Chapter 18: The Village, the Feast, and the Stranger

The village Eigo led them into was quieter than expected.

A dirt track too ambiguous to call a road, with chickens and chicks wandering about. People sat casually beneath the shade of palm trees.

Some were mending nets, while others were cracking open coconuts with their children.

"...This really is the mission area, right?"

Enonoka muttered, almost to herself.

"Yeah."

Makima answered as though it were nothing.

"According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ intelligence, it is. We’ll use this village as a base and slowly look for our target. The island isn’t that large."

That answer seemed to make Enonoka even more uneasy, and her expression gradually stiffened.

"No, um, that’s not what I mean... Usually, a mission area has something... some tension, a perimeter, people carrying guns..."

"Enonoka, have you been looking around this whole time for people carrying guns?"

Eigo said with a smile. Just then, a middle-aged man sitting by the roadside glanced at Eigo and widened his eyes.

"...Huh?"

A brief silence. Then—

"Eigo?"

Eigo turned toward the man.

"Is that really you, Eigo?"

The man sprang to his feet and gave Eigo’s shoulder a few hearty pats.

"Ha ha ha! You’re back? How long has it been?"

"Ah, it’s been a while! How have you been? Doing well?"

Enonoka stared blankly as the two spoke.

...What are they saying? It’s obviously not Japanese... but it isn’t English either...?

Eigo exchanged a few more words with the man whose hands rested on his shoulders, then smiled and nodded. Enonoka cautiously leaned toward Makima.

"M-Makima... who is that man...?"

"Eigo said he visited this island before. He’s probably someone he met then."

Makima answered quietly. Then the man looked back and forth between Enonoka and Makima before asking something.

"Are those two your friends?"

"Yes!"

When Eigo answered, the man nodded and pointed deeper into the village.

"There’s a house available. You can stay there!"

"Ah, really? What a relief."

Unable to hold herself back any longer, Enonoka cut in.

"W-Wait a second! What have you two been talking about this whole time?"

With a grin, Eigo flashed a V-sign. Sunlight glinted off his teeth.

"Our lodging is settled★."

"...Our lodging?"

Enonoka’s voice followed a beat later.

"Yep. What do you think? I did good, right?"

Eigo shrugged. In place of the dumbfounded Enonoka, Makima reached over and stroked Eigo’s hair.

"Yes, you did well."

Following the man’s lead a few steps farther into the village, they came upon a low house. It had wooden posts and thin walls, built so openly that the wind seemed as though it could pass straight through.

The door was already open, and inside, curtains swayed gently in the sea breeze.

"Ta-da~! This is our lodging!"

Eigo announced casually. A plump middle-aged woman came outside, and upon seeing Eigo, welcomed the group with a hearty laugh.

"...Here?"

"Yep. She’s a lovely person too... As far as lodging goes, this place is better than a five-star hotel!"

Makima took a look around inside and offered her thoughts.

"It’s nice. The breeze comes through well, too."

Enonoka followed them in a step later and checked the floor.

"T-There’s even a floor..."

"What on earth were you expecting?"

Eigo said with a laugh.

"I-I thought we’d be pitching tents in the middle of the jungle..."

Makima chuckled softly at that.

"This may be a mission area, but it’s also where people live."

Then the middle-aged man from before poked his head in through the doorway again. He exchanged a few words with Eigo, then went away laughing loudly.

"He says they’ll prepare a grand dinner for us tonight. Well then, we’ve spent more than ten days on nothing but a ship, so I’m going to sleep now and get a proper night’s rest on solid ground."

"Huh...? But... Eigo?! What about the investigation? Looking for the Devil...?"

As Eigo headed into an empty room, Enonoka looked pleadingly at Makima. But what she got in return was...

"Yes, that’s true. We have been on a rocking ship for over ten days... It would be best to restore our strength by getting a good night’s sleep on land."

...Makima saying that as she followed Eigo.

*

Dusk.

The sea was far calmer than it had been during the day. The sun hung pressed against the horizon, red and low, while the waves moved as though breathing, slowly blending gold and orange.

A small boat was gliding back across that sea. Careful not to let the waves overturn it, I guided the rudder cautiously. I had furled the sail in case the wind tipped us over.

