Kino no Tabi:Volume3 Chapter1

"A Land Without Borders" —Designated Area—

Across a meadow ran a single motorrad (Note: A two-wheeled vehicle. Only to note that it cannot fly).

There, nothing could be seen but the moderately wet earth, the grass across which winter was slowly beginning to spread, the sky and the clouds, and the sun. There were no mountains in the distance, and grass circled around from all sides. Ninety percent of one’s vision would be occupied by the sky.

The motorrad was packed full of travel luggage. On top of the rear pipe carrier sat a large briefcase, above which several containers of water and fuel were lined up. As if cutting through it, on each side of the rear wheel was a box. A rolled-up sleeping bag was tied to the headlight.

“This is so boring…,” said the motorrad.

“That’s the one hundred eighty-fourth time,” the rider said.

“……”

“……”

And then they both fell silent.

The rider wore a brown coat, the excess hem of which was rolled up to her thighs. She wore a brimmed hat with long flaps that covered her ears, as well as a pair of goggles. The face behind those goggles was young; the girl seemed to be in her teens. She had large eyes, and wore an intrepid expression across her face.

There wasn’t anything like a path along the grassy field, so while running across the grass, avoiding the occasional bump, the motorrad casually continued along.

Eventually, the sun rose so high that the motorrad’s shadow extended completely horizontal to it.

“Are we taking a break anytime soon, Kino?” the motorrad asked.

“Well,” the rider named Kino spoke. “Not yet. But maybe we can stop early today, and take it easy this evening.”

“Got it… but even so, this is boring,” said the motorrad.

“One hundred eighty-fifth time,” said Kino. Then she asked with a carefree tone, “I thought about asking you this yesterday. Do you get bored even when we’re moving?”

The motorrad called Hermes replied, “That’s right, especially when it’s like this, where the land is all flat and we’re going at the same speed, it’s as if I’m on a factory roller, and it feels as though only my wheels are moving. Or rather, I feel like a mouse inside a cage.”

“I see….”

“What about you, Kino? Just like this, when the scenery doesn’t change a bit, doesn’t it get tiring?” Hermes asked.

Kino answered, “Whether it’s tiring or not, I think about other things while riding, so that notion passed me by a long time ago.”

“Eh? What kinds of things? Tell me a bit about it,” Hermes requested. Kino said that it will probably be uninteresting, but Hermes pressed on.

“Just now I was thinking, if I were having a knife thrust at me from the right, and I hit the attacker’s hand to drop his weapon, do I make a shoulder throw, or do I twist his hand back and pin it down? Or, should I take one step back and kick his hand? Or is it better to dodge the thrust with half of my body while going for an elbow strike?”

“……”

“Those sorts of things.”

“… That’s not interesting.”

“I told you.”

The motorrad continued to run across the meadow.

“So boring…,” Hermes sighed.

“One hundred eighty-six…”

Kino stopped in the middle of her utterance. She stood up while riding. ‘What’s wrong?’ asked Hermes.

“What a surprise…”

“Hmm?”

At first, from their location, Kino and Hermes could see things that seemed like specks of trash. When they advanced further, there were several black dots in the green space below the horizon. They gradually came closer and realized that some of the dots were big while others were tiny.

Before long, they found something else. The larger things were dome-shaped tents, several of which were constructed close together. The smaller things around them were groups of livestock, and the people next to them.

Hermes whistled, “That is surprising indeed. There are people here. And cows and horses and sheep. And houses too.”

“This isn’t a country, is it…? They’re nomads…”

“There are actually people living here. That’s amazing.”

Kino slowed Hermes down a little. A person on a horse turned to Kino and rode over to them. It was a young man in his prime wearing peculiarly-made clothing.

“What do you think, Kino?” Hermes asked.

“If they don’t welcome us, we’ll take a detour. I’ll talk to him first.”

Kino stopped Hermes. The man came over. He wasn’t carrying anything. With a smile, he said, “Hello, traveler. We are a clan living in these meadows.”

Kino returned the greeting. The man asked Kino where she was headed.

“A country to the west. I have no intention to get in the way of your lifestyle. I’m just passing through.”

Thereupon, the man shook his head.

“There’s no need for that, and that’s not what we want. For generations, it has been our tradition to welcome the travelers we occasionally meet. We’ll share with you our food and dwellings. By all means, please become our guest. I came as a representative of our leader.”

“I see…” Kino muttered. Kino asked Hermes what to do.

“I don’t mind as long as you’re fine with it.”

After pondering for a moment, Kino spoke to the man, “I understand. Please excuse me for the intrusion.”

With a truly happy expression on his face, he exclaimed, “Then please follow me!”

