Kino no Tabi:Volume4 Chapter8

“Land of Acknowledgement” —A Vote—

A motorrad (Note: A two-wheeled vehicle. Only to note that it cannot fly) was running on a meadow with a sparse growth of bushes.

The motorrad was loaded with traveling luggage on both sides and on top of its rear wheel. It was running on a road extending straight ahead, while letting its engine’s roar resound loudly. The reddish brown earth of the road was finely cracked due to the dry season.

The driver was wearing a brown coat, the extra long hem of which was rolled up to her thighs. She was wearing a hat with flaps covering her ears and goggles on her eyes. The face underneath it was young, around mid-teens.

Probably due to the glare of the sun right ahead, the driver lowered the brim of her hat a little with her left hand.

“Yup, I don’t need it after all,” the driver said all of a sudden. The motorrad asked in return.

“What? Kino.”

“My coat. I don’t need it while riding in this kind of season. It’s a little hot, see.”

The driver called Kino opened the collar of the coat to let in some air. She was wearing a black jacket underneath.

“Do you want to stop to take it off?” the motorrad asked.

“Nope, it’s fine. I can already see it. Look, Hermes.”

Kino pointed ahead of the road just before the horizon, at the rectangular shadows which were like rods laid down on the ground. Those were the walls of a country.

“I’ll wear just my jacket when we leave that country. The coat will be on top of the carrier. Since it will get hotter soon, I don’t have to replace my thin shirt, either.”

“What about the snowsuit? I suppose you won’t need it anymore?” the motorrad called Hermes asked. Kino nodded.

“Oh, right. Then I probably wouldn’t need the winter cap and the winter gloves either. After this, I can’t afford to carry too much until the next winter. Maybe I’ll sell them or exchange them for something, only I won’t throw them away. I took quite a liking to them,” Kino said with a slightly regretful tone.

“Well, it can’t be helped. Humans have a talent for completely discarding things that they don’t need, you know,” Hermes said in a consoling tone, and continued.

“Occasionally you’d see clumsy people, who don’t throw away things that they don’t need and have half of their rooms occupied.”

“There was an author who was like that. He suffered because he can’t throw away his books,” said Kino.

The walls quickly became higher as they approached, and eventually they arrived in front of the gates.

—

They passed through the immigration inspection by the gates.

Kino was referred to a hotel. By the time they arrived, the sun has already gone down.

After taking a shower and a meal, Kino rested in the lobby and looked at the country’s map.

“Oh! Welcome, traveler! It’s nice of you to come! Welcome to this hotel!”

Kino turned around as she was called by a big, heavily accented voice.

“You see, I am the owner of this hotel. Well, have a seat. If there’s anything you don’t understand about this country, I’ll show you the ropes.”

The man spoke loudly to the puzzled Kino. His voice echoed in the lobby. He seemed a little drunk. An employee at the reception desk overtly frowned upon this, looking at Kino.

Kino introduced herself and sat on the sofa. The man sat facing her.

Without waiting to be asked, the man talked about how he started the hotel by himself. In a one-sided conversation, he told her in a loud voice that right now, everything was left to the youngsters while he enjoyed a leisurely life.

Kino responded agreeably, as appropriate.

“Miss traveler must be here in time with the festival?”

Kino asked what he meant.

“Oh, so you didn’t know? Ok! I’ll tell you. First, I’ll tell you a bit about this country,” the man said and explained in simple terms.

This country was a kingdom, and there was a custom that the king should be a doctor.

The country has a well-founded social security system. All medical expenses are waived, and everyone receives treatment from the royal hospital. Moreover, under the king’s rule, the social status of those who were working as doctors was high.

“And, the so-called festival is not actually a festival, but more of an election day. The festival is just a bonus for the election. It’s a festival in honor of the election,” the man said.

“An election, is it? What do you decide on?”

The man grinned to Kino’s question. Then he lowered his voice on purpose.

“We decide on a ‘person who is not needed’. That person will be ordered dead. You see, unnecessary things should be disposed of completely.”

—

The man said that this was a historically significant thing, and began to explain about the election.

About 150 years ago, this country experienced a severe food crisis due to incessant poor harvests. Hunger and epidemic was widespread.

The king at the time planned a mass killing as a last resort. To select the people who would die, the citizens were made to vote on ‘a person important to them’, and the country decided to kill everyone ‘who was not chosen’. Even if he himself was chosen, the king would execute it.

Out of fear of the voting results, no one wanted to be ‘unnecessary’ to anyone. ‘Even though we are under such a crisis, there was no one who was deemed unnecessary——’

The king was deeply moved by his people’s awareness, and was ashamed of his decision. In the end he chose to share and overcome the difficulties with everybody.

