Kino no Tabi:Volume17 Chapter7

“A Tale of Paradise” — Exile —

“It’s an old, old story.”

An old woman whispered to a girl tucked in bed with a soft blanket.

“Uh-huh. An old, old story.” The girl, whose long hair and head was buried in a soft pillow, said to the old woman who was seated beside her.

“Yes, very, very old. And it’s a story that no one knows about.”

To this, the little girl tilted her head and asked, “No one knows? Then who told you about it, grandma?”

The old woman called Shishou answered, “Before that, let me tell you the story.”

“Um, okay,” the girl answered, her eyes slightly becoming clouded with drowsiness.

“Then let’s begin.”

And the old woman began her tale.

“A long, long time ago, there was a paradise…”

——

And one day a woman came upon this paradise.

She had long, black hair; a woman at the prime of her youth.

—

She discovered the entrance to this paradise; a place called the ‘first pond’—

—

The woman floated on the pond face up, gazing at the long and narrow strip of the blue sky beyond the precipitous cliffs.

“Hey! Are you alive?!”

People came, along with the lively splash of water.

They were all women.

Two looked to be in their twenties, three in their thirties, and there was one in her forties—the woman who just called out in a commanding voice.

All of them wore shirts and shorts with tattered sleeves and hems, serving no other purpose but to cover what has to be covered. And none of them seemed to mind.

They were barefoot, and their legs were submerged shin-deep into the pond’s water.

The air that streamed into the valley was warm, so their light clothing doesn’t seem to bother them.

“…”

The black-haired woman mutely raised herself.

She on the other hand, wore long pants, a white shirt with an elegant black jacket on top, and boots on her feet. Of course, she was completely soaked from head to toe.

As the pond was rather shallow, her feet got stuck as she stood up.

The black-haired woman who was drenched well up to her belly slowly walked towards the coast where the women were.

The pond’s water was very still, and as she walked, she felt fish swimming away.

“Oh! You don’t seem to be hurt anywhere! —I’m glad we don’t have to prepare a funeral!” The woman in her forties cried out in delight.

As she plodded within the pond, the black-haired woman looked at her surroundings.

First she observed the shallow pond filled with clear water. It was a long and narrow ellipse about thirty meters wide and seventy meters long.

All around it was a bank of mixed white sand and pebbles. Left and right where the precipitous cliffs that rose perpendicularly with the bottom, several hundred meters in height.

Finally, the black-haired woman turned her gaze towards the other women, and asked, “Where am I?”

Her question was soon answered.

“This place? We call it ‘paradise’. You’ll know soon enough. Now, since you seem fine, we’ll guide you through this place right away. —But before that, do you remember your name?”

“I normally don’t use a name.”

“Then, what were you called?”

“The last person I was with called me ‘Shishou’.”

“‘Shishou’, is it? That will do. Just a heads up, you don’t need your old name here. I myself have forgotten what I was called in the past. You can just call me ‘Kashira’. Got it, Shishou?”

—

With her hair and clothes still wet, the woman called Shishou was guided by Kashira and the other women.

They were inside a valley that continued endlessly.

Interposed left and right by dreadfully high cliffs, it was a place barred from the outside world.

The area that contained the pond was still wide, around fifty meters across. But as they walked along the causeway downstream, the valley narrowed steadily.

There, because of several large rocks, the flow of the river was brought to a halt. They carefully climbed over the gigantic rocks that served as a dam, and saw beyond it the river that has turned into a gushing mountain stream.

As the valley became narrower, the stream also became faster.

In an area barely twenty meters across, the river made rumbling noises and flowed with extreme vigor through the fissures between rocks larger than humans.

Below the hollowed cliffs, the women walked the narrow path in a single file.

“It’s also like this upstream that pond. You must have lost consciousness and was carried by the current non-stop for several kilometers, tens of kilometers even,” the woman called Kashira explained to Shishou, who was walking just behind her. Then she asked, “Do you remember anything?”

Shishou answered, “I can only clearly remember up until my car was swept into the river.”

“Oh? How did that happen? Mind telling us?”

“I made an imprudent decision in the previous country. It happened while I was escaping from my pursuers.”

“I see. So you pushed your luck in trying to escape. Was there anyone else with you?”

“I was traveling with a man.”

“Is that so… Unfortunately, we haven’t found anybody else. He was probably stuck somewhere upstream. If he’s your lover, you’d better give it up.” Kashira offered words of sympathy.

But Shishou only answered, “He was pretty useful in many ways, but that’s it.”

It was a terribly dry response. The women walking behind her were surprised with her reply, and stared at her in wonder.

Little by little, the valley became wider. While walking on stones deliberately placed to serve as a passageway, Kashira continued her explanation.

"You may have guessed it already, but every one of us here were airheads who got swept away by the river… and were lucky enough to drift to that pond alive."

“I see,” Shishou said as she flung the hair that stuck on her nape backwards. Then, “And I suppose it is impossible to get out of this place,” she said impassively, her expression as blank as ever.

The women around her were once again surprised by her cool-headedness.

Kashira confirmed her suspicion.

"You're taking this quite calmly… even though this should be pretty shocking news… I was even choosing my words carefully."

"As long as you're alive, you can do something. Right now I just want to grasp the situation."

“Quite the spirit you’ve got there, though you may not have lived an honest life… Oops! It's bad to talk about the past here. Not good, not good,” Kashira said and stuck out her tongue. The other women smiled at her playful display.

“I’m not sure how long but, all of you have been living here, right? That means there’s a place here where people can settle down, am I correct?” Master continued her calm discourse. Kashira nodded.

“Bingo. That smart head of yours saves us some time. We got swept into this place, and have been living here since.”