He rode his horse towards the settlement. Kino launched Hermes and slowly approached.

—

In the settlement, there stood approximately twenty portable tents. Heavy cloth covered the large, dome-shaped objects. One huge tent stood out from the rest.

An uncountable number of cows and sheep casually chewed on grass in the area near the settlement. Men riding on horses were shepherding the flocks around.

A group of about twenty people awaited Kino and Hermes. Various ages were apparent in the group, from young people under twenty to middle-aged women. About half of them have pipes stuffed in their mouths, from which smoke came out.

Before the group, Kino cut Hermes’engine and got off. Then she removed her hat and goggles.

“Hello, everyone. My name is Kino, and this here is my partner, Hermes.”

“Hello there.”

The oldest-looking man among the crowd, who had a pipe in his mouth with smoke rising from it, spoke, “Mister Kino, Mister Hermes. Welcome. I am the chief of this family. Since we are constantly relocating, it is rare for us to meet a traveler. Please do relax and rest your tired body with us.”

After Kino thanked him, a kind-looking middle-aged woman led her to one of the tents. Along the way, children could be seen peeking out timidly from several tents.

The tent’s interior was so spacious that it seemed like several people could sleep inside it at once. Wooden frames radiating outward from a central wooden pillar supported the roof. Soft felt was laid out underfoot.

The entrance was made larger for Hermes so he could enter. When Kino heard that this tent normally served as the woman’s house, but will be made into her personal quarters for a while, she voiced her thanks once more.

After the woman left, Kino removed her coat. Kino was wearing a black jacket underneath, with a belt strapped around her waist. Attached on the belt were several pouches, and on her right thigh hung a revolver-type hand persuader (Note: A persuader is a gun. In this case a pistol). Behind her hung another weapon, a .22 caliber automatic. Kino called the revolver ‘Canon’ and the other ‘Woodsman’.

Removing Woodsman from its holster, Kino toppled over, face up, inside the tent.

“This is comfortable,” she muttered instinctively.

“It is,” agreed Hermes. “If you think about it, this tent seems like it would be warm in the winter and cool during summer. See, the hems are open. It must be so that it could be put together and taken down quickly.”

“In order to search for pasture, they must have to relocate plenty of times every year. The chances of us meeting them like this may be miraculous. Have they been living in this meadow, existing side by side with earth and nature their whole lives? And with no high protective wall surrounding them…” Kino said this with profound emotion.

“Are you jealous? I bet they’ll be your friends if you ask.”

Kino got up and spoke, “No, I’ll pass. I doubt I’d fit in either.”

“Well, where would you fit in?” Hermes asked.

“Is that something,” Kino started, “I should look for?”

—

In the evening, Kino was invited to supper.

Since Hermes was asleep, Kino left him in the tent and was introduced to everyone in front of the large tent which belonged to the chief. The entire clan consisted of a little less than fifty people. There were about ten children who were no more than twelve years old.

After that, she was treated to a meal in the chief’s tent. Lined up on a low and long table was a simple and frugal meal primarily made from dairy products. When Kino was asked if the food suited her tastes, she honestly replied that it was delicious.

However, because of the incessant smoking of their pipes, the inside of the tent was considerably filled with smoke. Kino’s eyes began to sting, and she asked for permission to leave. She went outside in search of fresh air.

Outside the tent, while she was looking at the burning dusk sky, someone suddenly spoke from her side.

“You are…”

Kino, startled, turned toward the voice’s origin. Before her eyes, with the completely red sky set as the background, a man who appeared to be in his thirties stood. He had well-ordered features, and it may have been because he seemed so emotionless.

Kino’s expression changed slightly when she saw the man.

Though he was wearing the same clothes as the rest, his eyes were of a different color – a light shade of gray. The color of his skin was also somewhat different, and he was noticeably taller than the others.

“Don’t mind me,” he said to Kino, who was looking at him dubiously. He continued to stare fixedly at her with his gray eyes and asked with a flat tone, “Are you the traveler who came today?”

“That’s right,” Kino nodded.

“Everyone thinks that you’re a man. You’re not, are you?”

“……. What about it?” Kino returned.

“Nothing,” the man said without changing his expression.

He looked at Kino for a while longer, and then left without going into the tent.

—

The next day.

Kino woke up at dawn as usual. The weather was good.

When she went outside, everyone was already awake and milling about with their daily activities. A woman was milking the sheep. A young fellow was grooming a horse. There were children helping to light a fire. Occasionally, an adult would come over to the fire to light his pipe.

When a woman who happened to pass by told Kino that it’s fine if she sleeps a little longer, she replied that she was accustomed to waking up early.

The woman who had spoken to her smiled and said, “That is a very good thing.”

