Kino no Tabi:Volume3 Prologue

Prologue "Amidst the Clouds - b" -Blinder - b-

It was completely white.

Above, below, to the right, to the left, there was only white. It was a space of nothing but the color white. And then, the low wind, like the howl of a giant animal, could be heard.

"Wait."

A voice could be heard calling out. It seemed like the voice of a boy.

"Can you see me?"

This voice asked toward the space where nothing was visible.

"No, not at all."

Another voice immediately answered. It was a bit higher-pitched than the first voice.

"You can't, even though we're so close? For now, I think it's best if we don't move for a while," said the first voice.

"Alright," said the second voice shortly.

And then,

"It's magnificent, not being able to see anything at all."

The voice said this as though having fun.

"It's magnificent to not see anything, huh?" the first voice replied.

The echo of the roaring wind grew louder for just a moment.

The other voice, in a lower tone, said, "But soon we'll be able to see again."

"We'll be able to see, huh?" said the first voice. At that time, the white world shook. The direction in which the wind was blowing became bright for a moment.

"Hey. If you were able to see again, but there was nothing at all before your eyes, what would you do? Wouldn't you be a little happy?" the first voice asked.

"Yeah... But, it would be because I know things like that are impossible..."

"What if things cleared up? What would you do then?"

"In that case... There's nothing I can even do about being here... much less anything I can do in that situation. I would just leave. Just leave..."

"There was also a person who couldn't do that," the first voice said.

"Yeah... I'm aware of that. I know a little bit about it. Someone somewhere told me about it. We settled here a day earlier."

"How relentless."

"Yeah. Maybe there's something I don't know as well. And not knowing that, maybe I'll have to suffer something similar. Of course I want to avoid it, but if I don't know how, there's nothing I can do." The voice said this, paused for a moment, and then asked,

"Hey, Hermes. Should I know?"

A response came immediately.

"Come on now--"

The windward brightness increased, and the white grew even lighter.

"It'll clear up soon, Kino," the first voice said.

"Yeah."

The wind suddenly grew stronger, and with a muffled sound, the white air was blown away all at once.