“Have you tried getting out?”

“We wouldn’t be here if it can be done. Want to know why it’s impossible? It’s because the current gets stronger the farther you go upstream, while left and right, there are these hundreds of meters high cliffs. And—”

At that moment, the group approached a part of the valley that bends greatly to the left.

The width of the valley expanded into about a hundred meters while the flow of the river has become gentler.

The gentler flow enabled earth and sand to collect by the riverside. Kashira and Shishou, who had been climbing over the rocks, finally felt their feet touching damp ground.

“And—, well it’s better to see it with your own eyes. Look—”

Kashira carried on with her explanation as she proceeded, and upon turning left the valley became straight once more. And then the scenery beyond it revealed itself.

A scenery that was reflected into Shishou’s eyes.

The valley abruptly expanded into a wide area spanning three hundred meters. It was the widest part of the valley they have been in so far. The amount of sunlight that shone in from the sky increased, brightening up their surroundings.

At the center of the valley, the 300-meter wide river flowed leisurely. Left and right were sand and earth.

And various trees grew in the valley.

There were different kinds, but the most numerous breed of all was one peculiar to areas with hot climates—a tall tree with big leaves and fruits—a palm tree. The vivid green leaves grew all over the valley, as if concealing it.

Kashira stopped and stood by Shishou’s side.

“See what lies beyond the valley for yourself.”

As they commanded a view from their spot, they could see very well the 500-meter span of the cliffs, the valley and the river.

And then it abruptly disappears, with nothing but the blue sky beyond.

“I’m sure you know why it disappears.”

“Because the land ends right there. Beyond it, there’s probably an enormous waterfall. And further beyond, a sea,” Shishou answered.

Kashira turned with a smile to the woman’s calm face.

“Correct. And that’s the third reason why you can’t get out of here. —Welcome to our ‘village’.”

—

It was a place that can be aptly called ‘edge of the world’.

Facing the expanse of a vast ocean, a huge rocky mountain that stood over a thousand meters soared vertically with the earth.

As the rocky mountain continues beyond the horizon, it was seemingly an impossible task to measure how wide an area the mountain spans.

And in this mountain, there was a lone rift.

Considering the enormity of the mountain, this rift was but paper-thin in comparison. And it was also only half as high as the mountain.

It was as if a fearful giant decided to slice the mountain with a saw and stopped midway.

From this gap, a river gushed out into a waterfall.

But after falling for quite some distance, the water is stirred and scattered by the wind. The breeze constantly blowing from the ocean clashes with the cliff, and continues its ascent to the top of the mountain.

And by the banks of the river that formed this waterfall was the shadow of a human.

—

“Everyone! We have a new face here! You can call her Shishou!”

Kashira stood before all the villagers and shouted.

They were in the lowest reaches of the valley river. With only a few palm trees growing, most of it was made up of the river and the white sand.

A little bit more downstream, the ground vanishes, and the rush of falling water resounded vaguely.

Seated atop the soft sand and looking at the two who stood by the edge of the river were dozens of adults and less than half that number of children.

“Shishou, these are the villagers. There are forty-nine adults, thirty-nine of which are women, and seventeen children,” Kashira explained.

The women sat together, all wearing shirts and shorts. If they were inside a country, they would surely be arrested for indecency.

No one seemed to be older than Kashira, with most of them looking to be around their twenties. Their features, complexions, and hair colors varied. The only similarity they shared was that none of them were plump.

There were ten men, who had much more rugged looks as they were bare-chested and wore only shorts. They were around their twenties to thirties, all with muscular builds.

The children were half boys and half girls. Their ages also varied, from infancy to mid-teens. The little children were all naked, and those above ten years of age were barely clothed.

And so the men and the women looked at Shishou…

“Good thing you survived!”

“You may have mixed feelings right now, but we welcome you!”

“It will be all right! You have nothing to worry about!”

…and uttered warm words of encouragement before introducing themselves one by one.

“…”

Shishou, who had to hear sixty-six names in succession, only silently met their gazes and gave a small bow.

Kashira then spoke to Shishou. “I’m sure you can tell by looking at everyone, but there are few men in this village. Men and women alike drift to the ‘first pond’, but even though they’re not injured, it is the men who usually die. Maybe it’s because women have more fat in their bodies so they can withstand the cold more, and are able to float really well.”

“I see.”

“That’s why here, the women are the strong ones. A man who tries anything fishy to a woman gets beaten in no time. Not that the women here aren’t capable of doing the opposite—it can’t be helped. So I ask you not to torment the men too much, okay?”

Kashira laughed mischievously and the other women who were listening also giggled.

“Here, you are free to do whatever you want except for one thing. Do you know what that is, Shishou?”

While being the center of everyone’s attention, Shishou answered readily, “Killing someone.”

“Exactly! The only thing we can’t permit anyone to do is to reduce the number of our comrades. Anyone who kills somebody shall be made to jump off that waterfall.”

“I’ll bear that in mind.”

“Even so, you’re one tough cookie. After drifting here, most would do nothing but cry in despair… I was like that at first too… I’m not going to try and make myself look good. But it is true that no one can get out of this place. You can’t climb the cliffs or the waterfall, and of course, leaping off that waterfall is out of the question.”

“I understand.”

“But it’s not difficult to live here. The leaves of the palm trees block rain and sun, and we have the soft sand as our bed. There are no dangerous animals or insects. There’s plenty of drinking water, and even when left on their own, the fish multiply and the palm trees bear fruit. As for clothes, we use those that drift into the pond from time to time; though we don’t know if they’re from luggage or corpses. And so here, we who have died once are given a chance to live anew. I doubt our families or acquaintances think we’re still alive, you see.”