Back inside her tent, Kino practiced drawing Canon and Woodsman. After giving them a quick tune-up, she returned them to their holsters.

After everyone had finished their tasks, they gathered in small groups in various places and began their breakfast. The meal consisted of what seemed like bread and a topping of melted cheese. Kino said that it was very delicious, and then offered them some of the clay-like portable rations she had for them to try. To this, they made a complex expression, and ended up only eating a little bit of what she gave them.

—

After the meal, the men mounted their horses and left to shepherd the animals. The women who were left were in charge of cleaning up, mending clothes or the tents, and looking after the children. They occasionally took a break and smoked their pipes under the blue sky.

While she was examining Hermes, Kino noticed that the children were looking on from afar.

“If you want a closer look, go ahead. He doesn’t bite,” said Kino.

“How rude! … But yeah, that’s right.”

The children approached timidly. The youngest among them were mere toddlers, while the oldest were about eleven or twelve years old. Since it was rare for them to see something like Hermes, some of them touched him with deep interest.

“Whoa, it’s stiff!”

“Amazing… it’s an iron horse.”

“His name is Hermes,” so Kino said, and immediately, cries arose from the children.

“What a weird name!”

“How strange!”

“That’s a funny name!”

“Hurr-meez?” one of them asked.

“No, no! It’s Hermes. Not ‘hur’, but ‘her’. It sounds weird when you say it like that!”

“Hurmeeees!”

“I told you it’s not ‘hur’! ‘Her-mes’!”

While the innocent children and the shameless Hermes let loose on each other, Kino noticed that a few of the children had small pipes in their mouths. Looking closer, she saw that there was no grass in them.

“What are those pipes? Do you all smoke too?” Kino asked the oldest-looking boy.

“Nah, we just have them around. Only the adults can smoke them. Because the adults work for the sake of everyone, they get to smoke as a reward. When we’re recognized as adults, we get to smoke for the first time.”

“Uh-huh.”

“In order to be recognized as an adult, the boys have to ride horses. But not only do we have to ride them, we also need to be able to order around the flocks of animals, too.”

“What about you?” Kino asked.

“I’m still in training…,” the boy replied in a small voice. He then pulled out a sickle from behind his waist and said, “B-but! If it’s harvesting grass, I’m the best! If my mom helps, yeah, it’s the best…”

The boy said this proudly, but a girl behind him who looked about twelve said,

“Harvesting the grass is the women’s work. A boy who can’t ride a horse is pretty uncool.”

“……”

The boy fell silent. The girl turned to Kino and said,

“I’m going to bear his children. He’s going to be my husband.”

“Huh…? It’s already decided?” Kino asked.

“Yup. From the time I was born. That’s why he has to become cool. But he’s no good as he is right now,” the girl said energetically as she gave a big nod.

“Pfft, whatever. You’re just a tomboy,” the boy sourly responded.

The girl ignored him and continued, “It’s quite sad, actually. I’m better at horse-riding than him.”

Kino made a wry smile.

“If that’s the case, then can’t you guys just exchange jobs once you’re living together?”

The girl stared blankly at her for a moment, and then,

“Oh. You’re right. I’ll ride the horses when I grow up!”

“You can’t do that. That’s so dumb.”

“It’s fine! I’ve already decided. I’ll go tell my father now.”

“You can’t.”

“Can too!”

Kino followed the pair with her eyes as they chased each other in high spirits. When she turned around, Hermes was still chatting with the kids surrounding him.

“I! Told! You! It’s not ‘hur’, it’s ‘her’!”

—

At noon, the men returned, and everyone had their lunch and afternoon naps.

After that, Kino was invited to try riding a horse. The clansmen instructed Kino, who had never ridden a horse before.

At the beginning, she was only making slow strides, but when she became used to it, she became able to ride at a fairly high speed.

Kino’s brilliant riding skill was watched upon closely by the adults with admiration. The chief, with the smoking pipe in his mouth, curtly said,

“It’s decided.”

The adults surrounding the chief nodded in silence. From a place slightly farther away, a horseman watched this scene with his gray eyes.

—

Evening. It was after the usual meal in the smoky tent.

In front of her own tent, Kino, who was sitting on Hermes who was set on his center stand, looked up at the sky. Clouds were gathering over the western horizon, and the sunset was darkish.

“So, did they ever end up getting your name right, Hermes?”

“No… All those children still think that you told them ‘Hurmees’.”

Kino stifled a laugh. “… You know, when we leave tomorrow, you won’t have another chance to correct them.”

“I suppose so…” Hermes muttered, and continued, “It looks like the weather will be bad tomorrow, Kino.”

“You’re right…. Even so, we can only stay for three days.”