Soon they triumphed over the crisis, and this idea became a trigger to create the present welfare state this country has become.

Ever since, they made sure to perform an annual election with this historically significant meaning in mind. All citizens who can write shall write down the names of people important to them.

Every year, everybody’s name was written down. In this country, all people lived interdependently. Everyone celebrates that fact.

—

“I see…. Then, the truth is no one is actually disposed of?” Kino asked.

“Why, of course! That’s unheard of. We’re different from the sort of crazy country who would say, ‘Because you’re unnecessary, you’ll have to die.’ Just in case, we do have equipment for the disposal, but it has never been used once. It’s getting rusty there in the castle, where it serves as decoration. What do you think? It’s a nice story, isn’t it? Impressed, aren’t you!” the man said, letting out a rather annoying laugh with his heavily accented voice.

“Uhmm…”

A man around thirty who was wearing a suit stood next to the man, and spoke to him with a slightly troubled face.

“Father, may I request you to be a bit more quiet?”

“What?! Since when did you become so important?! This is the hotel I started, you know. Do you understand that?” The man yelled back. The man in the suit was flustered.

“Yes, but——”

“Hey! Go away now! Get to work! If you can slack off like me, you still have a long way to go. You are twenty years too early to dictate me! I’m with a visitor right now! Now, manager, do you get that?! What do you say now?”

“…Yes”

The son did not argue anymore, and left with a bitter face. The man looked at the back of his son, and snorted.

The man faced Kino again and spoke with a voice as loud as ever.

“Well, in the festival, everyone makes a lot of noise when they are drunk. Miss traveler, please feel free to join in. Everything’s free, and there are lots of delicious food and side dishes.”

“Thank you very much,” Kino thanked him meekly.

After this, Kino asked if there’s a place where she could exchange, or possibly sell the winter equipment that she no longer needs.

‘Oh!’ the man was surprised.

“Leave it to me. Tomorrow, I’ll ask the shop that supplies the hotel to collect your stuff for a high price, whether it be rags. We’ve been partners for a long time. They ought to consider something like that. When the festival starts, go to my place.” The man laughed again with his loud voice.

Kino spoke. “That’s very helpful.”

“Don’t mention it! Humans live to help each other! Then that means I just became a person important to you, miss traveler!” The man roared without regard for those around him.

Kino looked around the lobby for a bit, and asked.

“By the way, am I allowed to vote?”

“It’s too bad, but travelers aren’t allowed to,” the man said.

—

It was the morning of the second day since they entered the country.

Kino woke up at dawn.

She performed her light exercises beside Hermes, who was fast asleep. Kino trained with and maintained her hand persuader (Note: A persuader is a gun. In this case, a pistol) called ‘Canon’.

Several fireworks went off as Kino was eating her breakfast. In the road, a public announcement vehicle has been going around to broadcast, ‘Everyone, today is the election day. Please do not forget to cast your votes.’

—

Kino returned to her room after her meal.

She opened the bag and took out the thick winter jacket and pants, the winter cap with ear covers, and the leather winter gloves. She folded them neatly and placed them on top of the desk.

She gazed at these for a while, and whispered.

“You were very helpful. …Thank you.”

“You’re welcome,” said Hermes.

“What, so you were awake,” Kino turned around with a smile.

“Nope. I was talking in my sleep.”

“Really now…. Well, it’s almost time for you to wake up anyway,” Kino said, and Hermes replied with a grave tone.

“That’s difficult, you know. ‘In spring one sleeps a sleep that knows no dawn.’”

“……”

Kino fell silent.

“What’s the matter, Kino?”

“You did not make a mistake.”

“How rude.”

—

Kino and Hermes went to visit the polls. They followed the people walking down the street.

The people were entering a large building surrounded by greenery at the center of the country. She received an explanation from the guards that the king serves as the director of the central hospital.

Kino and Hermes were not allowed to enter, so they simply observed the entrance for a while.

“For sure, your name will not be written this year.”

“Oh, yours too.”

A couple holding hands teased each other. There were also people who come with their families and ate their breakfasts leisurely on the lawn after voting.

“It’s so peaceful, isn’t it?” Hermes said.

—

At a little past noon, Kino was having a cup of tea in the cafeteria when fireworks set off once more. Someone announced that the election was over. The results were being tabulated, and once it turns out that ‘no one was unnecessary’, the festival will start.

“We’ll know by evening. Well, no one gets chosen every year, anyway,” someone said.

