517 - IF Toughness ~Tough Me Doesn't Pessimize~ 2
"Work, bother. Sorry, sai."
Come to think of it, I remember during my first conversation with a human in a long while that I am still clumsy with the language of this world. Since I had been talking to goats, I hadn't forgotten how to make sound, but my talk is still broken as ever. When dealing with animals, I could speak exactly as I thought without worrying about grammar or anything, but it doesn't work that way with humans.
The man, surprised by the attack of a young girl swinging a blood-dripping snake, first let out a scream. Well, it's only natural to want to scream. If I imagined the scene, it's a nonsensical situation that would make even me want to scream.
Hearing the man's scream, his comrades immediately gathered at Anton-san's house, and the demolition and arson work was temporarily suspended. It was in order to capture me, who had suddenly appeared, started rampaging, and was running away.
I fled into the house, ran through the attic, climbed onto the roof, jumped to a tree in the garden, descended to the ground, and escaped into the forest. I want to praise myself for my splendid skill up to that point, but as expected, there is a difference in stride, physical strength, and endurance between adults and children. I was soon caught by the men and received introductions and an explanation of the circumstances.
The men in black armor were members of an organization called the Black Knights, which in my previous life would be something like the police or the Self-Defense Forces, and they had come to investigate the deserted village. There were other villages that had become deserted, and in those places, it had been confirmed that the villagers were rotting corpses. A judgment had been made that it was likely an infectious disease or something, and they were in the process of purifying the village by burning it whole.
"Uncles, bad people, wrong. Thought bad people, work bother. Sorry, sai."
"Uncle... I see, an uncle, huh..."
Even though I am reflecting and apologizing, the Black Knight who called himself Teddy seems to be concerned about something else. Apparently, being called an uncle bothers him, as he seems to be at a very delicate age.
Teddy asked me about the events so far, so I answered accurately as much as I could remember. If an unknown infectious disease is truly spreading, any amount of information should be necessary. When I spoke as much as I could remember about the village's anomalies and the villagers' symptoms that continued from the end of autumn, they were surprised. They said they didn't think I remembered it in such detail.
"Anton-san's house, burn, no."
"Yeah... even if you say no. All houses where the disease appeared must be burned..."
"If Anton-san and others burn, I, sleep place, none."
"...Huh? Wasn't Tina-chan's father's name Saro? Even if we burn Anton-san's house, Tina-chan's house to sleep in..."
"House, different. I, after father died, goat Anton-san's place, slept."
"Goat Anton-san's place?"
I lead Teddy, who is tilting his head, to the livestock shed. I introduce the goat couple, Anton-san and his wife, and tell him that I slept on the straw wrapped in a blanket at night, and Teddy's eyes overflow with tears. Apparently, this Black Knight named Teddy has a scary face, but inside he is a sentimental person. He seems to sympathize quite a bit with the fact that I, an eight-year-old, was separated from my parents by death and had lived huddled with livestock in this village where the villagers had vanished.
"Hm? What's with that brat?"
"A survivor of the village. It seems they didn't know the Black Knights and were hiding in the forest thinking bandits had attacked."
Teddy reports my heroic tale (tomboyishness) to the Black Knight who seems to be the captain, wrapping it gently in euphemisms, saying that I was protected after rushing out of the forest in a panic when the house was set on fire. The Black Knight named Jean-Jacques gave a disinterested nod to Teddy's report, and then held out a small pouch hanging from his waist in front of my eyes.
"...What?"
"No, brats like this kind of thing, right?"
I wonder what it is, and I take the offered pouch. The pouch, which feels squishy to the touch, is fluffy but a lump. Based on the tactile sensation, the thing inside is—
...Ah.
Something flashes in my mind, and I timidly lower the pouch in my hand to the ground. I grip the mouth tightly so that the thing inside doesn't escape, and take out the knife from my pocket that I had used to cut off the snake's head earlier. And then, just like that—
"Wait a minute!? What the hell are you doing!! You're a terrifying brat, aren't you!?"
This area is the neck. Even if I miss, it'll be around the torso, I thought as I aimed and tried to plunge the knife in, but the hand holding the knife was recovered by Teddy, and the pouch was recovered by Jean-Jacques's hand.
"Brats are supposed to cherish small creatures, right!? Why are you suddenly trying to kill it!?"
"That."
Probably that, I say, pointing to the taken-away pouch. The source of the infectious disease is likely the creature inside the pouch Jean-Jacques held.
"Huh? A small creature like this—"
"Before, heard. Creature, product. Disease. Not knowing, transfer. Everyone, become. Disease."
