R11:CO2 11.txt

ＶＲをポケットにしまった私は、しばらくのあいだ、黄泉木を睨み続けた。%K%P
After putting the ＶＲ in my pocket, I continued to glare at Yomogi for a while.

彼は部屋の壁にもたれかかり、すっとぼけた表情をしていた。%K%P
He stood leaning with his back against the wall, an expression of feigned ignorance on his face.

やがて……。%K%P
Before long....

私の威圧的な眼差しに耐え切れなくなったのか、彼は私のそばに近づいてきて、こう言った。%K%P
Perhaps he couldn't stand my overpowering look any longer, as he came up to me and started talking.

黄泉木「ホントにすまん。冬川さん」%K%P
I'm really sorry, Fuyukawa-san.

こころ「……もういいです。以後は気をつけてください」%K%P
...It's fine. Please be more careful next time.

神妙な顔つきで謝ってきたので、とりあえず許してあげることにする。%K%P
He seemed to be honestly apologizing, so I decided to forgive him for now.

黄泉木「わかった。優希堂くんにも注意するよ」%K%P
Got it. I'll warn Yukidoh-kun as well.

こころ「そうしてください」%K%P
Please do so.

私は丸めてしまった新聞を広げた。%K%P
I spread out the rolled-up newspaper.

こころ「アイツ、新聞について、なんか言ってましたか？」%K%P
That guy, did he say anything about the newspaper?

新聞について悟の意見を聞きたかったのだ。%K%P
I wanted to know what Satoru's opinion of the newspaper was.

メモに書こうとしたところで飛んでしまったのだが。%K%P
I jumped when I was about to write about it in the memo.

黄泉木は首を横に振った。%K%P
Yomogi shook his head.

黄泉木「新聞のことは特に話してなかったよ」%K%P
He didn't really say anything about the newspaper.

黄泉木「でも、それ読みながら、『こっちの世界は安らげる』とは言ってたな」%K%P
But, while he was reading it, he said, "I can be at peace in this world."

こころ「えっ？」%K%P
Huh?

『安らぎ』なんて単語は、この避難小屋からは最も遠い単語だと思う。%K%P
I think that "at peace" could be the least suitable word possible to describe this shelter cabin.

それなのに、どうしてだろう？%K%P
Even so, I wonder why?

黄泉木は続ける。%K%P
Yomogi continued.

黄泉木「『あっちは終始神経を研ぎ澄ませてなきゃいけない』」%K%P
"Over there, I can't let my guard down for a second."

黄泉木「『誰が信用できるかもわからない』」%K%P
"I don't know who I can trust."

黄泉木「『その点、こっちは気楽でいい』って」%K%P
"On that point, it's a lot more comfortable here," is what he said.

こころ「気楽……ですか」%K%P
Comfortable...?

黄泉木はうなずくと、%K%P
Yomogi nodded.

黄泉木「彼の言う『あっち』と『こっち』がそっちでどっちなのか、僕にはわからんがね」%K%P
Though, I have no idea what he meant when he said "there" and "here."

肩を竦めながら、そう付け加えた。%K%P
Saying that, he shrugged his shoulders.

気楽か……。%K%P
Comfortable, huh....

私にとっては、どちらの世界が気楽だろう。%K%P
As for me, which world do I find more comfortable?

こころ「ねえ、黄泉木さん」%K%P
Hey, Yomogi-san.

黄泉木「ん？」%K%P
Hm?

こころ「黄泉木さんなら、とっても温かくて、お腹いっぱいご飯が食べられるけど、自分の命を狙われちゃう世界と……」%K%P
If you had to choose between a world where it's really warm and you could eat to your satisfaction, but someone was after your life...

こころ「この避難小屋みたいに、自然の脅威にさらされている世界では、どっちが気楽ですか？」%K%P
Or a place like this shelter cabin, where we're exposed to the threat of nature, which would you find more relaxing?

黄泉木「唐突な質問だね。そうだなあ……」%K%P
What a random question. Let's see...

黄泉木「僕なら、前者を選ぶかもしれない。雪山の寒さには太刀打ちする術がないからね」%K%P
If it's me, I'd probably choose the former. There's no way to escape from the cold of a snowy mountain.

黄泉木「殺人鬼の方が、まだ御しようがある」%K%P
With a murderous monster, there are still ways.

こころ「なるほど」%K%P
I see.

彼の言うことはもっともだと思う。%K%P
I think what he said was quite right.

だが、悟は後者を……この避難小屋の方を気楽だと言った。%K%P
But, by Satoru's thinking... this shelter cabin was much more comfortable.

