ju

You haven't let your own books get into your own head, have you? It was just a rock that the girl picked up. How could it be the 'legendary Stone' itself?

I thought it was only a legend at first...

But think about it... ever since it appeared, we've had broken things repair themselves, then a bumper crop, and then those tools that somehow got fixed...

Could the legends be true? I would rather err on the chance that it's real.

But we saved that harvest with our own hands, our own hard work.

You're not wrong, but how do you explain the tools that fixed themselves?

Maybe it was a craftsman in town...

How many craftsmen are there in this town?

Why did you come to the shrine? I thought you didn't believe in deities.

...Erring on the chance that it's real, I guess.

What's that commotion outside?

What are you people doing—

Thieves! That's my stone!

Get out of the way, girl! We're just here for the stone!

Being a thief is bad enough, now you're bullying a little girl?!

We're just borrowing it! You got lucky that the rain didn't flood your whole town, and now you won't let other people have a good harvest either?

You're rambling! Look at all the hard work we put into these farms! The bamboo pipes, tools, water wheels, rice mill... we made it with our two hands!

You're the one who's rambling! Why did you come to this shrine if you didn't believe in the lengendary stone?

I—

The peddler's here too! You wrote the storybook, you tell us about it! Is story about this girl coming up with the seeding tool improvements real, or did you make it all up?

...I heard it from that farmer.

And what about the stories of this girl wandering around the town carrying the stone?

(Glances at Little Wood)

Regardless, the stone belongs to us.

That's right!

The other townsfolk yell in agreement, but the people from the neighboring town do not back down—

How did all those tools get fixed after the rain?

Why is it that your town alone weathered the crisis?

There must be some sorcery... it must be the legendary stone!

I heard everything you were talking about! Some stone? Does this look like one that makes dreams come true?

G-Guide spring water into the village with bamboo.

How do you know about these things?

How does a little girl know about these things?!

If it's indeed the legendary stone that brought all this, we need it, and we'll have it even if we have to fight for it—

(Listen, girl, I have an idea to stop a fight from breaking out.)

(Mr. Ju?!)

(Do what you tried to do when we first met. Throw me into the river. There will be no conflict if there is no Stone.)

(You want to solve the problem by leaving?)

(It's the best way to go to avoid things from going out of control.)

(You have learned your lessons well... you can continue to hone your skills on your own.)

It looks like a fight might break out at any moment.

(No...)

STOP IT!

The child's voice rings loud and clear in the tiny shrine.

(Girl—)

(Raises the stone)

You call this a 'legendary stone'. Look at it. Does it look like there's anything legendary about it?

The crowd bends in to take a closer look at the green stone lying quietly in the girl's hand. It is dull, unremarkable, looking no more magical than any ordinary stone picked up from the fields.

I-I was the one who fixed the tools after the rain!

You? Hah, I guess the stories have gotten to your head, girl!

...Watch me!

The girl takes a broken hoe and ties the broken pieces together with vines. The hoe is now even stronger than it used to be.

Haven't we been planting our rice with our own hands all these years?

Why do we stop trusting our hands after one rain? Why do we have to believe in some stone... believe in deities?

Why do we wish for a stone to solve all our problems?

Why are we fighting like this over a rock?

We should be counting on ourselves!

The sun is pale today. The empty fields lie fallow, like a heavy snow had just fallen.

There!

You really let the girl build a strawman around the stone and put it in the field.

This is both a... closure for what happened that day, and a symbol of hope that next year will be a good harvest.

If there's really a deity in the stone... I think he'll be glad to see us work together and make all this land fields of golden grain, extending as far as the river banks.

For the first time in centuries, Ju has a body again.

If there comes a day when all the troubles are gone, I would love to be a straw man in the fields, enjoying the peace and quiet.

Seriously, where did the girl learn all these words?