The next morning. That is, the third day since Kino entered the country.

Kino woke up at the crack of dawn.

A thin mist wrapped the whole country. However, for some reason, the calm of the morning was missing. Lights shining from the houses, as well as people running through the streets could be seen.

As Kino was about to start her persuader training, Hermes woke up on his own, giving her a surprise.

“Kino, the world is going to end soon. I woke up because I’m looking forward to it.”

Kino answered while wiping Canon with a cloth, “Is that so…? Surprises sure abound just around the corner.”

“Shall we go sightseeing for the last time?” Hermes asked.

“Sure. It’s the end after all,” Kino answered as she returned Canon to its holster. Then with her left hand, she started to practice her quick draw with Woodsman. Hermes remarked,

“The world is going to end soon, so why bother practice?”


—

After working up a sweat, Kino rode Hermes through the town.

The fog has lifted. Amidst the cool air, the sky was bright, blue, and clear.

On the ridge of the lake at center of the country, there was a plaza. Over there, a lot of people have gathered, facing the east, and praying anxiously. They were praying as one.

“It’s about time for the sun to rise,” Hermes said. Some elderly residents nearby trembled.

Along with the amplifying voices in prayer, the tolling of a large bell began to echo. It pealed madly again and again. The rays of the sun began to reach the spire of a tall building.

Soon, the dazzling sun emerged from the walls.

The people shrieked in anguish, and went in an uproar.

Kino spoke. “It’s a nice morning.”

“Yup. Let’s ride today as usual,” Hermes agreed happily.


—

When the sun has completely shown itself, and after about three more minutes, the prayers and lamentation of the residents stopped and turned into unrest, which turned into jeering.

“Nothing happened?” “Has the world ended already?” “Everybody’s still alive!” “The sun has completely risen, too…” “What’s happening——” “How could this be?” “Nothing?” “Damn! Could it be…” “Is it possible…” “——The prophecy… has not come to pass?”

“It’s the priest!” someone shouted.

A black car stopped, and a man wearing stiff clothing headed to the center of the plaza while being surrounded by attendants. It was a middle-aged man with a virtuous expression.

The residents followed him silently with their eyes. Kino and Hermes observed the crowd from behind.

“U-uh, t-to everyone gathered here…”

The tense voice of the priest, whose face looked as if he was having cramps somewhere, came out from a megaphone. The residents who became quiet for a moment simultaneously gave him piercing glances.

“T-the weather today is great, isn’t it——”

“Enough of that! Sir! What has become of the prophecy?!” someone interrupted with a shout.

“A-about that——”

“C-could it be that all of it was a lie?!” another person said.

“N-no. I would never make up a lie…. It was true that those were the last words in the book…”

“Then what’s the meaning of this?! Everyone believed what you said, and thought that the world would end today——” screamed a young woman, who broke down crying right where she stood.

“T-that’s… you know…,” the befuddled priest mixed up his words, as he fumbled for an explanation. Then all of a sudden, “Ah, yes! That’s right! That’s true, everyone! The world has ended! The world has already ended!” the priest bellowed to the top of his voice in the megaphone.

Kino looked at the priest, and at the people, whose eyes were wide in surprise.

The priest, who was speaking to the megaphone held in front of him by his attendant, spread his arms without hesitation, his clothing trailing in the morning wind.

“Everyone, please listen!” He began his passionate speech directed to everyone. “I, as well as everybody here, believed that the world is going to end! That the world will end at the rising of the sun, as was written! Yes! Yes! That’s true! And it was correct! Because! Because! The world we believed to be so! That is, ‘the world that we thought would end because of the prophecy’ has ended indeed! Inside everyone’s hearts, a world has ended! And once again, a new world has begun! Yes! ——The prophecy was right!”

Several seconds of silence passed.

And then, a storm of jeering followed, like a tempest devastating a lake.


—

Kino and Hermes observed the mayhem for a while.

