Chapter 222

Three hours later, twenty-two books were stacked on the desk of the Central Control Room.

『Child Development and the Residential Environment』

『Guidelines for the Management of Pediatric Infectious Disease』

『The Little Bakery in the Forest Village』

"……."

The General Manager stared for a moment at several fairy-tale books with fantasy settings, then opened one.

Sixty percent of the time there was a bell in the illustrations. A bell tower in the middle of the village, and every morning someone rang it. Nowhere was there any description of its purpose.

"Is it necessary?"

"Yesno?"

"Coco, you do not have to force an answer when you do not know."

"Yes."

"I do not know whether there will be any use for it, but let us note it down for now."

He drew a bell tower into the plan. And so the first village was complete.

'Not bad, as far as this goes.'

The joined roofs flowed prettily, the walls were tidy, the roads ran straight. Looking at it for a long while, the General Manager realized something. The curve of the roofs bore an odd resemblance to the lobby ceiling.

His brow creased faintly.

'And the texture of the walls too — somehow I feel I have seen it in the hotel….'

The General Manager muttered decisively,

"This will not do."

"No?"

"However I think about it, our game is rated fifteen and up."

"Iiiing."

He erased every plan he had drawn so far.

"I have no intention of letting children into this place."

"Shape? No?"

"Yes. Not even in shape alone."

"Yes."

About then, someone made a perfectly natural entrance.

"I believe I can be of help."

"Forgive me, but this area is off limits to unauthorized persons, guest."

"I can be of help."

"Of all these many guests and staff, not one listens to a word I say."

The General Manager looked at the Inspector standing in the doorway.

"Mr. Hyeon Si-gyeong."

Today too he was in uniform with a whistle hung around his neck. A familiar face, but not so familiar that turning up out of nowhere like this was acceptable.

Hyeon Si-gyeong said blankly,

"Congratulations on your official opening."

"I told you that is not the time frame."

"My apologies."

"Come in, for now."

It was a point at which even a cat's paw would do.

"Coco paw?"

"My explanation was insufficient. It comes from the Japanese saying 'I would borrow even a cat's paw,' and it means a desperate situation with so few hands that one wishes anyone at all would help."

"Coco? Cat? No?"

"In a certain sense it does apply."

"What? Yes."

The General Manager's specialties were games and hotels, and Lee Yeon-woo was no expert on children. When it came to redrawing a village plan, the police side might in fact be of more use.

"So. What is it you propose to help with?"

"I can see it."

"Please finish your sentences."

"The village."

The General Manager's hand stopped.

"Right now?"

"Yes."

"You are saying you can see, right now, the village where 'the children' live."

"Yes."

"Your sight was clouded because of the Fox Den."

"I borrowed the hotel's capacity."

"Since it is for the good of the community, I shall withdraw the theft charge."

"Thank you."

"Very well."

He adjusted his grip on the pen.

"Go on."

"The well is to the left of the meeting hall."

"Yes."

"The well rope has rotted. Two of its three strands have snapped, and they are using it on the one that remains."

"Dear me."

"The wall behind the meeting hall has fallen."

"A fallen wall need only be put back up."

"The children climb over it to get about."

"Hmm."

The General Manager tried for a moment to recall whether 'Lee Yeon-woo' had done that as a child. He had not. He tried recalling Lee Yeon-ho's children. They had not. He tried recalling the children at the orphanage. They had not.

"……."

Ah. Cha Do-hyeon, he thought, probably had.

'As a general rule, the younger a human is, the more courage they are filled with.'

The General Manager was satisfied.

"More specifically."

"A path has been worn."

"A path has been worn, and."

"Yes. The grass is beaten down. That way is more worn than the front gate."

"Hardy children indeed."

He erased one of the straight roads on the plan and drew a new crooked line behind the wall.

"Continue."

"There are six crocks. Four are empty."

"That two are full is a miracle."

"The contents have rotted."

"True enough. Miracles could hardly happen that often."

"Under the persimmon tree on the west side of the yard there is a mark where someone had been sitting. The trace of one person staying a long while alone."

"One person's worth, is it…."

