Paimon whispered, "He must be the person Ayaka mentioned."
Lumine agreed.
Just then, an elderly woman with a hunched back approached them from behind.
"You... are you also here to persuade Tejima to stay?"
"Could you tell us more about the situation? What exactly happened here?"
The old woman explained Tejima's circumstances to the three of them.
"Tejima... ever since he arrived here thirty years ago, he's been guarding this place."
"Driving away Treasure Hoarders, repelling nearby monsters, mediating village disputes..."
"He's poured his heart into this place, and we've come to regard him as our most respected figure."
At this point, the old woman shook her head slightly, her expression sorrowful.
"But now, he suddenly wants to leave. Did... did we do something wrong?"
"If possible, we'd like to apologize to Tejima. We just want him to stay..."
Lumine noted down the information and offered some words of comfort.
An elderly man nearby spoke up.
"If you ask me, this might have something to do with the 'Vision Hunt Decree.'"
Lumine frowned. "The Vision Hunt Decree? Was Tejima's Vision taken too?"
The old man sighed repeatedly.
"Yes. Tejima did nothing wrong, yet his Vision was confiscated."
"And then he... well, it's like he became a completely different person."
The old man said he was the first to learn of Tejima's decision to leave.
A few days ago, he ran into Tejima at the village entrance.
"I can't quite put it into words, but it felt like he'd lost something important."
"After wandering around the village alone a few times, he suddenly said he wanted to travel the world."
The old man saw things more clearly—he wasn't trying to stop Tejima from leaving.
He just wanted Tejima to understand his own situation before making such a decision.
Leaving in such a confused, despondent state just didn't sit right with him.
The three of them stepped aside to discuss.
Mu Yang said, "He seems deeply respected. The entire village, young and old, has come."
Paimon added, "Well, he did protect the village for thirty years—everything from fighting monsters to playing with children..."
Lumine analyzed, "I wonder if he obtained his Vision during one of those battles defending the village."
"Now that his Vision's been taken, his desire to protect the village has vanished."
"That's why he wants to leave."
Mu Yang and Paimon agreed with Lumine's reasoning.
The three decided to ask Tejima directly about his thoughts.
However, there were simply too many people around him.
Lumine noticed the old woman from the shrine earlier had returned to the village entrance.
She explained their situation, saying they were there to help on behalf of the Yashiro Commission and that the Shirasagi Himegimi would arrive later.
The old woman was delighted and asked most of the villagers to disperse, leaving only a few close to Tejima.
Only then could Lumine approach Tejima and ask why he wanted to leave.
When questioned again, Tejima still looked dazed.
Many had already asked him similar things over the past few days.
Scratching his head, Tejima said, "Rather than why I want to leave... it's more like I don't know why I stayed here in the first place."
Lumine replied, "You've lived here for thirty years. Everyone relies on you."
Tejima seemed troubled. "Yes, but... that doesn't feel like the reason I stayed."
"Thirty years ago, why did I come here? And for thirty years, why didn't I leave?"
He shook his head—he couldn't remember any of it.
The only thing he knew was that this confusion started after his Vision was taken.
Lumine murmured, "So it really is because of the Vision..."
Tejima sighed deeply. "The old me wanted to stay here. Now that that determination is gone, I feel like leaving might be for the best. Even if my heart feels empty."
[It's so sad… thirty years of devotion, all forgotten in an instant.]
[Why does the Vision Hunt Decree even exist? It makes no sense.]
[Exactly! People are losing their minds, forgetting everything—how is this 'eternity'?]
Lumine began considering solutions.
Though the root cause was his Vision, appealing to the Tenryou Commission was unrealistic.
If the swordsman Domon could resolve his inner conflict through guidance and let go of his obsession, perhaps Tejima could too.
For example, by giving him a new reason to stay.
If he truly wanted to leave, there was nothing they could do—they'd just have to help the villagers accept it.
Lumine asked, "Tejima, if we helped you find a reason to stay, would you still leave?"
Tejima said he wasn't sure, but he probably wouldn't.
Paimon spread her hands. "But he's already forgotten! How are we supposed to find it?"
"Maybe try really hard to remember? Like, 'whoosh'—it'll come back to you?"
"Paimon, don't pressure him. This kind of thing… can't be forced."
[Oh no, Mu Yang's 'broken' aura is peak perfection!]
[He's empathizing—he's suffered the same pain of lost memories.]
[Wait, we're already getting the knife?]
[This? It's not that bad, is it?]
Paimon glanced back at Mu Yang. "Sorry, I got a little impatient… Mu Yang, are you okay?"
She knew Mu Yang's current state—a millennia-old Adeptus who'd guarded Chenyu Vale, yet only remembered the past few years. Their situations felt eerily similar.
Lumine also noticed something amiss. Had Mu Yang spaced out earlier at the village entrance because…?
No, no—she must be overthinking it. He hadn't even known about Tejima's situation then.
Mu Yang assured them he was fine and that they should focus on helping Tejima first.
The old woman who'd gone to the shrine for help suddenly recalled something.
"Now that I think about it, when I brought Tejima some fruit last time, I think I saw him writing in a journal?"
Tejima's first reaction to anything now was a blank stare and a head scratch.
Even though these were things about him, he had no memory of them.
"Did I have that habit? Honestly… I don't remember."
The old woman was certain.
"You did! At the time, you said you were recording interesting things for an important purpose."
Lumine rubbed her chin. "An important purpose… could it be tied to why he stayed for thirty years?"
Seeing a glimmer of hope, Paimon's tone brightened.
"Great! If we find that journal, we might be able to convince Tejima to stay!"
Mu Yang said gently, "Let's split up and search."
The villagers, seeing their earnest efforts and progress, were overjoyed.
"Then we'll leave it to you… We'll go back to the village and update the others."