Kino no Tabi:Volume6 Chapter2

“Her Journey” —Love and Bullets—

Building-like rock structures were lined up on the sandy land.

A bizarre space was created by hundreds of these rock pillars which towered over the land, acting as if the erosion from wind and rain was nothing.

Only a small amount of thin grass grew on the dry sand. The hot, dry wind was blowing occasionally through the spaces between the pillars. There was not a single cloud in the sky.

There were three humans beside one of the stone pillars. They were sitting underneath its short shadow.

One was a young person, wearing a white shirt and a black vest, with a hand persuader (Note: A persuader is a gun. In this case, a pistol) suspended on her right thigh. Behind, a motorrad (Note: A two-wheeled vehicle. Only to note that it cannot fly) loaded with traveling luggage was parked on its center stand.

The other two were a man and a woman in their late twenties who were wearing thin clothing. The woman had a slender face, and her long hair was tied behind her. In contrast, the man had a good body build. Behind the two, there were two luggage-laden horses.

“Then, what’s this important thing you want to talk about?” The young person asked.

“That is, I am appealing to you, Miss Kino, to stop using violence from now on,” the woman said.

The person called Kino let out a slightly surprised expression.

The woman looked straight at Kino with a serious face.

“I believe that instead of violence, kind feelings and overflowing love should come from the bottom of our hearts, and that conflicts should be avoided. I believe that this is the only righteous thing to do in the world. I would like to share this to you, Miss Kino, for you to practice in your journey from now on. It is not difficult. Love can solve all problems.”

The man sitting behind the woman stayed silent. He did not interfere, and just smiled quietly as he sat and watched over them.

“I may be forcing my way of thinking but, I think it is not impossible for all humans in this world to be one in thought. No matter what kind of person, wouldn’t he want water when his throat is dry? That’s an idea we all share in common, isn’t it? In exactly the same way, we can have the same belief: ‘There shouldn’t be any disputes between humans. Love can solve everything.’ And——”

The woman's tone became passionate.

“——After all, in the end all that is needed is love — an affectionate heart for others. The most important thing is love. It is inside everyone. It is a wonderful thing. If everyone uses the love that they have, and conflicts disappear, then our lives will be——”

She appealed, ignoring the sweat beading on her forehead.

“——With this, you surely understand why humans should not have weapons. If you realize that there is no need for fights, then there is no need for weapons either. Let’s guide this world one step further, united with one idea, with one concept of love. If everyone heads towards the same direction and make themselves lighter by throwing away the things they don’t need, only love will remain! The point is to make contact with such people! That is——”

Kino quietly listened to the woman’s fervent speech, making small nods while looking at her eyes.

“——Therefore, humans can live without conflicts. I myself practice this! I don’t carry a single weapon with me. I have met a variety of people during my journey, and I have never been in danger, not even once. The man behind me carries one, but he doesn’t use it except for hunting. Isn’t that amazing! It’s because I connect with the people through love, no one feels the need to be violent towards me! Isn’t it wonderful?! Everyone understands. People can understand each other! And so——”

The woman continued to talk frantically of her idea. Her speech continued on and on.

After some time has passed,

“——There! That’s everything I want to say!”

The woman, now drenched with sweat, finished her speech at last. She took a deep breath, and drank the already cold tea the man from behind passed to her.

“If it’s okay with you, please let me hear what you think about what I just said.”

Kino looked at the woman and spoke gently.

“I think it’s wonderful. I understood and absorbed everything that you said. Up to now, I have never hesitated to shoot in order to protect my life. But now, I see that it’s possible to have no need for such.”

“Yes! Exactly!” the woman said, almost bouncing with joy.

“From now on, I will also use your idea of ‘love’, and try to live without harming people. For starters, I would sell my persuaders to the next country I’m going to.”

“Yes. You did understand. I’m so glad!”

With narrowed eyes, the woman came in front of Kino and grasped both of her hands firmly.

“I’m so happy! I’m glad I met you, Miss Kino! From now on, if you find people who are like the previous you, who thinks violence is fine and has not wakened up to love and truth, please tell them this idea! If you do so, and everybody else shares this to everyone, then the number of people who will be awakened to love and truth will multiply, and soon all humans will use love to resolve conflicts! Okay? Ah..., thank you for listening to me!”

