Vol 2 Chapter 2 (1/2)

Chapter 2: Dragons

Part I

They passed through the gate

The view of the city was released from behind the red city walls, and its wide expanse suddenly spread forth for the travelers’ eyes

Before thereen

There heat, still young and green, planted on what little flat ground there was that reached to thethan the mountain variety Ai was accustorains

A couple of far their crops

Ai could predict very clearly what adults like them talked about at times like this They would resume for the umpteenth tiroell this year,” “Yeah”

The travelers’ eyes had long since becorey of the wilderness, so, faced noith this sudden assault of green, their surroundings seeaudy

A farmer suddenly noticed their presence and waved at theave a small wave in return

The car moved slowly, but eventually they shook off the farmers and continued onward

After a while, as the sun reddened behind the e, the travelers arrived at the foot of the hills

Any further and they would reach the s before theround floor co with the in-and-out flow of customers

The whole of the Ortus market was in fact built of rock, withbeen coether to forether and packed the already narrow streets full, close to bursting

The road had been e and co its side Households all but co their doors and ith budding greenery and arraying the flowers of the season in other prominent locations Just before their eyes was an elderly lady changing her potted plants on the roadside Children ran past the as only they can, while along the road wizened old men bleith their pipes streaames of dice

Everyone was, of course, dead

The dead looked like they’d stripped off old clothes, with their er the dead in question were, the stranger they looked

Skeletons parading about in three-piece suit and tie Coolies with chains coiled about theht Women so wrapped up in lace they looked to have been e sartorial beast, youths who’d amputated their li like puppets, college students [1]carrying library books under one arm and their heads under the other

Most of the living treated these dead as hts in much the same way: to think of the streets of Ortus as a devil-infested hell and say, frightened, that they shouldn’t have coe for a speedy departure This sort of thing had happened so ed at it

But Ai was different

She pressed her face glumly to the carand watched the faces of the people they passed She didn’t even stir at their appearance which so shocked others, instead watching only their eyes

Unnatural or ordinary, strange or familiar, the faces of the dead all wore smiles As Ai watched, they joked and talked and chatted and laughed with the people close to them, and on their faces were the smiles of the everyday

A mother with a baby turned and beamed at Ai, and she waved and smiled back, a pure se in her expression

A tear rolled down her cheek

Kiriko, thinking that he’d just witnessed soaze back forward Up ahead, in the sky that had donned its night colors, he saw a star the saht down on the city

At the same time there came a “Wow…” from behind as Ai, too, saw the same scene

It was dark when they arrived at their hotel By that ti up, and they’d ascended the hill with difficulty, relying on only a single flickering headlamp to steer themselves into the car-park

The appearance of the hotel was rather different fro a tall construct built of rock All around the it seeh the hotel had been isolated from the din of the market

The car park was unfaround was just coe fro The ht for the travelers below

“This was a school an year ago”

Kiriko pointed out the features of their residence as they walked That there was the car-park, the male dormitories opposite to it, the female ones on that side over there, and here the school building, shut and locked

“Right…”

Ai was spiritless in her response

“…Letfirst”

Seeing Ai like that, Kiriko was spurred on to say the words he’d been deliberating over a while ago

“Thank you for saving rateful for itbut I don’t think you should stay in here Ortus is a city of the dead, a city belonging only to the dead, and the living have no business co in just to fool around If it were up to meI would not have permitted you entry”

“Oh… Then hy did you still let us in…?”

“It wasn’t up to me! I couldn’t have defied my superiors like that!”

“Ah… Is that…so…?”

Ai didn’t even seehtened into a line

“I hope you’ll leave soon after finishi+ng your business here”

“…Huh, you’re notany sense, Kiriko-san…”

Dwarfed by the luggage she carried, Ai swayed unstably as she walked

“…What did you say?”

“Aren’t you living as well?”

Kiriko kept his mouth shut

“…Kiriko-san…that’s…funny…”

“…Ai?”

So with her

She rocked left and right as though rowing a boat, tripped, and fell to her right

“Ai!”

