Brown Snow

Snowflakes drifted sporadically through the sky. Though they were as plentiful as cotton fluff, they were less than a tenth as powerful as the Mountain-Sealing blizzard. Brown snowflakes occasionally landed by the windowsill, and the innkeeper hurriedly sealed the window with wooden boards, leaving no gaps.

"There were quite a lot of people today, but thanks to you, we managed to get rooms at this inn." Fanafuna handed Denolan a bowl of meat soup. "This is the inn's dinner tonight. It doesn't taste good, but at least it hasn't been affected by Rosa Kevin's Curse."

"Fanafuna... you've really misunderstood! I really wasn't..."

"Don't worry too much about such little things." Fanafuna lit the candle provided by the inn. "By the way, weren't you supposed to buy flour? Why did you appear at the temple with Tiadam? What were you two doing in the temple for over an hour?"

"There was only this much flour!" Denolan hurriedly cut her off. He pulled a small bag of flour from behind him. "There are less than two jin of flour in the bag. The shop owner said this was already his last stock. Before the blizzard reaches Canfor, he plans to sell the shop and move to Alderbu." Denolan unconsciously touched his boots. The parchment hidden inside them rubbed against his foot, making it itch.

"I see..." Fanafuna let out a long sigh. "What about you? Didn't you say before that you wanted to leave this city too?" Fanafuna's question caught Denolan off guard. "Mountain-Sealing Day is getting closer and closer. I know you don't want to stay here and wait to die with us. Since you won't say it, I'll say it for you..."

"Fanafuna, why are you suddenly saying this..."

Fanafuna placed the holy water she had bought that afternoon in front of Denolan. "This is all I managed to buy today. This winter, someone in the village definitely won't make it through."

"Just this much?" Denolan shook the earthen jar. It was less than half full of holy water. "It's obviously diluted holy water, yet they only gave us half a jar. Forget purifying the water source at its origin—even for daily life, this isn't enough."

"There's nothing we can do about it. We're just ordinary people. We have no miracles, no magic. When a curse like this descends upon our village, the best choice is only to flee our homeland."

"What about Mother? Her health has never been good. If I leave, who will take care of her...?"

"If you leave, I can help take care of Aunt Ridena," Fanafuna said quietly. "Everyone in the village except you has caught Rosa Kevin's Curse, so... live on in peace for our sake."

"But! Fanafuna..." Denolan gripped Fanafuna's hand tightly. "Leave with me. Leave the village. We can go anywhere!"

"Is that so?" Fanafuna said calmly. "I still have a younger brother. If I leave, who will take care of him?" She pushed Denolan's hand away. "And... your mother is still in the village, as are so many others. If even I leave, everyone in the village can only wait to die."

"If you stay in the village, aren't you just waiting to die too, Fanafuna?"

"It's different." Fanafuna shook her head. "I can only stay there. Looking on the bright side, perhaps someone might live until next spring. Maybe when spring comes, the country will send priests to purify the curse here. Then perhaps everyone can go on living."

"But..." Denolan did not finish his sentence. He knew that even a faint hope was better than despair.

Fanafuna lifted her skirt, revealing countless festering sores covering her calves. "It hasn't gotten so bad that I can't walk at all, but... I can only barely make it back to the village." Through a crack in the window, Fanafuna peered at the snowstorm outside. "If the blizzard comes in a couple of days, you won't even have a chance to leave."

"Fanafuna... do you really want me to leave that badly?" Denolan turned away, unable to look directly at Fanafuna's legs any longer.

"Is that so?" Fanafuna smiled without answering, then picked up the earthen jar. "The holy water inside will only last a month even if we conserve it carefully. Every additional person means one more person consuming it... Every person gone means we can hold out a little longer."

"If that's the case, I... I just... won't go back to the village."

"You're always like this..." Fanafuna stroked Denolan's face. "The things you want to do always have to be said by someone else first..."

"Fanafuna..." Denolan held Fanafuna's rough hands and refused to let go for a long time, leaving himself this final memory of his homeland.

