by Yusuke Kishi
A short silence followed.
This time, every important official in the district was present. Tomiko from the Committee of Ethics. Head of the Board of Education, Hiromi Torigai. Kofuu Hino from the Occupations Council. My mother, Head Librarian Mizuho Watanabe. My father, Mayor Takashi Sugiura. And Hiroshi Kaneko from the Department of Health, as well as the all of his staff. Head Priest Mushin, who was now over a hundred years old, from the Temple of Purity was absent, but two monks were there to represent him.
My father spoke first.
“Asahina-kun. I’d like to hear your theory about how the Giant Hornet colony was killed.”
Satoru licked his lips. “I really have no idea. Based on the sheer number corpses at the scene, all Giant Hornet soldiers, all I got was the impression of a one-sided massacre.”
“What was the main cause of death?”
“I don’t know that either. Many were pierced with arrows, but the majority were mutilated beyond recognition.”
“What sort of mutilation?”
“Many were cut to pieces, or shot full of holes as if they had been used for target practice.”
“What did you learn from the surviving soldier?”
“He only knew a couple of phrases, so things like, ‘Giant Hornets, killed’, ‘Massacre’, ‘Only Kiroumaru escaped’. I tried to ask what happened, but he started hyperventilating and screaming in his own language.”
“You couldn’t tell him to translate?”
“No. He died soon after that.”
Silence once again.
“Chairman,” Tomiko said, looking up. “What were the results from the scene analysis?”
Everyone’s eyes turned toward Kaburagi Shisei.
“After hearing Satoru Asahina’s story, I visited the battleground yesterday, but unfortunately, it had already been wiped clean of any possible evidence.”
“Wiped clean? What do you mean?”
“The area was doused in some sort of oil-based liquid and set ablaze. Everything was reduced to ashes.”
People began to mutter.
“Doesn’t doing that suggest that they have something to hide…?” Hiromi Torigai said in her quiet voice.
“Hahahahahaha.”
For some reason, Koufuu Hino began to laugh raucously.
“Do you have any ideas what it could be?”
“I have a theory, but as I have no proof, I’d like to present it last,” Shisei Kaburagi said in an unusually solemn voice.
“I doubt they burned the corpses out of sanitation concerns. No doubt they were hiding the method of killing,” my mother said.
Tomiko turned toward her with a motherly look. “That’s something I don’t understand… Recently, queerat technology has been advancing so rapidly that I think they must have some source of information.”
“You mean a false minoshiro?”
“Yes. It’s possible there are still a few Automotive Archives of the National Diet Library around. The queerats could have captured one and extracted its knowledge.”
“If that’s so, then isn’t there a problem with policies we currently have regarding them? Making the subject of the false minoshiro’s existence a taboo is pointless if they still exist. It only serves to postpone dealing with the issue. Have you even made an effort to destroy the remaining ones?” Kaburagi Shisei said sharply.
Although his harsh words weren’t directed at me, they still made me shrink back instinctively.
“To destroy all the false minoshiro would be to wipe out the last remaining artifacts of human intellectual history. The Committee of Ethics has agreed that this would be a loss to us all,” my mother replied calmly and firmly.
Tomiko added, “The Committee has indeed deliberated on this topic. The conclusion was that if a false minoshiro happened to be captured, so be it, but we should not purposely destroy them. This does not contradict our current policies. …Mizuho-chan, if the queerats managed to capture a false minoshiro, could they have found information on how to massacre the Giant Hornet colony?”
My mother thought for a moment. “…that knowledge would be under class four, subcategory three, which is forbidden to everyone.”
“The Security Council meeting takes precedence over everything else. If we can’t even discuss what we know, we won’t be able to move forward with the agenda,” Shisei Kaburagi snapped.
“We’re not asking you to open up the archives to the public. Just tell us what you can remember. This is an emergency situation. …does there exist a way to destroy a colony so thoroughly?”
Even my mother couldn’t continue to protest under Tomiko’s persuasion.
“There were many weapons of mass destruction in the ancient civilization. Using one of these, it is possible to instantly annihilate a queerat army. But I can’t think of a single one that could have been the weapon they used this time.”
“Why is that?”
“For one, none of the weapons can be built as quickly as this was. They all require highly sophisticated scientific techniques and industrial equipment that the queerats don’t have right now. Second, all the weapons that I know of leave some sort of trace when used.”
“For example?”
My mother hesitated, but continued, “Nuclear weapons have the most power, but they would never have been able to find the materials needed to create one. Plus, if it had been used, the level of destruction would have been on the scale of the previous karma demon incident…” She glanced at me as if suddenly remembering I was there. “Anyway, since there was no residual radiation that comes from the detonation of a nuclear weapon, it couldn’t have been what they used. The next most effective weapon is poison gas, but it is almost impossible for queerats to produce it.”
“…but the Ground Spiders used poison gas before,” I said without thinking.
“The types of gas I’m referring to aren’t the kinds made from burning sulfur or plastic. Nerve gas, choking gas and the like could easily wipe out an entire town,” she said in a slightly reproachful tone.
