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Volume 5 Trouble File First Second Half Part 6

「Yes, it is exactly like you say. That is not her real name, but rather the one she has given to herself, and I am sure that there must have been some special reason behind her decision to choose that name in particular. By the way, Izayoi. . . .. do you know how the last member of a certain proud ethnic group who called himself Ishi met his end?」

Canaria asked Izayoi in a quiet voice, to which he responded by tilting his head in confusion. He thought about that question of her for a moment but to no avail, and he was just about to tell her that he has no idea what is she talking about, but before he could do that Canaria spoke first.

「It is fine if you do not know the answer to that question, because that is not something that you need to know right now. But if you really want to learn the answer, then perhaps I will reveal it to you at the end of our journey.」

These words from Canaria surprised Izayoi greatly. After all, that was the very first time when she was mentioning their journey actually coming to an end. Well, to be honest, Izayoi expected that someday their journey would have to come to an end at some point, but he expected that 「at some point」 to be way, way in the future, but her words just now seem to be implying something altogether different, and that made his heart start beating nervously.

During the time he has spent with Canaria, he saw many magnificent things such as the Iguazu Falls or the Itype Dam, one of the newest inventions in the power plant technology, and he also experienced a glimpse of what a true hell on earth was like. He has seen many things that both he himself wanted to see and what Canaria wanted him to see, but deep down in his heart he knew that he has yet to see the things that would be truly important to him.

However, now was not the time for him to be thinking about the 「ifs」 and 「maybes」hidden behind Canaria’s words, because at the current moment, Izayoi had his hands full with another bothersome task the require his full, undivided attention: he needed to make sure that the overly enthusiastic Ishi was not going to hurt herself accidentally as she was rushing, or at least was going as fast as her current condition allowed her to, in the direction of the hospital gates.

Her white hair, which were growing uncontrollably without her being able to take any care of them at all have been cut short so that they would reach only as far as her face went, she was wearing loose clothing that would make moving around as easy for her as possible and she was supporting herself with crutches, which were striking rhythmically against the hospital floor, and then the pavement outside of it on the hospital grounds. . . . and were doing so faster and faster, because the further she got, the faster Ishi was trying to run, forcing Izayoi to run ahead of her so that he could make sure she was not going to trip over her own legs due to being so hasty.

「Come on, calm down already! I know you cannot wait to go sightseeing, but we have a car coming to pick us up for crying out loud! And just so you know, even if you get to the parking lot as fast as possible, it will not make it appear any faster, so easy on the throttle there! Easy I said!」

「I know that, you do not have to remind me. . . . . . . . . . . . . . but being there just a little bit early is not going to hurt anyone, right. Oh, and I almost forgot! A 「car」 is a steel mechanical box that travels over roads, right? When I saw it in one of the picture books earlier when I was still at that facility, I thought for sure that it has to be an illusion or some kind of magic trick, and I still cannot believe that not only am can see so much of them in action, but also that I am going to be riding one as well! Hahaha, I knew it, the outside world is a truly magical, amazing place!」

With her eyes shining with excitement the entire time, Ishi could not get her eyes off of the cars that were coming and going past the hospital on a nearby road. If she was getting that excited about such an ordinary road in a country that is one giant conflict zone, then she should definitely look forward to seeing the roads on the continent, where you can see the horizon stretching out as far and wide as you can see when you are riding them. Also, it was really good to see that she was more preoccupied with watching the road and the cats on it as well as everything around her that she was seeing for the very first time in her life instead of constantly getting anxious about the state of her body and her own circumstances.

But anyway, who would have thought that a kid could get so excited about something as normal and unassuming as a road? I mean, as long as she was fine with it then fine, let her enjoy the things that she wanted to enjoy. If anything, Izayoi was more interested about that one bit of information that Ishi just shared with him: that apparently she was able to read a picture book while she wa still held in that hellish facility.

「Oi, back up a little now. So you are telling me that you had a chance to read a picture book even though you have never been outside of the facility?」

「Hmm? Well, yeah, I guess? We at the very least we had access to books, because all of the adults at the facility claimed that the act of

「partaking of the flesh of another human being」only holds meaning if that other human is the one whose educated to at least some extent, because without even the basic knowledge we humans would be no different from the vile beasts stalking the wilderness. They also said something about our action being more meaningful because of knowledge, whether it was us being punished whenever we did not behave they way they wanted us to behave or during the reproduction process.」

「. . . I see.」

「Ah, also, I would be very grateful if you used my name properly when addressing me instead of calling me 「You」, because it sounds somewhat rude and I do not like it. I borrowed my current name from a person that I greatly admire, so if at all possible, I want you to keep calling me Ishi, okay?」

Ishi demanded that of Izayoi while showing him a big, friendly smile. Her past might have been a fierce and violent one, but even so, despite that and the condition she ended up in, she was always trying to smile no matter how dire or serious her own situation was. And it was not until much later until Izayoi realized that this was actually one of the concerns that was always on Ishi’s mind.

When they got to the parking lot, their car, which looked like a three-story camper rather than anything else, and as they were driving towards their destination the two of them were looking through the windows and admiring the scenery outside of the car that was passing them by in a flash. However, when thy reached the city, Izayoi had a whole new headache to deal with, because every time when Ishi saw some ordinary, totally mundane activity that nobody would have paid any mind to at all, it was his job to explain to her what those activities were down to every last possible detail.

「Hey, hey, Izayoi?」

「Oh my god, what is it his time?!」

「I could not help it but to notice that there is a bitter scent flowing all throughout the air in this city, but why is that?」

「A bitter scent? So what. . .  like an aroma of coffee, or something along those lines?