Alright, let’s take a look at the next really big hurdle. The girl who saw the future. What can we think of to challenge a fearsome witch of the senate 
?
Well, we already know the one secret at the heart of it. The only reliable prophecy of the future is the fulfillment of a certain determination. When Rika speaks of things that will happen, she is reporting what someone has decided will happen.
So, and I"m going from the Manga here, what are the exact words of prophecy we need to unravel?
In some years, I"ll be killed… It’s a very unpleasant thing, but it’s probably a thing that has already been decided upon. Whose plan would this be? I would like to know that as well.
On this day of Showa 54, the dam site manager will be killed and torn in to pieces.
On this day of June of Showa 55, Satoko’s parents will die. Maybe I should say it will be an accident. An unfortunate accident.
Again, on this day of the following year, the year 56, my parents will be killed.
Again, on this day of the following year, the year 57, Satoko’s mean aunt will have her head smashed and will die.
All the deaths that will happen from now on, one can think of them as convenient to those who control this village.
And then, on this day of June in Showa 58, or a few days later, I will be killed. They will stuff up my mouth with something, I’ll lose consciousness, and like that my life will come to an end.
I didn’t want to know these things, but against my will I ended up seeing them. Many, and many times over.
Ouch, this is a rough one. But there are a few things of note. First of all, Tomitake and Takano are not on the kill list, even though their reported deaths are big news. I don’t think a truly prescient Rika would include the possibly accidental deaths of Satoko’s parents but then skip over the two that were definitely murdered shortly before her own death.
But, at the heart of it, we need to explain three things. First, why was Rika running around with scissors snipping phone lines. Second, how does she know these things, and third why does she tell Akasaka.
Well, the people who run this village can only really refer to the heads of the three great houses, so what do they gain from these deaths? Are they pursuing a similar strategy to Beatrice, increasing fear of violent retribution in the witch’s darkness in order to solidify both faith and control in the village? That seems to make sense, and if we say that Rika, as a child of those great houses, was being dragged in to the planning meetings despite her age it would normally line up but still…
I just can’t see a conspiracy where a third of the conspirators intend to kill themselves, and the victims’ own very young child is in on it. THere were no clues suggesting Rika had huge enough problems with her parents to go along with this thing… Then again, maybe that’s why she reached out to Akasaka. She decided to defy the plan to try to save her parents and herself, and realized that by doing so she was adding herself to the hit list? That feels really clumsy to me though.
The witch of miracles is a formidable opponent.