At night, in the forest.

There, thick trees stood in rows, their branches and leaves forming a canopy. In daylight, the leaves were bright green, but now they were black.

Next to the roots spreading throughout the ground, the small lingering flame of a bonfire flickered.

Amid the dimness created by that flame, Kino sat there, body wrapped in a coat, back leaned against a curved surface created by a tree's thick trunk and roots, eyes closed.

A short distance away from the bonfire stood Hermes, all luggage unloaded. Metallic parts twinkled with reflections of the flame.

"Kino? You still awake?"

Hermes asked in a whisper.

"Yeah. I'm awake."

Kino gave a prompt reply.

Hermes then spoke in a lower tone than usual.

"Motorrads are at their happiest when they're running. Going on a journey means running every day. Therefore, traveling is very fun."

"Ah-huh? What's with this, all of a sudden?"

Kino asked, apparently surprised. Hermes then spoke in a tone resembling those of teachers,

"Don't you know, Kino? It's called syllogos."

"...Syllogism?"

"Yeah, that."

Having said that, Hermes then went silent.

"What of it?"

Kino asked, showing curiosity in the topic that Hermes had brought up.

"Well, I just got a little curious about it. That if that's the case, then why do humans travel, you see?"

Hermes asked in an unusually earnest expression.

"Humans? Or just me?"

Kino asked a question in return, also in an earnest tone.

"First, humans."

Let's see..., Kino murmered, then,

"They want to go somewhere they've never been to before. Want to see things they've never seen. Want to eat things they've never eaten. Want to talk to people they've never met before... Those kind of things. Should be pretty simple."

"Yeah. That's not difficult to understand."

Hermes said, seeming to make sense of it.

"I see. It might be more complicated in a practical sense, but that's an easy way to put it."

"Then what about you, Kino? Why do you keep on traveling? I mean, I know that you don't have a place to go back to. But I think you've been met with a lot of cruelty, even nearly killed, and faced countless hardships on the road... Don't you ever think about settling down in one place? With persuader skills of your level, just about any place will hire you. There were a lot of ways to make a living back at Master's place as well."

After Hermes said all that in one go, Kino replied in a quiet tone,

"You're right. It's as you said in that aspect, Hermes."

Hermes waited a brief while. Then, seeing that Kino isn't saying anything more, asked a question.

"Then, despite that, what's the reason for you to keep on traveling?"

Without answering that question, Kino's slender figure rose up. Left hand gripping Woodsman, right hand throwing dirt onto the bonfire.

The barely lingering embers vanished.

And so darkness encroached.

Devoid of light.

The moon and the stars, out of sight.

Audible was only the gentle sound of wind wafting through trees, as if adorning the darkness.

"Let's see... It's kind of vague, but..."

Suddenly, the sound of human conversation could be heard. A slightly high-pitched voice, similar to that of a young boy.

"Kind of vague, but?"

A different voice made a questioning statement, as if to press on the matter. Another young-sounding voice, similar to that of a male child.

There was a brief moment of silence, before the first voice quietly spoke up once more. In an expression as if attempting to convince oneself of something, as if giving a soliloquy.

"Sometimes I wonder, am I an irredeemable, foolish little fellow? Am I a horrible mess of a human being? I'm not really sure why, but there are times when I feel like I am. There are times when I think that is all I am... But it's during those times that I would surely find other things, like the world and other people's ways of lives, to be so beautiful and fantastic. I would think, they're so dear to me... I want to know more and more about them, and I have a feeling that I travel for that purpose."

And then, another brief pause before carrying on,

"I think if I keep on traveling, I'll surely be faced with plenty of sadness and suffering, all the way to the end."

"Hm~m."

"But even so, I still don't think I want to stop. I enjoy doing it, so much that even if it's necessary to hurt or kill others, I would still want to go on. Besides,"

"Besides?"

"I can stop anytime. And that's why I want to keep going, I think."

The first voice spoke with clarity. Then followed with a question,

"Did that make any sense?"

"Honestly speaking, I don't really get it."

The other voice gave a response.

"That's also fine, I guess."

"It is?"

"It's possible that I don't really get it myself either. Maybe I'm losing my way. Maybe I'm keeping on traveling in order to understand it better."

"Hm~m."

"Well then, I'm going to sleep now. We still have a long way to go tomorrow. Good night, Hermes."

"Good night, Kino."

In darkness, a rustling of thick cloth could be heard, ceasing before long.