The Last Game

In the evening dad come home in a carriage that will take us to Balmoral.

The neighbors also gathered seeing dad who come home bringing a carriage.

It seems that dad and mom have also discussed it with the neighbors.

They didn't look surprised at all.

I heard some of our neighbors say "Be careful!" on the street.

Hang on, when are we leaving?

"So when are we going to leave?" I asked.

"Tonight. Everything is packed, right?"

Tonight!!???

Isn't that too hasty?

Can't we wait at least until tomorrow?

I want to say goodbye to my friends.

"Isn't that too quick, dad?" I said

Dad's mouth keeps shut.

"Wouldn't it be safer if we waited until the sun rises? At least on the road we are more protected from dangers like robbers or monsters."

Dad is still silent.

"You're right. All right, we'll wait until tomorrow. We will depart at dawn."

This time dad agreed with me.

I sighed.

It's a relief, at least I still have time to say goodbye to my remaining friends.

Without further ado, I run out of the house.

"Andre! Where are you going?" Mom yells weakly.

"I want to go to my friends' house first! Say goodbye to them!" I replied.

Honestly, I'm scared.

How about our trip?

In times like these there must have been a lot of theft and robbery.

Will we be safe until balmoral?

If so, can we really survive there?

We had indeed moved from Uprave to Millstone.

But that's a different condition when compared to now.

At that time our family still had a decent life.

We even moved here because my father was transferred.

What sbout now?

Can we survive in a big city without a proper living?

While I was thinking all that, I arrived at Nicholas' house.

As I said earlier, Nicholas' father is a retired soldier. The house is not too big, but at least enough for 1 family to live in.

I knocked on Nicholas' door.

"Nichoo...! It's me Andre!!" I'm calling his name.

The door opened.

I see the sharp eyes of Nicho's father. Nicho's father is scary, that's why we rarely play at Nicho's house.

"Who is it, dear?" Said the female voice behind Nicho's father.

The voice belonged to Nicho's mother, her voice is very friendly.

"Ah, it's really Andre, huh. Wait a minute, i will call Nicholas."

Nicho's mother came in followed by her husband.

Oh yes, Nicho's father can't speak.

It seems that something happened when he was in the army.

Nicho finally came out.

"Oh, André! What is it?" he asked.

I smiled.

Well, we haven't played together in a long time.

Since this drought, we hardly ever played outside.

Our days are spent indoors to save energy.

Plus many of our friends have also moved.

"Let's play!" i said.

I see the doubt on Nicholas' face.

"Play? But, it's getting late now…"

"Come on! We'll take Ivan and Elora too!" I plead.

Nicholas looked at his mother.

Nicholas' mother smiled and said, "Don't come too late!"

A happy smile was etched on Nicholas's face.

We left happily.

"By the way, what do you want to play?" asked Nicholas.

"Hmm... What... Ah, how about we play chase?"

"Don't be, it make me tired. What if you throw a stone and hide your hand?"

Throw stones and hide hands is a group game. One person on duty is in charge of guessing who threw the stone, this person stands with his back to the stone throwers. Others are tasked with throwing stones in a direction that can be seen by one person on guard. If the guard can guess who threw the stone, the position will be swapped with the thrower.

"Yes, we haven't played it in a long time."

"Okay, let's take the others."

We then went to Ivan's house.

"Ivaaannn, let's play!!" We both said it together.

The one who opened the door was Ivan himself.

"Ohh, Andre and Nicholas!" He said happily.

"Let's play! We haven't played in a long time, haven't we?" Said Nicholas.

Ivan had a look of doubt on his face.

"Well... My mom and dad aren't home right now... I was told to take care of the house."

"Then let's just play inside!"

I immediately changed the original plan.

Anyway I must be able to play with them for the last time.

"Mmmm... Alright. Oh yeah, I also have a new toy you know! Come on in, I'll show you!"

Ivan changed into his 'show-off' mode.

"...Okay, then, I'll take Elora. You guys go first!" I said as I ran away.

I ran towards Elora's house.

Too tiring, I decided to just walk.

"Eloorraaa!!! C'mon, let's Plaaaaay!!!" I shouted while knocking on Elora's door.

No answer.

I knocked louder.

"Elorraaaaa!!! It's Andree!!"

"Yeah!! I'm coming down!!!"

A girl's voice replying to Andre's shouts.

Soon Elora opened the door for me.

Her face looks thinner than when we last saw each other a month ago.

Well, like I said before, we really haven't played together since many of us moved. Especially now that she is the only girl in our group.

