Under the trees blocking the intense sun in July, the old man whined in a very low and small voice in a cool breeze.
Then the young man beside didn't miss that disappearing whisper.
"Could it be an example story!?
The old man, who pioneered himself to the question of the young man, asking in excitement, even paid off the universe with his hands, looking troublesome.
"I don't like anything. It's just an old man's story."
That's what the old man said, he couldn't help but give it back and just tried to break this conversation off, but the young man seemed intrigued by the mysterious whining of the old man, and ate badly.
"No, I'm very concerned. Talk to me. I'll ask you anything. It's one of our jobs to listen to you."
Many housing estates have been built since the 1930s as bedtowns in the capital city of Tokyo, and today the city of Wuzheng (Takeshi) is a huge core city with a population of 500,000.
Looking in the northeast direction from the centre of that city, you can see a high ground about three kilometers away with depressed trees.
A number of administrative facilities were built on such a spectacular high ground.
This includes the Wuzheng Central Medical Center, which is at the core of the city's medical institutions, the Wuzheng Civic Culture Hall, which has a concert hall with a capacity of over a thousand people, and the Wuzheng City Central Library, which boasts a total of 350,000 books.
And even there was the ease of a special care elderly welfare facility, which became the final home for the elderly, who had had difficulty living their daily lives on their own.
"Come on in, talk to me in full. Come on."
He, Higaki Daigo, graduated from college and started working in this easy place only this spring, only about three months later.
For that reason his work gesture was full of passion, and the old men were reputed to be "hot blooded, to put it better, but hot and painful, to put it badly".
"... I don't believe you..."
The old man had clearly classified the hedge as' hot and bitter '.
It's just in July, but the rainy season is already dawning, and it's time for a full summer.
The temperature had already exceeded twenty degrees, albeit in a pleasant morning with a breeze stroking the cheeks.
For this reason, the old man was going to cut the story early, saying that he couldn't wait to be picked up by a 'hot and painful' man like Higaki.
"No, no, don't tell me that, please. What did you mean earlier?
In fact, Takigaki has always been intrigued by this old man.
That said, today was the first time to have a conversation, as well as to see his face, as the floor usually in charge of the hedge is a different floor from this old man's.
That was because this morning, Yoshiji Shinohara, the person in charge of this old man's floor, was hospitalized due to a sudden illness, so Takigaki was to be in charge temporarily on a week-long schedule starting today.
But why the hedgehog was more interested in this old man, who doesn't even know his face, because he was his former educator, a newcomer who had just entered this year, and he had been listening to this old man scattered from Shinohara, who had now been hospitalized in the morning.
According to Shinohara's story, it was roughly two years ago that this old man came into the comfort zone.
He was a gloomy old man who was utterly silent and less loving than he had initially been, with a bittersweet look as if he bore all the misfortunes of the world.
He did not speak with any of the inmates, and always thought silently against the wall by himself was enough to remind him of the famous Master Masashi Masashi, the founder of Chinese Zen, famous for "Eight Years on the Face Wall".
I had little conversation with anyone in the staff as well as the tenants, but nothing else went wrong, so the years went by.
But about two months ago, silence was suddenly broken.
The old man suddenly screamed in the middle of the night.
At that time, if the memory of the occupant in the same room was certain, he said that he shouted in the first voice.
"I remember everything!!".
Then he threw up a curse against someone.
"Him! Next time... next time I'm gonna kill you!
And then nearly an hour later, he kept screaming.
The cohabitant was scared to see an old man twitching in a tremendous shape, wearing a blanket and scared, so the old man's words were only clearly remembered for the first two words.
But naturally, the official on duty, who had heard this hustle and bustle, rushed with a loose knife.
And while they were surprised at the excitement of the old man, they managed to try to keep him quiet.
He listened carefully to the screams of the old man and tried to have a dialogue.
But that didn't come true.
Because there were a number of words in the language of the old man that I had never heard, and none of the staff, as one, could understand what the old man spoke.
As a result, the staff continued to repeat stereotypes such as "calm down" and "be quiet".
But that situation has changed a lot after an hour.
You just screamed too much. The old man was exhausted and his breath was constantly turning down and quiet.
And finally, the old man fell and lay down on the bed, and then began to sleep quietly in just a few seconds.
Did you lose your mind at that moment, and several of the officials said your hips were smashed and you would sit on the spot.
It was so much mayhem.
But after that, the old man started talking a little bit.
