Oze
A haze lingered over me—
That last part of the Harvester’s story, about the boy who saved the bird, who grew up and told him something… there’s no way it wasn’t important.
But there’s no time.
“I’ll go first. I may not be as sharp as your Harvester, but my senses are keen enough.”
Saying this, Rhone rose from his seat before anyone else, forcing us to follow.
Just like when we arrived, we placed our hands on each other’s shoulders and moved forward in a line. This time, the Harvester took the rear.
When we stepped off the train, a strange scent hit me—something between liquor and tea. What the hell?
“This is right before the Central Square.”
That had been nagging at me for a while.
“Hey, why ‘before the Central Square’? What’s with that wording? And just who the hell was this train for? The Watcher Bird who uses this Perching Stone flies, doesn’t he? Hard to imagine him sitting in a train car.”
“I don’t know why it’s a train. Maybe sometimes there are passengers. We’re God’s cells—we can’t pretend to understand what a familiar bird thinks. But I do know why we got off here: to drink the pre-liquor.”
Damn it, another word I don’t know. If I take it literally, “pre-liquor” is just another kind of alcohol. That explains the smell. I turned to check if Mamoru wasn’t sick from it.
“Mamoru, you feeling okay? Hey, Harvester—do we have to drink that stuff to get into the Central Square? Mamoru can’t drink.”
“There’s tea too. Keep walking a bit further. The road turns to gravel—watch your step. Some of you look like you’ll trip easy. Stop when it flattens out again. I’ll bring you the drinks there.”
A short laugh from the Harvester echoed in the dark. I’d thought the same thing when he left the train story hanging halfway through—his husky, calculatedly pleasant voice.
And now, more than ever, I was sensitive to it.
“No shops. Just something I once heard from a Watcher Bird, that’s all.”
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Our footing leveled out.
“Let’s sit in a circle again,” Oomi said, quickly rising as the leader in this darkness.
“I wonder what time it is outside now,” Aochi muttered. It was the same question weighing on all of us.
“About four o’clock. I’ll help carry the drinks, so don’t move a muscle. If you shift around, it’ll be a pain to find you,” Rhone said casually, before his presence faded. If it’s called “right before” the square, then maybe we’re close. Will we make it in time? Even if we do, there’s no guarantee survival waits there.
Still, all we could do was cling to the hope that this indestructible stone could shield us from God’s eyes and carry us to the next world.
Everyone was afraid of the silence, yet no one spoke.
In a space where nothing could be seen or heard, the uncertainty of my own existence gnawed at me. I reached out and touched Aochi and Mamoru’s knees. They placed their hands on mine in return, the only proof I was still here.
“Here—pass them clockwise starting from the glasses. Mamoru gets iced tea with sugar, so don’t worry.”
When the Harvesters returned, they stepped into the circle and handed each of us a drink in turn.
I felt fine patterns beneath my fingertips, and for some reason pictured a bronze tumbler.
“Why do we have to drink this tea or liquor before entering the square? Another one of God’s rules? Or is there something mixed into it?”
The Harvester sighed. Even in this situation—maybe because of it—that sigh was annoyingly seductive.
“Why so suspicious? The square’s air is different from here. Think of this as a prophylactic—to protect you from it.”
“Medicine…”
Mamoru’s small voice came beside me. I knew well how sickly he’d been, always clinging to medicine. Even in death, to be forced into swallowing more… it was cruel.
“Mamoru, the Harvester said it’s sweet tea. I bet it tastes good. Don’t worry.”
“Yeah. I wonder what flavor your drink is, big brother.”
So innocent, so sweet. If we can just survive until morning in that square, maybe I’ll see Mamoru again in the next world. And maybe… Kaori-san too.
“Everyone has their glass? Then drink.”
At the Harvester’s cue, I tipped mine back in one go.
Wait—
“Tastes like guaraná,” Silent-chan said. Yes, exactly. The flavor was unmistakably guaraná, carbonation and all.
“I adjusted it to be easier to drink. Straight, it’s unbearable.”
Good. I hadn’t had it in a while, but I liked guaraná. This, I could finish.
“Uru…”
Suddenly, a thud—something had fallen. From the voice, it was Ululu.
“Hey, Ululu, you okay?” Aochi was the first to cry out.
“Seems fine. Just asleep,” Silent-chan’s voice answered.
“You gave liquor to him too? He may be big, but he was just born! Think for once!”
For once, the Harvester faltered. Clearly, he hadn’t expected this.
“Ah… thought it’d just make him a little tipsy, cheerful even. Damn. Guess I’ll have to carry him to the square myself…”
“I’ll carry him,” Rhone cut in, fast as lightning. Not out of duty to his passenger—out of jealousy, no doubt. If he could get a piggyback from the Harvester himself, he’d probably faint on purpose.
“Thank you for the drink.”
Mamoru’s sweet little voice piped up.
“Mamoru, did you finish it?”
“Yeah. It was milk tea. Really good.”
Relief washed over me. In the next world, the Harvester should quit that cursed role and open a café. With how he reads his customers’ tastes, I’d be a regular for life.
“Put the cups at the edge. They’ll vanish after a while. It’s time we head to the Central Square.”
“You sure know a lot. Did you work at one of these shops or something?”