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A flower that resembles a flame.

When the slender, elongated petals bloom and sway in the wind, it creates an illusion, as if flames are igniting, and from a distance, the long stem’s movement might look like a flame sitting atop bamboo.

Could it be trying to announce that it is a flower historically grown for painting at temples?

Structures reminiscent of temples are scattered throughout the farm.

[Radio communication from the studio. Ah, Hina-chan, can you hear me—?]

[Roger that! Hina can hear you well!]

[So, Hina-chan, could you explain about the Higan flower?]

[Uh, it’s a flower. It’s red?]

[Hahaha! That’s right! It’s a red flower!]

Countless flowers.

Countless people.

The idol taking on the role of a reporter in that place was promoting the festival while communicating with the studio.

[Now, here’s a quiz! Can you eat Higan flower or not?!]

[Correct! You can eat it!]

[Oh, how?]

[Um… by blanching it?]

[That’s correct! How did you know?!]

[There’s a booth to try eating Higan flower, you see?]

[Oh no!]

Could it be the lively atmosphere of the festival making everyone excited?

Or perhaps it was the beautiful scenery of the Higan flower farm, blazing like flames?

The reporter, as well as the studio panelists, all seemed to be in high spirits.

[Ah~! Everyone! I see the booth over there! This is— learning about the Higan flower?]

[Oh, Hina reporter! Would you read it once?]

[Sure. The Higan flower was used as a dye for drawing temple paintings, which is why it was widely cultivated at temples… It has toxicity, so farmers also grew it to chase away moles… When blanched, the toxicity reduces enough to the point where it becomes edible…]

[That’s right. You can eat it. You can eat it…]

[Wow~! When it comes to the Higan flower, I can’t help but chime in. Back in my childhood, we were super poor, but I was so poor that people would say, “You have great survival skills!” you know!]

[Are you from Osaka?]

[No, I’m from Kyoto.]

[Wait! That’s an insult!]

[It’s fine, it’s fine~! Even Kyoto folks could manage just one fried Higan flower!]

[But that means it’s not really edible, right?!]

[Wow~! I was just saying I’m from Osaka and ended up with stomach issues—]

[Was that a dirty story?!]

In the studio, the panelists were exchanging jokes, laughing and chatting.

The reporter, out in the field, was also blending in like a tourist, enjoying the festival.

And as if blessing those tourists, hot air balloons were floating up in the sky.

One black hot air balloon, specially treated, bore a large red Higan flower pattern etched on it, glittering in response to the flames of the hot air balloon.

It seemed made for this festival, and come nightfall, the black fabric would meld into the darkness while the pattern would flare up, creating a spectacle of Higan flowers blooming in the sky.

It would truly be a beautiful sight.

* * *

The black hot air balloon was lazily floating in the sky.

Carrying the Higan flower pattern, it was drifting up above.

The intensely rising flames expanded the round hot air balloon, with unknown pouches tightly hanging on either side. The rope connecting the hot air balloon to the ground was painted green, mimicking the stem of a real Higan flower, while inside, the machine emitted a small sound, humming—

Twisting.

The machine was moving.

No, something inside the machine was moving.

Twisting.

The stainless steel exterior appeared cramped as the machine wriggled. Whether it was a radio or a walkie-talkie, it flickered momentarily, puffed up, and contracted, as if breathing.

And the lens at the center—

*Click.*

It closed and opened, like a person blinking.

*Thud.*

*Thud.*

The lens blinked.

The movement of the eyelids.

The inside of the lens resembling an eyeball.

Bulging and shrinking, creating a distortion.

Small larvae emerged from within.

Wriggling.

Little black things, plump and squishy.

Transformed by devouring rotting corpses.

It began as not maggots, but other kinds of larvae.

The insects wriggled out of the machine, spreading out and moving in a squirmy cluster before they all held onto each other tightly, rolling like pearls.

Following the swaying movement of the hot air balloon from left to right, they rolled from corner to corner, easily maneuvering around…

And as they began to solidify in the heat from the flames, drying up like beads made from crumbs.