The angry citizens tried to attack the priest, but the attendants as well as the ardent believers stopped them desperately, and in one way or the other, prevented bloodshed.

Even the people who were throwing all sorts of terrible insults towards the priest had relieved expressions on their faces. There were people crying and embracing each other.

The shopkeeper Kino met the day before found her and talked to her.

“Isn’t it great? The world has not yet ended,” Kino said. The shopkeeper laughed awkwardly,

“By the way, about the stuff I sold you yesterday…”

“Yes. I’ll use them with great care. They make great souvenirs from this country,” Kino replied with a smile, and the shopkeeper left with a dry smile on his face.

The priest, whose shoulders were already limp, tried to escape the plaza stealthily with his attendants. As they tried to board the car, the priest suddenly lifted his face.

It was a face distorted in fear.

The priest suddenly moved. He snatched away the megaphone held by a person nearby.

“E-everyone! Please listen!” He shouted with all his might. Everyone looked at the source of the voice, and their faces contorted in disgust.

“E-e-e-e-everyone! I-it’s not today! I noticed it just now! I realized it just now! It’s very important! Please listen! Please listen to me!”

As an attendant tried to stop him, the priest continued to yell out.

“T-the world is going to end! I made a mistake! ‘After the night the nineteenth full moon passes through the sky’! I just realized it last night! It was wrong! It was a mistake! Everyone, don’t you remember?! Four full moons ago, wasn’t there a lunar eclipse?! Didn’t the moon disappear?! It was wrong! We should only count the nights when ‘a full moon crosses the sky’! Ugh! *Cough*!”

The priest choked. He continued desperately, “That’s why! Indeed the world has not ended today! The truth is it will end on the sunrise after the next full moon! At that time, our world will really come to an end! Everyone! You should acknowledge this!” the priest declared boldly. A nearby man quickly snatched away the megaphone,

“Is that so?!” he said to the priest. And continued, “Everyone! We no longer have to believe in these prophecies! No one knows the future! That is the truth!”

There was applause.

The dumbfounded priest was dragged by his attendants, and vanished inside the car. The car drove away and disappeared.

“Well, it’s about time for us to leave,” said Kino.


—

Kino and Hermes departed from the western gate.

She looked one last time at the strange walls, then rode through the path.

Kino and Hermes climbed the gently-sloping mountain. When she looked back once, the country already looked small.

“Three people,” Hermes suddenly spoke while running. Kino nodded silently.

Kino stopped Hermes right in the middle of the road. Without turning off his engine, she propped him on his center stand. There was forest on both sides.

“Who might you be? There’s no need to conceal yourselves,” Kino spoke loudly without removing her hat or goggles.

The presence of people moving inside the forest was felt, and then.

“Well, that was rude of us!”

A voice replied. Two men came out, pushing through ferns. The men who looked around thirty were dressed in clothes like that of a traveler or a woodcutter. One of them spoke with a smile.

“Indeed, hiding ourselves only make us suspicious. Are you a traveler?”

“Yes. Is the other person not among you?” Kino asked.

“… No, he’ll come out soon,” the two answered.

A man resembling the other two came out from the forest. Together, they introduced themselves as citizens of a country across the mountain range.

Hermes asked, “What are you doing in this kind of place? Are you collectors of weird stuff, or something?”

The three looked at each other. And then,

“Miss traveler, mister motorrad, can you keep a secret? We have an interesting story to tell you…”

“No I can’t, so I’ll pass. Bye then.” As Kino was about to ride Hermes, the three stopped her in a panic.

“Well, don’t say that. It’s a really interesting story. It would make a great souvenir for your travels, don’t you think? … The truth is we are a scouting party from a country seven mountains across here. We disguised ourselves as woodcutters, and observe the travelers coming out from that country.”

“Why?” Hermes asked, his engine still turned on. The three grinned,

“Along with the rising of the sun after the descent of the next full moon, we will invade that country and kill everyone.”

“Eh?”

