「……Is this all is left? 」

   Below the cliff, there was clothes that didn’t retain its original appearance, and a few bones scattered. And it was felt a little disappointing.

   For a long period, I have been an adventurer. There’s no way all of the deceased can be buried peacefully, of course I have known that. But seeing that Bruno’s remains not noticed by anyone, and cast away in the dim and lonely valley, I felt a little pain in my heart.

   Ravi is probably feeling the same. She tightly clasped my hand silently. On top of that, the number of bones is less than expected. In other words…….

「Immediately after I died, wild beasts gathered and quite a few parts of me was brought back as souvenir you see. Hahaha……. As expected, seeing myself getting eaten up into pieces is quite shocking……. But even if I tried to scare them away, I’m just a ghost and that didn’t accomplish anything. 」

   Just the answer I predicted, Bruno replied. What should I say. As I lost my words in silence, Bruno panicked.

「Ah! Somehow it became depressing. Sorry! 」

「Bruno……」

「Don’t make that face! Look, my skull is still there! Isn’t it the most me-like part? So, there won’t be any problems! 」

   I don’t really understand how the skull resembles him the most but, I can understand Bruno is trying his best to soften the atmosphere. Even though the person himself is probably the most hurt.

「Ghost-san……, you are sad, but why you pretend……? 」

「Ah……」

   Ravi looked a little pouty as she asked. Facing the straightforward question from a little child, Bruno’s bright smile collapsed. With an expression that can neither be smiling or crying, he lost his words. Even if he pretended that he’s alright, it doesn’t mean that he’s not hurt.

   It’s better that we withdraw from the forest before it gets dark. Fortunately, there’s still some leftover time.

「I will look around with detection skill. 」

   It will be hard to retrieve all the bones but, for the kindhearted Bruno, I wanted to do something.

「Daddy, I will help too……!」

「Yeah, thanks. It’s better if we two search together. 」

「Unn……! 」

   The one who opened his mouth at our conversation was Bruno, 「No, no. That would be causing you inconvenience! 」as he shook his head sideways.

「I said it just now, but I’m a ghost that can’t repay anything you know!? I can’t ask so much when you will deliver me back to my hometown. I can’t take any more than that. 」

「It’s our intention to do so, don’t mind it. 」

   I thought to pat him on the shoulder, but we can’t touch each other. As a replacement, I had a crappy smile and nodded.

「……Thank you. I’m really glad that I met the both of you……」

   Bruno’s eyes started to water up. But this time, it’s different than before, he wiped the tears while being silent. I averted my gaze, pretending not to see it. He looked like he’s on the verge of crying loudly because of it, but held back. The tears were much more delicate than before.

　◇◇◇

   After that, before the dusk fully arrives, Ravi and I have been working to find Bruno’s remains. In the beginning, Bruno had followed us around with a sour face.

   Most of the bones were buried in the ground, probably because of the animals digging holes and throwing it inside, so for Bruno who have no physical body, he couldn’t help. He was terribly concerned because of that.

「Forgive me!! For being such a useless ghost!! 」

   Bruno who would even go all out when apologizing, lowered his head countless time. Because of that, Ravi and I, have been convincing Bruno to not mind it while we continued our search.

   And now, what we have found so far, is in front of us. My coat which was spread on the ground as a replacement for a mat, on top of that, there were pile of bones, as expected, it’s obviously still lacking some, but it’s much better than before.

「Amazing……to think that so much of myself is found……. Thank you……. Really, I can’t be more grateful……」

   Ravi and I didn’t do it because we wanted his gratitude. But even so, Bruno is happy, so we are too. Ravi muttered in a soft voice, 「Isn’t it great, daddy」, as she looked up at me. And I replied, 「Yup, that’s true. 」as I smiled back to Ravi.