Kino no Tabi:Volume3 Chapter6

"A Finished Tale" ―Ten Years After―

It was three in the morning.

I finished my work at last. As always, I tidied up my manuscripts. As always, I put them inside an envelope. And as always, I stowed it inside the lowermost right drawer of my desk. It will be kept that way until my editor comes to pick it up.

I stood up from my chair and slowly stretched as I walked towards the center of the room. I stretched from tip to toe, as if I was trying to make myself taller.

After I made a sound like that of a kitten stuck beneath his four siblings, I felt my strength being sucked out. The fatigue which I have forgotten as I wrote in my desk for ten hours straight suddenly came over my whole body.

I love this feeling of exhaustion.

The way I sank into my bed felt different, as if I were very heavy. If I let myself sink completely, I can let a number of hours pass by without thinking about anything.

If I didn’t let myself sink deep enough, my body would feel as if it were floating, and my head would spin. My mind would inevitably be overrun with various thoughts.

My job right now. My plans for the future. If my thoughts stop with that then it’s fine, but if I inadvertently come up with a new story, then it’s no use. I will not be able to sleep for a while.

In that case, I will be lying on top of my bed in a strained posture, and if I don’t commit into writing the things struggling inside my head one after the other in the notebook always by my side, they might disappear. Once I have finished everything, the sun would have completely risen. My exhausted brain felt admiration to whoever said the words, ‘Writers work throughout the day.’

I felt like I have the right to be lazy after completely finishing a story which has taken me so much time. I flopped onto my bed.

Thud! My body rebounded, and slowly but surely, began to sink. My whole body felt heavy, and I don’t want to move anymore. Even so, I moved my hand very slightly to remove my long hair which was blocking my breathing. It’s still a bit too early for me to succumb to an eternal sleep.

That’s right. I’ll go and have my hair cut tomorrow. My hair has grown so much after being neglected for some time.

I suddenly remembered my teens; the time when I still had hair too short for a girl.

A time when I still held a pistol and lived amidst gun smoke.

And I remembered the day when it all suddenly came to an end.

That cheeky motorrad Hermes, I wonder where he is and what he is doing right now?

I wonder what he would say if he sees me right now, completely settled down in one country, and as a popular female author?

That’s right. I’ll go and have my hair cut tomorrow.

I can’t make it as short as that time, but—— tomorrow, I’ll go and have my hair cut.

Having decided that much, I finally sank into slumber.

* * *

A single motorrad (Note: a two-wheeled vehicle. Only to note that it cannot fly) stood on top of the sand.

It was a sandy beach mottled with a rocky area. Various sizes of islands were scattered across the open sea. The waves were calm. The spring sun soaring above the clear sky leisurely warmed the earth.

Away from the shores, the pine trees growing on the sandy beach increased in number. Soon the clump of pine trees became a beautiful, lush grove.

The motorrad was parked midway between the shore and the growths of pine trees.

It was packed full of traveling luggage. There was a box on each side of its rear wheel which was topped by a big bag and a rolled-up sleeping bag. A small wooden board was fastened at the bottom of its protruding side stand so that it would not sink into the sand.

A lone human lay in hiding on the left side of the motorrad facing the sea. It was a young person, around mid-teens. Her blond hair was trimmed short like that of a soldier, and she had beautiful emerald-green eyes.

The jacket and pants she was wearing were full of patches all over, and thick rubber-soled sandals were tightly bound on her legs. She was gripping an automatic hand persuader (Note: A hand persuader is a gun. In this case a pistol). This persuader was installed with something like a rifle’s stock, which can be positioned against the shoulders and cheeks when aiming.

With a tensed expression, the human spied with great caution towards the grove before her.

“Hey, I don’t know who you are, but I think it’s a good idea if you stop,” the motorrad said, but the human did not answer. She kept her persuader positioned and her eyes gleaming, trying not to miss anything that moved.

“Well, people may have their own circumstances, but to attack Kino, of all people…,” the motorrad spoke again.

“Shut up!”

The human replied harshly, and then, with a tone somewhat softer but still with a hint of nervousness, asked the motorrad,

“So it’s Kino, huh? The name of that traveler.”

“That’s right. And the one you’re using in place of a shield is Hermes,” the motorrad called Hermes said, and continued with a voice devoid of any tension, “Anyway, it’s nice to meet you.”

“Ah. I’m Inid… hey, that doesn’t matter!” the human called Inid yelled.