Later in the afternoon, Kino and Hermes finished their sightseeing and returned to the hotel. Stalls and tables were being set up and decorated in the roads and plaza around the hotel as hastily-made preparations for the festival.

Around the time the sun sank beneath the walls, the fireworks resounded for the third time. And then the public announcement vehicle broadcasted that the festival will be carried out as planned.

—

The festival began by twilight. There were lights everywhere, and the town has become lively.

Kino found the hotel owner and asked whether he was able to inquire about the sale of her winter equipment. ‘Ok! Leave it to me,’ the man, considerably drunk, said in a loud voice and led Kino to a nearby store.

He stormed in with a shout, and asked the shop owner how much he will take the items for. The owner gave his price. ‘We were friends, weren’t we? Raise it a bit more,’ the man pushed his considerably unreasonable request. After arguing for a while, the man reluctantly agreed to a much too high price, with a disagreeable look on his face.

“See ya! Enjoy the festival, miss traveler!” The man left the store with high spirits. The shop owner sent him off with impassive eyes.

Kino talked to the shop owner.

“That person seems to know a lot of people.”

The owner looked at Kino,

“And when you realized that, you asked him for assistance… that makes you one ugly customer. But if you don’t do such things, traveling would be hard, I suppose. Well, whatever. Don’t worry about it.”

“Thanks. By the way, will you please give me four of those shirts?”

‘Coming,’ said the owner, and wrapped the shirts in paper. Then he suddenly stopped.

“…You know, that person was not like that before. He started on his own and managed a splendid hotel, and yet he lost his wife. After he was advised by those around him to retire, he just drowned himself in alcohol everyday. But now, not only the neighbors, even his family and employees consider him a nuisance. Really, I don’t want to be like that. Alive just to cause trouble to someone,” the owner said with a bored tone.

‘I see,’ Kino murmured quietly.

After that, Kino slipped into the festival only to eat the food that was handed out. Then she returned to buy the things that she needed with a low price.

By the time she returned to the hotel, the hotel owner was drunken in the streets, making a lot of noise.

—

The next day, that is, the morning of the third day since Kino entered the country.

As usual Kino got up at dawn, then trained with and maintained Canon.

After a while, Kino noticed that it was a little noisy in the streets. She looked from the window and saw a car stop in front of the entrance. Several uniformed policemen entered.

Kino went down to the lobby. The son and family of the owner, dressed in pajamas, as well as the other employees were talking with the police.

Kino asked a hotel boy what happened. He answered with a grim expression,

“The owner is dead.”

“?”

Kino listened to his version of the story.

The owner did not go home last night, but no one worried because of the festival. However, he was discovered, collapsed in a back alley this morning. He was moved to the hospital and confirmed dead. It was a heart attack, apparently.

“That’s why I told him to stop drinking too much…,” the owner’s son said lifelessly, completely dazed.

After this, Kino looked on as the son and the family went away with the police.

He asked the boy whether there will be a funeral today.

The boy answered, “Nope. Too bad miss traveler, but in this country, there’s no such thing as a funeral. After the family is finished parting with the deceased, as early as this afternoon, the ashes will be put in the country’s mass cemetery…. After all, a human should exist only until the time of his death.”

—

Around noon.

Kino arranged her luggage, refilled Hermes with fuel, and departed. She was wearing her jacket, fastened with a wide belt on her waist. Canon’s holster was suspended from her right thigh.

The coat was rolled and tied up on the carrier.

They soon came to the western gate, where something like a park was spread out on the right side of the road. Big trees were planted on the ground, and here and there, benches, roofed lounges, and big stone monuments were built.

Several people were gathered in one corner, busy over something. When they broke up, they went towards the direction of Kino and Hermes. One person saw Kino and called out, ‘Hey, miss traveler.’ It was the dead owner’s son.

“We’re finished. It’s that stone monument over there. If you like…”

“Sure”

“We have to return now. Take care, miss traveler.”

After waiting for the group to pass through the gates, Kino pushed Hermes towards the stone monument.

A young man wearing a white robe and several workers who were cleaning were left behind.

“Doctor, we’ll be going ahead,” the workers addressed the man in the white robe. Afterwards, they collected their tools and returned to the gate.

The man wrote something in his documents. He noticed Kino and spoke while his hand moved.

“I am a doctor. I have to write down the proof of burial.”

“I see.”

Kino went in front of the stone monument, took off her hat, lightly closed her eyes, and moved her mouth a little. She explained to the doctor that she stayed in the buried man’s hotel.

