Chapter 158: Wish

Crossing through the bustling city center, Ephnel led Yukina towards the eastern district.

Their figures landed in front of a small patch of woods.

Pushing aside layers of concealing shrubs, a dilapidated, low-lying building appeared before their eyes.

This was a shrine.

The lush forest leaves rustled as they were caressed by the evening wind.

The flagstone path was covered with moss and fallen leaves.

There wasn’t a single light around, and the area was filled with a quiet and cold tranquility completely different from the city.

Although the terrain here wasn’t very high, turning around and looking towards the direction where the sun had set, one could still take in the entire night view of Seikyo City.

“So there’s a shrine like this over here? I never knew…”

Yukina stared blankly at the brilliant night scene.

By now, the clouds had obscured the moonlight.

As far as the eye could see, the city at night was cast in a crimson glow by the lights.

She looked around.

The scenery before her brought an indescribable sense of nostalgia, yet she couldn’t immediately recall why.

“It looks like no one has been here for a very long time…”

“Yeah. It was abandoned a long time ago due to the impact of Erosion disasters and was never repaired afterwards. Now it’s been contracted by the Order Organization and is being preserved as one of their training grounds. The shrine here was saved because of that.”

Or rather, this was a place Ephnel had personally requested to be preserved.

Because it was a difficult area to manage, the Order Organization simply followed Ephnel’s suggestion and designated it as a training ground, which in turn prevented some troubles from arising.

Ephnel paused, then suddenly smiled.

“Speaking of which, Yukina probably doesn’t remember this place anymore, right?”

“Eh? I’ve never been here…”

“You came here when you were little.”

“R-really… I don’t really remember…”

“You were still very young back then. Every few days, you’d clamor to come here and play.”

Ephnel smiled, pursing her lips.

Yukina looked at the desolate night scenery around them, a blush rising on her cheeks.

So she had been here as a child.

Yukina was quite surprised that she couldn’t recall the memories from that time.

She couldn’t quite imagine what she was like playing here as a child, or when it was, or if there was anyone else besides herself and Naoko.

She could only faintly remember the warmth of someone’s palm touching her fingertips back then.

She thought that person must have been Naoko.

“Come with me.”

Ephnel walked straight to the side of the dilapidated shrine.

There was a pool that had dried up, leaving only green moss.

Further behind it, Yukina saw a tree that was two people tall.

That tree was very different from the surrounding ones.

It stood there all alone, with specks of white petals scattered on the ground and decorating the tips of its branches, like small snowflakes in winter, piled fluffily on the boughs.

“Do you remember it?”

Yukina hesitantly shook her head.

“Could it be… that Naoko planted it?”

“The two of us did.”

Ephnel lowered her gaze.

“It was just a seed when I first got it from your aunt… They said it was a northern species, but it ended up blooming quite well here… more resilient than I imagined. But, the next flowering season will be here soon.”

Yukina raised her eyes, looking at the small, lonely flowers, as if she were also looking at the distant sky.

“Winter… it’s a season I really look forward to…”

“Me too.”

Ephnel let go of Yukina’s hand and walked ahead to take a look.

“Actually, I came here to find something… I should have brought you here a long time ago. Now… it’s probably not too late, right?”

“What is it?”

“You’ll know when you see it. But I can’t guarantee I’ll find it.”

Ephnel just smiled, tapped her foot lightly, and a gust of wind swept the fallen leaves away.

A silver light surged, and a long spear appeared in her hand.

She walked a circle around the summer camellia, then carefully and gently thrust the spear into the ground and pulled it out, repeating this several times.

Then, with a dull thud, Ephnel’s hand paused.

With a light flick, the soil turned over, revealing something buried just beneath the surface.

“It really is still here…”

Ephnel squatted down, carefully picked up the object, and wiped it with a piece of paper.

After a rough cleaning, Yukina could see that it was a small square box.

The surface appeared to be made of metal, but perhaps because it had been buried underground for too long, the box was slightly deformed, and much of the paint had peeled off, revealing the rusted layer beneath.

