2001 The Children of Bottle

by Ryohgo Narita

  Her mind had been thrown into confusion, and she didn’t have a clear memory of what had happened after that, but apparently one of her selves had come here on horseback from the castle.

  “Czeeeeeees!”

  The villagers held up pine torches and lanterns, and, running through the midst of an uproar that had begun to include gunshots…

  …a masked man gave a bellowing roar that seemed to boom through the whole village.

  “It’s them! One of his friends is here!”

  “Dammit! It’s too soon!”

  “Shoot him! Shoot him!”

  “I-it’s no good. Let’s just run—”

  “No running! There’s no going back now!”

  Plowing his way through the villagers’ angry shouts, Nile came galloping down the village’s main road on horseback. Skillfully guiding his horse over the snow, he spotted the house at the center of the crowd and made straight for its entrance.

  Several gunshots rang out, but they didn’t even graze the mounted Nile. They probably would have done better to aim at the horse, but in all the confusion, no one tried it. They might have been hunters, but they had no experience with shooting at people on horseback, and it didn’t seem to be working for them. In the first place, in a village this small, there was no telling what kind of game the hunters normally pursued.

  Nile’s insolent mask shone as if it was mocking the people who were running around in an attempt to flee, and he leaped down from his horse with a flourish right in front of the door where Czes and the others were hiding.

  “Nile!”

  Without thinking, Czes gave a cry of delight, but Nile’s response was displeasure incarnate.

  “Let me just say this: Right now, I could not be angrier.”

  “Huh?”

  Czes thought he might have done something, and question marks surfaced in his mind, but…

  “Whatever their reasons, the unmitigated gall of setting fire to my comrade—! It’s settled. I’ll massacre the lot of them.”

  Apparently, having seen Czes’s appearance as he hid in the shadow of the door, he’d gotten the impression that the villagers had tried to burn him alive.

  “No, I did this myse—”

  Before Czes could explain the circumstances, Nile had already leaped into the midst of the villagers. Since he’d landed right where the crowd was thickest, the ones who had guns couldn’t fire.

  “Ah, waaaaaugh!”

  “Get him! Look, he’s unarmed!”

  As fear and hostility surged, one aggressive villager plunged a farming hoe into Nile’s body.

  “Gnrgh…”

  “Diiiie!”

  He tried to shove the tool in even further, but, abruptly, it refused to budge.

  “Huh?”

  Nile’s hand had clamped around the hoe’s handle, and, with its tip still stuck in his stomach, he twisted his body dramatically.

  “Aaaaaaah!”

  The force was so great that the villager involuntarily let go of the tool, and Nile yanked it from his stomach. That series of actions had to have been excruciatingly painful, but no one heard a single groan from behind his mask.

  Claiming the implement as his own, Nile confronted them with an astounding display of hoe-fighting that could have been taken straight from classical Chinese opera. The large tool spun ferociously. It was obvious to everyone that no one could touch it and remain unscathed. For the moment, Nile set his sights on the hoe’s previous wielder and raised the weapon high in the air.

  It was an absolutely pointless move, but he was probably planning to kill the first one in grand style and quash the enemy’s collective will to fight.

  “Let me just say this: I am not like Elmer. I do not know how to seal my own wrath, and you—and this village—have angered me… So die. Be shamed by your ignorance, rue your actions, lament your sin—and sink into an ever-widening sea of blood.”

  Even though he knew they couldn’t understand what he was saying, Nile quietly put his own rage into words. Then he began to flex his arms, preparing to bring the hoe down.

  “Wait! Nile!”

  Thinking that killing someone would be a bad move, Czes hastily tried to stop him, but—

  Even before Czes’s voice reached him, Nile’s hoe stopped dead.

  From the other end of the village’s main road, he’d heard the vehement honking of a car horn.

  “Hmm. They’re back, are they?”

  Regaining a little of his composure, Nile turned his gaze toward the road’s beginning.

