"Erica, I'll fly you. Said to Erica on the black scroll of the repaired broom.

Erica waved her hand and said, "No, I'm scared." And I have a means of transportation, but I didn't expect Uncle Crewe to make a skateboard. I'll give it a try. Erica was walking on the ground on her skateboard.

"It's too much of a limit and it's still very slow, so it's still a lot of fun to fly. Kuromaki said.

"Let's go find Miss Zina first and see how her practice is going. Erica said as she headed for the place where she had agreed, skateboarding, though the road was not very good, and the bumps had finally arrived.

"Miss Zina, how is your cooking?"

"I've tried it a few times, and I've done it well. Zna pulled out the pumpkin pie she had prepared.

Erica took the pumpkin pie and tasted it carefully.

Seeing that Erica was normal, Zina asked excitedly, "Is it still okay to eat?"

Erica shook her head and said, "Still no." ”

Black Roll took a piece of pumpkin pie and said, "What's not to do, wouldn't it be nice to eat it?" Uncle Crewe is a big man, not even a little unpalatable...... Poof, is this for people!" Just one bite of it, the black roll almost threw up the breakfast he had just eaten. ”

Erica asked, "Miss Zina, you didn't do what I said. ”

A look of unwillingness appeared on Zina's face, and she sighed, "Yes." I was thinking that if it was just a matter of what Miss Erica said, even the amount of steps was limited, then it was just Miss Erica's cooking. In that case, what is the difference between me and kitchen utensils, but a kitchen utensils that can talk and move. So I changed it, but I didn't qualify. ”

"Do you want to make your own cooking?"

"If it's not your own food, how can you convey your own thoughts!" said Zina firmly.

Squirrel Chippie lowered his hat and said, "But you're running out of time." ”

Erica thought that Squirrel Pi was talking about the uncle's time, and felt that it didn't seem good for the squirrel to say it like this.

Unexpectedly, Zina said with a firm face: "I can still hold on for a while." ”

"What do you mean?" Erika asked in surprise, looking at Zna, but eventually shifting her gaze to the squirrel.

The squirrel said coldly, "Because she can only appear in the summer." Her body can't hold anymore, and I think she should be deposited on some kind of animal in the summer, and the rest of the time she can only survive in a way similar to hibernation. And now she's too reluctant. ”

"Is that so?" asked Erica.

"Yes. It turns out that my identity has been seen through. Zna bowed her head.

"Because we're goblins, too. The squirrel lifted his hat, revealing a pair of red eyes.

"Can't it exist like nothing?" asked Erica.

"Not every goblin is empty. The goblins that can exist directly in this world realm without their ontology are very rare. Squirrel said.

"Yes, my shell is a cicada, and once there are no more cicadas, I have to go into hibernation until the following summer. ”

"But it's autumn now. Erica was a little anxious, so she barely existed in the world, and it was not easy to hear it. Now that I think about it, the cry I heard that day was probably the mournful cicada chirping of Zina.

At this time, the squirrel said again, "You're almost at the limit." Every summer when you're at your best, and in the fall, you look for passers-by and practice cooking. It's also to keep him from noticing your weak state. ”

"Yes. ”

"Well, you must not know the way, I said that you don't have enough time, not only your time is not enough, but Cru also has not enough time. Miss Erica may not know what to say, but in my judgment, it is impossible for Kru to make it to next summer. ”

"What? This can't be! I've seen him in the summer, and he's in good health. Zina said incredulously.

"Because he's the same as you. The squirrel said lightly, but there was sadness in his tone.

"What's going on?" asked Kuromai inexplicably.

Erica closed her eyes and said with some sadness, "Because Uncle Crewe must have done the same thing as her." ”

"Crewe didn't let you know, and he was just as weak. In the summer, you showed him the best posture, so why shouldn't he? He should have forced himself to pretend to be healthy, and maybe even weaker for it. ”

"How so? Yes, he was injured very early, and he just lied to me that he was already healed. Zina gradually calmed down, and through her recollections, she became more convinced of the squirrel's statement.

"Then you don't care about the pumpkin pie, let's go see Uncle!" said Kuromaki.

Zna shook her head, but turned to look at Erica. Then she walked up to Erica, bowed down and said, "Miss Erica, please guide me in cooking!"

"It's all this time......"

