Kino no Tabi:Volume11 Chapter7

A Tale of Fighting People — Reasonable —

A lone motorrad (Note: A two-wheeled vehicle. Only to note that it cannot fly) was running inside a forest in the midst of spring.

On the level surface of this great forest was a single path among the budding greenery. It was a road of blackened earth, roughly one truck across.

The morning sun was dimly reflected on the silver tank of the motorrad. Two black boxes flanked its rear wheel, on top of which was tied a satchel as well as a sleeping bag.

Its rider was young. The mid-teen wore a brimmed hat with ear flaps that covered the ears and a pair of faded silver-framed goggles.

A wide belt fastened the rider’s black jacket on the waist, at the back of which was an automatic hand persuader (Note: A persuader is a gun. In this case, a pistol), while on top of the right thigh was a holstered revolver.

Visible from the gaps of the mantle of leaves and branches on top of the road was the blue sky, snow white clouds floating high above it. The motorrad advanced in a relaxed pace while embraced by a refreshing breeze.

“Idyllic isn’t it, Kino?” the motorrad spoke.

“It sure is, Hermes,” replied the rider called Kino.

With the gear set on low and the accelerator barely touched, Kino drove through the easy-to-traverse road leisurely.

After riding for a while through the unchanging sceneries, “What an empty forest,” the motorrad called Hermes commented. “It would be a huge surprise if there is someone here. For us, and for the other side too.”

“…”

Kino’s eyes beneath the goggles narrowed for a moment.

“Whoa, a bolt out of the green,” Hermes said, but Kino ignored the mistake and instead asked, “Is it people? How many?”

Hermes answered, “They’re still far ahead. There are quite a number of them. Around ten, I believe.”

“Okay. If we encounter them, let’s try and have a chat,” Kino replied, then accelerated.

The image of the trees flowing on both sides blurred as she sped up. After running like this for a while, Kino discerned human silhouettes ahead the road. She saw men waving at her.

“That’s rare,” Hermes mumbled.

Kino slowly dropped her speed and stopped in front of the men.

Indeed there were around ten of them. Some sat by the roadside, while some reclined against the forest trees.

Their ages varied. The youngest looked around his twenties while the oldest was perhaps around his fifties, but all of them had toned physiques. They wore outdoor jackets or vests, and their feet and elbows were dirty. They carried weapons—bolt-action rifles or revolvers—as if they were part of their bodies. Their luggage consisted of big knapsacks on their backs.

All of them had calm expressions, and none of them bore their persuaders threateningly. Among the group, a bearded man in his forties stepped forward and greeted Kino with a smile.

“Greetings. A traveler, I presume? Excuse us for the interruption, but there’s just something we would like to ask. It won’t take long so, do you mind?”

Kino left Hermes’ engine running as she replied, “Well no, if it’s something I could help you with. What is it?”

“Thank you. As you can see, we are traveling. We would like to know how far the nearest country is. We couldn’t tell after we’ve entered this forest.”

Kino answered the man’s question calmly and sincerely. “The direction where we came from should be near. I was just there last evening, you see. My top gear is in bad condition, so I was riding rather slowly.”

“Well I’m sorry,” Hermes mumbled once more. Kino continued.

“And it would probably take me three more days to reach the country I’m heading to, the one due west.”

“That’s good to hear. In that case, we’ll continue east. Thank you, you’re a life saver.”

“You’re welcome. I’ll be going ahead then.” Kino excused herself and passed through the men who waved their hands at her. When she looked back once, she saw the seated men stand up and start to walk away.

Kino rode at a considerably high speed for a moment and then halted all of a sudden. She veered off to the right side of the road and parked Hermes between the trees. Then she cut off the engine.

“Dear, dear…,” Kino alighted Hermes with a sigh and left Hermes reclined on a thick tree. She untied the rubber strap on top of the satchel and placed the rolled sleeping bag on top of the grass.

Kino opened the satchel while still placed on top of the rear carrier.

Inside were neither clothes nor traveling luggage, but a wireless radio. The large transceiver was fit inside as much as it can go.

Kino turned on the main switch and stretched the folded antenna. She let her goggles hang from her neck, and fixed the headphones on her ears. Then she took a microphone and connected the cord to the transceiver.

And finally, she pushed the microphone’s talk button.

[‘Hat’ to ‘hood’. Do you read?]

——

Two days before.

During her second day in the country, Kino entertained some guests in the hotel she stayed in.

Her guests were eight men from their twenties to their fifties and a woman who barely appeared to be twenty. And in the arms of this woman was a tiny baby.

They asked Kino to be their bodyguard until they reach the next country.

For some undisclosed reason, they abandoned their country and has wandered about in a truck ever since. The country they were currently in refused their pleas for migration, and having exceeded the period of stay they were given, they decided to head to the next country due west the next day.

However, it seems that bandits who targeted traders thrived in the huge forest along the route to the next country. They ambush vehicles traversing the single road, and threaten passengers to give up half of their cargo. Anyone who refused is mercilessly killed.

They were greatly disturbed upon hearing this story from the locals.

They were also armed with persuaders. However, they have practically no experience in fighting. Having half of their belongings taken away from them would land them in a life-and-death predicament. For that reason, they tried to look for bodyguards in the country. But as no one leaves a country with good public order, they were turned down.

And so, when by pure chance Kino entered the country, they tried to talk with her, clinging to a sliver of hope that she may be skilled due to the fact that she’s a traveler. They laid out their story to her even though they were only grasping at straws.

“How rude. Kino’s strong you know.”

With her motorrad, she could ride ahead of the truck and inform them if there were any suspicious people or traps.

As part of their strategy, they would lend her their precious transceiver, and hold on to her clothes that would no longer fit in her satchel.

And in exchange for keeping the bandits at bay,

“This is all we could give you.”

She was offered something of not much value, considering that she might have to risk her life.

Kino agonized over their offer for a while. Hermes only said, “Well, it’s for Kino to decide,”

She ended up accepting it.

When the visitors have left their room, Hermes asked why she took their offer.

Kino answered,

“Maybe because of that cute baby.”

——

Inside the forest—

Kino turned off the switch of the transceiver and grabbed the rifle attached in the cover of her bag.

Kino expertly assembled the two parts of the rifle, an automatic that can also be used for sniping. Kino called this ‘Flute’.

“So it’s them?”

“Maybe.”

Kino took out a cloth bag containing spare magazines, slapped a nine-round magazine into Flute and loaded the first round.

After closing the satchel and securing the sleeping bag,

“I’ll be back soon.”

“Roger.”

Kino left Hermes, and jogged into the forest by the roadside.

Kino proceeded, parting leaves and branches on the way, and stopped at a place roughly 300 meters away from the men. She detached the long cylinder at the right side of Flute and gently screwed it on the tip of the barrel.

“Now then…”

Kino bared her face towards the road from where she lay low in concealment. Looking once behind her to confirm that nobody was around, she aimed at the head of the road and took a peek in Flute’s scope.

Within the crosshairs of the circular field, she saw the backs of the men concealed in the forest that lined the road.

“So they’re bandits after all…”

Sure enough, all of the men had their knapsacks on the ground and had their rifles on the ready. There were even some carrying hand grenades among them. They appear to be preparing an ambush for the approaching truck.

Kino counted, moving Flute’s aim along. She confirmed that there were twelve of them, two men more than before.

The men concealed themselves behind the tree trunks. At the same time, the tiny silhouette of the truck’s roof began to appear at the end of the road. It was a brown, medium-sized truck with its loading platform covered by a green canopy. A log was tied across the bumper, placed there on Kino’s instructions.

The truck running at a slow pace made full use of the road’s width. Its body brushed with the leaves and branches overhead.

Kino looked at the concealed attackers who were not visible from the truck’s vantage point.

