Volume 6 Chapter 1-2 (1/2)
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Chapter 1: Her Journey
-Chances-
Nestled in a deep green wood, near a clear lake reflecting the bright blue sky, was a large country It was filled with tall buildings and crisscrossed by a web of roads and alleys
There was a set of gates at the western wall, with a guardhouse used for irations procedures
A uardhouse Its rear seat was laden with travel gear
The rider earing a black jackets, a belt, and a holstered hand persuader on her thigh She was in her e eyes, and fair features Over her head she wore a hat and a pair of goggles
The plaza was e around in search of food The sun hung across the top of the eastern wall, casting the rider’s shadow through the gate
“How er, Kino?”
“You just asked o, Hermes,” replied the rider
Then there was a noise, and a cleaning truck broke the silence of the streets It sent birds flying off as it hosed down the thoroughfare by the plaza and disappeared
Kino’s shado a little shorter
“Not yet?” Herain
“Not yet,” Kino replied That hen the guardhouse door opened
“Is it our turn yet?” Hermes asked A man stepped outside
He was in hisa vest with s at once Slung behind his back was a rifle-type persuader It was rade with a plastic fraht vision and a laser sight
When the reeted thereeted him back
“Are you in line? I’ to take a while—the paperwork is nothing to sneeze at,” said the man
Her on a journey?”
“Well, yes,” the man replied, downcast
“So where’s your goodbye party?” Hermes asked without an ounce of tact “Your family and friends aren’t the nicest people, are they?”
“You don’t pull any punches, do you?” the uardhouse The door was still closed
“I suppose you must have your reasons,” Kino said
The uess there’s no har outlanders I don’t think I’dwait ahead of us, so would youto my story? Just to pass the ti the country,” he said, looking Kino in the eye
Kino pushed her hat up slightly “Please do”
The man’s expression darkened, but he soon s to repent For the rest of my life”
“Repent?” “For what?” asked Kino and Hermes
Sorimace rose to the man’s lips “I know, I know It sounds weird But I need to do this… I have to do this…”
Several seconds passed in silence “Is that all?” Hermes piped up
“N-no, not yet I was just trying to figure out where to begin All right, so the person in the guardhouse back there right now is a woether”
“Your friend?”
“I don’t know if you could call her that But she’s the one who suggested we should go She wants erous And that’s because…” the man paused “…Because I killed her boyfriend”
“What?”
“It was seven years ago We were total strangers then I h I kneas illegal I couldn’t think, I couldn’t tell as going on around me, and I sped up so much that I missed my turn at the intersection That’s when it happened…”
“What happened?”
“I…drove into a house But that wasn’t all A pedestrian got pinned betweenthat innocent h “I was arrested and tried His girlfriend was there, cursingback her boyfriend And it’s understandable I deserved it all That was hoe first met”
The ed
“This is kind of a healthy story for passing the time,” said Hermes
“You mean, ‘heavy’?”
“Yeah, that,” Hermes replied, and went quiet
Kino said, “And then what happened?”
“I was sentenced to ten years in prison and went to a facility for traffic offenders I lost le and didn’t have parents anymore, so not a lot of people cared”
“Those numbers don’t match up Did you break out?” Hermes asked, curious
The man chuckled and shook his head “That’s not the end of the story After I went to prison, I regretted what I did Froized desperately I told her that I would do whatever it took to repent, that I would devoteher back”
“And?”
“She didn’t reply I wrote to her once a month on the dot I wanted her to know that I was sincerely regretting ot at the prison”
The uardhouse door was still closed, now lit by the sun
“Six years passed, and I was coot what it was like to be free, living like everyone else That hen she caest shock of e bundles of open letters she brought…and I broke down crying, apologizing Just knowing that she read ot even better She told me to raise my head”
“And she asked you to leave the country with her,” Kino said
“Yeah She wanted to leave Said she had too o settle souard on the way As it turns out, prisoners with less than five years of their sentence left are allowed to leave the country, on the condition that they never return It’s a loophole from the days when exile was commonplace I was so surprised that I asked her, ‘Don’t you hate me?’”
“And?” “And what did she say?”
“She said, ‘Yes I still despise you But you proyou’”
“Then what happened?”
“I thought it over Thought harder than I ever did in my entire life I mean, I just had to spend four more years in there and I’d be a freemy home forever I was born and raised here I wanted to live and die here, and be buried alongside et released, work hard, and start a new life But…”
“But?”
“It occurred to , of paying for my crimes And it would make her happy, too I considered it for a year and decided to accept I’ll be exiled for life and I have no idea how long I’ll have to be her bodyguard, but I’ to do it I told her in person when she came to visit She just smiled and said, ‘Thank you,’ and it all felt so…I don’t know It’s hard to explain”
His hands shot up to his eyes, covering them The man excused himself and turned his back to Kino
“I guess this’ll be the last time I cry in my homeland,” he said quietly
The guardhouse door remained closed Soain
Then he turned
“She hasn’t forgivento devote the rest ofshe’ll be on the road It’ll be a long trip It’s her journey, not mine But it’ll be a symbolic journey for me This is where it all starts”
“I understand,” Kino said, as the ain
“That was a fun story Everyone’s got so different to share,” said Hermes
With a quiet laugh, theCould I ask you a question? From a junior traveler to a veteran?”
“What is it?”
“What’s theto keep in mind on the road?”
“That’s easy It’s the sa at home,” Kino replied immediately
“And what is that?”
“Stay alive Don’t get killed In other words, do whatever it takes to protect yourself I could even say it means kill or be killed”
“Right”
The guardhouse door opened
A woe as the man and dressed like him, armed with a hand persuader The man introduced Kino and Hermes to her, and she smiled
When Kino explained that they would be traveling in the sa by car, we could have gone together… But I’uard who’ll keep me safe”
The ave him a smile
“Kino,” she said, “if you catch up to us after you finish exit procedures, you should join us for lunch We’ll probably stop at the lakeshore for a break”
Kino nodded “Thank you”
The wo that their carriage was loaded and waiting outside “Let’s go,” she said to the man He nodded
They left through the gates
“Never pass up anything free Let’s catch up to theuardhouse
“You’re such a cheapskate”
“I…I guess that’s true”
They made it out of the country before noon
Cutting through the forest was a dirt-paved road wide enough to drive along Kino and Hermes raced down the path to the lakeshore
The trees lining the road see lake The sun sat high in the air, casting beae
“It’s just around that corner,” Herrip
It was hard to see past the curve Kino made the turn and found the lake on the left Two horses were tethered there, next to the resting man and woman
Kino slowed as she approached The man with the rifle spotted her and waved
Stopping a short distance from the pair, Kino propped up Her from her neck
“hello I’ve caught up for lunch”
The man put down his cup and stood “That was fast Horses don’t hold a candle toon tea” His back turned to the woman, he took several steps towards Kino
The woripped it with both hands and pointed it at the man’s back
BANG
A casing popped into the air The bullet drove a hole into the man’s shoulder Kino leapt back on reflex
“Agh!”
The
BANG
A second shot, this tih
BANG
The third shot, in his left thigh
The man lost his balance and crumpled on top of the rifle on his back
The woman rushed over and put her heel down on the rifle Then she fired twice, hitting the man once in each shoulder
BANG BANG
“Urgh!”
Each tiony
The woman pulled the rifle froround
The duround, covered in wounds and spilling blood, and looked up at the woman
“Ah… Why… Who…?”
The woman replied indifferently, “It was me, obviously Does it hurt?”
The man nodded feebly
The wo to shoot me to save him?”
Kino shook her head, her right hand partway to Cannon