  The villagers also looked in the direction of the clamor—and then began to run around as fast as they could, trying to escape.

  What had come into view at the end of the road was an enormous truck barreling along at the insane speed of fifty miles an hour.

  It was the trader’s vehicle, the one the villagers were used to seeing, but as it raced toward them through the night, lights blazing, it was no less than the embodiment of terror.

  The villagers fled, screaming, and the truck devoured the road with such force it nearly crushed them. Only Nile stayed right where he was, without moving a step; he raised a hand to the truck’s occupants, most likely Maiza and the others.

  Whump.

  …Then it knocked him into the air.

  The truck had started to slow down, but apparently the driver had hit the brakes too late. It hadn’t been able to fully stop before it reached Nile and plowed into him.

  “Nile! Are you all right?!”

  Maiza leaped out of the driver’s seat and ran up to the man, who’d landed beside Czes and the others.

  As the blood streaming from his entire body retreated inside him again, Nile jumped straight to his feet and hauled Maiza up by his collar.

  “If you have an excuse, Maiza, then speak.”

  “I’m sorry! I thought you’d dodge! You didn’t move at all, so I slammed on the brakes, but…”

  “I will hear no excuses.”

  Just as Nile prepared to pay out a wrath-fueled teraton punch, Elmer yelled from the front passenger seat:

  “Forget that; just get in!”

  He looked sorry, as if he really would have liked to see the rest of the exchange, but for now, he’d prioritized the rest of their situation.

  “Rrgh, our talk will wait. First, let us escape. We’ll massacre the villagers after that.”

  Immediately regaining his composure, Nile climbed into the back of the truck, saying something incredibly dangerous as he did so.

  Several gunshots peppered the stopped truck, but it was a modified military vehicle, and old-fashioned bullets did nothing to it.

  “I’m flooring it!”

  As Maiza yelled, the engine roared, and they shot away down the dark road like a cannonball.

  Ten minutes later.

  Four immortals and four homunculi walked along the dark mountain road.

  Without his coat, Czes had passed out from the cold, and Nile was carrying him on his back.

  As if to break the silence, which had dragged on for a while, Elmer began to speak in his usual joking way.

  “Out of gas… I think that’s a funny punch line. Whaddaya say? We could all laugh about it.”

  “Let me just say this: Shut your mouth before I strike you, Elmer.”

  Partway down the road that led back to the castle, the engine had suddenly stopped, and Elmer had realized that the “low fuel” light was on. Maiza had apparently been aware of it, but he’d decided that saving Czes and the others was top priority and pretended not to see it.

  That said, even if Elmer had noticed it, he probably would have prioritized rescuing Czes, too.

  “In any case, let’s return to the castle quickly and pick up Sylvie and Fil.”

  “Mm. Can we fit everyone in the four-wheel drive, though?”

  “If necessary, I think we could fit twenty people. I heard about an incident in a country somewhere in which several dozen refugees were packed into a station wagon. Besides, we coul
d also transfer the gasoline into the truck before the villagers catch up to us.”

  After Maiza gave a brief explanation of the situation, they conversed for some time like this. However, when they’d very nearly reached the castle, the Fils abruptly stopped in their tracks.

  “What’s the matter?”

  The four Fils were silent for a little while. Then, as if they’d made up their minds, they murmured:

  “…I’m going back to the village.”

  “Huh? What are you talking about?”

  Elmer looked completely mystified. The four girls lowered their eyes and went on.

  “No matter what my reasons were, I am the one who killed the headman. I must atone for it.”

  “No need.”

  The immediate declaration had come from the masked man.

  “Even if you go, they will not listen to a word you say. They will torment you to death as the miscreant who attempted to poison the village.”

  “…I’m prepared for that. I don’t mind. Even if they have the wrong idea about me, if it will make the villagers—and Master Feldt, whose father was killed—feel a little better, then…”

  Before she could finish her sentence, Nile hauled one of the Fils up by the scruff of her neck. On the snowy road, lit only by moonlight, Nile’s mask glared into the girl’s face with a mute expression.

