I’m Back in the Other World? Chapter 88

Chapter 88

Chapter 88 – Name

 

We moved to the back in the garden.

I don’t know how big the garden is, but I feel like we’ve walked quite a bit.

On the way, I tried to start a conversation to shake off the embarra.s.sment, but the talk always ended pretty quickly..

We kept repeating the pattern of walking, talking about anything, stopping and walking.

We kept trying, but we couldn’t shake off the awkwardness.

However, this feeling disappeared as soon as we arrived to “that place”.

「……This is…? 」 I said.

The moment I saw it, I completely stopped moving, and could only squeeze those words out.

Still, my gaze was fixed on it.

「This is what I wanted to show you. When I started to trade with the eastern country, they gave us this as a sign of good faith. At first it was only a small seedling, but now it has grown and blooms beautifully every year. I don’t know what tree it is, but I wanted to show it to Sakura, there is only one of it on the whole country.」

It is very beautiful and I felt nostalgic as I watched the fluttering petals.

This flower, this tree is….

「Sakura…1」

Yes, that tree that bloomed soft pink flowers was definitely a Sakura.

Considering the time of the year, it seems to be of the kind that blooms early. From the color and shape, it’s probably close to the Minatozakura2?

「Sakura…?」

The prince’s voice seemed confused.

「It is the tree, Sakura … As you can see, it’s what my name was based on. I really didn’t expect to see it on this world…」

I was born in November, but it seems my parents remembered a Sakura when they saw me…3 They both liked the tree, so they decided to name me after it.

Not only that, but even though I was born in November, there was still one fully Sakura in full bloom near the hospital back then. It was quite crazy, but my parents considered it as a blessing for me.

「The Sakura were very famous trees in the country I’m from, there were several stories about them. The beautiful blooming and brief scenery was seen as the heart of j.a.pan, it’s a very familiar and important tree… I really love this tree and am pretty happy to see it. Fufu… It’s an important name.」

At that time, the wind suddenly blew from nowhere

 

Zaaaaaaaa…

 

Blown by the wind, the branches fluttered and the petals fell on the ground, dyeing the everything with pink.

I remembered j.a.pan, family and friends when seeing that.

…… Since I can’t go home, at least let me enjoy this view….

I remember that every year I gathered with my friends and family to drink juice and appreciate the Sakuras on Hanami.4

I was suddenly a.s.saulted by a wave of nostalgia.

「…… Since there is a Sakura, we should’ve eaten lunch here. In my country there is a custom of eating Obentou under the Sakura, with some drinks… It’s an annual event.」

I put a lid on the memories of those days I can’t go back to.

So as t

o forget it, I chose a bright topic to talk about.

「Sakura …」

Prince’s eyes became distraught, I’m sure he is worried I’m remembering j.a.pan.

「I am all right, I just remembered a little…… I’m glad I could see this tree, I was pretty sure I wouldn’t see it anymore.」

It’s true that nostalgia was about to make me cry. But it’s also true that I’m happy.

Next year, I want to make a fuss with everyone here…. Prince, the king, the queen, princess Aria, Chiffon and Eru all together…

「…… Is that so… In that case, how about taking one of the branches back with you? It should last a few days at least, right? I’ll take one of the lower branches.」

……Eh?

What are you suddenly saying?

「Please wait! It’s very easy for Sakura to rot on the places it’s broken! So please don’t do it!」5

I quickly stopped the prince that was stretching his hand towards the branch.

「There is a proverb in my country,  “The fools who cut Sakura, are the fools that don’t cut Ume”6 , I admonish cutting a Sakura. And as I said, the Sakuras start to rot if you break them, the root of the flowers tend to be very near the branch, breaking the branch will completely ruin the harmony of the tree. “You should be able to enjoy nature as it is.” It also contains this meaning.」7

By the way, Plum trees don’t have those problems so it’s okay to take the branches of them for the sake of getting the fruits.

My intervention was in time, so the Sakura remained safe.

Maa, since he didn’t know about Sakuras in the first place, I suppose it couldn’t be helped….

「I-is that so… I’m sorry.」

「No, I’m sorry for sounding so condescending, prince just didn’t know, so there is no problem, but please be careful in the future, okay?」

I felt sorry for making the prince feel troubled, so I tried comforting him.

