Chapter 1 Please help, please help this child. O G.o.d, why do you want to take away the son I was finally blessed with ? I don"t have anyone other than these children. Even though I don"t have anyone other than you and these children!
I had a sad dream. Even though I had no intentions of sleeping, this sounds pathetic but looks like I unknowingly lost consciousness. It was a young woman who broke out in tears kneeling on the ground. Seemed like she was holding a baby close to her chest with its upper body curled up.
Since I do not know of any woman with a sick baby, it might have been an image left in my memory from some movie I might have watched on TV. In any case it was sad, even though it was a heart-aching dream yet without any sympathy, not even shedding a tear I heartlessly stood by just quietly watching her.
At any rate I was very thirsty, I couldn"t even sweat forget shedding tears. I hadn"t eaten or drank anything for days, I couldn"t afford to cry over a dream.
When I was little and couldn"t even differentiate between dreams and reality, I would crawl into my parent’s bed saying that a monster came to attack me, if no one else was around me would knock at my big brother"s door, but its different now. I"m way past that age and fortunately or unfortunately I don"t even have anyone to cling on and cry to in this place.
Thanks to that I woke up with apathetic eyes. It was like sleeping after afternoon cla.s.ses.
Forget about shedding tears, there was hardly any moisture in my body, it was hard enough just to open my eyelids.
"Aaa! I"m glad that you are awake."
"...Sara ?"
That"s why I did not become anxious when I couldn"t hear anything other than his voice at first. Since the surface of my eyeb.a.l.l.s were so dry I thought that my vision could not become bright. Even though my big brother who is always fixated to the computer and grinning I couldn"t think of anything other than - "I see, dry-eyes is quite a problem!"
I was rubbing my eyes with my fists.
"How long was I asleep for ? "
"You shouldn"t rub it so much."
After touching Saralegui I finally realized.
That"s right, I can"t see anymore.
"...Sara, how dark is it here ?"
"Don"t ask me such a difficult question."
Even so, he answered properly.
"It’s a little brighter than a moonless night. Because a little light coming from the hole in the ceiling we pa.s.sed by earlier is still reaching here. Although I can see your face, a person with normal vision would only be able to tell that there is someone here."
Even if he said so I couldn"t see anything but the contour. I couldn"t even tell whether my eyes were open or not. I can only tell that Saralegui is here. He is standing at a distance that I can reach him if I stretch out my right hand diagonally. I could somehow figure it out not only from the direction I could hear his voice from but also by his breathing and fluctuations in the air flow.
It is a strange feeling.
Even though I can"t see him, even though I can"t touch him, I can still tell his position, which was really strange.
It"s dreadful that I can"t see something that I used to. I was fearful. At first it felt like nothing existed in all four directions surrounding me, I thought that I was floating in the pitch black outer s.p.a.ce. But in reality the surroundings were dark, I was uncertain even about my footing. With just one step you could fall into the abyss and be unable to crawl back up ever again, if I think about it then I"m unable to even move a single finger.
My pulse fastened and it became difficult to breathe. No matter how much oxygen I take in, it"s not enough. Without the blood reaching my brain, my thoughts stop and my conscienceless fades. I tried to leap forward but panickingly stop at my steps and end up landing both my knees on the hard ground. And finally realize after doing it.
There is a ground.
I"m not floating in s.p.a.ce neither will I fall immediately if I move a little.
And finally I think about this.
Even if I can"t see, it"s not like everything has been annihilated.
There is air around me, there is the earth below my feet. I"m living, breathing and moving my body, it"s not that I"m dead, lying down and my soul is floating. Even if I can"t see, if I stretch my hand it touches the stone wall, if I listen carefully, I can even hear the sound of the wind.
In other words the world is as it was uptil now. What changed isn"t my surroundings but me.
To support it, a gust of air blew past my body. This is the wind, it"s sound. I burnt it into my memory. And the feeling of the dry wind stroking my cheeks. I remembered it as well.
In any case there was nothing I could do besides confirming it one after the other. Even to move forward timidly, there was no other way apart from convincing myself that everything except me exists as it has been uptil now.
When Saralegui learned that I have lost most part of my vision, he placed his hand on my shoulder and said.
"You can"t see?"
His cold fingers gently touched my cheeks.
"Really?"
It smelled like damp soil.
