52

Sion and Anima sit on Regn’s back. Regn bounds forth, filled with joy at the thought of returning home. They’ve already left Messis behind them. With how fast Regn runs, they expect to reach Ecg soon, and leave Saturgranum behind as well. Though it’s only been a few months since he first left, Sion, since leaving the tense atmosphere of the manor, cannot stop smiling at the thought of his homecoming. He runs his hand through the fur of Regn’s neck, then flips himself around so he faces Anima.

“Anima, why did you ask to come with me? I thought you didn’t know what you were going to do?”

“Ah… Well… that was a bit of a lie. I didn’t know what to say. Seeing Scima like that.”

“I understand. It’s easy to forget, but Scima really is the most dangerous one of us.”

“But you beat him in that fight?”

“I did. But even if I’m stronger, that doesn’t change things. I feel like Scima thinks about fighting in an entirely different way. Like he lives in a completely different world than us. And I suppose that in a lot of ways, he does.”

“I guess that’s true. I hope Eva and Scima are okay.”

“I’m sure they will be.”

“Do you think everything will be okay with the harvest festival?”

“I’m sure it will. You haven’t met him, but the general is incredibly strong. And I’m sure he’s already begun thinking even if Scima and Eva aren’t there. And I’m sure they’ll reach Clea before anything happens too.”

“Is it really fine that we left them?”

“It must be. That’s the feeling I get. Even if it wasn’t something I could say to Scima. It’s as Eva said. All this talk of kingdoms goes right over my head. And we don’t know what the future holds. I’m sure that the fight against the True Dracabanan Army will last at least a while longer. So I would rather be with my family. But you still haven’t answered my question. Why did you decide to come with me?” Anima doesn’t know how to answer, deception not her strong suit.

“Ah! Well… I guess… It’s… You always talk about your village so warmly. I don’t have that strong of a connection to Ecg, so I guess I was just interested.”

“Huh? You didn’t want to go to Ecg? I mean, it’s fine with me, but we’ll reach Ecg soon, so if you reconsider, feel free to tell me.”

“We’re going to Ecg? Uh, Sion, if you’re going out of the way for me, then…”

“Well, I was a little bit, but I also just wanted to give Regn some time to rest. And I have business to take care of in Ecg too. Even if you won’t be staying, maybe you should still drop in and visit Mr. Weald. I’m sure he’ll be happy to see you’re safe.” Anima giggles.

“I wonder if seeing me might make him think that it’s fine for me to be with you after all.” Anima has a sudden realization. “Hold on, ‘business?’ What do you need to do in Ecg?”

“It’s not much. I just need to confirm something. It doesn’t matter though. Either I’m wrong and there’s no point in worrying, or I’ll tell the general about it and there won’t be reason to worry.”

“Well, I guess I’ll take your word for it. But I thought you weren’t getting involved with this harvest festival attack planning?”

“Ah. I think they’ll be fine even if I don’t do anything, but this is something only I can do, so I should do it. There isn’t much I could do if I went with them, but that doesn’t mean I don’t want to help my friends.”

“But couldn’t you have just told them?”

“Well… I just had a feeling. I felt like if I told Scima I would be stoking something I don’t know if we should. I think that doing it like this will help him go back to smiling and joking around faster.”

“I guess I get it. So the plan is to stop in Ecg, then Clea, then to go to your village?”

“Yeah. Even though I want to see everyone, I guess I really do just need to handle everything first…”

“There’s something to do in your village too?”

“Yeah. Well… this doesn’t need to be a secret, so I guess I’ll just tell you. Do you remember when we met? When I fainted?”

“Of course! That was scary.” She smiles, evidently pleased with the memory.

“While I was unconscious, I realized something major. However, I had no idea what it was when I woke up.”

“Isn’t that normal?”

“Well, it seems like it should be. I also didn’t realize anything was off until recently. After the spire, I remembered what I figured out. That’s what I need to confirm in Ecg. But it wasn’t like forgetting something. It wasn’t like it was in the back of my mind, it wasn’t in there in the first place. Even when I woke up, I had no idea that I realized anything. And since then, I’ve been remembering all sorts of things like that. Moments where I forgot something entirely just after it happened and didn’t even realize something was missing.”

“Like amnesia?”

“I guess that must be it, though it doesn’t seem natural. However, I formed a theory about why it happened. In each memory, there was some kind of overload. When I fainted, it was because it felt like my eyes were trying to tear my skull apart. I think that something took away those memories so I wouldn’t end up hurt.”

“Is what you need to do in your village another thing you remembered?”

“A little bit. It’s also just something I realized in the spire, but that memory just made it obvious. There’s something I need to get in the forest, is all. And ask my dad about something, but that’s unrelated to this war thing.”

“That’s barely anything. You don’t have many opportunities to go home, so can’t you spend time relaxing before you do everything?” Sion smiles at her gently.

“Thank you, Anima. Are you sure you don’t want to stay in Ecg for the harvest festival?” Anima smiles back.

“It… really is fine, Sion.”