"Tomorrow, I'll take the flour and holy water back to the village. I'll tell Aunt Ridena and everyone about our conversation tonight. Rest well tonight." Fanafuna turned and pushed open the door. "If possible, perhaps we'll meet again someday... but... that can only remain a possibility..."

"Fanafuna!" Before he could even say goodnight, Denolan's door slammed shut.

Heavy Black Snow slowly fell from the eaves. The moment it touched the mud below, it immediately melted into green rotten soil. Outside the inn, several homeless corpses lay slumped beneath a corner of the roof.

"What bad luck." The innkeeper kicked the corpses aside. "These paupers... If they have nowhere to hide from the Black Snow, then get into the forest! Don't hide beneath the corner of my house!"

"Ma'am, may I ask... where is the girl who came with me yesterday?" Denolan came down from the inn's second floor with his travel pack on his back. By then, the Black Snow outside had almost completely dissipated.

"That girl took a jar of something and headed toward Labi Village," the innkeeper said as she swept beneath her eaves. "Honestly, she gave me quite a scare. There are actually still people living in Labi Village. Winter has arrived, and the Black Snow is falling more and more often. There's basically no one left in the other villages, yet there are still people staying in Labi Village, the closest village to Elrina Forest. How should I put it... the world is full of strange things. Don't you think so, lad?" By the time the innkeeper raised her head again, Denolan had already vanished.

Brown snowflakes fell from the sky along the road. Curses, misfortune, and hunger surrounded all of Labi Village—or rather, they hung over all of Canfor. Denolan hid in the temple where he had arranged to meet Fanafuna earlier. He still had twenty silver coins and two hundred copper coins in his arms, the money left after buying flour.

"Should I stay in Canfor?" Denolan rubbed the copper coins in his hand. They were what remained from buying flour. "If I stay in Canfor, it's no different from staying in the village. I'll only live a few more days."

"But if I leave Canfor... these copper coins aren't nearly enough to bribe the soldiers guarding the city." Denolan looked at the coins in his bag, then took out the parchment he had taken from the merchant's corpse. "If I sell this, perhaps I really can... make something of myself... somewhere else."

As the weather gradually improved, the dark clouds that had wandered across the sky disappeared without a trace. Warm sunlight once again spilled across the earth. Carrying a small bag of flour and half a jar of holy water, Fanafuna arrived at the village.

"Good morning, Fanafuna!" The village blacksmith, Bujier, emerged from his forge leaning on a cane he had made himself. Though festering sores nearly filled every wrinkle on the eighty-year-old man's face, Bujier remained remarkably optimistic.

"What wonderful weather today. I haven't seen weather this good in a long time. Even dying on a day like this wouldn't be so bad. Hahaha!"

"Then... is Grandma Talia doing any better? I bought holy water from the church yesterday. I'll distribute it to everyone in a little while." Fanafuna spoke very politely. "By the way, before I left for Canfor, Uncle Cosmor's condition seemed to have worsened too. Is Uncle Cosmor all right now?"

"No problem, no problem. Everyone's doing very well... In the day since you and Denolan left, everyone has been safe and sound. We even hoped you and Denolan would stay outside and never come back."

"Is that so?" Fanafuna sensed something strange about Bujier. "Leichina is still inside the house. I'll go see him first, then I'll come visit you and Grandma Talia later."

"That's fine. Talia and I will wait for you."

"Ah... all right, then..." Fanafuna hurried toward her family's inn. The silent village was lifeless, like a graveyard. Green rotten soil had crushed several empty houses. The yellow-green sludge had dried and piled up as high as small hills, and Fanafuna's family inn had also been completely buried beneath that rotten, lifeless earth, without the slightest gap.

"Leichina... Leichina?!" The moment Fanafuna saw her home buried beneath rotten soil, she lost all reason and threw herself onto the disgusting sludge. The green mud carried a nauseating stench, and with even the slightest pressure, yellow-green liquid seeped from it. Enduring the foul odor, Fanafuna struggled again and again before finally digging her way to her front door.