Once the boat reached the sandy shore, I hopped lightly down. My wet feet left prints in the sand, and soon the waves erased them.

"..."

I turned back to look over the sea for a moment.

It was calm today.

There were several small fish in the net. Not too many, not too few—just enough to last a day.

I slung the net over my shoulder and headed toward the village. Smoke was rising between the palm trees.

The scent that announced dinner preparations rode in on the wind. Grilled fish and coconut, earth warmed over fire, pork...

Pork?

One of the children who spotted me shouted.

"Nao’s back!"

Two or three more children came running over right away.

"Did you go out to sea again today?"

"Did you catch any fish?"

I smiled faintly and nodded.

"Yeah. A little."

One child peered into the net, his eyes lighting up.

"Oooh—!"

"Careful. They’re still alive."

The children immediately backed away, then waved and ran ahead instead. Someone was calling for me from deeper in the village.

"Nao! You’re back?"

A familiar voice. A voice that made me feel relieved and warmed my heart just by hearing it.

I lifted my head. Beneath the shade, a woman seated in front of a house was waving at me.

"Bareia!"

I hurried toward her. Bareia pulled me into a tight embrace and patted my head.

Vigorously, until it was thoroughly mussed up.

"You came running the instant you heard my voice. Did you miss me that much?"

"I missed you."

Bareia’s eyes widened for a moment, before she immediately burst into laughter. It meant she was embarrassed.

"Oh dear, this is a problem. What would you do without me...?"

She deliberately ruffled my hair even harder. My wet hair fell over my face, and the scent of the sea washed over me.

"Ah, that hurts. I told you, you’re messing it up..."

"That’s what makes you cute~"

Though she said that, Bareia relaxed her grip. Her touch became slow and familiar.

As though soothing a child, or confirming that someone who had gone out for the day had returned safely. She glanced at the net slung over my shoulder.

"You caught just enough for us to eat for one day again."

"Yeah. I didn’t get greedy."

"Good job."

Those few words made my chest tickle. It felt as though my entire day had been recognized, so I buried my face deeper in Bareia’s chest.

We held hands and headed for the center of the village. Beyond the glove Bareia wore, the urge to touch her skin directly rose within me... but I couldn’t do that.

As we drew closer to the center, the identity of the scent I had noticed earlier became clearer.

"It really is pork... Roasted in an umu, too..."

At my murmur, Bareia shrugged.

"Nao, your nose really is good, isn’t it? Today is a special day."

"What day is it?"

"Guests have come from a faraway country."

"Guests?"

I looked up at Bareia. She still wore that meaningful smile.

Guests, on this island?

The entire village was preparing a feast for them. Had someone’s child returned from the city?

No, Bareia said they were from another country...

It was pointless speculation anyway. Led by Bareia’s hand, I walked toward the firelight.

People had already gathered in a circle around the bonfire, and steam rose from the meat freshly taken out of the umu.

Some were serving food onto leaf plates, while the children circled restlessly nearby, swallowing their saliva.

"Nao’s here!"

Someone recognized me first and waved. A few more people turned at the sound, and the atmosphere loosened even further.

"How was the sea today?"

"It was calm."

"That’s a relief. I was worried sick you’d go and wreck one of our perfectly good boats, ha ha!"

Brief greetings were exchanged. The same old sights, the same old conversations.

But when I reached the center, unfamiliar faces were mixed in with the crowd. People with pale skin, dressed in city clothes.

Outsiders without a trace of sun-darkened skin or the look of people accustomed to the sea wind. They blended naturally among the villagers, but there was no hiding how out of place they seemed.

"So, Enonoka, you’ve never eaten pork even once?"

"Really?! Enonoka, what kind of life have you been living all this time...?"

"I-I just... ever since I was old enough to walk, they put me on deep-sea fishing boats to catch tuna... and, um, used me as bait... They used me as bait when they hunted bears in the mountains too... and whenever they infiltrated yakuza buildings, they used me as a decoy...

...Anyway, if it could make money, they’ve used me for anything..."

The people chatting among themselves in a language I could not understand eventually turned their attention toward the unfamiliar presence. The image reflected in their eyes was me.

"Ah, found him. The Devil..."

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