Kino no Tabi:Volume13 Special

Special Compilation: “Various Tales” —A Beautiful Dreamer—

Once, in a certain place, there was Kino.

It was a person clad in a brown coat over a black jacket, and wearing a large-caliber revolver below her hips. No matter how you looked at her, it was without a doubt, Kino.

“Now Hermes, where shall we go?”

“Even if you ask me, there’s only one road,” Hermes answered from beside Kino, and she quickly answered back.

“Well you see, saying that while looking at the horizon feels somewhat ‘traveler-ish’.”

“What do you mean by ‘ish’?”

“It means I also want to act like a traveler.”

“But you are a traveler.”

“Now, where shall we go…? You are free to choose our path.”

“Nuh-uh. See here, there’s only one road. Going west from the east and north.”

“But saying that really feels somewhat traveler-ish.”

“That’s why I’m asking you what you mean by ‘ish’.”

“I told you, it means I also want to act like a traveler.”

“And I’m telling you that you are a traveler.”

While the human and vehicle dabbled in this pointless conversation, Master happened upon them. She was a woman with beautiful, long black hair, and clad in stylish clothes and a revolver by her waist. She was together with a tag-along handsome (rest omitted) man.

“That’s mean, labelling me a tag-along. At least call me her partner or something…”

You wouldn’t be.

“Good day, traveler,” Master said as she looked at Kino and Hermes.

“Hello. I’m Kino and this here is my partner Hermes.”

“You can call me Master. This here is luggage-carrier,” Master introduced. The luggage-carrier raised some sort of objection, but was ignored.

“It’s really unusual to encounter fellow travelers in a place like this. How about traveling together for a while?”

“Not a bad idea. I have a feeling that this is not our first meeting, but I’m sure I have never met you before.”

And that’s how two humans, one motorrad, and one luggage-carrier got to travel together.

And they all lived happily ever after.

---

“A Country with Close Ties” —Born to be a Dictator—

The motorrad and Master’s yellow car (rest omitted) were running along a path in the meadows. It was a nice road, uncluttered with trash, and lined with a few signs along it.

The sun and the white, scattered clouds could be seen amidst the clear sky. Nimya’s plane as well as a tank was flying in it.

“I was right!” Nimya shouted in mid-air. Meanwhile,

“Where? Where are you?” The tank called out.

In the meantime, Kino and Shishou exchanged words as they rode side by side.

“‘Master’ has an interesting ring to it. What does it mean?”

“That’s a fine persuader (Note: A gun) you have there.”

“Yes. I am Kino.”

“You should limit yourself to large-caliber type persuaders, after all. Peashooters won’t do anything for you.”

“Because I’m only human.”

“Mine looks exactly like the one you have. Where did you get it?”

“I am having trouble every single morning because Hermes won’t wake up on time.”

Eventually, a country came into view. As they were travelers, they entered it.

“Welcome travelers.”

Upon entry, the country’s citizens welcomed them with smiles.

It was a small country. The country appeared to be very calm and peaceful. No matter where they went, the people were relaxed and welcomed them with a smile.

“Quite a great place. This country,” luggage-carrier remarked.

Soon, Kino, Master, Hermes, and luggage-carrier were invited to dinner by the country’s chief. As it was a magnificent meal for free, they had no reason to refuse it.

They were led to a spacious banquet hall, and found the chief—a frail old man around ninety years of age—seated at the head of the table. Lined up on the seats next to him were people of roughly the same age. They appeared to be people who held important positions in the country.

And thus a lively banquet proceeded among these people.

“The people in this country have close ties, don’t they?” luggage-carrier said.

The chief smiled, “That is our country’s pride. What reason do people of the same country have to fight with each other? Getting along with each other is a wonderful thing! —Say, don’t you want to live in such a wonderful place?” and invited the travelers. As Master, Kino, and luggage-carrier would cease to be travelers if they stayed, all of them refused.

“A peaceful country, with its people having close ties, is a good thing. It eases the rough mood we encounter during our travels.” Master did not forget to pay some lip service.

At that moment, a middle-aged man seated beside luggage-carrier saw the served dish (pan-baked chicken), “It’s a bit burnt, can you change mine?” and made this request to the server.

The chief stood up straight. “That well-cooked kind is delicious,” he objected, and continued, “You have disturbed the peace. Your punishment will be death penalty.”

The man became pale and desperately apologized, but the chief did not lend him an ear. The rest only gave him cold stares, and in front of the travelers who stared on in wonderment, the man was taken away by people who seemed to be policemen.

