The night is very cold and dark. My body is also tired from playing with Maria a few minutes ago.
"Uncle Joe," someone called my name.
"Just call me Joe," I replied to that person.
"Oh, okay, Joe! Do you really not remember anything?"
That person who asking me is a girl named Maria. Beside her is another little girl named Alice.
Maria is cheerful and funny, while her sister Alice appears more firm and authoritative, even though she is much smaller than me.
Alice is amazing, she can even make a campfire in snowy weather like this. I wonder how she learned that and why she learned it. Although I should already be able to guess the general cause.
I can't tell them the truth about me. If I say I possessed this body to meet them, I might be seen as an evil witch.
Are there really witches in this world with such advanced technology? Well, maybe not, but even so, I want to be seen as a normal human.
That's why I made up a story that I have amnesia because I was hit by iron debris.
The bandage on my head makes them believe it.
I don't know what has happened to the person who owns this body. But I am grateful to him for dying in that place intact!
I will borrow your body for a while, after all, you are already dead, right? Well, I don't know and don't care much, the important thing is that I managed to use this body to meet these two little girls.
Right now, Maria and Alice seem to be eating from a package I don't recognize.
I'm also curious, I will die if I don't eat? This body is already dead, right? But I can breathe and feel my own heartbeat. It seems like this body is coming back to life along with me when awakening in it.
Sebastian also warned me not to die because if I die, I will return to my astral body in the 'cosmic'. Maybe this is what Sebastian meant by 'don't die'.
In that case, I should probably eat too. But how do I find food?
I look around and see a fairly large lake.
As I was thinking about how to find food, Alice startled me by approaching me without saying anything.
I thought I was going to be killed at this moment. But it turns out she offered me an unfamiliar food. It's the same food they are eating.
I am confused by this, I look at Maria, but Maria just smiles. While Alice continues to offer the food, her face does not look at me at all.
Maybe she's embarrassed? It's unlikely, she hates me. That's why she's doing this. But why would she give food to someone she hates? I can't understand that.
"Take it...," Alice said.
"I-It's okay, I don't mind. I can go to the lake to catch fish!"
I immediately want to rush to the lake and try to do something. But Alice stops me as soon as I try to get up from my seat.
"Stop that, you will only regret it."
"Eh?"
"You really seem to have amnesia. Do you also forget that in this world, humans are the only living beings left?"
"..."
I fall silent after hearing that.
Only humans left? Are you kidding? How can humans survive in a world like this? If there are no other creatures besides humans, that means the remaining food source for humans is only plants. Wait, plants are also living beings. But there are some trees found along the way.
"Plants! Trees! What about plants!?" I ask Alice.
"Plants?" Alice looks confused.
I finally understand the situation of this world. This world is truly beyond salvation. This is a post-apocalyptic world.
"What are you thinking? Eat this first, then you can think about that all the time," Alice said while offering the food.
I accept the rectangular-shaped food and look at it for a moment. It smells familiar, like food I know. I take a bite and unconsciously say, "Ah, this is chocolate!"
Alice, who was about to return to her place, was surprised and turned around, "Eh?"
"Chocolate? Can that be eaten?" Maria asked.
Alice sat back next to Maria while trying to adjust the campfire to keep it from going out.
Meanwhile, I am puzzled by Maria's response and start asking back, "Don't you know that what you just ate is chocolate?"
"...," Maria and Alice shake their heads repeatedly to answer my question.
"Can I see the food package from earlier?" I say.
Alice hands me the empty food package.
I start investigating and find that the language on it is unreadable to me. I don't know that language, I don't understand it. I have never seen that language before.
But slowly, as I continue to observe the writings, I gradually gain knowledge of that language easily. I don't feel too dizzy because maybe it's the help given by Sebastian.
This is useful because I have no information at all about this world. This also happened when I conversed with Maria for the first time. I quickly adapted and understood the language Maria used. That's why Alice didn't know that I couldn't speak their language at first.
I am grateful that Maria woke up first. If Alice had woken up first, I might have been shot dead without being able to explain anything.
Just as I thought, it clearly states on the food package that it is chocolate. Although the language is very different, the name of the food remains the same.
I wonder if in other dimensions, chocolate is also called chocolate?
I explain to Alice and Maria where I found the taste clues on the food package.
They seem happy to hear that, although I don't understand why they are happy. It seems that food is a very important and valuable thing for both of them. Unlike me, who only sees food as a tool for survival.
That's what I thought before. But I realize the situation of these two little girls is very difficult. I think they must know how important food is in this life.
I express my gratitude to Alice for giving me her food. As I suspected, she doesn't say anything to me. It seems she still hates me.
I don't understand why she could hate me, but logically, there must be a reason. It seems that Alice has experienced something in her life that made her lose trust in others.
Betrayal? Most likely, that is the most reasonable explanation.
I don't feel full at all because I only ate one chocolate bar. But the same goes for that two girls, I'm not sure if they are full.
