25 - If You Walk About Seeking a Wise Woman, You Strike Bone
Slightly grotesque content warning.
...Strange. Something's off. Why?
Last night, Aurelia didn't come home even at a late hour. I couldn't wait up and went to bed first, but I never thought she still wouldn't be back by morning.
Whether she left in the morning or at noon, Aurelia always came back by evening. But there was no sign that Aurelia had returned last night. Just to be sure, I listened carefully at the workshop entrance, but there was no sign of anyone inside.
...Maybe she went somewhere a bit far away? But if so, she'd tell me ahead of time, wouldn't she? That she'd be late, or wouldn't be back today?
I don't feel like Aurelia treats me like a small child much. Even if she'd be late getting back, she'd surely say a word beforehand so as not to worry me.
...Did something happen wherever she went?
I can't help imagining all sorts of things — that she twisted her ankle and can't move, that she tried to pick nuts and got stuck up a tree. Unless she's fallen into some unforeseeable situation, there's no reason for Aurelia not to return.
...Maybe I should go look for her? If something happened and she can't move, that'd be bad.
She's so hale and hearty that I end up forgetting she's an old woman, but Aurelia is still elderly. It's certainly possible that some small thing could render her unable to move.
...Anyway, I'll bring food. It might be as far as when Aurelia-san takes candy along and calls it her "provisions."
I slice the hard dried bread thin and put it in a bag. If I put fillings between, it'd be a sandwich, but depending on the distance it might go bad, so better not to. Instead, I also put honey and a spoon in the bag. I stuff in emergency candy, and with a waterskin too, it makes quite a heavy load for an eight-year-old.
...H-heavy. But I'll bear it. There's only food in here, so this should be the minimum weight.
The only problem is that I'm a small child. However much more wit I may have than an average child, there's nothing to be done about physical strength.
...Alright, I'm not... lost or anything, but let's head out to search for Aurelia.
I cross the fence and head in the direction Aurelia went. Up to about fifteen minutes from Aurelia's house is my range for gathering firewood. I've come here many times, so this distance is no hardship, and I feel no unease. It's a familiar path. But the moment I step outside my range, I do feel uneasy. Leonardo had forbidden me from going deep into the forest to gather firewood, telling me not to go too far. The deeper forest was Leonardo's range, the nearby area was mine. Even just for firewood gathering, there was a kind of territory division.
...This is an emergency. I'm breaking the rules, but please overlook it.
Apologizing to Leonardo in my heart, I step into the depths of the forest where I normally don't go. Branches that could become firewood lay scattered here and there on the ground, but the deeper I went, the fewer they became. Likely because Leonardo had thoroughly gathered the firewood from deeper in.
Perhaps thanks to Leonardo's frequent comings and goings, the undergrowth is trampled down like an animal trail. Even if I carelessly lose my sense of direction, I should be able to follow this path back to Aurelia's house.
...The path's disappearing.
The clearly well-trodden path vanishes, and I find myself standing alone in the forest. Well, this is a problem. I kept walking, believing she must have headed this way, but the path-like path that was here until now has disappeared. At this rate, I can't search for Aurelia.
...If I were a police officer or a detective, I could probably find traces of where someone walked, though.
At the very least, I can't. I can find the obvious things, like grass flattened from repeated passage or ground trampled smooth, but there's no way I could find a path that only Aurelia passed through yesterday or today.
...Huh? What's that?
I spot something off in the corner of my vision and turn my gaze toward it. Looking carefully to determine what the oddity is, I find that a mark has been carved into a tree trunk.
...An arrow? Huh? Who made this?
I wondered if it might be a mark Aurelia made, but it feels too old. The tree has grown to try to cover over the scarred area, and the arrow is actually raised up, protruding.
...For now, why don't I try going in the direction of this arrow? I don't know the way anyway.
With that casual feeling, I decide on my direction. I'm already quite far from the house, and Aurelia might be somewhere around here.
Calling Aurelia's name from time to time, I advance through the forest. A faint sound reaches me and I turn to look. A wild rabbit has burst out of the underbrush.
...There aren't bears or anything, right?
Having spent almost my entire life around Aurelia's house, I'd never thought about it, but if there are wild animals, there might also be dangerous large animals in this forest. Once I'd realized that possibility, I couldn't help but feel far more unease than before. What if I encounter a large animal? What if Aurelia has been eaten? I walk through the forest trembling with these fears. After walking for a while, I see a rock wall between the trees.
"...The edge of the valley?"