Then Kashira urged Shishou to sit down. After Shishou sat with the villagers behind her, Kashira began to weave a tale. Of the history of the paradise.

And it goes like this.

As expected, among all of those present, Kashira lived in this place the longest.

About twenty years ago, the merchant truck she traveled with got swept away in the river. She was the only survivor.

The ones who saved her at the time—her ‘seniors’ so to speak—were five women.

They spent roughly thirty years in this place, and knew that it was impossible to leave.

Of course they tried to go upstream. However, the ever-flowing current of the waterfall hindered their advance and drained all their hope.

They tried to form characters on the ground, or raise smoke towards anyone who might be atop the cliffs.

But they all knew that the chances of that happening are but a trifle. Who would make a trip into a land filled with rough jungle, when there are no countries nearby?

They also tried sending messages asking for help from the waterfall towards the ocean, but as there’s no basin under the waterfalls, the messages probably couldn’t drift towards the sea.

And within the paradise’s fifty years of history, no one has come to save them. They never saw a ship sailing in the ocean either.

In the first place, no neighboring country was aware of the existence of this marvelous landscape. Who, other than a whimsical adventurer, would ever come upon such a place?”

In the end, they have abandoned trying all sorts of things, and they decided to just stay there. However, Kashira believed that people who would end up like her would grow in number.

Because of the lack of other paths, the number of people who crossed the river will increase. The more people crossing it, the more accidents there will be.

And it was just as Kashira feared. During her twenty-year stay, the population of the village grew.

Most of the seventeen children were born there. Kashira joked that every single night was tough for the first men who got rescued.

As there were very few men in the village, there was no such thing as a marriage system.

To put it nicely, it was free-for-all love. To put it bluntly, the men are owned by the women. A man invited by a woman cannot refuse. Not that they refused in the first place.

And so, everyone is free to be together with anyone they like.

Consequently, no one could tell which child belongs to whom, and there was no need to know. The children are the village’s treasures, and everyone gives their all to raise them with care.

No one knows what will become of this village in the future.

Even so, the villagers continued their daily lives.

—

After hearing the entire story,

“I understand it very well,” Shishou said. She stood up, then approached the women listening to Kashira’s story.

“I’m the newcomer. I am very much indebted to you,” she introduced herself and bowed her head deeply.

This surprised the women, who then said things to her like, ‘You don’t have to go that far’, or ‘We’re all friends here,’ in a humbled manner.

Then Shishou took off her jacket, placed it by their feet, and searched its pocket for something.

She took out her hand, now clutching something.

“I offer this as a gift to everyone. It is something that is no longer of use to me.”

She opened her palm and showed the item to all the women, including Kashira.

The next moment, the expressions of the women transformed. At the same time, they sighed, as if in a trance.

On Shishou’s hand was a large brooch.

Embellished with plenty of jewels, the beautiful, glittering brooch was a most extravagant piece of ornament. If the jewels were authentic, it is impossible to tell how much value it carries.

Shishou explained as she surveyed the women’s faces.

“This is something I stole from the treasure room of a certain country. Apparently, it had more value than I initially thought. So people of that country came after my life, and as a result, I fell into the river.”

While looking at the women’s distraught faces—whether out of sympathy or pity— Shishou continued her explanation.

“I desired it so much, but now my efforts are all in vain. I now loathe looking at it.”

Even though she said this, not one woman volunteered to keep it.

Everyone turned to the silent Kashira, awaiting her judgment.

“Shishou…. You’ve brought quite an extravagant item. You see, we have long parted ways with our own treasures. Everyone will be enticed by it, and would dream of having it, knowing full well that such a thing will make no difference. Now what am I to do…?”

Seeing that Kashira herself was at a lost, Shishou suggested, “Then how about this… I shall keep, but never wear it. It shall belong to the village, and will be worn by someone only on their special occasion.”

Kashira slapped her knee.

“That’s a great idea! Let’s do that! No one should have complaints, then? This shall not belong to just one person!”

And as no one raised any complaints, the matter was settled peacefully. After this, Shishou looked once again at the women, then returned the brooch to her jacket.

And then,

“AAAH! AAAAAAAAH! AAAAAAAH! AAAAAAAAH!”

She suddenly screamed. Then she collapsed to the sandy beach, and while facing up, flailed her arms and legs wildly.

Everyone, including Kashira, was surprised over such a show of hysterics, but no one stopped her. They let Shishou do as she pleased.

For about twenty seconds, she looked up towards the piece of blue sky that can be seen beyond the lofty cliffs, and thrashed her arms and legs again and again.

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!”

Her long, piercing scream resounded one last time.

“…”

And then she stopped moving.

Kashira stood beside her with a kind smile and offered her a hand.

“That made you feel better? Feel like choosing your bed now?”

“Yes, thank you.”

Shishou answered, grasped tightly the hand offered to her, and stood up from the sand.

——

The next day.

Shishou woke up at dawn.

In this place, the temperature doesn’t go down much even during the evening. Even when one slept naked, there wouldn’t be any problem.

Over the soft sand, the leaves of the palm trees spread several times over served as comfortable beds. If the leaves get damaged or damp, they can be replaced as many times as needed.

Shishou wasn’t the only one awake. Once the world has become brighter, everyone woke up naturally. It was the beginning of a day in the village.

The women proceeded with their deeds at the lowest part of the waterfalls, in an area where they wouldn’t fall. They washed their faces and bodies.

Out of some form of reservation, the men waited for all the women to finish before using the same place for the same purpose.

In the village, they ate two meals a day, consisting of palm fruit and fish.

They drank the contents of the palm fruit, and ate the fruits after splitting them in half.