Of course, I wasn’t a member of the Security Council, and had only been invited to the meeting in the event anyone had questions about queerats. Thankfully, no one seemed to mind that I had spoken out of turn.
“Similarly, biological weapons such as deadly viruses are difficult to make. They’re also not as effective as the two I mentioned before. Apart from these, there are also weapons like earthquake generators and lasers that can cause mass destruction, but not even humans can make them now, not to mention queerats.”
“So can we rule out all weapons from the past? Is there anything else you would like to add?” Tomiko asked gently, as if reading my mother’s mind.
“…aren’t supercluster bombs the only weapons that don’t contradict the evidence found at the scene?” she said in a rush.
“What are those?”
“Like the bombs dropped from planes, but instead of just one large bomb, the inside is filled with hundreds of smaller bomblets. When the main bomb breaks open, the bomblets are scattered over a wide area. When those explode, they spread even smaller bomblets that are filled with metal pellets. Each of the smallest bomblets can cover an area about 20 meters in diameter, and tears everything in it to shreds. There’s no crater left behind, and it could easily blow tens of thousands of queerats to pieces.”
This wasn’t the first time I had questioned the nature of the humans from the ancient civilization, but just hearing this made me nauseous. What exactly were they thinking when they developed weapons like these? Compared to the cold inhumanity of bombs, blowdogs could almost be considered cute.
“But is this something queerats are capable of making?” Shisei Kaburagi asked the question that was probably on everyone’s mind.
“Of course they don’t have the skills to manufacture new ones. …but it is possible that there are supercluster bombs and other weapons of destruction currently in existence,” my mother said with a pained expression.
“You ca
n’t be serious.”
The room was stunned into silence.
“It’s been a thousand years since they were built, so it’s almost certain they’re unusable. …still, it’s definitely possible that, if the queerats caught a false minoshiro and extracted information from it, they could unearth the weapons and restore them to working order.”
“This is the first time I’ve heard of this,” Tomiko said, brows furrowed.
“The information is passed down through the head librarians only.”
“So, where are these weapons now?”
“That is the only question I cannot answer here,” my mother said. “But I can say that it is not too far.”
Everyone started talking at once. If the queerats did manage to acquire such a weapon, and if, against all odds, it was still working, then the district was in grave danger.
“Kill kill kill. Eheeheeheeheeheeheehee. Kill the eeevil ratsss,” Koufuu Hino sang gleefully, rubbing his bald head.
“May I please have your attention. I would like to share my impression of the incident. I don’t believe it was done by a bomb.”
The room grew quiet once again.
“Shisei. Enough with the drama. What do you think it was?” Tomiko said, leaning forward.
“I will tell you, despite that insult. For, despite their attempts to destroy the evidence, I alone can tell. The Giant Hornet colony was wiped out by a human using their cantus.”
Another silence filled the room as everyone was struck dumb with shock.
“Why…do you think that?”
“Everything on the battlefield had been turned to ash, but there was one thing, I noticed, that remained untouched. The arrows.”
“What do arrows have to do with anything?”
“The Giant Hornet and Robber Fly colonies use two different types of arrows that are easily distinguishable from each other. There were a good number of Giant Hornet arrows left at the scene. And they were all completely undamaged.”
“And?”
“If the arrows had hit something and bounced off to land on the ground, there would be obvious signs of damage to them. The only way they could be in perfect condition is if they had been stopped in midair by cantus.”
If anyone other than Shisei Kaburagi had put forth this idea, no one would have believed them.
“Ah! So then…excuse me,” Satoru hurriedly suppressed his excited shout.
“It doesn’t matter. Continue,” Tomiko said, looking kindly at him.
“Right. There was something I found odd when I was at the scene. None of the dead Giant Hornet soldiers were carrying weapons. Of course, the victors in a battle usually take their opponent’s weapons, but they would also usually leave the broken ones behind. …but if their weapons had all been snatched away by cantus, that would explain it.”
“B-but, there’s no one in this town that would side with the Robber Flies and kill the Giant Hornets. And obviously no one on the Wildlife Protection or any other division in our department would do it,” Mr. Kaneko said, sounding panicked.
“Yes. Of course, it is not anyone living here. Let me think…yes. Could it be another district?”
At Kaburagi Shisei’s words, excited chatter arose once again, but Tomiko shook her head firmly.
“That’s impossible. The closest districts to us are Iroishi 71 in Tohoku, Tainai 84 in Hokuriku, and Koumi 95 in Chuubu. None of them would be stupid enough to try something like this.”
“Tomiko has been in contact with these districts for years and has kept a close eye on them,” Hiromi Torigai added in her quiet voice.
“Yes, I have been observing them for a very long time. Every district does the same. We all fear not knowing what is happening outside our borders. So the nine districts in the country gather to talk about the appearances of fiends and karma demons, as well as exchange other information deemed important for public safety. So I can promise you that the only thing every district cares about right now is sustaining a peaceful living environment.”
