Chapter 3: Towards Tomorrow③
Mika began to speak hesitantly.
“Since that day I last met Lord Yamada, I’ve been thinking a lot, and I just couldn’t bring myself to leave the inn. Then one day, Lady Omi came to visit me.”
“Omi? Sensei went to see Mika?”
Sensei had a whimsical personality, like a cat that could vanish in the blink of an eye. Just when you thought you had a handle on her whereabouts, she would suddenly appear at the dining table as if she had always been there. Was she some kind of cat spirit? What on earth was she… Setting that aside, she had been going off somewhere frequently without telling anyone lately—
“Yes, that ‘Lady Omi.'”
“Why would she do that…?”
I had a question on the tip of my tongue, but upon reflection, it made sense. Sensei couldn’t ignore those who were suffering.
“When Lady Omi visited my room, she said, ‘There are things that need to be done. Come outside and help me.’ I understood that it was a means to coax me out, but she came so often that I decided to follow her.”
I imagined the mischievous cat-like Sensei, laughing with a ‘kufufu’ sound, and Mika, shyly trailing behind her. Just that thought suddenly filled my heart, and I struggled to find the right words.
“At the place we went to, Lady Omi was helping with the Soup Kitchen alongside the people from the Church of Bordaf, and treating those injured in the recent battle.”
That was just like her. Sensei was indeed that kind of person.
“Seeing her radiant figure made me feel I had to do something too. However, my past memories tormented me. I had been ordered by Lord Yamada to do things without ever moving on my own, merely going through the motions of volunteer work while leaving my heart behind. The thought of such shamelessness made me scared, and I just couldn’t bring myself to move.”
“But,” Mika continued, “Lady Omi, seeing me like that, took my hand and said, ‘Whether the Master worries or not, it doesn’t concern many. In extreme terms, the world will keep turning even without the Master. But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t help those who are struggling over there.'”
It was a blunt statement, indeed. It sounded somewhat detached, but for someone like her, who had become paralyzed by overthinking, perhaps words like that were more comforting than mere sympathy.
“While it wasn’t exactly a breakthrough, that’s how I ended up participating in volunteer work from that day onward.”
“I’m glad. I’m really glad.”
I had never known anyone as foolish as Mika, who would spend her own money until she had no food left. Many would likely be astonished to hear such a story. Yet, I respected her selfless spirit from the bottom of my heart.
“Are you crying?”
—Are you crying?
Her image from that day flashed back in my mind. I couldn’t hold it together anymore.
“Why are you… please, don’t cry.”
With a troubled expression, Mika took out a handkerchief and dabbed at the corners of my eyes.
“I’m not crying! It’s just pollen, pollen!”
“Ichiro—Lord Yamada, you haven’t changed since then.”
Mika’s eyes glistened with tears, yet she smiled brightly.
After that, the four of us talked for about half an hour. The three of them wanted to hear about what happened after we were separated in the Sealed Labyrinth.
I, too, wanted to know how they had contributed to our progress afterward.
However… time was merciless. The time left for us was limited. This wasn’t just about the time we had right now. If we turned our backs on each other here, it was likely that I would never see Ange or Mika again.
So I—