Asha looked down at the pale face of the sleeping Dimitri. The boy’s lips were chapped, a result of battling in the bath all night. Asha covered him with a thick blanket, firmly held his hand, and closed her eyes.
‘I should have kept quiet.’
<What are you talking about?>
‘If only I had anticipated that Dimitri would push himself so hard…’
She felt a belated regret for subjecting the boy, who was strong-willed yet always seeking approval from someone, to the harsh treatment that ignited all the flames in this region.
<Is living thinking you can never do it for a lifetime better than having a chance to try your best at least once?>
‘But even if it’s not his fault, if Dimitri were to feel any guilt…’
<Why would he feel guilty? He did nothing wrong in this incident.>
‘Even if it’s not his fault, people usually feel guilty if they think they could have changed something but didn’t.’
<What? Isn’t that a thought of a helpless idiot? A tree doesn’t feel sorry for being dry just because a strong stream of water passes by. Only humans do such things.>
Asha sighed deeply at Phoebe’s words.
‘Why does Phoebe treat me so well?’
<Why?>
‘Is it because I got involved in the Prasti business, and barely came back that Phoebe is concerned?’
<Nonsense! It’s not my fault, and why would I… I just… I’m just being nice to you because you look like a moldy peach!>
“Uh huh.”
<Oh, no! No! The goodwill of this great spirit doesn’t come with such mundane reasons! Understand!>
“Yes, yes. So you like me unconditionally?”
<Yes!>
“Aha.”
<Oh, no…! That isn’t it either! Not unconditionally! I’m only nice when you bake snacks, okay? You’re such a mean grapefruit! Understand?>
‘All right, all right.’
━━━✦❘༻༺❘✦━━━
Asha applied ointment to the hands of the unconscious Arten Juvanne who stayed up all night playing the harp. Arten turned and groaned in his sleep. The flames had not been extinguished yet, but as the sun rose, people seemed to have made up their minds differently.
“There’s nothing we can do about the situation. We just need to replant the winter wheat.”
“But what about the taxes this year…”
“You have to have something to collect to pay taxes. Neither the lord nor the emperor will demand taxes from us when we have nothing. We don’t even have homes, let alone taxes.”
“I took out a loan to plant this time, and if I can’t repay it immediately… Will it be extended until the winter wheat harvest…”
“No, you took out a loan? How much?”
“What?”
“How much did you borrow?”
“Why do you ask about others’ private matters?”
“Damn, I wish it was someone else’s private matters, but our Tanya likes your eldest son. What should I do?”
“What? Really?”
“This guy is not interested in his own child.”
“Well… then you can’t get more money! It’s certain that the closer the relationship, the more likely…”
“Who gave you money? Did you only plow your barley field? We don’t have a penny either.”
“Then what?”
“We were planning to go together and explain, see if they could extend the deadline a bit if the amount is reasonable.”
“Ah, this guy is really…”
Though their conversation was mixed with faint laughter, people tiredly took care of the injured and helped with food preparation in the kitchen. In a secluded corner of the kitchen, Asha and Karnov sat huddled together.
“Karnov, did you do it? Did you do it?”
“Ha…”
Karnov sighed and put his hand on the pot in front of him. The large pot was filled with chestnuts in syrup. And shortly after, the syrup was reduced by half. Karnov had sped up time.
“It seems the oak barrel meant for brewing serves as a substitute for the sugar pickling pot.”
“Yeah, it’s sweet and fragrant, so it’s satisfying, right? But now it’s a substitute for the sugar drying tray.”
Saying this, Asha spread the brown nuts that had transformed into a transparent color on the prepared tray and sprinkled sugar on them.
“…Is there a reason why you’re doing this? The syrup is made of sugar anyway.”
“It’s pretty this way. It’ll look like pumpkin gemstones.”
“Does that have any meaning?”
“It does, for now. In difficult times, when you see something delicious and beautiful, even though reality doesn’t change, it might give you a little strength, don’t you think?”
Karnov initially disagreed with that idea, but looking at Asha’s face, he averted his eyes.
“…It seems like that.”
“Right?”
Karnov turned back time little by little as Asha sprayed sugar over the braised chestnut. At first, the transparent shimmering began to shine opaquely as one or two layers formed. It was long before the boiled chestnut took the shape of the pumpkin stone that had just been removed.
“As expected of our Karnov! It’s done now…”
While Asha happily admired the nuts lined up on the tray, she suddenly jumped up from her seat.
‘Just now, something…!’
<He did it! That incurable stubborn boy!>
“Asha? Are you okay?”
“Uh… uh, I’m fine! I’m fine! Please take care of these nuts! Hold them tightly, okay!”
Asha briefly hesitated, as if something had malfunctioned, then handed the tray to Karnov and hurriedly ran upstairs in the mansion.
People who had been trying to divert their attention from the flames outside greeted Asha in the hallway. Despite answering each one individually, she didn’t slow down her pace.
As she reached this floor, she opened the bedroom door where Dimitri had been resting, only to find an empty bed waiting for her. Without knocking, she opened the adjacent bathroom door.
“Dimitri!”
