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Faltering Dreams, or What The Lago Foretold - Episode 5
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[ Mizukagami Village ]
We, the group tasked with talking to the locals, headed towards the village chief's house. He was the one who had sent us the request. We looked around the village as we made our way there.
Akira: Oh yeah, Arthur, you're undercover again today, right?
Arthur: I am. I try not to expose my identity if I can help it, especially in situations where there's no need for rank.
Akira: Yeah, if people found out their prince was here, it would also cause quite the hubbub.
Snow: If word got out that the Central Country's prince personally visited remote countryside villages to look into their troubles, we might end up getting fake requests for aid from people who wish to gawk at royals.
Chloe: There might even be people who grow hopeful and think that requesting aid from the Sage's Wizards guarantees Arthur showing up...
Nero: Being popular sure has its troubles.
Arthur: I'd like to personally go to any and all requests where I might be of aid, but ... there's only one of me, and only so many hours in my day.
Today, I think I'd like to be Arthur, a Sage's Wizard, instead of Arthur, Prince of Central Country. It's the role that suits this mission.
Akira: (He's thought this over a lot... What a nice young man.)
Chloe: ...... Oh! There's some people chatting over there.
We turned our gazes to the two locals having a conversation that Chloe had pointed out.
Snow: I'm quite keen to find out what those little girls were talking about. Let us hear from those two as well, shall we?
Villager A: Hey, did you see yet? I went to the lake again, but it's still really black.
Villager B: Argh... If things stay this way, I don't know what I can do. Stay home, I guess...
Akira: Um... Excuse me...
Villager B: ...... Ugh, what do you strangers want from us?
Arthur: Sorry for startling you all. We are the Sage and her Wizards.
Arthur was charming and breezy as he smiled, and he stepped up before us to face the wary villagers. Snow peeked out from behind him.
Snow: We are here because your village chief had requested of us. Seems like something strange has happened to the nearby lake.
Pray tell us what you know of the lake and its surroundings.
Villager B: The Sage and...! Oh, you're really here to investigate this...... I’m so very sorry for my rudeness earlier.
Nero: Nah, don’t worry about it. Anyone would be on edge if they saw strangers lurking around a place that's got unnatural happenings going on.
So, what's been up with the lake? Have you guys seen any other weird stuff going on, besides how the lake’s gone all black?
Villager A: Well... Just that, and nothing else so far.
The villagers, now more relaxed, opened up to us about the lake and village.
We asked around, and what we heard was largely the same as what those two told us: so far, nothing strange had happened besides the lakewater turning black.
Akira: (It’s at least some comfort that the village hasn’t been harmed yet.)
[ No BGM ]
I'd barely finished my thought when one of the villagers suddenly and very, very nervously, spoke up.
Villager C: ...... Um, hey, what do you all think about the lake?
Chloe: What do you mean, what do we think?
Villager C: You know, like...... if it turned black because of natural causes, or if it's...!
Villager D: So it is foretelling our village's future...!
[ BGM resumes ]
Akira: (The future of this village...?)
Snow: Now, we don't know about that.
We have some of us looking into it as we speak. After they're done, we'll know its cause for sure.
Villager E: In that case…….
The villagers dispersed. We watched their dejected backs leave.
Snow smiled, serene.
Snow: ...... Ohoho. As gullible as ever. They haven’t changed despite the years.
We eventually arrived at the doorstep of the village chief's house.
An old man with a white beard politely greeted us.
Village Chief: The Great Sage and her Wizards...! Welcome to our humble village.
Snow: Greetings. We’ve been investigating the village since we arrived, and I must say, everyone seems to be in very low spirits about this lake.
Chloe: It even seems like some of them are so terrified that they’ve locked themselves in their homes.
And that's in spite of being fully aware that nothing has even happened aside from the lake turning black...
Snow: We'd appreciate it if you could tell us why the villagers are treating the changes to the lake as such an ordeal.
Village Chief: If things continue as they are, one day the darkness of the lake will extend its reach to the village itself, causing misfortune to befall the village... That is what everyone is afraid of...
Chloe: Oh, but... I thought only the lake was experiencing strange phenomena?
Why would its colour changing mean misfortune for the whole village?
Village Chief: It's because there's a belief that's passed down for generations in our village. It's a myth at best, but the entire village believes it to be true... myself included.
It is said that in the past, the waters of Lake Mizukagami reflected the future.
Akira: The future…?
According to the village chief, a long, long time ago, the area this village was built on was rife with natural disasters and was nearly uninhabitable.
Just when long rains would cease, droughts would turn the land drier than sand. Nothing would grow. The people who made this place their home had to toil and fight the elements just to survive.
Village Chief: The people of this land lamented the constant damage they had to endure. One day, a person claiming to be an oracle arrived at the village.
That oracle used Lake Mizukagami to divine the future. You could see countless visions of the future reflected in the surface of the water.
Arthur: In other words ... that person used the lake to predict the village's future.
Chloe: Must have been an amazing oracle to be able to read the future using a lake! It's just like what Snow sama and White sama could do!
