The morning had already begun to settle over Eman Village by the time Elifero and Jon left the house.
Their goal sounded simple enough: search the village for anything—or anyone—that might help Elifero recover his memories. A familiar face, a familiar street, perhaps even a name. Neither of them knew exactly what they were looking for.
But at this point, anything was better than doing nothing.
The two walked through the narrow backstreets of FareBare, their footsteps carrying softly between the closely packed houses.
Jon had spent part of the walk explaining how Eman Village was divided.
The village consisted of two major phases.
Phase One was divided again into two sections: BeMare, where much of the ordinary village life took place, and AeMare, the central district.
Jon hadn't explained much about AeMare. He had only told Elifero that he would know when he reached it.
There was apparently a large statue standing somewhere at its center, and the people there could often be seen wearing clothing different from what Elifero had encountered elsewhere.
Then there was Phase Two.
FareBare.
The place they were walking through now.
Even Jon didn't seem to know exactly where the name had originated—or at least, that was what he claimed. Compared to the rest of Eman, FareBare was noticeably less lively. The streets were quieter. The buildings stood closer together, and the people living there seemed to keep mostly to themselves.
There was one thing Jon had made particularly clear, however.
Those who lived in FareBare were forbidden from approaching the statue in AeMare.
Elifero didn't know why.
And Jon hadn't offered an explanation.
Beyond the entirety of Eman Village stretched thick forests and towering mountains, surrounding the settlement like enormous natural walls.
For now, however, Elifero had more immediate things to worry about.
Jon suddenly slowed.
"Look," he said, stroking his chin. "This is how I'd like us to do things."
He inhaled deeply.
Then sighed.
"We've got two options."
Elifero looked at him.
"Option one: we stay together and search the entire village."
Jon raised one finger.
"Problem is, that'll take forever. We probably won't cover everything today, which means we'd have to come back tomorrow and do the same thing all over again."
A second finger rose.
"Option two: we split up."
Jon looked toward the sky, squinting thoughtfully.
"I'll stay around BeMare and ask people if they've ever heard of your village. You head toward the central area and look around. Maybe you'll see something familiar."
He lowered his hand.
"We cover more ground that way."
Jon looked down at Elifero.
"So? Which one do you prefer?"
Silence.
Jon waited.
Nothing.
A few seconds passed.
His eyebrow twitched.
"...Elifero?"
Still nothing.
It was almost as though Jon had spent the entire time explaining his brilliant plan to himself.
Elifero walked beside him, but his thoughts were somewhere else entirely.
Back at the house.
Back in that hallway.
Back at the partially opened door.
And that cloth.
Crimson.
The image refused to leave his mind.
Jon's mother hunched over the bed.
Her violent coughing.
The blood dripping from her mouth.
The cloth soaked dark red between her trembling fingers.
Elifero swallowed.
Should I tell him?
His eyes shifted toward Jon.
Does he even know?
Jon had called it a small cold.
A fever.
Nothing serious.
But Elifero knew what he had seen.
That wasn't a small cold.
Then why did he lie?
Unless...
Maybe he doesn't know.
That possibility somehow made Elifero feel even worse.
What was he supposed to say?
Hey, Jon. I looked through your mother's bedroom door this morning and saw her coughing blood.
His stomach twisted.
No.
That sounded terrible.
But pretending he hadn't seen anything felt just as wrong.
"Hey!"
Snap!
Elifero jolted.
"Huh?!"
His eyes widened as he finally looked up.
Jon's fingers were still raised in front of his face.
"You alive?"
Elifero blinked.
Jon stared at him suspiciously.
"Because I've been talking for a while now, and I'm starting to think I could've replaced you with a wall."
Elifero lowered his eyes.
"Sorry."
The apology came sincerely.
Jon studied him for another moment.
"Is something bothering you?"
Elifero stiffened.
For one dangerous second, he almost said it.
His lips parted.
Then closed again.
Jon noticed.
"If there is, you can tell me."
Elifero remained quiet.
Jon shoved his hands behind his head.
"But if you need time to think about whatever it is, that's fine too. We can even start tomorrow instead."
He glanced at him.
"Only if you want to, though. Because right now, you look like you didn't hear a single word I just said."
"...Sorry," Elifero repeated.
Jon sighed.
"You're really bad at pretending you're fine, you know that?"
Elifero gave him a faint, embarrassed smile.
Before either could continue, something changed around them.