人間というものは不思議なもので、恐怖や危機を絶対的な尺度で感じることはないと言われる。%K%P
It's said that humans are mysterious beings who don't experience terror and crises on the same scale as one another.

恐怖Ａと恐怖Ｂが相次いで襲ってきたとき、恐怖Ａの方が恐怖Ｂを上まわっていれば、恐怖Ｂの方は『Ａに比べればたいしたことないさ』と思ってしまうのだ。%K%P
When threat A and threat B both attack in succession, if threat A exceeds threat B by even a little bit, they'll think that threat B isn't such a big deal compared to threat A.

悟にとっては、正体のわからぬ殺人者のほうが、自然の脅威よりもよほど恐ろしいのだろう。%K%P
For Satoru, an unknown killer is probably a lot more dreadful than the threat of nature.

実体験として、スフィアでの死の恐怖を体感した私は、悟の気持ちが痛いほどわかった。%K%P
As far as real experience goes, as I've felt that fear of death at SPHIA myself, I understand his feelings so well it hurts.

黛「うー、さぶさぶ……」%K%P
Uwaa, so cold...

黛が両腕をさすりながら、地下倉庫に続く梯子から姿を現わした。%K%P
Rubbing her arms together, Mayuzumi appeared from the ladder leading out of the basement.

姿が見えないと思ったら、地下に行っていたのか。%K%P
Just when I was thinking that I didn't see her around, it seems she was in the basement.

黛「ねぇ、黄泉木ぃ、お茶いれてくれない？」%K%P
Heeey, Yomogi, could you make me some tea?

やれやれ、と黄泉木は肩をすくませながら、黛にカモミールティをいれてやった。%K%P
After murmuring "oh brother" and shrugging his shoulders, Yomogi put on a cup of chamomile tea for Mayuzumi.

黄泉木「そうだ、ひとつわかったことがある」%K%P
That's right, I managed to figure something out.

突然そう言うと、黄泉木は新聞の１カ所を指さした。%K%P
Suddenly saying that, Yomogi pointed to an area of the newspaper with his finger.

黄泉木「ＧＰＳの話なんだが、どうも機械の故障じゃないらしい」%K%P
It's about the GPS. Seems it wasn't broken after all.

こころ「え？　それじゃ、どうして使えないんです？」%K%P
Eh? Well, then why won't it work?

黄泉木「この記事に答えがあった。ＧＰＳの衛星が狂ってるらしいんだ」%K%P
The answer is in this article. It seems the GPS satellite is malfunctioning

黄泉木の指さす記事を目で追った。%K%P
My eyes followed Yomogi's pointing finger to the article.

『ＧＰＳ衛星に障害　%TS028太陽風%TEが影響』という見出しがついている。%K%P
The heading read "GPS Satellite Malfunction Due to%N%TS028Solar Winds%TE."

黄泉木「１１年周期で訪れる太陽風のせいなんだとさ」%K%P
It's due to the solar winds, which occur once every eleven years.

黄泉木「今年は２０１１年」%K%P
This is the year 2011.

黄泉木「太陽風の当たり年なんだそうだ」%K%P
It seems like this is the lucky year for solar winds.

黄泉木「しかも『過去数百年の間で最も激しい』って書いてある」%K%P
And it has "the most intense in the past hundred years" written here, too.

記事には続きがあった。%K%P
The article continued.

%TS029衛星電話%TEの衛星も太陽風によりバグっている。%K%P
Also due to solar winds, a bug has appeared in the satellite which is used for %TS029satellite phones%TE.

当局の発表によると、地上からの遠隔操作も受けつけないという。%K%P
Authorities announced that any remote operations from above ground will not be transmitted.

ただし、極稀に、偶然、衛星電話が通じることもあるらしい。%K%P
However, in extremely rare cases, it seems that satellite phones will still work.

この『稀』とはどのぐらいの確率かというと、今年に入ってからの有効接続率は１００万分の１程度で、%K%P
The probability of this "rare" event occurring? Starting from the beginning of the year, the rate of successful connections is approximately 1 in 1,000,000.

これは『１秒間に１度ずつ電話をかけるという行動』を『２４時間』継続したとしても、%K%P
With this, even if you were to "dial one number once per second" continuously for "twenty-four hours,"

正常に繋がるのは約１１．５日に１度だけ、という状況を意味する。%K%P
it would be normal to connect one time approximately every 11.5 days; this is what the current situation is.

黄泉木「衛星電話か……」%K%P
A satellite phone, huh...?

黄泉木「そんなもんはここにないしなぁ……」%K%P
But we don't have one of those here...

黄泉木「もっとも、この新聞が贋作じゃないとすれば、だが……」%K%P
But then, that's if this newspaper isn't a sham, however...

