Note: This story was newly written for the Kadokawa Tsubasa Bunko release of Kino's Journey Volume 1, replacing The Colosseum -Avengers- as the book's fourth chapter. This edition also contains a newly written Afterword -Preface-.
Other chapters of this edition are the same as the original Dengeki Bunko release.
Somewhere out there, there was a traveler named Kino.
While an adolescent human, Kino was an expert wielder of persuaders (Note: firearms).
Somewhere out there, there was also a motorrad (Note: Two-wheeled vehicles. Refers to only ones that cannot fly) named Hermes.
Kino, as a traveler, naturally relied on Hermes' speed to travel all over the place. Together, they visited many countries.
===
Kino and Hermes, making their way down a path through a forest, arrived at a certain country.
All countries were surrounded by high walls; without passing the immigration inspection at the gate, one would not be able to get inside. When Kino declared the desire to stay for three days, the immigration inspector asked,
"Why three days?"
And when Kino answered that it was just the right amount of time, the inspector said,
"That's quite a flimsy reason. Our country's motto, you see, is that 'There is a reason for everything. It is up to us to find out what it is.'"
Despite that, however, the inspector let the traveler in.
===
Upon entering the country, Kino went around doing various things.
First up was the selling of sellable items that had been obtained during the journey thus far.
The money gained was then used for buying food for the road ahead and fuel for Hermes. Having slept in a tent for days up to now, Kino took this opportunity to stay at a hotel, taking a shower and resting on a nice bed.
Then it was time to explore the country, wandering around to see if there was anything interesting.
If, in the end, there was nothing in particular, Kino would often visit bookstores and libraries to read the local books.
"It's not the most enjoyable thing, but it's still fun."
"Well, I'm bored! You can read books, Kino, but what's in it for me?" Hermes would say in protest at being forced to wait, but...
"Nothing."
...Kino would not care.
===
This time, too, Kino left Hermes behind and entered a large library.
===
After finishing reading the book titled 'Repairing a Motorrad for Dummies,' Kino put it back on the shelf.
In a far corner of the library's spacious interior, an elderly man, looking to be over 90 years old, took a seat.
As large as the library was, barely anyone was visiting it at the current time. The elderly man took an expensive-looking book and opened it, then looked up and scanned his surroundings.
Kino, standing behind a bookshelf far away from the elderly man, went unnoticed by him. The elderly man proceeded to take out a pen from his shirt's chest pocket.
Then, without any hesitation, he started writing something into the book.
He wrote and wrote, turned to the next page, and then kept on writing.
"......"
Kino stayed hidden and observed him; for a moment, the traveler wondered if it was legal in this country to write in a library's books. The laws differed depending on the country, some less intuitive than others, so a visitor needed to make sure what was permitted and what was not.
But then, Kino saw a poster on a nearby wall, which stated:
'Books are everyone's property. Treat them with care. No folding! No tearing! No doodling!'
As it turned out, writing in them was not permitted -- It was forbidden, even.
Kino took a sidelong glance at the elderly man, still frantically writing into the book, and spent a moment thinking.
"......"
Arriving at a decision, Kino approached the elderly man, sneaking behind the bookshelves.
Now, despite being right next to him, the elderly man still seemed oblivious to Kino's presence. The traveler greeted him,
"Hello, sir."
"Uhhyah!"
The elderly man was spooked off his seat, dropping the book in his hands.
Its open pair of pages had turned dark and dense from all the additional content it had received.
In between the lines, such and such messages had been written:
'This is false!'
'Wrong. He didn't do anything at this time!'
'This page and the next are all lies! It's fiction! Don't take them as facts!'
===
Hermes, upon noticing Kino exiting the library, said,
"Ohh! You didn't take as long as I thought!"
Then, upon seeing the accompanying elderly man, asked,
"Wait, who's that old guy?"
Kino led the elderly man to where Hermes was, and introduced the motorrad to him,
"Sir, this is my partner, Hermes."
Then it was time to answer Hermes' question,
"Hermes, I had a little talk with him while I was in the library."
"Nice to meet you, sir... Uh, so? Something happened?"
"I saw him writing into the library's book, so I tried talking to him, but then he was spooked and raised a bit of a fuss. The librarians got mad at us, so we left. Oh, but I didn't have the chance to bring up the doodling, so they still don't know."
"Hm~m."
The elderly man turned grumpy.
"Well, I'm not thanking you for that! It's your fault for startling me in the first place!"
"That's right, Kino. What'd you do if he got a heart attack and died?" Hermes cracked a dark joke, but the elderly man was unfazed.
"Hmph. I'm not dying anytime soon!" He declared. Indeed, he seemed perfectly healthy, likely to have so many years ahead of him. "I won't die 'till I correct all the books in all the libraries!"
"Sir, I'm curious. Why are you doing this?" Kino asked.
"There is a reason for everything," Hermes cheerfully added, "It is up to us to find out what it is, right?"
"Wow, you didn't fumble your words this time."
"Rude."