“… Roger,” said Hermes. Kino got off Hermes. Right then,

“You…”

“Whoa!”

The ashen-eyed man from the previous night had suddenly spoken up from behind. Hermes let out a yelp while Kino turned around to him with a glare.

The man took a few steps toward them. The man stood beside them and looked down on Kino and Hermes.

He asked, “Where are you from?”

Kino, without breaking her gaze on the man, shook her head.

The man asked again, “Have you decided on a country where you will be staying permanently?”

Kino spoke slowly, “I’m still… going to travel for a long time.”

The man made several small nods. He continued with his accent-free voice, “I see. You’re able to accustom yourself to that destitution you call freedom? That’s quite something.”

“……”

“What’s wrong?” the man asked Kino, who was silently staring at him.

And then Kino asked, “This may be rude, but… were you a traveler before?”

“No,” the man replied immediately.

“That’s a lie, isn’t it?”

“Yes. It’s a lie,” the man replied immediately again. As if seeking confirmation, Kino slowly asked,

“You… you weren’t born with these people, were you?”

“……. What about it?” the man responded and turned on his heels.

Kino followed his back with her eyes. When he could no longer be seen, Hermes asked,

“He’s sharp. Just who in the world is he?”

Kino responded truthfully.

“I don’t know…”

—

The next day, that is, the morning of the third day since Kino encountered the clan.

The sky was covered with low, heavy clouds. Though the sun had risen, the dimness of the sky hasn’t changed.

After breakfast, Kino informed the chief of her intention to leave that day. With a surprised face, he asked if they had done something that displeased her.

“No. It’s only because I have decided to stay for only three days in any single country…. I’m enormously grateful for your hospitality.”

The chief, taken by surprise for a moment, immediately said,

“The truth is, we already planned a welcoming celebration for you, and we will be holding our first dinner party in a long time tonight. We will be choosing a cow to be slaughtered for everyone to eat, so everybody’s looking forward to it. Besides, the weather is bad, so can’t you stay for one night longer?”

“……. I really thank you for taking that much trouble, but…”

Upon seeing Kino’s hesitation, the woman who had lent Kino her tent spoke,

“Chief, we can start the preparations immediately. If we do that, then we’ll be able to hold the party a little past noon. That way, Miss Kino could take part as well.”

“Ooh, how about that?” the chief asked. Kino nodded in assent.

The chief really looked pleased and alerted everyone to the plan.

—

“—— and because of that, we will be leaving after the feast,” she told Hermes while piling her luggage on him.

“Okay. Have fun.”

After she had finished her preparations for departure, Kino left Hermes in the tent, put on her jacket and turned toward the chief’s tent.

The sky was still covered, and there was very little light.

—

“Well, this is boring…”

Soon after Kino left, Hermes complained by himself in the tent.

Right then, the hem on the opposite side of the entrance was raised soundlessly. A man’s shadow slipped inside.

“Who’s there? Kino’s not here right now.”

“Yeah,” returned a voice, its owner approaching.

“Oh, it’s just the mister with the gray eyes…” Hermes said somewhat nervously. The man grabbed Hermes’ handlebars, removed him from his stand, and pushed him forward.

“Well, let’s go.”

“Where to?” Hermes asked.

“To put it one way,” the man replied, “Hell.”

—

In the chief's tent, several long tables had been lined up, with about thirty people in all sitting around them. As usual, everyone was inseparable from their pipes, and the inside of the tent was awash with the stench of burning weed. At the center was a chunk of well-roasted beef.

Kino was offered a seat near the center of the tent, and with that, the party began. The man in charge cut up the meat into sections with a large kitchen knife. Salt and dried garlic was spread adequately across the cuts.

When Kino asked where the children and the rest of the family were, the man next to him responded,

“We couldn’t fit everyone in this tent, so they’re in a different one. Besides, there are those who have to guard the animals and look after the children. They’re taking turns doing it, you see. It’s been a long time since we’ve had meat after all. Also, it’s our custom to not let the children participate. They must be frustrated right now, and wanting to become adults sooner.”

The man whiffed a puff of smoke from his pipe and took a sip of liquid from a flask fashioned out of intestines. He offered Kino some, but when she learned that it was alcohol made from sheep’s milk, she politely declined.

“Miss traveler, how about some of this?” A woman passed a wooden cup to Kino. It had tea in it.

Kino thanked her and accepted it. Kino sniffed the tea, and then asked, “It has an interesting aroma. What kind of tea is this?”

“Huh? Um, uh… well, you see, it doesn’t have a name…,” the woman was taken slightly aback, but gave a smile and continued, “Well, go ahead and have a taste.”

