That shadow was truly deceitful. Everything was fine until now, but wait... Wind Night Wanderer pulled out a pocket watch from the side of his long coat.
12:30. I thought to myself—a pocket watch?
Wanderer's clothes are somewhat damp. There is a faint smell of moisture coming from them; it seems his clothes must have been drenched in the rain. The second watch of the night is about to begin; we should leave from here.
"But we will see this fortress tomorrow, let's go for now."
"Yes..." Thud, thud, thud, thud... Wanderer stopped near the carriage and gestured for me to walk toward the carriage gate. Along with the rustling of the wind, a faint, whispering voice coming from somewhere far away entered my ears—
(I know who you are).
In a deep, serious voice, I spoke, "Who is it?"
(Remember the past).
Wanderer gestured for me to move again. Yes, it must be a figment of my imagination. I sat inside the carriage. Wind Night Wanderer closed the carriage gate—Khata. Wanderer went ahead and sat down.
Wind Night Wanderer held the horses' reins and struck the soft skin of the horses with a black wooden stick. Tap-tap-tap. The sound of the horses' hooves once again echoed through the desolate valleys where silence prevailed. For a while, a silence remained between me and Wind Night Wanderer. Wanderer asked me, "Why were you looking at the fortress like that?"
"Just like that. When I came to your house, why were you so scared? Did you not like my arrival? Or is there something else... are you hiding something from me?"
A light sweat appeared on my face. My attention went toward the person lying on the floor of my house. The stench of rotting flesh spread through the air once again. In a panicked state, I blurted out, "No... I was scared. I live alone in the house, and I hadn't slept for many days."
There was a strange expression on Wind Night Wanderer's face. Did he not believe my words?
The sound of the horses' hooves stopped. The carriage has stopped. I got down from the carriage.
"We will have to stop here for now Wanderer stepped down from the front and went inside the carriage. I thought Wanderer has sleep in his eyes; I should let him sleep. Right now, we are on top of a mountain.
An iron bench was visible nearby. Well, at least there is a place to sit. The iron of the bench is cold. I took a long breath. Haa... While thinking, tears welled up in my eyes. Only one thought remained in my mind—Will I ever be able to go home?
I took out a small diary from my pocket. Haa... I turned the first page. The page had turned slightly yellow. I started writing—
(I am alone here. There is a strange silence here, a strange peace. I am very lonely here; I miss home a lot. Sometimes I think how strange this universe is, it has no end. That fortress was very strange; the symbols made on the walls were languages written in some anonymous words).
I closed my diary. Darkness began to cloud over my eyes. A light rain started falling.
A sharp ray of sunlight hit my face. I feel warmth on my face. I slowly opened my eyes. Morning has arrived. It is still raining lightly. The diary is in my hand—this got wet too.
"Mr. (S)?"
"Yes." Wind Night Wanderer has woken up.
There is a tree over there, and it has a hollow hole too. I will keep the diary right there; I will come back and take it sometime. A question in my mind—Will I ever be able to come here again? If not, who knows, maybe destiny will bring me here again. Let me keep it here. There is no human being in sight as far as the eye can see. There is greenery stretching far and wide in every direction, but nothing is clearly visible. There is fog as well as bright sunlight—how can this be possible?
"Mr. (S), we should leave."
"Are we going home?