Erica interrupted the black scroll and said, "I know what to do." I'll teach you how to make pumpkin pie, albeit the easiest way to do it. ”

"Even the simplest of things is enough. Zina nodded.

Next, Erica began to teach Zna how to make a simple dish of pumpkin pie.

And as time passed, Erica also noticed that Zina's body was rapidly weakening. It seems that she can't exist for a long time at all, it should be when Erika and the others see her that she comes forward, and other times she also conserves her strength.

But this time, Zna didn't care about herself at all.

And the result of this is that when I saw Zina in the early morning, Zina still looked like a girl, but in the afternoon, I felt that she was dull, as if she was very old.

But such a long existence, coupled with Erica's hand-in-hand teaching, did have an effect.

Zina's pumpkin pie went from being completely inedible to being difficult to swallow later, and now it is ready to eat. I think that her lack of time is also the reason why she is restricted from cooking. Because after all, she is not the same as Sora, she only needs to make one dish, and Sora needs to make countless kinds of dishes.

"I've searched it all, and this is the best ingredient. You can only do this last once. Kuromaki said. On this day, she rode a broom to find all the ingredients. Eventually, however, the ingredients were exhausted.

This is deep in the mountains, and it is impossible to have enough ingredients to replenish it like in the town, and practice, the ingredients are almost consumed.

Erica nodded, took the ingredients and said to Zina solemnly, "Zina, this time, it's not practice. ”

Zina also took the ingredients cautiously and said, "I understand." ”

This time, Erica didn't give any pointers, just watched as Zna handled the ingredients.

The pumpkin is peeled, diced, and steamed......

Add sugar, flour and ......

Start frying......

And at the end of the day, there was no explosion, no light, no aroma.

It's just that the pumpkin pie is gradually ripe.

And the night has already crept in.

Crewe sat in a rocking chair at the front of the house, and next to it was a rocking chair, and on that rocking chair was a girl's puppet.

Crewe closed his eyes and said, "I think I've heard cicadas chirping again? Isn't it autumn?"

"Of course you're confused, but it's still summer!"

A familiar voice sounded, and Crewe opened his eyes, a familiar person.

"Since you're here, I must have misremembered. ”

"yes, so why don't you try the pumpkin pie I made? Zna handed out the pumpkin pie and sat down in the narrator's rocking chair with the puppet that was exactly like herself.

"Spare me, your food isn't anything bad. ”

"Don't worry, this is a dish that conveys your heart. ”

"Isn't that a dish that conveys your heart? Having said that, or so it was, Crewe picked up the pumpkin pie and put it in his mouth and savored it.

"How?"

"Like, it's not bad. ”

"It's very tasty. ”

"Yes, yes. Very tasty. ”

"This time, I will convey my heart to you. ”

"What time did you not convey it? ”

"That's good. ”

"Now, wait a little longer and leave. I can't seem to hold it anymore. A hand reached out to hold on.

"No, this time, I'm not leaving. The slender hand took the rough hand.

The sound grew lower and lower, and finally faded into silence.

The rocking chair swayed less and less, and finally returned to silence.

Suddenly, the doll rolled out of its slender white hand and landed on the ground with a thud. But it didn't break the silence, but it became even more silent.

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PS: In order to avoid spoilers and affect the reading experience, this time it is placed at the bottom of the list. When I wrote this chapter, I found out that today is Tanabata, and I actually wrote such a plot, alas! Actually, my original idea of this story was not like this, but an oriental-style monster. It was supposed to be a story like the monster language. A teenager in a township goes on a date with a summer cicada. Every summer date, the summer solstice arrives, and the autumn equinox is equinox. Decades after the most difficult Dao, people are already old, but demons are still young. The empty cicada fades its shell, and the demon changes his clothes once a year. The human design the costume for the second year for the yokai. Until the end of the day, they will not be separated, and they will die hand in hand. Since it's a story, there are still a few more stories like this. At the beginning, I wanted to make my own small animation, so I conceived the plot. But I didn't need it, so I revised it and wrote it. The idea of the modification is like "The Gift of the Magi", where both parties in a relationship sacrifice themselves for each other. Although it doesn't feel perfect, the pure dialogue at the end of the last day has a little bit of a feeling. On the contrary, outside of the dialogue, I want to express the mood of the characters, but I feel a little incomprehensible. There are some regrets due to the limitations of skills. I'm sorry about that. Both for the reader and for the character.