I convey the content of a documentary program I saw in my previous life, making use of my broken speech. It was about how rodents infected with a disease were imported as pets, and in the process of transport and sale, the disease transferred to humans and spread one after another.
Things like previous life or television programs were excluded in the process of searching for words in my head. Since Teddy already understood that my speech was clumsy, the way I spoke by breaking up words was not particularly thought of as suspicious.
"Jean-Jacques, mask-like, duty. Wear."
"I hate this thing."
"Mother, same, said. In house, first, start. Disease."
I point to Teddy, saying that the other Black Knights are wearing masks. As they say they came to purify villages destroyed by an infectious disease, their minimum preparations such as gloves and masks are perfect. Unlike Jean-Jacques, who carelessly tried to catch a small animal and was successfully bitten.
Bitten by a small animal that is a strong candidate for the cause that brought the disease to the village. With this alone, there is a possibility that Jean-Jacques has been infected with the disease.
Furthermore, it seems that immediately after being bitten, Jean-Jacques licked the wound himself. In addition to the possibility of infection from the wound, there is also the possibility of infection from the oral cavity. For that matter, when he caught the small animal, it must have struggled while being put into the pouch. That means he might have inhaled invisible-sized hair or dust that flew around through his nose, so there is a possibility of infection from the nasal cavity.
...Rather, it would be amazing if he wasn't infected by this.
In the end, because Jean-Jacques and I were suspected of having the infectious disease, we were isolated from the Black Knights. However, leaving an eight-year-old in a village that had been burned down is the same as saying "die," so it was decided that I would be taken to the city. When I asked for the accompaniment of the goat couple, Anton-san and his wife, to whom I had grown fond, Teddy made a grim face. He said that even though they are still alive, there is no guarantee that the goats are not infected with the disease. However, because Jean-Jacques allowed them to accompany us, saying "it'll be a pain if they complain here," I will be with the goat couple Anton and his wife for a while longer. However, I was also made to promise that if the messenger sent ahead refuses to let the goats into the goat city, they will be culled at that time. Rather than thinking of this as a concession to me, they probably want a record of having obtained a prior commitment from me in case they actually have to cull the goats.
The goat couple Anton-san and his wife were safely permitted to enter the large city called Grenore. On the way, the messenger returned, and it seems that acceptance of the goats was permitted by a facility that serves a role like a hospital called Sedovara Church. From the various reports regarding the infectious disease that I remembered, the true nature of the disease seems to have been identified. Based on that result, the judgment was that if the goats are still alive and show no signs of being infected with the disease, it should be fine.
And as for me and Jean-Jacques—
...Currently isolating~.
When we approached the city, I was moved into a hemp sack. I understand that this is a consideration so as not to scatter the disease in the city during transport, but it's a rather subtle feeling.
Upon entering the city, I was carried straight to Sedovara Church. What awaited there was an isolated life spending the incubation period of the disease. For me, it is an isolation measure for the incubation period, but for Jean-Jacques, the isolation is completely that for an infected person.
As expected, or how should I put it, Jean-Jacques was infected with the infectious disease that was apparently named Wards' disease. The Black Knights who returned from the village with us are also living an isolated life, but the only one who developed symptoms was Jean-Jacques. It was thanks to early detection, or rather, noticing the possibility of infection almost immediately after being bitten by a squirrel (ushiri), and everyone taking voluntary infection measures such as wearing masks and keeping distance.
"...You are Tina Meiyu."
"I am Tina, you know. What? Meiyu."
If it's just Tina, it's my name, but if Meiyu is attached, it might be a case of mistaken identity. I am just Tina, and in this life, I have no surname.
I thought I had no surname—but according to a pharmacist who called himself Jasper, it seems that I am indeed Tina Meiyu. It is Tina Meiyu in the sense of being from Meiyu Village. In the reports given by the Black Knights, my name is apparently written as Tina Meiyu. I am surprised by the fact that a name I didn't know was being used normally.
"That village, Meiyu Village, said. First time."
When I answered in broken speech that it was the first time I had heard the name of the village, Jasper made a strange expression. It was a mysterious expression, neither admiring a young girl who speaks in broken speech nor mocking a child who cannot speak well.
"Since we are from the same Meiyu Village, I became your person in charge. ...I am also being made to look after the goats you brought."
"Anton-san, and others, are they healthy?"
"...Anton?"
"Goat Anton-san."
When I told him that they were livestock from the house of a villager named Anton, this time the expression was easy to understand. Jasper made a face of heartfelt dislike and pressed his forehead.
