Kino no Tabi:Volume5 Chapter6
"A Land at Leisure" ~Jog Trot~
We were in a teahouse.
Wooden poles are aligned on the narrow road. We arrived at a lone house beside the road, the eaves of which has been turned into a teahouse.
Master Shizu was sitting by the veranda, gazing leisurely at the afternoon scenery.
I was sitting diagonally in front of him, on top of the hard ground, and gazing at the scenery as well.
In the warm and sunny air, the mix of green and brown of the slightly undulating fields has spread far and wide. Houses with silos or barns are sparsely visible.
Master Shizu spoke as if muttering. “What a peaceful country,”
I silently agreed.
--
My name is Riku, I am a dog.
I have long, white, bushy fur. My face looked as if it’s happy and smiling all the time, but it doesn’t mean that I’m always happy and smiling. I’m just born this way.
Shizu is my master. He is a young man who is always wearing a green sweater. He has lost his homeland due to some complex circumstances and is now traveling in a buggy. And I go to various countries together with Master Shizu.
Master Shizu’s journey doesn’t have any particular destination. No, it aims somewhere, but this ‘somewhere’ is not just a mere place.
Running through the road, we finally arrived at an isolated country situated in an enormous prairie.
We were permitted through the gate, in which there was no sort of screening whatsoever. The guard was very surprised since visitors seldom come.
“Even if they bother to come, there’s nothing to see in this country,” he said as we came inside the walls. More flat land lay before us.
There was a bit of forest, but most of the land is composed of meadows and fields. It was an agricultural country.
Master Shizu rode for a while through the unchanging scenery, and eventually we found the teahouse.
“Travelers are quite rare. Anyway, please enjoy yourselves,” said an old woman who brought us tea.
The green tea was served inside a cup without a handle, and was placed beside Master Shizu’s seat. It did not smell of poison.
Master Shizu thanked her. Leaning against him was his favorite sword, placed right in front of me. It is my duty to watch over this sword when Master Shizu’s attention is away from it.
While drinking his tea, Master Shizu asked the old woman some questions about this country, such as whether the old woman has any other job. She sat down beside Master Shizu and replied.
Apparently, this country has taken leisure at doing just agricultural work. The population is small and thinly distributed. Only a handful can be called cities.
There are no nearby potential enemy countries. Even if there are, nothing can be gained by occupying this country.
Travelers do not come often. Even if they did, there will be no tourist attractions for them to see.
Each day passes by in mere peace.
“Mr. Traveler, where are you headed to?”
To this question, Master Shizu only shrugged his shoulders as if joking. ‘There’s no particular place I’m headed to. I’m a vagabond’, he said truthfully.
The old woman was a bit surprised, “In case you’re interested, immigrants are always welcome in this country. There is a surplus of land, and people who can help with the work are always appreciated. If you’re able, you can have a job as a guard.”
And she added, ‘There’s not much to do in your free time, though’.
Master Shizu smiled a little. “That might be a good idea.”
The old woman returned to the kitchen.
While looking at the scenery, Master Shizu muttered. “What a peaceful country,”
I silently agreed.
--
Far in the fields, a single tractor was moving. From here we can see that it was moving in a very relaxed manner. It was approaching a house; maybe it’s finished with the day’s work.
“It might not be a bad idea to make a living here raising cattle. I haven’t considered it until now……. It would be nice not to have to work for various people, or not to kill someone to survive, or wander aimlessly in the wilderness; to live in stability and safety each day. Perhaps, I could live a little bit longer……”
Master Shizu said slowly, still looking at a distance, and possibly, looking at his past and his future.
“That’s right”, is the only thing I said. Whatever it was, the decision is in Master Shizu’s hands.
The old woman came out and asked Master Shizu again. “Mr. Traveler, do you want another cup of tea?”
‘Yes please’, said Master Shizu, and held out his cup.
The old woman poured tea from a small kettle.
After finishing it, Master Shizu placed it on his side. At the same time, there was a small ‘ton’ sound and the ground began to shake.
Probably an earthquake. The house and the ground shook slightly. The wooden house creaked and rattled, and the agitation spilled the tea only a little.
And then, the shaking ceased without too much fuss. It only lasted for a few seconds.
“Oh dear,” the old woman quickly took a cloth and wiped the spilled tea. And then,
“?”
I noticed that Master Shizu’s face has hardened into a very surprised expression. He was looking at the scenery before him.
I looked at the same direction……, and was similarly surprised.
The house and the tractor which we have seen from afar only a while ago, vanished from sight.
“……The house disappeared?” Master Shizu rose from his seat and spoke.
The old woman standing by his side looked in the same direction and spoke in a tone unchanged from before.
“Ah, I knew it. It has been a while. It might be too late to save them.”
Master Shizu faced the old woman. “W-what just happened?”
The old woman told them to wait for a while, and started to talk to someone somewhere using the phone in the wall.
The old woman interrupted the call for a moment and spoke to Master Shizu.
“Mr. Traveler, there is a faster way to understand what you just have seen other than me explaining it to you. Go to the right and then turn left at the first intersection. Please do not get too close.”
--
Master Shizu rode the buggy, and followed the road as he was told.
Eventually, Master Shizu stopped the buggy atop a swell, and got off. I alighted from the passenger seat and went on top of the hood to look. I instantly understood what happened.
A hole opened up in the ground.
It was almost a perfect circle, with a diameter of about 200 meters. I have no idea how deep it is from where I was. The ground had vanished vertically just like that. Without a doubt, the house and the tractor from earlier are inside this hole.
“…………”
Master Shizu looked in amazement. From behind, we heard a siren and a crane truck approached. Master Shizu moved the buggy to make way.
Soon the truck moved in the vicinity of the hole, and extended the crane to look at the bottom. At the tip of the crane is a bucket for carrying people, which was suspended and moved down into the hole.
“They are…… considerably prepared and skilled for this,” Master Shizu murmured.
Another car stopped beside the buggy.
“Ah, travelers, eh? It’s dangerous so you’d better not go any nearer. You will find a teahouse when you turn back to the right, the old lady over there can tell you all the details,” said the man riding inside.
--
“A hole opened up, as you’ve seen,” the old woman spoke in a fairly normal tone to Master Shizu when we came back.
“What in the world was that? And why?” Master Shizu asked.
The old woman took it without any hint of surprise, and said that it’s a common occurrence.
“A long time ago, there was a stone quarry in this area. The whole place is full of cavities. That’s why it’s not surprising for a place to vanish just like that.”
“…………. There’s no way to prevent it?”
“We do not have blueprints of the old quarry, and no one is willing to investigate it……”
The old woman looked a little troubled as she said this. And then,
“Well, it’s not a big deal. The one you’ve seen earlier, of house and people being swallowed, is a rare thing. The empty hole will just have to be filled in. The ground caves in only a few times every month. It’s not something to worry about.”
“…………”
As the old woman replaced Master Shizu’s cold tea, she asked.
“Oh right. Mr. Traveler, what are you going to do from here on? If you want to live in this country, shouldn’t you already be looking for a place where you can build your house?”
Master Shizu shook his head, with a somewhat twitchy smile.
And then he asked where he could immediately obtain portable rations and fuel for the buggy.
