Kino no Tabi:Volume2 Chapter1

“A Tale of Feeding Off Others” —I Want to Live.—

It was inside a forest of snow.

The snow accumulated in one winter crushed all of the grass underneath. Only the tall trees with long and narrow leaves grew out of the white surface.

Even now, snow was still falling from the sky which could be seen between the gaps in the branches. The dull low clouds were spread out and the light of the sun was weak.

It was a quiet place. Nothing could be heard other than the sound of the occasional snow pattering from the branches. The wind was not blowing either.

In such a place, there was a wild rabbit. Its fur was pure white except for the tips of its ears.

The rabbit advanced a little, leaving shallow footprints on the snow. It stopped and moved its ears and head bit by bit. And then it leaped forward again.

After repeating this for a while, the rabbit suddenly stopped. Its ears moved. A red dot appeared on its white head. It was light.

—

Inside the same forest was a human.

This person was clad in a hooded snowsuit and overpants that covered up to the tip of her shoes. She was wearing a furred hat and yellow single-lens goggles. A face warmer extended from the neck up, covering her face.

The human was leaning against the trunk of a tree, sitting with legs bent and knees forward. With both hands, she was balancing a hand persuader (Note: A gun. In this case, a pistol) placed between her knees. The persuader was a slender automatic with a harmonica-shaped silencer attached to it. A red light extended from the tiny hole under the barrel — a laser sight for alignment with the target. This light was aiming towards the head of the rabbit.

She breathed out a wisp of white air. She slowly pressed the trigger. A clink was heard from inside the persuader.

In the next moment, blood spurted out of the place where the red point of light hit the rabbit’s head.

The rabbit trembled for an instant, and soon fell down and stopped moving. The blood from its head slightly stained its white fur, and the snow underneath it melted a little.

—

Inside the forest was one road. The road was perfectly straight, cutting its way through the trees. It was covered with hardened, pure white snow.

On top of this road was a parked motorrad (Note: A two-wheeled vehicle. Only to note that it cannot fly). Its back seat was converted into a sturdy carrier. However, there was no luggage on top, only a bag was tied to it.

The motorrad was customized to be able to run on snow. Around both tires, there were studs to pierce through the frozen road. On the frame in front of the engine, arms resembling a bicycle’s training wheels were sticking out on both sides. On the tips of these arms were planks for the feet to be placed in, at the bottom of which were tiny skis. This was to prevent the motorrad from falling down in case the tires slid.

“I caught one, Hermes.” The human spoke to the motorrad as she appeared from inside the forest. The rabbit was dangling upside down from her hands, legs tied together. The covered holster was attached obliquely in front of her stomach.

The motorrad called Hermes happily replied, “Good job. With this, you don’t have to lessen your supply of portable rations, Kino.”

The human called Kino nodded, put the rabbit inside the bag, and secured it onto Hermes’ carrier.

Kino took off her goggles and bandana and let down the face warmer. It was a person around mid-teens, with short black hair, big eyes, and face carrying an intrepid expression. She lightly wiped off the sweat on her face and fixed her hat. Then she spoke.

“Now, let’s hurry back. If those guys die, I’ll be in a bind.”

“In a bind?” Hermes asked.

“I mean, I would lose face.”

“To whom?” Hermes asked once more.

“To the rabbit,” Kino answered.

Kino turned on Hermes’ engine. The sound of the engine broke the stillness of the forest. Kino wore her goggles and face warmer, placed both of her feet on the support skis, and launched Hermes off.

—

In one corner of the white road, there was a truck — a relatively new model. The tires and the lower half of its body were completely buried in the snow that it couldn’t move an inch. Snow has accumulated heavily on its roof.

A bit ways off was a big tent which stood on the border between the forest and the road. Only at the place where the dome-shaped tent was, there was a depression in the snow as if it was caved in.

Eventually, the sound of an engine was heard, and soon Kino and Hermes arrived.