"Oh, you're alone?"

I nodded.

"Just the two of us, what to play?"

"No, Nicholas is waiting at Ivan's house. We'll just play there."

Elora looked doubtful.

"Wait a minute, I'll ask dad and mom's permission first." She said as she entered her house leaving the door open.

I peeked, I saw Elora running to the 2nd floor.

Elora's mother's voice was faintly heard.

"Yeah, just don't come late, okay? Don't forget your crystal."

Not so long after, Elora was seen coming down from the 2nd floor.

"Sorry to keep you waiting, let's go!" She said cheerfully.

We went to Ivan's house.

Along the way, Elora didn't look as cheerful as usual. Her face was smiling brightly, but it looked like she had something to worry about.

"Hey, you thinking something?"

"…Something?" Elora asked back, her face looked confused.

"Your look worrying about something. Is there any problem?"

Her smile was still etched on his face, but she seemed to be holding something back.

"My mother is sick... It's been 2 weeks."

Hearing that, i'm quite surprised.

But after thinking about it for a moment, it wasn't really that surprising that someone would get sick in a situation like this.

Especially the people of a small village like Millstone, it would be easy to get sick at times like this.

Plus there's no doctor here.

"You okay?"

I even asked stupid things.

Of course she's not okay.

Who doesn't worry about seeing their mother sick?

Especially, if you can't do anything?

"It's okay, every day I always treat my mother using my birth crystal."

"..."

I'm speechless.

First, I don't understand what she meant by 'treating with her birth crystal'.

Second, I saw Elora who was still strong enough even though she is having a hard time.

I better not discuss it any further.

"Oh yeah, Ivan said he has a new toy, I can't wait to see it!"

"Really? Wow, this is going to be fun!"

Elora's face brightened again.

Suddenly, we had arrived at Ivan's house.

"Vaaaannn!!!" I shouted.

The door is opened.

"Come in!" Said Ivan.

Nicholas seems to have been enchanted by Ivan's new toy.

He didn't appear to welcome us.

I'm getting excited, what toys keep him from coming down to welcome us.

We entered and walked to Ivan's room.

Inside the room, Nicholas was seen tinkering with something.

A wooden puppet that can be moved.

"Wow, what is that?"

"Ah, you guys have come! Look, this is the toy Ivan said!"

I looked at the wooden puppet again.

There are several accessories attached to it.

Swords, shields, helmets...

Truely Nicholas.

"How? Cool, right!?" Ivan said excitedly.

Elora saw it, but she didn't seem very enthusiastic.

Maybe because she is a girl.

Ah yes, she usually plays a lot with the twins Annette and Anna.

"Do you have any other toys, Van?" I asked.

"Of course! Like son of a village chief like me doesn't have one. Not like you guys!"

He's showing off again.

"Yea, yea. Bring 'em out too, so we can play together."

Ivan smiled proudly as he took out the box containing his toys.

Whoa... So many of them, I was a bit surprised.

We rarely played at Ivan's house because his mother was fussy.

There were a few toys that caught my attention.

A toy knife, a wooden horse with wheels on its legs, and a black eye patch.

I think I know what I want to play.

I look at Elora, it seems that she is also interested in something.

I saw her hand holding a wooden doll dressed like a noble.

But its clothes look dull.

Maybe Ivan didn't really like the toy, so he just left it alone somewhere in his bedroom.

"Van, do you have any other clothes for her?" Elora asked Ivan while showing the wooden doll she is holding.

"Oh, that's it anyway. i think there's plenty of them, but I forget where i put them. I didn't really like it, so I just left it alone."

Elora pouted.

Hey, isn't that...?

I saw a piece of cloth under Ivan's pile of toys. I lifted the cloth, it turned out to be one of the wooden doll's clothes.

"Ah!"

Elora immediately snatched the mini clothes from my hand.

Her face lit up when she saw the piece of clothing.

She seemed very happy.

"Y-You like it, Elora?" Ivan asked.

Elora nodded vigorously while showing a bright face.

"W-well, t-take it then, I d-don't like that toy either." Said Ivan with a red face.

Ah... I've heard rumors too.

Ivan likes Elora.

But I'm not very interested in such discussions, so I'm not too enthusiastic about finding out the truth.

"Really!? Thank you, Ivan!" Elora said while hugging Ivan.

Ivan's face turned red, he stammered,

"W-well, l-let me go! D-Don't hug me!"

Even though he said that, his face said something different.

I just smiled mockingly at the two of them.

