798 796 Now a distant, warm memory.

I saw it! Maybe that's Castle!

The day after the Dragon Man was handed over to the Guild. We started knocking early in the morning.

I thought the treatment of the Dragon Man would be rubbed, but Gilmus and Submas were happy to receive it. Looks like he liked it a lot.

Moreover, it seemed that it could be used as a restraint against the dragon people, which has grown significantly recently. Well, you can leave that to the Alliance.

And the evening after we left.

In our sight, we were beginning to see our destination.

Staring at the back of the flying cow.

Surrounded by the wreckage of a run-down wooden fence, this is another place lined with run-down buildings. But there are no signs of people.

In the first place, it was abnormal to not see one of the lights even in the evening. I wonder if there are any people left.

An illegal village that could not stand the anti-magic offensive and was abandoned. One of them is right under the nose.

(That's Castel....)

"... do you remember anything?

-Yeah.

I see.

Fran shakes his neck with a face that doesn't come with a pin.

Well, it was five years ago, and you've never seen the village from this angle. I couldn't help but remember.

Let's go down.

"N. Ursi"

"On!"

Following Fran's instructions, Ursi descends onto the village square.

The houses were destroyed, and grass grew all over the ground. Long weeds pop out of the cobblestone gap in the square where we are.

It was certain that no one had gained access to it for years. Is the lack of moss in the grass due to the colorful climate?

……

Fran looks around the square silently.

At dusk, the square of grasshoppers.

It used to be a place to rest, where people laughed endlessly.

Now I could hear only the sound of the bugs and the faint sound of the leaves rubbing together by the wind.

"... here"

Fran?

"Here... I know... I feel..."

Fran walks slowly. That way is one of the entrances to the square.

Are you sure you know?

It must have been totally different when Fran was here. If only this had changed, there would be no shadow.

However, Fran began to walk faster and faster. I'm sure he's walking with some certainty.

Is there an atmosphere that only the people who lived there know? Or is that a hunch?

Recently, Fran has been strangely sharp or has acted on his instincts. That's why it works so well...

By leveling up as a beast, perhaps the wild intuition has been sharpened.

"Fran, where are you headed?

Fran didn't hesitate to enter the garden and move on while stirring up the grass.

"... over here..."

Fran?

"... I knew it."

No, I'm too focused on opening my memory drawer and I can't see anything around me.

Ursi, keep an eye out for Fran.

"On!"

In the meantime, Fran continued on the grass.

And stop your feet somewhere.

It was a hut where the walls were destroyed and the roof collapsed. By the standards of this world, it is much smaller.

Well, Castel's houses are all like this.

……

About 70% of the walls have collapsed, and the rest are rotten and run-down.

From the gap between the rotten walls, you can see inside the hut. The wreckage of furniture and what I thought was rolling, and it was still being eroded by weeds.

Fran turns silently to the abandoned house. Then there was the mark of the door left only by the wooden frame.

Fran?

"... here"

That much murmured Fran approached the abandoned house. That step is different from the fast-feet that have been chased before.

It's a very heavy step, as if someone is holding you back.

But this reaction of Fran... I decided to watch without saying anything.

……

Fran stepped into the abandoned house. Neither ceilings nor walls played that role as early as possible. Most of the floor is falling off, and a weed carpet wraps around Fran's feet.

Still, Fran certainly sees something.

"... here I am"

I knew it.

"Nh... Here, let me leave you and your mother....."

The moment Fran murmured with his murmured voice, the tears fell from his eyes.

What kind of tears is that?

Sadness or joy? The loneliness of retrieving old memories? The sadness that made you feel your parents' death again?

"Just now...."

However, the tears that Fran shed seemed more noble to me than anything else.