A group gathers near the campfire. Rose hands out bowls of soup one by one. My turn arrives.
"Be careful, the bowl is hot."
Yet I still place both my hands beneath it to receive it.
I take it.
"Ukh," one of my eyes twitches from the heat.
"I told you," Rose says, walking toward the grill in the center. She returns with her own bowl of soup and sits to my right.
I look around. Everyone has begun eating, though the soup is still warm.
I blow on mine first to cool it.
"Hey, eat it. It will get cold," Rose says. She lifts her spoon filled with broth, blows on it, tastes it, then swallows.
"I am used to eating food once it has cooled. How does it taste?" I ask after she swallows.
"Of course, it is delicious! It is my mother's recipe. In the past, she only cooked this special soup before and after we moved from the noble city to the royal village," she says, gently blowing on the broth in her spoon.
"I see. Yet the aroma is not unfamiliar to me. The scent of this soup feels as if my own mother has cooked it," I reply. My spoon fills with broth; I lift it and blow on it.
"As you said, we once lived in the noble city before moving. Perhaps the recipe for this soup is shared among nobles," she says, tasting and swallowing again.
It is finally my turn to taste it. The spoon nears my mouth. This is it.
I taste it.
Ah, the flavor—
it pulls my vision back to the kitchen of that noble house.
After everyone finishes breakfast, it is time to depart—from the hill toward the mountains.
As Rose said earlier, we must hurry. We do not wish to arrive at night, as it would be difficult to stay there overnight.
One by one, we enter our respective carriages.
"Am I riding, or are you?!" Rose asks. The two of us now stand before the carriage.
"Are you certain you wish to miss the morning view, which differs from noon or evening, without photographing it?" I ask to confirm.
Her expression turns mischievous.
"Fine, fine!" she replies.
I take the reins. In the first carriage are now only Rose and Santiago with a pigeon on his shoulder.
The second carriage carries Bartra, Grizz, and Gruzz. The third carriage follows behind with several crew members.
The journey from the hill toward the mountains begins.
The scenery is magnificent. The sun has risen a third of the way across the sky, adorned with white clouds, while birds begin flying in flocks.
Endless rows of mountains stretch beneath the sky. In the distance, the sea is visible along the horizon. The mountain range before us is the destination of this journey.
"It is beautiful, isn't it!" Rose says—CLICK, CLICK. Flashes of light sweep across my face repeatedly.
I am about to turn—
"Do not be too confident, all right! Hihihihi," she says, laughing softly at the end.
I am not sure what that means to me. In any case, I am already accustomed to such things. Besides, the road between the hill and the mountain should take us until noon without any stop for breakfast.
"True, isn't it?!" I ask, glancing slightly back.
"Hmm?" Rose murmurs, her face half-covered by the camera.
"There will be no stops ahead before we arrive, correct?" I continue.
"Of course not. There is no time for that. If you want breakfast, eat inside the carriage. Hey, do not hesitate to ask to switch riders. Scenery like this does not exist down there anymore, understand?!" she says.
I do not respond. I focus forward, making her voice fade into the distance.
"UNDERSTAND?!" she shouts, not minding Santiago who sleeps beside her.
"Hmm?" Santiago murmurs, beginning to wake.
"It is nothing, Uncle. Just someone who is always stubborn," Rose replies.
I make a mischievous expression, glance back at her, and smile cynically.
"You—!" she shouts again, her voice exploding loudly enough to be heard even from the third carriage.
At last, we reach the plain, and the road between the hill and the mountain lies just ahead. It is already noon.
I am about to turn back and remind them that it is time for breakfast.
But—
As we pass toward the mountain, a premonition crosses my mind and settles upon my shoulders.
"Damn," I murmur. There will be disaster—I sense it.
From the third carriage—BLAM! The sound of something landing on the roof echoes as far as the second carriage, waking the crew inside.
"W-what is that?"
"Who?"
"What is happening?" the crew shout upon hearing the loud noise above them.
I look forward. The road remains straight. I close my eyes.
"No, no, NO!" voices scream.
CRASH—
The third carriage collides with a tree.
I open my eyes and look back. Just as I feared—their screams.
BLAM—
The sound of something landing on the roof now spreads to the second carriage, audible even to the first.
"What the hell!" Bartra pulls out his slingshot, aiming upward from inside.
"What is happening?" asks Grizz.
"WHO ARE YOU?!" shouts Gruzz.
"Damn, damn, damn," I mutter. I must keep glancing back. Inside my carriage, Santiago has already aimed his arquebus at the figure above.
BANG—
The bullet fires, striking the roof of the second carriage. Someone above it slips backward, yet there is no sign of him being thrown off.
"Bastard," Santiago mutters.
Bartra climbs to the roof and aims his slingshot toward the rear. Grizz and Gruzz draw their swords.
But—
"No, NO, NO!" their voices mix before—
CRASH—
The carriage slams into a tree. They fall instantly.
The man vanishes suddenly from the carriage.
"Aim at the roof," I say. I have seen it happen before; I must prevent it.
The man moves swiftly, even managing to seize a tree branch and swing from one to another, stepping forward until he is about to land on the roof of this carriage.
"NOW!"
BANG—
A gunshot erupts from inside the carriage.
THUD—
Someone lands on the roof.
Still, it is not prevented.
I am about to close my eyes—
"Ukh—"
My neck.
Hiro's neck is struck. I lose balance, fall from the horse, and am thrown to the ground.
"No—"
I crawl as the carriage moves farther away from me.
BANG—BANG—BANG—
Several gunshots echo from inside the carriage.
"Noooo!" Rose's scream sounds faint.
I struggle to rise. Again and again.
CRASH—
A carriage collides with a tree.
Nothing remains—except me.
I stand firm, waiting for him to appear. I close my eyes. He will emerge and walk toward me.
I open my eyes.
He stands before me, stepping forward slowly.
"IS THAT YOU? REALLY?"