Lein was a stranger to this village, thus she asked Rume where the inn was before she left. After Rume and Lein went their own separate ways, Rume headed towards the person she was planning to visit.

It was not distant from her home, so it was fine to visit once in a while. Although, she visits him most of the time. It was not purely for a leisure visit, but rather just to check how he was and his health. His failing health had become more noticeable lately, that was why she was worried more than before.

The little girl strolled innocently, her small figure was cute and her face was adorable, if she was cleaner and wore decent clothes, she could have attracted a lot of nice attention. However, the attention she received was nothing desirable. She could feel the heavy pressure of their gazes on her shoulders.

An adult or teenager may be able to raise their chest high, and their heads straight forward. However, for a little girl like her, there was no way she could handle it. In this situation, all she could do was hide her face and eyes by looking down on the road.

Several minutes had passed and finally she had reached her destination. She sighed in relief. Other residences were quite a bit of distance from her, which lighted the weight on her shoulders a little.

The house she went to was just like any average house, all made of wood. She went to the door and knocked three times.

“Mister Esmon. It’s me, Rume. I’m coming in.”

She pushed the door open. Not a lot of strength was needed, so a little girl like her can manage that.

Normally, a visitor would need to wait until the owner of the house opens the door before entering. However, for Rume’s case, there was no need for that. Esmon and Rume had known each other for a long time, it’s already common for Rume to just let the inside know she’s there then walk inside.

Strangely though, no one responded to her. When she looked inside, there was no there. It was all quiet. It would seem Esmon was not in the living room, so Rume went to the dining room, but no one was also there.

In normal eyes, this would be an average house on the inside. Not too big, and not too small. However, if only one person lives here, the house would feel too big. The chairs on the dining table felt like a waste that no one else was sitting on the others. With only an old person living alone in this house, all one could hear was utter silence. That was the case with this house.

“Mr.  Esmon?! Where are you?”

Her voice resonated in the room. Rume decided to go behind the house for she figured that place was likely the place where he would be. How he loved the garden there.

When she did, she found an old man sitting on a bench on the side of the garden. He held a cane with both hands while adoring the beautiful plants and flowers blooming in the garden.

“Mr. Esmon, there you are!”

It was just then that Esmon reacted.

“Oh you’re here Rume. I’m sorry, I didn’t hear you.”

His hearing was bad, it started to be even more noticeable several months ago. But he said it’s just part of getting old. Rume was worried about this, but she couldn’t do anything about it.

“It’s okay. Is there a problem with the garden Mr. Esmon?”

He was staring at the garden, as though at the same time spacing out. Well, in fact, he was spacing out. The little girl just failed to notice it.

Esmon chuckled. “No, there’s nothing wrong… I was just thinking about something.”

Rume sat beside him while having a curious expression.

“What were you thinking about~?”

Esmon chuckled again while patting Rume’s head.

“... Just remembering the past.”

He looked at Rume, she just stared at him silently as though waiting for Esmon to speak more. 

“I was just reminiscing what it was like when I was a young boy.”

“Ooh? You never talked about when you were young Mr. Esmon. What was it like?”

“Hehehe, it was nothing special.”

“Really? But I want to know how you were when you were young.”

Esmon smiled.

“Okay… Well, working on a farm was sure not easy. Especially when I was young. I was often scolded for not working on the fields. Being the only son sure was a pain.”

“Were you naughty back then?”

“Ahaha, you could say that. My parents would often say something like ‘work on the fields Esmon! Or else I’ll drag you to the mountains tied to a horse!’, hehehe good times.”

The both of them laughed.

“Hahaha! You really gave your papa and mama a lot of trouble Mr. Esmon.”

“I sure did. But, it wasn’t because I was lazy, Rume. I didn’t like working on the fields, but rather I was passionate about my herbal mixing, experimenting herbal medicines and such. So I used all of my time working on herbs.”

“Was it the time that you started to take an interest about herbs, Mr. Esmon?”

“Hm, around that time…… Aaah, all the trials and failures, travelling around the forest, how I miss all that. If only I cou--” All of a sudden, he coughed vigorously.

“Are you all right Mr. Esmon?!”

“--*cough* I’m fine, it’s just passing b--*cough*”

He coughed continuously this time. Rume patted him on the back, but it was not stopping at all. Esmon covered his mouth, trying to stop his uncontrollable cough. However, it still went on. His throat and chest began to ache.

“Oh no. I’ll go get your medicines!”

“-- no, there’s nothing left--”

“Really? Then when was the last time you took your medicine?”

“... about a few days now.”

“Oh no… What should I do?”

All of their medicine was created from herbs. As a herbalist, Esmon himself makes his own medicine, it was quite effective for him. Though that was not the only reason they make medicines with herbs. They don’t have the money to buy any medicines. Esmon preferred to just use the money to buy food rather than buying expensive medicines when his herbs were twice as effective.

Rume contemplated on what to do. Should she buy medicines?

“... Should I buy from the store?”

“If we do that, we’ll have nothing left for food. There won’t be enough for you.”

“You don’t have to worry about me, I have savings.”

“No, don’t. Winter is just a few months away -- *cough* *cough*”

“But…” She quietly said.

Rume helped him to slowly get him inside the house then to his room.

After slowly helping him lay on the bed, she had an idea.

“You should rest, Mr. Esmon. I will go to the forest to get the herbs.”

“What?! No! That’s out of the question.”

Rume gave an assuring smile.

“Don’t worry. I know what the herb looks like. I watched you several times. I also know how to brew your medicine. So leave it to me.”

“I said no -- *coughs* -- the forest is dangerous.”

“It’s fine. The sun is still high up. Dangers come at night, right? Then I should be fine. I will be quick.”

Without waiting for Esmon’s response, Rume ran out of the house. Esmon tried to call her back but to no avail. Usually, he would be the one to get those herbs himself, rarely with some friends willing to help. However, for the moment, he was incapable of doing so, Rume must have also thought of that, that was why she volunteered to go herself.

“That hard headed child…”

All he could do was to pray everything would be fine.