One man crawled out and peeked from inside the tent. The man, who seemed to be about thirty, had a face which looked like it couldn’t be any thinner. His beard and hair had grown as much as it could, and the winter clothes he was wearing was dirty all over.

Kino took out the rabbit from the bag and showed it to the man. The man looked up at it with a joyful face, and put his head back inside the tent. Then two other men stuck their heads out from the tent. A man wearing eyeglasses who seemed to be in his twenties and a man in his forties who had greying hair. Both looked pitifully thin, but smiled from ear to ear as they saw the rabbit.

“I’ll cook it for you. Let me borrow a pot,” Kino said.

“It’s good enough as it is. We’ll eat it raw,” the man in his thirties said. He looked as if he couldn’t wait any longer.

The other men pleaded to let them eat it immediately, but Kino shook her head.

“That won’t do. It would be terrible if you get infected with Tularemia or something.”

The men had disappointed looks on their faces, but took out two pots of different sizes from inside the tent. Kino took the pots and spoke to the men.

“I’ll call you when it’s done, so please rest until then.”

“Yes, understood. ...Miss Kino,” the man in his thirties called out to Kino who turned away.

“What is it?”

The man gazed straight into Kino’s eyes.

“Thanks.”

Kino smiled lightly and spoke. “It’s still too early for that, but... you’re welcome.”

—

The morning before.

Kino and Hermes were riding on the frozen road, the thick clouds above them.

Thanks to the studded tires and support skis, they were able to ride at a considerable speed.

Hermes’ rear carrier was loaded with a winter tent, a sleeping bag, and lots of traveling luggage other than the bag.

Then Hermes spoke all of a sudden. “There’s a truck up ahead.”

Kino slowly loosened the accelerator. She rode using the momentum, and without using the brakes, she slowly stopped in front of the truck buried by the snow. She cut the engine, climbed off Hermes, and let down her goggles and face warmer.

Kino opened the cover of the holster in front of her stomach and took out the revolver-type persuader inside with her right hand. Kino called this ‘Canon’.

As Kino approached the truck, she soon noticed the tent near it. From there, she saw the eyes of a man who hurriedly poked his head out.

The bearded man in his thirties looked at Kino with a surprised face. Kino returned Canon in its holster, but did not let go of its grip as she spoke. “Hello.”

The man did not answer Kino’s greeting, crawled out of the tent and stood up weakly. From the tent, two other men peeked out with similarly surprised expressions.

The man looked at Kino and Hermes, and asked with a weak voice, “Y-you travel by motorrad, don’t you...? Hey, can you spare us some food...?”

While looking at their pitiful state, Hermes spoke nonchalantly. “I see. I think I understand what your circumstances are.”

Kino spoke. “I’m sorry, but I have none. Since when were you here?”

“Don’t be surprised.... We’ve been here since the beginning of winter.”

Kino had a slightly surprised look on her face, and Hermes spoke. “I’m surprised. Extremely, at that.”

“Yeah. Snow fell earlier than we expected. Soon it turned into a furious snowstorm, and we were passed up here ever since...”

“It’s a good thing you didn’t pass away,” Hermes said, but nobody laughed.

“And I suppose there’s no food in that truck, either,” Kino asked to confirm, and the men made sorrowful and painful expressions on their faces.

“There was food, but we have eaten everything already... a long time ago. Of course, we had lots, but we didn’t expect that we will be held up like this. How stupid. We’ve been waiting forever for someone to pass through. We beg you! Please share us something, anything we could eat.... There’s three of us...”

The man pointed to the tent, and the two men looked at Kino with a clinging expression.

“We beg you...”

The man curled his fists together and appealed to Kino. Kino breathed lightly, and spoke. “I do have portable rations. But I have to leave enough for myself. The reserves I have would be barely enough for three.”

The men gulped as they listened to Kino.

“However,” Kino continued. The men raised their faces.