The elderly man, reminded of his country's motto, was momentarily shocked, then he groaned out of his nose.
"Hmph, fine. I'll tell you -- Why I'm doing this, and why I'll keep doing this."
===
The three were not about to keep standing there, of course; they proceeded to move over to a nearby public bench.
Kino kicked Hermes' stand down again, then went to sit with the elderly man.
The elderly man started, still looking grumpy, "That book, you see, is part of the 'Great People of Our Country' series."
"Biographies, then?" Kino asked to make sure.
"Right. They're biographies published by the government, meant for teaching our children and students about the great people of our country's history. Our founding fathers, inventors who made our lives so much easier, military officers who protected us from enemy attacks, all those kinds of people. Each person has one volume dedicated to them, and one new volume is released every year."
This time, Hermes asked,
"Hm~m. So whose book were you writing into?"
"A politician who became a cabinet minister a few decades ago," the elderly man answered, sounding detached, "At the time, the country's been having a lot of problems -- economic depression, natural disasters -- and he's a great leader who fixed everything. That's what they say, anyway."
"What drives you to deny that book's contents so thoroughly?" Kino asked.
In response, the elderly man immediately yelled,
"It's full of lies, that's why! It would've been a biography if it detailed the politician's actual life, but that thing is all made up! It's nothing more than fiction! The people who wrote it were making up their own stories!" he ranted on and on, raging to the point that his face went red. Indeed, he seemed perfectly healthy, likely to have so many years ahead of him. "The part where 'he was a sickly child, so he couldn't play with his friends and instead dedicated himself to studying'? Lies! He was a delinquent who did nothing but play around! He lied about being sick so he could skip school! And the part about how he met his wife? 'He fell in love with a classmate during his first year of middle school, but ended up graduating without ever confessing to her. Then, when he became an adult, they were reunited by coincidence and eventually got married'? That's all made up! The truth isn't anywhere near that romantic -- he just kept asking her out no matter how many times he was turned down, and kept sending her annoying letters even after graduation! Then, when she just happened to be laid off from her job, she agreed to marry him out of desperation! That's what actually happened!"
"Very interesting." "Mm-hm."
Kino and Hermes kept on listening to the elderly man's story.
"'He became a politician because he wanted to make the people happy' -- yeah, that's what it says, but here's the real story: fresh out of university, he couldn't find himself a job anywhere, so he begged for work from his politician uncle! 'A politician's job is to move the hearts of the people. That's why he always had faith in everyone and was able to make it through any challenge' -- yeah, right, he never believed any of that! He always thought that being a politician was dirty, that his job was to fool the people -- if he could find any other thing he could do, he would have immediately resigned! ...And that's just the tip of the iceberg!"
The elderly man pointed out countless more of the biographies' inaccuracies, but it seemed like he might take all day at this rate, so Kino stopped him,
"I understand, sir. I think we've heard quite enough now."
"Hah... That biography being full of lies is cool and all -- wait, I mean, not cool, but..." Hermes said, "...why'd it end up like that in the first place? I really don't get humans sometimes."
For a very brief moment, the elderly man smiled. Then he proceeded to say,
"See, even a motorrad's saying that -- humanity's lies will be their downfall, I say! So this is it -- there are a bunch of people who don't want to record the truth! When every person who knows the truth dies, the things in that book will become the so-called 'truth'! The history in that book, a history full of lies, will be the only thing left! Okay, I won't say that it's all lies, but it's still most of it! I'll set things right! Maybe it won't amount to much in the end, but I'll keep on sneakily correcting that book!" Having had his fill of shouting, the elderly man wrapped up his rant, "...Alright, I think I'll head home for today. Got a lot more writing to do tomorrow. And once I'm done with that book, there are still other copies in other libraries..."
Then he stood up from the bench. Kino did so as well.
"Thank you for telling us your story, sir."
"Mm-hm. Take care on your way ahead, traveler and motorrad. Go tell the world that this country's biographies are nothing but lies!"
With that, the elderly man walked away in high spirits.
===
"By the way, Kino," Hermes said when the elderly man was no longer in view, "We forgot to ask the real question: How do you know so much about that politician? I mean, I thought you'd ask him that at some point, Kino."
"Ah, that's because I already knew the answer -- Caught a glimpse of it right when the book dropped."
Confused by Kino's answer, Hermes asked again,
"A glimpse of what?"
"The book's cover. It had an illustration of that great man. The book's contents aside, that picture was so well-drawn -- and despite it being decades since then, he hasn't changed much at all."
At this point, Hermes came to a realization.
"Ohh, I get it!"
===
On the way back to the hotel, Hermes asked,
"Kino, you ever wonder what stories of your journey would be like if they were written in a book? The ways people think of you differ depending on the country, so maybe they'll paint you as a big bad villain, or maybe you'll be a super awesome hero!"
"Yeah..." Kino muttered, "...but whatever is fine by me, as long as they write down this one truth."
"What's that?"
"That you're the one who's always with me on this journey, Hermes."
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