Noise.
At first, it came faintly from somewhere ahead.
Then it grew.
Children laughing.
People talking over one another.
Shopkeepers calling out to passing customers.
The clatter of objects being moved.
Someone arguing about a price.
Someone else laughing loudly enough to be heard halfway down the street.
Elifero lifted his head.
The cramped, gloomy streets of FareBare gradually opened before them.
And suddenly—
the village felt alive.
They had entered BeMare.
Elifero's attention immediately wandered.
Stalls lined parts of the street, displaying food, household goods and other items. People moved constantly between them. Children weaved recklessly through the crowds while irritated adults shouted after them. Sellers competed for attention, raising their voices whenever someone so much as glanced in their direction.
It was completely different from FareBare.
Elifero found himself looking everywhere at once.
Left.
Right.
Behind him.
Then forward again.
Jon stopped near the middle of the busy street.
"So?"
Elifero looked at him.
"Option one or option two?"
Elifero thought for a moment.
If they stayed together, there was less chance of him getting lost.
But Jon was right.
They would cover far more ground separately.
"Option two," Elifero finally said.
Jon grinned.
"Good choice."
Then Elifero realized something.
"Wait."
"Hm?"
Elifero looked around.
The streets branched in several directions, disappearing between houses and buildings.
"So how am I supposed to know which way I'm going?"
Jon stared at him.
Elifero pointed around them.
"I don't know these streets. What if I get lost?"
Jon's grin widened.
"Oh."
Elifero narrowed his eyes.
"Oh?"
Without explaining himself, Jon raised two fingers toward his mouth.
Elifero frowned.
"What are you—"
FWEEEEEEEEEEET!
A piercing whistle ripped through the street.
Elifero flinched.
Several conversations stopped instantly.
Heads turned.
A child froze mid-step.
Two women standing near a stall stared directly at Jon.
Even a man carrying a basket looked over his shoulder.
Jon slowly lowered his hand.
Elifero stared at him.
What the heck was that for?
Then—
"SHUT YOUR TRAP, YOU LITTLE SHIT!"
The shout came from a nearby stall.
Elifero turned.
A shopkeeper selling poultry meat glared furiously at Jon from behind his counter.
"Can't you see we're trying to run businesses here?!"
Jon scratched the back of his head and laughed awkwardly.
"Sorry, everyone."
Several shopkeepers grumbled.
Jon looked toward the angry man.
"Sorry, old man."
Silence.
The shopkeeper's face hardened.
"...What did you call me?"
Jon's smile weakened.
The man's voice rose.
"WHO ARE YOU CALLING OLD?! Show some decent respect, you little shit!"
A few nearby sellers immediately joined in.
"He's right!"
"These kids have no manners anymore!"
"Always causing trouble!"
Jon's eyebrow twitched.
"Oh, yeah?!"
He pointed toward the poultry seller.
"Then stop calling me a little shit!"
"You ARE a little shit!"
"I'm not that little!"
"That's the part you're arguing about?!"
"Obviously!"
Another shopkeeper shouted something at him.
Jon fired back.
Within seconds, what had begun as a whistle had somehow turned into Jon arguing with several grown adults in the middle of BeMare.
Elifero stared.
His lips trembled.
He tried holding it back.
He really did.
But then the poultry seller called Jon an "ungrateful little rat," and Jon immediately demanded to know what being a rat had to do with anything.
Elifero broke.
"Pfft—"
He covered his mouth.
It was too late.
"Hahahaha!"
The laughter burst out of him.
He bent slightly forward, clutching his stomach as another laugh escaped.
Jon stopped arguing.
The shopkeepers continued complaining, but Jon no longer seemed interested.
He turned toward Elifero.
For the first time that morning, Elifero wasn't thinking about the crimson cloth.
He wasn't thinking about Jon's mother.
He wasn't thinking about his missing memories.
He was simply laughing.
Elifero wiped a tear from the corner of his eye.
Jon smiled.
"At least you don't look as tense as you did a few seconds ago."
Elifero's laughter gradually faded.
He looked at Jon.
For a moment, he wondered—
Did he do all of that on purpose?
Then again...
This was Jon.
Probably not.
Elifero shook his head, still smiling.
"But why did you whistle?"
Jon folded his arms.
"I was calling someone."
"Someone?"
"Your partner."
Elifero blinked.
"My... partner?"
"You're the one who just said you don't know these streets."