Kino stared at the tea for a few moments. And then,

“I think this tea might be a bit too intense for me. I apologize, but I’ll have to decline.”

She placed the cup on the table.

The man next to Kino looked at her suspiciously.

Kino slowly stood up. “Everyone, I am very grateful for this feast, but it’s about time for me to leave.”

Every member of the family simultaneously looked at her with an astonished expression.

“Is that so? Well then, let me escort you outside,” said the woman who offered her the cup of tea.

She then led Kino toward the exit. Kino slowly turned her back, and suddenly twisted her body around.

The woman brought down a club, missing the back of Kino’s head and sweeping her shoulder. Kino took a leap backwards. She kicked up the table behind her, scattering some of the food.

Everyone in the tent stood up at once. With clubs in their hands, they looked at Kino with stiff expressions. The young men blocked the only exit, and the rest surrounded Kino.

“What’s the meaning of this?” Kino asked.

The chief spoke from behind, “Miss Kino. Won’t you please just keep quiet and drink that tea? We don’t want to give you a painful experience. We won’t take your life; you just have to endure for a while.”

Kino slowly turned around and questioned the chief.

“What if I refuse?”

Without answering, the chief waved his hand lightly. The sound of clubs being gripped tightly was heard.

Kino slowly pulled Canon out of the holster in her right thigh.

Everyone faltered for a moment, but soon the chief took one step closer to Kino.

“Hoho! Are you planning to use that? However, you can’t keep on firing that forever, can you? You may be able to bring down a few people, but after that, it’s over!”

“Yes, you’re absolutely right,” Kino said, and slowly returned Canon to its holster.

Several men approached Kino. Then Kino trampled violently on the end of the table by her feet.

As the men flinched from the table that flew up, Kino moved to the opposite side of the exit. She pulled out the kitchen knife still stuck in the meat and seized the nearest person ——the chief. She grasped his hair from behind with her left hand and poked his throat with the kitchen knife with her right.

“Nobody move!” Kino cried sharply. Everyone’s movements came to a complete halt.

“Y-you bastard…,” the chief who was forced to face upward said in anguish.

“I won’t take your life; you just have to endure for a while,” Kino said bit by bit.

“Hah! It’s futile. There’s no way you’ll get out of here. Your motorrad must have been destroyed by now.”

“Then it’s like that time…,” Kino whispered absentmindedly. At the same time, she grabbed the chief’s hair more fiercely, pushing the knife’s blade against his throat.

Amidst his distress, the chief shouted,

“… Everyone! Even if I die, don’t let her leave the tent! Don’t let her take a single step outside!”

“How admirable.”

Kino tossed away the knife and let go of the chief at the same time. Before the knife fell, she pulled out Canon and fired three shots in succession.

A thunderous roar echoed inside the tent. It was from the lower part of the central pillar. All three bullets hit that place, and the wood was hollowed out. While watching the men springing towards her, Kino gave the pole a violent kick, toppling it over.

The roof of the tent fell in a moment.

Kino crawled out from under the hem of the tent. Not a single soul could be seen under the dark sky; only the similar-looking tents lined up in silence.

When she looked back, she saw the adults wriggling under the flattened tent. Somebody cried out.

“Damn! Look for her! Chase her! Bring her back alive! Blood! Precious blood!”

Kino began to run to her own tent. However, when she passed through one side, a man who leaped out from there found her.

“You’re not going anywh——”

Kino shot the man’s foot. He tumbled over, shrieking in pain.

“There she is! Over there!”

Hearing someone’s voice from behind her, Kino clicked her tongue.

She took a roundabout path to conceal herself among the nearby tents. At that moment, her mouth was covered violently from behind her head.

“!”

Kino flailed at her right side, pushed Canon at the chin of the person behind her, and pulled the trigger.

No bullet came out. Kino’s face froze.

“Don’t say a word. I’m not going to hurt you.”

She heard an emotionless voice speak from behind her ear. The force restraining her mouth loosened, allowing her to turn her neck.

Ashen eyes stared back at her. His right hand gripped Canon, his thumb interposing the hammer. He slowly drew his hand away from Canon and released Kino.

“Don’t use your persuader. It’ll give out your location.”

Kino looked up at the man.

“Aren’t you going to attack me?”

“No, I won’t.”

Right when he said this, another man’s voice was heard.

“There she is! Rauher’s got her!”

Three men with clubs approached them.

“Use this. Leave two of them to me,” said the ashen-eyed man called Rauher.

He handed Kino a club similar to theirs.

The three men had rushed to them unprepared and became confused when they were attacked by Kino and Rauher.

While Kino knocked out one of the men, Rauher had beaten down the other two.