Kiriko reached out and caught her in the nick of time

“So much has happened today that her brain’s probably tired out”

Yuri took Ai’s rucksack and slung it over his shoulder Weight re as contented as a well-fed baby

“…I’m sorry, Kiriko, but could you carry her on your back?”

“Huh? Oh, sure”

The moment Kiriko presented his back to her, Ai twined her arms around his neck and fell unconscious Kiriko clasped her legs under his arasp, and only then did he stop to think “Whyto hand her over to Yuri would just seee now

Ai began to snore softly Her face was entirely pale with exhaustion but for traces of red in the corners of her eyes

“…Hey, Yuri-san”

“What?”

“Ai… How old is she?”

At that time, Kiriko didn’t notice that he’d broken a rule

“Who knows? You ask her yourself”

Ai spoke up

“…I told you I’m not asleep… Really… I’m…not…”

“What kind of person says that in their sleep?”

Kiriko adjusted Ai’s position on his back and walked toward their rooms

Part II

Morning was long past when Ai awoke

She sat up wearily She had no memory of the room she was currently in, nor any idea of her circumstances; but to these she paid no mind She yaidely

It was only after she had allowed the cells under her every tooth and beneath her tongue and even of her vocal cords to bask fully in theair that she shut her mouth and looked around her

Where was she?

The rooht slanted in from the s and illuminated the specks of dust in the air

She looked to her right and saw another bed, on the far side of which were a dressing table and a wardrobe put against the wall

Not a sound penetrated the roo it with a hushed atmosphere

Slowly, Ai turned her half-opened eyes towards the left and swept her gaze across the roo a door, bookcase, desk and chair arrayed in it

Then, at the left wall

She found a ith curtains drawn

“Shuuu…”

Moving as if she were swi, Ai stepped off the bed and padded barefoot to the

The curtain was thick and kept the rooht contrived to shi+ne around it and into the rooht Floating particles of dust were set sparkling by the light falling on Ai’s toes

She drew it open

The light that shone in was strong enough to hurt even when she squinted her eyes shut War away the dazed drowsiness that had occupied her head just a o

Ai looked out over Ortus

“Wow…”

Unthinkingly, she stretched out her hand, lifted up the latch and pulled theopen The wind that blew in set Ai’s bangs fluttering along with the curtains, and she squealed in delight, resting on the fra her body half out of the

The road stretching froht before her was fully paved hite tiles that shone beneath the sun’s light As Ai turned her gaze down across the city, she saw the green of the wheat fields and, further ahead, the red bricks of the city walls

And to the right, she could see a dark colored castle, built into the tall hillside

Unable to contain her excitement, Ai pushed herself back into the roo, she then spun toward the wardrobe with the leftover y hich she had opened theand saw her coats hanging neatly there along with her culottes[2]

She suddenly realized that she didn’t knohat clothes she earing She looked down, and saw the shi+rt and underwear that she normally wore

And she began to wonder, quite naturally, who it ho had gotten her changed

Probably not Kiriko, she thought As for Yurithat was quite possible, but she couldn’t tell whether the one who’d changed her clothes was the uncaring traveler or the father taking care of his daughter

That left Scar She would be the best of her companions

“Ai?”

Ai heard Scar’s voice fro about her She turned around and saw her lying on the other bed

“Scar-san! It’s ti!”

“No, it’s already noon”

“Eh?”

With her enthusiastic greeting met by a dispirited reply, Ai pulled out her pocket watch from inside the coat and checked the time The hour hand pointed at twelve

It was then she noticed that the sun did seeh up in the sky

“Scar-sanwhy didn’t you wake me up…?”

“I did…”

And so her question of blareater blame

Scar told Ai that both she and Yuri had tried to wake her, but she’d been too deeply asleep to be roused

“To think you ed to sleep all the way till noon You have me impressed”

A little apologetically, Ai scratched her head and asked the question that had preoccupied her a o—“Was it you who helped me undress?”—and Scar replied with a “Yes” Good

“Ai, you’re always so lively, aren’t you…”

Ai looked more closely at Scar, and only then saw that she seemed drained somehow, dressed only in a shi+rt and even now in bed, curled up beneath the covers

“What happened? Are you too lazy to wake up as well, Scar-san? Or did you eat too ht?”