I estimate the size of one chocolate bar and its wrapper. If my estimation is correct, there should only be 5 chocolate bars in one package. That means they only ate 2 each.
I can't understand why they did that. I can only guess that they did it to save food.
They only want to 'eat' to survive. They are not 'eating' to be full.
Although they are the first living beings I have encountered since I awakened in this world, I can tell that their current situation is not good.
But I wonder why they can still laugh and joke together. Especially Maria, who always does silly things and sometimes makes Alice smile.
If I think deeper, I don't know them well yet. But it is because of that that I want to get to know them better from now on.
There is no doubt in me. I have already decided what to do since I first saw the memories of the past and future of these two girls.
In the future, they will be separated by death. I will not let either of them die. If someone has to die among us, it will be me. I don't mind because death is not the end for me. But for them, death is the end of everything.
I fall silent for a moment, gazing at the sky.
I am puzzled, when did I become someone so caring like this? I shouldn't care about their fate. I don't even care at all about the fate of this world.
But why did I choose them at that moment? I only saw their memories and future. What really happened to me?
I don't quite understand, but I feel happy when I see their smiles.
The night is starting to show its fright. Alice decides that we should sleep soon, but in the end, only Maria falls asleep at this moment.
I sit by the lake, contemplating the stars in the sky.
Suddenly, Alice approaches me, carrying Maria's rifle.
"Ehh? Is this the end for me?" I say.
"No! Just as a precaution," Alice says.
"A precaution? For what? Are you often attacked while sleeping? In that case, let me stay awake tonight. You can sleep soundly."
"...," Alice falls silent for a moment, looking at me.
"W-what's wrong with my face?"
Alice starts sitting next to me, albeit a bit distant, and says, "I can't sleep because you are around us."
"Ehhh? So that's it... In that case, do you have a shovel?"
"Ha? A shovel? What for?"
"You can bury me in the ground, leaving my head out to breathe. That way, I won't be able to do anything to you, right?"
"Ekh... Your idea is truly horrifying," Alice looked pensive as she continued, "I'm sorry, I can't trust you yet. I've tried to trust, but... I suspected I couldn't."
"But... If things continue like this, you won't be able to sleep soundly. You're the only one who can drive, you know!"
"I understand that, but..."
I try to think of ways to make Alice feel at ease. However, the only way I can think of is to distance myself from them. But I don't want that to happen.
To ensure that Alice is not disturbed by my presence without me leaving, I just need to create a situation where I can't do anything!
I then start asking Alice, "hey, Alice... Do you have a rope?"
"A Rope? Don't tell me!? You're not thinking of doing 'that,' are you?"
"No other idea, right? This is the only solution I can think of."
Alice thinks for a moment and then asks back, "But, are you okay With that?"
Oh, she's worried about me. The person who used to hate me is now worried about me. Oh, have I managed to open her heart?
It can't be that easy. But, I think it's quite enjoyable to know that someone is concerned about me.
I smile and say, "Mmh, mmh, this is really enjoyable!"
"Eh? What's wrong all of a sudden?"
"Being cared for by a cute girl like you fills me with energy!"
"What is that? What's wrong with you?" Alice starts giggling.
"Haa! You laughed just now! Hey hey, you laughed, right? Hey, answer me! You laughed just now, right?"
"No!" Alice returns to being cold.
"Come on, I want to see that face again. The face when you laughed and smiled!"
"No more!"
"Look, that means you really laughed earlier, right?"
"No!"
"Why are you trying to hide it?"
"No!"
"Yet you said 'no more'..."
"I said no, so it's no!"
"'No more,' you said like that. That means you laughed earlier, right?"
"No!"
"Why are you trying to hide it?"
"No!"
"Earlier you..."
"No!"
"Earlier you said 'no more'..."
"I said no, so it's no!"
"Earlier you..."
"No!"
After that, Alice confidently ties me up with the rope she has and then goes to sleep next to Maria in the back of the car.
Meanwhile, I have to sleep like a caterpillar in the very cold air near the vehicle.
Although the air is slightly reduced because our current vehicle is parked by Alice in the abandoned airplane.
I see Alice taking out some items to make herself comfortable to sleep beside Maria. Alice is very clever, this way, she and Maria can sleep more comfortably.
Suddenly, she approaches me while I am rolling around like a caterpillar without arms and legs and gives me a blanket.
I am surprised by this, I didn't expect her to do that.
I say, "Thank you, Alice."
"No problem," Alice replies, then turns around and goes towards Maria.
I smile in the warmth of the blanket.
***** ***** ***** *****
Alice begins to take some parts of Maria's blanket and uses them for herself.
Before sleeping, she lets out a small laugh. She suddenly stops and seems puzzled by herself. However, in the end, she smiles and falls into a deep sleep.
Meanwhile, Joe Walker is holding back his tears because he doesn't want to disturb Alice and Maria's sleep.
He cries because the blanket given by Alice flies away from him and gets stuck in the wreckage of the airplane due to the strong wind.
There is nothing he can do but endure the cold of that night while holding back his tears alone.