Kino no Tabi:Volume3 Chapter5

“A Land Not Permitting Discrimination” —True Blue Sky—

“Anyway, let’s see if we can ask the people around here, Kino.”

“Yeah…. I suppose that’s the best way after all. ——Ah, umm… excuse me?”

“Yes? Oh, you guys aren’t from this country, are you?”

“That’s right. We are travelers. We just arrived in this country.”

“Then, welcome.”

“By the way, there’s something I would like to ask.”

“Sure, what would that be?”

“I’m looking for ×××××. Is there one nearby?”

“……? What did you say just now?”

“I was asking if there’s a ××××× around here.”

“Wait a minute. Are you making fun of people with that sort of job? What in the world are you trying to pull?!”

“Eh? No. I’m just looking for ×××××.”

“Ah! What a thing to say…. Hey traveler! If you insult these people any further, I will not forgive you!”

“……”

“Kino?”

“… Uh, if that’s the case, then let me rephrase it.”

“By all means! That’s what I want you to do!”

“Let’s see. Isn’t there a ××××× in this country? Or, is there a ××××× here? That is all I want to know.”

“… Truly, what a thing to say! You are such a terrible person! To say it in such a manner, do you not realize the pain you cause them? Wait, everyone come here! Everyone come!”

“Oh? What’s the matter?” “What?” “What’s with the loud voice?” “Why?” “What is it?”

“Listen everyone. Just now, this traveler said some outrageous things! She used ugly discriminatory words over and over again! Unforgivable!”

“You don’t have to shout just because of that…. Uh, is it you? Are you the traveler this lady here was talking with just now?”

“Yes, that’s right. But it seems like she finds my use of words offensive no matter what I do.”

“Hmm. It may be that this lady is just being too sensitive and melodramatic. Well, what is it that you want to know, miss traveler?”

“Umm, I just wanted to ask if there isn’t a ××××× here.”

“! W-w-what a thing… Miss traveler, please stop saying such things with a calm face. That is extreme mockery of a specific organization, of a profession!”

“That’s…. A ×××××, I’m looking for a ××××× that can do ×××××.”

“T-that’s enough! If you continue to spit out such careless remarks, we will take action against you!”

“Yeah!” “Cut it out!” “You scum!”

“Huh? Maybe no matter what I do, I will ×××××? What do you think, Hermes?”

“Kino. Perhaps, there’s no such thing as a ××××× here? That’s why they can’t conceive of the idea of ×××××. Whether you use ××××× or ×××××, it’s the same as ×××××?”

“Aack! Even the motorrad says mean things! They suit each other so well!”

“That’s right! You people are trash. You don’t deserve to live; your existence should be condemned! There’s something wrong with you!”

“Uh, there seems to be a misunderstanding somehow. To rephrase, I was just thinking of a ×××××. Isn’t there a ××××× with ×××××?”

“Eeek!” “What a thing to say!” “Didn’t I tell you? I was right!” “Hmph, there’s nothing we can do, this person’s rotten to the core!” “Don’t let the children hear!” “Boy, let’s go over there.”

“This is some trouble…. Hermes, do you know any good words to say?”

“How does ‘×××××’ sound to you?”

“What does ‘×××××’ mean?”

“Eeek—! Terrible! This is too much! You guys sure say such things so casually!”

“Hey damn brat! Stop using such abusive language! Stop this instant! Otherwise!”

“Otherwise?”

“……. Hmph! W-what’s that? Are you planning to threaten me with that hand persuader on your hip? Hah! Did you think I would stab you here? Give me a break! I wouldn’t do such a thing! It was only by chance that this knife fell from my pocket, and I was just returning it! Don’t jump to conclusions. You don’t believe a person now? You sad excuse for a human! You a*****e!”

“My goodness! You were thinking of using violence to have your way? You’re the worst!”

“That’s right. With that sort of attitude, it’s likely that up to now, she has killed a lot of people just because they don’t agree with her. She thinks nothing of shooting people. This person is a cold-blooded killer!”

“Yeah. If we just keep quiet and listen, she’ll say whatever she wants…. Words used without caution are weapons that can hurt people. What a foolish, defective creature.”

“Let’s understand her pain. Let’s go beyond our anger and feel compassion towards this person’s prejudiced ideas. I’m sure her parents were trash, and did not teach her what’s right from wrong. Or maybe they were very poor and did not have the time for that. The father must be an alcoholic, and the mother must have run off to become somebody else’s mistress.”

