The next day. Specifically, it was the morning of the third day since Kino had entered the country.

Kino got up at dawn. She did her light exercises and persuader training, took a shower as though reluctant to part with it, and had breakfast.

She arranged the luggage and piled it up on Hermes, securely fixing it to him.

She tapped Hermes awake and headed out to the restaurant on the street. The bearded old man from the day before was leisurely drinking tea. Kino was stopped by the old man and they talked about the state of the neighboring countries. The old man squinted his eyes and seemed to greatly enjoy listening. Then he treated Kino to tea and dessert and the two of them divided up the mountain of it and ate it together.

“I’m afraid we’ll have to be going soon,” said Kino as the restaurant began to get crowded with the noon rush.

“Is that so… Well, thank you, I honestly enjoyed our time,” the old man said politely with a bow, which Kino reciprocated.

Kino pushed Hermes back out to the street. She started the engine and the sound echoed out, somewhat disrupting the quiet of the town.

On the street, Kino nodded to the old man with the cane just as she put Hermes into gear.

“You!! I found ya! Stop right there!” shouted a loud voice. “It’s you! You on the motorrad with the black vest!”

The man Kino had seen outside the country two days before came screaming out of a building. Kino cut Hermes’ engine. The street became quiet.

“This place is just perfect. Don’t move!”

All the people in the area were paying close attention to the man. He approached Kino, who got off Hermes and kicked down his side stand.

“What is it?” Kino asked, standing in front of Hermes.

“The luggage you’ve got on your motorrad, put it all on the ground!” said the man, who stood a short distance away.

“May I ask what for?”

“I’ll take it for ya. It must be pretty heavy, right? So I’ll help ya lessen the weight. I’ll take it all, use what I can use, sell what I don’t need, and use it for my living expenses. Sounds like a plan?”

“I understand, but I couldn’t possibly trouble you so much. I refuse,” Kino said.

The man cackled and added, “If you refuse, I’ll kill you here and now. I’ll ask again. If you value your life, leave your luggage and go. Don’t worry, I’m not gonna take your clothes off or anything. How about it?”

The man glanced to the holster on his right hip, where a loaded hand persuader could be seen.

The people who were in the street started pulling away into buildings.

“So you immigrated then, huh?” Kino said.

“Of course! I’m now a citizen of this country.”

“But you don’t act like one,” said Kino.

The man frowned.

“Huh…? That stuff doesn’t matter. What’s your reply?”

Kino looked to her left and right. No one was in the streets, but she could see shadows in the second floor windows of the buildings.

“We refuse. Since we’re already leaving the country.”

“I guess there’s no more negotiating then…”

The man spread his feet shoulder-width apart and shook out his hands and shoulders.

“Hermes… Sorry but, could you give me a sec?” Kino said quietly.

“Understood. Just patch up the holes afterward, alright?” Hermes replied.

The man pulled out his persuader from his waist. Kino reacted quickly and twirled out of the way.

“?”

She took cover, crouching behind Hermes.

“… Huh? What are you doing? Coward! You didn’t even draw?! Is that thing on your waist just for decoration?” the man howled, thrusting his persuader forward with his right hand and taking a step closer to Hermes.

“Don’t take it personally.” The moment he said it, an arrow came flying at an angle from above, hitting his right arm.

The persuader fell. The man looked at his arm. Where the arrow pierced his arm, blood flowed and dripped.

“Uwah—!”

Just as he cried out in pain, another arrow came flying and hit the inside of his left foot, piercing his boot and pinning it to the ground.

“Gyah—!” The man was in agony. He couldn’t remove the arrows from his foot or his arm.

“OWWWWCH—!! Dammit! Damn it!!”

The townspeople gathered quietly around the screaming man. Everyone’s face was calm, and they were all holding some sort of weapon. A man holding a big knife. A youth readying a persuader. A young woman holding a club. A woman came out from an apartment with a crossbow.

Kino looked out at the scene, peeking out half of her face from behind Hermes’ tank.

“Hey! The hell’d you do that for?! Damn it hurts…”

The old man with the cane approached the man and spoke.

“It’s no good… You can’t do that. That’s why we stopped you.”

“W-What…? Damn it! Hurry up and take these out, will ya?!”

“I’ll answer your question,” the old man said quietly. “Here, in this country… The act of killing people is not allowed.”

The man glared at the elderly man.

“What? You liar! This is the country where murder isn’t prohibited! That’s why I bothered to come here in the first place!”

“You’re right. You aren’t mistaken about that. That’s why we’re here.” The surrounding people chimed in calmly with agreement.

