A Continued Dream
“Just...a little bit...more...”
Yes, just a little bit more, I thought as I stood on the edge of a cliff, reaching out to a surface above me.
“If I stretch...like...this...can I...?”
My fingers lightly brushed against the object in question, and, with a final, decisive stretch, I grasped it in my hands.
It was a small, beautiful flower. A Tetona flower, one that only grew on the faces of these harsh, steep cliffs.
“I’ve... I’ve got it. Picked it...for you,” I, Rentt Faina, said as I triumphantly opened the doors before me.
I quickly lost my voice, however. Before me was a young girl, seated in a chair. She was watching over another girl, who seemed peacefully asleep in bed.
That’s right. The girl seemed peacefully asleep. The girl seemed that way...but... But...
“I’m sorry, Rentt...and thank you, but...it’s too... Just a little too...”
Looking at the streaks of tears running down her face, I knew I was too late.
The girl in the chair was Rin, and the one in the bed was Ran. They were twins whom I often played with as a child. The two of them looked exactly the same, and had similar personalities. They even lived in a similar way, which was why I had assumed they would live as such into a ripe, old age.
But the gods were cruel. The heavens decreed that Ran was to suffer from an incurable disease, while Rin was to be completely fine.
Ran’s illness got worse. There were no known treatments, so Ran slowly became weaker.
The two of them, however, had a dream: to one day open a florist’s shop, just the two of them. To fill the world with flowers—that was their dream.
It was somewhat childish and cute, yes, but the twins were serious about this dream of theirs, that they would one day find a way to cultivate the Tetona flower, which was impossible to raise in captivity, then spread it throughout the world.
That was their dream.
Ran was now no longer able to pursue it. When that had become obvious, Rin had at the very least wanted her sister to see the real thing, just once. And so it came to be that she posted a request to the guild, and I was the one who picked it up.
The contents of the request were simple: to bring Ran a Tetona flower before her life ended. It was a simple request, yet...
“I’ve...failed...”
There was nothing else I could say. I had indeed failed. I should have been faster. I knew that. I even thought it.
Rin shook her head slowly, a faint smile lighting up her tear-streaked face.
“No...it’s all right. You’ve done enough, Rentt. Ran wanted to say...she was sorry. For having to leave first.”
“But...”
“It’s okay, Rentt. Hand me the request forms...”
Rin snatched the forms out of my hands, declaring the request as complete with a flourish of her pen.
I hesitated. How could I accept this? Rin just pushed the papers back into my hands.
“We’re grateful, so please... Also, you did bring the flower to us. I’ll do my best to find a way. To make them bloom and grow. Then I’ll send them to lots of places. That...is still our dream,” Rin declared.
What a strong girl..
She had lost a member of her family, yet she didn’t wallow in despair—she was already looking ahead. Individuals like her were rare. Her statements weren’t those of a child, but of someone who had steeled their resolve, who had made up their mind.
I, of all people, understood this, which was why I turned to Rin and said the following:
“If there is...anything... Anything at all I can help you with, tell me. I will do what I can.”
“Thank you, Rentt... Well, if I ever want floral specimens from dangerous places again...would you bring them to me if I asked?”
“What, like a Dragon Blood Blossom?”
That was the first thing that came to mind as I thought about plants that were rare, or difficult to procure.
“Haha... Yes, that would be dangerous indeed. Maybe a little too much for a Bronze-class, right?”
“Yes, that’s right. But it’s also my dream to one day become a Mithril-class adventurer. So...when I become much stronger, I’ll bring you one of those. A Dragon Blood Blossom.”
I didn’t know if I would ever reach such a level of strength. Somehow, I felt I had hit my limits already.
Even so, I would do what I could. Rin, this young girl before me who had lost her family, still hadn’t given up on her dream. There was no way I could give up either. Not before her eyes.
“Well then...it’s a competition. Let’s see whose dream comes true first... I won’t lose, you hear?”
“Me neither.”
As our eyes met, it was clear to me Rin’s smile had gotten just a little bit brighter. It wasn’t a smile from the bottom of her heart—she was hurting. Even so, life would go on. Our lives, too, had to go on. I had to walk forward; there was no other way.
And that was all there was to it.
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