Such a pitiful sight, not even resembling a rice ball made by a child on a sandy beach.

Those little black things seemed like they gathered dust to form pearls.

*Blink.*

The machine watched the scene of pearl creation.

It blinked, quietly observing.

And as time passed…

*Roll—*

The insect-made pearls expanded greatly.

When darkness descended upon the sky, those pearls began to crawl under the machine.

As if the place they belonged was down there, akin to iron pearls being attracted to a magnet…

They moved to adjust the angle of the machine.

To capture the flames at the center of its view…

*Whoosh.*

The flames are contained.

Within the machine’s gaze.

Within the eyes of something dwelling in the machine, the flames are imprisoned.

*Whoosh.*

Hot flames.

An array of red so bright it could blind the eyes.

Is it the dance of the Higan flower, or the dance of the flames?

Without even daring to blink, the eyes captured that spectacle.

And in the innermost depths of itself, it was engraved with—

*”Those who gaze into the flames long to become one with it.”*

It began merging itself with the flames.

Though it could not throw its body into them, it continued to watch intently.

Swaying as if the flames were a part of its own body, the fixed structure never wavered from its gaze upon the flames.

And thus, the moment arrived when its view finally pierced to the very center of the flames.

*Fwoosh—!*

The flames contracted and then suddenly swelled.

In that moment, eyes and flames became one.

Figures resembling eyeballs appeared within the flames, flickering here and there yet not collapsing.

Thus, the hot air balloon, with the Higan flower beneath, directed its fiery eyeball gaze upward at an angle, towards the universe.

*Whoosh.*

And these eyeballs were not singular.

Each hot air balloon bore a singular fiery eye.

And the total was seven.

Seven eyes traced a diagonal, fixated on one point.

That direction reached far beyond the sky up to the universe.

Seven fiery eyes.

Those seven gazed upon a single twinkling.

There, where the fiery eyes were fixated…

* * *

The Sea of Calmness is always filled with pain.

A chilling cold of a horrifying degree.

In stark contrast, the scorching flames eagerly embrace the body.

Though no sound pierces the air, a lamenting cry seems to echo everywhere.

All is pain.

A space akin to the depths of hell, as if life has been transposed here.

Even without waves, one can feel the rocking of the waves.

Even without snow falling, one can feel the bite of icy cold.

Even without having swallowed flames, one can feel their heat.

It’s a feeling as if submerged in the depths of the ocean.

It’s a place where you can feel the sentiments of those drifting on a deserted island.

The Sea of Calmness exists within pain.

“…”

And in that dark sea.

Instead of water, there is dark matter.

Instead of ebb and flow, there is gravity.

Instead of waves, there is solar wind.

Only the sea itself shines brilliantly with starlight.

A place that triggers the illusion that a distant star is whispering to it through vibrations.

There, a person existed.

An old, dilapidated satellite.

In the cramped internal space, just enough for a person to barely live.

A complex array of bewildering devices, making it impossible to discern what’s what.

In that place, a man gazes at Earth through the window.

Enveloped in the serenity of the universe, he looks upon the blue star.

The ocean, smudged in blue.

The clouds, smudged in white.

The shining stars of Earth, visible even in the night.

Enormous structures visible even in space…

Oh, the radiant beauty floating within the Sea of Calmness.

A lighthouse radiating light, pointing the way home.

Oh, the beautiful blue lantern…

The man gazes at Earth through the window while sitting cross-legged, floating in mid-air.

With his glossy, glass-like eyes fixated on Earth, he firmly secures his limbs, now elongated and far more powerful, utilizing the new energy-generating organs in his body to emit qi, ensuring his body doesn’t drift away.

As always, he looks towards Earth.

And as always, he will soon turn his attention away, resuming his training.

Slowly practicing swordsmanship with a blade in the cramped space.

Venturing outside the satellite for a brief swim in the Sea of Calmness.

So, his daily life would continue as it always had…

“…Who are you?”

But something foreign had intervened in what was supposed to be an unchanging routine.

A fierce.

An intensely powerful gaze that stirred his instincts like never before.

 

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