"There"s a hole in the ceiling leading to the surface. Although it"s not something I can climb with my bare hands...you can"t even see that?"
"Nothing other than a vague... white circle..."
"Even though it"s bright enough for you!"
He put both his hands around my neck, and hugged me tightly. His hair was touching my face and ears.
"Yuuri, you poor thing! Because so many things happened one after another, your mental equilibrium must have fallen into disorder. You couldn"t withstand the pressure"
"um, in other words stress? Stress...that must be it, really. Because of the stress I ended up being unable to see..."
"I"ve heard a long time ago that if terrible things happen, and they have a huge impact on you, even if you weren"t physically injured, it will cause abnormalities in your body. I think that"s exactly the case. You haven"t injured yourself anywhere after all. Although you"ve grazed yourself a little, you haven"t hit your head somewhere right? ...however that man died"
That man is.
It made my heart tighten up so much that I could hear it"s sound. On one side the wall continues.
"But you are living"
But still I"m living.
"It"s alright, you will get better. It may take some time though. In any case since you"re in the underground your vision is going to be of no use, it doesn"t matter whether your able to see or not... Yuuri!?"
Before he could finish his words I stood up and started walking. Even if I can"t see I won"t let it bother me, we are in darkness after all. Everything is in darkness after all. I can feel the mud mixed with stones in with my palms. Even if I lose my way, I can only continue on this path along with the wall.
To get out of here all I can do is walk.
"Yuuri, it"s dangerous Yuuri!"
After proceeding a little I stopped suddenly and rested my right shoulder on the stone wall. My legs were unable to support my body and I crouched down clumsily.
Being extremely exhausted I dozed off just like that, and then saw that dream after a short while.
"Sara"
"What?"
"I saw a dream"
Even though he didn"t ask what the dream was about, I imagined his posture. With his mouth closed, he is tilting his head a little.
"In my dream a woman was crying. The woman was holding the baby was crying while praying to G.o.d. She was asking to save her son. The child must have been sick"
"hmm"
"Even though I was watching her from behind, I didn"t do anything. I didn"t try to call out to her neither did I try to console her. I didn"t even cry or pray with her. Even if you think I"m detestable, I was just quietly watching. Even after waking up I didn"t think "I"m glad that it"s a dream". It was a cruel dream, even for me, ever for that woman... but, I only thought of that now"
While still sitting like that I slowly spread out the knees I was hugging. The soles of my feet were rubbing on the ground.
"Even reality is so cruel"
When I talk, the dried membrane in my tongue and mouth cramps, it hurt so much that I thought it would bleed. But more than the dryness in my body, the dryness in my heart was as if it would interrupt my feelings to live.
Maybe the soles of my shoes were worn out due to walking so much, I can feel the unevenness of the pebbles even more than before.
"When I wake up, I feel that it"s cruel. This is bad for the woman but to me it would be better if that was reality and this was a dream"
After all I was watching her back. The silhouette of the woman holding a baby and crying was reflected in my eyes. I could see. And her son who was dying is not my comrade. Even if the G.o.ds do not fulfill her plead, the one that will die is that baby, not my comrades.
Not him.
"...what am I thinking about"
I rounded the upper half of my body just like the woman in my dream and rubbed my face with both my hands. The dry soil and the smell of rusted iron that reaches my nose. My body is heavy. Even though I"ve not even drank a single drop of water, my body felt heavy as if I had been drenched in rain.
"This sucks. It"s not only in my head, I gone this far"
I hit my chest with my fist. Even so I can still feel my stubborn pulse through the two joints of my fingers that I loosely gripped. This is the heart that survived till I killed my comrade.
"Even my feelings have gone this far, they are rotten"
"That"s not true, Yuuri"
Although his words are very gentle, his tone is bitter enough to make my neck tilt.
"...If that was the case it would be much easier"
"eh?"
Even before I could ask back, Saralegui stood up. The air that had traces of his body temperature moved, his presence is getting away. And then he shortly spoke in a voice that perceives crisis.
"Something is coming"
"Something, I can"t tell what you mean by something"
"It"s moving, I think it"s a living creature"
I can"t sense anything other than faint vibrations through my skin which was touching the ground. Even though there is no smell, no wind nor any heat flowing?
"A bird or a bat... get down!"
Saralegui stretched his hand to my back and tried to push me on the road made of rocks and pebbles. But I escaped from his hand by moving my body and got away from the wall and went uptil the underground pa.s.sage. Without even standing up or walking, I crawled on my hands and knees like a dog.