At that moment, I suddenly felt something.

…… This is… Magical power…?

Before magic is used, one can sense a slight disturbance on the magical power of the surroundings.

And that magical power is aiming at the prince.

Prince is not a mage, so he doesn’t notice it.

「Prince! Please lie down!」

I don’t know what magic it is, but I know it’s aimed at the prince.

I pushed the prince and stood before him.

At the moment, I felt a strong magical power.

「Ku-…!」

I won’t be able to stop the whole of it, but I can at least stop physical damage by using defensive magic.

A strong wind blew with a roar, scattering the Sakura petals.

Due to the defensive magic, I wasn’t hurt, but the wind was strong enough to push me down.

The Sakura petals flew in the air dyeing the surroundings in pink.

I heard clothes fluttering with a bata bata.8

After about 10 seconds, the wind suddenly stopped.

…… I wasn’t an offensive magic? It was just wind…?

I don’t know the purpose of the magic from just now. But, it’s certain that other people are here too, magicians at that.

I try searching for the source of the spell from the magical flow.

While I did that, I saw something moving in the direction the magic came from.

I tried to cast a spell at it, but they disappeared before I could do it.

I sighed and looked at the prince that was behind me.

「Are you alright? I’m sorry for suddenly pus.h.i.+ng you, it’s because I felt a spell coming…」

For some reason the prince had his hands behind his back and looked away with a red face.

「Prince? What happened, the spell just caused the wind, but it didn’t seem harmful… Did something happen?」

Since he didn’t answer when I asked him, I pushed him a bit more

…… There seems to be no outer injuries and the wind just made a few petals fall… What’s the problem?

「… No, no… I was a just little surprised…」

At least he answered, but he is still looking away with a red face.

I was a bit confused, but I decided to explain what I saw.

「I’m not sure, but … I think that this wind was created under princess’ Aria’s order. n.o.body could enter the garden without the permission of the royal family, and I think I saw princess Aria’s silhouette when looking at the direction of the magic, there seemed to be a lot of others, but they already went somewhere. I don’t know their intention, but I think they meant no harm.」

There was no killing intent on the spell, but then, what was the purpose of that wind…?

「……. Prince? What happened? Did you get hurt when I pushed you…?」

Although the prince already stood up, he still doesn’t seem very relaxed, there is something weird. Let me think about what happened when that magic came…

There was no killing intent on the spell, and I was standing right in front of the prince with defensive magic up, even if something flew with the wind, it shouldn’t be able to hit him. Then, something definitely happened when I pushed him.

「Prince, say it clearly! Did something happen? I can’t understand if you don’t talk!」

If you were hurt because of me, then I need to know it, we need to treat injuries quickly.

「…No, really, there are no injuries… Just …」

「Just? What is it? Please say it clearly!」

I’m getting impatient with the way he keeps on avoiding the topic, so my tone became sharp.

「Ah, that, I saw that…」

Ha? What was it that you saw?

「What did you see?」

「Uhn… That…」

As before, he kept on looking away with a red face without saying it clearly, I was getting frustrated.

「I can’t hear you, please say it out!」

「With the wind a while ago, your skirt flipped!」

「…… Ha?」

I made a stupid reply to his unexpected answer.

「I didn’t want to, but I ended up seeing it because of our position!」

Eto… If you don’t count the skirt… There is only one thing I’m wearing….

I didn’t wear trousers today, so one can see my underwear if the skirt flips….

And I chose today’s underwear while thinking that princess Aria would check it, so it’s “that” underwear….

In other words, “that” underwear was seen by the prince…?

My face turned red right away.

And as a final blow, the prince said…

「And, I don’t want to say anything about a person’s hobby, but that kind of underwear…… Should it really be used with a skirt?」

With that, my shame reached the apex.

「Iyaaaaaaaaaaah!!!」

The prince said too much! He should have more delicacy!

In the first place, if it wasn’t for princess Aria, I wouldn’t have worn this in the first place! Such hards.h.i.+p! Why is today so unlucky? Why do embarra.s.sing things keep happening!? Is it because it’s spring!? Everything! It’s all spring’s fault!

Spring, spring….

I hate spring!!!