Upstream, weirs (devices that can be used to capture fish in the current) made of assembled stones captured fish, so a person need only go there and seize one with their bare hands.

They created fire with flints, and built campfires using dried palm husks and branches for fuel.

The grilling process only consisted of removing the scales and entrails of the fish, wrapping them in moist palm leaves, and throwing them to the fire. They used the rock salt that comes off from the cliff for seasoning.

Some kind of fruit also grew there in small amounts, of which they ate the ripe ones little by little.

There was little variety in the meals, but it was enough to support their numbers. It can probably support approximately twice as much people.

During the previous day’s dinner,

“I would like to be on my own for now,” Shishou said, and did not join in with the others. But that morning, she mingled with the women to chat.

In a village where there’s very little to amuse one’s self with, a newcomer’s stories are extremely valuable.

Badgered by everyone, Shishou eventually talked about her personal experiences as a traveler.

Stealing, robbing, killing and almost getting killed; they were nothing but tales of extreme and interesting adventures.

No matter which way one looks at it, this woman called Shishou made by no means an honest living, but none of that mattered anymore once she came to this village.

Be it women, men, or children, their eyes glittered in excitement as they listened to the stories told indifferently by Shishou.

That day passed with them doing nothing else.

About halfway through the day,

“Now, let me tell you about my latest adventure—”

Shishou began recounting the tale about the brooch she has stolen.

It was around thirty-five days before.

In a certain kingdom, a terrible power struggle raged on.

When the previous king fell off a horse and died unexpectedly, deciding on who shall inherit the throne became a serious problem.

Normally, the right of succession was settled without any challenge. As the country has enjoyed peace for a long time, it was an unwritten rule that the heir shall be named at the moment the previous king retires.

But power drives people mad. The king’s siblings, children, and cousins all aimed for the crown and plunged themselves into a cycle of assassination.

People who descended from the royal family ‘mysteriously’ died of natural causes or accidents one after another.

Some fellow coughed blood after eating his favorite dish. One cracked his skull from tumbling down the stairs. Somebody was discovered floating in his bathtub, while another died of flames that spread from his hearth.

And while the citizens grew more alarmed of the dispute among members of the royal family, Shishou and the man that accompanied her entered the country.

In the middle of the continuing mayhem in the royal palace, they readily invaded its treasure room and carried off piles upon piles of the royal family’s treasures.

Some of it they gave away to the citizens who happened to witness them. Of course, the people rejoiced at the appearance of such chivalrous thieves.

And then they made their escape from the country. However, it seems that they were seen while they were distributing the loot, and they were identified from their physical descriptions. Ironically, the royal family united in that instant and began an obstinate chase for the thieves.

The moment they realized that they have taken too much, it was already too late.

Their evasion went on for days. The pursuit became increasingly intense by the day, until they finally decided to do the unreasonable—to cross the high waters of a river with their tiny car—and became swept away as a result.

And so it has come to this. The end.

She looked at the applauding audience who found her story amusing, and said,

“I am happy that I was able to entertain you.”

—

That evening,

After finishing dinner, all that was left was to go to bed once the sun sets.

“…”

Shishou, who still wore her shirt and trousers, silently headed over to the center of the valley right beside the river, and lay face up on the sandy beach. Without minding the sand that clung to her body, she moved her arms and legs.

As none of the villagers understood what this meant, they just let Shishou do as she wished.

Save for one woman.

—

“Shishou…”

A woman approached Shishou, who has stopped her suspicious motions, but remained looking at the dim sky.

She was around her late twenties.

Like the other women, she wore only shorts and a shirt that covered nothing but her breasts. Her sunburnt skin was pale brown, and her tawny, long hair was tied behind her.

She had a short stature, with sweet facial features. She had a delicate ambience about her, a characteristic rare among the women of the village who were manly in either appearance or in spirit.

“…”

Shishou silently and slowly got up. White sand fell in large drops from her hair and back.

“You’re Luise, am I correct?” Shishou said.

The woman called Luise, astonished that Shishou was able to remember the names of over sixty people, whispered apologetically, “Yes… I have a request…”

As there was nobody else near them, they could have spoken normally without anybody hearing, but Luise’s manner was that of someone frightened of something.

“What is it?” Without any change from her expression, Shishou replied firmly.

Then Luise requested with utmost courtesy, “Um, that brooch… will you let me see it…?”

“Because it’s now the property of the whole village, I can’t just decide on my own—”

Shishou began words to turn her request down, then discreetly looked at her surroundings and sat atop the sand.

“Please sit down as well.”

Luise obeyed, and Shishou took out the aforementioned brooch from her pants pocket, carefully concealed by her hands.

Then she dug at the sand between them, and placed it within. With this, it would seem as if they were merely talking to each other while seated.

“T-thank you…,” Luise uttered her gratitude.

Shishou looked at the woman who stared at the brooch.

It was not the gaze of someone who merely yearned to look at a pretty trinket.

She had the expression of someone who was looking at a terrifying apparition. However, she did not avert her gaze.

Time passed peacefully, and the sky steadily grew darker.

As most of the valley faced south, the evening sun cannot be seen from the bottom of the valley. It has probably already descended below the western sky, which was invisible to them.

Luise continued to gaze at the brooch until it was completely dark, when,

“Do you want to keep it just for tonight?” Shishou said this.

“Huh?! —Oh, no! No…”

Luise who was pulled back to reality said in refusal, at the same time drawing away her body. Soon she turned around, stood up, and ran as if trying to escape.

“…”

Shishou quietly looked at the woman until she vanished, then eventually stood up.

“Now, how about I go to sleep too.”

She grasped the brooch in her hand, and walked towards her leafy bed.

