Death, White Robes

“Ah, wait a second, Emi. Before you go hunting, could you do me a favor?”

Still dim, a summer dawn.

As I was about to leave the house for the forest, Otta-san called out to me.

“I'd like you to take this to Hark-san's house next door.”

What she handed me was a board the village calls the “schedule board.”

It has the schedule for the next few days of pioneering work the villagers do together and such written on it, something like what my previous life would call a neighborhood circular.

“Normally I'd ask Prough, but that boy is such a sleepyhead.”

Otta-san says this with a wry smile.

Where her gentle gaze fell was Prough-kun, still curled up in his duvet, fast asleep.

“Got it.”

“I'm counting on you! Hark-san and Grute-san are probably already out in the fields, so you can just leave it at the front door!”

And so, with Otta-san seeing me off, I left the house.

“Shumimimimi...... shumimimimi......”

Listening to the chirping of some insect I don't know the name of, I walk down the country road, bathed in the pleasant morning breeze.

Beyond the wheat fields, the bright red sun began to rise.

The purple sky slowly shifts color from the edge of the horizon, little by little turning light blue.

Another peaceful day, like always, should have begun.

Another happy time, like always, should have begun.

◇ ◇ ◇

Even though she said “next door,” Uncle Hark's house is a good several hundred meters from Otta-san's.

From the outside, it's a single-story wooden house, the usual kind in this village.

“............?”

Now then, as for Uncle Hark's house, candlelight is leaking out from inside.

Like Otta-san said, Uncle and Granny are usually both out in the fields by now, so it should be pitch dark inside.

Uneasy at how different things are from usual, I open the unlocked front door and peek inside.

......Uncle Hark was there.

He was standing there blankly, looking down.

And what he was looking at was...... Granny Grute.

Granny Grute lies face down on the dirt floor and doesn't move.

“............!!”

I can't help rushing into the house and taking Granny in my arms.

I check her pulse, but I can't feel any rhythm of life from Granny at all.

No magic power leaking out of her body, either.

Even though it's summer, her body is very cold.

She has, passed away.

“......Ah, good morning, Emi.”

Uncle Hark speaks to me in his usual tone.

“Did you bring the schedule board? For now, you can just leave it around there. You're going hunting now, right? Good luck with that. I...... I have to go to the fields too. I have to grow the wheat......”

He's just like always.

Uncle Hark, in his truly usual tone, with his usual manner, starts to go about his usual business.

“What about Granny?”

He must be escaping reality due to the shock.

I understand that it's painful.

But that's not right, is it?

“We have to lay her to rest.”

“............”

Uncle Hark's hands, busy getting ready for the field work, stop.

A few seconds of silence.

“Hey, Emi. Could you do me one favor......”

And what came out of Uncle's mouth was the day's second favor.

◇ ◇ ◇

The job Uncle asked me to do.

It was to carry Granny's remains to the front of the god's statue in the village plaza.

That must be how this village lays its dead to rest.

After asking me for the favor, Uncle Hark walked off toward the fields, staggering.

Is that really okay?

She's his mother. Shouldn't he lay her to rest himself?

That's, what I thought, but...... Uncle probably can't face the death of his own flesh and blood, and he's escaping reality.

I couldn't bring myself to force someone like that to do this or that.

No, I probably should have spoken more firmly.

That he should see her off properly, all the way to the end.

But I didn't know how to say that.

I haven't had much experience facing the death of someone close to me, either.

To some extent, I was confused too.

So, for now, I ended up taking on Uncle's request.

Carrying Granny's remains on my back, I walk the village's country road.

Toward the remains, I feel no aversion.

I'm not the kind of person who can indulge in such pious feelings at this point.

I've killed countless beasts, monsters, and bandits until now.

By now it was fully light all around.

The cool air is starting to turn lukewarm, and in the distant forest the Myogomyogoshugo are calling.

It is summer.

◇ ◇ ◇

“............”

I passed through the wheat fields and arrived at the plaza.

Under the deep blue summer sky, the twisted, dirty wooden statue and the shrine stand all alone.