“I can hunt something for you. I’m sure there are animals around this area, and since it’s starting to get warmer, I would be able catch one somehow. If you regain enough strength, you might be able to move your truck. You still have fuel, don’t you?”

“Yes, there’s still some left! Then that means...?” The man happily asked Kino in return. Kino felt the men’s warm gazes, and lightly nodded.

“Yes. I’ll accompany you for a few days.”

The men smiled broadly upon hearing Kino’s words. They thanked her all at the same time.

“Your name is?” the man in his thirties asked.

“Kino. This here is Hermes.”

“Miss Kino, eh? Here, take a look at this.”

While saying so, the man took out a small box from his pocket. He opened it and showed it to Kino. Inside was a ring. It was a silver ring with a number of small green gems attached to it.

“I believe this has a bit of value. It’s gratitude for saving the three of us. Please take it.”

“It’s still too early to thank me.”

“That’s fine. Take it. I wanted to take this back home for my wife. But, it would be pointless if I die here.”

“......”

Kino took it in her hands and looked at it. She looked at it for a while without any change in her expression.

“I understand. I’ll take this as a reward after everything is over. Until that time, I’ll hold on to it.”

Kino put the box in her pocket and spoke to the men. “Please wait here for a while. I’ll catch some game. I’ll leave my luggage here, so please watch it for me until I return. Just so you know, meat is more delicious than my portable rations.”

Kino put down all of her luggage from Hermes and tied up just one bag on the carrier.

And then she went out to hunt.

—

Kino started to cook.

She dug up the snow beside a tree until the ground can be seen. Here she put together solid fuel, old newspapers and some twigs, and set it on fire. She suspended the pot to the tree with a rope and adjusted it so that it would be on top of the flame. Then she put some clean snow inside.

Kino placed the rabbit on top of the iron plate she normally used for her shooting practice. She looked at the motionless rabbit for a few seconds, and then closed her eyes for a few seconds more.

After a simple silent prayer, she began to cut it apart.

Kino took off the gloves she was wearing and put on thin rubber gloves on both hands. She covered up to the sleeves of her winter suit.

She took out a folding hunting knife. She made cuts around the fur near the center of the rabbit’s abdomen.

Then she pulled the fur sideways with both hands. She pulled it until the neck and the tips of the feet were bare, and cut it off.

The rabbit was a size smaller than before, and has become a pink mass of flesh.

Kino cut open the abdomen of the rabbit from the throat down to the anal area and took out its internal organs. She wiped the hollow interior of the wide-open belly, and lightly drained the water.

Kino made cuts at the base of the limbs and removed them by breaking the hip joints. She cut off the hind legs at the knees and then cut down the torso into appropriate sizes.

After she finished cutting it up, the rabbit has become ‘meat’ that could normally be sold in shops.

Kino adjusted the bonfire and scooped out the scraps from the water in the pot.

Then she put the meat into the pot. She wiped the iron plate she used in place of a chopping board with snow, and hoisted it above the fire to sterilize it. For the first time, Kino removed her rubber gloves.

After a while, the meat was cooked.

—

The men were called out by Kino, and with their plates and cups in hand, they wobbled out of the tent towards the fire. Their eyes which looked big in their gaunt faces had a bizarre glint in them.

Kino sprinkled the meat with salt and pepper and divided it among the men. The men gazed at the food in front of them in silence for a while. Soon, tears trickled down their dirty cheeks.

“Damn. This better not be a dream...”

“You’ll find out once you eat it. I suppose it won’t disappear,” Kino said.

And then they broke the meat into small pieces with their fingers and slowly carried them to their mouths. They chewed several times and swallowed deeply. They closed their eyes and took a breath.

“It’s so good...” the man in his forties muttered as he cried brokenly.

“Delicious...” the man in his twenties said, his tears silently flowing, and not stopping the slow movement of his hands. The other man, his eyes still closed, chewed on the meat for a while as if confirming that it was real, and swallowed.

“Yeah. It’s really delicious. It has been such a long time since we last tasted something this good.... It’s a bit salty though.”