“Please don’t take this against me…”

As she muttered, Kino inhaled and aligned the scope’s crosshairs with the head of the man carrying a grenade.

—

Kino slightly shifted her aim and fired.

Within the cylinder, the sound of the shot was reduced, and only the bullet made its way towards the man.

True to its aim, the bullet hit the end of the man’s arm, causing skin and flesh to burst forth.

“Gah!”

The grenade fell from his hands and rolled on the forest floor. As the pin was not yet removed, it didn’t explode.

Then Kino fired at the leg of the first man to react and turn around. She carefully aimed at and hit an area on the thigh with no bones or thick blood vessels.

Seeing their comrades topple over, the rest of the men hid themselves into the forest. Kino fired at the leg of one man who was late to escape, making him pitch forward and collapse to the ground.

Not a soul was left on the side of the road, leaving Kino with no targets. The truck passed the road peacefully.

“Okay.”

Kino stood up and ran through the forest twice as fast as before, and returned to Hermes before the truck could catch up. She carried Flute on her shoulder and quickly straddled Hermes.

“Welcome back.”

“I wounded three men. That should make it difficult for them to chase us down.”

Kino booted down the kick-starter as she explained, bringing the engine to life.

“Kino, they’re here.”

The truck, which now rode faster along the road, passed by Kino. She looked at the east end and confirmed that there were no pursuers, then launched Hermes and ran after the truck.

She soon caught up with the truck. Two men with faces stiff from nervousness showed themselves from the platform, their rifles ready from the opening fortified with iron plates. They wore identical clothing—slacks and black shirts with standing collars.

One of them shouted to Kino. “Y-you did it! They’re not chasing us!”

“I know. Just escape for now,” Kino shouted back as she rode.

The truck continued its flight, scattering leaves on the forest road in the process.

While getting showered by these leaves, Kino and Hermes followed behind.

“Hmm, will we be able to get away like this?”

Kino immediately answered Hermes’ question. “No… If it were me, I would—”

Kino wasn’t able to finish. The truck braked so suddenly that the man on the platform had to quickly grab onto something. Kino was also forced to halt, bringing Hermes’ rear wheels to a sliding stop.

“I would set an obstacle beforehand.” Kino continued her interrupted words as she alighted from Hermes and nimbly put down the side stand.

She looked ahead of the road from the side of the truck. And just as she feared, there was a trunk of a tree across the road. A little bit ahead of the truck, the thick trunk of a collapsed tree completely obstructed their path.

“It will be fine. You can break and push it out of the way,” she cried out to the men in the platform, but before her instructions reached the driver’s seat, the truck advanced. It drove forward a little, but its prow soon turned to the right.

“Wha—”

Right in front of the speechless Kino, the truck disconnected from the road and entered the forest northward.

Kino rushed over and noticed that the truck followed a hardly visible, narrow road. It disappeared into the forest, breaking tree branches along the way. The men in the truck waved to Kino to quickly come over.

“You shouldn’t go there!” Kino shouted, but the truck, with its slight jolts, became farther and farther away.

“Aargh! It’s obviously a trap!”

As Kino straddled Hermes, “My sympathies. It must be a chore, handling inexperienced people. Now what will we do?”

She launched away as soon as she kicked Hermes’ side stand and started to run after the truck.

While running on the grassy road, Kino muttered a complaint to Hermes.

“Jeez… This is not going to be easy…”

——

Some time after the truck and the motorrad left, the twelve men arrived at the place blockaded with the log.

The three wounded men were bandaged, and borrowed the shoulders of their comrades in order to walk. Even though their faces were crumpled in pain, they seethed with desire for revenge.

“So that person was hired to be their bodyguard, huh… I let my guard down just because it was a young traveler.

The bearded man in his forties who spoke to Kino said as he looked at the fresh tire tracks on the forest floor. His face, especially his sharp gaze, was completely different from before.

“But they were caught in our trap,” another man from behind him said.

The bearded man slowly stood up.

“That’s right. From here on, there’s no need to rush. We’ll definitely kill them, that traveler included. —Now move that tree trunk. Don’t leave any traces on the road.”

——

The place that the truck finally arrived in was an ancient ruin.

After passing through the meandering forest path, and having no other road to take, they eventually arrived at this place—the remnant of what was once a fortress.

Suddenly, the flat forest floor gave way to stone pavement, around a hundred meters in all directions. There was a paved road, bordered on both sides with the remains of the walls of houses.

The wide road leads to the center, where a huge building was left standing. Around twenty meters at a side, it was the building at the very heart of the fortress, a sturdy structure that endured without collapsing. On top of its roof was a defensive wall that resembled the spaced-teeth structure of battlements.

“This place…is amazing…,” Kino muttered. Beneath her feet, Hermes tires were submerged in water.

The ruin was flooded. Its whole surface was immersed in ten-centimeter deep water.

There was a slight current in the water. It was clean like a clear stream; the transparent water allowed a view of the stones underneath. Also, by a trick of the light, the water’s surface reflected the walls and the sky.

“Isn’t it such a great place, Kino? The people who made this fortress created an almost perfectly level surface from stones.”

“And then the water from the river flowed in, creating this beautiful scenery… Really, if we weren’t in this kind of situation, I would be leaping in joy,” Kino bitterly noted as the truck stopped right in front of her. They proceeded through the wide road and stopped beside the central building. The leaves and dirt that stuck to the body and frame of the vehicle fell to water and were slowly carried away by the current.

The men in black clothes descended the truck one by one, protecting the woman carrying the child.

Kino got off Hermes, looked once behind her and stared at the perfectly straight road leading to the forest before approaching the men.

“Why didn’t you cut across that obstacle? This is a trap. We will be chased down here. We can no longer go back to that road,” Kino admonished.

“That’s…”

The men who were pressed for an answer had embarrassed looks on their faces.

“They did it upon my orders. Please don’t blame them.”

The voice heard from the back belonged to a man in his mid-fifties, the oldest in the group. This tall and well-built man was the only one who wore a gray business suit among them. The white hair on his head stood out.

“If I’m not mistaken…you’re the doctor, right?” Kino said, and the man nodded.

Back when she was requested to escort this group, this man was constantly by the woman and the baby’s side. He had introduced himself as a doctor, and thus, couldn’t participate in the fighting.

As the one who appeared to be the group’s leader, everyone else stopped and paid attention when the doctor spoke.

“By the looks of it, we would have needed to hit it with the truck many times. That would be dangerous to the infant’s health. We cannot do that.”

Kino shook her head in reply to the doctor’s words. “No. If you hold on to the baby tightly, that much should be—”

“We haven’t told you yet… I am sorry that things had to turn out this way.”

“… What are you talking about?”

“You see…this child was born with a weak heart, and only has more or less three years to live. This child’s body cannot handle strong shocks.”

No one showed surprised at the doctor’s words. The men cast down their eyes, and the woman holding the soundly sleeping baby in her arms tightened her embrace.

“Oh my,” Hermes let slip, while Kino heaved a sigh.

“… I would have preferred it if you told me that from the start.”

“I’m sorry.”

Upon hearing the doctor’s words, Kino turned back.

And continued straight into the forest, trudging along the beautiful road that reflected the sky.

—

“It’s not nice being left out. Tell me everything later, Kino.”

Kino left the grumbling motorrad in a place a bit ways off from the truck,

“I know. Wait here for a bit.”

And headed back with Flute on her back.

“Hurry! Bring only weapons and food!”

On the doctor’s instructions, the eight men with luggage on their backs, the woman and the infant, entered the building at the center of the fortress.

—

“What’s with this place…?”

One of the men muttered right after they entered the building.

The building’s interior was like a miniature version of the fortress. It was comprised of little rooms side by side with intersecting corridors, through which a pleasant breeze constantly drifted.

The rooms were bright from the sunlight that shone through the window frames. Inside several rooms, the stones from the remains of the houses were brought in and made into pedestals that served as desks, chairs, and beds.

