516 - IF Toughness ~Tough Me Won't Be Pessimistic~ 1
I wrote what I wanted to write. (As usual) It is now public. (As usual)
This is an if-story where Saro's death occurred one day earlier, and Tina's personality is slightly wilder. I have omitted the detailed settings since they were explained in the main story.
My father died last.
What a disaster. Even though it seems I was reincarnated into another world in this life, I have become completely alone at the young age of eight. This is a very grave situation. If it were just an eight-year-old becoming an orphan, I could simply ask those around me for help, but in my case, that is not an option. Father died "last." Not to mention other adults, every child and elderly person is now sleeping beneath the cold earth.
Father died last, and I was the last one left.
...It is no use playing dumb. I have to bury Father.
I think it was some kind of unidentified infectious disease that struck the village. It spread slowly from autumn, took the lives of the villagers during winter, and by early spring, only I and my father, Saro, were left alive. The villagers who died first were buried by the Daltowa couple, who had lived with their parents during the winter, but since those two also died, it could not be helped. I have no choice but to bury Father myself. I, an eight-year-old, must bury my adult father.
...That is way too much to ask!
It is too much, but I cannot just leave him because it is too much. Letting him rot on the bed as it is, both in terms of emotional feelings as a child and as a person who will continue to live in this house, is repulsive.
...Though if he completely rotted and became bone, it would probably be easier to carry.
Having a corpse left under the same roof until the flesh rots and becomes bone is something that cannot be described. If I wanted ease of transport, there is the method of dismembering the corpse and carrying it, but even if it is a corpse that can no longer speak, it is the body of the father who raised me for eight years. The act of dismembering Father (that thing) is, as expected, repulsive. It might not be impossible, but as a human being, it is far too disgusting.
...It is bad manners, but...!
I wrap Father's body in a sheet and tie the ends so he does not slip out. Although it was an unidentified disease, it was a disease where infection could be prevented to some extent with a mask. That means it is better not to touch Father's corpse as much as possible. Even though it is a corpse, the correct answer should be to keep the mask on and not even utter a word to myself.
...I am sorry, I am sorry, I am sorry!
I wedge myself between the wall and the corpse, stretch out my leg, and kick the corpse off the bed. This is far beyond bad manners, but since there is no way an eight-year-old could carry a father by hugging him, it cannot be helped. I hoped that Father might wake up from the impact of hitting the floor with a thud, but such a miracle did not happen.
...Father already prepared the grave...
Father probably anticipated this would happen. He had already dug a grave for one more person next to Mother's grave.
"...Nnn!"
I try to pull the sheet to move the corpse, but the weight of one adult, and an adult male at that, is too heavy for a child like me. I try pulling using my own body weight, but the corpse only moves slightly. There is no way I can transport him to the graveyard before he starts to rot.
...Now is the time for my previous life's knowledge to make me awesome!
Since I have knowledge from my previous life, I rack my meager brains. With previous life knowledge, I should be able to come up with an idea slightly better than just pulling Father wrapped in a sheet.
In the end, using firewood gathered from various houses, I transport Father's corpse to the graveyard in the manner of Moai statues, or rather, the manner of transporting pyramid stones. I did not finish in one day, but since it is difficult to work in the dark once the sun sets, I gave up. I did nothing but kick and roll Father, for which I am sorry, but Father's corpse is left exposed to the elements today.
As for me, since I did not want to return to a house where I was all alone, I decided to intrude upon the livestock shed of Anton-san's house. Anton-san's family is already beneath the earth, but the livestock goats are alive. Using a goat as a warm stone and wrapping myself in a blanket to sleep, it is surprisingly comfortable even on straw. Above all, the fact that there is something else alive and moving besides myself was the best part.
The next morning, after taking care of the goat that let me warm myself during the night, I munch on hard bread, sending it down my throat even though I have no appetite. Since I was exhausted last night and had no energy to make soup, breakfast is just hard bread and hot water. I must somehow finish Father's burial today and make something slightly more decent to eat starting from dinner, otherwise I will follow Father in a week. That would be unfair to Father, who has been kicked and stepped on by me since yesterday, so I must live. As Father said, I will wait for the peddler who comes perhaps once every six months and have them take me to an orphanage in some town.
"..."
Perhaps Father's death was a mistake. If I look again today, perhaps Father will wake up as usual. I was vaguely thinking about such dream-like things, but Father's corpse was exactly where I left it last night. Fortunately, there are no signs of it being tampered with by wild dogs or beasts.
When I silently resume the work, it seems I got the hang of it yesterday. The movement to the graveyard was finished by the time the sun was directly overhead. All that is left is to drop Father's corpse into the grave and cover it with soil from above.
I snort and tighten my lips. Even if I cry, Father will not come back to life, and it is a waste of physical strength. Regardless of my actual age in this life, the inside is not the age I look, so I can endure useless things. If I cannot endure, I will only weaken by wasting physical strength.
