“You too have an unyielding competitive spirit, huh?”
As Saito was washing his face in a stream... Tiffania ran up, accompanied by a small girl.
“What’s wrong?”
He asked Tiffania, who ran out of her breath.
“The Louise-san of whom Saito talked about, had pink hair and was a short girl?
“Y-yeah…”
While trying to figure out what was so urgent about it, Saito nodded.
“She has long-hair, small chest, is cute, but a very rude girl?”
Dumbfounded, Saito nodded.
“T-that’s right… what’s wrong?”
“Then, it could be Louise-san after all…”
“Eh?”
“Emma, while picking mushrooms in the forest, saw that person, together with another woman with black hair, walking.”
“Woman with black hair?”
“That person called her Siesta…”
“R-really?!”
Saito as shocked.
“Louise-san! Waah, she seems to be heading straight here! What to do!”
Louise?
Searching for me?
His chest was filled with various emotions. A huge desire entered his thoughts. It swelled like a balloon pumped with gas.
I want to meet her.
I want to meet her a lot.
Louise… his cute master, whom he protected for so long.
I want to meet her.
Tears started flowing.
That noble girl came to look for me.
Louise and Siesta reached Westwood Village.
They wandered half of the day following the footpath in the forest, which they entered away from the highway that lead to the city of Saxe-Gotha. Fortunately, they found a girl who was gathering mushrooms.
But when they asked the five-year old girl “Have you seen a boy?” while describing Saito’s features, she ran away surprised.
Maybe they can find adults to talk to, the two thought. Then… they found this village.
It was a tiny village, of only ten houses, hid well in a small glade within the forest…
“Is it a pioneer village? Yet, there doesn’t seem to be too much left after it was made…”
Siesta shared her impression.
“Let’s ask around.” Louise said, looking for an adult to talk to.
Then… a nice person showed up.
A girl placed a basket filled with vegetables down and stepped out of the house,
She was a beautiful girl with blond hair waving down from her wide hat.
“Um, can I ask you something?”
When Louise asked, the girl made a scared gesture.
“It’s all right. We are not anyone suspicious.”
Siesta impatiently asked.
“Um… have you seen a boy around here? He has a black hair like me… and is around seventeen years of age…”
The girl with the blond hair, turned her face sadly down. And saying “Come”… leading the pair back to the forest, to the opposite direction from which Louise and Siesta came.
“When I found him… It was already too late.”
The girl with blond hair, who introduced herself as Teifutenia, brought Louise and Siesta to the old oak tree. A big stone was placed there, decorated with blooming forest flowers.
And on it… Saito’s parka was placed.
Stupefied Siesta collapsed.
“He had injuries from magic and the bullets all over his body. Look… this cloth. It’s worn out, right? His body was the same. It was hard to look at it. It wasn’t a pleasant sight. The strongest Water spells would not have healed him.”
Siesta began to cry and tightly embraced the grave.
“Why… why did you die… I told you to run away…”
Seeing Siesta acting like that, Tiffania continued to talk painfully.
“And… in the end… that person who found him, said that he has something to say.”
“What did he say?”
Louise asked in distant voice.
“Please forget.”
“That’s all?”
Tiffania nodded.
Then, she held sobbing Siesta’s shoulder.
“It’s getting cold… please, at least, come to my house. Spend a night in there.”
Siesta, unthinkingly stood up.
“You too… please come. It is getting cold.”
Though she said so, Louise did not answer. She just quietly… stared at Saito’s parka.
Tiffania shook her head and said to Louise.
“Well, we’ll wait in the house…”
Left alone at the tombstone, Louise lifted Saito’s parka up.
Then she gently pressed her lips against it.
“Saito… can you hear me? First of all, I’d like to thank you. All right?”
Of course there was no answer.
“When I was about to be crushed by Fouquet's golem… and when I was about to be killed by Wardes… you always saved me. When the Albion fleet attacked Tristain. When the Princess was reckless, when… I was ordered to stop Albion's army of 70,000 from advancing - you always stood in front of me. Even when I was selfish, demanding and bossy – you always protected me without fail until the very end. Even though I complained, you saved me.”
And… Louise continued to pour words.
“You said you liked me. Do you know how happy that made me? You said 'I love you' to someone like me. I am not pretty and I am not a girl to whom one says 'I love you', only you did.”
Louise closed her eyes.
“To you, I wanted to say those words. But in the end, because of my pride, I couldn’t say… those important words.”
Louise lifted her hand up to her chest and pressed it to her heart.
“But, I won’t say them here. I will say them once we meet again. Until then, I will never give up. Even if everyone says you're dead… even if the spells show you are dead… even if your grave stands before my eyes, I won’t believe it. I’ll wait for you for the rest of my life. But, even that won’t repay the thing that you did to me. I will call you back to life. Even if I’ll be called stupid, I will wait for you. With all my being, I will deny your death.”
Louise put on Saito’s parka.
“I am a mage. I have the power to turn words into reality. Therefore, I say - I won’t admit your death.”
Louise softly gazed at Saito‘s tombstone and said.
“We will meet sometime. We will meet for sure. I believe.”
Squating down on the back side of an oak, Saito heard the footsteps of Louise leaving. Next to him there, was Agnes, who helped to make the grave.
“Are you sure?”
Agnes placed her hand on Saito’s shoulder, who had his face buried in his knees.
Saito nodded.
“I am sure. I am not Gandálfr and I cannot protect Louise, so…”
“I see,” Agnes said…
And kept quietly patting the head of the silently sobbing Saito.
That night… Louise and Siesta stayed over at Tiffania's house.
Louise got the room where Saito used to sleep, while Siesta slept in Tiffania’s room. Tiffania moved to sleep to the living room. She offered the beds to the tired travelers.
Louise laid in the bed where Saito was sleeping before, quietly staring at the ceiling.
She silently drew the blanket to her nose.
It smelled like Saito’s smell.
If I don’t do anything, I will go crazy for sure. She tried to think about something to steady herself. But, the voice of regret and blame, brought back the images of Saito over and over again to Louise’s mind.
It was hard, it was painful. It hurt so much in various ways. She couldn’t bear it much longer.
It seemed like another restless night without a wink of sleep awaited her…
The door opened.
“Siesta?”