——

The next day.

It was the morning of the third day since Shishou became among the dwellers of the village.

Like the day before, the morning passed the way it had for decades in this village.

The sky beyond the tall, tall walls was as clear and as blue as it was before.

That morning, Shishou lay face up once more over the sand, flapping her arms and legs.

Kashira came and stood beside her,

“You’re exercising? Maybe I should join too,” she said with a laugh.

“…”

Luise stood quietly by Kashira’s side,

Shishou raised her face, “I’ll tell you about it eventually.”

“That’s great. Do you want to take a shot at it too?”

Luise answered the question with a tiny voice, “If you ask me to, Kashira…”

Kashira’s face soured, “Luise… There you go again. You’re not my slave. Not all of my words are commands. You should say ‘no way!’ to me sometimes, you know? Why not try it?”

“…”

“Gah! We should do something about that! It’s been half a year since you came here. You should be more honest with yourself. You might just become the boss in the future, you know?”

Luise’s eyes widened at Kashira’s words. Then she uttered out with difficulty, “Me…? The boss…? That’s… I’m not suited for it… I can’t possibly lead people… It’s impossible for me…”

“Pretty weak personality, huh? —Say Luise, we may have died once, but we were saved. Think of it as being reborn so you could cast away your weak, past self, and live more passionately this time around! Okay?” Kashira’s bright voice resounded.

“…”

However, Luise hung her head down, and remained silent.

“I guess it will take a while, huh.”

With a smile, Kashira shrugged her shoulder. And then,

“But I’m sure someday you’ll get to say ‘no way!’”

And showed her a toothy smile.

—

Everyone partook in their daily tasks, prepared breakfast, ate, then threw the dregs to the waterfalls. After clearing away everything, they had nothing else to do until evening.

In this village, they worked for a total of three hours, then do whatever they want for the rest of the day.

“In a sense, it’s easy. It was much, much easier compared to when I worked as a cook for merchants. There’s plenty of spare time.”

And just like a woman said to Shishou, each and every one had plenty of free time.

Some swam, others sang. The ones who had excess energy played with the children. There are people who made things out of the limited materials and tools in their reach, like clothes made of leaves and containers made of wood.

To stave off boredom, some would walk up to the ‘first pond’.

Once a day, someone would go there to see if there were things or people that drifted in. But then, it’s not so often that someone or something would wash ashore.

And so, Shishou,

“…”

Spent her time lying in the middle of the valley near the beach, just as she did in the morning,

“…”

And would silently and expressionlessly flail her arms and legs.

——

Noon.

There was not a single cloud in the sky, and the rays of the sun were intense. It was a time when the sun was at the top of the valley, radiating its light down without mercy.

Even so, near the water’s surface, the temperature was moderate and cool, and the wind that passes through the valley from the sea was pleasant. It was the perfect time and place for a nap.

While most of the villagers slumbered under the shade of the trees, there was a person who walked amidst them.

It was Shishou.

She was wearing her boots, her jacket atop her shirt and her long, black hair tied neatly behind her.

Along with her faint footsteps on the sand, Shishou walked beneath the palm trees, and stood before one person among all of the sleeping villagers.

It was Luise.

She lay sideways on top of a palm leaf, sleeping like a child.

“…”

Shishou silently looked down, then suddenly pulled her body face up—

And landed a strong punch to her stomach.

—

Shishou carried Luise, who wasn’t even able to cry out in agony, atop her shoulder, and walked towards the village.

The moment she appeared from under the trees and walked towards the sandy beach,

“Hey, what’s the matter?”

They were seen by someone, as to be expected.

“…”

Shishou ignored the woman who tried to talk to her, and kept on walking in a brisk pace.

“W-wait! —Everyone! Come here!”

The woman shouted and kicked up a fuss in no time.

The women as well as the men chased after Shishou who was walking downstream.

“Hey! Shishou! Hold it!”

“…”

Shishou turned around to the voices who were calling for her to halt, and put down Luise at her feet. She didn’t let her go sloppily, but carefully laid her down face up on top of the sand.

“Uh… *cough*! *cough*!”

Luise coughed violently.

“Huh…?”

Then she noticed the fact that she was moved while she was asleep.

She raised her face and body, and saw, first, the back of Shishou, and beyond her, the glaring villagers.

They were about ten meters apart.

—

Facing the approaching villagers,

“Please do not come any closer! I don’t want any of you to get hurt!” Shishou shouted out.

“Haaaah!”

Along with a yell, she swished her hands in a mysterious manner.

Then she began a strange dance, as if performing a ritual for offering a sacrifice to an evil god. But it also seemed like the dance of someone who has lost her mind.

And finally, she struck a pose, with her right hand raised to the air, and her left hand pointing to the watching villagers. Depending on the way one looked at it, it can probably be considered an awesome pose. However,

“I kept it a secret from everyone until now, but I’m actually a witch. If you come any closer, I shall drill a hole in your feet with my lightning magic.”

With a cold expression, Shishou said this, leaving everyone, including Kashira at the front, with mouths hanging open.

Several moments of awkwardness passed by.

“Poor Shishou… the shock of coming here has broken her mind…” Kashira said calmly. Conclusively. Everyone behind her nodded in agreement. They turned sympathetic faces towards Shishou.

“Seize her without hurting her any more than necessary,” Kashira ordered the brawny men who stood at the back.

“Got it,” “Yeah,” the men replied, and as ordered, approached Shishou to seize her. And the instant they advanced three steps,

“I warned you.”

Shishou moved her pointing finger towards the advancing men,

“Hah!”

And let out a yell as she brought down her right hand.

The next moment, sand burst up like a water fountain before the eyes of the man who led the advance.