“I see. Obviously, they gain no advantage by provoking anxiety in others,” Shisei Kaburagi said casually, as if he had known this all along. “So now the possibilities are even fewer. If it isn’t someone from our district, and it’s not anyone from another district, then what about those that left our town in the past?”
My heart almost leapt out of my chest. He was talking about Maria and Mamoru.
“That is impossible,” Tomiko said solemnly. “Those children are dead.”
Lies, I thought. Tomiko was covering for them. If she wasn’t…
“I have heard that we have received their remains. But that was two or three years after they went missing.”
“Yes. So you should be clear about what happened.”
Remains… My head was spinning from disbelief.
“But I am becoming suspicious of those too. Because the one who discovered and brought us the remains is none other than the one who I suspect is behind this atrocity. Yakomaru.”
My mind snapped back into focus as I remembered the words Yakomaru had said twelve years ago.
“It might take a bit of time, but I believe we will be able to produce some bones. If those are presented to the committee, it might help the story.”
“Some of our bones are visually similar to yours. An exceptionally tall queerat is about the same height as a young god. So, if we carefully scrape those bones against rocks…”
That’s right. No doubt that’s what happened. Yakomaru brought them the false bones. For a schemer like him, it would have been easy as pie. He cleverly manipulated queerat bones and…
“The bones are definitely real.”
I wondered if I was mishearing. What was Tomiko saying?
“We examined them as thoroughly as possible. There is no doubt the bones are human. There were no inconsistencies in age or gender either. Their dental records from Harmony School put it beyond all possible doubt, but to be even more sure, we had the experts at the Lotus Farms confirm that the DNA matched as well.”
No way. She was lying. I couldn’t believe it. Maria couldn’t have died. She just couldn’t. Cold sweat ran down my back and my vision began to dim.
“I can say with absolute confidence that Maria Akizuki and Mamoru Itou are dead. They had nothing to do with this incident.”
Tomiko’s words resounded like the wrathful judgement from the god of death.
What happened after that? I can only remember vague images and fragments of conversation.
The meeting was in such disorder it took a while to reach a conclusion. There were debates on how we should find the person helping the Robber Flies, but the fates of the queerats seemed to have been decided from the start.
Throughout all this, I felt Satoru glancing anxiously over at me.
Hiromi Torigai suggested that the next week’s summer festival be postponed until everything was settled, but the only reaction she got was pitying smiles from those who thought she was simply being her usual neurotic self.
In the end, the topic of how to search for the human traitor was left for next time. The committee unanimously agreed that Robber Fly colony and all its allies were to be exterminated even though we didn’t fully understand the extent of their crimes yet.
Inui and four other members of the Wildlife Protection Division were introduced to enthusiastic applause. They were all veterans who had mastered the skills to efficiently wipe out tens of thousands of queerats in a short amount of time. It was fitting that the queerats called them gods of death.
After the Security Council meeting, I bid a quick goodbye to my parents and Satoru and left feeling sick to my stomach. I repeated Maria’s name to myself as tears streamed down my face. But even as my mind was in such disarray, a small part remained surprisingly calm and kept asking the same questions over and over.
What had I expected these past twelve years? Did I actually believe that Maria and Mamoru would still be alive? And even if I said I did, was I just trying to dece
ive myself?
Maybe I had been slowly preparing myself over the years to face their deaths.
The sadness I had felt when I left the faceless boy was already more than I could bear. Now all I could do was wall off the part of my heart that contained all my pain, and let it quietly die in isolation.
There are quite a few annual festivals in Kamisu 66. In the spring there is the Planting Festival, Demon-chasing Festival, and Illness-dispelling Festival. In the summer, there’s the Summer Festival, Fire Festival, and Spirit Festival. In the fall, the Harvest Festival and Labor Thanksgiving Festival. And in the winter, the Snow Festival, New Year Festival, Sagichou Fire Festival…
Out of all those, the one with the most ceremonial, and also most exciting one was the Summer festival, also called the Monster Festival. The name makes it sound kind of scary, like everyone dresses up like monsters to scare each other, but it’s not. Most of the dressing up involves festival committee members wearing straw hats and covering their faces to offer wine to festival goers. In order to create the right atmosphere, the Summer Festival is always held on the night of a new moon. On that night, all the lights in the town are extinguished. The only illumination comes from the braziers and lanterns lining the canals and the occasional firework. Enveloped in darkness, the town is transformed into a stage for the next act.
But from another perspective, it is also a time when the district is completely isolated.
We are just one of the nine little districts scattered throughout the entire Japanese archipelago. Although we cling desperately to our “Japanese” identity, the truth is we had been completely cut off from several millennia of Japanese history. Kamisu 66 was just an island lost in time…
All of our festivals have been celebrated annually for over a century, but they are all just recreations based on texts and images from the ancient civilization. The Monster Festival originally came from a foreign land as well, but we revived it with carefully added components from other traditional celebrations.
Sometimes, I wonder. Are these borrowed and fake traditions, after being celebrated for hundreds of years, now considered real?