Sometimes I was able to have regular, everyday conversations, and sometimes I talked about weaving words I'd never even heard of, like in a noisy evening.
But it was big enough to be able to have a conversation.
Nevertheless, I have never spoken a word before.
With that in mind, there was no problem even if we talked a little bit unexplained.
Because there are many dementia seniors in this facility, and it was a routine tea meal for staff, such as not being able to talk.
As a result, the staff listened patiently to the old man.
Shinohara, in charge in particular, often spoke to the old man while taking notes.
When a word I had never heard went into conversation, I took a note and asked the old man what the word meant.
Carefully taking notes one by one, he finally reached a point where he could understand the outline of what the old man was talking about.
It was… not here, the story of one world over another.
What is that story......
It was the story of a fantasy world dominated by rare and magnificent swords and magic.
There, he said, exists in a different dimension from this world in which we are now, and the old man has prolonged and repeated that he will be reincarnated in this world or in his (or his) world, and that when he finishes his life in his world, he will be reincarnated in this world again.
Few so-called mechanical civilizations exist in his world, and instead magic is in charge of replacing machines.
That said, magic is not omnipotent, so this world is better for convenience than his.
But for something with a lot of magic, his world seems very seductive.
Because unlike this world of thorough egalitarianism, his world is a weak and forceful one, a world in which 'power' says great things.
There are several types of things called 'power'.
Simple arm power is one of the 'powers', but power, a power that can follow many people, can also be described as one of the great 'powers'.
And the demon 'Power' too.
In his world without mechanical civilization, if something really existed called magic, it wouldn't be hard to imagine how effective it would be.
According to the old man, this magic is very high.
No matter how many times he was reincarnated, he had an overwhelming magic power in his world, and as a result, he came to do various things.
When you do, add some hua to the adventure Tan (Bokentan) of your exodus.
And when they do, they help the escape of the prisoners who have been sent to the cold-blooded places.
He also said that in some cases, he had erected himself with the will (corn) of the founding power, and that he had defeated his father and his dignity by taking control of a great battle against the mighty power.
These stories will usually be cleaned up with old man delusions, dream stories.
Shinohara, however, believed these stories in half earnest.
Because the old man's story had a texture to the point of being overwhelming.
Dirty was fine and heavily textured when it came to making things up.
Shinohara thought that something like a lying texture was telling the story that these stories were true.
So Shinohara spoke to Shinohara.
He told the old man's story in a boring fashion as he showed his notes.
And Takigaki was also interested in this old man.
"I believe your story a lot. So is Senior Shinohara. So talk to me."
Though the old man was a little nosy in his insensitive speaking gesture of all the youth, he had no choice but to perceive and speak roughly.
"... right... flying in the sky is... something that feels good. I don't care about that drifting float."
"... is that not what it feels like to be floating in water?
"No, it's something similar. Floating in the water is a state where the force falling down by gravity and the buoyancy of the water are at best trying to rise up."
Takigaki remembers.
When I was just floating in the water mischievously looking up at the ceiling in the pool.
"Oh, I guess so. Floating in the sky is defying gravity with buoyancy by magic. I mean, you can say it's almost the same as what it feels like to be floating in water. However, when you're floating in the water, it's quite disabling. If I lose my balance a little, I'll immediately sink into the water. But it's free to float in the sky with magic. I feel free to move my body. That's what makes me feel so good. I guess we don't sink somewhat out of balance in the Dead Sea, where buoyancy is extremely high, or maybe close to the feeling of floating in the sky."
"I see that sounds good. I want to fly, too."
Said Takigaki with sincere envy.
Then the old man, who saw it, questioned the hedgehog in a long way.
"Mr. Takigaki... Was it? Do you really believe me?
"Yeah. That said, half-heartedness is the truth."
"How old are you when you're a dreamy elementary and middle school student and you believe in such a tale?
"I'm twenty-two... I mean, are you talking to Yotai?
"I don't know. Twenty-two, though. Young man. Less than half of me now."
"Less than half, less than a third of what you think."
Said Takigaki with a laugh.
But the old man answered this with a true face.
"No, I just turned fifty. And... today."
"What! Fifty!?
Takigaki was heartily surprised.
The wrinkles engraved in the face and hands of "Him" are very deep, and eighty years old on the hedgehog looks superior.
But "he" says he's fifty. It's my birthday, too.
"You seem surprised. Well, usually, you can't stay in a facility like this until you're 65 years old. If you're young or more than normal, don't think about it."
