"Only three years have passed, yet the town has changed so much."
At first, Shinobu Kocho had only planned to take a casual stroll around town on the principle of "might as well, since I'm here." After all, she had only been away for three years, and when she had glanced over it from outside earlier, she hadn't thought much had changed.
But as she walked around with Kanzaki Kumo, she discovered that although the town was still the same town, some of its people were no longer the ones she remembered.
They had either moved away or departed this world.
"The houses are still the same, but the people inside them are no longer the ones I remember."
There actually weren't many cases like that. After all, only three years had passed, and most of the shops and people were still as she remembered them. But precisely because of that, the few changes stood out all the more and weighed all the more on her mind.
"Three years isn't that long, but it isn't that short either. Some changes are only natural. Take you, for example. Haven't you changed quite a bit from who you were three years ago?"
Kanzaki Kumo's voice came from beside Shinobu Kocho.
He had carried her on his back for a circuit of the town. Now that the sun had begun sinking in the west, they started buying the supplies they needed to pay their respects, preparing to visit Kanzaki Keizan's grave.
It was then that Shinobu Kocho hopped down from Kanzaki Kumo's back of her own accord.
Since they were going to pay their respects to his grandfather, she naturally needed to mind her manners.
Now, the two carried their purchases as they chatted and headed out of town.
"That's true. At least