The men laughed while crying. They wiped off their tears with their hands, and the dirt on their faces was slightly washed off.

Kino made some tea with the hot water in the other pot, and filled out the men’s cups. She handed some tablets to the men.

“Those tablets are vitamins. They’re my spares.”

“Thanks. It’s a full course meal.”

“Kino, are you fine with us eating all the meat?” the man in his twenties asked.

“I thought there would be more than enough for everybody, but in your condition, it seems like you could eat all of it. I’m fine with the usual stuff I have,” Kino said, showing them the square, clay-like portable rations.

“Thank you,” “Thanks,”

The men thanked her meekly.

“If you can, please thank that guy over there too,” Kino said, pointing her finger.

On the branch of the tree were the fur and pieces of the upper and lower body of the rabbit. The four looked at the dark, round eyes which has lost its light.

Then, the men put down their plates and cups on top of the snow, curled their hands together into fists in front of their faces, and closed their eyes.

Kino, and Hermes parked behind her looked at the men who slowly expressed their gratitude to their God.

“God, thank you. For us, the blood of another being was sacrificed.... And God, please forgive us for having to kill others to survive...”

The prayer of the men continued for a while, and Kino looked at them while eating the unappetizing portable rations.

Afterwards the men took ample of time to consume all of the meat.

—

As the day came to a close, the sky which was not too bright in the first place, became even darker. The scenery changed into a gray color, and quietly grew thicker.

Kino spread out her one-person tent on the opposite side of the other tent, interposed with the truck.

She made some tea for the men by the end of the day. They thanked her once more, and returned to their own tent.

Kino covered Hermes’ engine and tank, and slipped into her own tent.

—

The next morning.

The surroundings were still dark when Kino woke up. As usual, the sky was covered with clouds, and powdery snow fluttered about.

Kino moved her body on top of the snow and praticed drawing out Canon several times.

After eating her portable rations alone, she tapped Hermes awake and turned on his engine. She strapped her bag on his carrier.

She told the men who were woken up with the engine’s roar to bring their cups. She put some snow in the cups and placed them on Hermes’ engine and exhaust pipe. The snow soon melted.

“My engine was not made to make hot water, you know.”

“Then that means you can be useful to me in many ways, Hermes.”

—

That day.

Once again, Kino and Hermes went out to hunt. She brought down two rabbits in a row. They were big.

Upon returning, she cut them apart like she did the day before. She cooked the first one in the afternoon in the same manner.

The men came out of the tent, and once again, ate while giving their thanks. And then, they returned to their tents and rested.

Kino cut down a branch of the tree for kindling.

She cooked the other piece of meat as evening neared.

The men ate everything. The neatly gnawed bones were piled up beside the bonfire.

While eating, the men promised Kino that in case she dropped by their country, they would treat her to anything she liked during her stay that she’d become twice as heavy.

As they regained their body strength, they were eventually able to walk normally without staggering.

—

By nightfall, the snow has completely stopped falling and rifts manifested on the clouds little by little. One by one, the stars became visible in the sky.

Kino was inside her sleeping bag in her tent. Hermes who was parked right in front of the tent, spoke. “Kino, are you awake?”

“Yeah”

“Is it really okay for you to go out of your way like this?”

“It’s not. Even though it’s getting somewhat warmer, I want to pass through this forest as soon as possible.”

“Then why?”

“Because there’s the reward. I accepted the ring.”

“What’s so great about that thing?” Hermes said.

For a while, there was a rummaging sound from inside the tent. And then, Kino gently slipped her left hand out of the tent. The ring was inserted on her middle finger.

“What do you think?” Kino asked, turning her hand over.

“It doesn’t suit you,” Hermes replied immediately. She slowly drew back her hand, and answered back.

“...I think so too. It would be on the way when I grip the clutch. But it must be worth something if I sell it. Besides, it’s not a bad thing to do an act of mercy from time to time.”

