There was only one other road. It led into the distant depths of the forest, and from time to time, the traders arrived from it.
However, there was something called a “checkpoint” there, and nothing could get through it except the iron truck the traders rode in, a vehicle that moved of its own accord. Once, several people had hidden in that truck and headed outside…but in the end, not one of them had come back.
In the end, those who had learned the dangers of the outside world warned their children.
“Outside” was dangerous. There was nothing out there. This village was all there was.
The children knew these were lies. However, the mood in the village made them afraid to say so out loud… And on top of that, they had acquired a definite fear of anything outside the village.
From time to time, silver birds flew over, very high in the sky. The enormous creatures made strange sounds, and they frightened people as much as demonic messengers might have.
However, except for that, the village wasn’t a difficult place to live. They were self-sufficient with regard to the majority of their crops, and the traders brought in oil and fuel. The traders themselves were proof positive of an outside world, but the people stubbornly pretended not to notice this. The traders said nothing about “outside,” never got out of their truck, and only rarely even opened the windows.
There was a tacit understanding that they were not to investigate the merchants, and the previous village headman had banned attempts to go outside.
Everyone in the village was satisfied with this, and everything had gone well.
There had been problems of a sort. Although they could never go beyond the woods, no matter how badly they wanted to, sometimes there were visitors who claimed to have come from there. They’d all wandered in by accident, some of them unable to speak the language. However…most of the villagers couldn’t understand the concept of “outsiders.” After all, “outside” wasn’t supposed to exist in the first place. These people were only demons sent to lead them astray.
As a matter of fact, several young people had been deceived by the first outsider who’d come to this place. The villagers had tried to stop them, but the youngsters had shaken off the cries of their elders and departed with the stranger for “outside.” They’d believed in the outside world that the visitor had told them about.
And they, too, had never returned to the village.
A demon had seduced them. That was what everyone said.
Ever since then, when outsiders came, the denizens of the village made it as though they’d never been.
It only happened once in ten-odd years, but either they were chased out of the settlement immediately—or quite literally erased from the world.
They were afraid of the outside—or possibly of denying their current way of life—and they’d stayed shut away in this forest voluntarily.
There was the issue of population decline to worry about, but everyone had been able to live in relative happiness, spending their days in peace and quiet.
Or they had until the demon named Elmer had arrived, five years ago.
And now, in the present…
On the night Maiza’s group came to the village, the old-timers had assembled in the meeting hall at the village’s center and were crowded around a large desk. They all looked grave, and several of them appeared frightened.
This wasn’t a tame village meeting. A weighty tension dominated the large wooden room, as if a forest fire were bearing down on the village.
“What are you going to do, Dez?”
“I didn’t see it myself. Are the rumors in the village true?!”
“They say there are more demons now! Is that right?!”
“What’s to become of our village?! Have they already asked for something?”
At the villagers’ grief-stricken cries, the headman, Dez Nibiru, only maintained his dour expression.
“Do something! There are four more of them now?! Are they all demons?!”
Instead of the village chief, a young man dressed as a hunter answered that question. He was the one who’d put a bullet into Maiza’s leg that afternoon. “Yeah. I saw it. It was just like him. I dunno about the other three, but the one with glasses is a demon for sure!”
“Besides, the man who wore that terrible mask was speaking a strange language. Those must have been words only they understand. A cursed tongue!”
“B-but wait, is that beautiful girl a demon, too?”
“Well, uh…p-probably. Or, no, I guess she might not be, but…”
The individuals hesitantly talking about Sylvie were the ones who’d been bewitched earlier in the day.
“And then, he hid right away, but…there was a kid, too, wasn’t there?”
“Yeah. Including him, there are four of ’em. Anyhow, Elmer sent for them, and they headed for that castle. B-but that thing they were riding in… Could they be related to the traders somehow?”
“The traders have nothing to do with this. The question is, what do we do next?! Isn’t that right, Headman?!”
At that point, the villagers all fell silent, waiting for Dez to contribute.
Dez heaved a great sigh, then said as if speaking to himself: “I wanted to catch them before they made contact with him, but… From the way he sent that welcoming committee, we should assume he knew they’d arrived. In that case, the problem is, what’s he going to do to us for turning guns on them?”
“We know that! That’s why we’re asking what we should do!”
“We have no choice! We’ll have to wait for their demands! Any discussion will take place after that!” the headman said angrily, but the villagers refused to back down.
“That’s easy enough to say! What if they come to take their revenge once night falls?!”
“Besides, if he asks for more than he already takes, whether it’s food or something else…we’ll have to dip into the village’s stores.”
“Are you telling us to starve to death?!”
“That’s irresponsible! You’re the headman! Do something!”
“Silence!”
Dez slammed his fist down on the desk in front of him and yelled, veins bulging.
