Editing Amaryllis in the Ice Country:Chapter 10 (section)

===Robot=34\Human=34===

We continue to move on.

The number of villagers is reduced to thirty-four. Other than Viscaria, Götz, Eisbahn and me, the other thirty are all children. The hope of reuniting with the other villagers has become increasingly bleak, and as the lights on the screen vanish one after another, my feelings start to turn gloomy.

The number of Cradles left is also thirty-four, exactly the same as the number of villagers. All thirty-four villagers carry a Cradle each. The operation to move three hundred Cradles has now dwindled down to so little.

But despite this, we have to keep moving.

I have a little attach case in my right hand containing more than seventy ‘Mind Circuits’. These Mind Circuits belong to the villagers who took out their batteries willingly, including Cattleya and Miss Ceolaria. I don’t know how long it’ll take, but once we return to the surface, I’ll definitely make sure to repair our friends and get them fixed. With my shoulders, I feel the weight of the case, and continue forward silently.

As time passes, I can hear the sound of the children sobbing. They hold in their tears, moving forward while carrying the heavy item, the string of tension in their hearts snapping away little by little.

And then, the sobbing become interrupted wailing, “Mama…” voices of those longing for relatives are mixed in. Over the past hundred years, the villagers who lived as relative robots have mostly lost contact due to the earthquakes, and the hope of reuniting is bleak. No matter who it is, anyone will have the urge to cry after losing their kin, and have bleak prospects before them.

The crying leads to a chain reaction, with some children even bawling out loud. “I can’t go on.” “I wanna go home.” Worse, the earthquakes strike like bandits, and even though they’re weak, the sobbing of the children become increasingly louder.

After some time, we pause our advance, and take a break.

“Viscaria, how long more until the next detour…?”

I ask Viscaria, who’s seated next to me, “Hmm…” she gives a grim look.

“The next detour will come in an hour.”

“After that?”

“I’m not sure.”

“Not sure…what do you mean?”

“In other words, we can only determine based on the collapse. We need to avoid those places completely blocked, and choose our route by process of elimination.”

“So can we make it back to the surface in time?”

“…Up to luck.”

Viscaria answers flatly. I make no further questions.

The children’s crying continues on,

—Surely, they want to cry. It’s such a dark place, such a heavy moment, such a tragedy.

I walk towards the source of the crying, and the thirty children surround me immediately,

“Si-sister…uu, ueee…”

“Okay, don’t cry now.”

I pat a girl on the head.

“Now sit down.”

I sit down, and the children sit around me. They widen their moist eyes, staring at me intently. Surely they must be feeling very fearful, very uneasy.



Night comes, so sleep now.

A long night, a scary night.

But the night, will pass.



I sing, and the crying softens. The children stare at me incredulously.

Scary dreams, just forget them.

A long night, a cold night.

But the night, will pass.

The singing ekes from within the dark cave, and slightly, tender voices are mixed into the singing. Daisy sings, and the other children follow suit.



Sleep well, until dawn.

The long night, the painful night.

But the dawn, shall come.



I sing as I hug the children, and pat them on their heads.

Before I know it, everyone’s singing away. Like the duet at the Prayer Festival, the beautiful resonating melody and voices surround us.

And in this deep underground, where the light can’t reach us at all, we continue to sing happily as though it’s a picnic with the sunlight shining on us.