On Those Peculiar Companions (4)
Can a person fly through the sky?
Seongyuksin swallowed tears of emotion at the glory of being chosen as the monumental first experimental subject to resolve humanity's age-old question. Of course, whether those tears were truly tears of emotion or tears born of the wretchedness of her situation would require deeper discussion.
"You bastards! I'll curse you all!"
Seongyuksin cried out, voice thick with tears.
But even that cry did not last long, buried as it was beneath the bellowing of hundreds of thousands of whales. Seongyuksin's shoulders twitched.
Uh, uhhh…
What filled her vision was a host of whales surging up as one. Hundreds of thousands of them, massive maws gaping wide as they closed in. Even for a transcendental like her, maintaining composure before such an avant-garde spectacle was no easy task.
"Uu, uuuuuuh…"
She opened her mouth.
"Hwaaaaaaaaaaaaah!"
A scream. Then the sound of a choked gasp as breath forced its way out.
Whoooooosh!
Thanks to Yuel yanking the rope at the perfect moment, Seongyuksin barely managed to evade the whales. But the ones targeting her still numbered in the hundreds of thousands, and the tug-of-war would not end with a single pull.
Her field of vision spun wildly. From above to below, from below to the side, from the side back up again…
Seongyuksin's pupils whirled. As the idol of an entire church, she could hardly commit the discourtesy of spraying vomit across the sky, so she desperately held it back.
"Uweeeeh."
She did not hold out long. The one true mercy was that the distance between sky and ground was considerable, so no one below could see her heaving.
"Remarkable."
Yuel marveled as she ran, yanking the rope.
"Truly, an astonishingly effective strategy. To think we could breach the territory of the Heavenly Whale Star this way? I never imagined it."
She seemed genuinely impressed. Yuel gave Najin a thumbs-up.
"Excellent work."
"You're not being sarcastic, are you?"
"I do not engage in such sly and underhanded behavior. I speak only the truth. Truth is a virtue, after all."
"Didn't you lie before? Claiming I'd promised a life-or-death duel and such…"
"I did no such thing."
Lies flowing out without so much as a change of expression.
In any case, the two of them ran hard. Screams seemed to drift down from the sky now and then, but that was surely just their imagination. Auditory hallucinations conjured by the whales' cries, no doubt.
"Ah, the altitude has dropped."
Ramming.
"If we could just jerk a little to the side, that would be ideal. Can you manage it, Najin?"
"Is this angle about right?"
"Good. Yes, fire it just like that."
Ramming.
"I don't hear any screams. She seems to have fainted."
"Shall we wake her?"
"At this rate the light will grow dim. She won't be able to serve as bait then. Yes, let's wake her."
"Hmm, if she's at that position…"
"Ah, I'll handle it."
Kiiiiiiiiiiiiiiing!
The moment Yuel's blood-curdling sword-cry rang out, Seongyuksin shuddered and opened her eyes. Blinking as if she had just escaped a long nightmare, she let out a sigh of relief. Ah, it was a dream.
"Ah."
Then she confirmed the whales charging straight at her, thought Fuck, it wasn't a dream, and screamed all over again.
Similar things kept repeating.
"Najin. Do you know about the canaries of the mines?"
"No? What's that?"
"In brief, it is a metaphor for the being that screams and dies first when danger approaches."
"Ah, so Seongyuksin is the canary?"
"Something like that. All the more so in that she screams."
Najin glanced up at the sky for a moment. Toward the screaming Seongyuksin, he offered his thanks. Thanks to your sacrifice we can press forward, and we will not forget that sacrifice…
"I can see the end. One last altitude boost should do it. Najin?"
"Already preparing."
Ramming. As a storm battered Seongyuksin's body, Najin and Yuel broke free of the Heavenly Whale Star's domain.
"I'm not doing this."
"Pardon?"
"I'm not. I'm going back. After being treated like this, you expect me to keep traveling with you? Sorry! I'm not that good-natured a person."
Seongyuksin was thoroughly sulking. Sweeping back her ruined hair, she whipped her head around — as if even meeting their eyes was too much. Leaving Seongyuksin stomping off behind them, Najin pulled Yuel aside.
