Dohesi (1)
White.
That day, the snow piled so high it felt like the whole world had been swallowed in white.
Crack. Crackle.
The only sound filling the quiet house was the firewood burning in the hearth.
I bundled up in thick winter clothes.
Only after wrapping Mother’s knitted scarf snugly around my neck did I step outside.
The air bit into my skin like knives, but it was far better than staying alone in an empty house.
Mother had been spending more and more time at the shop lately.
Naturally, that meant I was left by myself for longer stretches too.
I was young, but not stupid enough to miss the reason.
Last winter.
Father had lost his life in a snowfield.
After that day, Mother threw herself even harder into shop work to raise me.
Seeing her come home every night with that exhausted face always hurt my heart.
“…Haa.”
Crunch. Crun-ch.
I walked along, stepping absently through the white snow.
It didn’t take long to reach the village entrance.
Beyond it, the vast panorama of the Great Forest unfolded at a glance.
I’d often imagined going into that magnificent woodland at least once.
But in the end, imagination was probably enough.
The memory of Father dying in an accident outside the village always drowned my curiosity in rising fear.
So most of my days were spent like this—crouched in a corner of the village gate, watching the outside world.
Every day at this hour, the trader uncle’s wagon would arrive.
Clatter—
—Thud!
“Over here! Heave!”
Endless cargo spilled from the arrived wagon.
The merchants bustled about, hauling boxes.
Watching them blankly like this sometimes let me see strange and interesting things, so it wasn’t bad.
I wonder what came in today?
It’d be nice if there was a small animal or something.
“…Huh?”
That was when it happened.
The rear cover of the trade wagon twitched, and soon a small boy’s face poked out through the gap.
A little kid with deep black hair.
He glanced around at the busy merchants, then leaped down like a squirrel and bolted.
“W-what the…?”
It was the first time I’d ever seen a person jump out of the cargo hold.
A spark of curiosity instantly overpowered my fear.
I shot up from my spot and, as if possessed, chased after the boy into the alley where he’d vanished.
Crunch. Crunch. Crun-ch—
“Haa… haa…”
Far ahead, his silhouette flickered in and out of view.
He was heading deeper into the village’s secluded corners.
It was strange.
It was clearly his first time here, yet he navigated the narrow alleys without a hint of hesitation, as if he knew the way.
“Where on earth is he going…?!”
He whipped around a corner and disappeared.
I hurried after him and turned the same corner.
“Huh…?”
There was no one there.
Only a deserted alley greeted me.
No matter how many times I looked around, the boy was nowhere to be seen.
“Haa… haa… I lost him…”
I caught my breath and scanned the surroundings.
The scenery felt oddly familiar.
Only then did I realize I’d ended up near Mother’s shop.
“…Since I’m here, maybe I’ll stop by and see Mom.”
I let out a short sigh and took a step forward.
“Ah…!”
There he was, standing blankly beneath a small window beside Mother’s shop.
The boy rose onto his tiptoes, peering absently into the store, then let out a small sigh and slipped wearily behind the building.
“…?”
This time I moved carefully, muffling my footsteps. I had a feeling he’d run if he noticed me.
I crept forward, pressed myself against the wall, and cautiously peeked around the corner.
There he was, crouched beside a trash bin.
He looked about my age.
What caught my eye first was how he shivered in nothing but a single thin layer of clothing.
He was so painfully thin—far more gaunt than me, even though he was a boy.
“……”
Mother’s words suddenly came to mind.
She’d said the famine had grown much worse lately.
Thanks to the Great Forest, our village was relatively well-off, but in other places people could barely manage even one meal a day.
Had this boy fled from somewhere like that?
It made sense now why he’d hidden in the cargo hold.
I quietly turned around and slipped into Mother’s shop.
She was working alone and smiled brightly the moment she saw me.
“Oh, Dohesi? What brings you here at this hour? Do you need something?”
“Um, Mom. Anything’s fine—do we have any food left…?”
“Hm? Was my daughter hungry? You usually don’t eat much.”
“Ah…? Y-yeah, I suddenly got really hungry…”
Mother took a few pieces of bread from the basket beside her and handed them over.
They weren’t freshly baked, but they still held a gentle warmth.
“Hehe, eat these for now. I’ll make you something tasty later.”
