The nameless lake was frozen over. A goose walked across the ice while a blond, pineapple-haired boy shouted from the shore, "Fly! You can do it~~~~!!!"
"Honk, honk...!"
The goose desperately flapped its tiny, feeble wings. As if unable to bear disappointing the boy—or perhaps not daring to—it tried again and again to take flight, its posture utterly miserable.
At the snowy bridgehead sat a blind old man cross-legged, his wooden sandals pressed together and a long blade laid flat across his knees. He did not hold an optimistic view of the boy's actions.
"All things have their destined fates. Its life does not belong to the sky..."
But the boy firmly believed otherwise. "Quit yapping!! As long as it has the conviction to soar through the skies, even a goose that swims in water can definitely fly into the heavens!"
The old man shook his head. "I bet it cannot fly..."
"Fly, you can do it! You're almost there!! Try one more time—don't give up!!!"
The boy shouted tirelessly.
At last, a miracle happened... The goose truly took flight, wobbling unsteadily yet flying resolutely toward the other side of the lake!
The pineapple-haired boy jumped up in excitement. "All right!!! I knew you could do it!!!"
After a moment, he withdrew his gaze and looked at the speechless old man beside him with a grin. "Well, mister? Wasn't I right? It could definitely fly!"
The old man sighed. "I never expected it to truly fly. How unbelievable... Has the era really changed?"
Holding the back of his head, the boy walked over and sat beside the old man without the slightest reserve. "Mister, where are you from?"
The old man stroked the soft wooden scabbard with his aged hand and said indifferently, "I am merely a down-and-out samurai. There