Episode 9 (I Couldn't Say "Thank You")

*The anime has a total of 10 episodes

Episode 9 (I Couldn't Say "Thank You") 

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"I Couldn't Say "Thank You""

In a world without her

Since that child disappeared, the hero has visited his hometown many times.

However, no one knew where she lived. Not even a single person knew where she lived. Whenever I asked anyone, they just looked puzzled and tilted their head.

"...Eh? That girl? I don't think she's from this village, but..."

"But you guys were always together and we just thought you knew where she came from."

That girl I would always play with all day, and then wave goodbye in the evening. Where on earth had she gone back to? ...

"I, who should have been the closest to her, had no idea."

Every time I was confronted with this fact, my heart ached. --Even though she should have been so close to me.

So I decided to go on journey again, even if it was just by myself.

The place where we met, the town where we laughed together, the hill where we looked up at the sky.

But there was no sign of her anywhere.

Her voice no longer mingles with the smell of the wind or the rustling of the trees.

Still, at random moments during my journey, I sometimes feel a presence waving at me from behind.

I turned around, but there was no one there.

--But still, I believe.

That child is somewhere in this world.

I'm sure she'll laugh again and say, "Hehe, I'm so glad I was able to help you."

Until that day comes, I will keep walking, to tell her my "thank you."

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★

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"Sky"

The swordsman began to look up to the sky on one night when her magic cleared the sky.

The stars were twinkling endlessly. Looking up at the sky, she said back then,

"Swordsman, you really like the sky, don't you?"

It was just a trivial conversation, but that night sky became something I would never forget.

But now I know.

That magic contained her lifespan.

From that moment on, the sky became something beautiful, but also something built on sacrifice. Every time I looked at the sky, my heart ached.

But even so, I couldn't stop looking up at the sky. Even now, after learning about the story of the lifespans, I couldn't erase the feelings I had that day. Even after learning that it was a spell that shortened her lifespan, I couldn't help but think about that day.

The starry sky that night was truly beautiful.

That thought binds me.

So I never stop looking at the sky.

Because I can't forget.

But I can't tell that to anyone.

"...In the end, I still can't change."

The words I muttered didn't reach anyone and were sucked into the sky.

Tonight, the swordsman looks up at the sky again.

Then he muttered in a low voice so no one could hear.

"Can you show me again?"

The stars twinkled slowly.

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★

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"The Child and the White Lily Garden"

The princess has a secret place.

A place where white lilies bloom in the courtyard of the royal capital.

The flower that girl once said, "This flower looks like you, princess."

Her reaction when she saw this place, I thought, "That girl is blooming."

That's what I thought.

It was that kind and dazzling - and yet I regret that I didn't notice anything.

"Don't push yourself," I said that.

I looked as if i understood her.

But the truth is, I didn't know anything. I didn't even want to know.

For example, if only I had spoken more strongly at that time.

For example, if only I had reached out just a little at that time.

In my imagination, I reach out to her again and again.

But even in my imagination, she turns her back and moves away.

"I should have noticed."

The princess muttered in a place where no one could hear.

In between my government duties, I made it a habit to visit places where white lilies bloom.

I placed a small cup of tea with her favorite aroma across from the empty chair.

When I gaze upon it in silence, tears sometimes come to my eyes, but I no longer know for whom those tears are.

Sometimes I unconsciously write words on paper: "Thank you" and "See you later."

Every time this happens, I put down my pen, stand up, tear up what I've written, burn it, and leave nothing behind.

Because there's no way I can say it.

Because I don't think I have the right to say that.

Still, when spring comes, the white lilies bloom.

Like that child, bright and straightforward.

"...Please don't tell anyone how to bloom."

The princess wished so, and took a deep breath of the scent of the white lilies that had been lost in the wind.

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★★★★★

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[Runaway Wizard] Episode 9 Live Thread [I Couldn't Say Thank You]

1: Anonymous of the Wind

　What's with this silence from the start... something's different in the air.

6: Anonymous of the Wind

　The hero has returned to his hometown, but no one... no one knows about the wizard...

12: Anonymous of the Wind

　It's so hard to realize that he didn't know much more than he thought.

17: Anonymous of the Wind

　I thought you were the closest

　This one too...

22: Anonymous of the Wind

　I was just thinking that...

28: Anonymous of the Wind

　Stop it! Stop it!

34: Anonymous of the Wind

　Eh?

　Wizard-chan, where were you from then...?

　Where did you always go after you separate from the hero?

40: Anonymous of the Wind

　The silence of the scene where "none of the villagers knew" is horrible.

47: Anonymous of the Wind

　The villagers' suspicious looks in the first episode are a subtle but effective touch

54: Anonymous of the Wind

　No, Hero!! Still, believe!!!

　We all know that Wizard-chan definitely exist!!!

61: Anonymous of the Wind

　The fact that the hero continued his journey after that was a really unfair production.

　Even though he know they'll never meet again, it hurts that he can't stop

67: Anonymous of the Wind

　When the hero started walking again, I silently burst into tears.

　It's unfair that he's not even allowed to stop

73: Anonymous of the Wind

　A scene where only the footsteps of a hero walk through an empty town

　It's bad for my heart...

80: Anonymous of the Wind

　The narrator says, "Her voice is not mixed in with the smell of the wind or the rustling of the trees."

　Those words made me feel the most "death"

86: Anonymous of the Wind

　Even so, he feel like someone is waving at him from behind

　Even if it was just a hallucination, he found himself looking back...

93: Anonymous of the Wind

　"I couldn't say thank you" is what all the viewers are feeling.

99: Anonymous of the Wind

　The hero stops, then starts walking again, it really looks like a "ritual"

105: Anonymous of the Wind

　The hero had a good mental state

　I would break down in tears in five minutes.