Rauher pulled a knife from his waist, and swiftly cut through their windpipes. They writhed as blood gushed out from their throats and soon died. He then did the same with the man Kino took on.

“Why? Why is it all right with you for me to escape?”

Rauher lightly shook his head.

“I’m doing this for their sake. They’ve been living in suffering for a long time.”

“What do you mean?”

“Come over here.”

Rauher forcefully pulled Kino to a nearby tent.

“This is my tent.”

Right when Kino entered,

“Kino! You’re safe!”

“Hermes?”

Kino raised her voice without thinking. Inside the tent was Hermes, propped up on his kickstand and piled with luggage.

“I convinced him to come with me earlier. If we’re in here, they won’t find us for a while,” Rauher said, putting a pipe in his mouth.

“Thanks for doing that. Things turned out just as you said, huh?”

“Yeah. It’s just that, it was too early for this to happen. As expected of you, Kino. On top of not drinking tea, you were also able to escape from the tent,” Rauher said as he lit his pipe. He was using a match from Kino’s luggage.

“I’m borrowing this,” he said shortly. Then he began to smoke; he seemed to find it relaxing.

“Can I question you?” Kino asked as she replaced Canon’s cylinder.

“Go ahead.”

“Why are they trying to attack me? Furthermore, why are you helping us?”

Rauher glanced at Kino.

“They have decided to take you in into the clan. As for the reason, it is to bring in new blood from the outside to this small tribe. They have been doing this for hundreds of years. They give passing travelers a warm welcome, and once they have appraised the person’s value to be high, they take them into the family. If a person’s value is low, he would be killed. They were really pleased with you. Do you get it so far?”

“Yes… but how? It didn’t look like they were bowing down and begging me, though.”

“With this.”

Rauher held out the pipe in his right hand before Kino’s eyes.

“You saw how all the adults were smoking this, right? There’s a strong poison in this grass. Smoke one once and it becomes a habit. It reaches a point where you can’t live without it. If you stop smoking for half a day, your head begins to hurt. Three days and your hands start trembling. Five days and you start seeing hallucinations. If you hold out for ten days, you die from madness, slobbering all over yourself. That tea you refused was laced with an extract of this grass.”

“If it’s as you say… what would happen if I drank it?”

“You would lose consciousness right there and then; you will be bedridden, moaning nonstop for days on end. During that time, Hermes would be taken apart and scattered under the ground, and the clan would relocate.”

“……”

“I don’t want to think about it,” said Hermes.

“You would be smoked even through your moans, so you’ll be perfectly addicted once you woke up. You won’t be able to live at all without this. The grass doesn’t grow anywhere other than this field, and the only time it can be harvested is during a short period in autumn. You can either spend your life doing your compulsory duties as part of the clan, or you can die of withdrawal symptoms. It’s your choice either way.”

“I see. I understand very well now.” Kino nodded several times. She then asked Rauher, “When did you…?”

“Five years ago. I was careless.”

“How… has it been?”

Rauher gave a bitter smile, and put some more grass into his pipe.

“Ah… When I first woke up, I wondered what on earth had happened. I spat curses out, and to make things worse, the negative response from the poison was gut-wrenching. I began to familiarize myself with death. I thought for sure I was going to die.”

Rauher lit his pipe and put it back in his mouth, which had curled into a smile.

“But, the woman who was attending to me, well, she was more of a young girl back then, but anyways, she said this to me: ‘It’s no good if you die. You can’t die!’ She said this to me again and again through a sea of tears, ‘If you live, good things will surely happen!’ Heh. That’s right.”

“……”

“And so I chose to live here. I memorized my duties quickly, and I was accepted by everyone. And then… I became married to that woman. Well, it was actually decided the moment I had been ‘evaluated’, though.”

“Were you happy?” Hermes asked.

“You could say that, I guess,” he said. “That was, perhaps, the happiest time of my life.”

“What happened to your wife…?” Kino asked.

“Last year, around this time, she was killed,” Rauher responded with a voice devoid of emotion.

“Why was that?”

Rauher breathed a puff of smoke. Voices could be heard outside the tent.

“She’s not in here either!” someone shouted as they passed by.

“It’s because she couldn’t bear children,” Rauher answered the question.

“?”

“She bore my child, but it was miscarried. She became unable to bear another child for the rest of her life. If a woman could not produce children, she has no value. Such people are a waste of precious food and grass, a waste that they could not tolerate. Not here. Kino… don’t glare at me like that.”

“… Excuse me.”

“So it was immediately decided, at the order of the chief, that she had to die. She accepted that, was killed, and then buried. As to where, I no longer know.”

“What were you doing all that time, mister?” Hermes asked. Rauher took another huff of smoke.

