Chapter 448

Bear-san, Talks To Sakura-sama.

At the far end of the large room, a girl dressed in a white miko* costume sat alone.

“Sakura-sama, I’m back.” (Shinobu)

“Shinobu. What about your injury?” (Sakura)

The girl dressed in a white miko costume stood up worriedly about Shinobu.

“I’m fine. I’m fine.” (Shinobu)

Shinobu did some forward somersaults and backflips on the spot.

She’s really agile like a ninja.

“That’s good then.” (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.

“Yuna. I’ll introduce you. This is Sakura-sama.” (Shinobu)

“My name is Sakura.”

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 doesn’t look much different from Fina’s.

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 didn’t think that the miko who had the prophetic dream was such a little girl.

“As you probably know, I’m Yuna, and this is Hugging Bear.”

I also introduced Hugging Bear which I am holding.

“I apologize for making you feel uncomfortable, Yuna-sama. I’m sorry for calling you out like this.” (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.

“That’s enough. Please raise your head.” (Yuna)

I don’t want to look like I’m making a child get down on her knees. Sakura slowly raised her head at my words.

“Thank you very much.” (Sakura)

“That doesn’t mean I’m going to accept your request just yet. I just came to talk to you because Shinobu risked her life for you.” (Yuna)

Also, I was curious about the prediction.

“Yes, I’m grateful to Shinobu for taking on this dreadful role.” (Sakura)

“That’s not true. Compared to Sakura-sama’s hardship, mine was nothing.” (Shinobu)

“Thank you, Shinobu.” (sakura)

Sakura smiled at Shinobu.

When Sakura looked at me, she had a nervous expression on her face. I wonder if I’m that nervous. I’m not a mascot, but I don’t think I’m 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.

“Yuna-sama, may I hold your hand?” (Sakura)

“My hand?” (Yuna)

I tried to make my bear puppet crunch. But Sakura’s reaction doesn’t change from her serious expression. It seems that she doesn’t want to just touch my bear puppet.

“Yes, if it’s not too much trouble, please.” (Sakura)

Sakura bowed her head.

“It’s not going to be weird, is it?” (Yuna)

“Yes, it’ll not be strange. I promise you that.” (Sakura)

“That’s fine.” (Yuna)

“Oh, thank you very much.” (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. She’s quietly holding my bear puppet.

After a minute or so, Sakura didn’t move, and just as I was about to call out to her, tears spilled from her eyes.

“Wha-, what happened!?” (Yuna)

I panicked. I didn’t expect her to cry when she held my hand.

“Warm magical power. Beautiful magical power. It’s definitely the same light I felt in my dream. Finally, I am able to grasp it.” (Sakura)

Sakura’s hand, holding my bear puppet, grasped it stronger. Her hand was small and weak. But I can feel that she doesn’t want to let go of my hand.

“Finally. Finally.” (Sakura)

Sakura didn’t even try to wipe her tears away, but firmly held my hand to keep it from escaping.

I didn’t know what to do, so I looked at Sakura, and her eyes slowly opened.

Her expression changed from tears to a smile.

“I’m sorry, because it was what I was looking for, but I couldn’t grab it.” (Sakura)

Sakura let go of my hand and wiped her tears.

”I was worried until I got confirmation. But Yuna-sama is definitely the light of hope in my dreams.” (Sakura)

“How do you know all that?” (Yuna)

“It’s 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. I’m sure of it.” (Sakura)

Sakura replied strongly.

Then she smiled happily.

Sakura thanked me, moved away from me, and sat back down to her seat.

“So you can really see premonitions in your dreams? And you can see everything?” (Yuna)

“No, I can only see what concerns me. Also, I can’t see everything. What I can see are just glimpses, I can’t do it freely even if I want to. On the contrary, I can see things even if I don’t want to.” (Sakura)

“Can you only see your future?” (Yuna)

“Yes, I think I can see a future in which I am involved.” (Sakura)

Apparently, she can’t see other people’s future.

I don’t think I can ask her to look into my future.

“Can I ask you a question?” (Yuna)

“Yes, if I can answer.” (Sakura)

“What will the future hold if I don’t help?” (Yuna)

“The seals will be broken, the monsters will be resurrected, and many people will be killed before my eyes.” (Sakura)

“What happens to the monsters after they’re resurrected?” (Yuna)

“I don’t know. I also died at that moment. After that, they may have been defeated. There may have been more damage. But since I’m dead, I won’t know what will happen in the future after that.” (Sakura)

Does that mean you’ve seen yourself die many times?

You didn’t run away? Or rather you didn’t 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.

“But 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.” (Sakura)

Then she looked at Hugging Bear.

I was riding Swaying Bear, though.

“I decided to call the light of hope, but I didn’t 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.” (Sakura)

That’s the same as what Shinobu told me earlier.

“His 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.” (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.

“How do you know that the visions in your dream have changed?” (Yuna)

I don’t know how Sakura was able to see changes in the predicted path.

“It depends on the will of one who has great power.” (Sakura)

“What do you mean by that?” (Yuna)

“It’s 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.” (Sakura)

If you find out that a group of monsters will be attacking you, the future won’t change even if Sakura, who doesn’t have the power to defeat the monsters, confronts them personally. But if the king moves his army, the future will change, it seems.

“I heard from Shinobu that I had to fight Jubei-san to measure my strength. Didn’t the king believe the words of Sakura’s hope?” (Yuna)

Sakura shook her head.

“Not the king, but the nobles and the keepers of the old lore. They don’t 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 alone……” (Sakura)

Sakura bowed her head as if it were difficult to say.

So that’s how it got so messy.

It’s 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 don’t even know what that person was capable of.

Then came along a girl dressed as a bear riding a bear.

“After that, this power of mine was kept secret and only a few people knew about it, which made approaching Yuna-sama difficult.” (Sakura)

Sakura looks apologetic.

“So, just to be sure, are you really going to ask me, someone dressed like this, such an important task? Aren’t there other people who are going to complain?” (Yuna)

My outfit is a bear costume. Generally, I don’t look like I can defeat a monster let alone a group.

“You’ve defeated Jubei in a serious fight. I won’t let anyone complain. If they still doubt Yuna-sama’s power, then they’re just a fool who doesn’t understand the importance of the nation.” (Sakura)

Sakura tightened her grip on the small hand on her lap.

I don’t think she really wanted us to fight each other.

This was evident in the expression on Shinobu’s 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 that’s 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, Noa’s request involving 10,000 monsters, Misa’s birthday party, Karina in the desert. Everything involves children.

Apparently, I have a soft spot for children.

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