Aochi
Just as suddenly as it had begun, the siren stopped.
The sound vanished all at once, leaving the world in total silence. Darkness had been frightening, but this was terrifying in its own way. I tried calling out to Oomi.
…Why? My voice wouldn’t come out.
I called for Oze. Again, no sound. Something was wrong.
Oze’s mouth was opening wide as he faced me.
I understood then—our voices weren’t failing us. They were being swallowed. It wasn’t our ears; this entire place was pulling in every sound.
Why so suddenly? Had the siren really stopped, or was it still ringing somewhere beyond?
“I’ve found you.”
What? A voice so clear it seemed unreal—yet so faint it was almost inaudible.
“…sa…id…what…”
What the hell? Even in this crushing silence, I could barely catch it. I used to mock Oomi for his lack of volume, but I take it back. Compared to this, Oomi’s voice was thunderous.
Could it be some frequency only a Harvester could hear?
The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.
I looked at the Harvester and Rhone’s faces. No good—only confusion.
What about the crane-like bird? Even the long-necked bird tilted its head in puzzlement.
No one else could hear. Then why was this voice speaking? A faint rustle still lingered at my ear.
Yes. Nothing but a beautiful sound. Beautiful, but utterly devoid of meaning.
The cosmos flowers swayed softly, and when I looked ahead at Rhone, he was tapping his foot, irritation clear.
So he’s short-tempered after all. And that right hand—
A flash. No good feeling at all.
The next moment, the light in his hand formed into a long blade that cut across the air.
I caught myself thinking, absurdly, that at least the cosmos hadn’t been harmed.
The stillness shifted into something I recognized, and I felt relief.
“You silence all sound just to speak, and yet it barely reaches. Half-heard and half-lost—only unsettling.”
Rhone drew the blade back into himself as he spoke.
Now the voice could be heard properly.
“Hey, I heard a really beautiful voice. Couldn’t make out the words, though. Was that God?”
The Harvester answered with a look of pure annoyance.
“Yeah. The murderer who came to kill everyone except Oze and Silent-chan. The pervert who tried to put me inside his own eye. And the nuisance God who moves us around without asking.”
That’s too much, isn’t it? You said he was like your father—aren’t you afraid of being punished?
“How could you choose loneliness for yourself!”
The roar shook my ears, deafening. The same machine-like voice I’d heard when I looked at the words hanging in the sky. I covered my ears without thinking.
“Now he’s loud. Forcing a voice like that… really not used to talking to people, huh.”
Rhone gave a long sigh and turned back to us.
“God’s actually pretty talkative, you know. He’s always speaking to you too. But his voice is microscopic. You saw it—he silenced the world, and you still barely heard him. Pushes harder, and you get that ear-splitting blast. Kind of pitiful, really. Always talking, and always ignored.”
—Pitiful. The thought struck me hard. Even for God, who was trying to erase us.
How many years had his solitude lasted?
“Enough already. Show yourself. No matter how much you talk from there, no one will ever hear you.”