“No! Anything but the death penalty, ple—”

He vanished to the outside of the room, and after about thirty seconds,

Bang.

A single shot was heard.

The policemen returned and reported that the execution was carried out without a hitch.

“I’m sorry travelers, that was unsightly,” the chief apologized. Kino, Master, luggage-carrier, and Hermes remained in their places and did not show any particular reaction. The chief then explained,

“To maintain the peace among the people in this country, the chief’s orders are made absolute. A chief should always have a discerning eye for matters that can cause spats and conflicts. It is not allowed to have differences in opinion.”

Master only gave a safe “I see” reply.

“Well, let’s forget about that fool and enjoy our meal.”

And so the chief brought a big slice of chicken to his mouth. He chewed it scrumptiously, and the moment he gulped it down,

“Ugh!”

The chief’s face changed color. It became a vivid blue and looked as if he was in a great deal of pain. Looking like that, he fell backwards. The attention of the people around him being in vain,

“He’s dead… He died of suffocation…” The sudden death of the chief was announced. His corpse was carried on a stretcher and brought outside the room.

“Now then, this country’s next chief shall be me—” A man, about the same age as the chief stood up from one side and declared. There was not a single objection from anyone.

“Travelers, I welcome you as this country’s new chief.”

“I can see that. —By the way, what are your criteria for choosing the next leader?” Kino asked.

“By age. In this country, the oldest person becomes chief. And the chief’s orders are absolute. Even if a person is older by a mere tenth of a second, he will be the absolute ruler of the country. The young should obey the orders of those who are older. That’s nature’s law. —How about it? Don’t you want to become citizens of this wonderful country now?”

After they finished eating, Kino, Master, Hermes, and luggage-carrier left the country.

And only left the words, ‘Thank you for the wonderful meal.’

---

“A Land that Gives” —Give and Take—

Kino, Master, Hermes, and luggage-carrier arrived in a different country. On the way, they were attacked by bandits, who they easily defeated and made a huge profit from. But since it’s boring, I’ll cut that part.

And so at this country’s gates, “Please sign this,” the inspector told them. When Kino asked why, he explained, “It is a letter of consent for you to donate your internal organs in case you died of an accident inside the country. It is an obligation for all of our citizens, and the same holds for our guests.”

Kino looked as if she didn’t understand so Master explained for her. “The heart and other internal organs of a person who has just died are still usable, so they can be transplanted to help out people suffering from some illnesses.”

Because they had no intention of dying, and as there’s nothing for them if they do die, the two humans and the luggage-carrier signed.

It was immediately upon entering the country. They stood at the plaza wondering where they should go next, and Kino was looking at her map when a truck came charging with great force straight towards her. With a move faster than Kino, Master pulled out her revolver from her hip and fired. The tire of the truck blew off, and the truck collapsed on its side without hitting Kino. A man was expelled from the driver’s seat amidst all the broken glass, and hit his head on the concrete ground. There was an unpleasant sound, and soon he stopped moving.

“That was close.”

“Yeah. Thank you very much.”

The luggage-carrier who only looked on from beginning to end finally had a chance to speak. “But what’s with that? To me, that looked anything but an accident.”

People began to swarm around the man, and soon, his corpse was carried away.

“What was that, indeed?” Master also wondered, so they grabbed a nearby onlooker and asked him about the incident.

“Oh t-t-that. It’s probably because the traveler over there was just perfect.”

“Just perfect?” Kino asked, and Hermes elaborated, “What’s perfect?”

“Her age and physique. The moment you entered the country, you were made to sign a consent form, right? Because of that, you should only expect to get targeted in this country.”

“You mean, they kill someone and make them donate their organs?”

“What else? Humans can do this much for the sake of the people they love.”

“Then that driver…”

“Yes. I imagine he has a daughter or son needing a transplant. But it seems like he’s now the one who gets to donate his organs. Why, people who are in line for transplants look forward to weekends where there is one traffic accident after another. Please be careful not to get killed and have someone get saved by your organs. Well, you are pretty skilled, so I guess there’s no need for you to worry,” the man said, and left, looking around him with profound caution.

During their three-day stay, Kino and Master were targeted twice, and luggage-carrier was targeted once.

“Good grief.”

Meanwhile, Hermes got two on his handlebars, five on his tires, and three on his frame—robbery attempts, that is.

“That was quite fun, wasn’t it, Master.”

“Yes, it is.”

And so Kino, Master, Hermes, and luggage-carrier left the country.

---

“A Brilliant Country” —Creators—

The next place Kino, Master, Hermes, and the rest entered in was a…

“That’s mean!”

