Kino no Tabi:Volume17 Chapter6

“Land of Penniless Travel” — Trouble Writer —

(1/1)

[Hello?]

[Ah, it connected! —I’m sorry for calling you out of the blue like this! You’re Kino right? The traveller who arrived today?]

[That’s right...]

[Please help me!]

[Huh? —Um, will you please tell me first who you are? In the first place, I don’t know anyone from this country...]

[Ah, I’m sorry for taking long to explain... I’m a writer from this country! I was once a traveller like you, but I still go out of the country from time to time.]

[What can I do for you?]

[I heard from the guards that you’ve been travelling for a long time! Is that true?]

[Well, I guess it’s been quite some time. Though I can’t say exactly how long it has been.]

[Great! Then please tell me a story about your travels!]

[My travels? What for?]

[Um, I’ll explain! When I was young, I travelled like you, and went to all kinds of places. It was tough and troublesome, travelling on a tight budget. But it was fun, so I would occasionally return, then find a job until I earned a small amount so that I could set out again...]

[Uh-huh...]

[And one time, while I stayed in the country, I wrote an article about one episode of my travels and tried sending it to a publisher.]

[And it sold.]

[Exactly! It became a book entitled ‘Diary of a Poor Traveller’, and became my source of income!]

[Isn’t that a good thing?]

[It is! It sure is, but you see... because of it, I am no longer able to do penniless travelling!]

[Huh?]

[Because the book was selling well, I get a cut from the earnings even when I’m not doing anything! So when I go out to travel, I can afford pricey equipment and comfy vehicles!]

[Isn’t that great?]

[It’s great! —But... What my readers want are anecdotes of a poor traveller! They don’t want to read about the travels of a celebrity!]

[I get it...]

[Right now, ‘Diary of a Poor Traveller’ is being serialized in a newspaper! I’m glad that it has gained so much fame, but I don’t have any more ideas! I have run out of stories about my poor travels! Recently, I no longer walk with cheap shoes but travel on an air-conditioned, fully-furnished camping car... Plus my persuader (Note: a gun) is no longer the type where you’ll have to make a gamble on whether the bullet will come out or not! Now I buy the top quality kind...]

[Okay...]

[I have to finish it by the day after tomorrow! The deadline of for the column is drawing near! Help me!]

[Um, I understand your situation, but have you considered the fact that this has nothing to do with me?

[Please help me! Just one story about your poor travels! Please! Tell me one!]

[But that would be lying won’t it?]

[It’s a lie all right! But please, if you have any that would be interesting, that will do! I’m sure there is! I don’t have any more time! The deadline’s almost up! It will be fine!]

[No, I doubt it will be fine... And even if you make it this week, what are you planning to do about next week?]

[I’ll have you tell me another story!]

[I’ll leave the day after tomorrow...]

[Then I’ll give you money! I’ll give you half of my cut! So please stay some more! And please tell me a story! Help me! The deadline!]

[I can see why you’re so desperate, but I can’t do it.]

[No waaaayyyy...! Ahhhhhh! What am I going to doooooooo!]

[Um... can’t you just ignore the deadline?]

[If I do that, the editorial department and the readers will despise me! I will no longer be needed in this country!]

[Then why don’t you just leave the country?]

[Eh?]

[Take all the money you have and go on a journey again. Once you’ve used up all your money and become poor again, you can just come back and write your ‘Diary of a Poor Traveller’, right? You can also write something like ‘Traveling to Escape from Deadlines’ or something.]

[That!]

[That?]

[That’s it!!!]

—

“Welcome back, Kino. Who’s the person who went all the trouble to contact you in a hotel?”

“Some person worried about ‘travelling’. Wanted some advice.”

“Uh-huh. Were you able to help that person?”

“I don’t know yet... Maybe.”

“Ain’t that great?

“Oh, well. But because of that, it looks like I just increased the number of people who will get troubled...”

“What are you saying? Travelling is always accompanied by trouble, you know.”

“And what’s important is how you go about it, right? Hermes.”

“Well, they say ‘travel’ and ‘trouble’ are derived from the same word.”

“Oh?”

“It’s a lie though.”

“A lie, huh.”

“A lie indeed. But there are plenty of people who believe everything!”

Back to Chapter 5

Return to Main Page

Forward to Chapter 7