In another room, they found firewood piled into a huge mound to prevent it from getting damp with the ankle-deep water on the floor. There were even remains of a recent campfire that was concealed by stones.

“…”

After noting the scenery around her, Kino first ordered two men to climb up the roof to keep watch. She believed it was too early for the bandits to come, but nevertheless instructed the men to quickly notify them with a shot if they see them. The men climbed up the stairs with rifles in hand.

“I didn’t think it was possible, but—” Kino spoke to the people left in the room, one which was roughly at the center of the building,

The doctor who carried a large bag on his back urged her to continue.

“Someone has been using this place.”

“What do you mean by…someone?” The doctor asked, and Kino quickly replied.

“I’m ninety percent sure that it’s the bandits. There are bedrooms, water supply, and the view’s perfect. It’s an excellent hideout.”

The men faltered at Kino’s words.

“Then that means, they are here right now to ambu—”

“They’re not here. If that’s the case, then someone should have been attacked already. The bandits probably set this place up so that they’re not in the same place at all times. This hideout is like that.”

“Then that only means we’re completely cornered in this place…,” the doctor said bitterly.

On the other hand, Kino spoke calmly, “They probably don’t want to be seen having a fire fight on the road. But you see, watching all directions and fighting on the defense isn’t a shabby plan either.”

“Is that so? Then—”

One man was about to say something, but Kino’s next words swept away his hopes.

“The problem is how long we could keep up a siege. We don’t have much food, and we can’t leave this place. We’re at a disadvantage no matter how you look at it. They, on the other hand, can lie in wait in the forest and wait until we exhaust our resources. If I had known it would come to this, I would have shot to death those three, but it’s too late now.”

“Then…”

“If we don’t come up with a way to quickly annihilate them, it will be our loss.” Kino answered instantly. And soon after,

“Huh?”

Kino tilted her head, wrinkled her eyebrows, and stared at the flowing water.

“‘Annihilate’… That’s weird…,” she muttered.

Seeing her expression, one of the men asked uneasily. “W-what’s the matter?”

Kino lifted her face. “It’s strange… Now that I think about it, it doesn’t make any sense. Why haven’t I noticed it back then?”

“What are you talking about?” The doctor asked. Kino answered without hesitation.

“The way the bandits acted. After blocking the road and cornering us into making a detour, why didn’t they prepare another trap? They could have hidden grenades in the wheel ruts, and set them so that they would explode when the truck treads on a wire. Once the truck is incapacitated, that would take care of everything.”

“…”

“…”

Neither the doctor nor the five other men—no one—said anything.

Only Kino’s voice bounced off the stone walls and resounded in the room.

“They won’t do so because they don’t want to. There’s no other explanation. Those people—”

Kino stopped in the middle of her explanation.

Then she faced the six men and the woman, who looked nervous from the start.

“Is there anyone…injured? Including those two who went upstairs?”

“Huh…? Nobody…,” the doctor answered with much puzzlement.

“Then—”

Kino pointed at the bed in one corner of the room.

“Then…whose blood is that?”

Over there, the water was tinged with a different color. The darkish fluid drew a line at the otherwise clear stream.

When the men turned back in surprise, the line became muddled and vanished, but soon returned to its original state.

The line went out to the corridor, and disappeared upon getting mixed along with a different stream.

“W-what…?”

Kino looked askance at the men as she approached the source. So as not to disturb the water at her feet, she slowly and carefully stepped forward.

The line was coming from the next room. It flowed nonstop from the gap between the stone walls.

Kino asked the woman with the baby and two bodyguards to remain, and took the doctor and the rest of the men with her out of the room. They moved slowly to the front of the neighboring room.

It was a small room with heaps of stone piled up before its entrance.

Upon Kino’s request, the men quickly removed the stones. Once the stones were out of the way, they found another set of stones, disorderly stacked into a chest-high pile inside the room.

And after moving a couple of these stones, they finally discovered what lay beneath it.

“…”

The men and the doctor were speechless. Only Kino spoke.

“I see.”

Underneath the mass of stones were corpses.

They were squeezed in the small room, one corpse on top of another. There were roughly ten to fifteen bodies in all.

The corpses all belonged to men, necks cut and heads shot. Judging from their complexions, it must be about half a day since their deaths. They wore green and brown patterned clothing that were suited for the outdoors.

“W-what are these people…?” A young man asked, pale in the face.

Kino answered his question.

“Obviously, these are the real bandits.”

—

When Kino returned to the room where they left the woman and child, she called out to the two who were on the lookout at the roof. There were no people approaching from the forest, and it was almost noon.

As Kino felt the gazes of every single person in the room save for the child, she spoke.

“Let’s get back on topic. Like I said before, those people targeting you are not after your luggage. We just saw the proof. Those people aren’t bandits. The bandits who operated around this area, and who were using this place as their hideout, were killed by those men last night.” No one interrupted. Kino continued. “Then, who are they?”

The men gulped at the sudden question. The woman trembled slightly, while the doctor only gazed wordlessly at Kino.

“…”

“You all knew, didn’t you? That that group was not after your belongings, but your lives. That what you truly fear are not bandits at all.”

“…”

“Who are they?”

No answer. Kino lightly shrugged her shoulders.

“Fine. If you don’t wish to answer, then I won’t force you. But since I no longer have any obligation to protect you from bandits, I will go back to where Hermes is, and do what I want.”

“Wha—! You plan to betray us?!”

Kino coldly replied to the man who shouted. “The ones who lied from the start were you. That’s a violation of our contract. If you don’t inform me of what you know, I can’t do anything for you. —I will tell those guys the truth, and escape on my own.”

“Damn you!”

The man in front of Kino reached out for the holster in his waist.

And just as the doctor yelled for him to stop, Kino kicked the man’s hand.

Kino’s boots caught the man’s hand without so much as a splatter, sending the revolver flying in mid-air before falling into the water and slipping into one corner of the room.

“Guh…”

“If you don’t pick that up quickly, it will get damp,” Kino immediately said as she backed her feet away, her right hand already touching the revolver she called ‘Canon’. The doctor hastily split them up.

“Stop this. Fighting with Kino is pointless. I don’t want to say this, but Kino is much stronger than any one of us. And if by any chance we manage to outnumber her, what will we do next? Have you forgotten our goal?”

The enraged men dropped their shoulders. The man who got kicked picked up his persuader, whisked off the water, and returned it to its holster.

“Kino, there was no need for you to provoke us. We recognize that we are in the wrong,” the doctor entreated.

“Then will you tell me about that ‘goal’? Anyway, I don’t think those guys would forgive me that easily even if I wave a white flag.”

“I understand… I’ll tell you everything. Everyone, is that okay?”

The men silently cast their gazes to the floor.

Then the doctor looked at the baby held by the woman.

“That baby girl is the last surviving member of a royal family. I am that family’s physician. All of us here were that family’s attendants and coachmen.”

The woman silently and sorrowfully hung her head. Kino turned her gaze to the doctor.

“Go on.”

“About half a year ago in our country, the monarchy was overthrown by a revolution. All members of the royal family were captured and executed… And this child is the sole survivor.”

“That means, those people targeted this child in their hunt for remaining survivors—wait, no, it’s the opposite, isn’t it?”

“Exactly… Those men were formerly royal guards, and ardent supporters of the monarchy at that. You see, our country is in a state of chaos even now. The citizens are nowhere near as fanatic as those men, but in the midst of the ongoing instability, there are by no means few people who wished to restore the royalty. Consequently, those men conspired to get hold of the last survivor of the royal family, and elevate her to the throne and revive the system.”

“I see… That’s why they wanted to capture her alive no matter what.”

“That’s right. And in order to stop that from happening, we left the country. We have no need for the monarchy. We only want this child to live her remaining days in freedom…”

“Are those men aware of this child’s condition?”