"Najin, it seems the lashing was a bit excessive. We will need a carrot."
"Agreed. Do you know of a good carrot?"
"Well. I know of a whip that coils nicely, but…"
Crouched down, Najin and Yuel conferred in secret.
"Ah, come to think of it, there is a rumor that Seongyuksin loves jewels and fine cuisine. The Holy Body Church's finances are not exactly flourishing, so not often — only about once a quarter — she is said to indulge in luxury in the imperial capital…"
Jewels and fine cuisine — luxury, in other words.
Najin let out a short "Ah."
"Lady Seongyuksin?"
"What is it? Do not stop me. If that mad butcher threatens me, I will have no choice but to accompany you, but even then you would do well not to expect my cooperation. You may force my body to its knees, but conquering a spirit as lofty as the heavens…"
"Have you heard of the Dieta Trading Company?"
A twitch. The arms Seongyuksin had crossed so tightly loosened a fraction. She shot Najin a sidelong glance.
"Of course I know it. The massive trading house that has a stranglehold on the empire's logistics. What of it?"
"I'm rather close with their chairwoman."
"…With Chairwoman Dieta?"
Najin drew a crest from his coat. It was a badge granted only to the most exclusive of honored guests of the Dieta Trading Company. Seongyuksin's eyes went wide.
"How do you have that?"
"I'm their promotional model. Anyway, if you're interested, shall I introduce you to the chairwoman?"
"…"
Seongyuksin's arms uncrossed. Najin spoke to her in a near-whisper, detailing the benefits she could reap with his introduction and the spectacular hospitality that would follow.
I never thought I'd end up using the negotiation techniques I learned from Dieta like this.
Finished speaking, Najin watched Seongyuksin's face. For all her talk, she had never truly intended to turn back without a second thought. This was a request for cooperation made in person by the Empire's First Sword, after all; simply walking away would leave quite a mess to clean up afterward.
A signal that said: Please stop me.
A signal that said: Respect me and offer proper compensation.
With signals that blatant, how could he fail to notice? Najin was no great merchant, but he had a knack for reading people.
"…Truly?"
"Yes, truly."
Seongyuksin's expression softened a little. After fretting at her lips, she finally stretched out a hand and offered Najin a handshake. Deal struck. Najin took the hand she offered and gave it a light shake.
"But promise me one thing."
Seongyuksin glared at Najin and Yuel.
"Respect me. This body. I have the right to maintain a minimum of dignity. That is an obligation! I will not permit any further acts that diminish the dignity of the Holy Body Church's idol."
Understood? Seongyuksin declared.
Without waiting for a reply, having unilaterally issued her notice, she stomped off ahead in a huff. Najin and Yuel quietly exchanged glances.
I didn't answer, Najin.
What a coincidence. Neither did I.
The two nodded silently and fell into step behind Seongyuksin.
La Mancha — the road to paradise.
That path was far more treacherous than Najin had imagined. The Heavenly Whale Star had been only the beginning; all manner of bothersome traps and the territories of notoriously foul-tempered constellations overlapped along the way.
Each time, Najin and Yuel devised clever solutions.
"Seongyuksin?"
"What is it? What's with those eyes?"
"Let's go."
"What?"
Sometimes ridiculous schemes.
"We made a promise, didn't we! I said I wouldn't do things like this!"
"I never agreed."
"Neither did I."
"What? No, earlier you clearly—"
"They're coming. We can discuss this after we've dealt with them."
Sometimes valiant battles.
"What's that windmill-looking thing?"
"How about we start by tossing Seongyuksin at it?"
"Shall we?"
"What the hell do you two think I am?"
"Just joking. First, some suppression fire…"
And sometimes battles against peculiar foes.
"Hey, Executioner. Just one favor — can you do something about that sound?"
"Pardon? What sound do you mean?"
"That noise every time you draw your sword, the one like a scream! My whole body shudders every time I hear it!"
"I see."
Kiiiiiiiiiiiiiiing!
"Hwaaaaaaah! Do something about that!"