“Inid, eh? Nice to meet you,” Hermes greeted.

Ignoring this, Inid raised her body a little and peeked from the side of the sleeping bag. With her persuader steady on her shoulder, she aimed towards the woods, and fired. Three dry explosive sounds were heard in succession, and three empty cartridges fell on the sand. It was an automatic persuader which fires three rounds with one pull of the trigger.

“Tsk!”

As Inid clicked her tongue, Hermes asked, “You missed?”

“Shut up!”

“With skills like that, you will be the one to get shot instead.”

Inid laughed scornfully. “That’s what you’re here for – a shield. If your wheels get shot by mistake, that traveler won’t be able to continue traveling, right?”

“I suppose so…. But it’s Kino we’re talking about here, so…”

The moment Hermes said this, the sound of something cutting through the air was heard. Part of the sleeping bag burst open, and the feathers that it contained fluttered in the air. The bullet passed just above the ear of Inid as she tried to peek again. Her blond hair was showered with white feathers.

“… I’m sure she would fire without a second thought, just as you’ve seen.”

“……”

Inid’s face stiffened, and took refuge behind Hermes’ engine.

“If you don’t do something soon, Inid…”

“D-don’t say my name as if we’re close!” Inid cried out while lowering her head as much as she could, and swore under her breath.

“Why attack a traveler anyway? Just so you know, Kino’s not rich.”

“It doesn’t matter. What’s important is that I get to attack and steal from someone.”

“What’s that about?”

Without answering, Inid swiftly raised her head, and while chasing something moving inside the forest with her gaze, fired several times in a row. Three rapid-fired rounds, five times. Fifteen loud shots echoed in the beach.

After firing, Inid quickly lay down, dropped the empty magazine, pulled a fresh one out of her breast pocket and slapped it into the persuader.

“Damn! He escaped into the woods!”

“You missed again? You’re pretty bad at this…,” Hermes said frankly.

“I told you to shut up!” Inid retorted angrily.

“Well, calm down. Nothing good comes from being impatient in a fight.”

“I-I don’t want to be told off by someone like you…. But I suppose you’re right….”

Inid took a big breath and lightly shook her head.

“Well, why are you attacking travelers again?” Hermes asked, and Inid replied immediately,

“To be recognized as a member.”

“Of what?”

Inid remained prostrate, and while keeping the persuader’s sight aligned with her gaze,

“Pirates. The pirates controlling this area have a custom. There is a test for anyone who wants to become a pirate, to be given on their fifteenth birthday. On that day, you have to attack the first person you caught sight of, and steal their belongings. Kill if you have to. If you can’t do this, you can never become a pirate your whole life.”

“Oh, I see. But what if your opponent is abnormally strong? What if they fight back?”

“That will have to depend on your luck…. Luck is also important for a pirate. That is also being tested here.”

“Oh, I see,” Hermes said with admiration.

“As for me, today is that day. I will bring down that traveler and be acknowledged. I will follow my father’s footsteps, and become captain someday. And so… I can’t let my boat sink with just the first row!” Inid said furiously with a stern face.

“Hmm… you’re quite desperate.”

“So be it. I’ve lived for this day…. I will win no matter who my opponent is!”

Inid tightened her grip on her persuader. With her emerald-green eyes, she glared into the woods through the gap between Hermes’ engine and frame.

“Now, come out. You’ve been making me wait forever…,” muttered Inid.

After three seconds, something red disturbed Inid’s left eye. She turned away her face in confusion. A single red dot of light now lingered on the top of her shoulder, at the place where her eyes had been earlier. The laser sight cut through the tiny gap between the engine and the frame.

“!”

Inid quickly moved her body away from this gap. At the same time, a shot rang in the forest.

The bullet did not hit Hermes. Neither did it hit Inid. It hit the wooden board propped beneath Hermes’ stand, and sent it flying.

“Whoa!” Hermes cried out. His stand sank into the sand, and he began to collapse on his left side.

“Ah!” Inid twisted her body to avoid the bag and the sleeping bag which suddenly started to fall towards her face. She eluded a direct hit on her head from these objects, but in exchange, she was pinned underneath Hermes. Face up, both legs under the engine, and her right hand beneath the luggage, together with the persuader.

“How mean…,” the collapsed Hermes mumbled.

“Ugh!”

Inid frantically tried to crawl her way out, but her left hand only dug out sand. She pushed at Hermes, but he barely moved.

“Damn! You’re so heavy! Get off me, you!” Inid shouted.

