The Blocked Road and Deformed Brass

At the barracks before the pass, on the cold wooden floor, I delivered the ring.

"To the sister of Georg Rein, 111th Infantry Regiment. I have delivered this to you, without fail."

She did not cry. She only squeezed the deformed brass ring tightly, tracing its distortion with her fingertips. There were tiny scratches on the inner band, like they had been scraped by a fingernail. In the land he never returned from, he must have fiddled with this metal in his pocket, over and over again. It possessed a worn texture of life that no brand-new ring could ever have.

With this, the number of people whose belongings I have returned is forty-three.

On my way back, the main road leading to Haruna Village was blocked by military tents and barricades. The soldiers' muddy boots had churned the ground mercilessly, like fresh scars carved into the earth. The sentry gruffly pointed toward the northern mountains with his chin.
"The main road is under military requisition. If you want to get to the village, take the old pass."

That old pass is always the first to be choked by snow when winter arrives. At the bottom of my salvage bag lies that other item which has no destination, the one belonging to my brother who was wearing... No, right now I must only focus on delivering the other canteen I received from Dari. I never had the option to turn back. A cold wind blew down from the old mountain pass.

——I have delivered it, without fail.