Vol 7 Chapter 2 (1/2)
Chapter 2: The Question
The 19th day of the first month
Including the weekend, it had been three days since the start of the new term
It was past three in the afternoon
It indy and overcast Dark, low-hanging clouds covered the sky
The heavy snowfall fro of 3306 continued to blanket the grounds of the 4th Capital Secondary School Pathways had been cleared, but the field was rendered unusable
Hundreds of students in winter coats ates
It was an after-school traffic jaht at the school Hapless first-years were swept up by the crowds and pushed in every direction
Things had only been made worse by the unusually heavy snowfall and the ice left on the roads Too often students found their feet buried in snowdrifts or lost their footing and fell
Far fro
It was one of the s that went unused after school and was therefore nearly empty
“Man, it’s cold,” Larry Hepburn shi+vered, unlocking the door of a certain room on the first floor
Larry had been Seron’s best friend since first year, and was responsible for Seron’s joining the newspaper club
He had blue eyes, which were common in the Capital District, and a head of short blond hair And though short, he was very htly tanned in spite of the season
He entered the newspaper club’s office It was about half the size of a regular classroom
Expensive sofas and a coffee table were set in the middle, ork desks and chairs lined up on the side and long lockers against one of the walls
On another as a kitchenette complete with sink and hot plate, and there was even a telephone—a luxury that most households could afford no more than one of Further down the as a darkroom The newspaper club likely had the most luxurious office in the entire school
“Brr…” Larry hung up his coat next to the door and opened the ith a spring in his step
Having been locked for 20 days, the office air was stagnant The smell from the darkroom had seeped into the office as well
The wind howled in through the eeping away last year’s air Larry quickly grabbed a notepad on the desk just as it was about to fly off
A few minutes later, he shut the s and turned on the heater
Hot-water heaters were installed in the building They were usually turned on all day, but had been shut off for the break
Larry turned on the large tap on the wall The hot water from the boiler room flowed into the radiator Larry checked it carefully—so was turned on
Because it took time for the system to heat up the room, Larry also turned on the kerosene stove in the middle of the office He filled it up with spare oil from the locker and lit it with a match
Larry was constantly
Next, he put the kettle on the hot plate in the kitchenette He prepared the teapot and tea leaves, and wiped the coffee table
His body and the office had warmed up But no one else arrived
So Larry reached up to the cabinet to take out the teacups, when—
“Good afternoon Ah, is no one else here yet, Larry?”
A male student stepped inside
“Been a while, Nick! You’re the first cluba second teacup
Nicholas Browning—also known as Nick—was slender with fair skin, eth hair
If he were not dressed in a boy’s uniforht side, he could have easily passed for a girl
“Thank you for heating up the office,” Nick said with a s up his jacket and his coat on the wall
“Take a seat I’ll get you some tea”
“I am in your debt”
Nick sat down
Larry—the best tea-brewer in the club—expertly prepared two cups of tea and served the a seat himself
“Happy new year, Nick”
“Happy new year, Larry”
They raised their teacups and raised the first toast of the new year
They discussed their respective winter breaks between lazy sips of tea
Because there was no ho voluntary
He had gone winter ca with a friend from his military sciences classes and others from a different school They had marched dozens of kilorounds with tents, sleeping bags, cooking gear, and food on their backs
“It ,” Nick commented
“Nah, but I alhed
The first half of the s had taken a sudden downturn at the start of the new year with the onset of the unprecedented cold snap
Larry’s team had been beset by heavy snowfall and cold They slowed down and could not sleep at night because of the temperatures Their wet leather shoes almost froze their feet
“Which means I’m more coldproof than any other year,” Larry said Even as they cursed the weather, his tea with an optimistic mindset
They had considered giving up when things had gotten truly perilous, but everyone had persisted even more than they knew they were capable of and made it safely back to the base
When they returned, the base had been in a state of eency
A different team, composed of soldiers from the Confederation Arear and their truck had been stopped by snow, and they alh soldiers tended to be wary of autumn rainstoruard
“So I didn’t get to participate in the new year’s artillery corps training nobody died, but there was a big hubbub because it was a show of lax discipline Man, if only it hadn’t snowed, I’d have learned to use a 150mm howitzer”
That was all Larry had to say about his break It was Nick’s turn next
“I visited the Casna Coast with my family and feasted on the local food—but that’s not the i unusually excited “The Ikstova Pass! Surely you must have heard of it on the news, Larry?”
“Oh, yeah! Definitely!” Larry replied, leaning forward
The Ikstova Pass was a passage announced by the Kingdoe—at the new year The Central Mountain Range had always been thought impassable, but it turned out that the Ikstova Pass led straight frodom of Iks to Sou Be-Il, the former enemy of Roxche
“The royal family of Iks kept it under wraps for 400 years, didn’t they?” Larry confirmed “Cause if the pass was announced, the East would use it to invade the West, and vice-versa later down the line Makes sense they would hide it”
“Indeed”
“Soainst Roxche to hide the passage, but I think it was the right decision The conflict between the two sides is what allowed both sides to form peaceful unions, and both sides prospered after unification because they didn’t go to war Although ht now”
Nick, who had been nodding over his cup of tea, spoke
“I agree with you, Larry But what excitesquite different”
“Yeah? Like what?” Larry asked, refilling Nick’s teacup
“The first thing that came to mind when I heard the neas this: that the royal family may not have concealed the existence of the pass”
“Then what?”