The General Manager nodded.

"The Chief, then."

"I do not know."

"If you are going to lie, you had better at least put some effort into it."

"If I am hired, I will take that on board."

"I shall convey that through the board of directors, so carry on for now."

"Build nothing on that spot."

"Here, you mean."

When he pointed to a place on the village plan, Hyeon Si-gyeong nodded. The General Manager asked,

"It looks like a field with trees and flowers in bloom. May I ask the reason?"

"Children are buried there."

"I had forgotten that these children are Mages."

"Sixteen in all."

"Not a small number."

The General Manager left a small mark in one corner of the plan. On top of it he placed nothing.

"In that case, what is it like at night?"

"It is bright."

"It did not look like a situation with lighting."

"It is bright."

"Mr. Hyeon Si-gyeong, do you remember what day it is today?"

"The sun is up."

"The sun, is it."

The General Manager nodded.

"Before we brought you here, Mr. Hyeon Si-gyeong, you said something similar. You asked whether the sun was well."

SNAP—!

He flicked his fingers.

"Would you call to mind the time and the place where you presently are?"

"My apologies."

"It is by no means a discourtesy, so speak at your ease."

When the General Manager narrowed his eyes into a foxlike smile, Coco asked,

"Coco help?"

"Suddenly?"

"Coco cat."

"That is indeed your shape."

"Coco paw. Cat paw."

"So that is how you are going to play it."

The black thing came up from his feet and settled on the plan. The General Manager did not refuse.

"Welcome aboard."

"Coco help."

Ten minutes later.

"Coco roof!"

"It is black."

"Coco roof!!"

"I said it is black."

"Coco wall!"

"That is black too."

"Coco tree!"

"If you go dyeing the trees black as well, that is rather a problem."

"Iiiing!!"

"Dear me."

The General Manager kneaded the belly of Coco, who was sprawled out flailing all four paws in the air. The village plan on the desk was covered over in Vantablack.

From a distance it was simply one large black stain.

"……."

"……."

Silence flowed between the General Manager and Hyeon Si-gyeong. Smiling, the General Manager called his business partner.

"Coco."

"Ing…."

"This one I will use."

He pointed at one well cover. It was pitch-black and glossy.

"Coco adopted!"

"Yes, adopted. It is a well too contaminated to use, so you may seal it, Coco."

"Coco adopted!!!"

"Once is enough."

The General Manager spread out a new sheet of paper.

"Then let us put it in order."

"Yes."

"One. Someday this village must run without me."

"Yes."

"Therefore every installation gets a termination condition attached."

"Coco forever!"

The General Manager gazed at Coco. It seemed that the 'forever' Coco spoke of really did mean forever. Broad as the General Manager's tolerances were, that was rather a problem.

"Regrettably, you will have to bear with it."

"Iiiing!"

"Coco, if you help them forever, those children will never live on their own."

"Coco help! Possible! Guaranteed!"

"Haha."

Which was precisely why the answer was no.

"If there is one gate every living thing passes through, it is independence. Coco, I will not tell you to become independent of me, but one cannot leave these children as children for life."

"……."

"Do you understand?"

"…Coco confirms."

"That is enough."

He gave the drooping black mass one stroke. A low voice spoke up.

"You are kind to children."

"Why state something so obvious?"

"You were unkind to us."

"Fifteen and over are subject to our game's experience."

"Understood."

About then there was a stir. A white owl came flying in.

"Ms. Seome."

It was a surprising thing. Since returning to the hotel and confirming that he was the 'General Manager,' Seome had been badly shaken and had not flown to his side.

She seemed to have something to say.

"What is the matter?"

The bird hopped up onto the paper. Then she tapped the plan once with her beak.

"Aha. May I take that to mean you wish to come along?"

"Hoo."

"I should like to ask the reason."

The owl stayed still for a long moment, then lifted her beak a little.

"…Because the child seems to like animals."

"Is that so."

"Yes."

"I see."

Smiling at words whose insides were plain to see, the General Manager suddenly recalled Lee Yeon-ho's voice.