Nero: Hey, didn't you say you've been here before? By any chance, was that oracle you two?
Snow: No, it wasn’t us.
Everyone's attention had been focused on Snow.
Snow merely smiled and simply shook his head.
Snow: Isn't that right, village chief? The oracle you speak of wasn’t a pair of cute twins like us two, no?
Village Chief: We have no detailed description... That person appeared all of a sudden, and then they disappeared without a trace.
All that has been passed down to us is this: the visions of the lake showed only prosperous and glorious days.
It seemed that the early inhabitants of this place had believed that the village’s fate was one of happiness, and regardless of the obstacles they faced, they worked hard to develop and cultivate these lands.
Thus, the future that the lake foretold came to pass owing to their forebearers' diligence, and their efforts bore fruit as the village that now stood before us.
As such, all the locals have nothing but unwavering faith and gratitude in the words of that oracle.
Village Chief: If it weren't for what they saw reflected in the lake, our forefathers might have given up on this land and moved on to greener pastures.
It was that person who had told them of this land's potential — and how Lake Mizukagami can show us the future.
In other words, with the lake as black as it is now, most of us have simply started to believe that that is the future that awaits us all......
Chloe: Considering how you can see the future in the lake... I-I guess it isn't too strange for people to get scared if that’s how the legend goes. It is inky black and all...
Arthur: Thank you for helping us understand the villagers’ anxieties.
???: Wizard san... What's going to happen to the lake?
I heard a nervous little voice. I looked around for its source, and I saw a familiar little girl with black hair clinging to the village chief's leg.
Akira: Aren't you one of the girls we met at the lake...?
Village Chief: Rita...! Do excuse her, she's my little granddaughter. Rita, go wait indoors with your mother.
Rita shook her head and continued clinging to her grandfather's leg.
She looked up at us pleadingly.
Rita: Please, I beg of you. Please return the lake to normal. If it stays black, Margo's going to leave the village.
And... we won't be able to divine the future with the lake anymore...
Nero: Divine? With the lake?
Chloe: Hello there, Rita. I'm Chloe!
We're really curious about the lake divination thing you just brought up. Could you tell us more?
Chloe knelt down to Rita's eye level, and he gently inquired further.
Chloe's kindness must have touched her, because she relaxed and started to tell us more.
Rita: Um, you float a leaf onto the lake, and think really hard about what you want to know.
And when this leaf, like, goes all the way to the tree in the middle of the lake, you dream, and the lake shows you the future.
Rita's Papa and Mama got married because the lake showed them that future! That's why the lake is really important to us, and to Rita too.
Episode 6 ⭢
[ Mizukagami Village ]
We, the group tasked with talking to the locals, headed towards the village chief's house. He was the one who had sent us the request. We looked around the village as we made our way there.
Akira: Oh yeah, Arthur, you're undercover again today, right?
Arthur: I am. I try not to expose my identity if I can help it, especially in situations where there's no need for rank.
Akira: Yeah, if people found out their prince was here, it would also cause quite the hubbub.
Snow: If word got out that the Central Country's prince personally visited remote countryside villages to look into their troubles, we might end up getting fake requests for aid from people who wish to gawk at royals.
Chloe: There might even be people who grow hopeful and think that requesting aid from the Sage's Wizards guarantees Arthur showing up...
Nero: Being popular sure has its troubles.
Arthur: I'd like to personally go to any and all requests where I might be of aid, but ... there's only one of me, and only so many hours in my day.
Today, I think I'd like to be Arthur, a Sage's Wizard, instead of Arthur, Prince of Central Country. It's the role that suits this mission.
Akira: (He's thought this over a lot... What a nice young man.)
Chloe: ...... Oh! There's some people chatting over there.
We turned our gazes to the two locals having a conversation that Chloe had pointed out.
Snow: I'm quite keen to find out what those little girls were talking about. Let us hear from those two as well, shall we?
Villager A: Hey, did you see yet? I went to the lake again, but it's still really black.
Villager B: Argh... If things stay this way, I don't know what I can do. Stay home, I guess...
Akira: Um... Excuse me...
Villager B: ...... Ugh, what do you strangers want from us?
Arthur: Sorry for startling you all. We are the Sage and her Wizards.
Arthur was charming and breezy as he smiled, and he stepped up before us to face the wary villagers. Snow peeked out from behind him.
Snow: We are here because your village chief had requested of us. Seems like something strange has happened to the nearby lake.
Pray tell us what you know of the lake and its surroundings.
Villager B: The Sage and...! Oh, you're really here to investigate this...... I’m so very sorry for my rudeness earlier.
Nero: Nah, don’t worry about it. Anyone would be on edge if they saw strangers lurking around a place that's got unnatural happenings going on.
So, what's been up with the lake? Have you guys seen any other weird stuff going on, besides how the lake’s gone all black?
Villager A: Well... Just that, and nothing else so far.
The villagers, now more relaxed, opened up to us about the lake and village.
We asked around, and what we heard was largely the same as what those two told us: so far, nothing strange had happened besides the lakewater turning black.