Rotten soil piled up on both sides of the door, ready to collapse with the slightest force. Fanafuna pounded on the door, but there was no response from inside. She called Leichina's name again, yet it remained just as silent. That unnatural silence seemed to confirm Fanafuna's fears. Yellow-green mucus covered her entire body. Exhausted, Fanafuna closed her eyes and thought that being buried in this mire with her brother... perhaps that would not be such a bad thing.

The rotten soil she had dug open suddenly came crashing down. The darkness was warm and damp. As the rotten soil completely covered Fanafuna, all her negative emotions vanished. Fulfillment and peace filled her, and Fanafuna felt as though she were about to merge with the earth and soil.

"Big Sister Fanafuna?" Leichina's voice came from behind the door.

Boom— With a violent sound, the green rotten soil and Fanafuna poured into the inn together. Wrapped in a heavily patched quilt, Leichina sat on a bench and watched Fanafuna.

"Leichina!" Fanafuna immediately rushed forward and wrapped her arms around Leichina's neck. "I called for you so many times outside, so why didn't you answer even once?! You scared my heart nearly to a stop! You brat!"

"Big Sister Fanafuna! You stink so badly!" Leichina desperately struggled free from Fanafuna's embrace.

"Ah..." Fanafuna took a deep breath, then returned to her usual tone. "I suppose you must be hungry too. Once I finish cooking, I'll go take a bath right away."

"Preparing food while looking like this is utterly improper..." Rosa emerged from behind Fanafuna. "As a cook, you should make your guests—especially a noble guest like me—bathe and cleanse yourself, then pray properly, thanking the Earth Mother Goddess for allowing you the honor of serving such a distinguished guest..." As she spoke, Rosa raised an orchid finger, picked up a piece of firewood nearby, and lightly lifted Fanafuna's dripping skirt. "Especially those lumps all over your feet. They are far too discourteous. Even the most perfect food would lose its original flavor because of such a terrible flaw..."

"You really are... unbearably annoying," Leichina said unhappily, wrapped in his quilt as he glared at Rosa.

"I am a distinguished guest! How can you speak to such a distinguished guest as me like that? Especially when I have offered such constructive advice! What diner could eat in peace after seeing the cook's feet covered in lumps?"

"This is..." Only then did Fanafuna realize there was a guest in her home.

"Hehe~ Since you have sincerely asked, I shall generously and mercifully tell you. To prevent the world from being destroyed, to protect world peace, to uphold the truth of life and death, I am the cute and charming Elder Evil God, Rosa Kevin! I am the Demon King who commands decay and ruin! As long as you submit to me, a future of fine food, jewels, and luxurious clothing awaits you!"

"That's it???" Fanafuna grabbed Rosa by the collar and set her atop a high stool. "Grandma, though I don't know where my brother picked you up, given our family's current circumstances, please leave this village as soon as you finish lunch. This is not a place for an elderly person like you."

Fanafuna's unexpected calmness actually left Rosa a little embarrassed. Rosa felt a bit like a clown, the kind who ruined the mood by telling nothing but terrible jokes...

"Um... though this is very... embarrassing, is this really how you treat such a noble guest as me...? I think that is a little rude..." Rosa's tone unexpectedly became somewhat normal. "I think... a distinguished guest like me... should at least be fed for another two days."

"Huh?" Fanafuna glanced sideways at Rosa. "That outfit should be one my grandmother left behind before she died, right?"

"Then one day of food... is fine..."

"Forget it... I'll give you two more sets of clothes as well. Around noon, there's a much lower chance of Black Snow. Leave Elrina Forest as early as you can. If you depart too late and a blizzard comes at night, I won't be able to help you." Fanafuna adjusted Rosa's sitting posture, then went upstairs to get the ingredients for lunch.

The sparks before the fireplace were lit again. Leichina was peeling potatoes afflicted by Rosa Kevin's Curse, while Fanafuna went to the bathhouse after collecting the ingredients, preparing to wash herself.