“What do you want me to do?! Use your heads before you howl at me! Do you have a plan? Or can you kill those demons or drive them off?! The only difference between you and me is that I’m the headman and you’re not! That’s all! Should I surrender this post to one of you, right now? I’m sure you’ll come up with a fine plan to counter them and lead the village!”
His angry roar left the villagers unable to respond. In the end, aside from waiting for an opportunity, none of them had a plan for getting out of the situation.
Just as they thought the silence would remain unbroken, they heard a young voice from behind Dez.
“You don’t have to say it like that, Father.”
“Feldt, huh? It’s none of your business.”
A boy of about fifteen or sixteen stood in the doorway. There was still something childlike about his features, but his eyes shone with courage.
“The villagers are anxious. I am, too, for that matter… That’s why everyone’s counting on you, Father.”
“……”
“This is no time for fighting. At times like this, we need to band together to protect the village.”
The ingenuous speech of the chief’s son could have been taken as immature, but at his words, the villagers gradually began to calm down.
“For now, as my father says, I think we should watch them. The child and the woman may simply be captives—and we may get a chance to figure out what their weakness is. Let’s pretend to listen to their orders for the moment and make them careless.”
At the boy’s suggestion, the villagers exchanged glances.
Before long, somebody mumbled, “Well…we could.” The murmur spread, and it was decided that the status quo should be maintained.
“Father, you’re all right with that, too, aren’t you?”<
br />
“Do whatever you want.”
Maybe he was irritated that his son had upstaged him. Dez stood, looking disgruntled.
One of the villagers spoke to his back with visible unease.
“But, Headman, the real problem is going to come when they ask for more sacrifices than they already have.”
“I know that. We’ve only got one left. When the sacrifices are gone, we’ll have to actually give him a village girl…”
As I make my way back to the shed where I sleep, a bellow echoes from the village meeting hall. It’s Master Dez.
Have I made another mistake without being aware of it?
My heart feels heavy. Even so, I have to check.
The floor of the meeting hall is raised off the ground. As I climb the low stairway, I sense many people inside. They are probably discussing Master Elmer. In that case, perhaps the yell didn’t have anything to do with me after all.
Just as I reach the door to the building, it flies open toward me.
Impact.
The door crashes into me and knocks me to the floor.
There is an intense tingling in my nose. When I touch it, lots of blood is coming out.
“Dammit, this door’s hung real bad. Hunh?”
Above me, I hear Master Dez’s voice. Then sharp pain runs through me, again and again.
“Dammit! Dammit! Dammit!”
Master Dez is glaring right at me and opening the door into me, over and over.
I twist to get away from the pain and somehow escape the direct hits from the door.
However, as I start to stand, I lose my balance again—and this time I fall between the open door and the entrance. Then a shock runs through my legs, as if they are being crushed between.
“Argh, now the door won’t shut right!”
The ferocious pain strikes again and again. The pain the pain the pain the pain the pain the pain the pain the pain the pain the pain the pain the pain the pain hurts hurts hurts hurts hurts ow ow ow ow ow
I can no longer register my pain in words, and involuntarily, my body curls up into a little ball and stops moving.
The blows stop, and Master Dez’s irritated voice sounds above me.
“Look at that. You got blood all over the entry, you complete dunce! Wash all that off before night falls.”
Master Dez leaves, irritated. Behind him, several of the villagers step over me as they follow him.
“Disgusting…”
“Was she eavesdropping?”
“Lousy little…”
The villagers step over me as if they are avoiding a dead dog. They frown as though they are looking at something unclean, and they mutter contemptuous words.
This always happens. This is no different from normal… Then why is it that today, every little thing like this bothers me? Is it because of Master Elmer’s guests?
After the villagers have gone, I manage to get to my feet… And there is Master Feldt, right in front of me. He’s the only one still there.
“It doesn’t look as if you’re hurt that badly. Are you all right?”
Master Feldt gazes at me with pity. Then he goes away with one last comment.
“…Next time they demand a sacrifice, it’s your turn for sure. For the sake of the village, I want you to go… I’m sorry.”
Master Feldt doesn’t hit me or look down on me.
On the other hand, he doesn’t help me, either.
I know that. This is no different from before.
It is my place here, and that is all. There is no need to think about anything.
Nothing is different. There is no problem. Every day is just the same as it’s always been. This will go on every day, and that’s all.
Even so, oh, even so…
Why are all the people who come to the village from “outside” kind to me?
They don’t hit me. They don’t kick me. Even if I sleep in a bed, they don’t get mad.
I used to think, Maybe it’s only Master Elmer; maybe he’s special, and put up with everything, but…
I’ve learned.
I know about a possibility that a different world lies outside this village, outside this forest.
If that’s true, why do things like this have to happen to me?
