#06: Night Sakura of Dead Spirits
The two girls left the café with perfect timing for one of their excursions. Twilight settled over the city. The sky had dimmed just enough to decrease visibility, but not quite enough to activate the automatic streetlights. The glistening decorations on the tree in the shopping district were the only outstanding source of light, and even those slowly shrank away as they headed toward the outskirts.
– "Not only is it dark, but it's really chilly tonight."
– "Feeling a chill usually means there are ghosts nearby. In this colder season, shouldn't there be a lot of ghosts around?"
– "You've got the logic backwards, Merry. If it's naturally cold, that just makes it harder to tell."
– "What do you mean?"
– "It's not that phantoms are attracted to the cold. The phantom itself has a negative body temperature, so it makes the surrounding air feel chilly."
– "How scary. What if all of winter is an illusion, and they've just stolen the warmth of spring right out the air?"
– "I don't get it, but your theories sure are interesting. ...Brrr!"
Renko exaggeratedly rubbed her hands over the sleeves of her shivering arms. She then shifted her shoulder bag to unzip the largest pocket, out of which peeked a tip of bright red fabric.
– "Oh my, is that...? I didn't know you still used it."
– "Of course! How could I throw it away? It's made out of magic string."
– "You believe that?"
– "You told me that, so I believed it."
– "Right..."
Although it's not like I actually got it from another world, Merry thought sheepishly.
– "Anyway, it was made by Merry, the magician. There's nothing more magical than that!"