Kino no Tabi:Volume5 Chapter9

“Tale of a Salt Field” — Family Business —

A single motorrad (Note: A two-wheeled vehicle. Only to note that it cannot fly) was running through a world of white.

It was a flat, dazzling, endless space of pure white.

In this place, the earth was made of salt.

The dried and hardened surface of salt was like a field of snow. East, west, south and north; there was only the white horizon visible in all directions.

The sun was at its zenith, the pale blue sky was cloudless, and the plains shone white below it.

The motorrad was running towards the west on top of the salt field, encountering not a single obstacle. A box was attached on both sides of its rear wheel. A bag, a sleeping bag, cans of fuel and water, and other traveling luggage were loaded on top of its rear carrier.

The rider was wearing a brown coat, the excess hem of which was rolled up to the thighs. She was wearing a hat with flaps covering her ears and yellow single-lens goggles. Her face was covered with a bandana to protect herself from sunburn.

A rifle-type persuader (Note: A gun) was hanging in front of her body with a leather strap. It was a slim rifle with a wooden stock, equipped with a sniper’s scope.

“Kino, behind at seven o’clock,” the motorrad spoke suddenly in a loud voice, so as not to lose to the sound of the engine.

The rider called Kino slackened the accelerator a little and turned her head behind to the left.

“I can’t see it. How far ahead are we?”

“A good deal. Besides, they’re using ordinary horses. They seem to be desperately trying to chase us, but it’s impossible for them to catch up,” said the motorrad.

“If that’s the case, then let’s escape like this.”

“Roger.”

Kino maxed the accelerator. The motorrad accelerated and ran through the salt fields in an unparalleled speed.

“They came just as we thought, Hermes,” said the rider.

“Yeah, they sure did. The info you got was perfect,” the motorrad called Hermes replied.

—

Kino and Hermes rode until sunset.

Because nothing could be seen from afar after dark, they camped out on the empty, white fields.

Kino dug a hole in the hard salt, then, keeping Hermes away, she made a fire at the bottom of it using solid fuel.

With her persuader beside her bed, Kino slept under the sky full of stars.

—

The next day.

Just as the previous day, Kino and Hermes rode towards the western horizon.

The scenery hasn’t changed a bit. The sky was clear and the wind was not blowing. Kino cut the engine to take a break.

And her ears ached from the silence.

Just about noon.

Again, Hermes spoke suddenly while running. “Kino, they’ve come again. Eight o’clock. This time it’s a car.”

Kino turned her head. There was a small dot from afar. It slowly became bigger in view.

“Will they catch up with us?” Kino asked.

“Looks like it. They are faster than us,” Hermes said calmly. Kino looked again.

“What now?” Hermes asked. Kino released her grasp from the handle of the accelerator, and released the safety of her persuader.

“I knew it.”

“It can’t be helped. As to why they would attack a traveler out of the blue, I have no idea. I’d love to know.”

Kino returned her hand to the handle, turned around, and looked at their pursuers.

A white smoke thinly drifted from the car that has gotten much bigger in view.

“Kino, they’re firing!”

“I know. But it’s still far. If they hit me from this distance…”

“If they did?” Hermes asked. Kino smiled a little as she spoke.

“Then today must be a fairly lucky one.”

“This is not a joke. You should return fire immediately,” Hermes complained in a loud voice.

“Not yet, only a bit more,” was Kino’s only reply.

The distance between them gradually shrank, and smoke rose intermittently from the car. While running, Kino glanced behind to look at the pursuers. Then all of a sudden,

“Okay. Here’s good.”

She slackened the accelerator and turned sharply to the left. They were exposed to the pursuing car straight from the left.

“Kino, you made it easier for them to shoot you, what in the world are you thinking?” Hermes asked.

Kino did not answer, and instead fixed the accelerator, and removed her hands from the handles. She immediately positioned her persuader, aimed and fired in an instant.

The car’s front right tire burst and scattered from the force of its rotation.

Kino immediately returned her hand to the handles and made a big turn to the right.

The car pitched forward, its front right wheel and body scraping the salt ground at length. The driver tried to stop the car, but it overturned to the right, shaking off its passengers ostentatiously.

“It stopped,” said Hermes.

“Well, let’s run away,” Kino accelerated.

—

The next day.

Once again, Kino and Hermes were running on the salt fields.

To the north and south, the tops of mountains were faintly visible like an island emerging from the sea’s horizon. As usual, there was nothing to behold from the west where Kino and Hermes were headed.

—

“There’s something right ahead.”

Around noon, Hermes spoke as he ran.

Kino loosened the accelerator a bit and asked, “What is it?”

“I wonder? Trees standing side by side, maybe. It doesn’t look like there are any humans around,” Hermes said in a slightly worried tone.

A little doubtful, Kino stood up while riding. Eventually, something that looked like a black line became dimly visible from a distance. She approached warily and realized that it was a row of stakes pierced on the ground.

Kino stopped Hermes in front of the stakes.

Each of the wooden stakes was about the height of a child, and the distance between the stakes wouldn’t let a car pass in between. It has drawn an endless line on the white ground. The line extended from the southeast to the west.

“What could this be?” Hermes asked.

Kino tilted her head. “Who knows? I have no idea at all. Someone’s guideposts perhaps…. But if it were, there’s no need for them to be stuck too close to each other.”

“You weren’t told anything about this?”

“Nope. I heard that there’s someone who’ll come and attack us, that’s all.”

“Hmm.”

“Well, no matter. Since it’s going west, let’s just run along it.”

Kino launched Hermes.

“Don’t get lost, okay?” Hermes reminded.

