"Mr. Tejima, do you mind if we search your courtyard?"
Tejima had no objections and walked to the riverside to rest.
It seemed being surrounded by villagers had exhausted him.
Lumine entered Tejima's house while Mu Yang searched outside.
Before long, the two inside heard Mu Yang call out.
"Lumine, Paimon, over here."
Lumine and Paimon stopped rummaging through the cabinets.
Stepping outside, they saw Mu Yang holding an elegant brown notebook.
Rather than opening it himself, Mu Yang handed it to Lumine and Paimon—reading aloud didn't suit his character. Paimon could handle that.
Paimon spread the book open on the table. "This is definitely Mr. Tejima's journal."
"Let's see..."
[Today, I cooked Dry-Braised Salted Fish with the villagers. I'm clumsy and accidentally burned the pot, so I pretended I was making Dry-Braised Blackfish instead.]
[Today, I saved a child who fell into the water. He said his best friend, Pom-Pom, was still in there. I spent the whole afternoon fishing before realizing Pom-Pom was his pet crab.]
[Today, I flew a kite, but the string snapped. I chased it until I couldn't anymore, then sat down and watched it drift further and further away.]
[After the third entry, my nose suddenly stung...]
[This hits hard.]
[It's the mundane things that resonate the most.]
[The simpler the memory, the more it moves the heart.]
"Just little everyday things."
"But at least we understand why the villagers don't want him to leave."
Mu Yang, participating in his own way, asked, "Why did Mr. Tejima say these things had an important purpose?"
Lumine and Paimon were stumped.
They couldn't figure it out either, but Tejima himself had said it.
What significance could these ordinary moments hold?
Paimon flipped further, finding more daily snippets—until she suddenly stopped.
"Wait, look at this!"
[Today, I prayed at the nearby shrine again. I sat there for a long time. The omamori you gave me has faded, but it's still my most treasured possession...]
"This is useful! Let's check the shrine!"
The trio carefully stored the journal and headed to the shrine.
On the stone steps before it lay a faded omamori—pale purple, embroidered with cloud-like patterns.
"This looks like something a girl would own, judging by the color and design..."
Lumine picked it up. "Probably a gift from a girl to Mr. Tejima."
Paimon's brain worked overtime.
"If Mr. Tejima carried this often, maybe it still carries traces of his elemental energy. Can we use that?"
Lumine focused, activating her elemental sight while holding the omamori.
Guided by its resonance, they arrived at a large tree.
This was clearly a place Tejima frequented.
Several large stones were arranged unnaturally, and the soil showed signs of disturbance.
Mu Yang asked, "There's something buried here. Should we dig?"
"We should. We already asked Mr. Tejima for permission."
Effortlessly, Mu Yang moved the stones aside and used his sword to unearth a dark-red chest.
He brushed off the dirt with adeptal energy before handing it to Lumine.
[At this rate, Lumine's gonna get spoiled rotten.]
[Bro, is this level of pampering necessary?]
[No dirty work, no heavy lifting—what if she meets a guy who doesn't treat her like this later?]
[Try me?]
[Uh, who are you?]
[Mu Yang's really got that perfect balance of thoughtfulness and restraint.]
The chest wasn't locked. Lumine opened it to find a single letter inside.
The paper was yellowed, its creases worn—clearly old.
She unfolded it:
[If... we get separated in this war, wait for me in Konda Village. That's where we'll build our peaceful home.]
"Konda Village... why does that sound familiar?"
Paimon blinked. "We're in Konda Village."
Mu Yang nearly facepalmed. Paimon, are you actually this dense, or is this an act?
My power fluctuations are because of system concealment—are your IQ drops also being suppressed by something?
But Paimon seemed genuinely shocked.
"Wait, so Mr. Tejima was waiting for someone here?"
"Thirty years... and they never came?"
Dusk approached. Tejima had returned home, sitting in his courtyard watching the sunset.
A scene that should've been nostalgic—yet he remembered none of it.
Lumine's chest ached. She handed Tejima the journal, letter, and omamori.
"Yes, this is my handwriting. The omamori and letter... must be mine too."
But Tejima didn't know how to react.
He pressed a hand to his forehead. "I've forgotten everything written here..."
Mu Yang leaned against the doorframe, lost in thought.
Lumine and Paimon exchanged glances.
Those simple words cut deeper than any blade.
Tejima gazed at the sunset.
"I must've been waiting here for someone. For thirty years."
"Every day, I wrote down the little things that happened."
"So that when we reunited, I could tell her about all those years."
He traced the omamori gently.
"So much happened... Time passed so quickly."
"Why did I forget something so important?"
"After losing my Vision, it felt like I'd been hollowed out."
"The love, the regrets, every memory of her—gone."
Lumine asked softly, "Does that make you sad?"
Tejima's eyes were empty. He shrugged.
"Not... really."
"I don't remember who she was—her face, her voice, the times we shared."
After a long silence, he sighed.
"It's like she was never here at all... just a hazy dream."
Paimon turned away, sniffling.
Lumine held her composure. "So... will you still leave?"
"No. I've waited this long—might as well keep waiting."
Tejima smiled wryly.
"But if she comes back and I can't even say her name... wouldn't that hurt her?"
He pressed a hand to his chest.
"Strange. I don't remember her, yet that thought does hurt."
"Even now, there's this emptiness... like something's missing..."
[Okay, now I'm actually crying. Mihoyo, are you done yet? T_T]
[There's still a final blow?]
[Even after forgetting everything, I never forgot to wait for you.]
[This hurts so much...]
[The voice acting's too powerful.]
In the end, Tejima chose to stay. The villagers rejoiced.
But Lumine and Paimon, despite completing the request, couldn't feel happy.
As they left Konda Village, Paimon was still shaken.
"Even though Mr. Tejima said he wasn't sad... I feel so sad."
With no outsiders around, Lumine finally let her guard down.
"Losing the reason to grieve... that's the saddest part."
Mu Yang ruffled Lumine's hair.
After a long pause, he spoke.
"Come on. Let's get something good to eat."