Editing Kami-sama no Inai Nichiyoubi:Volume3 Chapter1 (section)

===Part I===




The large Ortus shrank instantaneously, and finally could no longer be seen.

Ai thought to herself this was the reason why she hated cars. She felt it was not a good thing to be able to see each other while they were drifting away from each other.

It would be nice if she had walked instead. Those who walked knew very well what they should do at such moments, and could not look behind. No matter how anguished or lonely they felt, they would trip over if they did not look at their feet.

They could only look ahead while walking.

But at this moment, she was reluctantly occupying the back seat while looking back, and started to hate cars a little bit.

… No, she should not blame the car.

It took five or six attempts of resolve before Ai finally got up, grabbed the seat in the shaky car, and returned to the passenger seat. Julie immediately showed a worried look through the rear-view mirror, and Ai turned her face outwards, for she did not want him to see the red corners of her eyes.

"You’ll meet again."

That's true. Ai replied as nonchalantly as her attitude. Julie understood her intent, nodded, and started being wary of their surroundings.

" Scar, is there any presence of the Dead nearby?"

She did not answer.

"Scar?"

Julie glanced in the rear-view mirror, Ai too thought it was strange, so she looked at the back of the chair at the middle row of seats. Scar was sleeping soundly on the seat, not acting like a Gravekeeper at all, but a girl who had forgotten her tension due to fatigue

"Miss Scar has fallen asleep? Mr. Julie, stop the car … Mr. Julie."

"Yes, yes."

Julie then regained his senses and released his foot off the gas pedal. The car slowed down and stopped in the wilderness, and the only sound left in the car was the engine cooling down, before the silence returned.

Ai dug through the gap between the driver's seat and the passenger's seat and wriggled her way to the middle row of seats.

"How's she?"

Julie hated to move through the narrow road, so he got out of the car and went around. Ai said to him, putting her index finger to her mouth,

"Shh... she's sound asleep."

And then she picked up Celica, who was about to fall under the chair. It was the first time Ai carried her

"Wow."

The baby was so soft.

"Wo-woah, she’s so cute!"

"Oy , her neck is still soft. Hold her head up."

"H-how do I do that?"

Goodness me, so Julie mumbled and slowly squeezed in. The entire space was made narrow in an instant.

"Hold her head properly in one hand and her body in the other. Like this—"

"Oh..."

Ai tried to do what he said.

"Woah…she’s so cute..."

"Let's set up the bed while we’re at it—shall we put it in the middle row?"

"She’s super cute!"

Julie started to install the bedhe had bought in Ortus. The bed was custom-made and had a very strong structure that not only protected the baby, but also kept the baby out of sight.

And while he was doing so, Ai was mesmerized by the tiny creature in her hands. The soft touch on her hands was indescribable, and she was so engrossed in it that she did nothing to help.

"Amazing~ she already has ears and a nose."

"Of course, right? You’re really lacking in common sense."

"Really? It's my first time seeing a baby, so I don't know."

"Ah, no."

Haa, it was then that Julie realized something was amiss.

 
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"…Of course, your generation has never seen a baby…"

He stopped his hand from bolting the screws as he looked into the distance.

"Sorry for going overboard, Ai. It's not your fault…"

"Huh? She doesn't have any teeth though? Hmmm~ Mr. Julie, did her teeth fall out from under the seat?"

"…I take that back. Yep, it's your fault."

Ai looked at the strong man with a puzzled look..

"She doesn't have her teeth yet because they'll get in the way of suckling. They'll grow out soon."

"Ohh? That's convenient."

At that moment, the baby suddenly opened its eyes.

Ai met her in the eyes and whispered,

"—Good morning …"

Daw? Celica responded vaguely,

"Don't make too much noise, your mom is sleeping."

She did not know if Celica understood her, but the latter merely moved her arms slowly, ugu ugu, moved her mouth, and swayed her body from side to side.

"You definitely don’t understand me, right?"

"Daw."

"But you're so cute, I forgive you! There must have been a lot of babies like that in the past."

"You’re making it sound like she’s an endangered animal."