“Fine,” was Hermes’ short answer.

—

The next day. That is, the morning of the third day since Kino met the men.

When Kino woke up, the sky had a light blue tinge, and it was clear everywhere. There were no clouds.

As Kino moved her body, the orange lump of light behind her began to rise. Her shadow became longer and extended on top of the snow.

Soon, the men woke up. They tried to walk steadily and prepared hot water on their own.

“I see you’re doing much better now,” Kino said, and the men nodded.

“Yeah, thanks.”

For breakfast, Kino divided her portable rations among themselves. The four ate rather uncomfortably.

After their meal, while drinking tea, the men happily talked about their home country.

“If we get home, our colleagues will surely be surprised. None of them would have thought that we would get stranded like this. Most likely, they think that we were killed or something.”

“They probably made graves for us already.”

“Isn’t that funny? We could visit our own graves.”

When the man in his thirties asked Kino about her home country, Kino answered with a shake of her head.

“I see.... Sorry about that,” the man said, and brought the discussion to a close.

—

The sun rose up and the temperature slowly climbed.

The men talked to Kino about moving their truck. If they divide work and dig up the snow around the truck to create a slope, they could possibly get out the truck from its current condition of being buried. As long as the truck was still in running condition, they could get to the nearest country.

The man in his thirties spoke to Kino. “First, we want to remove our luggage from the vehicle. It would be nice if you can help.”

Kino and the men turned to the back of the truck.

The truck’s loading platform had three locks. The man in his thirties asked for the keys of the other two, opened the door and went inside. There were crashing sounds from inside. The man in his forties separated Kino a bit and talked to her.

“Miss Kino, will that motorrad be fine?”

Kino, who did not understand what he meant, turned around. At the same time, the man in his thirties quickly got out of the truck’s platform. He was holding a long persuader with both hands. He was aiming it towards Kino.

The moment Kino saw the man’s persuader, she reached for her holster with her right hand, but stopped herself from pulling Canon out. With a casual look, she faced towards the persuader pointed at her.

“Good decision. If you pulled out that persuader, I would have shot you without a moment’s delay,” the man spoke to Kino as he climbed down the platform. There was no opening in his stance.

“Well, thanks for that,” Kino said with a normal tone without any hint of surprise. The other two men backed off from Kino in a few steps, their faces rigid.

The man in his thirties spoke. “The truth is I wouldn’t have fired at you. We take pride in delivering our important goods without a single scratch, you see.”

“Goods?” Kino asked, and the man in his forties answered.

“Yeah. We deliver ‘skilled people’ as a living. What we refer to as ‘goods’ are people.”

Hermes, who was parked a bit ways off behind Kino, spoke in a tone not different from usual. “Oh, so you guys are kidnappers. Or to be more specific, slave traders.”

“You don’t have to put it so bluntly..., but well, that’s correct. Now that we are strong enough to move, we have to do our real job. So Miss Kino, we will take you with us to a place where someone would buy you. Don’t put up any resistance now.”

Hermes spoke. “Well that’s that, but I’m a little concerned.”

Then the man in his forties spoke. “Don’t worry, Hermes. Your partner is quite a beauty. She’ll shine with a bit of polishing, and because she’s young, she’ll definitely be sold for a high price. We always adorn our goods with jewels and pretty clothes; it’s a complete package. We’re not going to give her any injuries.”

“Anyway, you sure make it sound easy,” Kino said simply without moving her body.

While gazing into Kino’s eyes, the man in his thirties spoke with his persuader still aimed at Kino. “Please don’t think badly of us. We are truly grateful to you for saving us. It was great..., really great. However, you can say that we are wolves. And wolves have no choice but to live like wolves. This is in order for us to survive, you see.”

“I see.” Kino slowly raised her hands.

“Okay. Now, remove that revolver in front of your stomach. Slowly, with your left hand.”

Kino slowly removed Canon’s holster from her belt with her left hand.

“Throw it away.”