“I see…. Well, I sort of understand what everyone is trying to say. My ××××× is ×××××, I suppose.”

“Kino, whichever way you say it, isn’t that ×××××?”

“You son of a b***h! To say that again! Leave this moment! Get out of this country! Get out of our sight! We can’t allow prejudiced people like you to stay in this country for even one more second! We would like to tear you to pieces for the sake of the poor people you have insulted, but since we’re generous, we’ll forgive you if you leave! Accept the mercy of these rational people, and get out of here! Everyone! Let’s expel these b******s with our combined forces!”

“That’s right! Get out! Get out of here!” “Trash!” “Murderer! Sadist!” “Get out!”

“This brat! Eat this——”

“That would be troublesome. Please stop.”

“… W-what are you glaring at? … I-I was just trying to pick up a stone which fell by my feet! Because it might be dangerous if a child trips on it! D-don’t get the wrong idea! You crazy b***h!”

“That’s right! This man is a kind person! I know that all too well! But it will take someone so skillful in spitting out words and actions that hurt people like you a whole lifetime to understand that!”

“Leave! Leave at once! If you want to die, die outside the country! And then become food for the maggots! This country is too good for prejudiced and violent people like you to breathe in!”

“Yeah, yeah! Do not pollute our country! Do not enter our beautiful country! You disgusting f***k!”

“When I see this person’s behavior, I remember a ruthless dictator from long ago who ordered the massacre of tens of thousands of people for the sake of his twisted ideology…. It makes me shiver. I’m sure this person is his reincarnation.”

“That’s right…. Hey traveler. Get out of this country right now. And know that words can become weapons. But don’t come near this country ever again. Do not infect us with your disgusting disease.”

“Yeah, get out.” “Get out!” “Beat it!” “Leave!” “Please leave now!” “Disappear!”

“… Oh dear. Well, it can’t be helped. Please excuse us. Take care, everyone. As for ×××××, maybe it’s better to ×××××.”

“Eeek——!” “You had to say that just when you’re about to leave!” “Get out! Get lost!”

“Get lost! Get lost!”

“Well then. ——Let’s go Hermes.”

“Bye-bye everyone!”

—

“——Phew. At last they’re gone. Those guys were hopeless.”

“Yeah. It’s so sad to see that people like that still exist. But they were outsiders after all.”

“That’s right. In our country, there are no such prejudiced people. We can only recognize the good attributes of things. We take everything in a positive light.”

“Anyway, what were the immigration inspectors doing? Why did they let that crazy traveler get an entry permit? Shouldn’t a person like that be sent to the hospital instead?”

“Indeed.”

“That’s true. People only come occasionally, so they should at least do their work properly.”

“Well, asking for an intelligent immigration inspector is too much. There’s no helping their stupidity.”

“Yeah. No one supervises their work, and even though discrimination is such an unforgivable thing, only the immigration inspectors think differently. It can’t be helped because they were failures since birth.”

“There are so many of them that we can’t count them with our fingers, right?”

“Ah, I’ve also heard about that.”

“So stupid.”

“Even so, these trash live long. Did you know? Their life expectancy is twice as much as that of an average person.”

“That’s amazing. I didn’t know. How come?”

“Well, that’s probably because they don’t use their heads. And so they don’t age. Having a long life is not necessarily a good thing, though.”

“True, true.” “You can say that again.”

“After all, the inspectors dared live outside the walls, in such a barbaric environment. I’ve heard before that those guys come into the country only once a month, when they receive their salary and go shopping. The rest of the time they spend outside the walls…. I wonder what they do with their families?”

“Well, they’re barbaric by nature. Barbaric people deserve to be in barbaric forests and wastelands.”

“Ahaha. Nice one. Civilized living is for civilized people, after all.”

“Speaking of which, even if those people decide to get married to a normal person in the country, in most cases they tend to look for a person who has no parents or relatives. Also, they prefer young ones, those who are barely old enough to get married.”

“Ah——, oh no. Then that means, if we get married to these people, we can no longer return to the country?”

“So those guys are pedophiles too?” “Disgusting…. They should die.”

“Then once they get married, they can only come into the country once a month?”

“Yikes! That’s horrendous. I wonder, what sort of lifestyle do they have? Not that I’m particularly interested.”

“I heard a rumor that whenever those guys come into the country, they wear hats, masks and gloves, and never take them off even in summer. Now that’s extremely creepy. And it seems that they don’t reveal their lifestyles even to their closest friends.”