She had a pretty face and wheat-colored skin. Yet everything in the world had its flaws. Fanafuna looked at the festering sores on her feet and could not help sighing. "If it weren't for Rosa Kevin's Curse, perhaps... by now... I would already be living a peaceful life..."

The festering sores on her legs had begun to spread upward. Like Grandpa Bujier and Grandma Talia, Fanafuna knew that one day Rosa Kevin's Curse would crawl up her face, poison her brain, and ultimately torment her to death in bed.

"Rather than wait for that day... I might as well..." Fanafuna closed her eyes and tried to imagine a sharp blade slicing open her throat, warm blood covering her body, her corpse blooming like a rose.

"Big Sister Fanafuna, I've finished peeling the potatoes!" Leichina shouted loudly from outside the bathroom door.

"Leichina... Leichina is still alive! He still needs someone to care for him. I can't leave this world first." Fanafuna suddenly jolted awake in the tub, gulping down air. Without realizing it, she had spent half an hour in the bath.

A few minutes later, Fanafuna limped out of the bathroom. As usual, she placed the potatoes, salt, water, and rice grains separated from the wheat stalks into the pot before the fireplace in order. After the potato soup was done, Fanafuna added a single tiny drop of holy water bought from the church. Though such a small amount could not completely remove Rosa Kevin's Curse from the food, it could at least purify it enough to make it barely edible.

"Leichina, we should still have some holy water left at home, right?" Fanafuna said after serving Leichina a bowl of thick potato porridge.

"Why are you suddenly bringing that up, Big Sister Fanafuna?"

"Mountain-Sealing Day is getting closer. We have enough food, but not enough holy water. At our usual rate of consumption, this amount of holy water won't get us through the winter." Fanafuna took out the earthen jar containing holy water and shook it. It was still less than half full.

"So... what are you going to do?"

"There are only two people in our family, and we usually conserve it, so we should have some holy water saved up. I want to pour in the holy water we had saved before... That way, perhaps everyone can hold out a little longer..."

"No!" Leichina turned away, wrapped in his quilt. "Everyone pays the same amount of money, and every time, you're the one who goes to buy it. But every time, our family gets the least holy water. Now they even want us to take out what we saved ourselves? No! I won't!"

"In that case... let's treat it as though we've already received our share of holy water." Fanafuna calmly stood, holding the earthen jar of holy water and the bag of flour, then left the house. "I'm going outside to distribute the holy water to everyone. Rest well."

"Idiot! Idiot! Idiot! Big Sister Fanafuna is an idiot!" Leichina shouted as he rolled around on the floor.

"Yes, yes, yes! Your Big Sister Fanafuna is an idiot..." Rosa chimed in.

"How has Big Sister Fanafuna wronged you now?" Leichina stopped crying and fussing.

"Why? How could food like this possibly deserve to enter my mouth?" Rosa complained continuously as she drank the food Fanafuna had made. "If other evil gods or demon kings learned that I had eaten food like this before, it would be the greatest humiliation."

Gulp, gulp, gulp— Rosa drank the remaining half-pot of potatoes into her stomach.

"Grandma Rosa, do you have the right to complain about other people's food?" Leichina pointed at the thick black liquid in the corner. "It was obviously purified with holy water, yet it looks even worse than before it was purified! Grandma Rosa is an idiot too! You're all idiots! Everyone... everyone might as well die together!"

"This... isn't my fault. I used to cook with only the finest beef and spices. Trash ingredients like yours... how could a superior god like me possibly know how to cook with them? Oh-ho-ho-ho."

"Is that so? If... you don't know how to cook with lowly trash ingredients like ours, then stop complaining while you eat!" Leichina angrily left the hall as well, returning to his bedroom to sulk alone. Rosa was now the only one left at the entire dining table.

"Getting down from the table like that is truly rude... He has no potential whatsoever to be an elegant person." As Rosa spoke, she drank all the food Leichina had left behind. "As expected, only a superior god like me... burp understands how to dine elegantly... Burp—"