Editing Kino no Tabi:Volume13 Special (section)

===“A Land that Gives” —Give and Take—===
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Kino, Master, Hermes, and luggage-carrier arrived in a different country. On the way, they were attacked by bandits, who they easily defeated and made a huge profit from. But since it’s boring, I’ll cut that part.

And so at this country’s gates, “Please sign this,” the inspector told them. When Kino asked why, he explained, “It is a letter of consent for you to donate your internal organs in case you died of an accident inside the country. It is an obligation for all of our citizens, and the same holds for our guests.”

Kino looked as if she didn’t understand so Master explained for her. “The heart and other internal organs of a person who has just died are still usable, so they can be transplanted to help out people suffering from some illnesses.”

Because they had no intention of dying, and as there’s nothing for them if they do die, the two humans and the luggage-carrier signed.

It was immediately upon entering the country. They stood at the plaza wondering where they should go next, and Kino was looking at her map when a truck came charging with great force straight towards her. With a move faster than Kino, Master pulled out her revolver from her hip and fired. The tire of the truck blew off, and the truck collapsed on its side without hitting Kino. A man was expelled from the driver’s seat amidst all the broken glass, and hit his head on the concrete ground. There was an unpleasant sound, and soon he stopped moving.

“That was close.”

“Yeah. Thank you very much.”

The luggage-carrier who only looked on from beginning to end finally had a chance to speak. “But what’s with that? To me, that looked anything but an accident.”

People began to swarm around the man, and soon, his corpse was carried away.

“What was that, indeed?” Master also wondered, so they grabbed a nearby onlooker and asked him about the incident.

“Oh t-t-that. It’s probably because the traveler over there was just perfect.”

“Just perfect?” Kino asked, and Hermes elaborated, “What’s perfect?”

“Her age and physique. The moment you entered the country, you were made to sign a consent form, right? Because of that, you should only expect to get targeted in this country.”

“You mean, they kill someone and make them donate their organs?”

“What else? Humans can do this much for the sake of the people they love.”

“Then that driver…”

“Yes. I imagine he has a daughter or son needing a transplant. But it seems like he’s now the one who gets to donate his organs. Why, people who are in line for transplants look forward to weekends where there is one traffic accident after another. Please be careful not to get killed and have someone get saved by your organs. Well, you are pretty skilled, so I guess there’s no need for you to worry,” the man said, and left, looking around him with profound caution.

During their three-day stay, Kino and Master were targeted twice, and luggage-carrier was targeted once.

“Good grief.”

Meanwhile, Hermes got two on his handlebars, five on his tires, and three on his frame—robbery attempts, that is.

“That was quite fun, wasn’t it, Master.”

“Yes, it is.”

And so Kino, Master, Hermes, and luggage-carrier left the country.


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