At the far end of the large room, a girl dressed in a white miko* costume sat alone.
âSakura-sama, Iâm back.â (Shinobu)
âShinobu. What about your injury?â (Sakura)
The girl dressed in a white miko costume stood up worriedly about Shinobu.
âIâm fine. Iâm fine.â (Shinobu)
Shinobu did some forward somersaults and backflips on the spot.
Sheâs really agile like a ninja.
âThatâs good then.â (Sakura)
The girl sat back down, seemingly relieved.
Shinobu and I walked up to the girl. There was a cushion in front of the girl, and she asked me to sit down.
âYuna. Iâll introduce you. This is Sakura-sama.â (Shinobu)
âMy name is Sakura.â
Sakura greeted me with a serious look on her face, different from the age-appropriate expression of concern she had just shown for Shinobu.
Her age doesnât look much different from Finaâs.
The expression she had shown to Shinobu earlier was gone, and she was looking at me with her beautiful face and dignified bearing, her back straight and clean.
She is a mysterious girl with long black hair that hangs over her white miko costume.
But I didnât think that the miko who had the prophetic dream was such a little girl.
âAs you probably know, Iâm Yuna, and this is Hugging Bear.â
I also introduced Hugging Bear which I am holding.
âI apologize for making you feel uncomfortable, Yuna-sama. Iâm sorry for calling you out like this.â (Sakura)
Sakura apologized in a tone unusual for a child, thrust her hands in front of her, and bowed her head so deeply that her head touched the tatami.
âThatâs enough. Please raise your head.â (Yuna)
I donât want to look like Iâm making a child get down on her knees. Sakura slowly raised her head at my words.
âThank you very much.â (Sakura)
âThat doesnât mean Iâm going to accept your request just yet. I just came to talk to you because Shinobu risked her life for you.â (Yuna)
Also, I was curious about the prediction.
âYes, Iâm grateful to Shinobu for taking on this dreadful role.â (Sakura)
âThatâs not true. Compared to Sakura-samaâs hardship, mine was nothing.â (Shinobu)
âThank you, Shinobu.â (sakura)
Sakura smiled at Shinobu.
When Sakura looked at me, she had a nervous expression on her face. I wonder if Iâm that nervous. Iâm not a mascot, but I donât think Iâm nervous about what I wear.
Sakura lets out a small breath and opens her mouth as if she has made up her mind about something.
âYuna-sama, may I hold your hand?â (Sakura)
âMy hand?â (Yuna)
I tried to make my bear puppet crunch. But Sakuraâs reaction doesnât change from her serious expression. It seems that she doesnât want to just touch my bear puppet.
âYes, if itâs not too much trouble, please.â (Sakura)
Sakura bowed her head.
âItâs not going to be weird, is it?â (Yuna)
âYes, itâll not be strange. I promise you that.â (Sakura)
âThatâs fine.â (Yuna)
âOh, thank you very much.â (Sakura)
When I gave her permission, Sakura stood up and came over to me. She sat back down in front of me, grasped the bear puppet I offered her with a nervous expression, and slowly closed her eyes.
Sakura, holding my bear puppet, did not move. Sheâs quietly holding my bear puppet.
After a minute or so, Sakura didnât move, and just as I was about to call out to her, tears spilled from her eyes.
âWha-, what happened!?â (Yuna)
I panicked. I didnât expect her to cry when she held my hand.
âWarm magical power. Beautiful magical power. Itâs definitely the same light I felt in my dream. Finally, I am able to grasp it.â (Sakura)
Sakuraâs hand, holding my bear puppet, grasped it stronger. Her hand was small and weak. But I can feel that she doesnât want to let go of my hand.
âFinally. Finally.â (Sakura)
Sakura didnât even try to wipe her tears away, but firmly held my hand to keep it from escaping.
I didnât know what to do, so I looked at Sakura, and her eyes slowly opened.
Her expression changed from tears to a smile.
âIâm sorry, because it was what I was looking for, but I couldnât grab it.â (Sakura)
Sakura let go of my hand and wiped her tears.
âI was worried until I got confirmation. But Yuna-sama is definitely the light of hope in my dreams.â (Sakura)
âHow do you know all that?â (Yuna)
âItâs the light I dreamt about so many times, the light I tried to grasp so many times. I felt the same thing from Yuna-sama. Iâm sure of it.â (Sakura)
Sakura replied strongly.
Then she smiled happily.
Sakura thanked me, moved away from me, and sat back down to her seat.
âSo you can really see premonitions in your dreams? And you can see everything?â (Yuna)
âNo, I can only see what concerns me. Also, I canât see everything. What I can see are just glimpses, I canât do it freely even if I want to. On the contrary, I can see things even if I donât want to.â (Sakura)
âCan you only see your future?â (Yuna)
âYes, I think I can see a future in which I am involved.â (Sakura)
Apparently, she canât see other peopleâs future.