"It cannot be helped. Ever since I first drew this sword more than two hundred years ago, my sword-cry has been like this. It has been this way since long before you were even born; asking me to change it leaves me rather at a loss."
"The sword! Why is the tip pointed at me! Put it away, set it aside and then talk!"
"Ah, my apologies."
Cooperation with companions as peculiar as the foes themselves.
"Seongyuksin."
"…Again?"
"Yes. Let's go."
"At this point I'm not sure if I'm the Star Incarnation or the bait. Why does it have to be me? Are you about to throw me into that pack of the dead?"
"Bait? What a cold thing to say. You are a magnificent hero sacrificing yourself for your allies. Take pride in yourself. I, Yuel Razian, grand champion of the Holy Blood Church, shall remember your final moments."
With a variety of tactics, wit, and ingenious schemes, the three pressed on toward La Mancha.
Crack. Crack-crack-crack.
On what must have been the umpteenth night of rest, Najin found himself staring into the crackling campfire. He had sensed something off. The journey itself was going smoothly. Smoothly — and yet something was strange.
"Something is wrong."
At Najin's offhand remark, Yuel and Seongyuksin both turned to look at him. They tilted their heads.
"What is?"
"What is it?"
How to put this unease into words? Najin traced his chin and let his gaze drift. There, as always, was his guide, showing him the way.
You know, don't you, Merlin?
-I do know, yes?
She nodded nonchalantly. She had known from the start and simply chosen not to tell him. And if Merlin was reacting this way, it was not a bad sign.
If there had been real danger.
Or if they had been going the wrong way.
Merlin would certainly have told him. That this was not the path. That the road he was walking was wrong. In other words, Merlin's silence meant that what they were doing now was the correct answer.
But at the same time, she didn't deny the sense of wrongness.
Which meant there was something suspicious about it, and that the unease Najin felt was not unfounded. There was something. So what was it?
"…"
Najin's gaze passed over himself, then Yuel, and finally settled on Seongyuksin. The moment he took in that somewhat pathetic face of hers, lightning struck in his mind.
"Ah."
Najin let out a soft "Ah."
"Doesn't it seem strange, if you think about it?"
"What does? That butcher's mental state?"
"That was always strange, so it's hardly worth pointing out now. Not that."
Najin pointed at Seongyuksin.
"From the Heavenly Whale Star all the way here, we've been using you as bait. About seven times."
"So you were keeping count. And? What of it?"
"And every single one of those operations was staged in a ridiculous, farcical way. Think about it. The first time you were thrown as bait to the whales of the Heavenly Whale Star… you threw up in midair, flailed around, made a complete scene, didn't you?"
What, you saw that?
Seongyuksin's face twisted with shame, but this was not a situation for such consideration. Najin pressed on, recounting just how thoroughly she had been wrecked along the way, and how the absurd situations had kept coming one after another.
"Are you trying to mock me? If that's your intent, say so. I'll lodge a formal protest."
"That's not it."
Najin's expression was serious.
"Have you ever heard of a transcendental throwing up?"
"…Ah?"
"Ah."
Only then did Seongyuksin and Yuel both exhale in realization. They were beginning to sense the unease as well.
"There may well have been better methods. And yet for some reason, all the way here, we naturally thought of ridiculous, farcical approaches first. And every single one of those schemes worked far too well."
That was the unease Najin had felt.
"You act like an actor on a stage — exaggeratedly. You rage, you fall apart, you scream."
The tip of his finger indicated Seongyuksin.
"Whether that was always your personality, I don't know for certain, but…"
"Ah, Seongyuksin has always been like that."
"…I suspect there's a degree of exaggeration."
Yuel nodded. Certainly, there did seem to be an exaggerated quality to it.
"It's true of all of us. Whether we each had a touch of this side already, I couldn't say — but throughout this journey, those aspects seem to have been highlighted far too strongly."
Najin frowned.
"Like clowns."
If this story had a genre.
If a certain form existed for it.
The sense that in an instant it had turned into comedy — into farce.
That was the true identity of the unease Najin had felt.