“Mister Nirushi, I… Am I going to be able to go to Lunid too?”
“Once we know it’s not dangerous. I don’t want anything to happen to you either.”
“Yes. It’d be trouble if I was captured.”
“Yes, if you were taken hostage, they’d push conditions onto us. You’re the miko, so you wouldn’t get hurt… But that doesn’t mean everyone else can’t either.”
Says Mister Nirushi, and I nod.
I don’t think a lot of people can hurt me directly. I’ve never felt pain from someone. I’ve hurt myself accidentally a few times, but people with bad intentions can’t reach me.
…But that’s just me.
There’s definitely a chance people important to me could get hurt. And I think the more people we have in the village, and the more contact we have outside the village, the chance gets higher.
“I probably won’t die, but I shouldn’t do dangerous stuff anyway… We need to think about what might happen.”
“Yes. You probably can’t be killed by someone, but even if your body is fine, you have to think about your heart too. We don’t know what might happen to a miko if she’s hurt anywhere other than her body.”
My body might be fine, but what about my heart?
I think he has a point. If I don’t have any friends around me and despair… What would happen?
It’s said that the miko is loved by god and brings blessings to the world… But what would happen if the miko was in that situation? I really don’t want to be in that situation where I’m sad and suffering, and my heart dies.
That’s what Mister Nirushi is worried about.
The fact that I’m the miko means we don’t know what might happen. Well, that’s part of it, but he’s also just worried about me, of course.
“When I go to Lunid, I need to make sure I’m never alone. If I have Freinet and Wea with me, I doubt anyone could capture me, but…”
“Yes… But also, there are elves in Lunid too, even if they feel different from Sileva and the others. They might notice you have spirits with you. There weren’t that many of them, but still…”
“Did you see their spirit tree?”
“No, I don’t know where it is… They’re probably looking after it somewhere.”
I wonder what their spirit tree is like. Will I be able to see spirits with them if I see elves? I formed contracts with Freinet and Wea, so… I hope we can get along with the elves of Lunid, since they’re also friendly with spirits.
Maybe the elves will see me as a friend if they know I formed contracts with spirits… Maybe I’m just being optimistic.
“But even if you get along with a group… Those elves are from Lunid, but don’t careless anyway.”
“Careless?”
“I’m talking about doing something like inviting them to live here. Even if that’s what they want, we have to go through a proper procedure, or things might get tricky. Lan was worried about that too.”
As I talk with Mister Nirushi, I really feel like having a connection with other countries brings a lot of trouble.
Maybe it would be fine if they themselves want to, but if Lunid decides that people moving away is a problem and says no… They might start seeing us as an enemy.
We don’t want to be enemies, but if they see us as enemies… We might end up fighting.
“When I go to Lunid, I’ll make sure to get other people’s opinions before doing something. I don’t want to do something on my own and ruin everything, when we’re getting along and everything.”
“Yes, don’t decide things on your own.”
I might do things without thinking if something happens, but that could lead to trouble too.
“Yes, but… If Gaius or something is in danger, I might jump out.”
“If there’s nothing else that can be done, you might end up acting in the spur of the moment. In that case, it’s all up to how you handle things after that.”
Mister Nirushi says that what’s important is how you handle things later, if you do suddenly act.
…How much of what I talked about with Mister Nirushi will I actually do when I go to Lunid?
That makes me feel a little worried, but even if it’s trouble, I want to visit it.
Then I keep talking to Mister Nirushi about Lunid, until Miss Lan calls me.
—The girl learns about the Kingdom of Lunid – Part four
(The miko really does wish to go to the Kingdom of Lunid.)
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