"… specific diseases…"
"Oh, yeah. Because people with specific illnesses can be admitted specifically."
"What if... are you premature?
"You're studying well. You're right, premature geriatrics. They call it Wellness Syndrome."
- Premature and Vernez syndrome -
Premature ageing is a genetic disease in which aging progresses rapidly due to chromosomal abnormalities.
Among other things, Vernes syndrome differs from the usual premature illness that develops from childhood, and develops after adulthood.
And about one thousand and two hundred cases have been reported so far, but more than 80% of them were Japanese.
Although it is not clear why there are many Vernes syndromes in the Japanese, it is presumed that this is because many of the Japanese ancestors had genes that cause Vernes syndrome because Vernes syndrome is as genetic as normal prematurity.
"Was it? So..."
"So... what is it?
"Oh, no, I'm sorry. No, well, I do recall that premature patients were low height..."
"Oh well. My body is small. I'm sorry. I made you pay attention."
"Oh, no, sorry about this one. I was a little insensitive..."
"Oh, I'll know. Just a little while ago..."
And when he said so, he laughed at Lang.
And Jigaki laughed a lot, even though he was smiling a lot.
Then the institutional chimes rang gently.
"Oh, sunny time is over now, isn't it? Let's go back to your room."
Sayiyagaki pushed his wheelchair out of the warm shade and headed into the building.
"Let me talk to you later."
Said Takigaki in very bright shape.
But the "he" reply was "... oh, no... yeah..." and the layers of teeth were badly cut.
"I'll talk to you again at the 3: 00 snack."
It was the repeated invitation of the hedgehog, but 'he' 's reply was still toothless and much clouded the words.
Then, in doing so, they arrived safely in the room, and Shigaki moved to bed holding 'him'.
I'll see you later.
'He' never stopped wanting to walk away from the hedge when he said so.
"Mr. Takigaki... I'm sorry, I can't talk to you anymore..."
"What! Why? Isn't that nice? I'll talk to you later."
"No, unfortunately, I can do it even if I want to. I don't have time for this anymore."
Takigaki answered the old man's words, thinking of the leisurely passage of time flowing into the facility, and looking a long way.
"If it's time, I think that's plenty..."
A long time has elapsed in this final residential facility.
And it just keeps flowing really loosely until it's finished raw.
That is why Takigaki said:
Every old man gathered in this facility has plenty of time.
And he said that the old man in front of him was no exception.
But the old man denied it, waving it big or small.
And the old man said, changing his soft expression until then, he looked very harsh.
"I will die soon."
"What are you talking about!?... It's okay, you look good to see. He said he'd still live long."
"No, Mr. Takigaki, I will die. It's only an hour from now."
Takigaki looked at the clock placed on the storage deck by the bed in surprise.
The clock needle points to eleven in the morning.
"I will die at noon today... no, let's be precise... I will be reincarnated"
"Reincarnation!? Are you serious? How?
"I have been reborn many times before. Over and over again. That's countless."
"... Yes... I heard that"
"But I'm not reborn because I like everything. Mr. Takigaki... reincarnation is not my will, but my compulsion."
"... compulsory..."
"Fiftieth birthday, when the bell rings at noon......"
"No!"
"I had the first talk with you today but I really enjoyed it...... thanks. Then Shinohara took care of me. I wanted to thank you in person, but unfortunately that no longer came true. I'm sorry. Say hello."
Takigaki could not swallow the talk of 'him'.
There is definitely a solid ditty in the 'he' story.
There's something absurd about it that you can't cut and throw away.
But that didn't make it entirely believable.
In the end, the 'he' story was only half-hearted for the hedgehog.
"No, no, what are you talking about? Isn't that right?"
The sound of the gazelle went up and down and down.
'He' who heard it smiled gently, and said.
"Oh right. More than that, Mr. Ogaki, you have other work to do. You're gonna piss me off if you're selling oil here too much."
"So is that. Okay, I'll go.... you're going."
"... oh"
Takigaki left the 'he' room behind even though he thought his hair would pull back.
"He" dropped off such a hedge with a gentle smile.
And 'he' quietly dived into the bed to correct his residence, calming his mind and just waiting quietly for the time to come.
And then a few moments passed.
And at last, at that moment when all the clock needles pointed in the direction of the heavens, the beautiful bell sound of recording in a temple in some European country rang gently in the facility through the speakers.
And "he" gave rise to a resurrection of the eyes several times, and a few dozen times.