In a relatively backward little village...
The men wore threadbare towels around their necks to wipe away sweat and loudly hawked their wares outside their homes, showing off freshly caught game or crops they had grown themselves.
The women helped beside them, preparing those goods. Years of such work had left their hands covered in protective calluses.
Naturally, passersby occasionally stopped to ask about the prices.
In this rare stretch of peace without war, even such a simple life could already be considered "fortunate."
Elsewhere, children crowded around one spot, jostling one another as though they had found something fun.
"Wow! So pretty!"
"They look like rainbows!"
Several bubbles floated in the air, shimmering with seven colors. They were as beautiful as crystal balls.
The children surrounded these "bubbles," gazing at them in delight, their eyes shining.
As a bubble drifted closer, one child tried to touch it, only to be stopped by the others. The other little ones pressed their lips together. They clearly wanted to touch the beautiful bubbles too, but could not bear to make them disappear.
Nearby, Utakata sat on a wooden stump, wearing a blue haori, his brown bangs covering his left eye. He smiled at the sight. Clearly, he had made all these bubbles. "Don't worry. You can touch them gently. Nothing will happen."
"!!"
At those words, the children's disappointment instantly turned to excitement. Still moving with great care, they began trying to touch the bubbles.
"It really didn't pop!"
"Let me see! Let me see!"
"Don't rush! Be careful!"
Amid the jostling, one child suddenly lost his footing and fell uncontrollably toward the bubbles. Under his friends' panicked, "despairing" gazes, he inevitably crushed every last one.
"..." Silence fell.
The children lowered their heads, looking miserable. They glanced at one another, all