But she was not wrong.

"… Okay, the bed is set up, let me do it."

Ai handed Celica over to Julie. The baby appeared calm and comfortable, and allowing Julie to carry her to the bed and lie down.

"How is it? Sleep well?"

Ai asked, and the baby answered with a serious expression,

"Daw."

So then.

"She said, "I am fine. Do be at ease"."

"What's that tone about? Is she the King?"

"It's Her Highness."

"I'd have forgotten if you hadn't told me."

Ai poked Celica with her finger, and Julie continued to fool around with her as he cleared his tools, while Celica resisted and slapped Ai's face.

Then Scar woke up.

"…! Celica!"

The mother opened her eyes in a moment of confusion and jumped up from her seat when she realized that the baby was not in her arms.

"Where is Celica!? Where is the baby?"

"Ca-calm down, Miss Scar. She's right here."

Ai said and pointed towards the bed. Scar calmed down, sat down in her seat and picked up the baby lying on the bed. Ai and Julie exchanged looks.

"We have a bed ready, Mr. Julie set it up."

"No need."

She said categorically.

"I shall always hold this baby."

Scar hugged Celica and shivered, but it was Scar who looked more like a child, a child who had just returned to her parents and refused to be separated. Ai folded her arms and pondered for a while.

"But you can't hold her all the time, can you? If you hold her all day long, your hand will break."

"They may be the case if I were human."

Scar showed a faint smile.

"But I am a Gravekeeper."

"You're kidding. And Gravekeeper aside, the more important thing is that you're her mother, right?"

Scar gasped at that and tried to argue.

Celica was throwing a tantrum in her tight clutches, and she immediately bared her chest to feed the baby. Ai looked a little embarrassed.

"I …"

Scar was clearly not in a stable state of mind.

"What am…I doing…? …What have I become? Am I…malfunctioning?"

Her head was foggy, her throat was parched, her breasts were spurting milk, her mindset and body changed, and she began to cherish the weight in her arms. These signs of change were too much for Scar to handle.

"M-Miss Scar, please calm down."

"Ai…how did you resolve this issue?"

"Yes?"

Scar asked the question as if she were asking for help.

"You are a hybrid of a Gravekeeper and a human, so how did you resolve this? How did you find a balance between your Gravekeeper self and your human self, when both are completely different?"

Ai's eyes widened.

"I didn't find any balance though?"

"Huh?"

"I'm as confused as I can be now."

"I-is that so?"

Ai replied with a deep nod,

"Yes. And actually, I hit a snag on the purpose of this trip—'I dream of saving the world' …hehehe, I really don’t know what to do next."

"…Is that so?"

"Well, hold your horses."

Julie saw that the two of them were increasingly depressed, and spoke up to stop them.

"You two are still young and immature."

"Immature…"

These words pierced Ai's heart.

"What are you pouting about? You should be happy. What happened to that usual inexplicable positive attitude of yours? Immaturity means there's room for growth. Do I need to repeat myself?"

"Oh, I see."

"Now you got something to worry about, and that's the happiest thing…especially Scar."

"Yes."

Scar straightened her back and waited for Julie to continue, looking very serious.

"Didn't you say so on the top of that hill?"

On that hill, Ai vowed to save the world.

And Julie vowed to help her,

Scar said that she wanted to try and surpass as a Gravekeeper.

"The moment has come."

Scar heard these words…

After a long silence, Scar gazed at her hands and the object she was holding.

"…Is this what I want to surpass?"

"More or less."

"Is that so…?"

Scar looked at Celica, who was gulping, and showed a feeble smile.

"Isn't that what you were hoping for?"

Julie smiled boldly. It was a triumphant smile.

"Now you know it's not easy being human, don’t you?"

"Yes, you are correct…"

Scar's smile remained feeble.

"I never imagined so."

She smiled while showing a soft expression and an ethereal voice.

At that moment, Celica started to cry, her face wrinkled like a monkey, muttering with an expression as though she was protesting something.

"Wh-What's going on here? She was in such a good mood just now."

"I-I do not know."

"What's wrong? …She was just breastfed."