“Ah…! This is perfect! Thanks, Mom!”
“Wait, where are you going, Dohesi?!”
I clutched the bread tightly to my chest and scampered back behind the shop.
The boy was still sitting in the same spot.
He looked even paler than before.
“…Mmm.”
It was my first time facing a stranger.
I was a little scared.
Still, I swallowed once and slowly approached.
Crunch.
He must have heard my footsteps.
The boy lifted his head with effort and looked at me.
Up close, his condition was even worse.
His black eyes were sunken, his lips blue with cold.
He looked like he might stop breathing at any moment.
He didn’t speak first. He simply stared blankly at my face.
The silence grew heavy, so I gathered my courage.
“Um… are you… okay…?”
“……”
“D-do you want to eat this?”
I pulled out the warm bread and held it out.
His gaze snapped to my hand in an instant.
But only for a second.
He looked away as if uninterested and let his head drop.
“?? You’re not eating?”
“…Go away.”
“Huh…?”
“I said go away. I’m fine.”
He muttered something incomprehensible, then buried his face between his knees.
And stayed perfectly still, like a dead mouse.
As if he had given up on everything.
Like someone waiting to die in this freezing cold without proper clothes or food.
“What the hell…”
I got a little angry.
I couldn’t quite explain why.
I’d only felt sorry for him and brought food, yet the way he acted like he was too good to accept it rubbed me the wrong way.
Fear or not, I strode right up and crouched directly in front of him.
He raised his head again.
“…I told you to go awa—mmph?!?!”
“Eat.”
I shoved the bread straight into his mouth.
He tried to spit it out.
I grabbed his arm.
And pushed the bread back in.
He was so weak from hunger that it was easy to overpower him.
“Mmph—?! Brgh!!”
“My mom made this. Just so you know, if you spit it out I’ll hit you.”
I deliberately added a threatening tone.
He flinched at my words.
After glancing at me nervously, he finally gave in and cautiously bit down on the bread.
“…!”
A spark of life flickered in his previously hollow eyes.
“How is it? Tastes good, right?”
“…Mmph.”
“Here, you can eat the rest.”
I handed him the remaining bread.
He looked at me, then at the bread, then back at me.
Only then did he tear into it ravenously.
‘…Feels like feeding a lost puppy.’
Maybe I should start looking for an animal to raise tomorrow.
He devoured the bread in moments.
Then he kept stealing awkward glances at me.
The situation had completely reversed.
A strange little smile tugged at my lips.
“Hmm, got something you want to say?”
“…Well, for now… thanks.”
“At least you know how to say thank you properly.”
He shot me a quick glare at my sarcastic tone.
Then he spoke first.
“…Your name.”
“You should say yours first. To the person who helped you.”
“……Noriel.”
Huh. It was cuter than I expected.
Since he seemed to have opened up a little, I moved closer.
“I’m Dohesi. Call me that.”
“Dohesi? Was there an NPC like that?”
He tilted his head and muttered something I didn’t understand.
“En…pee…see? What’s that?”
“Ah, never mind. It’s nothing.”
Is his head weird despite how he looks?
“So, you don’t have a home?”
“You don’t need to know.”
“…Then why did you come to this village?”
“What does it matter to you?”
“……If you keep acting like that, I’ll tell the guard uncle about you.”
“…….”
He flinched at the mention of telling adults.
Then he gave me a strange sidelong glance.
He’s actually pretty timid.
“…This village is safe. That’s why I forced myself to come.”
“Oh… is that so…?”
I’d overheard the adults talking once.
They said this village was surrounded by the Great Forest, so it was much safer—no wars, no monster threats.
Just how dangerous was the outside world?
While I was lost in thought, the boy suddenly stood and turned to leave.
“W-wait, where are you—?”
“If I stay here you’ll keep bothering me.”
“You… don’t have anywhere to go, do you…?”
“That’s… well. I’ll figure it out.”
He started to walk out of the alley, then paused and turned back toward me.
“The bread… thank you. I’ll definitely repay this debt.”
With that, he vanished into the pure white landscape.
I just stood there, breathing out puffs of white vapor, staring blankly after him.
I don’t know why.
But for the next several days, that boy’s face wouldn’t leave my mind.
Not even until the moment I collapsed from a fever that threatened my life.
