Homeward (1)
The thought of having to tear down the house they had lived in for so long nearly brought Monia to tears, yet there was no choice. They needed to reclaim every rope and cord used in its construction.
They gathered not only the ropes and cords they had used, but also the tools they had broken and remade during their stay.
There were many broken things.
The stone axe that had already been damaged before they arrived here. The stone knife that snapped while they were recording information about winter. The rope they had tied to a fish trap, only for some unknown creature to bite through it.
While stripping the tough, thick hides of the upper-level beasts by sheer force, one of the claw knives had snapped clean through; they had fitted a new handle to the broken piece, leaving it a little shorter than before.
The machete’s edge was quite worn as well.
They had tried to be careful, but cutting through coarse grass, tough hides, and hard meat meant they used it far more often than they had on the lower level.
The best stone for a whetstone was still at their house on the lower level, so until they reached it they planned to spare the machete as much as possible.
Once every preparation was finished, the two of them, Ant, and the young master of the island set out along the path home, baskets and cushion-rafts strapped to their backs.
The young master of the island was coming along so he would know the location of Chester’s house and they could continue to exchange visits in the future.
“On the way back, let’s ride the river.”
“Pardon?”
Chester gave the cushion-raft on his back a little shake.
“Not this. We’ll build a proper raft and ride that. It’ll be more comfortable, right?”
“……I do want to try it. A real raft.”
“Yeah? Then I’d better make it extra well.”
When Monia said she wanted to ride a raft, Chester lightly kissed her cheek and promised to put his heart into building it.
“Eheh.”
At the natural kiss, Monia laughed and touched her cheek.
They had never spoken the words of love that lived in their hearts. Yet they had clearly shared those feelings and drawn closer.
Neither of them fully realized it, but the journey in search of the shining lake had been the greatest reason they had grown so near to each other.
The tension of exploring unknown territory. The fear and awe born from the gigantic creatures and strange phenomena they had witnessed while roaming the upper level.
They had pressed on with hearts constantly clenched, only for the stream to vanish without warning. Relying on Ant to find the lost water again, they had continued a march that seemed endless.
At the end of that hard, painful time, the moment they found the shining lake, their hearts unclenched, and bodies freed of tension became honest to the voices deep inside them.
Both Chester and Monia were finally able to show each other the feelings they had only ever held in secret.
After spending a little sweet time with Monia, Chester went to find the young master of the island.
The wary observation of their first meeting was gone; now Chester raised a hand in a light morning greeting as if to an old friend.
It was not only his manner that had changed.
Through many conversations he had learned that the young master of the island bore the name Black Wind, and he had gained a rough understanding of the life they led at the summit of the island.
In turn, Black Wind had learned the names of Chester, Monia, and Ant, how they had come to this island, and how they lived.
When Chester explained how they planned to travel, Black Wind asked again, unable to grasp the method.
— What do you mean, ride the river?
— Just watch. You’ll have an interesting experience.
On the road home, Chester and Monia witnessed many mysterious sights.
What were they? The countless, varied beasts that took one look at Black Wind, panicked, and fled.
The snake that had been flicking its tongue, waiting for them to draw near.
The giant cat that had hidden in the shade of a tree, ready at any moment to leap down and tear out a throat.
The boar that had charged in excitement, determined to drive its sharp tusks deep into a belly.
All those creatures, larger than a man as befit the upper level of the Floating Island, turned tail the instant Black Wind appeared.
The reason was simple.
Black Wind’s people, the masters of the island, truly acted as masters of the island.
Just as a person who tends grass and flowers in a yard, as its owner, removes animals and insects that ruin it and pulls weeds that grow too tall and ugly, so they managed the island.
If any creature seemed to harm the island’s environment too greatly, they wiped out its line and restored peace. If a typhoon left debris that blocked the flow of a river, they cleared it so flooding would not follow.