“How do you say it? Is this the feeling called sadness? Ai, please do not group me with you in your mannerisms and behaviors”

Ai walked across the floorboards to the bed, held her forehead to Scar’s to see if she was feverish She wasn’t, and she didn’t look particularly ill either

“Do you feel unwell?”

“My chest hurts My head hurts too, and I feel sick…”

“Right Is it that voice from before—can you still hear it?”

“Yes”

Scar turned away from Ai and looked directly in front of her

“I wanted to find its source”

“You mustn’t Please stay here and rest”

“Alright,” she returned obediently

“Nohat should I do? Do you need a doctor?”

“I don’t knoware there doctors who can treat Grave Keepers?”

“Aren’t there?”

“Who knows…”

“Wait, Grave Keepers fall sick?”

“I’ve never heard of it happening before…”

Ai came doith the flu once a year, but it didn’t seem like she’d be the best reference for Scar’s present condition

“Yuri said that he’d buy some medicine on his way back, so I should just stay here like thisand wait and see if I get any better…”

“Ah, really? Yuri-san’s gone out?”

“Yes He looked quite busy, having to go fix the car and replenish our supplies… Oh, he left a note” Saying this, Scar handed a piece of paper folded in half to Ai

On the note ritten:

“Do not, under any circumstances, leave the hotel”

Technically, that was a h a erous people a the dead, so don’t leave the hotel,” or, “If you cause a ruckus, it’ll be almost impossible to clear up, so don’t leave the hotel,” were reasonable enough, but, “The air this season isn’t good on the throat,” was clearly just needless fussing And, “Look out for cars,” was so the house

Ai folded the note into a paper airplane and flew it out of theAlthough the paper ly incessant ink, on attaining freedoh up into the blue Ortus sky

“Scar-san”

”Yes?”

“Please answerafter as you are?”

“No, not at all”

Scar even waved a hand to emphasize the fact

“If you stayed here, you’d onlyto eat?”

“A-Aren't you being a little too forceful here…?”

Ai was a little hurt, but she nonetheless went and dressed herself She pulled on her culottes and socks and did up her bootlaces, changed her shi+rt, tied her hair, set her straw hat on her head and swung on her coat

She went over to the

“Should I close it?”

“Yes, and the curtains too”

Ai pulled theclosed and drew the curtains across

“Well, I’ll be off for some food then”

She stood by the door as she spoke

She didn’t really need her hat and coat just for that, but Scar refrained fro it out to her

Instead, just as Ai was hurrying out of the door, she called to her back-turned figure, “Did you bring your permit?”[3]

Ai’s embarrassment at that mistake was quite substantial indeed

Ai dashed out of the room, but naturally, she didn’t have the faintest idea of where she wanted to go

She first headed to a corridor and, after peering left and right, found a staircase and descended to the first floor So told her that she couldn’t let herself be discovered, so she walked on tiptoes With the floor plan at the first floor stairs, she found a place where there ater, and there washed her face and drank hugely to quench her thirst

Signs of past students filled the dor There on the blackboard was still the name of a student punished with cleanup duty, and there in the umbrella stand was still stuck a baseball bat The display cabinet placed beside the main doors still held dozens upon dozens ofsince been forgotten about, still held a blue notebook within, awaiting its es

“Actually, I ary after all”

She announced this to the statue of some unknown notable situated between the second and third floor, and began searchingHer plan was to find Kiriko or Yuri and get so to focus her search on the first floor, she spent her ti to the janitor’s office to explore A lot of things captured her interest on the way, but right now her primary objective was to find food to eat

So Ai ran to check the canteen She crossed the entire length of the roo with a baffled expression at the place where used bowls and plates were collected

And in the kitchen, a certain Keira Venna[4] saw all this as it went on

“What’re you doing over there?”