“Wow, so terrible.”

“Those kinds of humans should never have been born. That’s what I think.”

“Indeed. In any case, if you were born as an inspector, you’d be one your whole life. That’s so crazy. If it were me, I’d commit suicide.”

“Well by law, everyone’s free to choose their own career. For instance, they can become a teacher inside the country if they want. … Anyway, I don’t think those people are fit for other jobs. If one of them said they wanted a normal job, that may be something worth seeing.”

“No, I don’t want to see it! If an inspector applies for the same job as I have, I’ll say ‘It’s regrettable, but we can’t accept you because the documents were lost accidentally.’ I don’t want to get contaminated.”

“That’s only a rational decision by a rational person. I’ll do the same thing. If there was an exam, I’ll fail him no matter how high his score was. That’s because if an inspector gets hired, the customers will all go away.”

“Hey everyone, let’s stop this talk about trash. It’s a waste of time. Let’s just protect our beautiful culture and carry on with our wonderful lives. There’s no need for us at all to sympathize with the needy.”

“That’s right.” “Well said.” “I agree.”

“Come. Let’s return to our lives——”

—

There was a small guard post beside the gates just outside the walls.

Over there, a man was sitting and leisurely reading a book. He was probably around thirty years old. The words ‘immigration inspector’ was embroidered on the white shirt he was wearing.

Kino knocked on the window of the guard post. The inspector placed the book on top of the desk, stood up and went out through the door.

Kino asked the inspector, “Excuse me. I’ll be leaving the country right away. What about the departure procedures?”

“There’s no need. You didn’t undergo entry procedures either, after all,” the inspector said, and grinned, “Well, you probably understand the reason right?”

Kino nodded. “Yes, I understand very well. Up to now, I’ve been around various places, but this one set a new record for my shortest stay in any country.”

“In any case, please don’t feel violated. All the people in this country feel like that.”

“It sure looks that way. None of them seems to be joking around. Anyway, what is a ×××××, really?”

“Ah. It seems that it was not like that in the past. The leader that time said, ‘Because a ××××× is ×××××, we can’t ×××××’. From then on, it’s ×××××. Ever since, it has always been ×××××. Probably, ××××× is ×××××.”

“I see.” “I understand.”

Kino nodded, and Hermes murmured with profound emotion.

“Even though you took the trouble to come here, I hope you don’t feel bad.”

“Not at all! It was very interesting,” Kino said with a smile.

“I thought you’d say that. All travelers do,” the inspector said, looking amused.

Kino looked up at the towering walls beside her.

“These walls are also amazing. It’s the first time I’ve seen something like this.”

“Isn’t it?” The inspector nodded and raised his head.

The grey walls the two were looking at had no top. Extended right above it was a gently drawn curve which eventually merges with the walls on the opposite side. The entire country was covered with a concrete dome.

“It was completely enclosed. I was very surprised when I saw the interior.”

“It was like a super-duper humongous egg. When we saw it from afar, we thought it was some sort of a mountain,” Hermes said.

“Since when was it like this?” Kino asked.

“Too bad, but I don’t know. All we do know is that it might have existed back in my great-great-great-great grandfather’s time. It was in one of his remaining drawings.”

“Oh…”

Kino looked up at the walls again.

“However, it was such a dirty country, Kino. No, not the people, but the town.”

As Hermes said this, the inspector nodded several times.

“Yeah, it’s so dirty…. Isn’t that terrible? It’s like that all over the country. As you can see, on top of the enclosed space, they basically have no sense of hygiene at all. I don’t know if you noticed it, but everyone lets their kitchen waste and sewage flow into the street. Upstream the river flowing from the north, the water is clear and there are many fish, but downstream it becomes pitch black you can no longer tell what’s flowing in it. It’s untouchable. Inside the houses, there are swarms of rats, and there are also lots of cockroaches.”

“What’s a ‘cockroach’?” Kino asked the inspector.

The inspector spread his thumb and index finger apart.

“It’s an insect, but it’s about this big. It is flat, oval in shape, and looks greasy. It’s often seen coming out of the kitchen.”

“Kino, haven’t you seen a cockroach before?” Hermes asked.

Kino shook her head. “Nope.”

“That’s good for you, Miss Kino. It’s a pretty disgusting sight whenever you see it crawling around in the dining area or in the bedroom. Well, of course it’s like that inside the country. There was a time when I saw a number of them being boiled thoroughly in the hotel cafeteria’s serving pot…. Ah, well let’s leave it at that.”