I stand before the rock wall and look up at it. When I came to the valley, it was filled with fog, but today I could see blue sky. Then I look left and right. As far as I can see, the rock wall continues unbroken.
...Aurelia's house has its back to a wall, so... does that mean I've come all the way to the opposite wall?
That means I've walked quite a distance. And it also means that even after walking that far, I didn't find Aurelia.
...I'm tired, as expected. Let me take a break.
Looking up at the sky again, the sun is almost directly overhead. I left home after a light breakfast and kept walking until nearly noon. There's no way a child's stamina wouldn't be exhausted.
...I brought food thinking Aurelia might be hungry, but it looks like I'll be the one eating first.
I sit down on a rock of just the right height and let out a relieved breath. First, I bring the waterskin to my lips to wet my mouth. And I notice what looks like a bag, as if someone's luggage, lying in the shadow of a rock directly ahead.
...Huh? What's that? It's not... Aurelia's luggage, is it?
At the very least, it's not the basket Aurelia was carrying when she left. Somehow it bothers me, and I end my break just by popping a candy into my mouth. I close the waterskin and sling it over my shoulder.
Rolling the candy in my mouth, I circle around the rock, toward the bag I saw in the shadows...
"...Eeek!?"
The bag, what I'd assumed was someone's luggage, had a thick strap for carrying over the shoulder. Someone's lost item, or a discarded bag, I thought. I'd peered into the rock's shadow vaguely believing that, but at the end of the strap extending from the bag, bones that appeared to be human were scattered. As far as I could see, no bones from the lower body were present. Even a novice could easily distinguish the ribs and spine. Hand and finger bones might have been scattered among them too, but I have no knowledge of human bones, so I can't tell. I unconsciously searched the surroundings for the most conspicuous thing that should be there, a skull, and immediately regretted it. Looking around again, I saw white, elongated stones of various sizes scattered everywhere. Of course, they only looked like stones at a glance. They were something else entirely.
...There are a lot... but it just looks like a lot because they're scattered, right? There aren't multiple people... right?
Unable to look away, my gaze wanders across the ground. Among the cracked and chipped bones, I find something about the size of what must be a skull, and shudder. The large, black eye socket is split, making it look as though a head is trying to crawl out from underground. Feeling as though my eyes have met the cracked skull's, I reflexively pull my foot back. The moment I feel something touch my heel, there's a small, crisp cracking sound.
...A bad feeling.
Fearfully, I lower my gaze to my feet. Beneath my adult-sized sandals were human bones of various sizes. No, human bones that had just now been crushed into various sizes.
"I-I'm sooorryyyyyyy!!"
My mind goes completely blank at the horrific sight I've caused, and I attempt to flee the scene. They were already bones, past being silent corpses, but what I crushed underfoot was something that had once been a person. Whether by my previous life's values or this life's values, this is not something I can overlook. I desperately kick at the ground with my short legs, trying to get away, and my excessive panic becomes my undoing. The adult-sized sandals didn't fit properly in the first place. When I first saw the sandals, I thought I'd trip if I didn't walk carefully. And now I'm running at full speed in those sandals. Naturally, my stride becomes strained, and at last I tumble spectacularly.
A loud, manga-like SHHHRRRAAAASH sound echoes. Falling like this, I must be scraped up all over. Is this what they call swift divine punishment?
...Ugh, it wasn't on purpose, but I'm sorry.
Apologizing to the owner of the bones in my heart, I raise my body. When I lift my face, I notice a faint, strange odor.
...Huh? What is this? This smell... I've smelled it somewhere before...
And as my gaze drifts, I end up meeting eyes with someone I had no desire to meet eyes with.
"A d-decomposing corpse...!?"
The eyeballs were already gone. But the corpse's face happened to be turned toward me. The blackened, rotted flesh had mostly collapsed, and bones were nearly fully visible through the gaps in the clothing. The stench of rotted internal organs and blood saturated the area, and maggots writhed over the scant remaining flesh. When the wind blew slightly, the putrid odor reached where I stood. The contents of my stomach rose, but I somehow held it in. I don't want to look, but I can't tear my eyes away from the remains. Whether from forgetting to blink or the putrid stench seeping into my eyes, large tears spilled down my cheeks. While my mind went blank at the gruesome remains, a calm part of me in a corner of my head began observing the corpse. Compared to the white bones I'd seen earlier, this body was clearly more recent. It still wore clothing, and the bones were still arranged in a manner recognizable as human.
My rationality held out until this point.
[Author's Note]
Today an unexpected visitor ate up my time, so I couldn't get to where I'd planned... orz