I donât think I can ask her to look into my future.
âCan I ask you a question?â (Yuna)
âYes, if I can answer.â (Sakura)
âWhat will the future hold if I donât help?â (Yuna)
âThe seals will be broken, the monsters will be resurrected, and many people will be killed before my eyes.â (Sakura)
âWhat happens to the monsters after theyâre resurrected?â (Yuna)
âI donât know. I also died at that moment. After that, they may have been defeated. There may have been more damage. But since Iâm dead, I wonât know what will happen in the future after that.â (Sakura)
Does that mean youâve seen yourself die many times?
You didnât run away? Or rather you didnât escape?
This girl had experienced her own death, over and over and over again. But in the midst of it all, she found a light of hope, which happened to be me. A light that she could not grasp for a long time no matter how desperately she searched for. I felt like I understood the reason for her tears earlier.
âBut in that desperate dream, I found a light. The light was far away, but I felt a warm glow. The light wavered, and when I looked closely at it, I saw that it was in the shape of a beast, with a person on it.â (Sakura)
Then she looked at Hugging Bear.
I was riding Swaying Bear, though.
âI decided to call the light of hope, but I didnât know how to. The light wavered and moved freely. I tried my best to catch it, but I could not. But one day, I realized that it was coming from the direction of the sea.â (Sakura)
Thatâs the same as what Shinobu told me earlier.
âHis Majesty the King has deployed his army to greet the person riding the beast coming from the sea. But the glimmer of hope vanished. He immediately pulled out his soldiers.â (Shinobu)
Sakura repeated to me the story that Shinobu earlier narrated to me.
Eventually, Shinobu came into contact with me, the one riding the beast.
âHow do you know that the visions in your dream have changed?â (Yuna)
I donât know how Sakura was able to see changes in the predicted path.
âIt depends on the will of one who has great power.â (Sakura)
âWhat do you mean by that?â (Yuna)
âItâs like the power of the king. If the king moves, the country moves. First, I knew that the light would appear from the sea riding on a beast. So, not knowing how dangerous the beast would be, the king prepared his army to deal with it. But in my dream that night, the light went away and disappeared. Even though I cannot change the future by myself, it can change if someone with power makes a move.â (Sakura)
If you find out that a group of monsters will be attacking you, the future wonât change even if Sakura, who doesnât have the power to defeat the monsters, confronts them personally. But if the king moves his army, the future will change, it seems.
âI heard from Shinobu that I had to fight Jubei-san to measure my strength. Didnât the king believe the words of Sakuraâs hope?â (Yuna)
Sakura shook her head.
âNot the king, but the nobles and the keepers of the old lore. They donât like strangers entering our land. Some of them did not like the idea of asking for help from something they did not understand. His Majesty the King could not listen to my words aloneâ¦â¦â (Sakura)
Sakura bowed her head as if it were difficult to say.
So thatâs how it got so messy.
Itâs true that only Sakura knows what a ray of hope was. But for the rest of them, if they were told that a beast was coming from the sea, they would, of course, be suspicious.
And they donât even know what that person was capable of.
Then came along a girl dressed as a bear riding a bear.
âAfter that, this power of mine was kept secret and only a few people knew about it, which made approaching Yuna-sama difficult.â (Sakura)
Sakura looks apologetic.
âSo, just to be sure, are you really going to ask me, someone dressed like this, such an important task? Arenât there other people who are going to complain?â (Yuna)
My outfit is a bear costume. Generally, I donât look like I can defeat a monster let alone a group.
âYouâve defeated Jubei in a serious fight. I wonât let anyone complain. If they still doubt Yuna-samaâs power, then theyâre just a fool who doesnât understand the importance of the nation.â (Sakura)
Sakura tightened her grip on the small hand on her lap.
I donât think she really wanted us to fight each other.
This was evident in the expression on Shinobuâs face when she walked into the room.
Now I want to help the girl in front of me.
If they were going to ask me to do it, they should have had Sakura approach me from the very beginning.
The first time was a mistake. She told the king, and thatâs why it turned into such a big mess.
If Sakura had come to see me in person, I may have listened to her.
And if she had spoken to me in such a serious way, I think I may have taken the job if I could.
But when I think about it, my strategy guides were children?
Like with Fina, the Black Viper, the problem of the orphanage, Noaâs request involving 10,000 monsters, Misaâs birthday party, Karina in the desert. Everything involves children.
Apparently, I have a soft spot for children.
***
Authorâs Note:
I apologize for the delay in posting.
The reason is the red text in the bookwork.
If there is a sudden delay in the future, I will write about it in the activity report.
If you put it in your favorite user, it will be easier to understand.
â»So thatâs how Sakura cried in Yunaâs arm.