* * *
To a place off the beaten path as quickly as possible.
Soon after a ferocious red flame in the shape of an arrow melted away the iron gate it had used as a shield without leaving a trace.
It was the only thought that burned itself into my thought circuits, like a dilapidated street lamp that has reached the end of its life and can only emit a distorted blue light, flickering on and off powerlessly.
I couldn't let this incarnation of Mother Nature, who was sending explosions everywhere with every step, be unleashed on the streets of the town.
''Wind, wind. Come-.''
With all my attention on my legs, I foolishly looked back.
However, it was inevitable.
For my body, which had seen, heard, and experienced so much of what that mysterious melody entangled, was nagging at my peaceful mind to never turn away from it.
I hastily retracted my promise to myself that I would never stop, even if my lungs were burning, and whirled around to face the voice's author with determination.
At that very moment, a furious gust of wind whipped across my cheeks, and a dull old memory of a turbulent journey flashed through my mind.
A time when wind was something that could be recognized, but not seen. The foolishness of dismissing the wind as something that could exist but could not take form smeared across his retina like paint in water.
''Ha-ha-ha----.''
A self-deprecating chuckle escaped my lips.
It was an embarrassing, stupid past.
I'll make amends for that now.
The wind has form, it has a will, and it has tusks to bite someone's throat.
Bam!
Before I could find someone to preach this realization to, a mighty force hurled my body through the air for a moment, and then I was sprawled on the ground, facing a dead end.
The world couldn't have been turned upside down, so I guess it's more accurate to say that my body was.
I stare at the ugliness of my two lame legs as they flail about in the distance.
I can't shake the embarrassment of feeling like an upside-down turtle on a flat surface, but I try my best to dismiss it with a modest smile.
''Elementalism is cheating----. Apis----.''
Kwazik.
At that very moment, the spot where my face was located. A kick landed on the seat next to me, a kick that seemed to contain a lot of emotion.
''Open up.''
I said. I will.
It was clear to me that if I opened my mouth now, it wouldn't end with just one or two arrows.
I responded to the harsh voice that struck me as she demanded, without words, only in my heart.
◈◈◈◈
''Now, speak properly. What have you been doing all this time?''
''I'm going on a little self-searching trip----.''
''----back?''
Apis, who knows when to shut up and doesn't tolerate silence, was relentless in his barrage of questions.
The way she poked and prodded me about every little thing, from where I was living and what I was doing for a living to why I hadn't called to say hello and whether I had any illnesses, reminded me of a mother visiting her child's home.
In fact, it wasn't such a strange sight.
It was a fact that everyone in the party knew, and only Apis himself was unaware of, that Apis, as the oldest member of the party due to the blessed longevity of the Longevity Clan, treated everyone in the party, including me, as more of a nephew than a brother.
Apis and Downa.
I suspect that this aspect of Apis is a large part of the reason why the two women, who have a reputation for being the best of friends both internally and externally, clash at the first sign of eye contact.
Downa's lifestyle of spending her days reading and seemingly disregarding her own health must have been quite a challenge for Apis, who considers her coworkers to be like family.
A child who has just reached puberty and a clumsy parent who doesn't know how to cope with her deviations.
At least, that's the impression I got from watching the two of them bicker every day about nothing in particular.
''So what you're saying is, while we were toiling to death in the dungeon, you've been staying at a monastery in the area, living in the lap of luxury, well fed, and without incident. Is that right?''
''Yes----. That's right----. I'm a very deserving----.''
''Is it true?''
''What?''
''Look me in the eye and tell me if you mean it.''
Her stern tone reminded me of a parent's face trying to read a child's lies.
Even I, who had only spent a short amount of time with her, was dumbfounded by the unfamiliar atmosphere that only made her seem strange.
''Ah, Apis?''
''Are you real? I'm asking you.''
A dead end wall in a dingy alleyway. With his back to me, Apis stands with his arms on either side of me, closing the distance between us until our noses are touching.
I, who was worried about being pierced somewhere in my body with an arrow, could do nothing but draw an arc at the corners of my mouth to soften the mood in front of Apis's mournful eyes, which seemed to be screaming something at me.
''Mm, of course.''
''----Yes, of course, of course, of course.''
As if a great burden had been lifted, Apis suddenly let out a deep breath of relief.
However, I didn't even have time to question Apis's meaningful behavior.
''I finally found you, you manwhore!''
A man's high-pitched shout echoed through the silent alleyway as he shouted a truly unpleasant name.
◈◈◈◈
''Brother, it's him! It's him! It's that freezing, man-whore bastard who threw me against the wall!''
''Ha! That's right, it was you! You're the freezing asshole who threw my cute little brother against the wall!''
Two voices, one of which was quite familiar, and it was inevitable that my gaze would shift to the direction from which the sound came.
The familiar voice belonged to the burly man I'd accidentally thrown against the wall just moments before.
And beside him, a man who looked exactly like him, only with a bushy beard, was his presumed brother.
Behind them, there were at least twenty raggedy-looking men, each clutching an old, blood-stained extension in their hands, filling the narrow alleyway with the stench of sweat.
''I was on my way to work when he grabbed me, and I was in the middle of helping a guy who was spouting some bullshit about being a once-in-a-hundred-years man-whore of the century, and he helped him and then ran off with him, and he looked like a parasitic oraby, so he must be in cahoots with him!
''Yes! That's right, my only brother suffered such a disgrace! If I stay here, I won't be worthy of being your big brother! Isn't that right, kids!''
''Yes, that's right, big brother!''
He pointed his finger in my direction again and again, and using his bitter voice as kindling for the brazier, the men who had gathered together began to hone their fighting skills with a roaring cheer.
It seemed that the man I had unintentionally thrown against the wall had the backbone to avenge his humiliation.
Their tearful camaraderie, empathizing with their colleague's pain as if it were their own, was touching, but no tears came to my eyes.
I was currently biting the tips of my teeth in anger at my unintentional and wrongful accusation.
It was a miracle that a small good deed had been misunderstood, and that such a great misfortune had come to fruition. It was no wonder my head was spinning.
''There----. There seems to be a small misunderstanding between us----.''
''Ha! Misunderstandings are freezing, boys! I'm going to skin that bastard alive right now----.''
''Water. Come-.''
It was just then.
The very moment I tried to verbally mediate the misunderstanding that had arisen between them and me.
A sharp surge swept across my vision, and my dim perceptions were just beginning to recognize the muffled screams mingled within the roar of the waves.
It was only too late that I realized that the white foam that had appeared without warning was writhing like the tusks of a beast, writhing with every twist and turn.
In an effort to restrain the likely culprit behind this murderous spray, I shouted out in a cracked voice.
''Apis!''
Immediately afterward, the waves broke, slowly revealing the tragedy that the blue veil had concealed.
''Ku, kuluk!''
''Kuluk!''
''Off, off, my arm, my arm, my arm!''
It was like watching the scene after a tsunami swept through a private house.
Collapsed walls everywhere. Dented floors. The pain-filled cries of people whose bodies had been torn apart by the raging waves.
But I didn't have time to pay attention to those things right now.
''You----! What do you mean----! You're a whore---- la---- you----.''
Her golden pupils, fluttering wildly with raging emotions, were sliding savagely toward the water-soaked expanse of my top.
* * *