'Because neither the honest you nor the invented you can be said not to be you.'

"……."

He himself did not know why that sentence had come to him now. He simply smiled and nodded.

"Then I shall understand it that way."

"Hooeng."

Hyeon Si-gyeong stared at Seome.

"……."

"……."

Hyeon Si-gyeong made to bring the whistle to his mouth, stopped, and muttered briefly,

"…It is nothing."

Then he put the whistle back in his mouth.

When the discussion was over, a single sheet of paper remained in the Central Control Room.

1. The village shall not be incorporated into hotel territory.

2. The village children shall not be registered as guests.

3. No contracts.

4. No price shall be taken.

5. The General Manager's blood shall not be used.

6. The authority to revert shall be given to the Chief.

And beneath them a seventh article had been added.

[Allowing for the possibility that present judgment differs from the usual]

And yet.

"……."

"Seventh, erase?"

"Yes."

The General Manager read it once more, then drew a line straight through it. What remained on the list came to six.

"There is no need to go soft for nothing, is there?"

For the General Manager to operate himself, six was enough.

Then he folded the paper and put it in his inside pocket. This game would be rated fifteen and up, so he too would have to be careful. It amounted to a talisman to remind him of that.

"Then let us go and see the child off."

"Yes!"

"Yes."

***

The village was quiet.

By day it was just as quiet. Because there was no child with the energy to make noise.

So when the child sweeping in front of the meeting hall looked up, it took a while to register what was there.

"…Chief?"

The broom slid from the child's hand.

"It's the Chief!"

"The Chief has come!"

"She's alive!"

The village being so utterly still, the child's voice rang out with unusual clarity.

The children, who had been waiting anxiously for their young Chief, came pouring out from every corner of the village. Some fifteen of them crossed halfway and then faltered to a stop.

Someone was standing beside the Chief.

"Uh…?"

"Who…?"

A man dressed in black.

A pure-white owl was perched on the man's shoulder, and at his feet two black foxes with red cloth about their necks followed side by side, matching his stride.

The child standing at the very front went down flat with a splat.

"Th-the Fox God!"

"The Fox God…!"

"The Fox God has come!"

The little crowd flattened in an instant.

Three children collapsed and burst into tears, six trembled violently as they bowed, and one backed up and collided with the crock stand. Besides those, several more milled about in confusion….

"Everyone, do not do that, greet him properly—!"

By the time the young Chief hastily opened her mouth, they had all already prostrated themselves.

"……."

"…You already have."

"Kong."

"But this was not the kind of greeting I meant."

"Kong-kong."

The two black foxes trotted forward.

"Th-they are coming…!"

"Get something out, quick."

"W-wait a moment…."

One of the prostrate children raised up dried corn kernels in both hands. Reverent, as though offering them to a god, and yet held low, as one does for a small animal. It was the most precious food left in the village.

Having confirmed the devotion behind the tribute, the fox twitched its nose.

"Kong!"

"Do not accept it."

"…Kong."

"Spit it out."

At the General Manager's firm words, the fox glumly set the corn kernels it had gathered in its mouth back down on the child's hand. The child who had presented the tribute wore the face of a world collapsing.

"The god's beast won't eat what's ours…."

"That's not it. Don't misunderstand, just for now."

While the young Chief struggled to smooth things over, the General Manager stood in the middle of the yard and looked the village over.

Corn was spread out on a straw mat. Half of it had gone moldy, but even that they could not throw away and had gathered to one side. It looked to be a measure to dry it in the sun, shake off at least some of the fungus, and try eating it.

In the cauldron was tree bark….

"……."

One meeting hall and several collapsing thatched houses. A village where twenty children lived, and tiny babies besides. Without meaning to, the General Manager pressed a leather-gloved hand lightly to his forehead.

"God?"

"……."

"God, are you unwell somewhere?"

"No."

Only after denying it reflexively did a different calculation begin to turn.

'Is it in fact rational for me to deny being a god here and now?'

The answer was 'no.' Keeping his smile, the General Manager went on.

"I shall begin."

They may have expected something, but from the outset nothing special happened. He settled himself in the yard and then called the children forward one by one.