  “Let me just say this: I am angry. I am filled with ire. One might even call it wrath. You said you did not mind your own death. However, I will say this. Allow me to say this! It does not matter whether you can accept it! They persecuted you for unjust reasons, and on top of it, they intend to kill you without knowing the truth of the matter! I tell you this—let me say this! I know that the suspicion cast on you is false. Do you imagine, even so, that we would let you be sacrificed and allow the villagers to live on without a care in the world, simply to reconcile the situation? Even if you would permit it, I myself will not.”

  As Nile spoke in quiet anger, Fil listened, looking as if she might cry.

  “Let me be clear. If even one of you sheds a single drop of blood at their hands…”

  Slowly lowering the girl to the ground, Nile finished his speech, softly.

  “Then let me just say this. I will slaughter the lot of them. With your strength, you could never stop me.”

  With that, Nile moved to walk back toward the castle, but…

  …a voice without the slightest hint of tension in it spoke behind him.

  “That’s no good. That’s completely out of the question.”

  At the sound of that voice, Nile stopped in his tracks again and looked at the man who’d spoken so lightly.

  However, Elmer’s expression was unexpectedly serious. As he spoke, he looked back and forth between Nile and the girls.

  “If you do that, the villagers won’t ever be happy. You can’t kill them. Oh, of course, it’d be even worse if you went back, Fil. No points for that one. That’s absolutely positively no good.”

  “What is this naïve nonsense? Even if Fil does not return, I could cheerfully raze this village with a napalm bomb. How could I possibly consider their happiness? Even with Szilard, you—”

  Interrupting Nile, who was launching into a lengthy sermon, Elmer spoke firmly, “It’s not just the villagers. We won’t be happy, either. Not you, or me, or these kids.”

  At those words, the mask grew as taciturn as its expression. However, Nile wasn’t ignoring him. He seemed to be silently telling him to continue.

  As if prompted by that gesture, Elmer quietly began to speak.

  “Say you did kill all the villagers, Nile. They’re selfish, and I bet they’d think, ‘Oh, we’ve been killed by a demon. We lived right, we never did anything wrong, so why did this happen to us? That’s it, we knew it: Those girls sold their souls to the devil.’—Right? Could you stand that? Could you allow it? You couldn’t, could you? We want to show those villagers. Dez aside, we want to take the ones who joined him in his violence, inflicting abuse for absolutely no reason, and make them regret what they did. Am I right?”

  On hearing Elmer, who’d spoken nearly as long as he himself had, Nile was silent for a while. Then, abruptly, he spun to face forward and spoke as he made for the castle:

  “If possible, I would like to show them as well. However, I doubt it is possible.”

  As if agreeing with him, Maiza added sadly, “I know how you feel, but… Now that things have grown this complicated, I imagine it would be nearly impossible to correct the villagers’ misunderstanding.”

  After they’d walked a little ways, Nile spat out a continuation. “Thunderation, this tale has no archfiend. The man at the heart of all the evil was eaten and killed more than seventy years ago! No matter how things end, it can only leave a bad aftertaste!”

  His words seemed half-resigned, but Elmer objected quietly, “That’s not true. I know the world’s not that obliging. Obviously it isn’t. Still, as long as there’s a chance, I’m not giving up.”

  He muttered the rest as if he were speaking to himself. “Smiles don’t betray me. And so—I can’t betray them, either.”

  “That is the conclusion you reached, after living three hundred years?! Shallow. Utterly ridiculous.”

  “It wasn’t three hundred years. I came to that conclusion long before I became immortal. It’s just that revising all the little details would have been a pain, so I haven’t.”

  Elmer’s answer held no hesitation, and Nile shook his head as if he’d given up.

  “As I traveled around battlefields, I saw the deaths of countless men with such naïve thoughts.”