She couldn’t help but feel a little curious.

“What is this…”

“Want to see?”

Ephnel held the box out to Yukina, motioning for her to open it.

Yukina looked up at Ephnel, then carefully took the box.

Even after being wiped, the surface of the box still had traces of dirt on it, carrying the faint smell of damp grass.

The clasp had long since rusted shut, sticking tightly to the lid, making it difficult to open.

Yukina frowned and applied a little force, but accidentally broke the clasp and lid off together.

Yukina was startled by the suddenly broken and opened box, letting out a small cry, and was then immediately drawn to the object inside.

Unlike the rusted exterior, the inside of the box looked very clean.

There were neat sealing lines along the edges, and the interior seemed to be a multi-layered sealed structure made of some kind of alloy.

In the middle lay two clean glass bottles.

The glass bottles were opaque.

One bottle had the name “Shiomi Yukina” on it, the handwriting crooked and almost too faded to see.

The other had neat and beautiful handwriting that said “Yanase Naoto.”

“Is this… something we buried when we were kids?”

“It is.”

“This is, this is that thing, right!?—You write down a wish you want to come true, bury it in the ground like a seed, and wait for it to sprout—it’s that kind of game, right?”

Yukina’s eyes widened, as if stars were floating in them.

“Naoko, can I open it and see?”

“The promise was to open it on your fifteenth birthday. It’s already been several months… but, it shouldn’t be too late, right?”

“Naoko, you remember even things like this so clearly…”

“My memory is the one thing I can boast about.”

Ephnel giggled.

“Open it.”

“Mhm…”

Opening a wish she had buried in her childhood, picking up a forgotten desire, what kind of feeling would that be?

What was her wish back then?

Had it taken root and sprouted like this tree, blooming with beautiful flowers?

She carefully, bit by bit, pulled out the stopper and extracted a yellowed, crumpled piece of paper.

She spread the paper open.

It was a drawing.

Although a long time had passed, the paper had changed color, and the ink and paint on it had faded, but the crooked, childish lines were still faintly visible.

There was a sun, blades of grass, flowers, balloons, and two people holding hands, holding a bouquet of flowers together.

Yukina looked at the drawing in her hand and suddenly started to laugh.

When and in what mood she had drawn this, she couldn’t remember clearly anymore, but without a doubt, she must have been smiling at that time.

“Can I open Naoko’s wishing bottle?”

“Sure, go ahead and look.”

Ephnel just smiled, and Yukina eagerly held the bottle with “Yanase Naoto” written on it in her palm.

Feeling the coolness from the bottle, she suddenly felt nervous.

Pressing her lips together slightly, Yukina pulled out the stopper and turned the bottle upside down.

However…

“Eh?”

Yukina tried turning it over again, then tilted her head suspiciously and peered inside the bottle.

“Nothing?”

Her first reaction was that Naoko must have been playing a trick on her again.

But Ephnel also put on a puzzled expression, squatting down beside her, taking the bottle and looking inside carefully.

“How can there be nothing?”

Like Yukina, Ephnel also looked confused.

That expression didn’t seem like she was playing a trick.

“Wait…”

Crack—

Ephnel smashed the bottle, but there was still nothing among the glass shards.

“How can there be nothing…”

Ephnel frowned in earnest.

And Yukina blinked, looking at Ephnel strangely.

“Sis, did you maybe forget to put it in?”

“I… I remember I definitely put it in… and it wasn’t something that would completely oxidize away…”

But if not, why was this “wish box,” which hadn’t been touched in over ten years, empty?

Ephnel didn’t want to believe she had actually forgotten, but after so many years, she couldn’t say with absolute certainty that “it’s impossible I forgot.”

Just then, a cold drop bloomed on the tip of Yukina’s nose.

Soon, the sound of pattering gradually rose, tapping against the leaves of the forest.

Yukina tilted her chin slightly and looked up at the sky.

—Night had come, and it was raining.