Editing Kino no Tabi:Volume13 Frontispiece3 (section)

==“A Tale of Living People” —You Should Be So Lucky.—==

[[Image:Kino_13_012-013.jpg|x200px|thumb|left]]

Amidst a desolate wasteland filled with dead trees——

Was a lone campfire.

Amidst a desolate wasteland filled with dead trees——

Were two human beings.

The campfire stood between a slightly short, but handsome young man and a youthful woman with beautiful long black hair.

The man spoke, breathing out a white puff of air.

“Hey, Master.”

The woman answered.

“What is it?”

“When do you think are we gonna die?”

“......”

“Come on, don’t look at me as if you’ve seen a strange animal. It’s not like I want to die. It’s just that… you and I have chosen to cross an extremely dangerous bridge. Using both hands was never enough no matter how many shootouts we encounter. And I couldn’t even count the number of times a bullet barely grazed the side of my head.”

“And so?”

“But, all this time, I have ''never'' been shot. How about you, Master?”

“If that’s the case, I wouldn’t be here talking to you.”

“Well, that’s right. But that only means that because we have killed countless people up to now, if we continue this kind of life, someday for sure, we will encounter the same fate as the people we have killed.”

“I guess so.”

“But so far, nothing of the sort has happened. We still travel, sit idly and relax in front of a campfire, just like now.”

“That’s true.”

“Which brings me back to my question. ‘When do you think are we gonna die?’”

“Then I shall answer. ‘Who knows?’”

“So there are also things that you don’t know, huh? Master.”

“There are things that even ''I'' don’t know.”

“I see. Then…, do you think these guys know?”

The man said while gazing at the corpses scattered around them.

Over ten humans, who died still clutching knives in their hands, with expressions akin to chagrin being illuminated by the light of the campfire.

“Could these fellows have known this morning that they wouldn’t be around to see the sun rise tomorrow?”

“I don’t know. We could also die some place tomorrow. But you would be wasting your life if you worry about something like that every single day.”

“Guess you’re right. Let’s just live our lives to the fullest until that time comes. You never know, that day may not be far off. ——By the way, can you imagine the two of us getting old?”

“No, not at all.”

“Figures.  ——Ah, when and where and in what manner would I die…?”

The man looked up at the sky.  Beyond the arid atmosphere, millions upon millions of stars twinkled.

And then a faint smile crossed the man’s face.

“May the morning that holds the answer come.”

He wished upon the stars.


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{{Navigation
| Kino no Tabi
| [[Kino_no_Tabi:Volume13_Frontispiece2|Frontispiece 2]]
| [[Kino_no_Tabi:Volume13_Prologue|Prologue]]
}}
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