Just like before there is faint vibration under my skin.
"Come, come out!"
"Yuuri!"
Sara is screaming. Just before calling my name he clicked his tongue.
"I don"t know whether it"s a bird or a bat but it"s better if it comes out! It"s better if it strikes!"
I stood in the middle of the pa.s.sageway and spread out both my arms. I was unable to stand immediately and got on my knees, gaping my mouth open I turned towards the darkness and shouted.
"Come! I cannot avoid you anyways, I cannot see you anyways!"
A short sound cut through the wind, something warm grazed my cheek.
It was a moment later that the pain started spreading.
The horse neighed and raised its forelegs in the air, Lord Conrart Weller gripped its reins and asked Hazel Graves who was in front of him.
"What was that just now?"
"Must have been an earthquake. We won"t know since we are riding, but the animals who have their feet on the ground are sensitive to it. Whether they are running or halted, they won"t let even the smallest of change go unnoticed"
"I didn"t know that there are many earthquakes in this country"
"It"s not what you can call many, it"s not that big either. In this town mostly made from rocks, it the trembling is such that the residents don"t notice it. If it"s the residents of the capital then they are not aware of it"
It was close to five days that they had gathered the horses, departed the city and had been travelling.
As far as they can lay their eyes, they could see yellowish white colour. Five male horses were advancing on the dried soil that can"t even be called sand. Lord Weller and Venera a.k.a. Hazel and three of her comrades. Normally they would advance with all their might, but since they don"t have any other alternatives to ride they can"t ask for the impossible. They were more concerned about than horses than about themselves, conserving their reserved power, they could only barely proceed.
Even so it would still take quite some time to catch up with Yuuri and the others. Whether they were riding horses or walking on foot, they couldn"t even catch up to the three people leading them, it was because there were many points where they could bypa.s.s them recklessly. They would quickly reach the underground pa.s.sageway if they proceed at a distance in a straight line.
Even if they turn back they can"t see the capital anymore, no matter where they lay their eyes there isn"t a single thing in sight.
"You"re worried about that child, aren"t you?"
Hazel slowed down and aligned her horse.
"If you hear that the underground pa.s.sageway is dangerous, anyone would worry"
"In that case why did you let him go alone. I had already told you that that place was dangerous"
"He"s not alone..."
"I know, that man who looks like the fourth from the Fenway Park was with him right. But if you were going worrying about him later, then it would be better if you would have just tied him to your hands. If it was me I would have done it"
The wrinkles on her cheek deepened as she laughed.
"However no matter how mischievous a girl my grandchild was, her vigor was such that there was no need to tie even a single rope. Even so when I had to make her independent, even thought I was concerned, in reality she was able to take care of everything by herself. But I think that that in itself will suffice as an emergency exit. She was the type to whose strong point was to advance rather than to secure an escape hatch"
"April was wise. She even handled the box well"
"Then is your master not wise?"
"That is..."
Conrad clogged at his words. To him Yuuri was special. No matter who he compared him to he could never find anything inferior about him. He even thinks that comparing itself is disrespect. Indeed Yuuri is... his beloved master is doing well enough even after he left him.
Isn"t he smoothly conducting political affairs even while governing subordinates with a few bad habits.
Looking at him deep in thought, Hazel let out a cheerful laughter.
Since the cold wind was blowing up yellow particles which were bound to enter one"s eyes and throat, they couldn"t take off the clothes that were covering their whole body. But when the strong sunlight dwindles, even if it"s past noon the temperature wouldn"t rise at all, which would indicate that the sun was going down.
Even if they are careful about the temperature and dehydration, it"s not the circ.u.mstances in which they could call it a harsh journey.
"The sand is not such that it will trap your feet, you can satisfactorily travel even with a horse in this climate. Even if for some reason if we may have to take a detour, it"s not that we"ll have to create an extensive pa.s.sageway underground. Why in the world would the s.h.i.+nzoku of that time create such a pa.s.sageway till the graves"
"It could be because they didn"t want to get lost. Because they didn"t have any objective here. If it"s someone whose not accustomed to travelling, even if he gets lost in the end, he will turn into dust on this land where there"s not even gra.s.s."