...Hm?
As I trudge back from the graveyard while picking up the firewood used for transport, I find a suspicious group near the village entrance. They are five men with scary faces, clad in black armor. No matter how you look at it, without a doubt—
...They are definitely bad guys! Bandits? Mountain bandits?
No matter how optimistically I thought about it, they did not look like decent people. Black armor is a mark of a villain that is almost too obvious.
...I have to hide!
I lower the firewood in my hand to my feet without making a sound and hide in the shadows while observing the men's behavior. My physique is smaller than my age, so I am at an advantage at times like this.
Watching the men's actions from behind, I realize that the men seem to be investigating the current state of this village. They knock on each house one by one, enter, and come out after a while. They are probably searching to see if anyone is there.
...Um, aren't they mountain bandits? If they were home invaders, they would enter the house without knocking, right?
Perhaps there is no need to hide. Rather, might I be the only one who can tell them the current state of this village, since they seem to be gathering information?
I began to hesitate, but I could not bring myself to step out in front of men whose identities were unknown, so in the end, I decided to wait it out while remaining hidden.
...Because those people have scary faces.
When you are alive, you get hungry. There were some reserves as preparations for winter, but considering I have to survive for the next few months until the peddler comes, the reserves will run out quickly. Since it has become spring-like, if I sow seeds in the field, I can expect some harvest. Even if I cannot get a grand harvest that can be sold, a meager harvest is fine as long as it fills my stomach.
I sow seeds of a plant that looks like a twenty-day radish called Akutafu in the field and water them. I do not know the detailed way to grow them, but Oban-san said it is not such a difficult plant, so I should be able to harvest enough for myself to eat. Every house in the village grew this Akutafu, so there are spare seeds. Since they will not run out after one or two failures, it should work out somehow.
I sleep and wake up in Anton-san's livestock shed, take care of the goats, and then eat breakfast. Being alone is too lonely, and before I knew it, I found myself calling the goat "Anton-san." The mate goat is named after Anton-san's wife. There is a kid between the two, so I get milk every morning as well. Since I am the one tidying the bedding and preparing the feed, it is what you call a win-win relationship.
I take care of the field, collect the thinned-out greens, and enter the forest to look for nuts and wild vegetables. If there is a snake of a size that seems catchable, I am lucky. Vegetables are manageable, but meat cannot be made in the field. If I wanted to take in protein, I had to either eat the stored dried meat or catch it myself.
A life alone is, above all, always searching for food. Because if food runs out, a child without physical strength will die in less than a week. If I were to get injured or sick and become unable to move, I would not be able to enter the forest to search for food.
...Shall I aim for something a bit bigger soon?
I cut off the head of a snake I just caught and think. I feel like I heard in my previous life that hunted animals should be bled, so I held it by the tail and swung it around. I think it is absolutely not an appropriate method for bleeding, but since I cannot think of any other method, it cannot be helped. The sight is very macabre with snake blood flying around, but since there are no other humans to see it, I decided not to care.
...If I can set traps, I wonder if even I can catch wild rabbits?
Someone in the village must have had a trap for catching rabbits. In this current situation, it might be okay to borrow it. Who was it, I wonder, as I look back while swinging the snake, and I see black smoke billowing up from the direction of the village.
"Fire!?"
Did I do something wrong, I panic—still holding the snake—and return to the village, and upon seeing the sight spreading there, I jump straight into the shadows. I thought my house was burning due to my negligence, but it was another house that was burning. It was an uninhabited house where fire should not have started.
...It is those guys!
Around the burning house are the men in black armor I saw once. There are more people than last time, four around the burning house, six in a slightly distant position, one who came out of the village chief's house, and further, people coming out of different houses, totaling fourteen. Once the men confirm that no one is inside the house, they drop the roof and set fire to the house.
It was an action that made absolutely no sense.
...As I thought, are those guys bad people? Robbers? But there is nothing in this village that would be worth money, right?
As with last time, I think it is better to hide and wait it out, but this time I cannot say that. If all the houses are set on fire, I will be troubled about where to sleep starting tonight.
...What should I do. How can I drive those guys away?
While I am thinking about how to somehow drive the men away, I can no longer remain hidden in the shadows. One of the men entered the livestock shed where I am staying, and Anton-san's house connected to it. This means that the next house to have its roof dropped and be set on fire is Anton-san's house. And it also meant that fire would be set to my bed.
"Stop it, you idiot!!"
Shouting "idiot" while swinging the snake, I charge toward Anton-san's house. For the man in black armor who was charged by a young girl swinging a dripping snake, thinking calmly, it was a situation to pray for.
Actually, this is "1." It will continue.
I made a thick and thin version of this work. If you are interested, please take a look at the activity report or production blog.
