In a primeval forest of towering trees, moss grew densely underfoot. Rays of sunlight filtered through the gaps in the vibrant canopy, but the light on the narrow path was dim at best.
I was handling my broom skillfully, avoiding the trees as I proceeded down that path. The lukewarm breeze was very, very uncomfortable against my skin.
"..."
After going just a bit farther, I arrived at a clearing. There was a village there.
A very, very small one. A village so small that you could almost see the whole thing from the entrance.
"Ey."
When I got down off my broom, the moss-covered ground yielded softly to my weight. There didn't appear to be a gate, so I was able to enter the village simply by passing under a trellis.
Wooden houses stood here and there, simple log cabins without a single unnecessary flourish. They appeared to have been built to serve as shelter and nothing more.
Suffice it to say there was nothing remarkable about this village.
Let's not stay here after all—wait, I'm not sure if there's anywhere I could stay the night. Actually, I'm not sure if people are even living here. Is this a ghost town?
I walked aimlessly around the deserted village, and a single villager emerged from one of the houses. Oh, good, someone does live here.
With some relief, I turned to look at the villager and saw a man in his prime with an ax slung over his shoulder.
"...!"
Strangely, as soon as the man saw me he opened his mouth, dumbfounded, as if he couldn't believe what he was seeing.
...? What could that mean?
My head was tilted in confusion as he pointed a trembling finger at me and shouted, "…Mina! Hey, you're Mina, aren't you?!"
…? Huh?
The man threw his ax down and rushed over to me.
"Thank goodness…! Thank goodness! You found the cure-all, right? You made it just in time! Abel will be so happy, Mina!"
"Huh? Um…"
Immediately, I understood that the man must have me mistaken for someone else. Who the heck is Abel?
But just as I was about to open my mouth, the man shouted again.
"Heeey! Everyone! Mina came back!"
In the blink of an eye, his loud voice reached every corner of the village, as if to rouse the primeval forest itself. The trees nearby grew noisy with chattering, and I could see birds making their escape.
It was a really, really small village. If you shouted, everyone in the village would probably be able to hear you. People poured out of their houses in droves.
Old people, children, married couples—when they caught sight of me and the man, the villagers rushed over to us with such nimble, deliberate movements the whole thing felt planned. Before I realized it, I was completely surrounded. Oh no, this is scary.
The bustling assembly of people stared at me relentlessly with the kind of pure-hearted admiration usually reserved for heroes returning from war. Oh no, this is scary.
"Big Sister Mina! Did you bring back any souvenirs from the city?"
"My, my, you've really become a beauty in the short time you've been gone."
"Did you get shorter?"
"Never mind that, what are you wearing?"
"Come on, Dad. It's obviously the clothing that's popular in the city."
"So did you buy the cure-all?"
"Hey, don't smother her."
The villagers prattled on as much as they pleased.
Ah, I give up, I decided, then tuned out the rest of what they were saying and let the clamoring voices of the villagers wash over me like so much noise. After a bit of time had passed, their cheerful shouts died down.
The man who had summoned all the villagers yelled, "You're all too noisy, be quiet!"
You're the loudest one here. You be quiet.
"…Really, everyone, Mina must be tired from her long journey. Give her a break."
What's this? Now you want to talk like you've got common sense? Aren't you their leader? Wait, more importantly…
"Everyone, I think you're mistaken about something." Now that the crowd had quieted down, I seized the opportunity to speak up and correct them. If the misunderstanding continued any longer, I'd be in trouble.
"Mistaken? About what?" The man looked at me blankly. I could hear a stir spreading through the villagers around me. I spoke as plainly as possible. "I am simply a traveler. I am not this 'Mina' you're all talking about." I thought I sounded very serious, but
it looked like only a few people in the crowd had genuinely listened to what I had to say. Directly behind me, laughter broke out.
"What on earth is the child saying?"
So they won't believe me. What if I use magic to make them kneel down and obey me? Listening to them, I would guess no witch has visited this village, so that in itself should make an impact.
Well, that's a last resort.
"..."
And then, after everyone except for me had had a good laugh, one of the villagers spoke up.
"Hmm? Now that she says that, she does look a little younger than Mina…"
The person next to me chimed in and agreed. "Come to think of it, she's a bit flatter than Mina, too…"
My unease grew steadily greater.
"I thought she had gotten prettier while she'd been gone, but maybe…"
"And if you think about it, growing shorter is completely impossible…"
"And what's with this getup…?"