I laid the remains in front of the statue, and then...... I was at a loss.

Now then, what should I do from here?

All Uncle Hark told me was ‘carry Granny to the front of the god's statue’.

How to lay out the remains, whether I should offer flowers or something, I have no idea what this village's customs are.

What should I do?

I was at a complete loss.

That said, I don't feel right just leaving the remains here and going off to look for a villager.

If a bird or something came and started pecking at Granny while I was looking away, it would be a disaster.

After hesitating, I decided to wait in the plaza for someone to come along.

The people of this village often use this plaza for short breaks.

If I wait a little while, someone will probably come.

I'll ask that person what to do.

I trotted over to the side of the shrine and sat down in the shade created by the eaves.

“Myoon, myogoshugomyonshugooo! Myoon, myogoshugomyonshugooo!”

Listening to the Myogomyogoshugo calling closer than before, I wait patiently for someone.

When I look up, a deep blue sky.

Beautiful white clouds, pushed along by the wind, drift off somewhere.

As I slowly lower my eyes, what's there is a green sea that goes on forever.

The wheat fields.

Bathed in the summer wind, they sway softly, sparkling in the sunlight.

Wrapped in all that shining life, Granny's remains lie on the ground.

Saying goodbye to this world, embraced by the wheat fields she loved.

I see, certainly this, just this alone, might be a farewell that's very much this village's way.

Absently, vaguely, that's what I thought.

It happened in the next instant.

Ko, ko, ko, ko......

My hearing catches a sound, like someone coming up a staircase.

Stairs?

There's nothing like that nearby.

This is the wheat fields, dead center.

It makes no sense, and I can't help going on guard.

I use 【Presence Concealment】 and hide behind a jut in the shrine wall.

Ko, ko, ko, ko......

The sound grows louder and louder.

And because I had pressed my body tight against the shrine wall to hide, I knew.

This sound is echoing from inside the shrine.

Someone is climbing up from deep underground, into the shrine.

Does this shrine have a basement?

I hadn't looked inside, so I didn't know, but that must be it.

What on earth is that basement for?

No, rather.

In the first place, just what is this shrine for?

Because it stands next to the god's statue, I just assumed on my own that it was a “shrine,” but come to think of it, neither Prough-kun nor Otta-san has ever said a single word to me about this building.

Huh?

Why haven't I had any interest in this building until now?

No, I guess that's not particularly strange.

The designs on the roof and walls are a bit elaborate, but in the end, it's just a small wooden shack.

It's not exactly a standout building.

But.

Hm, hmmm?

What is it, something feels off.

What is this off feeling?

Garara......

While I was flustered, the sound of someone climbing the stairs inside the shrine grew louder and louder, and at last the shrine door was opened, from the inside.

When I saw who came out, I was so startled I couldn't help gasping.

It was a human wearing loose, pure white clothes and a hat that looked like a chef's hat.

Broad shoulders, a solid build. Probably a man.

A peculiar outfit that looked as if a hakama and an apron had been forcibly fused together.

His face was hidden by a white cloth hanging from the hat, making it impossible to see.

Alien.

The sight of that white-robed figure slowly stepping out from the shrine, walking against the backdrop of the wheat fields swaying in the wind under the blue sky, was the very definition of alien.

Having spent several months in the village until now, I had absolutely no idea that such a person existed in the village.

“............”

The white-robed man slowly approaches Granny's remains, then grabs them without a word and drags them into the shrine.

There's no respect or grief in it that I can sense, none at all.

The white-robed figure was simply indifferent.

Indifferently, he grabbed Granny by the collar, dragged her, and disappeared into the shrine.

Maybe 【Presence Concealment】 did its job, since he didn't seem to notice me.

Garara...... ko, ko, ko, ko......

The shrine's sliding door is shut, and the footsteps going down underground grow fainter and fainter.

Once the sound had become so quiet that even my hearing could no longer pick it up, I softly opened the shrine door.

Revealed by the sunlight streaming through the door was, as expected, the entrance to a staircase leading underground.

It looks, pretty long and deep.

When I peered in, pitch darkness stretched on and on, endlessly.