Elifero looked around.
That was true.
Jon nodded confidently.
"So I'm giving you someone who does."
A partner, huh...
Elifero thought about the whistle again.
Wait.
His expression changed.
Who calls another person with a whistle?
Wasn't that disrespectful?
Or...
Maybe that was normal here?
Elifero genuinely didn't know anymore.
Then—
BARK!
His head snapped toward the sound.
Another bark followed.
Closer.
BARK! BARK!
People moved aside as something came racing through the street.
Fast.
Very fast.
Elifero barely had enough time to make out four legs before the animal launched itself forward.
"Jon—!"
THUD!
Jon disappeared beneath it.
The two crashed onto the ground.
"Ow—! Hey! Hey!"
The dog attacked him mercilessly.
With its tongue.
Jon burst into laughter as the animal enthusiastically licked his face, its tail wagging so violently that its entire backside seemed to move with it.
"Okay! Okay! I missed you too!"
Elifero stood frozen.
He knew that dog.
His eyes widened.
"Wait!"
The dog briefly looked toward him.
Elifero pointed.
"You!"
The animal's tail wagged.
"You're the dog from yesterday!"
The same dog that had been beside him when he'd awakened on those crates.
The same dog that had followed him from the passageway.
The same dog that had eventually disappeared without warning.
Elifero looked between it and Jon.
"Wait... that's your dog?"
Jon finally managed to push the animal off him.
He climbed back to his feet and dusted himself.
"Not really."
Elifero frowned.
"What do you mean, 'not really'?"
Jon crouched and scratched behind the dog's ears.
"He's not mine."
The dog's tail continued wagging.
"He's more like... everyone's dog."
"Everyone's?"
"Pretty much."
Jon rubbed the animal's head.
"He goes wherever he wants. Sleeps wherever he wants. People feed him, look after him, chase him away when he's annoying, then feed him again when he comes back."
Elifero stared at the animal.
Jon shrugged.
"Everyone around here knows him."
The dog looked extremely pleased with this description.
"Actually," Jon continued, "he's the only dog in the village."
Elifero looked back at him.
"The only dog?"
Jon thought for a second.
"Well... the only pet, really."
That only confused Elifero more.
He looked down at the dog again.
The animal stared back at him.
Its tongue hung lazily from its mouth.
The only pet in the entire village?
Elifero wasn't sure whether that made the dog special...
or Eman strange.
Probably both.
Jon stood.
"Anyway, he's going with you."
Elifero's eyes widened.
"With me?"
"Yep."
Jon pointed toward the direction of AeMare.
"You don't know the streets. He does."
Elifero looked at the dog.
The dog looked at Elifero.
"...You're serious?"
"Completely."
Jon crouched beside the animal again.
"If you get lost, stick with him. He knows his way around better than half the people living here."
Elifero wasn't entirely convinced that was reassuring.
"And if something happens," Jon continued, "he'll make enough noise for someone to notice."
Jon scratched underneath the dog's chin.
"Especially me."
The dog barked once.
Jon grinned.
"See? He agrees."
Elifero stared at them.
"I don't think that's what he said."
"How would you know?"
"How would you know?"
Jon opened his mouth.
Paused.
"...Good point."
Elifero couldn't help smiling again.
For the first time that morning, the weight inside his chest felt slightly lighter.
But it hadn't disappeared.
Somewhere beneath the laughter, the image remained.
A trembling woman.
A violent cough.
A white cloth stained crimson.
Elifero looked at Jon.
He still needed to ask him.
Just...
not yet.
Jon pointed toward the road leading deeper into the village.
"Remember. You're heading toward AeMare."
Elifero nodded.
"Look around. Talk to people if you need to. If anything feels familiar—even something stupid—pay attention to it."
"What about you?"
"I'll stay around BeMare."
Jon glanced toward the crowded streets.
"I'll ask around about Oatile. Someone here has to know something."
Elifero's expression softened.
"...Thank you."
Jon waved him off.
"Save that for when we actually find something."
The two stood there for another moment.
Then they separated.
Jon disappeared slowly into the crowds of BeMare, stopping at the first few stalls as he began asking questions.
Elifero remained where he was.
Beside him, the dog waited patiently.
Ahead lay the road toward AeMare.
Toward the central district.
Toward a place Elifero believed he had never seen before.
He took his first step.
The dog followed.
Neither of them knew what awaited them there.