"Gramma, where's my food?"
"Stop it—you ate just yesterday."
"..."
It took no time at all for my anxiety to wash over me completely. Before I knew it, a dark, funereal atmosphere permeated the crowd.
"…You're really not Mina?" the man in front of me asked miserably.
"I told you that from the beginning. I said you had the wrong person."
"…Then that means"—the man crumpled on the spot, and his voice began trembling—"that we can't do anything to help Abel anymore…?"
"What on earth are you talking about? First of all, who is Abel?"
Ignoring my question, someone muttered, "…No, wait. There's still a way."
Several of the people surrounding me left the circle and huddled together somewhere else, then came back and said, "We have something to discuss with you, so we'd like you to come with us."
That was all they would tell me.
Whether because of their amazing powers of persuasion or because the faces of the adults were all deadly serious, I had agreed to go with them before I even realized it.
The man and a number of the other adults brought me to the largest house in the village. We walked into the dining room, where a young man pulled out a chair and said, "Please have a seat." And so I sat.
Two people sat down across from me. The one on the left, from my perspective, was the man in his thirties or so who I had encountered first… He had calmed down, as if the fire in him had gone out, and he suddenly seemed like a different person.
The old man with the white beard sitting to the right (possibly the head of the village) crossed his arms and opened his mouth to speak.
"We understand now that you are not Mina. Our sincerest apologies."
"It's fine." Understanding that is the first step.
"However, you look exactly like her; the resemblance was enough that the villagers confused you for her. Just like two peas in a pod, you could say."
The thirtyish man nodded vigorously.
The old man stroked his beard. "First, let us make our request.
Traveler, just for one night—even less than one night, in fact—could
you please pretend to be Mina?"
"…Why?"
I had an inkling that it might have to do with the famous Abel.
"Mina had a boyfriend. His name is Abel, and he's very serious, very kind. For his sake, we'd like you to put on a little performance."
Called it. Shall we try to guess the next plot twist?
"Abel's life is in danger, so you want me to pretend to be his girlfriend coming home after moving to the city?"
But the old man shook his head slowly. "No, Mina did not move away to live in the city. She ran off to get the cure-all."
"…Hmm." Come to think of it, the villagers and the man in his prime had said the same thing about getting some cure-all.
"Right now, Abel is lying in his sickbed."
"…Mm," I urged him on.
"What's destroying Abel seems to be an incurable disease. It's bad enough to make the village doctor want to throw in the towel. No matter what type of medicine he administers, it has absolutely no effect. In fact, Abel's condition actually gets worse. At first, he just had a simple fever, but now he can't even stand upright."
I see. "And so this cure-all?"
"Mm. Right after we realized the medicine we had in the village wasn't doing him any good, Mina flew off, saying, 'I'm going to get the cure-all.'"
"And where can one acquire this cure-all?"
"If you proceed far to the north from here, there is a large country.
Rumor has it you can acquire the cure-all there, but it's a full two days' walk. No one from this village has been there to confirm whether it's true or not."
"So Mina dashed out of the village, relying on that questionable information."
"She must have been willing to take the risk. She wanted so much to help Abel, but…" The man in his thirties finished the rest of that sentence weakly, hanging his head. "Two weeks have passed since she left here. Mina—my daughter—should have come back long ago, but she hasn't returned."
…Daughter? Did he say daughter?
"Huh, are you her father?" This was a surprise. The man in his thirties nodded quietly. It's pretty bad to honestly confuse your own daughter and a complete stranger… Well, he must be very exhausted.
"The more time passes, the closer Abel comes to death," the old man said. "The village doctor is saying that at most he has three days left."
Three days. Will Mina make it back in time?
It takes two days to arrive at the country that has the cure-all, then another two to buy the medicine and come back. But it's already been two weeks.
Returning ten days late (and counting) was really something else. I couldn't help but think she had run into some kind of trouble—or worse. Could Mina possibly make it back before his time was up? No, the two people seated in front of me were already sure of one thing.
Mina is never coming back…
"Up until now, Abel was fighting his sickness with everything he had, but…his girlfriend was by his side like family the whole time. If he dies without being able to see her, it would be unbearably sad."
"..."
"Ever since he lost his family when he was small, Mina has been the only one who supported him. And Mina's the only one who can ease his mind. A fake Mina will do—we just want you to make him feel happy at the end, at least," said the old man.