Editing Mushi Uta:Volume 6 Chapter 2 (section)

==2.06 The Others==

The performance scheduled to be opened next month was to be carried out in Oranje Land.

Oranje Land illuminated at night was beautiful. The streets lined up with windmills became a resting place for couples and families on trip.

"Nng…"

Jarre held his head and turned around.

It was that sound again. That sound like a cracked metal being him made him feel bad. 

In front of his line of sight was one of Oranje Land's facilities, the Concertgebouw. All public performances were inside that hall. Tonight he came there for a preliminary inspection.

"Is something the matter, mister Harissi?"

One the staff members walking with Jarre looked up at him quizzically. Even in his homeland of America he seldom saw people taller than him, but in this country he was even more conspicuous.

"For some reason I've been hearing a horrible sound lately."

"Are you tired perhaps? Let us put some more free time into the schedule."

"No, there's no problem. I've been having headaches since long ago. Also, I would like to coach the actors as much as I can. The last audition is close by, too."

"We truly are glad for you to say this. Even the actors are practicing every day in order to be able to receive your guidance."

His relationship with the Japanese staff was going well.

The actors were also making great efforts in their practice.

For Jarre, who had travelled around the world excavating talent, his meetings with students who could be said to be raw ores were irreplaceable treasures.

Even here in Holland City Jarre had been able to find several students that had talent.

Guiding them into becoming the best actors was his duty.

By Jarre's guidance and the students' efforts, the performance would definitely be a success. 

So he was convinced.

"I shall send you to the hotel."

After walking through the windmill road, they could see an escort car parked in the road facing the site.

Jarre looked there and raised a voice of admiration.

"What a magnificent dome."

The staff member's line of sight followed what Jarre was looking at, softening his expression. On the other side of the parked vehicle was an all-weather dome.

It was a combined competition facility built bordering Orange Land. As they were apparently played baseball inside tonight, there were large panels that displayed the emblems of the team playing. 

"All of the buildings in this country are beautiful."

He praised them honestly from his heart.

It was a very prosperous country with only small differences between the rich and the poor. Jarre had gone all around the world yet he had never seen such a blessed country. In his homeland of South America the gap between the rich and the poor was considerable, and in his second hometown of the USA there were innumerable slums.

In this country, as long as you worked you could live. Even without choosing a profession most people were able to work, and he heard that even the weak of society had plenty of assurance.

In such an abundant country what did boys and girl aim for?

This answer was known by none other than Jarre himself.

A dream—

Everyone possessed some sort of future they yearned after.

This country overflowed with possibilities, so they had that many chances.

"I'm jealous of the children born here."

Jarre thought so from the bottom of his heart.

"This country has plenty of possibilities, and everyone shines while trying to obtain them."

The staff's response was varied. There were some who nodded and others who shrugged.

"Sorry for making us stop here. Now, let's go back."

Entering the car's backseat, the staff member in charge of driving also entered in a hurry.

As he revved up the engine, the in-car television was also automatically turned on.

The car took off.

"…o'clock news. First, about the incident where a strange corpse had been found in Holland City—"

Inside the television, men and women who seemed to be newscasters read out from a manuscript.

It seemed to be the news. Jarre couldn't understand Japanese, but the name of "Holland", the city he resided in right now, caught his attention.

Although the Japanese-made LCD television was small as it was made for cars, its picture quality was clear.

A small portrait photo was reflected on the screen. It probably belonged to the victim of some incident.

"It appears that more than 10 days have passed since his death, and there are plans to investigate the cause of his death and other special features in more details during the autopsy. From the personal belongings assumed to be his, the corpse was identified as a 29 years old company worker from Akamaki City. According to eyewitness reports there is the chance that he had been brought all the way to Holland City post-mortem—" 

The staff member at the driver's seat who grabbed the wheel peeked into the back mirror.

"They're saying a corpse from Akamaki City is here… It gives me the creeps."

Perhaps he tried breaching the subject since he saw Jarre gazing at the television.

"Yeah."

Saying this briefly, he shifted his gaze from the television to outside the window.

"What if the corpse itself walked here?"

He made a joke that even he didn't find funny. The news weren't related to him after all. He obviously didn't even know the victim.

"Hahaha, like the Walking Dead, was it? There was a movie like that."

It happened just as the staff member laughed.

"…!"

A loud sound shook Jarre's eardrums as if someone hit his head. 

It was that sound again.

That cracked metallic sound he felt like he had heard somewhere before. He felt dizzy by the exceedingly ear-grating sound.

"—Really, what a poor guy."

Jarre was startled at this sudden sinister-sounding voice and raised his face.

The face of the driver reflected on the back mirror wore a faint smile. He made an unpleasant expression as if becoming a different person.

Jarre held his aching head, grimacing.

"What are you talking about?"

"About the news. That victim failed in achieving the dream he had since his youth and became a company employee. He probably sank deep in despair."

"…Was that told in the news?"

"Yeah, quite clearly. Ever since he started working he was unable to give up his dream no matter what. Could there even be someone so stubborn?"

Jarre's heart throbbed with a start.

It appeared to him as if something like black smoke was drifting from the driver's shoulder.

Was he smoking? Thinking so he looked at his hands, yet both of them were planted firmly on the steering wheel. There were also no traces of him using an ashtray.

Were his eyes blurry due to his headache? Jarre shook his head and averted his eyes from the back mirror. He didn't want to see the staff member's sinister face any longer.

"…Can we drop this subject? It makes me feel bad."

He felt as if the black mist drifting inside the car was defiling his body and mind. His face reflected on the window looked so pale he barely recognized himself.

"So this is the pitiful ending of a stupid human who'd been unable to give up his dream he had no chances of fulfilling, huh."

"I told you to stop."

Revealing his anger, Jarre glared at the staff member.

He felt discomfort welling up as if he was being criticized.

''I'm not like that. My mission is raising talented children into the best actors. I don't regret getting on the stage—''

He thought of the words he told himself as ridiculous.

He himself who was thinking this knew it better than anyone.

No regrets… Did he merely want to think so and escaped by raising students?

Jarre held his head and scowled.

"However, that might be a happy ending in its own way. There's no point to keep living if you can't give up on your dream."

Not minding Jarre's orders, the staff member continued spewing these words drenched in malice.

Jarre had nowhere to escape to inside the closed car. His expression once revealed anger, but it was gradually growing frailer.

"Stop. Stop it…"

That sound echoed again.

''I… by comparing myself to the talented students, was I merely trying to fulfill my own dream…?''

Every time he heard the cracked metallic sound he was robbed of his ability to think rationally.

"I want to stop suffering—was probably what he'd thought. Because his life, so filled with regrets, truly was a living hell."

"Uh… Uhhh…"

"And so he had been released. From his dream, that is."

"Uhhh…"

As Jarre blocked his ears, he hadn't noticed that the man reflected in the back mirror was not even moving his mouth anymore.

The voice he heard was a coarse voice quite unlike that of the man.

"He was finally able to escape from his pitiful, miserable life…"

Until they reached the hotel, the loud metallic sound and the man's murmurs never ceased.

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