The West Wind's Destination - Chapter 20
Aseph had only said he would return soon, but he never specified when. Thus, Bea had no choice but to wait indefinitely.
It was strange for a few days to wake up with nobody beside her in bed. Everything had returned to how it originally was.
Bea had to prepare her meals alone. Anticipating that she wouldn’t take proper care of herself, Aseph had left preserved foods like jerky. He had only left her the habit of eating regularly.
The research Bea had planned to accelerate in Aseph’s absence didn’t progress as expected.
She thought Aseph was the one always disrupting her concentration, but apparently, the cause was something else.
The efficiency dropped even more once the thorn in her side was gone.
Thinking she might be sleep-deprived, as Aseph often nagged, she tried to sleep forcibly. But with the empty space beside her, sleep was more elusive.
Thus, she couldn’t advance even a single step in her critical research to revive her teacher.
There was only one variable, so the cause had to be singular.
She had generously waited seven days, considering Aseph’s assurance of a quick return.
Initially, she waited while trying to work, but after realizing work wasn’t going well, Bea completely abandoned it.
For a while, her only activities were replenishing her body’s energy and waiting for Aseph, who had promised to return soon.
She spent some time sitting outside the lab, just staring at the place where Aseph had disappeared.
As summer deepened and it rained, the old lab’s roof collapsed under the weight of the rainwater. She remembered Aseph, who used to break furniture impulsively.
But still, he never came back.
After two seasons passed, Bea saw snow falling in the forest.
The drifting snowflakes reminded her of sandstorms in her homeland, and even the cold winds from back then.
—Just wait here, we will come back for you soon.
Even the words that lingered as her first memory.
But comparing Aseph to her family seemed unfair. There were many differences: she wasn’t in a situation where someone might starve to death, she had a home, and this wasn’t the west where beggars rummaged through trash.
While trying to pinpoint the specific differences, Bea stubbornly stood outside in the snow for a long time.
The next day, she fell severely ill. With a feverish body, she dragged herself to concoct antipyretics, swallowed them, and lay in bed, pondering.
What did ‘soon’ really mean?
Still, she decided to wait. She had promised to wait.
But in the end, Bea couldn’t find the answer to how Aseph was different from her family.
‘…So that’s how it is.’
Aseph never returned.
And this feeling was familiar.
It wasn’t something new or different. She had been foolish in her response.
Bea added another case to her mental statistics.
The first was her family. The second, Aseph.
In any case, she realized that waiting was futile. It was time to return to her solitary work.
Aseph’s back, disappearing into the distance. Bea, who had been chasing only his memory, finally looked around her old lab again.
The once-broken table, the bed that now felt too spacious for one, the creaky floorboards Aseph had fixed – all were covered in dust. Her lab, where she had spent most of her time, was no different.
She could resume her research, but not here. These things around her were distractions, scattering her focus with unnecessary thoughts.
Moreover, the protective barrier she had initially set up was broken and needed repair.
There was a problem though. When Aseph entered last time and broke the barrier, Bea had tried several times to fix it but strangely, it didn’t work. It’s often less effort to create something new than to repair something intricate and broken.
The barrier Bea had crafted to conceal herself was highly sophisticated. Building a new barrier at a different location seemed much easier than reconstructing it where it had been broken.
‘It might be time to move my base.’
The world didn’t welcome alchemists, and Bea was accustomed to fleeing and hiding. Finding a new base wouldn’t be too difficult. There wasn’t a compelling reason or significant meaning attached to this particular place.
Bea packed slowly.
She packed a cloak, a bag with enough provisions for a few days.
And most importantly, a flask containing the essence of her human body modification research.
The books and materials she had for her studies were memorized, so leaving them wasn’t a problem.
“……”
No. it might not be enough.
Revisiting some books wouldn’t hurt. She had read everything she needed, but… as Aseph said, poor health affects efficiency. So, she decided to recover a bit more before leaving.
Thus, Bea waited two more seasons.
When a year had passed since Aseph left, Bea finally departed the lab, leaving it behind.
She had been alone before and was alone once again.
