Chapter 47
“Where are you staying now?”
“At one of the empty detention centers.”
“How is the leader monkey doing?”
That must be Madame Adelaide. Alice swallowed the polite address in her mouth.
“She’s fine.”
“Damn it.”
A low growl of anger rumbled from the navigator’s throat.
“Have you ever heard what those things say about the sea?”
“They say it’s dangerous, so don’t get close if you can. Especially don’t listen to the voices beneath the cliffs…”
“Then listen.”
“Huh?”
“You look healthy, so I guess you’re still a good guest who listens well. You could bring at least one idiot here, right?”
She asked, already expecting the consequences.
“What would you do if I brought one… ”
“Split their head open!”
“…”
“They think they don’t die, but even if their bodies get chopped up and float in saltwater, would they still say ‘I’m alive’? Hm? They’d probably wish they could go back to being a corpse from ten years ago.”
Another sailor popped up beside him and added,
“There’s nothing left to cut. Just throw them into the sea and they’ll fall apart quickly!”
“Miss, bring me one too. Anyone will do!”
“Me too! Me too!”
Those with mouths started shouting one by one.
“We’ll pull out their eyeballs. Skin their backs and make flags. Maybe make gloves from their big hands…”
Amid the bloody plans, the navigator shook his head.
“Don’t mind them. They’re all crazy or going crazy while stuck here, so they can’t say anything useful.”
‘Then what about you?’
The navigator, who seemed the most sane, though anyone would look wise standing before these half-mad corpses, smiled.
“Miss, you asked earlier if there’s a way out, right?”
“Yes. I’m not sure if you know, but visitors who try to leave the village fence… ”
“The inside of the ship rots and falls apart.”
“You know that?”
“Before you, there were many poor travelers, and some came to us for advice. We thought it over together, but I’ve never heard of anyone escaping.”
“…”
“All we know is one thing. In this cursed village, the residents control the boundary between life and death. No one knows what happens if you leave by sea, but everyone who tried to fight the waves ended up as fish food.”
The experienced navigator spoke. The sea route was dangerous, after all.
Alice felt disappointed.
The navigator got to the point.
“So, I want to get rid of that boundary.”
“What boundary?”
“I told you. Here, the residents decide who lives and who dies.”
“You mean…”
“I mean we should wipe out the residents. Then everything would go back to how it was.”
Alice was speechless. She couldn’t even think of a rebuttal.
The navigator imagined and answered objections on his own.
“It’s worth trying. Once a resident is broken, they can’t come back. Immortality isn’t free.”
Alice recalled the log Nathan showed her.
There was a patient who died after suffering from repeated fractures every day. Maybe it was the unsuitable environment and germs.
Of course, some things kill faster than disease.
“…Have you ever dragged residents from under the cliff to kill them?”
“When they were still naive.”
The answer was dry.
It was like looking at a student who finally got that 1 plus 1 equals 2.
[Don’t be drawn by the voices beneath the cliff.]
The man who caused that rule spoke again.
“You want to live? Then bring the residents here one by one and kill them together. This is the only way for all of us to be free.”
“…”
“If you can kill them in the village, do as you like. But they’re vulnerable to moisture, so fighting at sea is better. Understand, miss?”
“…I understand.”
Alice tried her best to keep a blank expression. She couldn’t show disgust.
‘You want to kill them all?’
The simplest way to handle an epidemic raging in one area is to eliminate all hosts.
No medical professional would say that lightly.
There are exceptions, of course. When the subjects are farm animals.
‘The residents aren’t human… but even if they were livestock…’
No, forget it. Alice stopped thinking.
After all, the word “extermination” is something only the military should use. For ordinary people, even considering it is a waste of time.
But the man with hollow eyes before her gave her no chance to escape.
“Did you think extermination was impossible?”
“…Then it is possible?”
“Think seriously. There are about twenty residents now. You didn’t come alone, right?”
“Even if I have companions…”
“You still think there’s plenty of time. Fine, make all the excuses you want. But the choices won’t wait for you forever!”
After chuckling close by, the navigator dragged his leg and retreated beyond the mist. Alice wanted to call him back, but then realized she had no excuse. They had said everything they needed to.
‘Extermination…’
Alice looked around.
The spirits who had returned to their places were fulfilling their duties in their own ways.
“Help! Somebody lend a hand!”
Those who had been sailors in life circled their old workplaces, shouting for help. Of course, there was no one in danger nearby.
“I found treasure here! Let’s open it together!”
A treasure hunter dressed freely. He should be hostile to the sailors, but maybe they’d joined forces after being caught in the village’s curse. Both body and mind broken.
‘How many years have they been doing this…?’
The old lies no one would believe anymore echoed all around.
But those who could still shout lies were better off. Alice turned her gaze away from a sailor endlessly drinking seawater.
She had heard all she could from the spirits.
But listening alone wasn’t enough.
‘So far, I don’t think I’ve touched their Achilles’ heel.’
After a moment’s thought, Alice carefully moved inside the deck. At first, she moved deliberately where others could see, but the sailors’ and navigator’s gazes only briefly passed over her. No one was wary.
At the ship’s entrance, the only person who surprised Alice was a sailor repairing a door in the shade. He warned her to be careful not to catch her clothes on nails and then made way.
The cargo ship Lumière. A young ship retired after a ridiculous incident welcomed Alice.
‘My father called it a pirate ship in the trade business.’
That was his expression.
He said it cared nothing for safe deals, only to go farther and come back with rarer things.
A ship too large to explore in a few hours. But seawater flooding the corridors swallowed dozens.
Sunlight pushing through broken walls shone like one of the few landmarks. Thanks to that, she could choose her path without hesitation.
The ordinary cabins looked all the same. The gray and brown stained walls smelled of ruin. Socks, empty bottles, cheap magazines rolled on the floor, forgotten at sea.
Nothing useful remained. Most of the papers were ruined.
But in the last room of the cabin area, the captain’s quarters,
A fallen flowerpot seemed to have created a vacuum shield. Alice was able to pull out a fairly intact file from the dirt pile.
‘Inventory ledger…’
It listed the items loaded on the Lumière ten years ago with their origins, owners, and brief descriptions.
Alice flipped the pages.
The neat tables were surprisingly readable despite the waves and poor handwriting. Most importantly, the names were familiar to her.
[Adult female orangutan]
Property of Lumière
The largest and smartest of tree-dwelling primates
Plan to promote this specimen and find buyers for orangutans and other taxidermy pieces.
In the vivid orangutan illustration, probably drawn by a professional artist, Alice somehow found Madame Adelaide’s distinctive impression.
Page after page, she met one taxidermy piece after another…
Reading the animal traits and matching them to the residents’ characteristics was like a puzzle and quite enjoyable. But the intellectual pleasure was brief.
The moment she read their “origins,” a chill crept into her chest. It reminded her of the gloomy feelings she had seen on the residents’ faces.
Alice shook her head. What she needed now was reason.
‘The traits of the village residents I’ve seen so far match those of the animals listed here.’
She had found evidence supporting the navigator’s words.
With this, Nathan would believe what Alice said.
As she debated whether to tear out a few pages from the ledger,
Suddenly, one question came to her.
‘There’s no specimen here that looks like Fiore?’