The next place Kino, Master, Hermes, and luggage-carrier entered in was a normal country.

It was a country which was normal in size, technology, and prosperity. It’s a normal country. To put in other words, it’s a boring country.

“From time to time, it’s not bad to see a country with no quirks, like this one. Right, Kino?”

“I agree. Let’s relax this time, Master.”

Soon they found a hotel, and as they were drinking their tea in the lobby,

“Welcome to our country. Aren’t you glad to have visited such a wonderful country?”

A resident said. Without them noticing it, they were surrounded by people of all ages and genders. Every single one of them held a conceited air.

“Our country is the most wonderful country in this world!” “Yeah!” “That’s right!”

The residents declared with overflowing confidence. However, as Kino, Master, Hermes, and luggage-carrier weren’t too impressed, they only interjected with insincere yeah’s, right’s, and oh’s.

“Ah of course, travelers who have just entered won’t be able to appreciate our country’s greatness. —Fine then, let me give you the details.”

The travelers only had ‘You don’t have to,’ or ‘We didn’t ask you for it,’ in their minds, but they kept these thoughts to themselves.

They began. First, this country’s history was apparently, amazing.

“Our country has over ten thousand years of history! Around the time when humans from other countries used stone tools and living barbaric lives, our country has already developed a fine civilization!”

And they also said this: Most of the great inventions and discoveries in the world originated from their country.

“These great inventions and discoveries were accomplished by our great country. Wheels, iron, science, culture—everything—originated from our country! Even those persuaders that you use were invented by our blacksmiths six centuries ago! The gasoline engine was discovered 120 years ago by our prodigious scientists! Even the creation of the hat you wear on your head was ours! It was our country’s idea to attach strings on your shoes! All forms of art and the development of knives was ours! Even the idea of boiling water! It would take a long time if I tell you each and every single detail, but our liberal country imparted these discoveries to its neighbors without asking for anything in return. With all of this, you can say that we are at the peak of evolution in this planet! Even if the whole world bows to us a hundred times and cried, it wouldn’t be enough to thank us!”

And the people continued their boastful speech in such a manner.

“Do you have proof?” Hermes asked.

“Of course!” They answered without hesitation. As if it was a matter of fact, common sense, and absolute truth.

“Everything we said are recorded in the ‘Great World History Encyclopedia’ and the ‘Great Book of Inventions and Discoveries’! The things written here are unquestionable proof! Anyone who reads this, no matter how foolish, will have to believe!”

And the things they took the pain to bring before the travelers were two massive and gorgeously decorated encyclopedias.

Then Kino asked, “If that’s the case, then where did these ‘Great World History Encyclopedia’ and ‘Great Book of Inventions and Discoveries’ came from?”

The residents answered with confidence no less than before,

“Of course, it’s from our country! —Isn’t it obvious?!”

---

“A Country For Offer” —Sales Talk—

Further into Kino, Master, Hermes, and luggage-carrier’s travels, they met Shizu in the middle of the meadows. He was with Riku. And they rode a buggy.

And in the buggy was the white-haired girl Ti, whose usual silence made her thoughts undiscernable.

“Oh, if it isn’t Kino and Hermes.”

Shizu greeted, and Kino gave a quick bow and greeted back, “It’s been a while, Riku and your owner.”

That dealt quite a blow to Shizu. His body shook violently. “It’s Shizu! Shizu! Shizu! Shizu! Shizu!”

Kino ignored the sweater-wearing guy and introduced Master and luggage-carrier to Riku. Hermes showered Riku with insults, which Riku returned to Hermes.

“You sure get along well,” Master remarked.

“Sigh…,” Shizu exhaled. For some reason, he seemed extremely tired.

“What’s wrong? You look pale,” Kino asked.

Shizu answered, “The truth is for a while now, my shoulders and head feel so heavy. I can’t seem to find a cure for it. It bothers me even during driving, it’s quite painful.”

“Maybe it’s because you were swinging your sword around too much?”

“I thought so too, so I held back in my training for a while, but the pain just wouldn’t go away.”

Shizu said, and brooded over. Riku also looked like he has given up on finding the cause, while Ti,

“…”

Only stood quietly beside them.

“That’s simple!” Luggage-carrier said as he got off the yellow car.

“Sweater-wearing mister, do you know a girl who wore braids and was dressed in purple clothes?”

“Huh?” Shizu fell into thought, and then, “A long time ago, I met a girl with that description, but…”

“And was this girl, by any chance, dead?” Luggage-carrier looked like he was having fun, while Shizu looked puzzled.