“W-What are you saying? What are you talking about? Hey! You bastard! I don’t get a thing you’re sayin’! Hurry up and take out these arrows! I’ll beat ya to death!”

“I can’t do that. In this country, people who have killed others, people who have tried to kill others, and people who try to kill others, all of them have ended up being killed themselves.”

“So why then?! Murder’s not illegal, right?! That’s why I came! ‘Cause you didn’t stop murderers!” the man ranted in confusion.

The quiet old man’s voice continued, “Saying it’s not prohibited doesn’t mean that it’s allowed.”

“… Quit screwing with me! Who the hell do you think you are anyway, your majesty?”

The old man narrowed his eyes, which were surrounded by wrinkles.

“Who, me? I’m no one deserving of being called ‘majesty’. I’m just one citizen, an old man by the name of Legal.”

“Wha…?”

The man looked up at Legal with his mouth hanging open.

“Sorry, but you are dangerous.” Legal twisted the handle of his cane and pulled to reveal a sword painted a glossy black. With his weight behind it, he pierced the man’s heart with the sword. And then he twisted and pulled it out.


—

The old man with the cane gently closed the eyes of the dead man, and everyone who was there took a moment of silence.

Kino had been watching the scene from behind.

“The death of a fellow man is always a painful thing,” someone said, and everyone nodded. Someone requested that arrangements be made for the National Cemetery and someone else took on that responsibility.

Then everyone went their separate ways and returned to where they had been before.

Legal approached Kino and just said, “Take care, alright?”

“Alright,” Kino replied and started Hermes’ engine. The sound of the engine rang out, somewhat disturbing the quiet of the town.

Kino nodded to the elderly man with the cane from the street and put Hermes into gear.


—

The motorrad rode west along a road between a meadow and a lake. While riding along the edge of the lake, their image was reflected with the sky’s on the surface of the lake.

“There’s a horse. See it, Kino?” Hermes said suddenly while riding. Kino narrowed her eyes under her goggles at the road ahead.

“Yeah, I see it. Looks like someone’s there.” Kino released the handle with her left hand to check the persuader against her back and then the revolver at her thigh with her right hand.

“I’m stopping, Hermes.”


—

On the side of the road was a horse laden with a large amount of luggage, drinking from the lake. Near it was a man with a hat over his face, sleeping on his back. The sound of the motorrad’s engine woke him.

The young man, who appeared to be in his twenties, wore riding pants and boots, a thin jacket, and a hand persuader holster on his right hip containing a .40 caliber automatic.

The man waved to the approaching motorrad.


—

“Hey,” he called out to Kino as she brought the motorrad to a stop.

Kino got off the motorrad and put down the kickstand, leaving the engine running.

“Hello.”

“Howdy.”

Kino and Hermes greeted him.

“Are you from the country to the east of here?” the man asked, and Kino shook her head.

“No, I’m traveling. I was in that country for three days and I just left a little bit ago.”

“Is that so… There’s something I’d like to ask but…”

“What might that be?”

The man’s face clouded and he said in a serious tone, “I heard from a traveler I met by chance that that country is safe and pleasant, and that it’s a gentlemanly place, so that’s why I came here.” Then he asked, “… is that true?”

“Yes, you’re not mistaken,” Kino replied and the man’s face relaxed. “But that might depend somewhat on what your feelings are,” added Kino.

“My country? Yeah, it was a rough place… Security was the worst. Every day there were multiple murders. I even had to kill and steal from God knows how many people to protect my own life. Even they would’ve liked to have a normal life… I don’t want to kill anyone anymore. So I left that unpleasant country and now I want to live in a safe one.”

“I see. In that case, I think you’ll definitely like the country up ahead. There’s an old man there named Mr. Legal, who it’d be nice if you could visit. If you talk about stories from your travels, I think he’d tell you lots of things too.”

“That right? Thanks for the tip,” the man said.

After that, Kino asked the man all about the road ahead and the country she was heading to next and the man told her honestly what he knew.

Kino thanked him and made to leave.

“Oh, there was one more thing I wanted to ask…,” the man called out and stopped her. “In fact, I heard one strange thing concerning that country when I was in the neighboring country. But could it really be true…? If you happen to know any details…”

“What sort of thing?” Kino asked.

The man hesitated a little and shook his head. “Nah, it’s fine. It’s so strange, I don’t even believe it. It’s too disconnected from common sense. It’s something I’d find out as soon as I get there anyway, so I’ll just find out with my own eyes.”

“Is that so… Well then, I think we’ll be going now.”

“Right, bye then.”