“Of course they don’t know. The only ones who knew are the ones present here. But even if they do know about it, I doubt it would make any difference.”

“How long have they been after you? Ever since you left the country?”

“No. We thought our escape was going as planned, but… I think the messenger we sent to the country got caught. We waited for a long time in the country where we met you, but he did not come back. We had to conclude that the worst has happened.”

Kino exhaled. “Good grief. I just got myself caught up in such a complicated matter.”

“Look here, Kino. There is no way for people like us, who know nothing about fighting, to ward off trained soldiers. On the other hand, there’s no way for you to go back to that road safely either. Hermes stands out too much.”

“I guessed as much.”

“I know that we have asked you such a selfish request, but let me say it again. Please stay with us. If this child safely arrives in the next country, we’ll give you that truck as a reward. It’s the most valuable thing that we have. If you sell it, you should be able to get a lot for it.”

“Doctor—!” the men reacted with raised voices to the doctor’s proposal. However, the doctor slowly raised his hand.

“The most important thing here is life. We decided that we will do everything to get, this child at least, to the next country. Just three years. Time will pass, and our mission will be over. Everything will be over.”

Seeing the men dropping their shoulders and in the verge of tears,

“Okay. Even without that reward, I have no choice but to do this if I want to survive.”

The doctor thanked her again and again until Kino asked him to stop and gave instructions,

“We need more weapons. Please hurry and look for some.”

“Can there be weapons in this ancient ruin?” the men asked.

“Sure. Those that belonged to the dead bandits. There are no weapons on the corpses. That stuff is heavy so I don’t think they were carried off. They must be hidden somewhere here.”

—

“And that’s the gist of things."

“Dear me. You’re stuck in quite a mess, Kino.”

Kino and Hermes talked inside an area in the ruins surrounded by tumbledown walls.

It was a little bit past noon. The men were busy in their search for weapons. The two men on the rooftop were substituted, and even then there were no reports or shots heard.

With Flute on her shoulder, Kino took out the wooden box containing spare bullets and liquid propellant from the box beside Hermes’ rear wheel.

“What if we just run away right now? If you sell the transceiver in your bag, maybe you’d get enough to buy a new set of clothes,” Hermes quickly commented, and Kino answered casually.

“If I had another path to take, I would have taken it.”

“Oh, that’s interesting. So?”

“So If I ever find one, I will.”

Kino answered as she carried the wooden box under her arms.

“I’ll say it just in case. —Goodbye, Kino.”

“Yeah. —Goodbye.”

“Just how many times have I told you that?”

“No idea. Well, later.”

Kino cocked her head with a smile, then trotted on the watery surface, creating ripples amidst the mirrored sky. Along with the splashing sound, she ran from one ruin to another and returned to the building.

—

“I’m afraid this is everything.”

Only old weapons were gathered in one room of the building.

Old rifles packed with gunpowder and bullets, and a number of hand persuaders.

Three of the rifles were revolver rifles, which have rotating cylinders for magazines. The liquid propellant for these was stored in about ten bottles of liquor.

There were fourteen bladed weapons of various sizes, but they weren’t sharp enough to cut down anyone.

And then there was a cannon placed on a wooden carriage, but it was so ancient that it is more fitting to be in a museum.

“All of the persuaders are so old; using those is out of the question. Even though there’s plenty of liquid propellant for those, I’d rather use my bolt-action. The swords and daggers will probably be useful in close combat,” one man made his report.

“The cannon is an antique. Because its structure consists of only one pipe, we can probably use it if we wash the inside thoroughly, but even though we have some gunpowder, we don’t have any cannon balls.”

Another man suggested that they use the swords as cannon fodder, but the man shook his head and continued.

“Those would barely fly. It would be no different from using crushed stones. Besides, this type would be done for in just one shot. We have to fix the carriage to prevent it from being blown off backwards from the recoil, so we won’t be able to change its direction very well. In the first place, we can’t fix it in this place.”

The man said while holding down the carriage. The wooden wheels moved very easily. And no matter how many times he pushed down the wooden fixture at the bottom of the cannon to the ground, it would only slip and wouldn’t catch on.

“I see,” Kino muttered, having assessed the situation at hand.

“It’s all over… Everyone’ll get killed…,” the youngest man, only in his early twenties mumbled.

His companions beside him grabbed his shoulders.

“It will be fine. Nothing’s decided yet, okay?”

“But we’re normal humans! We’re nothing like those soldiers who endured sadistic training… Can you win against people who don’t give a damn about killing humans? They slaughtered the bandits! What? Can you fight them?”

“No… but—”

The young man refused to listen to the continuation of his comrade’s words.

He suddenly dropped his rifle into the water,

“I’ve had enough!”

And dashed away with a scream. The other men tried to grab hold of him, but their hands grasped nothing but air.

The young man continued to yell, rushing to the south towards the main road.

“I’m giving up! I surrender!” He wailed out to the top of his voice, violently disturbing the water’s surface as he continued to race through it with all his might.

“What was that?”

The lookouts on the roof asked, but no one was able to answer.

“I surrender! Please spare me! I give up! I surrender!” the young man shouted out as he ran.

And when he was only ten meters away from the forest,

Bang.

He collapsed at the same time the piercing shot was heard.

The young man tumbled forward, sending forth a spray of water.

And never moved again.

“Damn it!”

The roar of the lookout on the rooftop was heard, followed by the sound of his rifle.

“Please don’t fire if you can’t see the enemy! It’s a waste of bullets!” Kino quickly looked up and yelled out.

“…I know. I’m sorry…”

Only the man’s lifeless voice returned.

The building was wrapped in silence, but only for an instant—

The next moment, the infant burst out into violent wails. The woman tried to hush her, but like an ignited flame, her crying won’t stop.

“…”

While shrill cries resounded in the building, Kino pulled out Canon from her right thigh.

——

A moment before.

“I surrender! Please spare me! I give up! I surrender!”

A person saw a man screaming and running out from the building that he was observing.

“Fire.”

The bearded man inside the forest uttered a single word of command.

The man sitting on a branch of a thick tree, clutching a rifle with a scope, fired.

Right after, a shot returned from the building’s rooftop. But the bullet flew in an entirely wrong direction.

“I can aim at them right now, should I fire?” The sniper’s voice was heard.

“No, it’s fine,” the bearded man replied, looking at the truck parked in front of the building and the man crouched on its rooftop through his binoculars. “There’s no need to rush. Time is on our side.”

“Understood.”

The men concealed themselves in the forest once more.

“Captain. Here.”

The man who was shot in the leg by Kino approached, supported by makeshift crutches, and handed the bearded man a metallic cup full of tea.

“Thank you. How’s your leg?”

“It’s awfully painful. But I’ll make sure that traveler feel this pain.”

“Please do us the favor. —We’ll return to our country together with the princess. Everyone’s waiting for us.” The bearded man showed his subordinate a kind smile.

“Yes sir!”

Then he accepted the cup of tea from the man who nodded with determination.

While the bearded man was slowly sipping his tea,

The infant’s clear cries began to be heard from afar.

“It’s the princess. She’s safe!” Someone exclaimed. Smiles appeared on the men’s faces.

And in the next moment—

Bang.

A muffled shot subdued the cries.

“Wha? Someone fired!?”

“No!”

During this short interval, another heavy shot was heard.

Bang. Boom. Boom. Bang. Bang.

And eventually, the sound of a different persuader overlapped with the first one.

“There’s a shootout inside there!” The sniper yelled out.

“What?”

The bearded man threw away his cup and grabbed his binoculars.

Occasional flashes of light could be seen from within the building, followed by firing noises. The two men on the rooftop climbed down in a panic.

“They are fighting among themselves!?” The bearded man continued.

“Those bastards! Right in front of the princess!”

“Those morons!”