“It’s just as you say, but…how did you know?”

“Why, it’s because I can see.”

“See what?” Kino asked, and luggage-carrier answered with brimming self-confidence.

“Sweater-wearing mister, right now that girl’s spirit is sitting on your right shoulder with a smile on her face. It looks like she liked you very much and decided to atta—”

‘Attach herself to you.’ Before luggage-carrier could finish off his sentence, Master has beaten him to a pulp. A right punch, a left straight, and a left kick sent him beneath her heels, and finally she attacked him by using a chair’s capability as a dangerous weapon.

“Ow— Ack— Ugh— Guh—” He shrieked. Ah, this is brutal.

“I’ll be taking my leave,” Master tossed the now limp luggage-carrier to the car, said her farewells, and disappeared like a bullet. The yellow car left in an unbelievable speed and was soon out of their sight.

And so Shizu’s troupe, Kino and Hermes left that place.

“That’s great, isn’t it? Now you know the cause,” Kino said.

“I don’t believe in such things as ghosts.” Shizu was not in a merry mood. “Well, shall we go to the next country?” He said, then started the buggy’s engine. Kino launched Hermes and followed after the buggy.

The walls of the next country soon came into view.

“I wonder what kind of country it will be this time?” Kino mused.

Shizu replied, “I wonder. I only hope that it’s a country that is loved by its citizens, a country that they take pride in. I am sure such a country would be a good one. I would be happy if we find such a country.”

And soon upon entry, Kino, Hermes, the tired Shizu and his company were surrounded by the residents.

“We are this country’s politicians! We were chosen by the citizens thru an election!”

All of a sudden, the men and women asked Kino and Shizu a question,

“By the way, won’t you start a war with our country?”

Before you say ‘Oh my god!’, let’s have an explanation.

“If you travelers were sent by the army of some foreign country to declare war, we will immediately surrender.”

“Why?” “Why is that?”

Shizu and Kino asked.

“Why of course! It was decided by our constitution that this country shall never go to war! Wars are evil because they kill people. It’s just not right. That’s why our country had an idea. We’ll get rid of wars for eternity; as such our country doesn’t have an army. Isn’t it wonderful? It is right?”

“Then?” “And so?”

“That’s what we’re telling you! If you declare war on this country, we’ll surrender immediately, and this country will be under the occupation of travelers. In short, this country will be yours!”

Kino spoke. “I see— I understand that, but I don’t need this country. I’m fine as long as I could stay for a bit.”

The smile on the residents’ face did not fade.

“I see, I see. But we have a proposal. If you occupy this country today, we’ll handle all the troublesome government work. You can pose as the governors of this country and relax. You can have a permanent residence here or go traveling again! During your absence, we will serve as the representatives of you, the governors! You don’t have to worry about anything! What do you think? Eh?”

Shizu only kept silent with his tired face, while Riku asked,

“What are we going to do, Master Shizu? —With this, we can also live in this country.”

Shizu glanced at the people who were waiting for his reply with excited faces.

“Maybe we should leave,” was his only reply.

“Ah, wait—”

He ignored the people chasing after him and rode the buggy while stroking his right shoulder. He started the engine and rode away in no time.

Kino asked Hermes what they should do next, and as there was nothing interesting in the country, they decided to leave.

Upon leaving the country, Shizu’s buggy stopped in the middle of the meadow. It seems that they were thinking where to go next.

“Kino, what should I do from here on?” Shizu asked with a miserable face,

“How should I know, moron! You get to choose your own path! That is what it means to be human! That is what it means to live! Stop looking down! Don’t you have a perfect pair of legs?! Go use them! No matter how painful the road waiting for you, no matter if there’s a strong headwind blowing against you! Fight it! With your own will! With your soul! — is what Kino has in mind,” Hermes answered. Kino hit Hermes tank,

“Ow!”

“I don’t know. Because I am not a God.”

“I guess so. It can’t be helped… Maybe I’ll go look somewhere again…”

Shizu sighed once more. Then when he looked to his left, Ti was there,

“…”

Looking quietly at Shizu’s right shoulder. She was staring at it.

“There’s nothing to see. Don’t mind it so much,” Shizu said, but Ti still kept on looking. Her green eyes only stared, and stared.

“…”

Then, without any voice coming out, her lips moved. She became expressionless for a while, then repeated it. It was as if she was talking with someone.

“What’s the matter?” Shizu asked in wonder.

“It spoke,” Ti answered.

“Something? No, someone?”