Master Elmer once told me, “Some places are better than this, but some are dozens of times worse, too.” However, if there’s even the slightest possibility, I want to cling to it.
I want to leave this village. It wouldn’t matter where I went; if I could get by without being hit, if I could live without being hurt, if I could go without feeling lonely, then anywhere, anywhere—
But that’s a dream I mustn’t have.
A wish that will never come true.
For me, leaving here means dying.
If I already know it’s an impossible dream, I shouldn’t have it, shouldn’t have it, shouldn’t—
I’m sad. I very nearly resented Master Elmer, the person trying to teach me happiness, to teach me how to smile.
I remember. I remember vividly.
This emotion is hate.
I was about to hate Master Elmer, before I hated the villagers.
That’s sadder than anything.
I feel as though I’m a creature that shouldn’t be allowed to exist…
December 23 Night The old castle
Night had fallen over the area.
The air of the already-cold forest climate shivered in the freezing, transparent darkness.
The old castle stood deep in those woods. Most of its roof was flat, and it was possible to walk across it normally. However, in just one place—on top of the watchtower jutting out on the south side—it was conical and impossible to reach in the usual way.
One man was leaning back against the slope of that rooftop cone, gazing at the stars.
“Elmer.”
Hearing the call, the man quietly turned in the direction of the voice.
“Ah!”
His eyes landed on the upper half of a small boy. The edge of the roof hid the boy’s lower section as he struggled to crawl up onto the tower.
After a brief pause, Czes managed to pull himself up.
The boy huffed out a tired breath, and Elmer praised him quite candidly.
“Good job finding the handholds by the window. Did you come on your own?”
Without answering the question, Czes looked around and murmured, “This castle really is strange. On the whole, its design is closer to what you’d see in Luxembourg, but this conical roof is common in the castles of Denmark… It’s like they cobbled it together from an assortment of castles from different regions.”
“You know a lot about this. That’s a surprise… Actually, I hadn’t noticed any of that myself.”
“I took about half of it from Maiza.”
“Ha-ha! Should we add some traditional Japanese roof tiles and protective carp statues while we’re at it?”
Grinning at the joke, Czes carefully began to walk across the sloped roof.
Timing it to his initial move, Elmer leaped to his feet in an exaggerated motion. One false step and he would have toppled to the ground headfirst, but there was no anxiety in his face.
“Heh-heh-heh! You may think you’ve got me cornered, but think again! They call me Godfoot; can you beat me if I take to my heels?”
“Where would you run up here?” Czes pointed out calmly.
Elmer looked up for a little while and pondered.
“…Huh?”
He didn’t see any roofs around that he could leap to. Even if he went for the shortest drop to the roof, if he was unlucky, broken bones would be the least of his worries.
He might have been immortal, but pain hurt. Breaking out in a cold sweat, Elmer stayed where he was with some consternation.
“Well, you know, if you come over here, I’ll head over to the other side of the cone.”
“Are you planning to go around in circles forever?”
“Want to join me in an experi
ment to see how many circles we have to make before we turn into butter and overturn science on a fundamental level?”
“No, I do not.”
Czes gazed at him with mild disgust. Under the moonlight, Elmer cocked his head.
“I think the first person who hit on the idea of making tigers into butter was a genius, don’t you?”
“You don’t have to duck the issue like that. I didn’t come here to catch you. I just want to ask you about something.”
With that, Czes sat down right where he was, resting his small frame on the sloping roof.
“Ask me? I told you, unless you catch me, I won’t…”
“Not that. It’s something personal.”
“Hmm?” Czes’s attitude seemed to have caught Elmer’s attention, and he moved just a little closer to the boy.
“Still—you haven’t changed. You always did climb up to high places when it got dark. When we were on the ship, you scaled the mast every evening and watched the stars, didn’t you?”
“Ohhh, right, right, I see. That’s why you thought I’d be here, then? I didn’t think you’d find me on the first day, so I was startled.”
“Were you planning to hide for days on end…?”
Without answering, Elmer set a hand on the roof’s slope to stand straight up. From that position, he faced Czes and asked him a question in return.
“What sort of something?”
So he guessed it’s not easy to talk about.
Elmer was beaming. Registering his intentions, Czes sighed a bit uncomfortably.
Then, as if he’d made up his mind, he turned to Elmer and gave a superficial smile. However, just as he was about to begin speaking, Elmer talked over him, casually. He was laughing.
“Quit faking smiles. It doesn’t look good on you.”
“!”
Instantly, Czes’s face went blank.
The next moment, an expression that looked slightly too mature covered the boy’s face. Czes glared up at the man in front of him, and the atmosphere around him was completely different from what it had been earlier.
“You’re as spiteful as ever, too,” Czes growled.
“Hmm? What? Why do you sound all grown-up all of a sudden?”
2001 The Children of Bottle Page 7
