CHAPTER 1
City of Oblivion
The place was a ruin, overgrown with large trees.
Remnants of buildings stood cracked, crumbled, and broken along the surface, their original purpose lost to time. The trees and moss had crept over them, beginning to stretch quietly toward the sky.
There was the sound of water.
The ground underfoot was flooded. With every step, the water gently rippled, causing the surface to crease.
Once inhabited by humans, this city was now nature’s abode.
Currently, there were no signs of people except for us.
“Oof.”
Once we had walked for a little while over the damp ground, I turned around abruptly inside what was left of a crumbled edifice and sat down. I set my broom down beside me.
That was when I noticed fireflies fluttering all around me.
“This is quite the place, wouldn’t you say?”
She stretched her tired body. “I wonder how much farther we have to go to reach my hometown.”
“…I wonder.”
It could be one day, or two, or several months.
Her hometown was just that far away, its existence as hollow as a hazy mist.
“……”
She looked out over this place that had once been a city.
Her soft white hair swayed in the misty breeze. It must have felt nice. It looked like the corners of her mouth curled upward ever so slightly.
But her expression seemed lonely.
“…People used to live here, didn’t they?”
“Well, it is a ruin. You’re probably right.”
“I wonder what happened to them.”
“……” The place looked ancient. “It had to have been over a hundred years ago at least—no, I guess even more time had to have passed for nature to heal, so I’m sure all the settlers are long dead.”
“That’s not what I’m talking about. Seriously. You’re such a downer.”
“……” I guess she meant their distant relatives. How was I supposed to know that? “Maybe they had to abandon the place because of a war. Or perhaps they left for less violent reasons. There’s no way to know for sure. I wonder what happened.”
“…I hope they’re alive.”
She looked off into the distance, gazing at the ruins.
Her voice softened enough to disappear with the breeze. “How sad it is to be forgotten.” It was frail and uneasy.
“I don’t think you need to worry about that.”
When I answered her, she opened her eyes just a little bit wider and turned her face toward me.
I looked into her jade-green eyes. “This place is incredible. It’s the perfect location for a cool summer retreat.”
“……”
“Even if there’s no one here right now, someone might live here again one day. It may even become famous as a sightseeing spot. For all we know, this place is a legendary hidden spot for someone else. So everything’s fine,” I told her. “As long as people visit this place and don’t forget about it, it won’t truly become a ruin.”
She lowered her eyes. “I’m going to forget it, though.”
She laughed as if she had given up.
“……”
The girl’s name was Amnesia.
Her clothing made her look like a knight of some chivalric order. Beneath her flowing white robe, the rest of her clothes were a formal white.
She wore a thick headband in her short white hair.
She’d had a mysterious curse placed on her that caused her to lose her memory every day. She couldn’t even remember her own name.
“That’s why you’ve got to get your memory back and remember it all,” I said to her.
“I will.” She nodded gently and replied, “So you shouldn’t forget either, okay, Elaina?”
“Of course not. This isn’t the kind of scenery I would forget any time soon…”
I looked up.
What I saw there were the ruins, which still stood strong even though they were decrepit, beautiful, and majestic. Despite everything, they had persisted.
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