It was around one meter high.

Along with a high-pitched blast, the sand surged upwards, and a hole thirty centimeters in diameter was created one step in front of the man.

“Eek!”

The man faltered and stopped in his tracks.

“That’s not all!”

Shishou’s voice continued, along with the movement of her right hand that seemed to throw something,

At that moment,

Blam! Blam! Blam! Blam!

Sand pillars appeared one after another, stopping the men’s advance.

The youngest-looking among the men was completely terrified, and fell on his back.

The women watching around also widened their eyes,

“D-don’t tell me she’s really a witch…,” someone muttered.

“T-that’s impossible…,” another one muttered in disbelief, but after this, no one else continued to speak.

The men were completely terrified, and took several steps back. At that moment, Kashira stepped forward.

Kashira slowly walked towards Shishou until they were only five meters apart.

“Oh witch, would you allow me to speak to you?” She said with a grin.

Shishou lowered the outstretched finger of her left hand, and brought her right hand down with a twirl.

She took a momentary glance behind her.

“…”

Still seated, Luise stared at her as if she was looking at a monster.

When Shishou finally turned towards Kashira, Kashira smirked,

“Shishou… you came here on purpose didn’t you?”

—

The clamor that arose among the villagers was like a storm in the middle of a forest.

It is only to be expected, as there was not one person among them who have come to that place of their own accord.

And they would never have imagined it possible.

“H-how in the world…? W-what for…?”

Someone unintentionally voiced out the question in the minds of everybody present there, except for Shishou.

“…”

But Shishou did not answer. Instead, Kashira,

“Well, you’ve come here one way or the other… to get saved by us in the end. It’s not entirely impossible to come here in one piece if you dressed up in some sort of warm clothing and let yourself drift in a weak current,” she said with a grin.

“That’s correct,” Shishou, who she did not think would reply, answered readily. “There’s this outfit called a ‘wetsuit’ that is worn by people whose work involved submerging in water. It enables the wearer to keep their body temperature stable for a long period of time. After that I only have to wear some sort of helmet and protective gear, and dive feet first into the waterfall. It’s a technique I observed in a certain country for a hobby called ‘canyoneering’. I intentionally came just upstream of that pond, then changed clothes.”

Between Shishou, who explained everything with indifference, and the speechless villagers,

“You’ve got some pluck! One mistake and you would have been delivered to us a corpse. So… your target is Luise, am I right?” Kashira said and Shishou nodded deeply.

“Luise came here half a year ago. Because she doesn’t speak about herself at all, we don’t know how it happened. And we didn’t pry too much.”

Kashira turned towards the now completely terrified Luise, and gave her a wink. And then,

“You can’t just take Luise with you because you feel like it. She’s an important friend to us. She’s a kind and good-natured person, someone who this village can depend on in the future.”

And then, Shishou asked, “Oh really? I thought I could do anything I wish except for ‘murder’?”

“What you’re doing now is no different from that. You’ll end up killing her if you try to leave this place. You can’t climb the waterfall carrying Luise. Do you want to die together? Don’t tell me you can fly?”

“Of course. I’m a witch after all.”

Voices of confusion resounded behind Kashira. However,

“That’s a lie,” she declared, and confidently added, “You’re nothing like a witch.”

And intensified the racket among the villagers gathered behind her.

“That trick a while ago? You probably have a partner above the cliffs firing a persuader (note: a gun) with a device that can silence the shot. And you must be instructing your partner by moving your hands. Those strange movements you’ve been doing since the day before last weren’t for exercise. It’s all clear to me now. Those must be signals for that person who was watching from the top of the cliffs.”

The villagers expressed their awe at the revelation. It all made sense to them.

Then everyone craned their necks with all their might, and looked at the rift between the cliffs.

But only the dazzling rays of the sunlight leaped to their eyes.

—

“Oh? We’ve been exposed already?”

A man muttered to himself.

It was a slightly short, but handsome young man. He was wearing overalls disguised in the same shade of color as the rocks.

The man was on his two feet, standing perpendicularly with the side of the cliffs. His face and body aimed directly towards the ground several hundreds of meters below.

Normally, he should have fallen already.

To avoid that, his waist and chest were secured with a sturdy harness, which was connected by several ropes to a stake nailed into the top of the cliffs.

He was like a spider.

And he was holding an enormous rifle that was tied the same way so that it wouldn’t fall.

It was a 12.7-mm automatic persuader. It is a heavy firearm of a very high caliber.

The long cylinder was attached to its tip was the sound silencer that supresses the sound of the shot. So that the empty cartridges do not fall into the valley, it was attached with a string bag that catches the bullet casings.

The man was looking at the ground directly beneath, several hundred meters away, through a high-powered scope. While preparing to shoot at any moment’s notice,

“I wonder if this is the first time I can shoot without estimating the fall of the bullet?” He muttered cheerily.

When shooting horizontally, one only needs to aim upwards and estimate the fall of the bullet corresponding with the distance from the target. But when aiming directly below, there is no need for such a thing.

The man moved the scope’s aim from the numerous faces looking up at him, towards the two women holding their fort downstream.

—

“Say, Shishou.”

Kashira’s voice was of mixed excitement and amusement, but also of an ominous tone.

“I have no idea how your friend managed to go up there. It sure is a good strategy… up until this point.”

“…”

Still quiet, Shishou kept an eye on both Kashira and Luise behind her.

“But you know… What if after risking your neck to get to this place, you found that Luise’s not here?” Kashira asked. From her noticeable rough breathing, it seems that she really wanted to know the answer.

“I have no idea whether Luise is dead or alive. I couldn’t tell you guys apart just looking from above. And so I decided to come here. That is all,” Shishou answered.