“Don’t make me do the impossible,” Hermes said.

While looking at the sky, Inid put all of her strength into pushing Hermes off. Somehow he budged a little, and when she thought she could finally free her left leg from under the engine,

“!”

The sky became dark. Someone was looking down at Inid. She couldn’t see this person’s face because of the sunlit background, but this person’s right hand was aiming a high-caliber revolver towards her. The red light which should have been aimed at Inid was pointing towards her knees.

“Damn… you tricked me…. You had two guns…,” Inid muttered feebly, her face blank with astonishment.

The person slightly raised her face. It was also a young person in her mid-teens, with short, unkempt, black hair, and wearing a black jacket.

“Are you okay, Hermes?”

“I’m fine, but I’m not sure about your sleeping bag. What about you, Kino?” Hermes asked in return. The person called Kino answered, her aim still trained towards the person trapped underneath Hermes.

“I suppose so.”

“That’s great. Well, hurry and raise me up.”

“Before that…”

Kino slowly dropped her glance and stared back at the emerald-green eyes trained at her.

“Hmph! If you’re going to shoot, do it quick!” Inid spat.

“Kino, let me introduce you.”

Hermes explained Inid’s circumstances in plain and simple terms.

“I see. So that’s why you suddenly attacked us. A test to be acknowledged, eh…,” Kino said. Hermes, who was still on the ground, effected an air of importance,

“Yup. A ‘right-of-way’, so to speak.”

“……. Um, ‘rite of passage’?”

“Yeah, that’s it,” Hermes said and fell silent.

“You’re getting worse lately, Hermes. That didn’t even sound the same,” Kino replied in amazement.

“… Really? Well, it’s fine as long as you get it. Languages are just like that.”

“But it takes me a long time before I get it. So——”

“Is that so? But in terms of improving your ability to recall things, my contribution is ——”

In the middle of the serious discussion Kino and Hermes were having,

“You guys! Don’t ignore me!” Inid swore from below.

Kino returned the revolver in the holster in her right thigh. She picked up Inid’s persuader, removed the magazine, and disassembled it in no time. Then she tossed everything in a distance. She took out a string from the overturned bag and bound the hands and feet of Inid, who was gnashing her teeth in anger. Afterwards, she pulled out Inid free.

Kino raised Hermes and tried to somehow balance his stand using the fragments of the wooden board. In the meantime, Inid tried to pull on the ropes with her teeth to escape.

As Kino was finally able to prop Hermes up, Inid forcibly tore away the strings and charged towards Kino.

“Eat this!”

Kino quickly dodged Inid’s right straight, and at the same time, grabbed Inid’s collar with her right hand. Inid was thrown down to the ground face up. With her elbow, Kino brought down her entire body weight towards the pit of Inid’s stomach.

“Guh!”

Inid let out an unpleasant yelp and fainted in agony. Kino laid her sideways and bound her hands behind.

“Good grief…”

As Kino mumbled, Hermes teased, “She has guts. You should follow her example, Kino.”

After coughing up several times, Inid sat up. She then turned her face filthy with sand and tears towards Kino.

“Kill me! Kill me right now! If I can’t become a pirate, it’s better for me to die! Kill me! You can’t now, you chicken?!”

“You heard her, Kino. What are going to do?”

Kino glanced at Hermes, and then shook her head with a sullen look.

“Kill me! Are you going to leave it like this?! You bastard! Take responsibility and kill me!”

Still ignoring Inid, Kino went to the woods and retrieved her other persuader. The automatic hand persuader was tied to a tree branch, a long string attached to the switch of the laser sight. Kino removed the string and put the persuader back in the holster behind her waist.

When she returned, Kino found Hermes chatting with the downcast Inid.

“––And so, like I’m saying, luck was not on your side this time. Luck, you hear? Luck. You said it yourself, didn’t you? ‘That is being tested here, too.’ You don’t have to be that dejected; well I suppose you couldn’t help it. That’s all you’ve aimed for your whole life, after all, so I just can’t go about and tell you not to feel down. But that’s that, and you just have to accept it. It’s not like your whole life is over, and maybe in your future choices, luck will be on your side. Something good may be in store for you in the future——”

“Shut up…, shut up…” Inid would occasionally mutter in between sobs.