“It must be that traveler!”

The men concealed in the forest raised agitated cries.

“Their lookout climbed down! Should we break in?” the sniper asked from above.

Bang. Ping. Bang.

While listening to the incessant noise of persuader fire,

“It’s too dangerous right now. Let’s wait for a while.”

The bearded man answered, gnawing at his lip as if he just tasted a lemon.

—

Meanwhile, someone was hearing the same shots at a much closer distance than the men.

“Oh, she’s really going at it! Pounding away with both Canon and Woodsman, eh?” Hermes said in glee.

—

The shooting spree settled down after about thirty seconds.

“…”

The bearded man saw that the movements have ceased in the building through the circular view of his binoculars. Behind him, the sniper and his seven uninjured comrades have their rifles at the ready, prepared to break in at any moment.

“Maybe that traveler killed all the coachmen…?”

“I don’t know. But it’s… possible,” the bearded man answered.

And the moment he put down his binoculars,

“C-captain, look at the entrance!”

The sniper raised an alarmed voice, prompting the bearded man to lift his binoculars once more.

And roughly fifty meters ahead, on the southern entrance of the building,

“What!?”

Someone was tossing out a corpse. It was, without a doubt, the traveler aboard a motorrad, the one they met just that morning.

The traveler shoved away the corpse of a man much bigger than himself from the side of the entrance.

It sent forth a spray of water. The body lay motionlessly with its face down, just like the corpse that tumbled roughly ten meters away from the forest. And like the first corpse, it wore the same black uniform.

“Again,” the sniper reported.

For a second time, the traveler carried out a corpse and threw it beside the first once. There was another splash.

“The next time he comes out, should I shoot his arm?” the sniper asked.

The bearded man reserved his reply while he glared through his binoculars.

“…?!”

And began to hear the cries of the baby once more.

“Don’t! The princess is safe!” he ordered immediately.

“Understood. I’ll wait for your command.”

With the baby’s cries as the background, the traveler appeared beside the entrance for a third time, and hurled out another corpse. Its face was stained deep red that it was no longer recognizable.

“What is he doing…?”

The question was answered by another soldier.

“Maybe he broke up from the others to escape?”

“One of those guys? —Ah no! It must be that traveler!”

“Perhaps he wasn’t told about the situation? That traveler doesn’t care what happens to the princess. Maybe he’s planning to use her as a bargaining chip against us?”

“No way… You mean he’s planning to take the princess hostage and escape on his motorrad by himself?”

Upon hearing the conversation, the bearded man spoke.

“Quite a formidable fellow, I see. He’s deliberately showing us the corpses. If he proposes negotiation, we’ll go along with it.”

“B-but captain! That’s—”

“Have you forgotten our goal?”

“… No sir! It is to safely escort the princess back home, sir!”

“Indeed. For that, we should be willing to cooperate even with that cunning scum of a traveler. If he eliminated the coachmen who got in our way, we shall reward him.”

“Captain…”

“With a full metal jacketed lead bullet, that is. We have a superior sniper among us. Just one shot from behind, once he’s on the road. A second shot is unnecessary.”

Upon hearing these words, the soldier finally smiled.

“It’s the sixth one,” the sniper interjected. Now there were six corpses lying prostrate in front of the building.

“There’s only two more men. And the princess with that woman.”

“So, have you really slaughtered everyone, traveler?”

While the bearded man and his subordinates watched with bated breaths, the seventh body was thrown out. It was a man wearing a gray business suit.

“Hm?”

Right after casting the body away, the traveler pulled out the revolver from his right thigh and poked only his hand out from the entrance.

Bang. Bang. Bang.

Three more bullets connected with the back of the head of the corpse.

They were large caliber bullets fired at point blank range. The head was blown off completely, and the scattering pieces of brain were evident even from fifty meters away. Seeing their fellow countryman being cruelly treated by the traveler, the men muttered,

“Dealing a finishing blow, huh…”

“Unbelievable…”

“That’s sick…”

“He didn’t have to go that far…”

“Straighten up! It’s not yet over!”

The bearded man attempted to bolster the dwindling spirit of his men with these words. The baby’s cries continued endlessly in the midst of it all.

”There’s one last person.”

Just as the sniper said, the traveler hurled out the last, black-uniformed man outside. The eight corpses rolled about, revealing the darkly-stained water flowing beneath.

“He’s really done it… Splendid work.” The bearded man took a deep breath and uttered these words of praise, then gave the sniper strict orders. “Don’t let a single bullet loose unless someone gets shot, or until you receive my orders.”

“What’s next now, oh superb traveler?” He muttered and waited patiently.

The baby’s wails stopped twenty seconds later, and the occasional chirping of birds was the only sound heard for the quiet hundred seconds that followed.

“I have something to say! CAN-YOU-HEAR-ME?!”

Until the traveler’s voice was heard.

—

“Yes, we can hear you! How about from there?”

The man’s voice returned to the southern entrance of the building where Kino was hiding.

She was crouched, washing her bloodied hands in the flowing water by her feet.

“Oh. —I wonder if this would work out?” she mumbled as she stood up. There was nobody nearby.

Kino inhaled deeply. “I can hear you! Will you listen to what I want to say?” She shouted as loudly as she could, with her hands cupped around her mouth. She hid slightly behind the entrance to avoid getting shot.

“Let’s hear it!”

Upon hearing the man’s reply, Kino began.

She said that the men who asked for her services lied to her, so she killed them all.

That she tortured the woman and found out from her that the child was a princess.

That she had no interest in their dispute, and her top priority is her and her motorrad’s welfare.

That she was sorry for attacking them, and that she would like to exchange the child for her safety. She also had no need for the truck.

That she would like them to come over to check the corpses and to hand over the baby.

Several times during the exchange, a reply would come back to tell her that she can’t be heard properly, and each time, Kino had to make her voice louder and would complain afterwards. “Haaah… My throat’s getting tired.”

Upon catching Kino’s words, the bearded man made his decision.

“We’ll go along with your proposal.”

He ordered the three injured men to remain in the forest together with the sniper, and made the remaining seven accompany him.

“Preparations complete.”

Hearing his subordinate’s report, he shouted back at Kino.

“Eight of us will come! If you let out even one shot, the deal’s off!”

“I understand! But at least come up to a place where we can talk normally! *Cough*!”

“Okay! Don’t let your guards down,” the bearded man quickly reminded his men upon hearing Kino’s reply.

The bearded man took the lead himself and stepped out of the forest towards the ruins. His boots made contact with the water.

—

“So they came…”

Kino saw the men proceeding through the road.

Kino clutched an aluminum flask in her hands. She swallowed water from it, gargled and spat out at her feet.

The eight corpses still rolled about when she took a glimpse outside. They were divided equally to the left and right, with four bodies on each side, leaving a width of around three meters in the center.

The blood from the corpses continued to stain the flowing water. The blue sky and the white clouds reflected in the surface were of a strange hue.

The men stood at the end of the road.

With their rifles poised at their hips, they scattered on both sides of the road. While being vigilant for an ambush, they proceeded while keeping a certain degree of distance from each other. One would notice that they were considering using the abandoned buildings for shelter in case they were attacked.

“This is literally a ‘one-shot’ match,” Kino said while looking at them.

“W-will it really be all right?” A man’s worried voice returned from within the building.

“Well, we won’t know unless we try.”

“Hey…”

“But you know, I learned all of this by the book in a school. It should work. Please do everything according to plan. The length of the fuse is crucial,” Kino said.

Time crept at a slow pace while the men advanced on the road for over half a minute.

And when they were roughly twenty meters from the building, the bearded man at the front right raised his left hand into a fist.

In a moment, his men stopped and guarded different directions.

“Traveler!” the bearded man spoke up.

“I suppose this is near enough? Both of our throats are already painful, so let’s get over this with!”

“I agree.”

