A week had pa.s.sed since the Savage had attacked the Gutenberg Kingdom in the territory of Britannia.

Around me, every child wept, calling for their papas and mamas.

I was the same.

I had lost my relatives in the Savage"s attack and was sat in a corner of the inst.i.tution that accommodated the orphaned children, holding my knees and a stuffed bear to my chest, crying, calling "Mama, mama."

I knew we would never meet again.

Mama had protected me from falling rubble, and died.

Though I may have been young, I still understood "death".

Even so, I called for her, over and over, to escape the searing pain of reality.

I remembered her smiling face, and could feel happy, even if only for an instant.

But, the loneliness soon returned…

I did this again and again when I heard voices telling each other to do their best from now on.

They were from small children that had formed a ring and were encouraging each other.

I watched them, feeling jealous.

There was no one to console me, to vow to do their best from now on.

On the contrary, I didn"t even have anyone I knew in this country, because I had come here to accompany my mama, who was a pianist, when the Savage attacked.

But, someone called to me in my isolation.

"Would you like to talk about something? We don"t know anyone here, and we"re free."

I raised my head and my breath caught.

Because the hair colour and skin with a slight yellow tinge to it of the boy reflected in my eyes were the same as that of people from the country were my mother was from, born and brought up, the Yamato Empire.

The boy was guiding a girl, not too different in age from me, by the hand. She had the same hair colour, and her features were the spitting image of his.

I thought they might be siblings when the boy introduced her.

"This is my little sister, Karen. Come on, Karen, say h.e.l.lo."

But the girl he had introduced as Karen just stayed hidden shyly behind the boy, and didn"t seem like she"d come out. Even when he told her to come forward, she shook her head and refused. Even as he looked appalled at her behaviour, the boy once more turned his gaze to me.

"Sorry, she"s just really shy. Would you tell me your name?"

"Sakura."

I answered.

"Sakura, so are you from Yamato too? You don"t look it though…"

My hair and skin were different from Asians, so it was only natural to think that.

"My papa is Russian, and my mama is from Yamato, so…"

At the same time as I spoke, mama"s smile went through my head, and I couldn"t help but cry.

"Ah, umm… sorry… Now"s not the time for that kind of stuff."

The panicked boy started rummaging in the bag he was carrying.

"Is there anything you like? If there"s something you want, just tell me."

"…Mama…"

Even though he was pulling out many sweets from the bag, that was what I said. I wasn"t being mean to the boy, I just couldn"t think of anything else to say.

Unsurprisingly, the boy appeared troubled.

"Umm, is there anything else."

"Song."

The next thing to go through my mind was that.

"…Song?"

I nodded.

"A song, like singing, right? What song?"

"The song mama sang. She sang the song when things were sad or painful."

"Then, sing that song. If we know it, we might even be able to join in and sing together."

"You… can"t…"

"Why, is it a hard song?"

"It"s a song mama wrote for me."

It was the precious treasure that mama had left for me.

"Your mother wrote songs?"

"She was a pianist."

"Then, let"s hear that song."

"Eh…"

"Writing a song is amazing, isn"t it? I"d like to hear it, can"t I?"

"No, you can."

I was happy he"d called my mama amazing.

He wanted to hear my amazing mama"s song.

So I sang.

A gentle song, like a lullaby.

It was the first time I sang it, and I cried several times while I did, but I could sing it until the end.

"That was great, wasn"t it?"

The boy applauded.

"Was… it?"

"I don"t know much about music, but I thought so. What about you, Karen, you think so too?"

Karen nodded too.

"I thought… it was good."

That was the boy"s sister"s voice that I heard for the first time.

"Ummm, it was like this I think."

The boy began to sing and his sister soon pouted.

"Nii-san… you"re… out of tune."

He certainly was, well out of tune.

"Then you try singing."

The boy said that and the girl sang.

In a clear, beautiful voice.

"Oh, nicely done."

The boy opened his mouth in surprise and began to sing as if chasing her. However, their voices didn"t reach a harmony.

The boy was just too slow.

"Nii-san… you"re tone deaf."

"I"m just kinda clumsy."

I couldn"t help but laugh at their conversation.

At the same time, I noticed, this was the first time I had laughed since I had parted with mama.

After that, I sang with them too…

After several hours, we finally reached a harmony and laughed in accomplishment.

I don"t know what happened to those siblings after that.

The day after I met them, I was taken in by my father, who I could never remember meeting, and left the inst.i.tution.

Of course, I would never meet with those siblings again, but I never forgot that day.

Thanks to that day, I came to love singing, came to find a reason to live, and how to fight with this world in my own way.

Thanks to them, I was able to overcome the hardships I faced.