“In the end, I told her the same exact thing she first said to me.”

“……”

“……”

“And that’s how it is.”

Rauher took one last puff of smoke, tossed the ashes, and put away the pipe. And then he muttered,

“It’s about time, I think.”

“What?” Kino asked.

Rauher didn’t answer and moved silently to the side of the tent’s entrance.

A clansman poked his head into the tent and saw Kino.

“There she is! She’s here after all!” the man yelled, and in the next moment, great splashes of blood spewed forth from his throat.

Rauher went over to the man’s corpse and kicked it outside.

“Well, let’s go outside… it will be all right.”

Rauher opened the entrance wide. Kino unfastened Hermes’ kickstand, and slowly pushed him along.

Outside, all of the adults had the tent surrounded. When they saw Kino and Rauher step outside the tent, a commotion spread across the crowd. The sky was darker than it had previously been. Hermes muttered, wondering if it would rain.

“What’s going on here?” the chief asked while glaring at them.

“There’s nothing to be said about it. I seem to have simply gone off and done as I wanted, Chief.”

“Hand over the traveler. I’ll consider your punishment later.”

Rauher pulled out his pipe, then leisurely and carefully stuffed it with grass.

“Don’t bother. Your time is over.”

“Nonsense!” the irritated chief shouted. He issued orders to a few men holding long rods. “Attack all at once! Don’t let them escape! I don’t care if you have to give them a few injuries!”

Rauher struck a match. He slowly transferred the flame to his pipe——

Bam—!

A muffled explosion echoed in the settlement. The adults whirled around, and a pained scream emanated from the one who found its origin.

“F…Fire! The grass tent is burning!”

“What?!”

From a single tent, copious amounts of smoke were rising out of a hole in the roof.

“I told you. If you don’t do something fast, everything is going to burn up,” Rauher said while taking a smoke.

Everyone’s faces became pale. They rushed toward the burning tent, as if they have completely forgotten about Kino and Rauher.

The smoke from the tent began to rise with increased vigor, and flames could be seen flickering from inside.

“The grass! The grass!”

“The grass of life!”

“Put out the fire! Put it out somehow!”

Rauher, Kino, and Hermes watched on from behind as the people screamed madly.

They hit the fire with their clubs and whacked it with their clothes, but their desperate attempts to put out the fire were entirely ineffective. The fire, unrestrained, grew more furious.

“That was the tent where all the grass that they’ve saved from last year was stored. I rigged it earlier. I asked Hermes if I could use a little bit of oil and gunpowder. ——Without that grass, everyone’s got ten days left to live,” said Rauher. Kino turned to face him.

“Including me.” Rauher breathed a puff of smoke.

The fire grew more and more, and the flames shined on the figures of the people surrounding it.

One man moved closer to the fire, resolving to salvage some grass. The sleeves of his clothes and his hair caught fire, and soon, his whole body was lapped up in flames.

The man danced, engulfed by fire, screaming an otherworldly scream all the while. No one helped him, and he eventually danced his last and fell down. There were several more people whose bodies caught fire.

The faces of numerous people desperately trying to put out the fire turned a ghastly pale as they collapsed from suffocation.

As people were tossed out of the way or stepped upon, the futile fire-dousing operation continued.

The roof of the tent fell. As the flames engulfed the entirety of the grass, the smoke grew more tempestuous. White smoke signals flared upward.

Kino gazed at the depressing situation before her as she watched person after person collapse. Others desperately breathed in all the smoke they could, thrusting their faces deep into the fumes. White foam began to appear from their mouths as they staggered, making strange shrieks before fainting.

Finally, the tent and the grass had burned down entirely. Around the burned wreckage, the motionless bodies of several people tumbled about.

The people who could still move ended themselves.

Suddenly, a man grabbed the neck of a nearby woman and pinned her to the ground, choking her to death. Then, he began to bludgeon to death the people cowering around him. As the sound of heads splitting open could be heard, the number of motionless people increased. There were also people who burned as they set themselves on fire.

One man tottered towards Kino. Both of his hands had been turned into charcoal.

“Heheheh…”

The man laughed, and then closed his hollowed eyes. Rauher slashed at his throat in a moment.

And then, Rauher moved closer to the charred ruin, putting the others out of their misery: the people who sank down the floor, those who were weeping, laughing, or embracing each other, those with foams coming out of their mouths, those who were bludgeoned to death, and those who were burned halfway through.

He impassively stabbed his knife into their necks. Slowly, the number of the living decreased.

“Y-you… what are you…”

The last remaining person, the one once called the chief, spoke to Rauher, who was standing before his eyes.