  “Well, yeah. Of course you did. On battlefields, you survive by sinking everything you’ve got into killing the other guy in order to protect something. People who are considerate to the enemy can’t survive there. That’s why I’m here. Precisely because I can’t die, I’ll force this idea through with everything I’ve got. Actually, I think I have to. Though it is an awfully arrogant, cowardly idea. But even so.”

  “Clumsy oaf.”

  “Yeah, I’m clumsy. That’s why it’s tough for me to settle on another way to live at this point. Right… For the sake of a happy ending, I’d sell everyone in the world to the devil without a second thought.”

  “…That’s a contradiction.”

  Maiza pointed this out for form’s sake, but inwardly, he somehow understood that this was Elmer’s true nature.

  Elmer C. Albatross would do absolutely anything for a happy ending.

  “I really do wish you had the talent for comedy.”

  “Huh? I…don’t? No good? I’ll never be Andy Kaufman or Jim Carrey?”

  “Actions aside, your jokes only irritate those around you… Well, I suppose if you took away Andy’s talent, the result might be you.”

  “It feels like you just said something horrible to me, but I’m sure it was my imagination. I believe in you, Maiza.”

  “If you believe in me, then take my words at face value, if you would.”

  “You’re not Maiza, are you?! Argh, who are you?! State your name!”

  Elmer attempted to return to their meaningless conversation, but he abruptly turned around and spoke to the Fils.

  “Well, in any case, let’s go to the castle. We’ll talk things over once we get there.”

  Elmer gave her a carefree smile, but for some reason, she didn’t move.

  “Hmm?”

  Thinking that this was odd, Maiza and Elmer walked up to her—and found all four Fils shivering hard.

  Then, looking up at Elmer with terrified faces, they murmured:

  “De…mon… A demon—a monster just— Mistress Sylvie! From the library… There’s a staircase in the library… It took her down there, underground!”

  “Gah!”

  At her cry, Nile tossed Czes’s body to Maiza.

  “Take care of him, Maiza.”

  “I’m going, too,” Elmer said.

  Leaving Maiza there, Elmer and Nile broke into a run, head
ed into the castle. As they dashed forward, Nile called to Elmer in search of confirmation:

  “Let me just ask this: Do you have any idea what the castle’s monster might be?”

  “None! That’s why I’m running!”

  CHAPTER 5

  (SMILE)

  Elmer C. Albatross

  In the graveyard, which was some distance from the castle, Sylvie was tied to one of the trees that grew around the perimeter. She was bound not with cord but with something hard as concrete that cast a strange shadow. She could make out that much, but the moonlight wasn’t enough to let her discern its color.

  “What are you planning to do with me, exactly?”

  Sylvie’s question sounded rather troubled, but she didn’t seem very tense.

  The figure she’d spoken to sat on a tombstone, muttering as if he was bored.

  “I just want knowledge, that’s all. Knowledge from you ‘immortals.’ I thought I’d torture that Czes brat and take him over when I’d weakened his spirit… I never dreamed things would turn out like this. Frankly, I’m not sure what to do now.”

  The shadow in front of her tilted his head, looking thoroughly perplexed.

  “If possible, I’d rather not ‘steal’ you. You helped me quite a bit, and it would be weird for me to acquire a female body this late in the game.”

  “You don’t think my mind might win?”

  “I’d win. You’ve already achieved your goal, right? You got eternal beauty. I still have a big goal. You won’t beat me.”

  “Want to try me?”

  At Sylvie’s taunt, the figure thought for a while, then murmured, “I’ll pass.”

  The shadow had fallen silent. She spoke to him again.

  “You know what I think?” Sylvie went on, talking to the expressionless figure. “A witch who wanted to be the fairest in the world may do all sorts of awful things to make that happen. Still, once she’s gotten her wish, she thinks, ‘All my wishes have come true, so from now on, I’ll live to grant other people’s wishes.’ It does depend on how bad the awful things were, but don’t you think that’s a good plan? Couldn’t that be a goal?”