Hermes paid no heed and continued, “See, there are times when motorrads have to change riders. When that happens, the driving style and treatment sometimes change drastically, it becomes unbearable. But that’s like a motorrad’s fate, and there’s nothing we can do about it. Perhaps humans are the same too——”

As Kino sighed, she noticed a small ship appear from the shadow of an island. The ship headed towards their direction in full speed. She could see several silhouettes of men aboard the ship.

“That is…,” Kino said, and Hermes paused his consoling speech to say,

“Yup. They look like Inid’s mates.”

Kino nodded. “Just in time. Let’s escape?”

“Sure.”

Kino removed the hat and goggles inserted on her belt, and wore them. She straddled Hermes, and when she was about to start the engine,

“Traveler! Please wait! We have no intention of doing you any harm!” A loud voice echoed from the ship through a megaphone.

“It’s our law to make amends to those who got dragged into this rite and survive! Please wait!”

The voice and the ship approached.

“What are you going to do, Kino?” Hermes asked.

“Well, just to make sure…”

As Kino tried to start Hermes’ engine,

“It’s a law…. Pirates are not supposed to lie…,” Inid, her head still hung down, said with a sigh.

“……”

Kino got off Hermes and unfastened Inid’s binds. Inid placed her hands before her, but remained seated weakly.

The ship ran aground the beach. All seven men aboard were shouldering persuaders, but none of them looked aggressive.

First, they surrounded Inid, crouched, and anxiously asked her if she was hurt. Inid did not look at their faces, and only shook her head.

A bearded, middle-aged man approached Kino and spoke, “Traveler, I am the captain. Just like I told you before, I want you to take these.”

The captain took a handful of gold and silver treasures from the bag hanging from his shoulder, and handed them to Kino.

Kino declined the offer, explaining that carrying things which originally belonged to other people might cause suspicion.

When the captain insisted to take responsibility, Kino asked him if he could share some fuel or ammunition.

The captain ordered one of the men to fetch some fuel cans from the ship. Kino filled Hermes tank until it was full.

“Thank you very much,” Kino said to the captain, who shook his head.

“I am the one who should be thanking you. It’s really frustrating that that child couldn’t become one of us, but it was thanks to you that she could go on living….” then he asked Kino, “After you tied her up, you could have killed her if you had so wanted. I believe someone of your skill will not hesitate to kill an enemy right before your eyes. And yet, you didn’t. Why is that?”

Kino looked at Inid who remained crouched on the ground, weeping. The filthy men around her were crying together with her. Kino looked at the captain’s face, and spoke.

“I don’t know.”

“I see…”

Then the captain, eyes blurred with tears, muttered,

“That child is lucky. Very lucky… Let’s just leave it at that.”

* * *

Thus, on that day ten years ago, I wasn’t able to become a pirate. Thus, I came to live in a completely different world. It was the same, but at the same time, different world. The fact that I couldn’t stay in that world made my heart heavy.

I continued to cry as I listened to the motorrad leaving, as I boarded the ship, and until we reached our hideout.

Everyone was so kind. No one criticized me, laughed at me, or tried to hide their disappointment with smiles. I felt like killing anyone who would do so, but everything went well in the end.

Even so, I went to an uninhabited island on my own without asking permission. It was a small island without any food or water. I spent about fifty days there alone.

I did nothing but sit around the whole day in a daze. I thought that I might as well die from starvation. I might have really died for real, if it were not for everyone stealthily placing food and water near me. I am truly grateful to everyone.

After that, I was taken in by a nearby country that secretly supported pirates, as required by law for those who fail the rite of passage. There I started to live a normal life. For the first time in my life, I went to school and studied.

Learning about new things became my diversion.

I finished school much earlier than I thought, and was hired in a publishing company much easier than I anticipated.

It was much more fun than I expected. I ignored books until then, but I became fond of reading them. In time, I found myself wanting to write them, and soon it became my job.

I would never know whether the work I have right now is more worthwhile than a pirate’s.

From time to time, when I see recurrent news or rumors about pirates, my whole body would give out a sense of yearning for that other world, of which I am no longer part of.

But even so… the current me, and not her, is who I am. And it will remain that way.

—

Ever since, I would check every single person who comes into the country; but no motorrad called Hermes, or a traveler called Kino ever appeared.

I would surely welcome them if ever they did come.

—

There’s no way they could have been attacked and killed by bandits somewhere, right?

Well, at least for them, such thing is not possible.

Now, I’ll go and have my hair cut.

I can’t make it as short as that time, but I’ll go and have my hair cut.

Translator’s Notes

Back to Chapter 5

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