“One year ago, if you hadn’t done that, maybe there would have been another way…”

The man with the bloodstained knife looked back at him with his ashen eyes.

The chief held his head in his hands and muttered as he tore at his hair.

“Ooh… it’s the end… it’s the end of everything…”

Rauher shook his head sideways.

“No. Not everything. Goodbye, father.”

—

With the knife remaining in the neck of the chief, Rauher turned around. Kino and Hermes looked on as he came over to them.

“Hell has ended. You can go now.”

“Let’s go together. Gather up as much of the remaining grass from everybody’s pockets, and go to some country nearby. Maybe somehow, the poison will be released from you. If you’re just going to die by staying here, why don’t you try what little possibility there is?”

The man looked at Kino and muttered, “Maybe that’s what would be good….” Then, he clearly said, “But I’m staying here.”

“Why? … There’s nobody here anymore,” Kino said.

Rauher smiled.

“Have you forgotten?”

“?”

“The children.”

“Oh!”

“Not everything has ended.”

“……”

“I’ll explain to them what the adults did, what they were smoking, and why I did this. Also, I’ll teach them how they could live on their own until I die of madness. Yes, I have to show them that death as well. If I can do that, they should be able to use the remaining animals and survive. They should be able to make a new future, one without smoke. That’s why I’m… staying here.”

“… I understand,” Kino gave a small nod. And then she asked, “Where are you from? If it’s a place I pass by…”

Rauher shook his head.

“There’s no need for that, and it’s better if you don’t do something like that. In the country I was born in, I was a murderer.”

“……”

“What did you do? Since this is the end, tell us.”

Hermes said this with emphasis on ‘since this is the end’. Rauher gave a sad smile.

“The end, huh…? I was a soldier then. Ever since I was a little kid, I received special training. When war came, I assassinated lots of enemies. I thought I had killed for the country’s sake, for everyone’s sake. But, after the war, I became a nuisance. For a country that has won a fight in the name of justice, it couldn’t be said publicly that an assassin took lives in its place. As a broken-down, murderous demon whose usefulness had expired, I was expelled from the country. I didn’t want to go on a journey or anything like that. I wanted to spend my whole life in the place I was born in. I wanted to build my family and live a normal life there. When I came upon these people, I wondered if I could start from scratch.”

“… I see. Thank you so much,” said Hermes.

“Don’t mention it,” replied Rauher.

Kino remained silent, putting on her coat, pulling her hat and goggles on. As she was about to start Hermes’ engine,

“You look a lot like her,” Rauher said suddenly.

“Huh?”

“You asked me why I helped you earlier, right? I still haven’t answered you. It’s because you reminded me so much of her. No, not your face, but your eyes… Your eyes are so much like hers. They’re exactly the same.”

Rauher slowly narrowed his ashen eyes.

“Your… wife?” Kino asked. Rauher nodded.

“Yes. Even now, it’s like a dream.”

“……. By any chance, if I was taken into the family, would I have been made your wife?”

“That’s right.”

“……”

“This is goodbye. I was really glad that I met you.” Saying this, Rauher turned his back to Kino.

“I won’t ever forget that you saved me for the rest of my life… goodbye,” Kino said to the man walking away from her.

The man didn’t turn around; he simply, lightly, waved his hand.

—

The sound of a motorrad’s engine echoed throughout the settlement, and then it was gone.

The children were shuddering in one tent. Finally, the entrance opened, and an ashen-eyed man entered. He told them that he had something to tell them. He said that it was something very important, something he wanted all of them to hear.

The children slowly gathered around the man in a circle. The man surveyed each of the children. He opened his mouth, but in that instant, a sickle was stabbed into his throat, and not a sound came out of it.

‘I saw you! You’re the enemy of everyone!’ someone said. The man tried to say something, desperately moving his mouth, but no voice came out, and he finally died.

The children went outside of the tent. And then they cried. When they grew tired of crying, someone spoke up.

‘From now on, we have to live on our own.’

Everyone nodded.

‘From now on, we have to do everything that the adults did.’

Everyone nodded.

In the tent of the chief, the children searched for anything useful. Someone found a bag with lots of ‘strange things’ in it, and everyone looked.

It was grass. Nobody recognized it, but it was the grass that the chief had stored up for use in times of emergency. There was a considerable quantity of grass.

Someone realized that this must be what all the adults were smoking, and suggested that they try smoking it.

‘That’s only for the adults!’ someone scolded. But then, someone said,

“We are now the adults. And so, these are our rewards.”

This view became accepted, and every one of them put a pipe in their mouth and began to smoke. At first, it gave some of them an awful sensation and found it sickening, but in order to become adults, they endured.

—

Half a month later, this family——

Translator’s Notes

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