“Is that so?” the doctor murmured. His hand stopped and he looked at Kino.

“Ah, uhmm… I’m sure you are about to leave the country, and have a long way to go. But, can I have some of your time? I just want to talk to you about something.”

“I guess it won’t hurt.”

“What? Is it an interesting story?” Hermes asked.

The doctor replied, “Well, I don’t know if you’ll find it interesting or not, but I’m sure it will make a good souvenir for your travels. It’s about this country’s wonderful system.”

—

The doctor finished working on the details in the documents and closed the file. After that, he guided Kino and Hermes to the nearest lounge.

The doctor suggested that Kino take a seat, and was about to sit down himself when he stopped and said that his robe will get dirty. Kino parked Hermes on the side and sat on him.

“Well, what’s the story about?” Hermes asked. The doctor smiled lightly, and spoke with a fairly normal tone.

“The truth is, that guy who died this morning, and was buried a while ago, was killed by me.”

Kino asked Without changing her expression. “What do you mean?”

“Well, it means just that. I killed that man with my own hands. When he was carried to the central hospital this dawn, it was merely acute alcohol intoxication, but his awareness was clouded. After the treatment, we confirmed that he was an ‘anonymous’. And so I had to inject a drug into his IV drip, and he died. I was slightly nervous. After all, it was the first time I did it on my own.”

“I don’t get it. What’s an ‘anonymous’?” Hermes asked.

The doctor said, “Ah, I’m sorry. Let me see… ‘anonymous’, in this country’s medical terms, is what we call the people whose names were not written by anyone in the election. Those whose continuous existence was determined to be useless. Uhmm, are you aware of the election, and its historical background?”

Kino nodded and spoke. “But I heard that no one has been discarded from the very beginning up to now.”

The doctor spoke with an amused tone, “All of those were lies.”

“…Then, in reality, you got rid of people before?”

The doctor nodded. “Yes. Since the start of the great famine, there was a fair amount of anonymous. Mainly, we thin out the population with children, or useless old people. The king at the time was a person of conviction. He would do something once he decided to. But of course, public executions leave a bad taste. If his rule were to be thought of as a reign of terror, the rest of the people who were chosen as ‘necessary’ will not be too happy. And so as not to bother anyone psychologically, we came up with the idea of disposing people in secret.”

“To be exact, how did you do it?” Hermes asked.

“It’s simple. Ah, did you know? The king is a doctor. He is the head of the central hospital, and all doctors are directly under him,” the doctor said a little proudly. Kino nodded.

“We doctors perfected a variety of means to dispose of people in the hospital. Once the voting results are out, the names are added to the list. On the instance that that person is brought into the hospital, he will be killed right there and then. Until the next election, that is.”

“I see.” “Uh-huh”

“Those who are seriously ill or injured will die even if you leave them alone. Those who are not will be disposed of by saying that their condition has changed suddenly and that they are to be given a drug through their IV drip. The easiest to deal with, and the most common, are traffic accidents. If the injury is not a big deal, you can reason out that they hit their head and had a brain hemorrhage. Another simple case would be alcohol poisoning,” the doctor continued.

“However the truth is, sometimes, there are anonymous which are vigilant and leaves no openings. There are people who don’t get sick or injured. In those cases, we can’t do anything. We dispose of them by making up a sickness during the annual physical examination mandated by law.”

Kino asked, “And you continued to do this every year?”

“Yes, that’s right. It has become something like a tradition. In a year, there’s about a dozen. The people who are disposed of, that is.”

“Was it ever exposed?”

“Well, there are some suspicions…. However, even if the official cause of death is accidental, no matter how you look at it, the truth is they died because they’re ‘not useful to anyone’. Nobody was suspicious enough to meddle with and question the cause of death. At first, the families would grieve exaggeratedly. But they are actually secretly delighted, and by the next day, no, as soon as the burial is over, they’d go about their lives afresh. They will be given their insurance punctually, and the country will answer for the burial expenses. In cases of traffic accidents, the perpetrators who unknowingly lent a hand in the disposal will be judged rather favorably.”

“I see.”

The doctor turned over the documents he was holding.

“Uhm, in this person’s case…, ah, as expected, there were less votes for him in the previous year, as well as in the year before that. Recently, he was becoming more and more annoying. That he was the first to be disposed this term is purely coincidental. He was carried into the hospital just when the duty was left to me. It was a simple case.”

The doctor closed the documents. And then he let out a big breath.

“But, I was really pretty nervous. I wouldn’t know what to do if he wakes up while I was doing it. But I finished it safely, wrote the medical certificate, and now the burial is also over. Again I feel that my experience as a doctor piled up. That’s why I wanted to talk about this to someone,” the doctor said, slightly embarrassed.