“Well what do I say! —You really are one tough cookie!” Kashira said with gleaming eyes, then, “But we now know that you’re not a witch. If you have a way to get out of this place, you’re free to go. On your own. Luise says she doesn’t want to come back, right Luise?” Kashira called out towards Luise herself, who was already convulsing in nervousness.

“!”

Luise’s reaction was that of shock.

Luise, who has never gone against whatever Kashira said, gasped a few times, and then,

“Y-ye…”

“No!”

The defying words that subdued Luise’s reply was Shishou’s.

“Luise wants to return to the country. There’s plenty of reason for her to do so. Please listen well to what I am going to say.”

“Oh…? Are those your magic spells, witch? Shall we hear them?”

Kashira’s narrowed her eyes.

Shishou took out the brooch from her pocket. She dropped it in front of Luise. It fell on top of the sand without a sound.

“That’s the brooch from the other day, right? It belongs to everyone in this village,” Kashira said.

To this, Shishou shook her head sideways. “No, that’s wrong. This belongs to Luise.”

“What?”

“She is the only one who has the right to keep this.”

“Why?”

Without answering Kashira’s question, Shishou wordlessly looked at Luise face to face, bent down on one leg, and bowed her head on top of her knee. Upon seeing this, a wave of excitement swept through the group led by Kashira.

And then Shishou, with a voice clear enough for everybody to hear, declared,

“Your majesty! Please accept this and return to your people! Everyone is waiting for your return!”

—

“Your… majesty…?”

With her eyes wide open, Luise’s mouth flapped open and close,

“Does… that… mean…. No…”

Her words came out one syllable at a time.

Shishou raised her face and made a small nod as she met Luise’s gaze. And then she clearly stated,

“That’s right, your majesty. —No one is left. No one is left,” Shishou reiterated.

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!”

Luise screamed.

“Unbelievable! Unbelievable! What an outrage!”

Luise continued to scream as she pulled at her hair.

Her scream rang throughout the valley, and echoed on everybody’s earlobes.

“W-wait a minute! What’s happening!” Kashira herself cried out in confusion.

“Aaaaah…”

Luise threw her head towards the sky and tears poured down from the corner of her eyes.

Shishou remained on her knees, and with only her face directed towards Kashira,

“Yesterday, I told you about the country where I got the brooch, right?”

“Y-yeah…. I remember that.”

“The assassinations went on in that country. Eventually a civil war broke over possession of the crown. Imperial guards from different factions stormed the royal palace with weapons and started a killing spree.”

“And so?”

“As a result, a large fire engulfed the royal palace. Even so, the killings continued. They prioritized the murder of rival heirs over fighting the fire and rescuing victims.”

“That’s preposterous.”

“And so, the royal palace was turned to ashes. Not one member of the royal family remained. Both young and old perished in either the killings or in the fire. Except for one—the one who hated the dispute more than anybody else, the one who decided to throw away her status and country and went on a journey—the princess who attempted to end her life by drowning herself in a river.”

“…. Ah! That’s it…,” Kashira finally realized. “You are saying that Luise is the princess who attempted to kill herself!”

She looked at Shishou who nodded in affirmation, and Luise, whose face was still lifted to the sky with her eyes closed.

“Unbelievable…”

For Kashira and the other villagers, it was more than enough evidence.

Shishou continued, “And so, Luise, no… Princess Veronique is the only surviving member of the royal family. And upon her people’s will, has been elevated as Her Majesty the Queen Veronique.”

“…. Luise… a queen…”

Kashira somehow managed to support herself from dizziness.

“The mission I have undertaken is the search and rescue of the new queen. Her people believed from the bottom of their hearts that she was still alive. That their god has not yet taken her,” Shishou went on.

“And so they amassed a fortune for us travelers to accept this job—to find and save her. Afterwards, they wish for her to rebuild the peaceful royal family as it was before.”

Shishou pointed at the brooch on top of the sand.

“That brooch is something that is installed in the mantle of a newly enthroned monarch. It is the mark of their venerable ruler. Under normal circumstances, it will be stored in a heavily guarded storehouse in a basement. Even at the height of a riot, it is not something that a mere outsider like me could steal.”

“Ah… my people… even though I have abandoned them… even though I have forsaken my own life… for them to go this far to look for me…”

From Luise’s mouth these words flowed, just as both her eyes flooded with tears like waterfalls.

And amidst everyone’s silence,

“Now then,”

Shishou raised her right hand and moved it as if writing something in the air.

—

“Oops, there’s our signal.”

The man suspended from the top of the cliffs grabbed the ropes of a big knapsack hanging next to him.

“There you go.”

Using a big knife he extracted from his waist, he completely severed the ropes that held the sack.

The big knapsack came plummeting at once five hundred meters towards the ground.

“Don’t fall on anyone’s head, ok?” The man muttered.

—

“I can understand that much… but how are you planning to leave this place, Shishou?”

“I will use that.”

In response to Kashira’s question, Shishou pointed upwards without even looking above her.

“That?”

Kashira and everybody else looked up to the sky and saw the falling knapsack.

The knapsack was free-falling at an intense speed. What was a tiny dot only a moment ago, suddenly became bigger…

“Aaaah!”

…making everyone shriek in panic. Just when they were about to run away, an umbrella opened behind the sack, along with the sound of trembling air.

A round parachute installed on the knapsack opened when it was about two hundred meters away from the bottom.

Of course it was calculated. To open a parachute, it is necessary to pull a cord; in this case, one that is three hundred meters long.

“Oh, that went well even though we haven’t tested it.”

The man looking down from above had a satisfied look on his face.

