Three days from the day of the gathering.
Thanks to the goods Kou brought, the people were somewhat regaining their smiles. In addition to water and repair materials, foodstuffs such as dried meats and peach cactus meant that we could somehow stay alive until the rainy season.
Of course, the excavation work of old wells, which I proposed, was suspended.
In that case, I offered to help with the repair work of the underground waterways, but they refused since the work was dangerous.
It’s true, the work involves carrying a heavy steel frame, and I’d only be a hindrance. Even though I decided to live as a man, I could quite develop muscles like them.
Giving Nami, who blended in with the women who were weaving cloth, a sidelong glance, I walked around the rubble town with no goal in mind.
Without really thinking, I checked out each house’s planters of thymes. Thyme was the plant we used to make the mosquito repellent. It’s supposed to be strong against dryness, but as expected, the drought made it start to wither.
Feeling somewhat pathetic, I crouched down near the planter.
I wonder, why am I so useless?
I tried touching a light purple flower that had begun to wither. The stem with small leaves swayed unreliably.
At that moment, I heard a ‘shan!’ sound from behind me.
Instantly, my heart jumped, and as if flipping, I stood up and turned around.
Sure enough, there was Kou.
It was the worst.
To think, my sulking would seen by the one person I didn’t want to see the most.
Even as my heart was pounding, I feigned serenity to the best of my abilities.
“Wha……what is it? Do you have something to say?”
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to surprise you.”
Kou scratched his head as he smiled bitterly. In his hands was some fabric made by the townswomen.
“……Are you leaving already?”
“Yeah, I want to leave for the next stop while there’s no sandstorm.”
“……What about Aya? Your child will be born soon. Is it alright for you to not be there?”
“I really want to be there, but there are people waiting for the caravan, so I can’t.”
“Hmm……”
And my frustration was resurrected. But it was swiftly intercepted by Kou’s voice.
“By the way, do you want to come along on the caravan?”
“Huh?”
“It’s fine even if it’s just this one time. It’s not even that difficult a job.”
“……Why?’
“The goods increase in the last patrol right before the rainy season, so I want a companion with me.”
Kou smiled lightly. Warm air brushed against my nose.
Without even blinking, I simply opened my mouth.
“……I’ll go ask Nami.”
Why I agreed, even I don’t know.
The only thing I’m sure of is that there’s nothing I can do in this city.
When I informed Nami that I’d be tagging along the caravan’s patrol, Nami’s expression hardened ever so slightly.
“When will you come back?’
“Dunno, if things go well it should only take a month. I should be back around the time the rainy season starts.”
“Is that so?”
Nami lowered their gaze and blinked two, three times, and removed the red agate stone bracelet on her right wrist, giving it to me.
“Then take this in place of a charm.”
It was one of our mom’s mementos. Nami always had it on her body, never removing it. I’ve heard that our piercings were made using stones taken from this bracelet.
While holding it, which was still warm, I lightly, bitterly, smiled. Nami likes doing things like this for peace of mind.
“Divine blessings of the moon be with you.”
Being told that with a serious face, I simply nodded and put the bracelet on my right wrist right there and then.
Thinking about it, this was the going to be the first time I left the town.
Wagons powered by photovoltaic power steadily advanced over the ruined earth.
The sandstorm continued to conceal itself. The clear blue sky and whitish ground seemed to extend endlessly. The two colors were clearly divided by the horizon.
Nevertheless, the [Tower of Hope] alone disturbed the harmony of the scenery.
Exactly as its name suggests, the caravan used to go around to various places carrying merchants.
It was said to have gone all the way east to a country among the mountains⸺to a place currently known as [Volcano Country]⸺to stock up.
But along with the changing of times, those who left the planet for the Moon Colony and those who fell to illnesses or accidents during patrols lost their lives one after the other, and now Kou was the only one left.
The bell attached to the goods was passed down from generation to the next by the caravan’s merchants. In addition to informing people of the caravan’s arrival, I heard it also tells one’s companions of one’s location when lost in the desert.
“I’ve been alone for quite a while now, so being together with someone is bit strange.”
In the driver’s seat, Kou muttered that as if he were talking to himself.
I was silent. I didn’t think there was any need to reply, and I didn’t know what I would say.
The sound of the baggage reverberated throughout the wagon. Occasionally matching it, the bell rang⸺shan shan!⸺and for some reason or another, I counted how many times it rang.
Kou abruptly spoke once again.
“The last time was when I was with Jin-san, ten years ago.”
There was too long a gap for that to be a continuation of his previous remark, but it seemed too short a gap to switch to a different topic.
Without thinking, I looked at Kou’s face.
As if nothing happened, Kou was facing the front, driving indifferently.
But of course, I didn’t mishear anything. Automatically my heartbeat grew faster.
[Jin] is the name of my father.
The name of my father, who abandoned Mom and us.
Ten years ago now, Mom suffered from hilko infection.
My father, who was a part of the caravan, only showed his face occasionally in the first place. When Mom suffered from a disease with no method of treatment, he suddenly vanished.
It was just when the time when the final shuttle to the Moon Colony launched from the [Tower of Hope]. The plan for humans to migrate to the moon, which had been in progress for seventy years, was completed with that flight, and only a handful of people remained on the Earth.
Only afterwards did I hear from somebody that my father was on that shuttle. Even when I asked when he was coming back, everybody only smiled lightly, as if they were troubled.
I thought I was abandoned.
He deserted our mother who was on the verge of death, tossed us away, and ran off to the new land all by himself.
Along with the shan, shan, sound of the bell, I remembered the last view of his back, fading away.
I gazed at his back, which never turned back no matter how much I cried or screamed.
⸺Dad, please save Mom!
Facing that traitor, I ignorantly asked him for help.
Neither Kou nor I tried to break the silence.
I was severely shaken due to his name coming out. But, to prevent Kou from finding out, I pretended like nothing was wrong.
As always, Kou drove the vehicle at a fixed speed.
I had no idea what he was thinking. Perhaps I should have at least asked where we were headed.
But I wouldn’t be able to bear it if I somehow prompted Kou to tell me about him.
I looked out the window, keeping my mouth shut.
No matter how far we advanced, the same scenery continued. Even the [Tower of Hope] at the end of my field of vision didn’t seem to be getting closer in the slightest.
Looking at the tower brought up bad thoughts, so I closed my eyes and stopped thinking.