The inspector shook his head and hands with an anguished expression.

“I see…. Insects which I haven’t seen before; it would be nice to see them for a bit,” Kino said without changing her expression.

“Stop, stop! In this world, there are things that you’re better off not knowing at all. A cockroach is one such thing.”

“Is that so?” Kino asked with a straight face.

“Yes, that’s right,” the inspector said with a wry smile, and then continued. “Well, now that I think about it, I don’t know if I can bear living in such a place. I can’t stay there long without gloves and a mask. However…, those people will never know the outside world from birth until death. Of course, they think that’s the best thing. That’s what they were taught as they grew up. People who live in paradise don’t dream of new lands.”

“I see,” Kino said, and turned her gaze at the opposite side of the walls.

The cool breeze blew over the bright green meadows under the clear sky. On both sides of the road due east were neatly trimmed fields. A dark coniferous forest spread out from afar.

Beside a stream a little ways off the walls was the wooden house of the inspector, with its waterwheel turning about leisurely. A woman who seemed to be the inspector’s wife was drying laundry. Beside, two children were playing with a swing suspended from a tree.

“It’s such a nice place, isn’t it?” Kino said.

“Thanks. I also like it here,” the inspector said with a sigh.

“Even Kino can live longer if she stays in a place like this forever,” Hermes teased.

The inspector chuckled, “That may be true. We inspectors usually don’t die before we see the faces of our grandchildren. However, the people inside the country only live long enough to see their children graduate. Most of them die due to disease. It’s because of the poor hygiene and the filthy air. Frankly speaking, it’s dangerous in there. They will never be attacked by wild animals or be hit by enemy bullets, but they’re in danger nevertheless.”

Kino nodded lightly, and looked at the meadows once more.

—

“There’s a detour road along the northern walls. If you arrive in front of the western gates, it will be a good idea to stop by since my older sister and cousin are the inspectors over there. You can find accommodations, portable rations and fuel there. If it’s not much of a bother, please tell them my family and I are doing well,” the inspector said to Kino who was ready to depart.

“Thank you very much. I’ll tell them.”

“Thanks for everything.”

Kino put on her hat, and when she was about to ride Hermes,

“Miss Kino,” the inspector asked all of a sudden. “What does ‘true blue sky’ mean?”

“Eh?” Kino turned around.

“‘True blue sky’. I’m not referring to its literal meaning,” the inspector slowly repeated.

“It’s just like a riddle, eh?” Kino said with a wry smile.

The inspector nodded. “Yeah, you can think of it that way. ――The people in the country thinks of the painted interior illuminated with fluorescent lights as their true blue sky. Well…, if the traveler Kino were to be asked the question, ‘What does ‘true blue sky’ mean to you?’ what would be your answer?”

Kino seemed a little troubled for a while, and then,

“… I see. I will answer this. ‘There’s no such thing.’”

“Why is that?” The inspector asked immediately.

Kino answered with a gentle tone, “The sky’s blueness… changes so much depending on the place, time, season and weather. And each one of them was beautiful. In those times I didn’t think much of them, but now that I recall, I think they’re all beautiful. I can’t tell you which one is the ‘true blue sky’ among all of the skies I’ve seen. … That’s why, ‘there’s no such thing.’ The ‘me’ right now thinks so.”

The inspector gazed at Kino as he listened to her. Then, he nodded several times.

“Ah, I see…. There was that sort of answer too….”

Hermes asked the muttering inspector, “Who had?”

“My grandfather,” the inspector answered immediately.

Kino gave him a questioning look for a moment. And then,

“I see. You were asked the same question by your grandfather, right?”

“Exactly. It was when my grandfather was on the verge of death. At that time, I was still too young to discern things. He said this: ‘It doesn’t matter whether you find the ‘true blue sky’ or not. I asked, ‘What are you talking about?’ And he said while laughing, ‘That’s why it doesn’t matter whether you understand or not. Goodbye, Lügner, my dear grandson.’ And then he died…. Since then, I would vaguely think from time to time what ‘true blue sky’ really means….”

The inspector turned his back to the wall and looked at the blue sky.

“I don’t know if your answer is correct or not. But…, I’m glad I asked you. Thanks,” the inspector said, still looking at the sky.

Kino gazed at the same sky, and gently spoke,

“You’re welcome. This sky’s blue is also very beautiful.”

Translator's Notes

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