Nick’s eyes narrowed, twinkling
“I hypothesize that it is the very opposite That the royal fa the existence of the pass Perhaps the pass was not discovered by the royal fa”
“I see…” Larry fell into thought Nick waited “The Kingdoht?”
At the time, the East had been stricken by civil war But because the West had forht back This resulted in a long, tiresome war that lasted over 100 years
“At the tie of the East It had some relations with countries near what is now the Republic of Raputoa, but did not participate in the war Which is understandable, as battles between the sides ed near the mouth of the Lutoni,” Nick explained
“Maybe whoever found the pass didn’t want to get involved in the war So he beca to hide the existence of the pass That takes a lot of guts,” Larry said, looking off into the distance
“Actually,” Nick said with a smile, “I had a different hypothesis”
“Really?”
“This is, of course, a theory But I propose that Iks’s royal family were actually Westerners who had crossed to the East via the pass”
“Huh?”
Larry’s eyes flew open He fell into thought, and eventually nodded
“Hht be possible I only considered Easterners crossing to the other side, but the opposite is possible too”
“Indeed”
“So uard of a Western invasion force? And the Kingdoehead to make the invasion easier?”
A bridgehead was a base built on enemy territory to facilitate an invasion Larry’s considerations were focused
“Perhaps, perhaps not,” Nick said, “but seeing as no other groups crossed the pass afterwards, and considering the fact that not even the royal family of Iltoa knew of its existence, I speculate that those who crossed over were those who had no choice but to flee into the mountains”
“No they tried to live deep in the mountains where no one would find them”
“They e, and stumbled by chance upon the pass When they traversed it, they found thedom of Iks They may not even have realized that they arrived in the East, si in the Central Mountain Range And these nodom”
“Mhm”
“Prior to the founding of the kingdom, the people of Iks lived in sends speak of an ancient kingdom, but there is no clear record of this ancient bloodline The bloodline of the current royal family of Iks, on the other hand, is well-recorded Perhaps the ancient kingdom—which I suppose could have been no more than a line of chieftains—clashed with the people froh telling a co story
“…And were conquered by the people from beyond the mountains,” Larry finished off darkly
“The new royal family could have altered historical records and dom had never existed They could easily erase evidence or allow evidence to disappear,” Nick added enthusiastically
“Scary stuff,” Larry said with a shrug
“Indeed But of course, this is simply a hypothesis Perhaps the royal fa from its current seat and discover the pass by chance 400 years ago If one were to divide the world into East and West, they orized as Easterners”
“That would be nice Either e’re all from the saht have been rolling in their graves if they sahat happened after they died”
“If we could so the huure out a solution to this mystery Perhaps the blood of Ikstovans and Iltoans share similar characteristics?”
“Maybe one day we’ll find out,” Larry said, getting to his feet with the empty teapot in hand
Larry was just crossing past the door to the kitchenette when—
“I’m first to the office this year!”
The door sla him in the process
“Whoa!”
“Oh You’re here, Larry?” Asked the girl stepping inside
“Watch it, Lia!”
“Is your new year’s resolution to not greet anyone anymore?”
Natalia Steinbeck was tall for a girl, with her long brown hair tied up in a ponytail She wore black-ris under her skirt
Her parents were both world-famouspart in the school’s orchestra club
Natalia and Larry had been next-door neighbors and childhood friends, though Larry had forgotten the fact by the time they were reunited the previous summer He alone called her ‘Lia’
“Didn’t hear a greeting from you, Lia Happy new year”
“There’s a good boy Hey there, Nick As pretty as ever, I see”
“Good afternoon, Nat Happy new year”
“Happy new year!” Natalia called back, hanging up her coat “Two sugars, Larry I need so sweet on a cold day like this”
“That’s what you usually get,” Larry retorted, though he reached for the sugar anyway
Natalia took a seat Nick turned
“Perhaps that was a little harsh of you, Nat The door was clearly unlocked, and the first thing you say is ‘I’m first to the office’ and ‘you’re here, Larry’?”
“You got me, Nick! Ever the detective While you’re at it, I need you to dig up why Larry’s such an idiot in the first place”
“My, h,” Nick pointed out Natalia gave a draasp
“WHAT?! How much did he pay you to say that, Nick?”
“You’ve fallen far, Lia It’s not like people act only forNatalia’s usual teacup on the table
“But it’s either money or love, and you don’t have either”
“That would be you, Lia You’ve never had any love to begin with”