[Sukamoka Vol. 3] Chapter 4 Part 1: The Resolute Mechanical Woman

In the woods, after a short walk down a narrow trail, there was a certain facility.

It was an old wooden building with a large number of rooms. An outlooker’s first impression upon seeing it might be to think it was an apartment building or dormitory – an impression not too far from the truth.

“Excuuuuse me!” the Tourterelle man standing before the front door shouted. “You have mail!” 

He had on a navy-blue uniform and wore an armband with a pen and arrow design stitched into it. Together, those proved he was a courier in the public postal service, the largest communication network in all of Regul Aire.

“Hey! May I speak to the person in charge of these premises?”

“Yessss! Just wait a minuteee!”

There was a short pause, then the sound of slippers pitter-pattering over wooden floorboards. Finally, a tall markless woman appeared from beyond the hallway, her apron sleeves rolled up. She looked to be twenty, or perhaps a bit older. Her pale red hair extended down her back, blowing slightly in the wind.

“Sorry to keep you waiting! But can you not put what you’ve got in the mailbox? I won’t mind if you do!”

“My apologies. It’s a feather-sealed letter.”

The woman’s soft smile stiffened a little. Indeed, the envelope the courier presented her bore a feather-shaped seal. That proved it was official mail from the Winged Guard to an external organization – in other words, an important document, the delivery of which had to be assured beyond all doubt.

 “Can you give me proof of receipt?”

“Oh, yes… please wait just a moment.” The woman fumbled through the pockets of her apron and produced a stamp which bore a simple Orlandri General Trading Company insignia: a heart and balanced scales. She pressed it against the document the courier held, and he squinted his eyes down, scanning its shape and form. He finally nodded his approval and flapped his wings, flying off into the sky.

The woman roughly broke the seal. She inserted her fingers into the envelope and pulled out the paper within it – then stopped. Unable to move, she gazed at the folded piece of paper with an expression more like fear than hesitation.

She took a deep breath. Steeling herself, she unfolded the paper and started reading it.

After a brief period of silence, tears overflowed from beneath her eyes. As the strength left her legs, she leaned back against the nearby wall and hung her head, her hot tears soaking her chest.

“Lakish…” she softly mumbled a girl’s name. “I see. So you were the first one to…”

The woman sniffled. “I’m so hopeless, aren’t I? These things happen. I should have been ready for this, but it’s been a while. It’s still hard to accept…”

As if she was trying to make excuses, as if she was seeking sympathy and understanding from someone, she kept talking. There was no one by her side, no reply waiting to come. Alone in this place, without anyone to comfort her, without anyone to comfort, she could only stand still.

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“Hey, Naigrat! Where’re you?!”

Her shoulders jerked with surprise. The tiny sound of footsteps was approaching her from the hallway. Hardly any time would pass before they reached her. Steadying herself, she wiped her eyes with her sleeve and took a deep breath, forcing down the urge to sob.

“Aaaah! Ow ow ow!”

A hair’s breadth away from breaking, she somehow managed to fake calm.

“We ran out of pepper, so I’m gonna go get more. Be back soon.” The blunt speech came from a child looking roughly ten years old – a girl with barely any figure and a boyish way of speaking. Showing no sign of having noticed the woman’s hardships (although, of course, it’d have been quite bothersome if she had noticed), the girl strode right by the woman and went outside.

“…Eudea.”

“Hmm?” As the woman called her name, the girl looked back.

“Are… you fine lately? You aren’t feeling sluggish or anything, are you?”

“Huh? Nah, no worries. I’m in perfect health!” The girl grinned and tapped her bicep. “Well then, I’m off!”

She started to run, hopped on one leg while fixing the heel of her shoe, then continued running to the town. At a glance, she didn’t appear gloomy at all.

But the woman knew better. That girl had already had the special dream. The dream marked the end of the fairies’ childhood. Fairies, beings whose existence was made up of the lost souls of children, were believed to fade away before becoming adults. That girl, too, probably only had six months left at most. To more-or-less forestall that end, they needed to go to a special facility and undergo a procedure.

However, the Winged Guard currently wouldn’t permit it. With the seemingly-eternal threat of the invading Teimerre having become distant, the Guard didn’t acknowledge the need to maintain a fighting force of adult fairy soldiers during peacetime.

“Tiat… Collon… Panival…”

The woman murmured the three remaining names of the four friends who’d departed. They’d wanted to prove that adult fairies would remain useful even beyond battles against the Teimerre – a goal they might reach by throwing away their lives fighting the Croyance. They didn’t want to miss the chance given to them by the Winged Guard’s top brass.

Saying such things, those girls headed towards the 38th Floating Island. Naigrat was staunchly opposed until the very end, but they shook off all her objections until, one day, they got on an airship and left.

If all went to plan and they successfully sacrificed themselves, Eudea – and the rest of the younger fairies – just might be saved. Or, at least, that might create the most hopeful future for them. And yet…

“Oh… gotta wipe them…”

She couldn’t show the children her crying face. She didn’t want them to hear her sobbing. And so, she would stuff all her emotions deep inside her heart and lock them up.

Eudea’s back shrank into the distance.

The woman, the Troll, one of the facility’s caretakers, silently saw her off with a soggy, crestfallen face.

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Prev -> Chapter 3 Part 7: Dead Black Agate
Next -> Chapter 4 Part 2: Tiat