黛「バッカじゃないの！？」%K%P
Are you an idiot?!

鋭い声が飛んだ。%K%P
A sharp voice flew across the room.

黛が切れ長の目を、さらに細めてこちらを睨んでいる。%K%P
Slitting her already narrow eyes even further, Mayuzumi glares in this direction.

黛「そんなもの、偽物に決まってるでしょ！」%K%P
That thing's obviously fake!

黛「第一！　昨日の今日、新聞のことは忘れろって言ったのは、あんたでしょ！」%K%P
First off! This time yesterday, you were the one who said we should forget about the newspaper, weren't you?!

黄泉木「まあな」%K%P
I guess.

黄泉木「僕だって本気で信じちゃいないさ」%K%P
I don't seriously believe it either.

黄泉木「だが衛星が故障してるかどうかは別としても、太陽風が極大になってるってーのは事実だ」%K%P
Whether the satellites are really down or not is another thing, but it is true that the solar winds are at their maximum now.

黄泉木「去年の夏あたりから、ニュースで特集やってただろ？」%K%P
The news did a piece on it around summertime last year, right?

黄泉木「カーナビが使い物にならなくなるとかってさ」%K%P
About how cars' navigation systems will be useless, and such.

黛「ふんっ。その新聞を作ったヤツも、ニュースを見てたってだけよ！」%K%P
Hmph. That just means that the guy who wrote that newspaper saw that news too!

黛「信憑性を持たせようっていう、くだらない小細工だわ！」%K%P
It's so we think that it has some credibility. What a worthless, petty trick!

黛「悪戯にもほどがある！　一体誰がこんなこと……！」%K%P
There's a limit to practical jokes! Just who could have done this...?!

そう言って黛は口をつぐんだ。%K%P
Done talking, Mayuzumi closed her mouth.

みんなも黙り込んだ。%K%P
We all sunk.

結局、新聞のことを考え出すとキリがないのだ。%K%P
It seems that when we discuss the newspaper, we always go around in circles.

悪戯だとしても、本物だとしても、どちらにせよわからないことがある。%K%P
Whether it's a prank or whether it's real, there's still one thing we don't know.

一体、いつ、誰が、どうやって、なんのために……こんな新聞を持ち込んだのか。%K%P
Just when, who, how, and why... did someone put this newspaper here?

考えても考えても、疑問は尽きなかった。%K%P
Thinking about it only raises more questions.

と、%K%P
And,

その沈黙をゆにが破った。%K%P
Yuni broke that silence.

ゆに「ふふっ」%K%P
Ehehe.

部屋の隅で、黙ってやりとりを見ていた彼は、小さく微笑んだ。%K%P
In the corner of the room, he, who had been watching us silently, let out a small chuckle.

黄泉木「どうしたんだよ、ゆに」%K%P
What's wrong, Yuni?

ゆに「その新聞の記事……本物にしたくないよね」%K%P
That article... you don't wanna believe that it's real, huh?

ゆには毛布にくるまったまま立ち上がった。%K%P
Still wrapped in his blanket, Yuni stood up.

長い毛布は、まるで魔法使いのローブのように見える。%K%P
The long blanket looked like a sorcerer's robe.

ゆに「だけどね……ぼく、知ってるんだ」%K%P
But... I know...

ゆに「その新聞は……」%K%P
That newspaper...

ゆに「本物だよ……」%K%P
is real...

こころ「な、なに言ってるの！？」%K%P
W, what are you saying?!

ゆに「ぼくらは死んだんだ……」%K%P
We're already dead...

ゆに「ううん……」%K%P
No...

神の託宣を告げる巫女のような厳かな口調で、続けた。%K%P
He continued speaking in an austere tone, as if he were a shrine maiden handing down the oracle of a god.

ゆに「ぼく達は、これから……」%K%P
From now on, we're...

ゆに「死ぬんだ」%K%P
going to die.

私達は、何も喋れなかった。%K%P
None of us could say anything.

ただ風の音が、避難小屋を満たしていた。%K%P
Only the sound of the wind filled the interior of the shelter cabin.

悲しみに満ちた鎮魂歌のように、低く、絶え間なく。%K%P
Like a rising requiem of sorrow, incessant, bearing down.

屋根から、雪の落ちる音がドサリと聞こえた。%K%P
The sound of falling snow could be heard from the roof.

私は我に返ったように、ゆにに尋ねる。%K%P
Gathering myself together, I questioned Yuni.

こころ「ゆに……それ、どういうこと？」%K%P
Yuni... What do you mean by that?

その答えを聞くことは、できなかった。%K%P
I didn't get to hear the answer.

私の意識が消えたから――%K%P
Because my consciousness disappeared――