Starlight scattered faintly over the mountain where ash drifted through the air.
The forest, collapsed into stark white ruin, resembled a snowfield. The few tree trunks that remained had been charred so thoroughly that they looked like shadows, and in the place abandoned by birds and insects alike, only silence lingered.
And the girl.
Yes. It almost seemed as though the girl had been born to become a part of this landscape.
Look at that gray hair, softly receiving the silver night. Those blue eyes like the moon reflected upon a lake, and even that pure-white skin reminiscent of ash and snow.
They were colors so harmonious that it seemed only natural for her to exist here.
From behind one of the few remaining trees, the woman gently stepped forward. Perhaps because everything was so quiet, the sound of those footsteps sent especially vivid ripples through my heart.
If the burned mountain was a pond, then the girl before me was a butterfly.
Even if she merely dipped the tips of her wings into the water before flying away, the sound would echo far and wide.
Only then did her hesitant lips finally let out a voice.
“S-Senior! Ngh……”
Along with the familiar sound of her biting her…