Oomi
It was tight—Much tighter than I had imagined.What do we do?
I glanced at Mamoru-kun, who I’d heard from Oze-san was claustrophobic. He was holding Oze-san’s hand, a determined look on his young face.
But it wasn’t Mamoru-kun I was worried about.It was Aochi-san, fidgeting nervously beside him.
Once we had all confirmed our intent, the Watcher Bird moved quickly.Spreading its wings wide, it soared toward the floating stone in the sky.But instead of waiting for us, the stone approached the ship. The speed and directness of its approach made me instinctively shut my eyes—certain it would crash.
It stopped just in time.
I opened my eyes and searched for the entrance I’d glimpsed earlier.The stone slowly rotated, revealing that opening again—this time aligned with our bow so we could dive straight in.
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That part had gone smoothly.But then the Watcher Bird said—
“By the way, my stone has no lights inside.”
That changed everything.
“It’s not completely dark, right?”
Aochi-san’s voice was strained.
“It is completely dark. There are no lights or windows inside. The entire sheltering stone is made from a single piece. There are no gaps.”
“…”
Ah. He’s afraid of the dark.I could tell just by the way he fell silent.
“I’ll walk ahead of you, Aochi-san. Keep your hand on my shoulder and don’t let go until we reach a safe place.”
“How reliable you are. Please guide the soul I love.”
Even the Watcher Bird was asking this of me.The pressure was on.
“Light only reaches a few meters from the entrance. So—who would like to go first?”
“Whoever. Just go already. Rhone and I will come in after you.”
The Harvester’s words made us all uneasy.Were they really planning to follow?Or were they just saying that to give us a push?
“Don’t get the wrong idea. We’re definitely going in. But we have to put the ship away first. If we go in ahead of you, you’ll all end up sinking into the sea.”
“Put the ship away?”
In the middle of an open sea, with no port in sight—Where exactly were they planning to put it?
“Back into our hearts. You remember how swords and shields came out of our bodies? It’s the same thing. This ship was formed from our bodies too.Now go. You're wasting time.”
So we were inside the Harvester’s heart this whole time…
Thinking too deeply about it wouldn’t help.
“I’ll go in first with Aochi-san. Everyone, follow us.”