—

While they were running, they saw a man pounding at the stakes.

Hermes soon informed Kino, and she released the safety of her persuader.

A small car was parked just ahead the path Kino was taking, and several stakes were piled up on its carrier. There was an elderly man wearing sunglasses, his face tanned black due to sunburn. The man was hammering down the tops of the stakes. He was hammering with intense concentration.

The man noticed the sound of the engine and turned around. The motorrad came out from the shadow of the car, slid its rear wheel in front of the man and stopped.

“Hello,”

“Hi,”

Kino and Hermes greeted the surprised man.

The man raised the hammer. Then he saw Kino holding a persuader with both hands, and dropped the hammer while gnashing his teeth. The man shouted.

“You wretch! Even if you kill me with that persuader, what’s mine will still be mine! You won’t be able to steal it from me!”

After she was sure that the man was finished shouting, Kino lowered her bandana and spoke. “I don’t have any idea what you are talking about. What is it that you think we were going to take away from you?”

Once again, the man yelled, “What, you’re trying to play innocent now?”

In a polite tone, Kino told the man that she has no intention of hurting him or stealing anything from him, and that he should calm down.

—

“Then, you mean to say that you two were merely travelers using this salt lake instead of a road?”

The man has somewhat settled down, and asked Kino who stood beside Hermes.

“Yes. We have no intention of staying here or taking away anything from here.” Kino slung the persuader on her back and opened the front of her coat.

The man replied in an indifferent tone. “Well, whatever. If that’s what you say. However, don’t you think I deserve an apology from you for trespassing into my private property?”

“Private property?” Hermes asked.

“That’s right. South of this line,” the man pointed at the row of stakes. Kino and Hermes were standing south of the line.

“… Uh, did you just say ‘private’?” Kino asked.

“You didn’t know?” the man said with a shocked face.

“This is what I meant by ‘mine’.”

“What?” Hermes asked. The man shook his head.

“If the rider is stupid, so is the motorrad. Isn’t it obvious? This land.”

“But, it’s just salt, isn’t it?” Hermes immediately replied.

“This salt can be dug up and sold you know! Didn’t you learn that from your travels?”

Kino spoke to the man in an extremely polite tone.

“We did not know. If it’s fine with you, kindly excuse our insufficient knowledge and enlighten us.”

“Hmph!” the man snorted, and continued, “It can’t be helped. Because of that honest attitude, I’ll tell the whole story especially for you. You see, I was originally a traveler. To be precise, ‘we’ were travelers. A dozen of us were traveling as a group.”

“You were a traveler?” Hermes asked.

“Yes, that’s right. We left out of disgust of our homeland. We traveled with a number of vehicles and horses.”

“And then?”

“And then, without a place to go, without a country to accept us, our days of wandering continued. We were already exhausted. There were disputes, and we lost our money. We even thought of becoming thieves. But at that time, the goddess of fortune gave us an incredible gift.”

“What is it?” Hermes asked.

“You still don’t get it after I said this much? This salt! We struggled and stumbled upon this land,” the man said in astonishment.

“And after that?”

“After that, we quarried the salt from here, and began to sell them in countries to the north and south. It saved us. Anyhow, we received profit simply by transporting and selling something which was originally free. We obtained fuel and food in the countries, and then make a round trip back here. There was no need for us to immigrate. We can earn a living without having to stay in a country. We continued this way of life ever since.”

“I see, I understand up to that part. But what happened to the others?” Hermes asked.

“Those guys? I broke away from them,” the man grunted.

“Why?”

“Hmph. That’s because I’ve had enough of their greed.”

“Greed?”

“Yeah. For a short time, we worked together. But after that, those rogues divided into groups and began plotting to take the salt all for themselves. In short, they pretended to work hard for us. There was dispute after dispute, and in the end we chose to live apart. We each chose our own territory, and sell to whichever country we like. Hmph. If I stayed with them any longer, I would have become greedy like them. It was right to part with them.”

“Then that means your former traveling companions have taken ownership of the salt all over this salt lake, and tries to eliminate all that comes near?” Kino asked.

“The mystery of the attack on travelers solved,” Hermes murmured in an inaudible voice.

“Ah, you’ve met them?” the man asked.

“Yes. They fired at me without warning.”

“Tsk. It’s not surprising for those no-brains to do such a thing. It’s likely they thought that you were my underling or something. They are idiots to the core. Come to think of it, they were like that since birth,” the man said.

“Since birth? How did you know?” Kino asked.

“Ah, those idiots were my sons. Five of them, plus their wives and children. It was my family who went in a journey.”

“……”

“……”

Kino and Hermes fell silent.

“They were really greedy, those bastards. Such rotten character. Unlike me, they did not clearly specified the borders of their territory, did nothing but to haphazardly quarry the salt, and gave no mercy to anyone who comes near. Goodness, I’m glad I did not become like them,” he spat.

—

“That was very helpful. Thank you very much. By the way, I would like to have your permission,” said Kino.

“For what?” The man asked.

“We freely entered your territory without your knowledge. I’m terribly sorry. So, please forgive our rudeness, but we would like to ask for your special permission to allow us to head west from your land starting here. We hope for your kind consideration.”

“… Hmph. If you’ve said that at the very beginning, then I wouldn’t have shouted at you. Okay then. I give you my special permission,” the man said arrogantly.

“Thank you very much. Well then, we’ll be excusing ourselves.”

“Bye-bye. Good luck with your work.”

“Hmph. You don’t have to tell me.”

Kino wore her bandana and went astride Hermes. She started the engine and soon rode away.

—

As the motorrad drove away, the man began to hammer the stakes.

Translator’s Notes

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