair the waterway, and brought the water truck.”
The water truck was a large tank, in which water would be stored in, and we would move it to the river to collect more water to bring back to the town.
“Is the truck still good to be used? Let’s get it on the side of the river so we can draw water. I know it has a manual pump somewhere, if I recall, it’s stored in the warehouse.”
…
“It seems to have endured thanks to the pump. You helped me a lot… As expected of Kou-san.”
To describe Kou, it would be like he was a distant relative of everyone in the town. He would come and go in his caravan, delivering certain supplies to this “desert country.” His caravan had done a lot for us in the past.
After all, what I had done was completely useless. It’ll be a while before I could actually help.
“Actually, Nagi-sama suggested to dig up the old well to get us some drinking water, but it was too dangerous. The well was quite narrow, so I was frustrated only someone as thin as Nagi-sama could do all the work.
“If Nagi-sama wants to get something done, she will work through danger to accomplish it.”
“Please, stop.”
I subconsciously lowered my head.
I thought it was a good idea.
“Although the river isn’t very far, it’s troublesome to travel under the scorching sun to draw water every single time we run out. If we could get water from the old wells, going to the river would be unnecessary.”
As a result, I wasted countless hours of tolling work trying to dig up the impossible.
“In the first place, even if the waterway did collapse, it would be a problem since we lacked sufficient manpower.
That’s why I tried to do what I could do. I couldn’t just stand there doing nothing.
But, it was constantly moving.
On the contrary, I was more concerned about our surroundings.
“Whatever it was, you were lucky enough to arrive before it got too late. The car was stuck in a sandstorm for quite a bit.”
I averted my eyes from the backs of the men, who were chatting. Nami put her hand on my shoulder.
“Let’s have lunch too.”
“Yeah, sure……”
“But before that, you should change your clothes and get your wounds treated. You can’t go out in front of everyone in those dirty clothes.”
“Huh?”
Nami made a face as if she gave up, and released a small sigh.
“Today is the day of the monthly gathering, Nagi.”