111: Anonymous of the Wind

　I died instantly when the swordsman's turn came.

117: Anonymous of the Wind

　"The magic of that night is what made me start looking up at the sky."

　That word hurts so much

122: Anonymous of the Wind

　At that time, the wizard scattered the clouds without saying a word.

　Swordsman, he didn't know that girl used magic...

　Ah, right, the diary.

128: Anonymous of the Wind

　Even after learning that, he still continue to look up at the sky, which really pierces me.

133: Anonymous of the Wind

　The beauty of the sky is actually painful

139: Anonymous of the Wind

　A sky where "beautiful things" and "things built on sacrifice" coexist

　I feel sorry for the swordsman standing in that contradiction...

146: Anonymous of the Wind

　"I still can't change," the calm swordsman said in his monologue.

　It was so human that it made me cry

152: Anonymous of the Wind

　Swordsman!! Is that the only way you can say it!!

158: Anonymous of the Wind

　"Can you show me again?"

　I feel like this wish was the kindest thing he could say.

163: Anonymous of the Wind

　That voice was so quiet I cried

168: Anonymous of the Wind

　When the stars twinkled, we prayed together

174: Anonymous of the Wind

　"He muttered it so no one could hear," was the moment the swordsman showed the most "weakness."

180: Anonymous of the Wind

　Princess' "White Lily Garden" episode, my death confirmed 0.5 seconds into the episode

186: Anonymous of the Wind

　The fact that the princess had a "secret place" made me cry

192: Anonymous of the Wind

　She said she had been looking at the white lily that girl had said "This flower looks like you, princess" for a long time...

197: Anonymous of the Wind

　"I thought, 'That girl is blooming.'"

　No, that's the graveyard...

200: Anonymous of the Wind

　"I should have noticed," the voice that said that... I can't...

202: Anonymous of the Wind

　She made just one cup of tea and left it on an empty seat, my heart nearly stopped.

208: Anonymous of the Wind

　Her silent mourning is so princess-like that it's almost painful.

214: Anonymous of the Wind

　"I have no right to say that"

　That's not true...

219: Anonymous of the Wind

　Princess!

　Let's go find her too!

225: Anonymous of the Wind

　She has government business...

　She's in a position where she can't even throw that away...

231: Anonymous of the Wind

　She unconsciously write "Thank you" and "See you later" and then tear them up

　Isn't there nothing to do but cry?

237: Anonymous of the Wind

　Words won't reach that child, she can't write a letter either.

　She's torn it up, burned it, pretended it never happened, but it still won't go away...

242: Anonymous of the Wind

　I think the "thank you" she didn't say was the strongest sign of love.

247: Anonymous of the Wind

　The princess wished, "Don't tell anyone how to bloom."

　That sounded like a prayer, "I hope no more kids like that come out in this world."

255: Anonymous of the Wind

　No one is moving forward, yet they are still trying to move forward, it's really impossible after all...

260: Anonymous of the Wind

　Even though all three of them are in different places, it's painful to see the same thing all the time.

265: Anonymous of the Wind

　It's not about trying to find her.

　It's just a matter of "I still think about her"

270: Anonymous of the Wind

　I guess this is what it means to be unable to forget...

275: Anonymous of the Wind

　It seemed like they weren't searching, but rather trying to remain "undiscovered."

280: Anonymous of the Wind

　They were scared that somewhere, someday, her absence had become "everyday" thing

285: Anonymous of the Wind

　This is all about how to live after loss...

290: Anonymous of the Wind

　Even if the wizard comes back, things won't be the same as before.

　I felt like they knew it better than anyone.

295: Anonymous of the Wind

　The hardest thing is that this isn't a continuation, it's just a .... life

300: Anonymous of the Wind

　No one said, "Let's not forget," but it was amazing that no one forgot.

305: Anonymous of the Wind

　It makes me cry how each of them spends their time together, but she's the only thing they can remember.

310: Anonymous of the Wind

　I never thought the "story after that" would be revealed so quietly.

315: Anonymous of the Wind

　There are 10 episodes in total, right?

　It's really unfair to show this before the final episode

　It hits you where you least expect it

320: Anonymous of the Wind

　There's no sign of a reunion or salvation, but it feels like hope never fades, and it's painful.

325: Anonymous of the Wind

　It was a performance where everyone knew that she was out of reach.

　But they can't help but look back...

330: Anonymous of the Wind

　The final episode preview says "See you again, somewhere"...they'll never meet again

　Huh? Wizard-chan, can't you make the bread soft and chewy anymore?

335: Anonymous of the Wind

　Wake up, she was here this week too

　She traveled with the hero, watched the sky with the swordsman, and had tea in the garden with the princess.

340: Anonymous of the Wind

　You are the one who need to wake up

345: Anonymous of the Wind

　She is there

　She is there!!!

350: Anonymous of the Wind

　There's nothing on the screen, no sound, nothing.

　But that girl has been there all this time!!!

355: Anonymous of the Wind

　Next episode, the final episode "Somewhere Again"

358: Anonymous of the Wind

　The final episode? Eh? With this progression?

360: Anonymous of the Wind

　He's the kind of guy who will never be happy...

365: Anonymous of the Wind

　Let's give up now

　Everyone's happy journey ended on that day of the banquet 

366: Anonymous of the Wind

　No way, no way, no way, no way

　We can still go! We can still get a happy ending from here!

　Come on, let's try our best! Don't give up!

370: Anonymous of the Wind

　Don't say it here

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Author Note:

The anime is set to be 10 episodes, but there are a few thread stories and an epilogue after the anime ends.