Kino tossed it, and it fell between her and the men. There was a thud, and it was stuck halfway into the snow.

The man in his twenties went to pick it up, but the man in his forties beside him stopped him and spoke. “Remove your winter suit. Slowly. One hand at a time, and throw it up front.”

Kino removed her winter suit as she was told. Underneath, she was wearing a black jacket fastened with a wide belt on the waist. There were several pouches attached on the belt.

“Face to the back. Slowly now.”

Kino turned around. Lightly inserted on her belt was the holster of the persuader she used to shoot down the rabbits. Kino called this one ‘Woodsman’.

“I knew it. Pull that persuader out slowly with your right hand. Then throw it. Slowly, remember.”

“I’m impressed you knew,” Kino said while looking at Hermes. With her right hand, she gripped Woodsman’s barrel, removed it from its holster and tossed it away.

“Face here, hands up. Slowly.”

Kino raised both hands and slowly faced the men.

Two of them tried to approach Kino, but this time, the man in his twenties stopped them.

“Wait. You have a knife, right? Where is it?”

Kino looked somewhat dejected, and said bluntly, “I have them all over.”

“Throw them all away.”

Kino slowly put her right hand in the pocket at her jacket’s hem. She took out the folding knife she used for cooking and flung it away.

Kino slowly reached out for the pouches on her belt with her right hand. From there, she pulled out the grip of a knife, flicked open the folding blade, locking it automatically. She threw this away.

Kino slowly put her right hand inside the left cuff of her jacket and extracted a double-edged knife. She tossed it. And then, she put her left hand inside the right cuff and took out a similar knife, and threw it away.

“......”

The men silently looked on. Kino slowly began to take off her overpants. She zipped down the fastener on her side and removed it one leg at a time. The boots and pants she was wearing underneath could now be seen.

Kino slowly squatted down and took out a thin knife from a sheath tied up on the shin part of her boots. She threw it away. She removed a similar knife from her left leg with her left hand, and tossed it.

The knife fell down and hit the other knives on the ground, making a clinking sound.

“Are you... a knife merchant?” the man in his thirties muttered impulsively.

Kino slowly reached at the belt behind her right waist with her right hand, and pulled out a sheathed knife. It was a knife with a double-edged blade around fifteen centimeters in length, and a fat, cylindrical grip.

Kino gripped it with her right hand, and held the blade part with her left.

She spoke slowly, looking at the eyes of the man holding the persuader. “This one’s the last.”

“Throw it away,” said the man in his thirties. A red dot appeared on his forehead. It was light.

Bang bang bang!

There were three gunshots in succession. Between the blade and the grip of the knife were four small holes, from three of which, bullets flied out.

Blood spurted out of the place where the red point of light hit the man’s forehead.

At the same moment as the shots were heard, the man in his forties saw Kino advancing towards him, and waved his left hand. Kino passed underneath and restrained the man’s left hand from behind with her left. She stabbed all of the knife’s length through the left side of his back.

‘Guh-!’At the same time as the man let out this sound, the man which had three holes opened in his forehead collapsed.

Kino then pushed forward the knife and the man towards the man in his twenties.

As the thin man fell over, Kino retrieved Canon from the snow.

Kino immediately raised the hammer and stood in front of the man, pinned on his back underneath the corpse.

“Aaaah—!” The man shrieked. Kino took a short glance towards the other man whose face was stained red with blood. And then she pointed Canon towards the last man.

“Save m——”

There was a thunderous roar and a white smoke as Kino’s right hand bounded up. Several of the man’s teeth burst flying like popcorn.

The man’s head leaped as if it was hit by an electric shock, and then became still. Blood pooled from inside his mouth, and at once, the air pushed out of the lungs bubbled out. The blood overflowed, melting the snow beneath the man’s neck little by little.

Kino stood in front of the three men’s corpses. There was a faint steam rising up from the blood.

“That was a close call,” Hermes said to Kino from behind, “Are you hurt?”