If they found a tasty creature, they caught it, penned it somewhere, and raised it for its meat. If they found a delicious plant, they worked to spread it across the whole island.
Creatures of the lower level, which the masters of the island rarely managed, might not even know of their existence. But the beasts of the upper level had watched these masters manage and rule the island.
Many had charged in ignorance and been taught a harsh lesson; many had seen strong creatures they themselves would never dare challenge hunted down in misery.
Therefore, unless a beast was as proud of its strength and as fearless as the rhinoceros that had once charged Black Wind, none stepped forward to challenge a master of the island.
Just as, aside from the occasional insect that might attack a front yard, there is nothing that can truly threaten a homeowner.
“You know, the people of the summit seem even more amazing than I thought.”
“They do. More than what Black Wind told us.”
Monia called Black Wind’s people the People of the Summit.
If their tribe—Black Wind called them family, but still—had a name they used among themselves, she would have used that. Yet the masters of the island had lived in a place where the only beings with whom they could share culture were their own kind.
There had been no need for a special word to refer to their own people, so no such name had ever arisen.
But if Chester and Monia were to speak of them comfortably, a suitable name was necessary. Calling them “Black Wind’s family” every time was tiresome.
So: People of the Summit.
When Chester explained that the name meant those who lived in the highest place, Black Wind liked it and said he would spread the name among his family.
— This, can eat.
— Mushrooms?
— This one no make body hurt. Many look same, but look near root, tell apart.
Having Black Wind with them was good for more than simply avoiding danger.
He pointed out countless safe foods, especially mushrooms that Chester and Monia had never dared touch.
“Mushrooms, huh.”
“Mushrooms…”
What exactly were mushrooms? For a long time they had remained a mystery to people.
They were certainly not animals, yet they were too different from other plants to be called plants.
They did not bloom. Leaves did not grow. They bore no fruit. They did not spread seeds with the help of insects or birds.
Mushrooms simply appeared one day in a place where nothing had been. That was why people sometimes feared them as “plants sown by witches.”
Nowadays people could tell poisonous from edible and cooked the edible ones…
“Hmm. How do you even eat mushrooms?”
That was a noble’s matter. Edible mushrooms were rare near the kingdom and only nobles ate them; Chester had never tasted one in his life.
“You just roast them. It’s a shame we have no oil, though. Oh, did you know? There’s a little restaurant in the capital. Reservations are so fierce I’ve only managed to go about three times, but they serve a mushroom steak made from a huge mushroom…”
“So just roast them?”
“Yes. And that mushroom steak tastes like—ah, now I really want one again. I wonder if I’ll ever get to eat it once more.”
While Monia trailed off into craving mushroom steak and practically drooling, dinner preparations finished.
The menu was snake roasted by Black Wind, roasted mushrooms, and a few pieces of fruit.
Black Wind loved food cooked over fire. He loved it so much that whatever edible thing he brought back, he roasted it first and asked questions later.
He had even tried to roast grass and ended up eating a mouthful of char.
“Here, Ant’s share.”
— Woof! Woof!
Since they used no seasoning, they gave Ant some of the roasted food as well, and the four of them began to eat.
While Chester and Monia cut their food apart with claw knives, Ant followed their example, tearing pieces and letting them cool before eating. Black Wind simply took huge bites of the roasted snake, bones and all.
— Woo! Hoo! Hoo! Hooo! Hoo! Hoo! Hoooh! Ho! Hohoho, ho! Woo-woo.
After biting into the well-roasted snake whole, he puffed steam from his mouth and flailed his arms and legs to endure the heat.
“Eat a little slower.”
“We’re not going to steal it from you, you know.”
As they spoke, Black Wind began making an even greater fuss about how delicious it was.
“Monia, you were just like that the first time you ate roasted fish.”
“I was never like that!”
“Really? Truly?”
“Ugh… W-well, maybe I was a little bit like that, in a way that isn’t entirely untrue!”
“What are you even saying?”
It was a thoroughly lively meal.