"Speaking of Anton from Meiyu Village, it's that guy. I also played with him several times in the past... is it that Anton?"
Since I was asked if that Anton had also died, I told him about Anton's condition as much as I could remember. When Anton was still alive, I was told by my mother not to approach houses with the disease. Therefore, I didn't see the actual situation. Everything I know is content that my parents exchanged as information sharing with each other.
"...Did the Daltowa couple also die? Those two had almost no association with the villagers, right?"
"So, Father's before, died. Uh..."
Complex conversations are still difficult for me. I can somehow speak in broken speech, but while I am constructing sentences in my head, words accidentally leak out, and it's fine if I just stumble because my tongue doesn't turn, but occasionally even Japanese leaks out. Broken speech is one thing, but Japanese should not be understood by Jasper.
The Daltowa couple were treated as outcasts in the village. My outsider parents were treated the same way, so contrary to the villagers, we were on good terms with the Daltowa couple. By this winter, our relationship was good enough to spend the winter together. Since both families stood out in Meiyu Village, they avoided infection when Wards' disease began to spread. However, my parents could not leave the sick people alone and decided to care for them, and eventually became infected with Wards' disease. I am the only one who survived without being infected until the end.
After telling the story to the end while stumbling and biting my tongue here and there, Jasper said only one word, "I see." I'll pretend I didn't see him slide his glasses and press the inner corner of his eye. It's strange that he seems more shocked by the death of the Daltowa couple than by the end of Anton-san, whom he apparently played with in the past. I heard that the Daltowa couple had a child, and I wondered if Jasper was that child, but I immediately denied it. In the Daltowa couple's house, there were girl's clothes of a size slightly larger than my current self. The Daltowa couple's child should be a girl.
...Age-wise, I wonder if he also played with Aunt Ulary's child?
Come to think of it, I notice that I'm not asked about Jasper's family. Normally, upon hearing the news of death from one's hometown, the first thing one would want to know is the whereabouts of one's own family. Regarding Anton-san, it was in the flow of conversation because I had given the goats names. What Jasper asked next was about the Daltowa couple.
"Uh..."
Should I be considerate and bring up the topic of Jasper's family? However, I didn't know the faces and names of all the villagers. There was a higher possibility that I wouldn't be able to answer even if a name was brought up.
"Jasper-sha—"
"Is the Japanese that occasionally comes out of you from Aunt Ulary?"
"Ueh!?"
At the words suddenly thrown at me, I stopped my breath and movement for a moment and looked up at Jasper. I didn't think that a word like Japanese would come out of anyone's mouth but my own. Even my parents in this life should not know the word.
...Huh? But, Aunt Ulary?
I ruminated on Jasper's words for a while and tilted my head. I wondered where Japanese and Aunt Ulary connect.
"If it's not the aunt, then it would be from the uncle... but it seems it's not, right?"
"..."
If I wonder why he knows, it's probably because my reaction is easy to understand. To avoid being found out any further, I hide my cheeks with both hands. I kneaded my own cheeks and pretended while making a funny face.
"WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT-NA? I, because child, difficult things don't understand-NA?"
"EASY TO TELL. EVERYTHING HAS BECOME JAPANESE, YOU KNOW?"
"THAT'S NOT... huh?"
Your Japanese is very good, I try replying in Japanese. Then, Jasper even showed modesty, saying "Not that much" in slightly broken Japanese.
"Why, Japanese? Aunt Ulary?"
"I... no, that doesn't matter."
...It doesn't seem like it doesn't matter.
Of course, I don't say it out loud. Jasper's slightly averted gaze did not have an expression that said it didn't matter. However, from the flow of the conversation, I could guess who Jasper learned Japanese from, so I stop pursuing it further. If it's not Aunt Ulary, the existence (thing) that is glossed over in the Daltowa house is the child who was sold to the village chief. Jasper's Japanese was probably taught by that child.
...Huh? In the first place, why Japanese?
"Jasper-sha—"
"Yours is something 'taught by the Daltowa couple' and 'can only speak greetings' and 'can only read hiragana' and 'doesn't understand the meaning'. ...Let's keep it that way."
Why did the word Japanese come up. When I tried to ask Jasper about it, the conversation was ended first. It was in the form of being suppressed from the start, saying this is no good, that is no good, but I am not a child as I look. Since I could sense that there seems to be some reason, I decided to obey obediently for now.
This is an IF that I, the writer, am having super fun writing. It's progressing briskly.
Typos and omissions will be handled next time.