"Your name?"

"Water…?"

"Your age."

"I-I don't know."

"How many teeth have you lost?"

"…Four…?"

"Open your mouth, please."

The children were bewildered. They had thought that when a god came, something enormous would happen — but all he did was tell them to open their mouths, or hold out their arms.

"Has any child been ill in these last ten days?"

"Ah… ah, um, there are two."

Unlike in that magnificent building, here the General Manager used formal speech with every child, herself included. The young Chief, who had been staring blankly at that, gave a start and answered.

"The child who is a tree, and Little Wind. On the tree's side the leaves are drying; on the wind's side there is coughing at night."

"Is the cough a dry sound or a wet sound?"

"I don't… quite know, but… I think it's a wet sound. It isn't dry."

"Would you remember what hour it was?"

"It's worst around daybreak."

The General Manager nodded.

"To have remembered it in that much detail is excellent."

"No, this sort of thing is…."

"You have looked after the village diligently."

"It is just…."

"It is not something just anyone can do."

The child's ears went red.

It was something she had counted out alone her whole life. It was necessary when finding a sick child, but no one had ever asked and there had been nowhere to answer. There was nothing she could do besides remember, so she had gone around checking.

"……?"

About then, the General Manager raised his eyes.

At the far end of the yard three small children were crouched in balls. One held a piece of charcoal, one propped up a plank, and one was dictating beside them.

The child who met his eyes said,

"Whether the cough is a wet sound or a dry sound…."

"You need not write that down."

"But I've written it…."

"Aha. Indeed."

"Shall I… erase it?"

In that instant the General Manager calculated. The confusion to be expected from a correction. The time a re-explanation would take….

"……."

The General Manager smiled and said,

"No. Leave it."

"God!"

"Please call me General Manager."

"Yes, General Manager God!"

"Dear me."

"General Manager God, I haven't lost any teeth — will you look at me?"

"Come here."

Right. Leave it for now.

'For the moment, being understood as a god is fastest.'

It was a choice 'Lee Yeon-woo' would never have made, but at present that was the General Manager's opinion. Objectively, given that Velmareth was called the 'blood god,' it was not entirely a lie either.

Was there another choice this fast and this efficient?

'Probably not.'

That was how the General Manager persuaded 'Lee Yeon-woo.'

***

Meanwhile, Hyeon Si-gyeong hung from a branch in the 'Fox Den' with his legs hooked over it.

"……."

An intruder.

'Or rather, closer to an accomplice of the Fox Den.'

Traces of such a being were left all through this Labyrinth.

The Fox Den was a considerably large Labyrinth. It merely had not yet acquired a self — a Labyrinth with the potential to do so before long. All through that Fox Den, villages large and small were being reared like livestock.

Among them, the largest district the Fox Den could not touch was stirring.

"…Cha Do-hyeon…."

Putting that name to his lips, Hyeon Si-gyeong murmured,

"He will regret it."

Even that would be your karma.

***

"I believe they said this was the most bustling district in the Gapyeong Gaps."

Cha Do-hyeon chewed the words over as he got out of the car.

"'Bustling' is a truly… relative word, isn't it?"

"Yes, Boss."

When there was a rice paddy sitting right there in plain view.

What was planted in the paddy, water pooled over black earth, was not rice. At a glance it looked similar, but it was far thicker, and its tips curled like fern fronds. Bent-backed old people moved slowly among them.

"My, my. Hard at it, are they."

"Boss, this way, if you please."

"Yeaaah."

The path they walked had been cemented over, but it was broken in places and bare earth showed through. Utility poles stood crooked, and between them the slack wires drew sagging arcs.

From somewhere the low sound of a generator turning lay over everything.

"Hoh. Well, now…."

A slate roof, and a crooked slogan with its paint peeling, came into Cha Do-hyeon's view.

― Diligent Labor, a Bright Tomorrow ―

"Bright it certainly is."

Cha Do-hyeon looked up at the sky. Beneath a 'sky' tangled with piping and gear teeth, rows of old incandescent bulbs hung in strings, imitating daytime.