The old man took a deep breath.
A hearty smile appeared on his face.
"One last time."
"...I hope you're not sick of this old man yet."
"Thank you."
"Rustle, rustle~"
The leaves and branches trembled softly.
The wind howled.
The trees grew a little noisy.
The wind was rather strong today.
The old man stood at the window, lost in thought for a while, then half-closed it.
He turned and walked toward the bed.
He took a tin box from the cupboard.
The sticker on it had faded and yellowed a little.
The old man opened the box.
A Little Flower bookmark, a feather, a leaf bookmark...
And a restaurant flyer.
All the gifts he'd received during this time were in there.
The wrinkles at the corners of the old man's eyes relaxed.
His fingers gently brushed over these little odds and ends.
The emotion he'd felt at the time hadn't diminished; instead, it had grown even stronger.
"...Thank you."
The old man's whisper echoed through the quiet room.
Then gradually faded away.
The little monster turned its gaze away from the old man.
"Phew~"
Another gust of wind rose.
The wind died down.
The little monster was no longer in the branches of the big tree.
It had been a long time since the little monster had lived in one tree for so long.
The old man had finally recovered.
It was time for the little monster to leave, too.
It had heard the old man's gratitude.
But it couldn't quite accept it.
After all, the culprit who had injured the old man in the first place... was none other than itself.
It had only been making up for its mistake.
There was nothing to thank it for.
Riding the wind,