“Only the doctors know about this? Or are the nurses involved too?”

The doctor nodded to Kino’s question.

“Only the doctors and the nurses. After graduating from the royal university in medicine and nursing, there’s a national certification exam. When you pass, there will be an audience with the king who will personally tell everything to you for the first time. Ah, actually, the disposal can only be done by doctors.”

“When you learned about it for the first time, what did you think?”

“I was… impressed. I was surprised, and there was that feeling of being deceived. However, the king’s powerful words touched my heart: ‘Ladies and Gentlemen. Useless things are not necessary. The preservation of anyone who holds value to people or to the country, and the complete disposal of the unnecessary ones is important. And you who are here now, who have the highest skills and ambition, will now bear this obligation.’ ——Well…, I was deeply moved…”

The doctor’s eyes moistened slightly. And then he looked at Kino, eager to speak.

“I was thinking, humans are supposed to live among themselves, right? And so, those who are determined to be unnecessary should not exist. They have to be discarded. This is a very natural thing. It is to build a country without waste. It’s a genuine welfare program. And all of that was accomplished with only the medical field involved. That’s why I find this job very rewarding.”

Kino was silent while listening to the doctor’s story.

“Was there ever a case where you failed to get rid of someone?” Hermes asked.

“That’s unthinkable!” the doctor said with a loud voice as he got fired up.

“It’s unforgivable for doctors and nurses to fail! We take pride in that. If there’s a chance that a person will fail because of pressure in time and situation, then his wisdom will be complemented by a number of people with knowledge and experience. If a person can’t still do it even with that, then he has to return his diploma immediately,” the doctor said with a stern tone.

“I want to gain more and more experience in healing as well as in disposing. ‘A person who saves should be certain to save, and a person who disposes should be certain to dispose.’ I want to be able to stand on my own soon.”

“I see. Yup. That was quite interesting,” Hermes said. The doctor was embarrassed for being slightly fired up.

“Thank you for listening to my story. Inside the country, such a thing cannot be mentioned, so now I’m totally refreshed. Miss traveler, if ever your body’s condition gets bad, don’t hesitate to come anytime. I will take responsibility for your care. No matter how difficult an operation is, or how long the hospitalization will take, and even if it’s a traveler, we do not take any payment. This country is proud of delivering the best treatment there is.”

—

The doctor lightly shook hands and returned to the gates.

Kino pushed Hermes out of the cemetery and started the engine. She looked once at the stone monument, and took off.

“……”

For a while, Kino rode Hermes in silence. They went through the meadow road lined up with bushes.

Eventually, Hermes spoke. “Kino. Let me guess what you’re thinking right now.”

“Hmm? Oh,” Kino said.

“That’s amazing, if you can guess it,” she added.

Hermes spoke with an air of importance, “Well…, from that doctor’s story, and based on my own experience up to now, you must be thinking like this,

‘Ah, it’s just that…. I don’t have any big injuries or anything, but it would have been nice to receive some medical exam in the hospital. Even though I hate injections.’”

“……”

Kino fell silent. The motorrad ran smoothly, its well-regulated engine echoing.

“Hermes…”

“Hmm?”

Kino spoke with a sour face. “That’s correct. Word for word.”

“Isn’t it?!” Hermes said happily. And immediately,

“Ah! Which reminds me,” he said with a loud voice. ‘What?’ asked Kino.

“Did you sell the winter gloves?”

“Yeah,” Kino nodded.

“But, didn’t you say that you don’t like the gloves you have because they hurt, and so you would set it aside for picking up firewood or working until it’s all tattered? Not too long ago.”

“……”

Kino suddenly hit the brakes. The rear wheel loudly stopped with a slide.

Kino faced the road that she has just ridden through. She could not even see the shadow of the walls beyond the horizon.

“…I did say that.”

Kino gazed at the road with a disappointed look on her face, and Hermes spoke with a perfectly normal tone.

“How unexpected of Kino to make a careless mistake.”

“……”

Kino shook her head lightly. Her face still had a bitter look.

“What now? Are we going back?”

“We can’t do that,” was Kino’s firm answer to Hermes’ question.

“What about the gloves?”

While looking at the direction they were heading to, and moving the front wheel towards that course, Kino answered,

“Someday, somewhere, I’ll find a replacement for it.”

“I see.”

“Let’s go.”

After saying this, she launched Hermes.

In a moment, the spinning rear wheel kicked up dirt, and the motorrad rode away.

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