Kino no Tabi:Volume14 Chapter1

“Land of Cultivation of Aesthetic Sensibility” -Do What We say!-

A long, long time ago, there were two travelers somewhere.

Driving a small car that looked like it was going to break down any moment, the two travelers entering some country were asked this by a citizen:

“The children in my country are really rebellious and violent, and there’s always a never ending mess. For the sake of education, we have asked them to do a lot of things in the past like trying to raise a pet, learning music, and drawing pictures, but none of it works. Travelers, do you have any good advice you can give us?”

The travelers strolled through the country, finding that the children here really were lawless like a horse that escaped from its reigns.

But then –

“Why are you so stupid?! Can’t you even remember when to feed the pet?”

“Stop blathering all this nonsense, hurry up and practice your instrument! In theory, even trash like you should be able to do something so easy!”

“What is this mess that you’re drawing?! If you’re so unfocused, I’m going to give you a wallop again!”

Parents and adults all were scolding or spanking children like this.

Then, the next day, the laws determined to have no use were changed, and the children still had no obligation to comply with the demands.

The result was that the children in the city all rioted; some threw out their pets from a height, smashed their music instruments against the ground, set their artworks on fire—-anyhow, they did whatever they wanted. Although the adults beat up the children to prevent those events, the children still did not stop what they were doing.

After seeing this scene, one of the travelers, a beautiful woman who looked like the stronger of the two, told this to the adults of the country:

“After this, you should let them learn how to use Persuaders (Note: firearms). Firing bullets is the most useful for developing concentration.”

Hearing the adults exclaim “Ooh!” and “That’s it!” the two travelers then hurriedly left the country.

“Master should have said that on purpose, right?”

“It’s possible~”

Hermes and Kino discussed while they headed towards that country.

“But, Hermes, I did learn a lot from Master’s teachings.

“Practice for staying highly alert while sleeping to prevent getting shot at, and keeping calm while continuing shooting even if bullets hit someplace really close by, things like that.”

Soon, they could see the city walls. Hermes said, “I can’t believe it’s still here.”

When Kino and Hermes applied to enter the country, the immigration officer stopped Kino from carrying any Persuaders inside. After asking—

“Because a long, long time ago, a bunch of killings happened inside of my country...” The immigration officer said, a bit embarrassed.

Hermes mercilessly followed up with “What kind of killings?”, but the officer did not reply.

Even then, the two still entered the country.

It turned out that all the children in the country lived happily and easily. They loved pets, played musical instruments and drawing, and the country was brimming with the children’s smiles.

The adults watching this scene to the side were also very composed. They did not scold or yell, and nobody even spanked any children.

“Hm.....”

Kino looked around and saw a man in his early fifties looking tenderly at the children. Kino walked towards him and gave a self introduction.

“I haven’t seen a country with such energetic and happy children before. May I know what sort of education policy your country used?”

The man replied to the question with only one phrase:

“‘Not force’.”

Hermes asked, “That means...?”

Kino made a “that’s not a hint” type of complicated expression, but the man only directed his answer towards that point.

“Because they only knew force. When teaching things to people, we only used forceful moves. So as long as we don’t use force, it’s okay.”

The even more confused Kino could not help tilting her head to show incomprehension.

“Talking from an educational position, I believe travelers will understand as well. Without understanding the person receiving the education and your own self giving the education, it’s impossible to have things go the way you want it to.”

“So...?”

“So no matter if it’s the right action or an action that shouldn’t be done, you have to be a model yourself first.”

“Then you... what did you do?”

The man did not answer Kino’s question.

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