Caught coht and looked frantically around for the speaker

“This way”

Keira looked at Ai from over the counter that connected the kitchen and the canteen

“N-Nice to meet you! My name is Ai Astin!”

“Hey Nice to er of this place and its cook”

Ai stood at attention and su

“I-I just wanted to say, I didn’t have anything to do with the globe on the second floor falling down! It was already on the floor!”

“So you’re confessing before anyone’s even asked you about it You’re a funny kid”

Keira disappeared back into the kitchen, and Ai was left standing there at a loss for a good while

“Here”

Keira returned and plonked a tray on the counter

“Huh? What’s this for?”

“It’s for you You're going to eat it or not?”

Ai stood on tiptoes to peek up at the tray, and found that it was laden with freshly baked bread and a thick, rich stew

“Oh! Thanks for the food!”

She took the tray froan to dig in

“That was great!”

Ai had finished the bread and stew in just a fewthe tray back into the kitchen

“Uood cook…”

“Really? Well, thanks”

Keira was sitting on a chair in the kitchen with a newspaper in front of her, and she didn’t even look up from it as she answered She was solidly built and looked to be htly ironic smile

Ai placed both hands on the counter and pushed herself up, so that she could see over it

“I didn’t know the dead could cook so well, you know”

Then the tray was off the counter and in the air, speeding towards her head It connected What shocked Ai thein confusion wasn’t the pain of the i on

“Let ood cook' was fine by itself You didn’t have to add that bit about the dead D’you think that just because we’re dead doesn’t ? How about we sit you down for a lecture fro with science, and hoe don’t need to use our senses for it, huh?”

“Ah—No—I meant—I’m really sorry!”

Ai, who had since fallen below the counter, had to push herself up again to deliver the apology

Keira placed two cups in front of Ai, and the waran to issue from them

“Here Have some”

One cup was larger than the other After giving it a little thought, Ai decided that it would be best to be polite, so she picked up the one that looked sh to be part of a toy set

“Blergh!”

The tea in it was concentrated to the point of being thick, and was both scalding hot and very bitter

“Silly, that one’s mine”

Keira lightly removed the cup from Ai’s hand and sipped at the dark-colored liquid within

“You've never had dehva tea[5] before, right?”

Ai nodded a few tiue experimentally So bitter was the tea that even now she was unable to speak

Dehva tea was a specialty of Ortus’ The first draft that the dead took was both thick and bitter The second, the Living Blend, was made with the used leaves of the first and was therefore half as strong That was the blend in the larger cup that was pushed toward Ai, and which she now raised carefully to her mouth

Keira took care of Ai as if on a whi that was cooking in the pot It was during one of these times that Ai addressed Keira’s turned back

“E-Excuse me!”

“What is it?”

“Do you knohere Yuri-san and Kiriko-san went?”

“If it’s the tall one you want, he left right whenbroke”

He’d said that he had to take the car to be checked and repaired He’d also asked where the telegraph office and drugstore were, it looked like he’d be heading there as well

“Kiriko’s probably at work, but he’ll be back by dusk”

“Does Kiriko-san live here?”

“Yes Oh, but if he’s gone to the castle, it httime before he returns”

“The castle?”

“To see the princess”

On hearing this, Ai was reminded of when she first met Kiriko, and he’d mistaken her for a princess

“Kiriko-san knows the princess?”

“Yeah, that’s right I heard the princess treats hi about it?”

“He only said that he had to run errands all over the city”

“That’s what he does When he’s here he runs errands for me, and when he’s at the castle he runs them for the princess”

Ai was so i it, she soon slurped up all of her tea

She returned her teacup to the counter, thanking Keira for the tea as she did so

Then she checked the clock It was just noon then, and there was plenty of time left in the day

But there was nothing for her to do in that time

Ai rested her chin on the counter, alternately watching Keira as she worked and tilting her ear to listen to the clock as it ticked away the time

This was the first tie

“Excuse me…”

Ai couldn’t stand it er

“Excuse o out into the city?”

Keira’s face took on a pained expression

“What did the tall one say?”

“He didn’t say anything at all”

Well, he hadn’t