While being swayed upstream by the wind, the knapsack slowly fell to the bottom of the valley.

As it seems about to fall nearer to the villagers than to Shishou,

“I have a request. I don’t care who it is, just take that bag here. If you refuse, I’ll order my partner above to shoot you in the head.”

No one dared refused the request that sounded more like a threat.

Two men who were exactly at the drop point of the bag grabbed it in the air. They took it and nervously passed by Kashira’s side.

And then, they left it roughly three meters in front of Shishou, and quickly ran away.

Shishou stood up and approached the bag and briskly pulled out its contents.

First was something similar to the one used by the man above, harnesses to wrap around the body. For two people.

And then, the object that occupied half the space of the knapsack—another knapsack.

“…”

Without knowing what they’re about to do, Kashira and the villagers only watched attentively.

“Now, please stand up, your majesty,” Shishou said with a forceful tone as she picked up the brooch with her right hand and pulled Luise with her left hand.

Luise obeyed, her eyes still full of tears.

Shishou stowed the brooch in her pocket and closed its lid.

She coiled the harness around Luise’s feet, waist and shoulders. Afterwards, she did the same to herself.

Finally, Shishou wore the knapsack on her back, and firmly installed the belt extending from it to her and to Luise’s harnesses with a metal hook.

“Please march on, your highness.”

And while keeping Luise close in front of her, they proceeded on the beach towards the waterfall.

“Wha—!”

Surprised, Kashira tried to run after them, but did not leap and try to stop them.

While preserving the several meters distance, she looked at the backs of the two as they walked away.

—

Five hundred meters above,

“Don’t come any closer than that.”

The man above the cliffs muttered, all the while preparing for a shot. Being hit at the limbs by a shot coming directly from above would not end in just an injury.

In the first place, a bullet from a rifle of this caliber will blow a person to bits, regardless of where it hits.

Fortunately, none of the villagers tried to capture the two.

—

Shishou and Luise eventually arrived as close as possible to the edge of the cliff, so close they could feel the echoes of the waterfall in their bellies.

Only three meters from the big rock they were stepping on was the sky.

The strong sea breeze hit the two and slightly rocked their bodies.

Shishou turned around and called out to Kashira and the villagers who then stopped on their tracks.

“It was but a while, but I thank you for looking after me.”

After the brief salutation, she pulled on the string of the knapsack on her back.

Upon doing so, the cover of the knapsack opened, releasing a spring-loaded bundle of cloth. The bright pink cloth formed a square shaped kite, which caught the sea breeze.

The kite soared further up, drawing out the contents of the knapsack with a cord.

The strong wind blew from the sea.

And gave birth to wings.

What’s inside was an extremely wide parachute. It was a beautifully-arched dome made of pure white cloth.

This cloth was linked with a thin cord to the knapsack and to the harnesses, which was in turn connected to the backs of the two women.

Upon witnessing the enormous wings unfold before their eyes,

“Wow…”

Kashira and the villagers were again caught in an uproar.

Shishou turned her head upwards, and checked if the cord tied with the parachute was entangled or not. Upon ascertaining that everything works perfectly, Shishou lifted her arms and grasped the cloth grips with both hands.

“This is my last magic trick. It’s called a paraglider. It was invented in a certain mountainous country. When I remembered that, I quickly summoned it here for this mission.”

She faced Kashira and declared her final stunt.

“Farewell, everyone.”

While walking on the opposite direction as the paraglider that would take them to air, Shishou pushed Luise from the belly and chest, and slowly proceeded forward.

“Luise!”

Kashira shouted with the loudest voice she has ever mustered.

“…”

Luise, still tied together with Shishou, looked back over her shoulder towards Kashira.

“Luise! You still have lots of things left to do! Please live! And never come back! To this village! Forget everything! —This is my first and final order to you!”

Shishou started running as fast as her legs could go.

She planned to jump at the moment that Luise looked back.

Being pushed forward, Luise advanced towards the cliffs still facing backwards. And then they suddenly jumped in mid-air.

Along with the wings, the two women parted from the ground, and were carried aloft by the wind.

“…”

Luise gazed at the valley.

And at the waterfalls.

She looked at her fellow villagers, who were also looking at her.

Then she looked at Kashira, who had a forlorn smile on her face. She breathed in as much air as she could, then yelled,

“NO WAY!”

---

“Grandma… what happened after to the woman who was saved?” the little girl asked the woman who told her the story.

A wide smile graced the wrinkled face of the old woman, who answered, “The rescued Luise returned to her country and fulfilled her duties, this time without running away. She became a brilliant queen. She made many people happy, and was loved by them in return.”

“That’s a strange story…. Will you tell me about it again…?”

“I’ll tell you as many times as you like. It’s time to rest. Now, sleep like your eyes are glued shut.”

“Okay… But I have one last question. Why do you know that story, grandma?”

“I’ll tell you about that some other time. Good night.”

“Mm… all right. Good night.”

—

The old woman whispered to her granddaughter, who has already fallen asleep.

“Why I know that story? …It’s because I was there.”

The old woman raised her face, her eyes seeing not the ceiling of the room, but the form of the queen being rescued by the winged witch. The queen was yelling something.

“You see that queen… she didn’t listen to me. She asked Shishou and her people to save the paradise-dwellers, and invited everyone to her country. And so that no person will ever drift into that village again, she ordered a strong bridge to be built over the river…”

The old woman returned her gaze to her granddaughter’s sleeping face.

“And as for me, I was exiled from paradise. And in exchange of the name I have lost, I helped myself to the name of that witch.”

Kashira, who now goes by the name Shishou, grinned.

“Indeed, it’s an old, old story.”

Translator’s Notes

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