The air suddenly filled with heavy, quiet winds…It was a truly gloomy moment… especially for Raym...
Before walking toward his unknown destination, he cast one last look at the base… a sorrowful glance...His eyes were wet with tears that refused to fall...
"Was this truly the place I once called my safe haven… my resting place… a station filled with people I trusted… people I even shared meals with… only for you to betray me like this in the end…"
He wasn't saying goodbye to walls or stones…He was saying goodbye to a former version of himself… a version that believed this place was home...
His expression shifted instantly into silent disappointment… and he turned away, continuing his path without looking back.
Lorian watched what happened… and seemed to understand what was going on inside him...
Their journey began here…A journey toward the enemy...
Lorian walked at the front… followed by the large man...At the rear were the silent youth and Raym...
For some reason… Raym felt at ease around them… especially the quiet young man...He tried to start a conversation with him, but the young man never spoke...His presence was calm, like a shadow… but not an unsettling one...
Lorian slowed down until he walked beside Raym and said quietly:
"Oh, it seems you're trying to befriend my student, Saon...Well… he almost never speaks. But he's a reliable and wonderful person..."
A faint trace of sadness crossed Raym's face… as if the words reliable person touched something inside him...
They continued walking for hours…Hours that felt like days…Hours of endless silence.
People who barely knew each other…Conversation simply wasn't an option...
The wind moved through the trees with a soft whisper...Dry leaves fell onto the path...At times, Raym heard distant sounds he couldn't identify… as if the forest itself was trying to say something he couldn't understand...
He began to feel uneasy…But he reminded himself this was his own decision… so he accepted the consequences...
When the sun began to set, they stopped to rest...
They set up a small camp...Perhaps Raym didn't have many good memories in places like this… but he tried to adapt...
Lorian sat face to face with him, while Saon and the large man—Round—went to gather firewood...
Raym seemed a bit tense, so Lorian tried to ease him:
"Listen, boy, there's no need to worry...Maybe you're still afraid of me or something… but believe me, I have no ill intentions toward you or your group...
My goal in this life… is simply to correct a mistake...A great mistake… something too big for anyone but me to understand...
Those two followed me of their own will… even as death draws closer to them… without asking for reward, glory, or anything at all."
He paused, then sighed...
"Well… enough gloom...
How about you tell me a little about yourself???That face of yours… I don't know why… but it feels familiar..."
Raym usually avoided thinking about his past because it caused him splitting headaches…But he sensed sincerity in Lorian's words… so he tried...
"I… well… I don't remember anything before the age of seven...But I have faint, distorted memories… I'm not even sure they're real...
They feel like pieces of a puzzle…A woman running in terror… as if a monster was chasing her…On a rainy night… just before darkness fell…
And suddenly… I see her…She screams my name…
Then… suddenly… she disappears..."
Lorian's expression froze for a fraction of a second… as if an old name crossed his mind… but he said nothing...
Instead, he suddenly asked:
"Boy… how old are you now???"
Raym looked surprised.
"Well… I think I'll be turning eighteen soon..."
Lorian quickly followed:
"And do you remember that place you mentioned???"
Raym answered with a shaky voice:
"I… it looked like an isolated forest…Trees with yellow falling leaves…And a deep valley… with a powerful waterfall…"
Lorian felt as though he knew something…Yet he himself didn't know what it was.
Only that strange feeling…As if the past was slowly approaching…Step by step...