He heard Kino’s voice from above.

The bearded man raised his face. Kino stood on top of the roof.

Kino exposed her entire body without hesitation, and stood as far as she could with one leg at the edge of the roof.

“Princess…”

With the swaddled baby in her arms.

—

“That bastard…”

At the same time, the sniper found Kino and overlapped the crosshairs with her throat. But he soon realized that there’s a chance that the baby will get dropped if he shoots.

“Damn!”

He could only let out a curse.

—

“Greetings, traveler!”

“Hello. You’re the captain, I presume?”

Kino and the bearded man first exchanged these words. And then,

“That’s around twenty meters, eh? I’d be happier if we could talk to each other normally like this morning.”

The bearded man pointed to the baby with his left hand that was free from the rifle.

“Traveler, could the little one you’re holding up there be our country’s precious princess?”

“That’s right. I heard everything from those corpses down there. You want this child to revive the royalty.”

“It’s just as you say.”

“But honestly, all of that’s none of my business. I don’t care what happens from here on. What’s important to me is to be able to continue traveling with my motorrad Hermes just as before.”

“I guessed as much.”

Initially, the bearded man’s subordinates were vigilant of their surroundings, but eventually, their attention became focused towards Kino. They all strained their ears to listen to the conversation.

“And so, I got rid of those men who lied to me and got me involved in this kind of situation.”

“That’s really wonderful. I thank you for making our work easier. Sure you’ve attacked three of my men, but their lives weren’t really in any danger. Just like this beautiful place, why don’t we just let our differences be carried away by the current? You know, forgive and forget?”

—

“Oh, they came—“

Hermes, who was listening to the conversation from a place not so far away, mumbled to himself.

—

“That’s great. Then I have a suggestion.”

“Sure, I’m all ears.”

“Okay. With this baby in my arms, I will get my stuff ready, and ride Hermes until that road. Meanwhile, you guys will follow me using their truck. By the way, you can take along the woman taking care of this child, since she’s passed out inside.”

“I see. —Then?”

“Once we all reach the road, I’ll leave this child a bit ways off from you. Then, I’ll ride away at full speed. If I successfully escape without you chasing me, then that’s the end of all this. You can take the baby with you and go home to your country on that truck. That’s all.”

“Wonderful. We have no reason to reject that idea, but suppose we refuse and interfere with you on the way, what will you do?”

“I don’t want to think about it too much.”

Kino took out a tiny bottle from her jacket pocket. It was full of a greenish liquid, and there was a small fuse stuck between the cork and the bottle’s mouth. She gently placed this on top of the swaddled baby’s belly.

“If I fall, the impact will send this child, me and Hermes, exploding.”

Damn you!

After calming down his men’s outburst, “I don’t want to imagine that. We will do our best to avoid that terrifying situation.”

“It’s a deal then.”

“Deal. We’ll watch you leave without a word.”

“And let your sniper do the job?” Kino quickly retorted.

“…”

The bearded man fell silent.

“If it were me, that’s exactly what I’d do!”

Kino cried out, then nimbly climbed off the edge of the roof and turned to the stairwell that led inside the building with a shout.

“Fire!”

—

There was an explosion.

A thunderous roar incomparable to persuader fire was heard from within the building.

The bearded man with his face raised up to Kino, as well as the men dispersed left and right of the road had their attentions stolen by the sound of the blast.

That is, towards the entrance of the dark building.

“Wha—!”

A cannon came rushing towards the bearded man and his subordinates.

It came charging with its carriage on the beautiful, straight paved road facing south, splashing water along the way. Its two wheels kicked up waves on the water like a ship.

And only three seconds after it appeared from the building,

“!?”

The bearded man saw the antiquated cannon pass through his side.

He noticed that the cannon on the carriage was facing the wrong side. He immediately realized that the cannon was fired from the building, and bolted away due to recoil.

“Hahah!”

The bearded man laughed inadvertently at the idea, then smiled upon seeing that none of his men were hit by the cannon, which came charging straight on the road.

At the same time, the bearded man’s excellent eyesight caught the numerous wooden boxes attached at the fixture behind the carriage.

And he recognized the fuses extending from them. They were lit. And short.

“Huh?”

And the next instant, the boxes exploded.

—

The moment Kino confirmed that the cannon has ‘fired’, she flopped onto the back of the fences with the baby in her arms. Cuddling the infant near her belly, she headed north.

The bottle on the infant’s stomach fell, and the greenish liquid—which was nothing but water—scattered on the roof.

—

The boxes on the carriage exploded roughly at the center of the men.

The liquid explosive produced flames and shockwave, creating hundreds of tiny ripples on the surface of the water.

The flames engulfed four men including the bearded man who was up front. Their skin and clothes caught fire, turning them into human torches.

Meanwhile, the shockwave and the fragments of the carriage assailed the remaining four. Their bodies were blown off and sent crashing towards the walls of a house, head first. Soon, pulpy matter that likely belonged to their brains scattered on the walls.

A second explosion resounded apart from the first, running across the blue sky.

Having survived the explosion without breaking, the sturdy cannon barrel danced in the air and fell on one wall of a house, shattering it into pieces.

“W-W-WATCH IT!”

Consequently inviting a scream from Hermes, who stood merely three meters away.

—

“Ah…”

The sniper who witnessed everything from his scope was shook by the blast that was delayed by a beat, and almost fell from the branch.

When he has regained his position, what he saw were four of his companions now indistinguishable from the clots of blood splattered on the wall, and the other four raising screams, dancing madly as they blazed.

“…”

He fired.

First, at the commander he respected. Reload.

Then at a comrade, a batch mate of his in the military academy. Reload.

Next, at a rather odious soldier two years his junior. Reload.

And lastly, at the young soldier whom he treated like a younger brother. Reload.

Four shots were heard in less than four seconds, and the screams ceased as their owners were finally laid to rest. Then he immediately jumped down from the branch.

“Retreat at once!”

The moment he called out to the three shocked men, he noticed that one of them had a thick slab of wood pierced into his face.

“…”

He abandoned the corpse and slung the rifle on his shoulder.

“Stand up! Run!”

He slapped the back of the man who was injured in his hands and lent his shoulder to the one who was shot in the leg, and escaped.

The three men ran, trampling on the grass and the traces of the truck.

Soon, the man with the wounded leg fell over and blood seeped out from his bandaged wound.

“Hang in there! It’s going to be all right! They can’t chase us immediately! Once we get out to the road and run to the horses, it will be fine! Okay?!”

“Yeah…”

The man rose up once more, and together, they proceeded on the road.

The man with the injured hand, who was running in front of them, looked back, and also gave him words of encouragement, “Just keep at it! If you fall, I’ll carry you!”

A smile drifted amidst the man’s anguished face, which was now drenched in cold sweat. “Hah! To think I’d ever see a day when your voice will sound like that of an angel!”

“Moron! Since when did I become an ange—”

And right in front of the sniper and the man whose shoulders were linked with his, the man with the injured hand was stabbed.

It was a man clutching a dagger below his waist, appearing from the side of the road.

He wore blood-drenched clothing, that of the bandits who should have been killed the previous night. His clothes were filthy and his head was covered with leaves and branches for camouflage. His face was dark from blood stains.

The bandit leapt out from the right side and stabbed the man deeply in the gut, collapsing along with him.

At the same time, another bandit rushed out from the thicket,

“AAAARGH!”

Raising his axe along with a battle cry, and bore it down upon the men.

While being bathed with the blood that spurted out from the head of the man beside him, the sniper swung his rifle to the front and aimed at the face of the bandit.

“Guh!”

But the moment he pulled the trigger, his body turned to the sky. The bullet drilled a hole through the branches.

A third bandit clung to his neck from behind,

“DIEEE!”

And fed force to his arms as he screamed. But he lacked the strength to break the sniper’s neck in an instant and the man’s left fist connected with his muzzle.