“Nope,” was Kino’s short reply. And then she added, “That was scary. I thought it was the end for me.”

Kino stood for a while, holding Canon in her right hand.

In the middle of the clear blue sky and the glittering snowscape, the sound of Kino’s molars grinding in fear resounded.

—

“Are you fine now?” Hermes asked.

“I’m okay now,” Kino nodded. Steam no longer came out from the corpses.

Kino stood in front of the truck’s loading platform.

While carefully poising Canon, she slowly opened the door.

“I see,” Kino muttered, and looked for a while inside the truck. And then, she opened both doors. Light shined inside the truck.

A number of white bones rolled off from the narrow interior of the truck.

Human bones. Thin ribs. Small finger bones. Broken pelvic bones shaped like spatula. Broken thighbones — the marrow inside thoroughly slurped.

Several used up containers of solid fuel rolled off. An iron plate was torn off from one part of the truck. Above it, there were several charred pieces of a backbone.

In one corner of the truck was the head of the person who owned these bones.

Long blonde hair was tied on the truck’s pipe, from which the head was suspended, lightly facing downwards. It was perhaps a young girl about the same age as Kino.

The eyes and the nose were gone. There were only the silently gaping black holes, the whittled skin and flesh of the cheeks and jaws, and the exposed part of the skull underneath the face. The lower jaw was barely connected to the rest of the head.

A hole as big as a person’s fist was gaping wide on the forehead. All of the brain was gone.

Hung neatly in one corner opposite the head was a bright yellow dress.

“...Hermes, can you see it?” Kino asked.

“Yup. Food scraps,” Hermes answered.

Kino looked at the corpses of the men by her feet.

“Before that, this was their important ‘goods’ eh...”

“Huh, and before that?” Hermes caught Kino’s mumbled words, and asked.

Kino spoke gently while looking at the glittering blonde hair. “I don’t know.”

As Kino slowly closed the door, she spoke to the girl.

“It’s not right. But, they didn’t want to die.”

—

“We’ve been held up so much. Let’s leave as soon as possible,” Kino said, picking up all of the knives she tossed earlier.

Snow accumulated inside the barrel of Woodsman. Kino picked it up and without aiming at anything in particular, fired two shots. And then she closed the safety and returned it behind her waist.

She took the knife piercing the back of the man with one forceful pull. She thrust the bloodied blade in the snow back and forth until it was clean. And then she wiped it with the clothes of the dead man.

Kino opened the screwed lid at the bottom of the knife’s grip. She took out three small, empty cartridges from inside. Then she took out Woodsman’s spare bullets from her belt, and put them inside the knife’s grip.

And then she returned this persuader-knife to its sheath in her right waist.

Kino put on her overpants and winter suit. And then she returned Canon to its original place.

She quickly packed her tent and loaded all her luggage on Hermes. Then she started the engine.

Suddenly, Kino returned to the side of the truck. She squatted beside the corpse holding the persuader.

She removed the glove in her left hand. A ring was inserted in her middle finger. It was a silver ring, with several small green gems attached to it.

Kino looked at her left hand for a few seconds.

Kino removed the ring and took out the box from her pocket. She put it inside the man’s breast pocket. And then she spoke with a soft voice.

“I’m returning this to you. Because I wasn’t able to save you in the end.”

With a voice as soft as Kino’s, Hermes spoke. “What? I thought you liked that thing?”

—

Kino straddled Hermes. She covered her face with her hat and goggles.

Kino lightly revved the accelerator, and the engine roared in excellent condition. Hermes spoke. “Shall we go?”

“Yeah,” Kino said.

Kino turned her head back lightly to check whether she left anything. And then she looked at the remains of the three rabbits lined up on the branch of the tree.

Kino spoke. “Please don’t think badly of us. We’re only humans, after all.”

The motorrad ran off. It passed through the truck, the tent, and what remained of the four corpses, and soon disappeared.

Translator's Notes

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