Chapter 5 — What Have We Been Doing This Whole Time?!
After saving Mokomoko, they set out for their original destination. On the horse were Enju, Yogiri, and Tomochika, sitting in that order, with Tomochika holding the reins from the back. Mokomoko had given up on controlling the robot and was now accompanying them in her usual spirit form. Maybe she was still regretting being caught unaware while her attention had been focused on the android.
“These people are really in the way, aren’t they?” Tomochika commented idly.
The horse was weaving around the many fallen bodies. There were so many of them that the entire field looked flesh-colored.
Tomochika suddenly realized that she didn’t consider the corpses to be anything more than obstacles. She had witnessed so many deaths that even seeing this many bodies just seemed to be a matter of course at this point.
“Wow, I really am the worst...”
Well, it’s hard to say whether these people even had free will.
“I’m the one who killed them anyway,” Yogiri noted. “I don’t think it’s something that should bother you.”
“That’s kind of the problem. I was just thinking it’s concerning that I find you casually getting rid of all these people to be natural now.”
“They were trying to kill us. Should I not have stopped them even in self-defense?”
Tomochika had no argument against that. Without Yogiri, she would have died long ago. She was well aware of that and had resolved herself to dealing with the consequences of it, but as late as the sentiment was, she was beginning to wonder if it really was acceptable to write the carnage off so easily.
“You’re right, but...especially considering what happened just now, don’t you feel like you’re eliminating too many people?”
“I do have criteria for who I kill...”
“I don’t understand those criteria very well. There are people you wouldn’t kill, right?”
“Yeah. I think I’ve explained it before, but the first rule is that if I’m going to be killed if I don’t do anything, I kill them right away.”
Tomochika figured she was much the same in that regard. Even if she was just a student, as a practitioner of an ancient martial art, she’d had a reflexive, mechanical reaction to danger bred into her. The point that made her hesitate was when that reflex connected directly to ending a life.
“What if they don’t intend to kill you?”
“If they’re being violent or trying to rob us, or otherwise threatening us, I’ll kill them anyway. Those aren’t the kinds of things normal people try to do. Going out of my way to spare someone who’s willing to commit those types of crimes without a second thought could cause trouble in the future. Letting them go will just make them hold a grudge.”
“Uhh, okay, then what about Hanakawa? He was our enemy, but you let him go.”
“I guess you’re right. Maybe because we talked to him so much.”
“Well, that explanation suddenly went off the rails!”
Maybe Yogiri had just started to feel sympathy for Hanakawa. Normally, he wouldn’t have hesitated to kill someone who had appeared and attacked them out of the blue. It wasn’t all that different from dealing with a wild animal. But by talking with him, he couldn’t help but see the guy as more human. It wasn’t surprising that such a viewpoint made it difficult to take extreme measures.
“What about Mireiyu?” she asked next.
Mireiyu was a cat girl they had met in Quenza when they’d first come to this world. After showing them around town, she had led them into the hands of a group of criminals who had intended to kidnap them. Naturally, Yogiri had killed them all, but there had been a significant gap of time between when he’d used his power and when Mireiyu had actually died.
He said at the time that it was an experiment, Mokomoko whispered to her, but it seemed like a meaningless one to me. Do you not think he was just being considerate of you? If you’d seen her die right in front of you, it might have been a shock.
Now that the spirit mentioned it, that did sound reasonable. They had gotten awfully close to Mireiyu that day. Seeing her die in spite of her betrayal might not have been an easy sight to watch.
“I think I see it,” Yogiri announced. At some point, the plateau had begun to slope gently downwards. In the distance, they could make out a walled port city and the sea beyond it.
“Finally. It took us long enough.”
“Are we just going to go straight in? Judging from our previous experiences, things tend to happen on our first visit to every city.”
“Yeah, I’m not sure. We could send Mokomoko to look around...but she might just end up getting caught again.”
Have you lost your faith in me? Just who do you think I am?
“Well, if we don’t go, we’ll never know, will we?”
They headed into the city.
The pair had to pass through an inspection station to get in, but they managed to do so without incident. It seemed the locals weren’t too concerned about anyone who wasn’t blatantly suspicious.
Perhaps because it was a port town, the city was overflowing with energy and bustling crowds.
“All right, we’re here, which is good, but now what?”
“We need to get a boat, but we should probably find a place to stay first,” Yogiri suggested.
After asking around town for directions, they headed for the most luxurious hotel in the city.
“We should be able to ask some questions in there.” Yogiri seemed to have absolute trust in hotel concierges.
As they headed for the entrance, they were brought to a stop by someone abruptly stepping into their way.
“At long last! At long last, I’ve found you! You two! Do you have any idea how much work you’ve made for me?!”
It was a woman with the dress and equipment of a soldier and a man who seemed to be her attendant. For a moment, Tomochika thought they were talking to someone else, but the woman was looking directly at them.
“I feel like I’ve seen you somewhere...” Yogiri said thoughtfully.
“Oh, yeah!” Tomochika clued in first. “Back in Quenza. You thought we were criminals!”
It was the captain of the city guard, Edelgart, and her aide, Jorge. They had led the group of guards that had apprehended them after Yogiri had killed Mireiyu and her thugs.
“But how did you get ahead of us?” Yogiri asked.
Their journey had been full of all sorts of trouble. The places they’d visited always seemed to take devastating amounts of damage, especially in regards to the transportation networks. If Edelgart had been following them, it was hard to imagine she could have gotten ahead at any point.
“Umm, Captain, I don’t think we actually need to show ourselves to them. Lady Lain’s orders were merely to follow them and to contact her once we found out where they were.”
“What?! What are you suggesting we do?!”
“Like I said, we should contact Lady Lain...”
“And while we’re doing that, what’s to stop them from running away?!”
“If you hadn’t approached them, I don’t expect they would have run away in the first place.”
“Well, it’s too late for that now! I won’t allow you to run!” Edelgart declared, pointing at Yogiri.
“Another irritating person in our way,” Tomochika sighed.
“We’re not planning on running anywhere. How did you get here before us?” Yogiri asked again.
“Ha! We flew here, of course!” the captain declared proudly.
“Wait, if flying is an option, what have we been doing this whole time?!” Tomochika wailed.
Of course, now that she thought about it, there were many ways to fly in this world. Hanakawa’s group had flown back to the bus after they’d first arrived, so there must have been some sort of magic that allowed it. There were large creatures like dragons which could fly on their own, and the airships used by the Sages as well.
“Oh, don’t feel too bad about it. The sky is the domain of the Sages. Normal people aren’t capable of traveling that way.”
A young man had appeared from behind Edelgart. He spoke casually, like he was good friends with them, but Yogiri had no memory of him. Tomochika didn’t appear to recognize him either.
“Who are you?” Yogiri asked.
“Does the name ‘Kouryu’ ring any bells?”
“You say that like everyone should know who you are, but I honestly have no idea.” Tomochika answered.
“Kouryu, huh? I feel like I’ve heard the name before, but...” The memory was so vague, Yogiri couldn’t place it.
“I see. In that case, just think of me as that mysterious young boy who always shows up when it’s profoundly significant.”
“We’ve never met someone like that. What made you think that sort of explanation would be useful?!” In spite of her confusion, Tomochika was as full of energy as ever.
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