“Gah!”

“Yaaah!

The moment the hold on his neck was loosened, the sniper executed a shoulder throw with unerring technique.

“Gyah!”

The bandit hit the ground with his back and uttered a pained cry.

“…Haah.”

While he gasped for air, the sniper lifted his face and saw the blade of a blood-stained axe flying straight towards him.

The blow killed him in an instant, but the three coachmen struck down on his dead body as they screamed, again and again until everything from his neck up became a shapeless mush.

——

The three blood-spattered men returned to the fortress filled with corpses. Along the way, they threw up the contents of their stomach many times over.

As soon as they appeared, the men who wore nothing but their trunks rushed over to them, delighted that they were safe. Once they reported that they have eliminated the remaining guards,

“Well done…”

The equally pitiable-looking doctor praised the three men while tears flowed down his cheeks.

The three discarded their blood-stained clothes and waded on the cool water with only their underwear on. The blood that clung to their faces—the blood of the bandits and of the royal guards— dissolved into the water.

After the three men finished their bath, they asked about the baby.

“She’s fine. Her eardrums are not damaged because we gave her earplugs. Everyone else is also safe. I took care of the corpses together with Kino. Yes… Everything went according to Kino’s strategy. But you see, the one who did their best here is you. You have volunteered, and accomplished what I could not. You have won this fight! I arranged for drinks. Let’s give a toast to this victory, and to the future of our princess!”

——

Half of the afternoon has passed, and the blue of the sky has deepened.

On top of the road that reflected this sky, ten humans, one motorrad, and one truck stood.

They were in front of the building in the center of the ruins.

The corpses of the bandits that were thrown out in their stead were already moved away, and the clothes used on them were washed and lined side by side on top of the truck’s canopy to dry.

On Kino’s instructions, the bodies of the twelve guards and their fellow coachman were transported into the forest and covered with leaves.

The belongings of the guards that can still be used such as rifles, grenades, ammunition, and portable rations were gathered inside the truck.

The seven men all wore their underwear and were naked from the waist up. Towels hung from their waists or shoulders.

In the middle of this crowd was Hermes, who stood by his center stand.

“I’ve never dreamt of this sort of treatment!”

A board was placed on top of his rear carrier, turning it into a makeshift table.

The woman who carried the baby on her back poured crimson liquor from a freshly opened bottle into eight mugs placed on the table.

One bottle was barely enough for eight portions, but everyone took their mugs with pleasure. Only one was left on the table, an offering to their comrade who was already in heaven.

Within the circle of people, only Kino carried a cup that contained tea that she poured herself.

“Everyone— great job, great fight,” the doctor began. “It was painful. It was terrifying. We lost an irreplaceable comrade, and we had to part ways with twelve more, who we used to exchange smiles with during work. Even so, we have fought for this child’s happiness! We have brought this bottle—the last taste of our home—for the time when we reach a safe land, but I believe that there’s no better time to savour it than today! —Any objections? Well it’s already open, though.”

“No objections! Don’t keep us waiting!” Voices and laughter leapt into the air.

The doctor raised his mug, and the men as well as Kino followed suit.

“For the stability of our homeland, for the future of this child, and for the meaning of our lives and the death of our comrades. —Cheers!”

A chorus of toasts was heard, and the eager men lifted the mugs to their mouths and emptied them in one gulp. Seeing this scene before him, the doctor smiled and took a sip from his own mug.

“—Don’t drink!”

He quickly cried out.

But it was too late.

“Oh?”

As a surprised voice leaked from Hermes,

“Ugh!”

“Gah!”

“Gack!”

“Ack!”

“Guh!”

“Hack!”

The six men other than the doctor spat out blood almost at the same time. The blood spurted out like tiny fountains. The men slowly collapsed and made splashes on the surface while blood dribbled out from their mouths.

The minute convulsions that shook the collapsed bodies soon disappeared. The blood flowing from their mouths was different from that of the bandits; a bright red dyed the water surface.

“Oh, dear,” Hermes muttered.

“Why…”

His cup fell into the water, and the pale-faced doctor collapsed. He desperately tried to walk a few steps towards the woman nearby, but his knees soon sank.

“Gah…”

And then, he was flat on the ground. With half of his face peeking from the water, and with dilute blood spouting from his lips, the doctor finally stopped moving.

After slowly sipping on her tea, Kino exhaled deeply.

About two meters away to Kino’s left, there remained only one person standing, right in front of the collapsed doctor. And this person was shouldering another.

The young woman who looked around twenty slowly turned her head and looked at Kino.

“All as planned!”

Kino first heard the woman’s voice, and then saw her smile.

—

“Okaaay, why?”

The one who asked the question was not Kino but Hermes, whose frame was stained with blood in several places. Kino remained standing, sipping her own tea while crimson blood flowed beneath her feet.

“Curious, motorrad? You really want to know why?”

The woman’s speech was animated. She was smiling from ear to ear, her manner like that of a woman about to tell a secret to her lover.

“I wanna know! Tell us!”

Hermes replied with a tone just as joyful.

“Then I’ll tell you! But before that, I would like to tell you something in advance, Kino. Is that okay?” The woman said, the baby still sleeping soundly on her back.

“Sure.”

“Kino…”

The woman turned her gaze to Kino, and placed her hands politely in front of her body.

“I thank you from the bottom of my heart.”

“…”

With the cup still in her lips, Kino only responded with a stir in her eyelids.

“It was thanks to you that we were able to fight off the royal guards. Thank you very much. And in behalf of this child, I thank you again. As her mother.”

“… You’re welcome.” This time, Kino parted with the cup and answered.

“Now I’ll tell you.”

The woman transferred her gaze from Kino to Hermes. The woman’s gentle voice reached Kino’s ears.

“I am this child’s real mother. I am the one who bore her. And her father was, no doubt, the king killed during the revolt.”

“That’s a surprise.”

“Isn’t it? Well, I’m the one who’s most surprised. I was just a mere laundry woman. I was practically the assistant of an assistant maid! That was two years ago.”

“Okay, and then?!”

“One day, the king came across me by chance, and ridiculous as it may sound, fell in love with me! He said I was lovely! That made me really happy! Of course the king had many consorts to choose from, and he had many children, but he fell in love at first sight to a nobody like me!”

“And after that, you got pregnant with that child.”

“Yes! But it was soon discovered. The royal palace was truly a serpent’s nest. When my child was chosen to become heir, his wives used the royal guards to threaten me. They told me that nothing good will come out of giving birth to this child, and it was not yet too late for me to give her up…”

“My, my.”

“But I wanted to give birth to her no matter what. And so upon consulting with a kind doctor I met in the royal palace, he wrote a medical certificate saying that I aborted the child, and I was able to leave.”

“Is that by any chance, that person there?” Hermes asked.

“That very man,” the woman answered immediately without even a glance back.

“And so, I went home to my village, which was located in the outskirts of the country. I told my mother a lie. That my lover who promised to marry me died in an accident. Oh dear mother, I apologize for lying to you! But it was truly the best course of action. My mother joyfully accepted her grandchild, and I was able to deliver her safely. That was a little over half a year ago.”

The woman spun her head around and looked at the sleeping baby on her back. She narrowed her eyes and stroked the infant’s cheek with her left hand’s finger.

“What happened after?” Hermes asked. Still holding the now empty cup, Kino listened to the continuation of the story.

“After that, the massacre disguised as a ‘revolution’ began. The kind king, his despicable wives, and even their children, were all killed. The vehicle bearing their guillotined heads reached even my village. Awful isn’t it? Some time after that, the doctor arrived together with his co-workers, the coachmen of the royal family.”

“These men?”

“Those men, indeed.”

The woman answered with her gaze on Hermes, around which the half-naked men lay dead. Their bleeding has stopped, and the water has returned to the clear stream that it was, reflecting the sky in parts that the corpses did not cover.

