"Wife... Wife? Feng Yi, what are you talking about?"
Kamisato Ayaka had not expected Feng Yi to call her that. Her fair cheeks flushed instantly, a lovely rosy hue.
"Is there a problem? Wife!"
Feng Yi winked at Kamisato Ayaka with a smile.
"We... we, well, yes, we are husband and wife, and we are willing to help Mr. Teshima. Before that, Mr. Teshima, can you tell us why you suddenly want to leave here?"
Kamisato Ayaka was about to say something, but when she saw the confused gazes of the villagers nearby, she blushed and agreed, continuing to pretend to be a couple of traveling companions.
"Me? Rather than asking why I want to leave... it's more like, I don't know why I should stay here."
Teshima scratched the back of his head, looking bewildered. He seemed to have forgotten many important things.
"Thirty years ago, why did I come here? For thirty years, why have I been unwilling to leave? I don't remember any of it. Ever since my Vision was taken, I... alas, the me from before wanted to stay here. Now that this obsession is gone, I feel it would be good to go out and see the world, even though my heart still feels empty..."
Teshima sighed. He no longer had a reason to stay.
"I see. Feng Yi, why don't we help Mr. Teshima find a reason to stay together?"
Hearing this, Kamisato Ayaka looked at Feng Yi beside her.
Only by witnessing firsthand the helplessness and confusion of someone whose Vision had been taken could Feng Yi's sense of justice be awakened, leading him to join them and help these innocent people.
This was Kamisato Ayaka's purpose for this journey.
"Of course, but since Mr. Teshima himself doesn't remember why he stayed, where will you start?"
Feng Yi treated it as a date with Kamisato Ayaka; there was no danger anyway.
"Hmm... this is indeed a bit difficult. Grandma, do you know any clues?"
"Speaking of which, the last time I brought fruit to Mr. Teshima, I seemed to have seen him writing a diary..."
Grandma smiled as she looked at the young, slightly awkward couple.
When she first got married, she was also this young and shy, but after so many years, that faint excitement had long been washed away by the mundane realities of life.
Seeing this young couple, she seemed to see her younger self.
"Do I have such a habit? To be honest... I don't remember anymore."
Teshima shook his head and sighed.
"Yes, yes, you do. At that time, Mr. Teshima said he wanted to write down some interesting things for important use later..."
Grandma felt she wouldn't remember incorrectly.
"That's great! I feel like as long as we find the diary, we can know why Mr. Teshima stayed. Feng Yi, let's search around here."
Kamisato Ayaka said excitedly. Things would work out when the time came, and here was the breakthrough!
Following the route in his memory, Feng Yi indeed found a dusty notebook next to Mr. Teshima's house.
"Ayaka wife, look, this should be Mr. Teshima's diary!"
"Feng Yi, you're amazing! Let me see..."
Kamisato Ayaka was still searching through some old baskets and didn't expect Feng Yi to find it so quickly. His efficiency was astonishing.
It was as if Feng Yi had known the location of the diary beforehand.
Kamisato Ayaka suddenly remembered that Thoma had mentioned Feng Yi's observation skills were very sharp. It seemed to be true now.
Her 'Anti-Vision Hunt Alliance' was in dire need of such talent!
[Today, I made grilled sweetfish with everyone in the village. My hands are clumsy, and I accidentally burned the pot. I had to pretend it was grilled blackfish...]
[Today, I rescued a child from the water in the village. He said his good friend Bombo was still in the water. I searched for an afternoon and only then realized Bombo was actually the little crab he raised...]
[Today, I went to fly a kite. The string suddenly broke. I chased and chased, but I couldn't catch it, so I found a place to sit down and watched it drift further and further away...]
Opening the diary, Kamisato Ayaka found that it only recorded small everyday matters.
Continuing to flip through, Kamisato Ayaka finally found some valuable information.
[Today I went to the nearby shrine again and sat there for a long time. The omamori you gave me is a bit faded, but it's still my most precious possession...]
Following the clue, the two of them came to the vicinity of the shrine and found a purple omamori on the stone platform. However, both its color and design looked like something a girl would have.
"Diary, omamori, gift... what's the connection? Feng Yi, what do you think? Feng Yi?"
Kamisato Ayaka pondered, murmuring the clues she had, wanting to ask for Feng Yi's opinion, but he did not respond.
Looking up, Feng Yi's figure had disappeared. Kamisato Ayaka felt extremely disappointed and lost by Feng Yi's abrupt departure.
She seemed to have misjudged him. Feng Yi did not have a kind heart for the people and gave up at the first difficulty.
"Ayaka wife, here, here!"
Just then, Feng Yi's call came from a distance.
Kamisato Ayaka's eyes lit up. She knew she had not misjudged him; Feng Yi wouldn't leave without a word.
Kamisato Ayaka ran, following the sound, and found Feng Yi standing under a large tree.
"Feng Yi, it's so good that you didn't leave without a word!"
Kamisato Ayaka stepped forward and took Feng Yi's arm, her expression slightly agitated.
"Why would I leave without a word?"
Feng Yi: Did I do something? I don't think I did anything, but why is Kamisato Ayaka so agitated?
He had merely gone ahead to scout the next location. He couldn't figure out what Kamisato Ayaka was imagining.
Kamisato Ayaka felt that this joy of regaining something lost was something others could not understand.
"I'm so sorry, I was very rude! But, Feng Yi, what are you doing here?"
Kamisato Ayaka calmed down and quickly let go of Feng Yi's arm. Her actions just now were too intimate.
"It's alright. Ayaka wife, look, the soil here has been disturbed. I suspect Mr. Teshima might have buried something here..."
Kamisato Ayaka's small hands were very fair and tender, like jade fingers that had been soaked in milk for a long time, feeling very comfortable to hold.
Feng Yi still felt a lingering touch on Kamisato Ayaka's retracted hand.
"Let's dig it up then."
Kamisato Ayaka nodded and, together with Feng Yi, dug up an ancient wooden box.
Inside the wooden box was a letter. The paper had yellowed and looked quite old.
[If... we get separated in this war, wait for me in Konpaku Village. We will surely have a peaceful home there...]
A sentence in the letter made Kamisato Ayaka suddenly understand something.