"There is the danger that they might be swallowed by a heap of sand, as compared to what you call the ominous underground, I think it"s much more comfortable here"
"Who knows. I"m just a fertilizer cart pulling old lady, it"s not like I can drop by the archives while returning home...there!"
Hazel lightly raised one hand up, and from among her comrades called a man who looked like he had grown white mold in his beard. Ever since they came to here they have tagged along as interpreters, although they originally didn"t have the status of slaves, but for saving their cousin during public execution, they threw away their social status and have joined this journey.
The other two include the man who put together the charging and the rescue team while carrying out the plan, and the prisoner who had been rescued instead. Although the very thin man in his forties who would be calm even if someone put a rope around his neck, in reality is "so much afraid that he"ll wet his pants", and seems like he is singing in a loud voice to deceive others.
This former prisoner with just skin and bones is their cousin. Although he had been previously called even in the royal court as a singer, at some point he had to return to the open seas and was sent to an extremely harsh refugee camp. In Freddy and Jason"s rescue which Yuuri wishes this man"s guidance will be essential.
"Looks like they are masters in what is called the interpretation esoteric skills. I can"t think of anyone else other than Mr. Beard when it comes specialization in language study. But if it"s him, who has read as much as he wanted to in the Imperial city library, he might be knowing about the origin of that underground pa.s.sageway. There, the path to the the graves underground..."
Hazel quickly changed over to Seisakoku language. Hazel talked with the demon tribe in English of practical importance, and with her comrades in Seisakoku language. For the s.h.i.+nzoku and the demon tribe to have a conversation, they had to have her translate it into English, they had no choice other than to have her interpret it. Although it"s a little inconvenient, they are thankful that they can at least convey their intentions.
"The underground?"
Although it was a little smattering.
"Underground, pa.s.s, corpse"
"Corpse... are the dead going to pa.s.s?"
The interpreter nodded profoundly.
"The funeral procession will?"
Will? He would be troubled even if he were to question with that tone. Based on speculations the underground pa.s.sage in question might a facility for the funeral procession to send off the dead to their graves.
"The corpse of the royal family, the graves of the royal family, funeral procession"
"In other words that pa.s.sage was created in order to carry the corpse of the royal family to the tombs. To put it simply, to put the corpse straight in the graves"
"I see... it means that the dead will not be exposed to the light. It"s not that I cannot think of a religious reason"
"Residents, undertaker"
"What?"
Hearing an audacious loose translation, Lord Weller raised his eyebrows. Undertaker?
"It seems that the residents themselves are in charge of the funeral procession. In other words it might be a large-scale group of undertakers"
"Again with the special..."
But the corpses of the royal family, no matter how much you don"t want to expose them to the sunlight, even among the slaves even if they are called the lower casts would they entrust the residents to them. Even so since they specialists, it"s because they have the skill to keep the damage to a minimum while carrying the corpse to the tomb away from the imperial city. Even the bereaved might have reluctantly entrusted them. For instance...
"Something like mummification? It"s NO in that case. From what I know, the contents of the coffin had been rotting at a normal speed. It doesn"t seem that they are thinking of using the same body even in their next life"
"If it"s you, who has visited the graves, is saying it then it must be right. But if that"s the case then the meaning of the existence of the underground residents, I can"t understand it all the more.
Since the interpreter said something quickly, Hazel"s eyes rounded. She looked like she would scream OMG after a few tens of years.
"You say that the living are not allowed to pa.s.s? Did you hear that Lord Weller, looks like it was a miracle that I came out of that cellar alive! Thank you G.o.d"
Her way of speech was as if a miracle needs to happen in order for them to return alive. Looks like she noticed that herself and added to it.
"It"s alright, your king has Buddha on his side. Although I"ve lived in Tibet when I was young, it was a very valuable experience. I was told that Buddha doesn"t refuse no matter who it is. In that case there"s no way that he"ll not protect a wonderful child like his majesty from disasters. And since the group of undertakers is said to be special, the underground residents are well alive, it"s not like they are refusing all the living. So there"s no need to be pessimistic"
"But!"
Whether they were able to understand English or not, they interrupted their conversation.
"Although the underground residents are living it was recorded"
Letting go of the reins, he made action of opening a book with his both hands. As if it was written down in the doc.u.ment.
"Many of them were blind"
"Are you saying they could not see?"
"...It can"t be"
Conrad murmured. He suddenly remembered that he was thirsty.