“The doctor told me, ‘They have set their sights on your daughter. Your life is also in danger.’ Apparently, the remaining royal guards got wind of rumours about me, and are willing to go as far as to kill me. They are—”

“The ones who came to take the ‘princess’.”

“Yes! Isn’t it terrible? Because this child was the last remaining royal blood, they will take her away from me and will make her take the throne!”

“So you escaped.”

“Of course. The truth is I didn’t want to. But I ended up abandoning my country, leaving my village without even telling my mother the truth. We called ourselves ‘travelers’, but we were nothing but wanderers! I absolutely hated that kind of life! —Oh, excuse my rudeness, Kino. But I really hated it up to the very end. I’m sorry.”

Upon receiving the woman’s glance, Kino only waved her hands as if to say that she didn’t mind.

“As I didn’t have any choice, I escaped together with these men. We escaped from one country to another, but every time we thought everything was already safe, we would receive information that the pursuers are after us. We would leave countries in haste over and over again. I hated it.”

“And that’s all over now.”

“Oh yes! It’s all over! I can leave that life behind! My life would no longer be in danger from those guards, and I no longer have to live the life of a fugitive!”

“Okay, then what will you do after this?”

“Thanks for being concerned, motorrad. You’re really very kind.”

“That’s not really the case, but anyway, what will you do?”

The woman quickly raised her left index finger up, then winked with her right eye.

“I will practice!”

“Huh? Practice what?”

“How to drive a truck! I was praised for being good at it before!”

“Well, it’s not really a good idea to live here.”

“Obviously. I’m not that smart, but I’m not an idiot either. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have been able to poison everybody!”

“Okay. —Well, sorry for repeating the question, but again, what will you do from here on?”

“Why of course, I’m going to return to my country.”

“What?”

“…”

Upon hearing the woman’s words, Hermes squeaked out a question, while Kino quietly inclined her head.

“What did you just say, miss?”

“I said I’m going to return to my country.”

“Why?”

“Why you say, but isn’t the country still yearning for a king, and is currently in the height of chaos?”

“But if you go back under such circumstances—”

The woman interrupted Hermes.

“Yes! My daughter shall become queen!”

—

Kino slowly approached Hermes, and placed her empty cup on top of the makeshift table.

She then lifted the last mug of liquor and poured its contents into the stream. The red soon melted away in the water and vanished.

Kino spoke. “Is that what you’re really after all along?”

“Of course. It entered my mind as soon as I heard the news from the doctor. This child shall become queen, and me, as her mother, will live my life in elegance and bliss. However, I wouldn’t be able to do what I want if I simply handed over my child to those guards. They only want my child, and couldn’t care less what happens to me. So I decided to have these people protect me until those guards give up, and then I’ll return to my country. Thanks to you, Kino, my plans came to fruition this early. I can’t help but rejoice!”

“So, that ‘three years left’ that the doctor said was…”

“A lie, obviously! It’s a story the doctor came up with to spur on the coachmen. He convinced them by telling them this: ‘Three years may be long, but once it’s over, this escape will come to an end and we can go home to our country.’ You see, the doctor and the coachmen have their own families too. But I didn’t think he would use that as an excuse for falling into that trap. The one who didn’t listen to you out of confusion was the doctor. But like they say, all’s well that ends well!”

“I see. So the saying ‘truth has more danger than fiction’ is true after all huh, Kino?” Hermes remarked happily, but Kino remained silent.

“As for me, I’ll find some country to settle in, and since these guys are out of my way, I can raise this child up well and return to the country and make a grand announcement! Great plan, don’t you think?”

“Uh-huh.”

“But if these guys weren’t around, I don’t have to wait long! That’s why I killed them. I helped myself with some of the medicine the doctor brought with him. I have said this many times already but, everything went according to plan because of you, Kino. Thank you very much!” The woman expressed her gratitude once more and continued,

“Ah, where are my manners? We haven’t talked about your reward yet! I want to repay you for the job well done! Well, I have to use this truck to get home, so maybe you can just pick something else you want? I will be in need of funds from here on so I can’t just give you anything and everything, but I’ll give you as much as I can. If only I could give you my happiness in return! Oh right, it’s only a little, but I think the coachmen have a few gems with them! When we left the country, they took all of the valuable things from their houses! We can use them since they brought them for our sake anyway, don’t you think?”

Hermes dropped his tone a little and asked the ecstatic woman, “Is it really okay to say that? What if Kino decides to kill you and carry off everything?”

“Oh my, Kino won’t do such a thing!” the woman proclaimed with a smile.

“Why?”

“Because there’s no way a person like that would fight for a baby! That just doesn’t make any sense. I’m a woman so I know. Kino can be very brutal in a battle, but the truth is she’s actually a very kind person!”

“That’s what she says. But what will you do, Kino?” Hermes was finally able to squeeze a reply from Kino after such a long time.

“Well I…don’t want to…kill any more people…today…”

Kino answered one phrase at a time.

“I knew you were kind, Kino!”

“No.”

Kino immediately denied the woman’s words. At the same time—

At the end of Kino’s gaze, that is, right behind the woman, a man stood up.

While water dripped from the taut muscles of his naked torso, the man stood with a look of someone possessed by a demon.

The man’s thick arms seized the woman’s small head.

“Huh?”

This was the only word the woman was able to say. The sound of cracking bones followed.

Her eyes still wide open, the woman died with her head turned at an unlikely angle.

“I… beg you…”

The man—the doctor—only said this before collapsing once more into the water. Kino quickly ran over and stopped the woman’s corpse from falling over.

“…”

And she looked at the girl sleeping on the back of the corpse.

Kino removed the cloth tying the baby to the woman, and lifted her up. The woman’s thin corpse fell into the water. Her hair covered her face, concealing her wide open eyes.

Kino placed the child on top of Hermes’ carrier.

“I’m not a crib, you know.”

Kino ignored Hermes’ complaint and gazed at the baby who continued to sleep soundly.

“She’s not crying at all. It must be comfortable on top of you, Hermes.”

“Well, it doesn’t really matter.”

The moment Hermes spoke,

“Waaaaaaah!”

The man wailed.

The doctor crouched down on the water,

“Waah! Waaaaaaaaah!”

And fell on his knees, crying.

The man, though well over fifty, cried like a child.

—

The man continued to weep while blood dripped from his mouth.

The sky was already showing signs of the approaching evening when the man’s wailing settled down.

Kino looked up and saw the white clouds floating on the pale orange sky. When she looked down at her feet, the same scenery greeted her.

The only difference being the corpses that adorned the water’s surface.

“Kino… I have a request…,” the doctor mumbled weakly.

“Kill me… Kill me now…”

Kino answered rather angrily, “Didn’t you hear what I said before?”

Then she asked,

“You can drive a truck, right?”

* * *

Until his death, my grandpa was telling me this:

“Life is a battle.”

“Do not be afraid to fight.”

As to my country of birth, and about my mother…

In the end, he wasn’t able to tell me anything about them. It’s not like I can do anything even if I find out, so it really doesn’t matter.

Every time I asked, he would only tell me why I was named ‘Kino’.

‘Kino’ is the name of a traveler. It was the name of the person who fought to protect me and my grandfather back when he was wandering, carrying me in his arms as a baby.

I never learned about anything else other than the ‘very kind and very strong person traveling on a motorrad’. That’s because grandfather would talk about nothing but ‘Kino’.

This Kino fended off our attackers and protected us. She fought for our sake.

“That the two of us are living safe and sound like this, is all thanks to Kino.”

My grandfather was saying those words to me up to the moment of his death.

I wonder where that traveler is and what she’s doing right now.

Maybe she’s still on her journey.

Maybe, she’s fighting again for someone’s sake.

Or perhaps—

Translator’s Notes

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