Ti stared straight at the befuddled Shizu and answered his question.

“‘I will always love Mr. Shizu,’ said the girl on your shoulder.”

Kino, Shizu, Riku, and Hermes…

“…”

Fell silent just like Ti.

After a while, Shizu said this.

“Well…, I guess it’s all right even if the pain doesn’t go away.”

---

“A Country of Cities” —Don’t Stop Us!—

Kino and Hermes parted ways with Shizu and proceeded through the path in the meadow.

Soon, they found a place scattered with corpses. They were the bones of humans eaten by wild animals.

“I wonder what’s up? Some national bureau?”

“… Natural burial?”

“Yeah that!” Hermes said and fell silent.

“So harsh,” Kino said.

The corpses increased in numb er as they continued. Soon, when they thought they couldn’t see anymore corpses, the country’s walls came into view.

It was a vast country. The entry process was completely automatic. When they entered, they saw the interior full of tight rows of buildings, with hovees (Note: A ‘hover vehicle’. A vehicle that floats.) flying around, and billboards floating in the air. There were also railroads running on top of elevated bridges.

One would realize upon seeing the number of people traversing the roads that it was a country with a high population and population density.

Kino planned to make her stay as discreet as possible, but because her appearance was not as tidy as the country’s people, she was met with a barrage of questions like, “How are things outside the country?” or, “How’s life as a traveler?”

Three days passed by in a blink, and soon it was time for them to leave. As there was an inspector at the emigration gates, Kino decided to ask about the corpses.

“Oh, those are people from this country.”

“So it was natural burial after all?” Hermes asked.

“No, that’s not it.” The inspector answered. “They are— travelers.”

“Huh?” “What do you mean?”

“As you can see, this country has quite an advanced technology. That’s why there are many people who yearn to travel, to live outside the walls. These people wanted a change from their city life, longed for the outdoors, and go on traveling.”

“But they died quite near the country,” Kino said.

“Well that’s that. The people from this country were brought up in a civilized environment. Outdoor living won’t be easy for us. You may not believe me, but there are people who set out without even knowing how to make a fire. Some of them don’t even know how to tell apart north, east, west and south—not that I know myself. I couldn’t even hold tools necessary for traveling. Moreover, we don’t know what things we would need in the first place. With that, what do you think would happen to someone, who has nothing but longing , when he goes out of the country?”

“He’d die, I guess,” Hermes said.

“Isn’t it? That’s why everyone dies. As soon as the country could no longer be seen, they wouldn’t know how to go back.”

“Then why don’t they ban people from traveling?” Kino asked.

“That’s possible, but if we do that, the population won’t get diminished. When you ride a train, don’t you wish more people get off in other stations before yours? It will free some seats.”

Was the inspector’s answer.

---

Kino and Hermes were running through a meadow.

“Well, where shall we go next, Hermes?”

“‘Well, where shall we go next, Kino?’ is what I’d like to say, but we can’t go on anymore.”

“Why?” Kino asked, and Hermes told her to look behind.

“Behind?”

When Kino looked back,

“Whoa!”

There were various things. A country moving at a fierce speed, trampling on another country; a tank firing its cannon; a young man painting; Nimya’s plane doing somersaults in the air; Master coercing a trader; Shizu practicing with his sword; Riku complaining as Ti tugged on his fur; Inid setting up an ambush; A long line in front of a shop selling hydrogen bombs; a tall tower collapsing, and so on.

“What the? This is absurd, this can’t be happening, Hermes!”

“That’s okay Kino. After all, this is a dream.”

“Huh? What did you just say, Hermes?”

“I said this is a dream. It’s about time you wake up.”

“What?”

“It’s about time for you to wake up. About time… time… time… time…”

---

And the girl woke up with tears in her eyes.

“Huh…? Where am I…?” The girl muttered. It was a usual morning in her usual room.

“Ah. It’s a dream.”

The girl leapt out of her bed and marked her calendar. Then she went down to the dining room. Her parents greeted her with a smile. Breakfast was ready.

“I had a weird dream.” The girl said. ‘Oh?’ said her father. ‘Dear me,’ said her mother.

“It was a weird dream—fun, scary, pleasant, painful, sad, happy, and mysterious all at the same time. But…”

“But?” “But?”

“I can no longer remember any of it.”

“I see.” “I see.”

The girl asked, “Say, mother, father… have you had a ‘dream’ like that before?”

The mother shook her head with a smile, and the father answered with a gentle tone,

“You see, adults don’t dream.”

And the girl will be having her twelfth birthday the next month.

Translator’s Notes

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