Meanwhile Nicholas, he was still playing with the wooden puppet he had been playing with.

Ah, just tell them about it later.

Now, I want to play.

"Ha ha ha! You've lost, Konstantin! Now, all your treasure will be mine!"

I modeled a villain fighting against a noble.

"Help...! Eriiikk, please!!"

Elora pretend to be an aristocrat fighting against me. She uses her doll that she has dressed in such a way.

Even though the aristocrat is a man, Elora acted as if he is a woman.

"Ha ha ha ha! I heard someone asked for help? The hero, Erik has come!"

Ivan pretended himself to be a knight. At first he had an argument with Nicholas about this role, but finally Nicholas relented after an ultimatum that he could not borrow the wooden puppet he had been playing.

"The hero! Good thing he's here! Help us fight Damien!"

Nicholas modeled a soldier under Elora. Just like Elora, she uses a wooden puppet that has been fitted with accessories like a soldier.

"Erik! Help!"

Wow, it seems that Elora is very deep in her role. Victory Day theater actress is really in different level.

"I... Yes! I… I… come!" Ivan stammered.

Nicholas and I looked at him cynically.

How come the hero has no prestige?

Ivan and I fought playfully.

Until one time he hit me for real.

It hurts you know, damn it.

I hit him back, right on Ivan's cheek I put my fist.

"What the hell, Ndre! You hit me for real!"

Ivan looks annoyed.

It should be me who is annoyed.

Since this is your toy, you are free to do anything?

"You really hit me first! It hurts you know!"

Ivan hit me again.

Damn, if you want to fight here, c'mon i'll take you.

We are 3 years apart in age, but I won't lose against you.

I hit Ivan's back.

We had a real fight.

Seeing how things were getting heated up, Nicholas tried to break us up.

But instead, Ivan hit him in the face.

Nicholas has joined the fight.

The three of us are fighting now.

Punches, kicks.

Previously I only had problems with Ivan, this time I was also annoyed with Nicholas.

It was Ivan who hit him, why should I be beaten too?

"Stop!!"

This time Elora tried to break us apart.

Of course neither of us heard her voice.

When I was about to hit Nicholas and Ivan's face, someone grabbed my hand.

Don't hold me back!

Thud!

Hearing that sound, we stopped fighting.

We look at the source of the sound.

Elora looks unconscious in the corner of the room.

Looks like she was thrown when she tried to separate us.

We immediately rushed to her.

Ivan looked very panicked, especially after seeing a few bloodstains on the walls of his bedroom.

It seemed like Elora's head was take severe hit from the wall.

Ivan turned to me.

He looks so angry.

Ah...

Maybe it was Elora who was trying to hold me back.

I can't do anything.

I've never seen anyone so badly injured.

I panicked...

I can't do anything...

Unknowingly, I stepped back.

I ran out of Ivan's house.

"Andre! Where are you going!?"

I heard Nicholas' voice calling out to me, but I ignored him.

I ran away until I'm tired.

Pant... Pant... Pant...

What did I do?

I should have said good-bye to them.

Now i have a new problem...

Do I have to part with them in such unfavorable conditions?

I wanted to turn back to Ivan's house.

However, I stopped.

Ah...

I'm scared...

They would definitely hate me now.

...

...

Ahahahaha...

Why do I think this?

I believe in them.

They will surely forgive me.

I stepped back into Ivan's house.

When it was near, I saw Ivan's parents coming home.

They looked at me.

"Oh, André? What are you doing at a time like this?" asked Ivan's father.

"You! You want to steal at our place huh!" Ivan's mother said pointing her finger at me.

"Like father, like son! Get out of here!" Ivan's mother continued.

Steal...?

The last time I was accused of stealing was a year ago.

When I stole corn in Aunt Vera's field.

Since then I never stealing again.

I even desperately resisted the urge to take small items even if they weren't valuable.

But... Like father, like son?

It means...?

My dad never stole anything...

He even most forbade me to steal.

There must be a misunderstanding.

But before I denied what Ivan's mother said, her husband immediately approached me.

"You'd better go home now." He said as he glared at me.

I got goosebumps.

This is the first time I've been treated like this.

I've been repeatedly scolded for being caught taking things.

However, I've never been treated like a thief when I didn't take anything.

I'm scared.

I turn my body. I ran away from Ivan's house again.

Why am I being treated like this?

I've been working hard this year.

But, this is the treatment I get?

I didn't even intend to take anything.

Unknowingly my tears fell.

Ah...

It really hurts.