“What do you mean?” Kino asked calmly.

“It’s exactly as you heard. On the next full moon, as soon as the sun rises, we will invade that country and kill every single one of its residents without leaving a single one alive. Then we will destroy it thoroughly. We have to make sure that not a single thing remains of that country.”

“Why why why?” Hermes asked in surprise, then he added, “——because of the prophecy?”

The three were startled at the same time. They exchanged glances, and then,

“Yes! Exactly! Because of the prophecy! … You sure know a lot!”

“What do you mean?” Kino repeated her question.

The three, who suddenly became in the mood to chat, answered, “There was a certain prophecy in our country. A long time ago, a prophet left a book of prophecies. Twenty years ago, a man immigrated in our country and succeeded in deciphering the book. It predicted terrible things. Floods, epidemics, accidents, and disasters up until now, were all guessed correctly. As soon as something happened, that scholar would show it to us and say, ‘See, as I thought it was here. The number of pages and lines correspond to the year and month it occurred.’”

“……”

“……”

“And you know, the very end of that book predicts the end of the world! We were horrified by it, but the sole and flawless way to avoid it was also written there!”

“What is it?” Hermes asked.

“The final chapter of the book says this: ‘After the nineteenth full moon shines in the evening sky, the world will end at the rising of the sun. The one and only road left for us is to smash the green plate.’ This refers to the nineteenth full moon this year; that is, next month’s full moon. At the same time as the rising of the sun after that, the world will end. But—— the other half of the prophecy tells us of a way to avoid it: ‘smashing the green plate’ is the only way.”

“And so, that country…”

The three nodded.

“Yes. You must have seen it yourself, miss traveler. That country had unusual walls and a gentle depression towards the center. It was the green plate. As expected of him, our scholar noticed that. He’s truly brilliant.”

“But isn’t wiping them out going overboard?”

“That’s outrageous, mister motorrad! Destroying that country is necessary to save the world. This is not only our problem. If the world ends, you too will vanish. According to our scholar, since it was not clearly stated how much we should ‘smash the plate’, we should do it thoroughly. I believe so too. In order to save this world, us, who knows the method, have to do what we can. ——The day after the nineteenth full moon. On our astronomer’s judgment, that will be the next full moon, that is, without counting the lunar eclipse. It’s going to happen soon. About this time, our country should be finalizing the preparations.”

“I see…,” Kino muttered. And then, “Thanks for the story. We’ll have to excuse ourselves now.”

At that moment, the three quickly stood in front of Kino as if trying to surround her.

“Say, do you think we can just let you go home upon learning this much? If you return to that country and tell them about this, it will be troublesome. We will not be able to save the world. As a souvenir for your travel to the underworld, please do not forget about the prophecy, and about us.”

The three took out machetes from behind their hips, and attacked instantaneously from three sides.

Kino fell backwards like a plank that lost its support. The three blades cut nothing but air. Kino lay on the road face up, Canon in her right hand and Woodsman in her left.

Bang. Bang. Bang.

The dry sounds continued without pause, and the three heavy, loud explosive sounds that followed reverberated in rhythm.

The three, who had tiny holes and big holes opened in their throats, collapsed.

Kino got up.


—

“… That was unexpected.”

While stuffing bullets and liquid gunpowder inside Canon, Kino spoke. “That I would be able to deal with trouble like this, that I would be this good in using persuaders… A long time ago… I wouldn’t have imagined as much when I first met Master. But saying that after all this time feels a bit…”

“No one knows what the future holds. Like they say, ‘the road ahead is an unknown world.’”

“I wonder if it’s right thing… or not…?” Kino tilted her head as she finished loading. Then she returned Canon to its holster.

Kino looked around to check if she has forgotten anything. There was nothing, other than the three machetes, and the three corpses.

“Shall we go then? ——I have no idea what awaits us though,” Kino said as she went astride Hermes.

“Ro-ger,” Hermes answered.

Kino started the engine.