Chapter three: The Odd Boy

　"Surprise!

　　A boy emerged from the flowers, Shouting as he threw a handful of petals over McKenna's head.

　　As a cloud of moist petals fell on McKenna, she closed her eyes and let out a cry.

　　"What's wrong with you?Tritan Wolf."

　　"The frightened girl scolded in exasperation after she got a good look at him.

　　The boy in front of McKenna's face shriveled from his usual smile as he heard his full name called out in exasperation.

　　"You threw them in the water, so I picked them up for you across the river, I thought you'd be happy..."

　　Tritane looked like a child who had made a mistake, scratching her head in front of McKenna with her curly brown hair.

　　"...There you go."

　　After a moment of silence, McKenna sighed, her nerves relaxed.

　　Instead of her usual sarcasm, McKenna pulled the petals off her face and looked at Tritane angrily.

　　"What are you doing here?

　　"Isn't it your birthday today?Every year on this day I get you a present."

　　As she said this, Tritan threw up her head with pride.From an early age, the boy from McKenna's village had an energy that came from nowhere.

　　"You've been clinging to me since I was a kid, like ...A piece of melted sugar."McKenna said, shaking her head.

　　McKenna was actually trying to compare that frisky yellow dog in the village to Tritane.

　　After she thought about it for a while, she only came up with another strange sounding metaphor.

　　"So you're going to eat me?"

　　Tritain looked over his shoulder for a moment, then quipped.

　　"..."

　　"No...It's disgusting."

　　McKenna's silence broke as she spoke, and the boy in front of her made her laugh again, as she had the day before.

　　"Don't you want to know what I'm going to get you?"

　　Tritane whispered mysteriously as she approached McKenna.

　　"Those petals?"

　　"No, no, no!

　　Tritan puffed out his chest and, after trying to make himself look more manly, continued.

　　"I will give you the Psyche butterfly at your birthday party tonight in front of everyone."

　　Tritane's solemn speech was so impassioned that for a moment McKenna thought of her father.

　　"..."

　　The upturned Tritane didn't notice McKenna's look, and there was a short silence on both sides...Until McKenna spoke.

　　"In fact...Tritam, I see psyche."

　　"..."

　　"I thought you'd laugh at me...When I was telling you about Maldo Gil's discovery of the Psyche butterfly, you told me he was a fool and a liar."

　　Tritane looked at the determined McKenna and wondered at her look and the words she uttered.

　　"So you don't believe me?"

　　McKenna frowned at Tritane with a mixture of annoyance in her eyes.

　　"Er...Of course not."

　　Tritain's eyes drifted aside, his mouth clenched as if he were thinking...Then he turned to her and said excitedly.

　　"So that proves I made the right decision!I'll help you find it."

　　Tritane assured him, slapping his chest.

　　"But it's gone."

　　"Disappear where?"

　　"..."

　　"Your head."

　　Tritane looked down and scratched his hair again, as he always did when he was upset or nervous.

　　Then he awkwardly picked off a petal and played with it in his palm.

　　"I'm so sorry..."

　　It was the best answer he could think of so far.

　　"But don't worry, I'll help you find it!"

　　Tritan swore once more.McKenna was happy, but her heart was still mixed.

　　"Really?"

　　McKenna looked at Tritane with a slightly skeptical expression.

　　"Don't you believe me yet?"

　　Tritan vividly picked up the tone.

　　"Of course not..."

　　McKenna clenched her voice in response.

　　Although McKenna wasn't sure that Tritane could fulfill his promise, she was touched by the gesture.

　　......

　　In the endless sea of colorful flowers in Psyche Bay, one can vaguely hear a man and a woman talking and laughing happily. The happy atmosphere is spreading slowly over the sea of flowers, facing the breeze...

　　......

　　"Where have you been?I've been looking for you."

　　Alissa saw Mackenzie by the side of the stream, where she was washing her feet, making ripples with her toes...

　　Alissa looked annoyed, but saw that McKenna's face was gentler and confused, but she said nothing more.

　　"You look...I'm glad. Have you found your butterfly?"

　　"No, but I met Tritan..."

　　McKenna said, shaking her head and smiling.

　　"Who?"

　　"Tritan Wolf."

　　"Oh, I see."

　　Alyssa looked enlightened, and there was a slight change in her expression.

　　"Know what?

　　McKenna looked up at Elisa and put on the shoes Tritane had found for her.

　　"Nothing ~"

　　When She spoke to people like that, McKenna could almost figure out what she meant.

　　"Don't get the idea. Tritam and I are just good friends. We always have been."

　　McKenna responds to Eliza's suggestion that she might be a little rude.

　　"Oh, and where is he now?

　　"...I don't know."

　　McKenna's face changed so much that she left her partner speechless for a moment.

　　"..."

　　"All right."

　　Alissa lost interest as soon as she saw his lack of cooperation.

　　"......"

　　The two of them were silent for a long time. McKenna's indifferent eyes moved with the flying white butterfly, and her expression was thoughtful...

　　Alissa, her face buttoned in boredom, stared at McKenna.

　　"Haven't you noticed?

　　Alissa looked over her shoulder toward the open and far end of Psyche Bay, her eyes swimming with butterflies.

　　"Found what?"

　　"What time is it?

　　"..."

　　"Sixteen days after Easter, so?"

　　"The travellers should have arrived in Psyche Bay on Easter Day, but until now except us...There's no one there."

　　McKenna frowned and shook her head.

　　"So what?

　　"They come at the peak of psyche Bay's life, and they come at this time of year."

　　"..."

　　"But this year there's nobody."

　　"Alissa said. For some reason, the air was cold now...

　　McKenna glanced blankly into the distance as Eliza's words made her think.

　　They were silent, and the air was filled with a metallic rustle and a bitter smell that McKenna had only experienced in one place.

　　Then she unconsciously looked in one direction, toward Gumassen.