Kino no Tabi:Volume5 Author's Notes
Otogaso — Preface —[1][edit]
On a certain day and month in the year 2001. A phone rang in Keiichi Sigsawa’s apartment.
Sigsawa: (picks up the phone) “Hello, who’s this?”
Mysterious man: (in a man’s voice) “Good afternoon. Is this the Sigsawa residence?”
Sigsawa: “I don’t deny that, but who might you be?”
Self-proclaimed Kino: “Oh, sorry for not introducing myself. I am Kino.”
Sigsawa: “… Huh? I don’t get what you mean.”
Self-proclaimed Kino: “I said I am Kino, the protagonist in your novel. Nice to meet you.”
Sigsawa: “…… Sorry but I am going to hang up now. As in, right now.”
Self-proclaimed Kino: “Don’t do that. After I went out of my way to call you? How rude.”
Sigsawa: “Well, no offense… but, you sound too old to be Kino.”
Self-proclaimed Kino: “Ah. Indeed, I am already fifty-four years old. I teach economics at some university in Tokyo. I am quite popular with the female students, you know. I even receive a lot of chocolates every Valentine’s Day.”
Sigsawa: “No one asked you for that. How did you get my number anyway?”
Self-proclaimed Kino: “I could still find out even if no one told me, I am Kino after all.”
Sigsawa: “…… If you are Kino, then where is Hermes right now?”
Self-proclaimed Kino: “I ran into Shizu, and Hermes was having a duel with his dog.”
Sigsawa: “… A duel with Riku? How?”
Self-proclaimed Kino: “Reaching no conclusion after throwing insults at each other for three days and three nights, they said they are going to settle it with a 50 meter back stroke. Hermes has left for the sea with a pair of diving goggles, but he hasn’t returned yet. Maybe he has been swept out to open sea?”
Sigsawa: “…… What about Shizu?”
Self-proclaimed Kino: “Some guys on an internet forum said that Shizu is my pedophilic stalker. That man went to get an explanation out of them. He said it will take some time because there are a number of them.”
Sigsawa: “…… What about Master?”
Self-proclaimed Kino: “She’s been charged under the Firearms Act and is in police custody at Shibuya station. She’ll probably escape soon and start a gunfight. The police can’t handle her alone, so they may have to mobilize the armed forces.”
Sigsawa: “…… The Kino in my works doesn’t talk like that.”
Self-proclaimed Kino: “Hmph—— you’ve lost.”
Sigsawa: “What do you mean by that?”
Self-proclaimed Kino: “Never mind. Anyway, I see ‘A Safe Country’[2] was rejected again. Will it ever see the light of day?”
Sigsawa: “W-wait! How did you know that? Only me, my editor and that spider that I talk to in my room know!”
Self-proclaimed Kino: “Because I am Kino.”
Sigsawa: “……”
Self-proclaimed Kino: “There are lots of other things that I know. For instance, ‘The Land of Couples’[3] was edited from a rejected short story for volume two. The version of ‘Colosseum’[4] you submitted for the Dengeki Game Novel Prize[5] has a scene where I was wounded and lying half-naked for treatment, not to mention sewing up my jacket. ‘Kino’ was a name you came up with for the male protagonist of another story, but gave it to me in a hurry since you ended up not using that one.
Sigsawa: “Wow!”
Self-proclaimed Kino: “’Wow’?”
Sigsawa: “So it’s true! … Amazing! I never thought Kino really did exist! You are Kino, right?”
Kino: “That’s what I’m telling you from the very beginning…. Just because you are an author, that doesn’t mean you have to be suspicious of anything and everything all the time.”
Sigsawa: “S-sorry. I’ll reconsider my skepticism.”
Kino: “I have to go now.”
Sigsawa: “No way! Don’t go yet! Please! Let’s talk some more! Ah yes, which country is the most memorable for you? Please tell me so I can write it down!”
Kino: “Sadly… my three days are up.”
Sigsawa: “… Please, five more minutes!”
Kino: “Come on, Hermes. Let’s go. Goodbye.” (loud engine noise)
Sigsawa: “No wait!”
Kino: “Hermes, is that seaweed?” (voice getting distant)
Sigsawa: “Ah… Wait… Please don’t leave…” (tearful voice)
*Beep beep beep*
Keiichi Sigsawa
January 2002
Translator’s Notes[edit]
- ↑ The Japanese title was kept because I can’t find a suitable translation for it. Sorry…
- ↑ Volume 6 Chapter 6: “A Safe Country” — For His Safety —
- ↑ Volume 4 Chapter 3: “Land of Couples” — Even a Dog Doesn’t Eat—
- ↑ Volume 1 Chapter 4: “Colosseum” — Avengers —
- ↑ Kino no Tabi was originally submitted as an entry for this contest in 2000. It was a finalist, but it did not win. However, soon after, it was serialized in Dengeki hp.
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