Akira: (It’s at least some comfort that the village hasn’t been harmed yet.)
[ No BGM ]
I'd barely finished my thought when one of the villagers suddenly and very, very nervously, spoke up.
Villager C: ...... Um, hey, what do you all think about the lake?
Chloe: What do you mean, what do we think?
Villager C: You know, like...... if it turned black because of natural causes, or if it's...!
Villager D: So it is foretelling our village's future...!
[ BGM resumes ]
Akira: (The future of this village...?)
Snow: Now, we don't know about that.
We have some of us looking into it as we speak. After they're done, we'll know its cause for sure.
Villager E: In that case…….
The villagers dispersed. We watched their dejected backs leave.
Snow smiled, serene.
Snow: ...... Ohoho. As gullible as ever. They haven’t changed despite the years.
We eventually arrived at the doorstep of the village chief's house.
An old man with a white beard politely greeted us.
Village Chief: The Great Sage and her Wizards...! Welcome to our humble village.
Snow: Greetings. We’ve been investigating the village since we arrived, and I must say, everyone seems to be in very low spirits about this lake.
Chloe: It even seems like some of them are so terrified that they’ve locked themselves in their homes.
And that's in spite of being fully aware that nothing has even happened aside from the lake turning black...
Snow: We'd appreciate it if you could tell us why the villagers are treating the changes to the lake as such an ordeal.
Village Chief: If things continue as they are, one day the darkness of the lake will extend its reach to the village itself, causing misfortune to befall the village... That is what everyone is afraid of...
Chloe: Oh, but... I thought only the lake was experiencing strange phenomena?
Why would its colour changing mean misfortune for the whole village?
Village Chief: It's because there's a belief that's passed down for generations in our village. It's a myth at best, but the entire village believes it to be true... myself included.
It is said that in the past, the waters of Lake Mizukagami reflected the future.
Akira: The future…?
According to the village chief, a long, long time ago, the area this village was built on was rife with natural disasters and was nearly uninhabitable.
Just when long rains would cease, droughts would turn the land drier than sand. Nothing would grow. The people who made this place their home had to toil and fight the elements just to survive.
Village Chief: The people of this land lamented the constant damage they had to endure. One day, a person claiming to be an oracle arrived at the village.
That oracle used Lake Mizukagami to divine the future. You could see countless visions of the future reflected in the surface of the water.
Arthur: In other words ... that person used the lake to predict the village's future.
Chloe: Must have been an amazing oracle to be able to read the future using a lake! It's just like what Snow sama and White sama could do!
Nero: Hey, didn't you say you've been here before? By any chance, was that oracle you two?
Snow: No, it wasn’t us.
Everyone's attention had been focused on Snow.
Snow merely smiled and simply shook his head.
Snow: Isn't that right, village chief? The oracle you speak of wasn’t a pair of cute twins like us two, no?
Village Chief: We have no detailed description... That person appeared all of a sudden, and then they disappeared without a trace.
All that has been passed down to us is this: the visions of the lake showed only prosperous and glorious days.
It seemed that the early inhabitants of this place had believed that the village’s fate was one of happiness, and regardless of the obstacles they faced, they worked hard to develop and cultivate these lands.
Thus, the future that the lake foretold came to pass owing to their forebearers' diligence, and their efforts bore fruit as the village that now stood before us.
As such, all the locals have nothing but unwavering faith and gratitude in the words of that oracle.
Village Chief: If it weren't for what they saw reflected in the lake, our forefathers might have given up on this land and moved on to greener pastures.
It was that person who had told them of this land's potential — and how Lake Mizukagami can show us the future.
In other words, with the lake as black as it is now, most of us have simply started to believe that that is the future that awaits us all......
Chloe: Considering how you can see the future in the lake... I-I guess it isn't too strange for people to get scared if that’s how the legend goes. It is inky black and all...
Arthur: Thank you for helping us understand the villagers’ anxieties.
???: Wizard san... What's going to happen to the lake?
I heard a nervous little voice. I looked around for its source, and I saw a familiar little girl with black hair clinging to the village chief's leg.
Akira: Aren't you one of the girls we met at the lake...?
Village Chief: Rita...! Do excuse her, she's my little granddaughter. Rita, go wait indoors with your mother.
Rita shook her head and continued clinging to her grandfather's leg.
She looked up at us pleadingly.
Rita: Please, I beg of you. Please return the lake to normal. If it stays black, Margo's going to leave the village.
And... we won't be able to divine the future with the lake anymore...
Nero: Divine? With the lake?
Chloe: Hello there, Rita. I'm Chloe!
We're really curious about the lake divination thing you just brought up. Could you tell us more?
Chloe knelt down to Rita's eye level, and he gently inquired further.
Chloe's kindness must have touched her, because she relaxed and started to tell us more.
Rita: Um, you float a leaf onto the lake, and think really hard about what you want to know.
And when this leaf, like, goes all the way to the tree in the middle of the lake, you dream, and the lake shows you the future.
Rita's Papa and Mama got married because the lake showed them that future! That's why the lake is really important to us, and to Rita too.
Episode 6 ⭢