Prologue
It was a summer day under a scorching sun that poured down without mercy.
Hiding myself against the alley wall, I was tailing someone.
How far is she planning to go?
It had already been fifteen minutes since she stepped out of the subway station and entered the sloping hillside neighborhood. My expression, as I quietly followed her from behind, was furrowing in real time.
It wasn’t that the walk was particularly hard. I was worried about her—this girl who made the long round trip every day with a heavy backpack on her shoulders.
Ah. I lost her.
Maintaining my distance, I had momentarily lost sight of her at a corner. Quieting my presence, I quickened my pace a little.
Phew.
Fortunately, the moment I turned the alley, I spotted her strolling far ahead.
"…?"
Suddenly she slowed her steps and glanced back.
Oh crap.
Startled, I quickly ducked behind a pillar that jutted out right beside me.
…Did she notice?
How many minutes passed like that? Carefully, I peeked my head out to check the alley.
"Ah."
Of course, she had already vanished without a trace.
…What the hell am I doing…
Sinking into deep self-reproach, I leaned against the building wall and let out a heavy sigh.
A full-grown adult trailing after a kid years younger than me.
That was right. The girl I had been following until just moments ago was a classmate of my one and only daughter.
It was suspicious behavior with no room for excuses, but I had my reasons.
Her true identity was none other than…
the reincarnation of my wife, whom I had lost long ago.