Editing Kino no Tabi:Volume9 Chapter2

==“Evening of Good People” —Innocence—==

There was a dry river bed in a wilderness.

A big river flowed through the rough, rocky terrain. The river carved the ground, and only its dry river bed was blessed with vegetation. If viewed from the sky, one would probably see a green band amidst the brown.

On this dry river bed was a truck and a small, battered car, creating long shadows upon being illuminated by the sun which was beginning to set.

And the owners of these vehicles surrounded a bonfire.

First there was a trader who owned the truck — a rather plump, middle-aged man. Then there was his wife. And standing behind the two, wearing hand persuaders (Note: A persuader is a gun. In this case, a pistol) on their waists, were four male bodyguards.

Facing the trader was a young, black-haired woman wearing a high caliber revolver on her hip. Seated next to her was a rather short, but handsome man.

An iron grill was placed in the bonfire. On top of it, a big chunk of meat was being grilled appetizingly.

The trader spoke cheerfully, “Now, travelers. It must be fate for us to meet in a place like this. Please help yourselves.” The trader was as generous as he appeared. “I feel bountiful because I just returned from a successful trade,” he said.
 
“Wow, it looks so delicious.” Saying this, the man beside the black-haired woman slightly lifted his thumb in a way that only the woman would see.

‘What do you think? Should we attack them soon?’ was the general meaning of his signal, but the woman slightly touched the nail of her ring finger in reply, ‘They have four bodyguards, so let’s lay low for today.’ The man nodded. The two thanked the trader for the meal, and the little dinner party began pleasantly.

The trader sent for liquor in a ceramic pot, and offered it to the two. But the pair only thanked him and declined.

“Oh? So it’s true that travelers don’t drink much, eh? Well, I suppose it would be tough to move around if you’re carrying liquor.” Saying so, the trader gulped down his alcohol heartily.


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Soon, the meal has progressed greatly along with the sundown.

“I’m jealous of you, totally free to travel as you please! Gahahahahaha——”

The trader’s drunkenness has also progressed much. His face was already red, and he was making loud noises, but both his wife and his bodyguards looked on as if it was natural.

“But for you to be traveling at that age, there must be some big reason, huh?! Could you possibly be ×××××?” the trader said to the black-haired woman. Instead of the woman, it was the man next to her who stiffened from the remark.

“Well, it doesn’t mean that ××××× is a bad thing! But a ××××× is a ××××× after all!”

The woman, staying cool all throughout, only warded off the man’s remarks with yes’s and maybe’s.

“Master... hold back,” the man muttered with a small voice, heart going pit-a-pat in anticipation of the woman’s angry outburst.

The completely drunk trader was being unmindful, gulping down some more liquor.

“Gahahahaha! Well, ×××××! You must be really ×××××! How wonderful! By the way, I wonder if a ××××× is really ×××××?” he said. And with a loud voice that would probably reach a far-away country, but perhaps unintentionally, he repeated the rude words over and over.

The man’s monologue continued. Even so, the black-haired woman casually eluded his taunts, and just when the man was becoming impressed with the strength of the woman’s tolerance level,

“I’m really sorry,” the trader’s wife, who had been quiet from the start, began to speak. Her words were that of an apology, but her tone had no hint of remorse in it at all. It was merely an excuse to start a conversation. The wife continued, “He would have been a good person if only he didn’t drink alcohol.”

“I see,” the woman lifted her head. She confirmed the bodyguards’ location in one glance. Then she extracted the revolver from her right hip.

Neither giving the man next to her the time to react nor giving the four bodyguards a chance to notice, four shots echoed in the wilderness.

All the bullets hit the persuaders on the bodyguard’s hips, rendering them useless. Before the dumbfounded group, the woman aimed at the forehead of the trader.

“Now then, won’t you hand over your valuables to us?” she said with a sweet smile.


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Amidst the pale darkness of the twilight, the bodyguards were sitting with their hands tied behind them while the trembling wife was tied behind her husband, who was already sober and whose face was now deep red in anger.

“W-w-what a thing to do! You ingrates!”

“We won’t take everything. Maybe about thirty percent,” the black-haired woman said while transferring jewels and gold coins in a bag. 

“......”

The man beside her, who was prudently keeping watch with his .22 caliber automatic persuader, remained silent.

“Those are my earnings!” the trader protested.

“And now they’re mine,” the woman quickly answered. When she has finished transferring the jewels, she placed what was left in front of the trader.

And then she instructed the man to let out air from the tires of the truck so that they would not be able to chase after them. So that the tires could still be used when filled with air, he only removed the valve and let all of the air inside escape.

“Well, goodbye. The dinner was delicious.”

The woman started the car’s engine and called the man.

“What kind of woman would do this?! This is preposterous!” The trader let loose his anger, and the man spoke to him as he left,

“I’m really sorry. She would have been a good person if only she couldn’t fire a persuader...”