Kino no Tabi:Volume8 Frontispiece2

“The Land Where No Crime Can Be Done” — Black box —

Kino and Hermes had eyeglasses on.

Kino, of course, was wearing it on her face. Meanwhile, Hermes…

“Kino, isn’t this weird?”

“You look great, I swear.”

“Really? But it’s so annoying.”

…was wearing it in front of his headlights.

And then the bespectacled human and vehicle was greeted by a view of the country’s interior as the inner gates opened before them.

—

A little while ago.

“Now, let me explain,” the country’s immigration inspector offered.

The luggage-laden Hermes, together with Kino who was clad in her brown coat, as well as the business-attired inspector were in a small room built within the walls.

“Miss Kino, the object you’re holding right now is a gadget in the form of eyeglasses that serves as a monitoring device.”

There was a pair of eyeglasses in Kino’s hands, just as the inspector pointed out. At first glance, it looked very much like normal glasses. However, attached on its sides where it would touch the temples were tiny contraptions the size of the tip of a pinky.

“The left one with the lens is a camera, while the one at the right is a sound recording device and power supply. That camera will record whatever Miss Kino sees, even at night. The same goes for the sound recorder. This means that all of your actions will be monitored. But that’s an obvious invasion of privacy, so the ones who can do the monitoring are—”

“Only the police or the court?”

“That’s right, Mr. Hermes. A person can’t even look at his own records. When a police warrant is issued, only then can the suspect’s records be viewed. Therefore, all criminal acts are exposed, no exceptions.”

“I see. So that’s why this place is called the ‘country where no crime can be done’.”

The inspector nodded enthusiastically in response to Kino’s words. Of course, he was wearing the aforementioned glasses.

“That’s right. It is clear to see that in this country, ‘all wrongdoings are exposed’. Everyone knows that this effort is all worth it. Before, crimes were frequent and murder was the top cause of death. Superficial action wasn’t able to remedy the situation, so we pooled together our wisdom and created this system. For the past several decades, public order has dramatically improved. Now, there are no other crimes except for those done on impulse, and even these are exposed immediately.”

“I see.”

“Uh-huh.”

“To protect this system, we created a law that prohibits removing these glasses whenever your body is in movement, with a few exceptions. When the user’s brain waves are not in a resting state, and the glasses detected that it was removed from the skin for more than thirty seconds, a warning is issued and the people nearby will be alerted with their glasses. The few exceptions are when you are sleeping, dressing up, putting on make-up, taking a shower, and so on. All over the country, there are eyeglass charging stations that serve as support by allowing the user to get projected. The camera can also recognize if the user is doing one of the exceptions through the body’s form.”

“This is some amazing technology.”

“True, true. So amazing.”

“Well, I’m glad to hear that.”

After an embarrassed laugh, the examiner finally got to the point. He informed Kino and Hermes that the condition for entering the country was for Kino to wear the glasses during their three-day stay, just like ordinary citizens.

“That’s fine with me. I will do it,” Kino said with a nod. And then she asked the inspector, “By the way, what about Hermes? I think it’s a good idea to let Hermes wear one too.”

“Well, a motorrad cannot move by itself, so the law doesn’t really require it…”

“But in case of a traffic accident, it might be helpful if one is attached to Hermes…”

“Oh! That makes sense. Miss Kino understands the system very well! Okay then, I will have one made for Mr. Hermes right away!”

—

The bespectacled Kino and Hermes stayed in the country for three days. They rested and looked around, sold things they ought to sell, and bought things they needed.

It was a country with very good public order. No problems occurred and they caused no problems either.

“We did not break the speed limit, not even once.”

And soon it was time for them to depart.

“What are we going to do with these glasses?” Kino asked the inspector before the western gates.

“Once you’ve passed through the gates and stepped out of the country, you are no longer obliged to wear the glasses. Kindly hand them over to the guard at the outer gates. Of course, since you have not done anything illegal, all your records will be erased. You don’t have to worry about any invasion of privacy.”

After the inspector’s explanation, the glasses-wearing Kino glanced at the glasses-wearing Hermes. After some thought, Kino said, “If it’s possible, will you let us keep these? When we arrive in the next country, we would like to introduce to them this country’s wonderful invention. If we only talk about it, they might not believe that such advanced technology exists.”

“Oh.” The inspector was a bit surprised. “If it’s for something like that, then you can have it! By all means, use it to introduce them to our country’s ways. However, the battery will only last for two more days. Too bad, but it will lost its features.”

And so Kino and Hermes bid farewell to the inspector and guard, and proceeded on the road amidst the lush meadows towards the west.

—

“I just made a killing. A huge one.”

Kino muttered suspiciously as she rode through the meadows, her back to the walls that were getting smaller and smaller as they get farther away. Instead of the usual goggles, she was wearing the aforementioned glasses. And also, above Hermes’ headlights…

“Ah, enough already. Take these off.”

…the glasses were still attached.

“Just wait a bit more, Hermes. Only until the walls have completely disappeared from view.”

“Sheesh.”

And when Kino was sure that the top of the walls has vanished beneath the horizon, she cut Hermes’ engine.

Kino took out a metal lunchbox-like case from the box at the side of the rear wheel. Though it was rare of Kino to carry unnecessary things, the box was empty.

“Ah, so annoying,” Hermes grumbled.

And at last Kino removed the glasses from Hermes’ headlights as well as from her own face. Then she took out a small pin and tinkered with the hole of the recording device. She poked it several times, and repeated the same action after a few seconds. Eventually, the glasses let out a beeping sound. She did the same thing to the other one.

“—Done. With this it will stop functioning and our records will be erased,” Kino said happily as she carefully wrapped the two glasses in a cloth. And just as carefully, she stowed them away in the metal box and put it back in the rear wheel box.

“In the next country, we can sell this for a high price and earn a big profit. What’s more, we were lucky enough to be able to get two of it,” Kino explained merrily.

There was no longer a device to record her remark.

“You’re unbelievably wicked, Kino,” Hermes said.

Kino did not seem to hear or care about Hermes’ comment. At that moment, Kino was floating in her dreams of eating delicious food and buying new underwear.

“And we’re also going to get new oil and tires for you, Hermes.”

“I approve! —It was such a great country, wasn’t it?”

Kino nodded and started Hermes’ engine.

Translator’s Notes

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