Everything in the bathroom was wet. The bathtub, the sink, the floor, the mirror, and the top of the shelf.
“Ah…”
Dimitri, who was standing in the bathtub, looked puzzled because he was not aware of the situation. Regardless of the fact that the hem of her dress was wet, Asha jumped into the bathtub, hugged Dimitri tightly, and released him.
“I knew you’d do it!”
“But the barley field is already…”
“The forest is still on fire. There are barley fields that barely survived. Let’s go.”
“G, Go where?”
“To put out the fire.”
“Like this?”
“Anyway, we’ll get wet in the rain if we go, right?”
Saying this, Asha held onto Dimitri and turned around, only to be surprised when she saw Karnov following them.
“Ka, Karnov. What about the nuts? We need to protect the nuts.”
“I left it to Natalya.”
Karnov sighed when he saw Dimitri, who had already-wet clothes, and Asha, who had gotten wet from hugging Dimitri. Just by observing, one could easily guess what Dimitri’s spirit was.
“…Let’s go.”
“Oh? Let’s go?”
Asha opened her eyes wide because she didn’t expect Karnov to agree so readily.
“We can’t walk all the way to where the fire is touching. We need to ride, but one person is still inexperienced in riding, and the other has just used their spirit’s power for the first time.”
After Karnov threw a towel to Dimitri, they walked together to the back door of the mansion. In the backyard, Ivan was preparing two horses. It seemed Karnov had already prepared the saddles.
“Ivan prepared a saddle for Dimitri as well.”
The distant sky was covered in haze from smoke and ashes. Dimitri silently climbed on the horse with Ivan, as Karnov said, either because of tension or for other reasons. Karnov put Asha on his horse and sat behind her and spoke quietly.
“If it seems dangerous, we’ll come back immediately.”
“There won’t be any danger. Dimitri will handle it.”
Ivan, who took the reins of the horse, quietly looked at Asha and Karnov, and then rode off. In that way, the two horses left the mansion and ran to the forest where the fire was spreading.
━━━✦❘༻༺❘✦━━━
Despite burning for a whole night, the threatening blaze did not subside.
The remaining barley fields were just a bit farther away, luckily avoiding the fire, but with the wind, it was impossible to predict when and how the wildfire might spread. The unseasonal heat, not fitting for autumn, scorched the cheeks with its intense warmth.
“Dimitri!”
Asha clutched Dimitri’s frozen hand in front of the burning forest. Dimitri’s blue eyes, which seemed to be wet, looked at Asha.
“I…”
“You can do it.”
“…How can you be so sure? Because of our family tree?”
Dimitri looked at Asha with a disbelieving expression. Asha let go of his hand and grasped Dimitri’s cheeks hard.
“Dimitri, can you fill a bucket with water and throw it?”
“It’s not that easy.”
“It’s the same for you. That’s why I’m saying you can do it.”
‘Uncle told you that after you signed with the Spirit, the empire would not worry about drought. And you’ve already done it. You ruined everything by pouring rain in the bathroom.’
Dimitri listened silently to Asha’s words and then pulled Asha’s hand away, grumbling.
“Do you think my cheeks are morning rolls? Are you going to pull them off?”
“Well, they were a bit damp for morning rolls.”
“Hmph. I’ll show you something even damper.”
Dimitri said, glancing at Asha and holding his hands tightly, he looked at the forest engulfed in the flames.
His posture seemed like a prayer.
It was a cruel wildfire that brought despair throughout the night. The embers flew incessantly. Karnov pulled Asha into his arms and covered her with his outer coat.
“When the flames spread further, if nothing happens by then, we must get out of here.”
“You’ll just have to wait a little bit.”
The sky slowly began to darken. The color was different from the ashes that had covered the sky. Asha raised her head with a smiling face. From a distance, the sound of water filling the sky, resembling a water bucket, could be heard.
“The sky…”
And finally the sky broke.
Non-stop thick clouds swirled in the sky, and water droplets started to fall steadily. The initial raindrop couldn’t even reach the fire and evaporated, but the second raindrop oxidized in the flames, and the third raindrop finally reached the tree branches.
– Shoo-ahhh!
“It’s raining…!”
“Oh my goodness, look at the clouds! It’s rain! It’s raining!”
“Rain! My goodness, rain is coming!”
“How can it rain in this season…!”
“It’s raining! Thank you, gods! It’s raining!”
People who were still fighting against the fire without giving up shouted from various places. Asha, with wet hair sticking to her face, swept it aside and laughed heartily.
“Look at this! I told you that you could do it!”
“You’re like a fool, Asha.”
The pouring rain was so loud that they had to shout to have a conversation.
“What would have happened if I couldn’t do it?”
“It doesn’t matter! It’s not supposed to rain in the fall anyway!”
People danced in the rain. Karnov pulled Asha into his arms and covered her with his outer coat, but she was already soaked.
“I want to eat lime pie too!”
“What?”
Dimitri, barely opening his eyes in the pouring rain, shouted.
“I kept eating sweet and salty things, and my tongue hurts! I want to eat lime pie too! Make it for me!”
Asha laughed loudly and shouted. “Sure!”
