Farewell (11)

I learned swordsmanship and taught blacksmithing, and although my days were peaceful, time passed in the blink of an eye.

By the time thirteen years had passed since I returned to the dojo, eight years since Win set out, and seven years since I began teaching blacksmithing, I had completely handed the forge over to several disciples led by Souha.

There were still things I could teach them, but there was little left that I needed to teach, and I wanted to spend as much time as possible with Kaeha.

That was because it had gradually begun taking her longer and longer to complete her daily training.

The time she spent resting without moving also increased, little by little.

The inevitable moment was drawing closer, bit by bit.

I told her to eat the last Apua fruit, which had fortunately been lying at the very bottom of my pack, but Kaeha shook her head and said it could wait.

And by the time another year had passed, she finally could no longer complete her daily training.

I began spending nearly all my time by Kaeha's side.

When you're together all the time, there's not much to talk about.

Today is warm. Today is cold.

That sort of trivial talk, along with memories we'd already gone over countless times, was about all we had left.

Even so, Kaeha wanted to hear me talk again and again.

Yet even in her condition, she would not allow me to slack off on sword practice.

So I practiced in the garden right beside Kaeha's room, while she sat in a chair and watched me.

It continued unchanged for another six months, even after Kaeha began having more and more days when she could not rise from her futon.

I did not know how Kaeha, whose time was nearly at an end, was accepting it all.

Whether she was afraid, whether she had resigned herself to it, or whether she might even be looking forward to that moment—I didn't know any of it.

But Kaeha always looked happy when she spoke with me or watched me practice with my sword, so I clung to that belief and let the days pass.

"...It's almost time."

One day, Kaeha suddenly said just that.

I had long since prepared myself, so I was not surprised by her sudden words.

And yet...

"Is that so? Can't we somehow make it last a little longer? Three years, if possible."

I still couldn't bring myself to accept it, so I made a pointless flippant remark.

At that, Kaeha gave me a wry smile and said,

"I would like to grant your request if I could, but three years is quite a long time..."

shook her head.

Apparently, that wasn't possible after all.

This time, we'd already spent fifteen years together, so I thought three years would be within the margin of error, but... well, I suppose that wasn't the kind of problem it was.

"Besides, Eisa, you've been by my side long enough. I think it's about time I set you free again, too."

Kaeha's words made my chest tighten for a moment, but somehow I swallowed it back without letting it show on my face.

It wasn't as though I had been bound here.

I had wanted to be here beside Kaeha and had chosen to stay of my own will.

No, surely she knew that too.

But still, perhaps there truly was nothing more to be done.

"So, Eisa, could you give me that?"

Kaeha said so, and I nodded.

Then I grated the last Apua fruit and fed it to her by the spoonful.

Kaeha ate and drank it slowly, slowly, little by little.

She waited quietly for what she had consumed to spread through her body, then smiled.

She pushed herself up and stood for the first time in ages.

"It's delicious. Thank you, Eisa. Now, my sword—the one you forged for me."

As she said this, Kaeha left the room and stepped down into the garden. I hurriedly grabbed the sword from beside her pillow, followed her, and handed it to her.

Even though she was accustomed to wielding it, it was a heavy steel sword.

There was no way she could hold it in her current condition.

And yet Kaeha gripped the sword firmly and smoothly drew it from its sheath.

"This is the end of my path with the sword, the end of my life—Yosogi Kaeha."

With a slow sway, she took up her stance and declared those words.

At her words, I couldn't cry.

Tears would only get in the way of seeing it through.

In the next instant, sound vanished from the world.

Even color and the passage of time seemed to vanish entirely.

The stroke was so quiet, yet so devastating, that it seemed to sever everything.

Of course, perhaps that was only how it seemed to me.

It was simply that beautiful.

It was so sublime that I could only call it the pinnacle.

"...Is that about right? Eisa, you saw it all, didn't you?"

After Kaeha finished her swing, the sword slipped from her hand and fell to the ground.

I rushed to her and caught her as she collapsed.

Her small, light, cold body.

Kaeha reached out with a trembling hand and touched my cheek,

"Eisa... I love you."

With those words as her last, she died.

I had burned the sword's image into my memory and heard her final words clearly... There was no reason left for me to hold back my tears or sobs.

I clutched Kaeha's body and did nothing but scream and sob, tears streaming down my face.

Even after Shizuki and the other disciples came running, I continued for a long, long time.

Eventually, the funeral ended, Kaeha was buried, and... after seeing it through, I left the dojo.

Everyone tried to hold me back.

Souha, Touki, and the other disciples did too.

Even Shizuki, who must have known I would leave someday, said I should stay just a little longer.

But, well, I wasn't in the mood to stay in one place just then.

My spirits were low, but I wanted to see many things.

Because I would surely return here someday.

Yes, to pay my respects at Kaeha's grave.

I would need plenty of stories to tell her then.

I would travel far, far away.

I wasn't in a hurry, but after telling the elves that I was leaving this land, I headed east.

I wanted to go see the land said to be the source of the Yosogi style.

Chasing after the clouds drifting across the sky.