—

“Well then, we’ll be on our way. Be careful in your travels.” Kino stood up as she said this. She lifted the motorrad’s stand.

“Thank you. I’m sure everything will be fine. Let’s meet again somewhere!”

The woman waved happily. Kino bowed once to the two, pushed her motorrad, and went out to the sandy soil from underneath the rock pillar.

“Let’s go Hermes. That took lots of time,” she said to the motorrad.

“Yup,” was the small response of the motorrad called Hermes.

The man stood up as if he remembered something.

“Let me show the way to Miss Kino,” he said to the woman and followed Kino.

There were two hand persuader holsters on each side of the man’s hips, positioned in a way for him to be able to shoot with two hands. They were .45 caliber types, with extended magazine capacity. On the tip of the barrel, there was a screw thread for attaching a silencer.

The man went away from the woman and approached Kino who was just starting Hermes’ engine.

And he began to speak.

“Miss Kino, Hermes, thank you so much for listening to her boring and long-winded speech. And also, thank you for making her happy. You have my gratitude,” the man said with a smile.

Kino smiled wryly.

“If you weren’t right behind, we would have walked off right in the middle of her speech.”

“Hahaha. I thought you’d say something like that,” the man laughed gleefully.

Kino narrowed her eyes a little and spoke in a soft voice.

“One week ago, we found thirty men dead by a rocky area. All of them were killed without being able to fight back. I noticed .45 caliber bullets in their skulls. ——It was you, right?”

The man nodded.

“They did listen to her speech. However, I somehow figured later on that they were going to kill me and attack her because they were always following us. I took care of them silently,” the man said without batting an eyelash.

“This may be rude but... why is it that a person as skilled as you became her escort?”

“Yup, yup. That’s weird. It’s completely the opposite of what she was preaching.”

Kino and Hermes asked.

“Because I love her,” the man replied with a serious face.

“Huh?” “Eh?”

“I’ve loved her for a long time. ——We were born in the same country, and were friends since we were young. She had been an anti-violence advocate even back then. She believes that violence will never do any good, and we will all be better off with love. But I have a completely opposing belief — those with no power cannot do anything. And believing that I can’t protect others if I’m weak, I learned all sorts of things necessary in combat such as martial arts, persuaders, and so on. After graduating from school, I joined the army. She was still completely engrossed in her ideals, and thought I was absurd to do so. And, I wonder when it started. I loved her from the bottom of my heart. My reasons do not matter. I love her. Whenever I would meet up with her when I go home on holidays, she would always remind me of how foolish violence is, but those were the happiest days of my life.”

The man took a glimpse behind. Sitting beside the rock, the woman was gazing up at the sky with a satisfied look on her face.

“One day, she said all of a sudden, ‘I’ll get out of this country, and go to a journey to preach love and non-violence. That will be my mission.’ She did not listen to the desperate pleas of the people around her, and began to make preparations for her departure. I quit the army and asked her to let me accompany her on her journey.”

“And she allowed you,” Kino asked.

“Well, it was simple. I said, ‘I left the army because I was moved by your wonderful ideals. Together, let’s appeal for love and non-violence. I want you to take me along, even if it’s just to carry your luggage.' She agreed immediately.”

“Okay...” “I see.”

“Even if I cannot completely practice her ideals, I still love to see her positive attitude. I love to see her recklessly pursuing her dreams. I want to protect her. ——I don’t care about principles or ideals, if it’s to protect her and stay by her side. I’ll stand by her. I’ll kill people, even if that would make me seem to be the bad guy. I don’t care if I turn the whole world my enemy,” the man said quietly.

“You’d annihilate everybody then,” Hermes jested from below.

Kino muttered,‘I see’, and then said, “Your story is much more interesting than hers.”

“Thanks. Take care. It would be nice if we can meet again somewhere.”

The man held out his right hand. And then,

“Until then, do not hesitate to shoot anyone who tries to kill you.”

“Thank you very much. I’ll do that.”

Kino gripped his hand.

Translator's Notes

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