"Hey, Kayo, shouldn't we have arrived there by now?"
"... We still have to walk for a few more minutes. We should have arrived some time ago."
Complaints born from despair began to slip from our mouths. Everyone wanted to arrive there. Everyone. We wanted to put an end to this long journey.
Everyone wanted to sleep soundly again beneath a warm roof. They wanted to have dinner together after cooking in the kitchen.
They wanted to let their guard down. To let their guard down against everything happening around them after all that had happened. To feel safer from the threat of monsters or something even more terrifying than that.
—
For the past six months, I had been trying to lead all of us by following the map that I had marked every minute. Only to make sure that we would not lose our way as we traveled.
With every hour that passed, it slowly claimed victims without us even realizing it.
Only half of our original number remained when we left that city, while the rest had already died. Some were devoured by wild monsters, while others succumbed to their worsening conditions.
With our limited supplies, we eventually decided to kill the monsters that we thought we could defeat together.
Aside from their meat, we also kept gathering all kinds of plants until the trees had been stripped bare because of our selfishness.
Shouldn't living beings help one another?
Today, I was certain that we would reach Nakuso, the place that had become our final destination. It was not because of mere instinct or wishful thinking, but because I had confirmed it over and over again with a clear mind.
That was why I had not hesitated to tell everyone this morning. Yet the truth was that the sun would soon be completely swallowed by the night that was fast approaching.
We still had not found the main road or the giant walls that marked the boundary of a city, or even a kingdom.
It was not just us either. Since this afternoon, we had been accompanied by a heavy snowstorm that blinded our view of the distance.
Because of this obstacle, we took turns using magic to keep the temperature around us warm. There was nowhere to take shelter until the storm passed.
But the one I worried about the most was Lin, who had now become someone who would spend the rest of her life with me. Regardless of what I had done to her, the Lin of today no longer cared about any of it.
Even if I had truly been declared guilty, I was willing to bear the consequences of the actions I had committed in the past. Their shadows still often appeared in my dreams every night.
The sight of Lin continuing to walk forward without hesitation despite her condition made all my worries disappear whenever I felt reluctant to continue today.
—
For the past week, my stomach had been hurting more and more. The fact that it had stopped growing over the past few weeks made me certain that my time would soon come.
The time when I would finally be able to see the head of the baby that had been living inside my belly all this time, waiting for the moment to come out.
Some people had told me that a mother's belly would sometimes be kicked by the baby. But for me, it did not bother me at all.
Every time I felt it, I could not stop smiling after calling Kayo over to see it. That man would always place his palm on my swollen belly and listen to it.
The past six months had gone by so quickly. I felt as though I had already become an adult, not because of my personality, but because I would soon become a mother.
My heart kept pounding whenever I imagined my child's face. Would the baby cry? Or would they remain silent when I held them warmly in my arms?
Those questions kept making me wonder just how happy I would be when I finally saw my child in person.
"Kayo, how much longer?" I asked him as he walked beside me, holding a piece of cloth above us to keep the snow from falling onto our heads.
Kayo looked at me and quickly answered, "Just a little longer, Lin. Trust me, we'll definitely arrive there before long."
The same answer as one hour ago once again. I knew how heavy the burden he carried was, and I could imagine it as well.
Suddenly, I stopped walking. He stopped as well.
I wrapped both of my arms around my belly. All of a sudden, it hurt as though something inside had struck me hard.
It's not time for you to come out yet, I thought. I had no intention of giving birth to my child in the middle of a snowstorm like this. At the very least, I wanted to make sure that the baby would be born somewhere safe.
"What's wrong, Lin? What's wrong with your stomach?" Kayo asked with an expression filled with worry.
I slowly removed my hands from it and raised my face to meet his gaze. Then, I shook my head.
"Just like usual. Maybe the baby kicked me again, hehe. Geez... Tell your child to calm down a little, will you? You're the father, aren't you?" I replied, making a joke that did not sound funny at all in a situation like this.
He wrapped his arm around my shoulder and helped me continue walking.
——
Lin looked as though she was in great pain even though she tried to deny it. Just by looking at her face alone, I felt unable to act recklessly now.
From afar, where the snowstorm was not as heavy, I finally saw it. My eyes widened at once, and the hope that had almost faded away was reignited by what I saw before me. Yes, two lights born from fire were floating ahead of us.
Beneath those flames, I saw a massive wall, and I was certain that it was the place we had been searching for.
This time, it was my turn to stop walking. "Lin, please wait here for a moment. Please, just do as I say. I'll be back soon," I said before running away from her.
I ran toward those flames, pushing through the cold that tried to stop my body, which had already grown hot. I could not stop, even if my face turned blue from the freezing air.
As I got closer, I could see a wide road covered by a thin layer of snow. And at the end of that road, directly beneath those two flames, I saw a giant wooden gate standing firmly shut, guarding whatever lay behind it.
When I stopped in front of the gate, I heard someone call out to me from above. I raised my head.
"Who are you?! What business do you have coming here so late at night?!" someone shouted from atop the wall.
They must have noticed me because of the fire magic I had been using to light my way as I ran here. Thankfully, I still had enough strength left to use it.
I removed the hood covering my head, revealing my fox ears to prove that I was not an enemy.
The man called several others over to show them who I was. It did not take long before they gave their answer.
"Did you come here alone?!" he shouted.
"My friends are still behind me!" I shouted back, my voice nearly gone.
"Call them over here! We'll open the gate once all of you have arrived!"
A smile immediately spread across my face. I hurried back to everyone else to deliver the good news.
Thank goodness, thank goodness! We had finally reached our destination!... I could no longer hold back my tears!!!
——
After Kayo returned and told us to head there, I could not hold back my happiness, and neither could the others.
There was no need for loud cheers. What we needed now was to hurry there and bring this suffering to an end.
As soon as we arrived in front of the gate, it truly opened itself and allowed all of us to enter within mere seconds.
The gate closed once all of us had made it inside. And now, there was only one thing troubling me.
How could I possibly suppress my joy when thousands of houses and brightly lit streets stood clearly in the distance before my eyes?
We... had truly escaped from that place.