"Erm, I do remember the maids in the castle…"

"I think they changed her diapers, right?"

The panicking duo then realized so, "I see" and started to act. However, the two Gravekeepers were simply yapping about where the cloth was, and no progress was made. Julie had already prepared the diapers for the change beforehand.

"Scar, do you know how to change a diaper?"

"E-erm, actually, I…the maids in the castle took care of everything …"

"What? You don’t know. Then Ai…goes without saying, huh?"

"Ugh, what’s with your attitude? It's rude not to ask."

"My bad. Can you do it?"

"No, I can’t."

"Don’t talk."

Julie's rough hands continued to move deftly while they talked, and he swapped out Celica’s diapers. The other two watched his movements with seriousness, desperately trying to learn.

"You two have a lot of growing up to do, so please follow this kid’s lead."

What’s that about? The two Gravekeepers showed doubtful looks, for they did not understand what he meant.

"You should be like her and bawl away, "I want to grow up, I want to grow up," as loudly as you can."

Ai looked away awkwardly, but Julie did not let her off.

"So I have a suggestion. Ai…"

A beat later—




"Do you want to go to school?"




†

 　　　　




Five days passed since they left Ortus.

The car sometimes chased the sunset, and was sometimes chased by the sun as it drove westward through the wilderness. Each time the elements deviated slightly, the wilderness would take on a different appearance. If there was less water, it became a desert, and if there was more water, it would become grassland, and any place that lasted more than a thousand years was a forest.

The group in the blue car drew water from the oasis lake, woke up to the frosty smell of the mountains, and watched the red sunset continue to move forward. The road was filled with nature and various man-made things, but they were all remnants. Some were the foundations of buildings, an empty town, an entire burned truck, a refrigerator seasoned with gasoline, and a bone-dry cabinet.

They passed several trucks that were still moving. These trucks had six tires each that were almost as tall as Ai, owned by three brothers. Initially, they looked down on the small, saggy-eyed blue car, and yapped away like a bunch of bullies.

But when Julie got out of the car and spoke to the owner of the truck, they immediately changed their attitude and even gave Julie and his group some gasoline.

What did you do? Ai asked him what he did, and he said he showed them an autograph album. Ai took the album he spoke of, and found that there were only the signatures of the Hampnie Hambert and the Idol of Murder. Ai too had Ulla’s signature, and she asked what they were for, but Julie replied, "Connections are important." Is that so?

So the car drove for five days.

During these five days, Ai and Julie spent almost all of their time arguing.

The argument was about whether Ai should go to school or not.




†




Julie said he wanted Ai to go to school, Ai naturally objected. She had to emphasize that she had no time to go to such a place, that the world was waiting for her, and that she had to grow up fast.

"But if you don't go now, you won't be able to go later."

Julie simply played his trump card.

These words alone touched Ai.

"Elementary schools have been abolished, and middle schools will only remain until this year. There won’t be any high school in another three years. You'll never have a chance to try school again."

It was to be expected, since no one was under the age of 15 anymore.

The fact that she might not be able to go to school for the rest of her life shook her resolve more than she could have imagined. Her father—Kizuna Astin dragged himself to school, yet she could not, and this fact shook her greatly.

—But she had to grow up fast to save the world.

"You can grow up in school."

Julie's statement was a brag. No, perhaps it was not entirely so. After all, school was ‘a place she did not know’ ". From this perspective, school was just like traveling, and it would be inappropriate to conclude that school is meaningless. That was the lesson she learned at Ortus.

"I see! You'll go?"

Hold on a minute. Even if it's not meaningless to go to school, I didn't say I wanted to go, so don't expand on what I said.

"I miss school. I used to do bad things with your father Kizuna, at school."

…Dad?

"He’s never wall, so he had to stay home for school, but he used to come to our dormitory to play. I don't know how many things we did together that were futile."

…Sch…ool.

"We got a bunch of friends too. I'm not going to lie, I met my wife at school too…"




And before she knew it--

Ai had agreed to go to school so enthusiastically that she had no idea of what was going on.




She felt she was fooled.